Last week I shared a word the Lord gave me about Chaos. It was a very simple one-liner: “Lean into the Chaos.” I provided some examples of literal chaos, some good, some very difficult, that we as intercessors are praying our nation through along with some Biblical examples of chaos that occurred as God was releasing a new wave of His Spirit in the earth.

This week, I want to talk about how and why we need to take the approach, especially as intercessors, of leaning into the chaos that we see in front of us. This is very different from becoming involved (although certain things require our vote and/or voice) it involves strategic intercession. Strategic planning, and obedience to how God orders our steps.

How do we lean into chaos?

Prayer is the most important tool we have in our Christian tool bag. Yet so many in the body of Christ either don’t use it or perhaps don’t know how to persevere in prayer when it comes to events occurring outside their own home.

One of the most common questions I hear is “what is persevering prayer and how does that help?” And a second one is “If God already knows what is going to happen before it happens, what is the point in praying?” I’ll have to address that second one next week.

What is persevering prayer and how does that help?

Several reasons let’s break it down.

Prayer creates a foundation within us as believers. It is from here that we become stable, anchored really, both emotionally and spiritually in God. Have you ever faced something that just seemed catastrophic, and no matter who you spoke with, how much research you did, which expert you listened to on the subject, you simply could not find your anchor—or your peace? Every day you wake up feeling anxious, with new concerns and honestly maybe even felt like you were in a ship lost at sea. What do you do? Did you pray first or how do you handle it?

The Bible gives us clear directives on prayer. Let’s look at a few Scriptures and the background of how those directives were played out in the life of the author:

Jude 1:20

Jude is telling the Christians this letter is written to that in the midst of the chaos they were enduring, the agitators, the scoffers, the murmurers, the persecution, and so on, all of which is surely causing them agitation, anxiety, fear of political persecution, religious persecution, class persecution and so on, to pray in the Holy Spirit. You will hear us do that on our corporate line each week. Even when words seem to fail us, praying in the Spirit impacts both us and the issue at hand.

How does it benefit the issue? When words fail us and we pray in the spirit, we are submitting our vessel to the Lord in prayer and in this moment, we pray according to His will. Paul reinforces this principle in 1 Corinthians 14:14a when he says, “for if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth.”

How does it benefit us? It builds us up. It’s like going to the gym for your spirit-man. It gives us a foundation to stand on as a Christian building you up higher and higher as Jude tells us. Then, collectively, as a member of the Body of Christ, it enables us to remain a force to be reckoned with. Friends, many simply do not know the power that resides within them when they become intercessors!

How does prayer help us in times of chaos? Prayer on the issues keeps us from running from the chaos we are called to intervene in, and prayer keeps us from running into the chaos we are supposed to steer clear of.

How do we learn to recognize the difference between the chaos that is provoked by God as a result of prayer and the chaos that is provoked by the enemy?

Paul tells us in

Ephesians 6:18 as part of our necessary equipment to stand against the enemy, is to “pray always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.”

Again, in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to “Pray without ceasing.”

AMPC says: 17 Be unceasing in prayer [praying perseveringly]

If we couple this passage with Jude 1:20 we see that through unceasing, persevering prayer, we gain the insight we need to know the difference between God chaos and man chaos.

We often look at Scripture, especially in the Gospels and Acts, as though the writers ran around recording the events in real time. Picture Luke following Paul around from city to prison, beating to shipwrecks, rolling out the scroll, usually about 35 feet long, and recording it live. No, I’m afraid not, these writings often occurred after the event, many times, they were written years later. What’s the benefit of this later recording? Especially for us? Hindsight. As Paul is writing his letters to the Thessalonians, he is looking back at the benefits of having learned the lesson of praying without ceasing.

Have you ever looked back at events and thought that was the defining moment of your life? Where things began to shift at that moment when God instilled a deep truth into your heart?

With that thought in mind, let us look at our next point that will help us lean into the chaos. We need to:

Acts 18:9-11. I’m going to read these verses now and then I’ll provide background as to why this word from the Lord was so critical for Paul and then we will read this passage again to see it from that perspective. The hindsight perspective if you will.

Acts 18:9-11

Remember, as Luke writes Acts and records the revelations Paul receives from the Lord throughout the book, he has the benefit of hindsight. In other words, he knows the outcome of a particular prayer as well as the word the Lord gave Paul (or Peter in the earlier chapters) and how important those prayers and words were at each pivotal moment. I feel Luke provides us with a running theme throughout Acts that gives us a guideline for our own lives if we will grab hold of it.

It’s through unceasing and persevering prayer that Paul comes to the revelation that he will be protected in Acts 18:9-11 if he remains in Corinth and continues to preach the Gospel. This assurance enables him to press on in unflinching courage.

Again, why did Paul need this assurance? As I said, I wanted to read the passage and then look at the background. I encourage you to read Acts 17-18 for yourself, but for the sake of time, I’ll just provide background here:

Paul himself was dealing with significant persecution. He arrived in Corinth after narrowly escaping the several cities on his missionary journey.

Quick background:

In Philippi- an angry mob rose up against them, provoked the people and Paul and his companions were beaten with rods and thrown in prison for preaching the Gospel. This is where the worship of God’s people provoked the earthquake, sounds like chaos to me, and the prison door was opened. The jailer was about to fall upon his own sword until Paul assured him that he and the other prisoners remained. The result: the jailer and his entire family were saved.

In Thessalonica-Paul and Silas had tremendous success in their ministry outreach until an angry mob was stirred up against them, forcing he and Silas to flee the city in the middle of the night and head to Berea.

In Berea-they again had tremendous success in spreading the Gospel, but that same mob of Jewish leaders who provoked the Thessalonians followed them to Berea and stirred up the crowds against Paul and his message of the Gospel. Again, Paul was sent away secretly to the next town to preserve his life.

In Athens-Paul did not face physical persecution, this is where we have the very cultured, highly educated yet extremely idolatrous population. The “unknown god” (lowercase “g”) plaque is here, why? To make room for any other god they may have missed lest they offend that god. Picture Cambridge or Harvard and mix in there the mindset of those who live and learn in these places even today, and you have spiritual warfare that surpassed the physical warfare Paul was facing in every city he went to on his missionary journey.

Yet, within each city, the chaos exposed the heart of man and either enraged or rent it and they repented. As a result, not only did Paul’s message of the Gospel remain even after he left, but churches were also raised up. Chaos and persecution seem to solidify the work God is doing.

Paul needed to remain persistent in prayer and pray through each step, obeying the guidance of the Lord as that was absolutely essential for three reasons:

In Acts 18 we come to Corinth.

Corinth was incredibly worldly, in fact, its worldliness surpassed that of Philippi, Thessalonica, or Berea plus it encompassed the atmosphere of Athens, both Athens and Corinth were port cities, and they didn’t just import goods, but they housed tremendous idolatry and harlotry, and they imported every form of decadence. Think Los Angeles, San Francisco and Vegas combined.

Paul, as was his custom, first went into the synagogue to reason the Scriptures with the Jews. Paul initially has success, this seems to be a pattern, then, the resistance begins, and he surely feels the familiar undertones of chaos brewing, he seeks the Lord.

Paul is not unwilling to suffer for the Gospel however, suffering again and requires continual faith-building exercises to endure. Prayer and the Word build those spiritual muscles.

Paul seeks the Lord, “where do I go now?” Then, in this critical hour in which he needs direction from the Lord immediately—can we just take a step back and imagine just for a moment here, how he must be feeling as he seeks the Lord for direction? Town after town, all he wants to do is spread the message of hope and salvation through Jesus Christ—and protests, riots, and chaos ensue in every town. I imagine he fully expected to be beaten, imprisoned, and thrown out of town or secretly transported out by his friends.

Paul, in keeping with his persevering prayer, leans into chaos crying out to the Lord, searching for direction on his next steps and the Lord comes to him and responds with the answer he desperately needed. Now, with the understanding of the background, and knowing why Paul prayed the way he did, let’s read the answer the Lord gave him again. Through this, we will get to our next point as to how we lean into the chaos.

Acts 18:9-11

In other words: Paul, be not afraid, and with unflinching courage, speak! and hold not thy peace!! This is going to lead us to our next pivotal verse, but again, some more background because Luke is building a case for prayer for us and we cannot miss these important points.

What a respite from the chaos and constant attempts to silence him the Lord is granting him here. 18 months of peace for his body to recover from the beatings, 18 months for his heart to mend from the rejection, not rejection of him, but of his Lord and Savior and the hope of eternal salvation. 18 months for Paul to have this opportunity to establish in a port city, this Church of Corinth, talk about doing damage to the enemy’s camp! This surely brought healing to his soul.

This is God dealing with the hearts of men because Paul leaned into the Chaos and persevered in persistent prayer.

Paul will eventually be called to move on from Corinth and raise churches in several other cities. The Jews, however, continue in their pursuit of him, plotting and planning against him. By the time we get to Acts 23, the pursuit of Paul is more public and pronounced than ever before. They are on a mission to destroy Paul and his ministry at all costs. Amid a religious interrogation, Paul, having tremendous discernment and wisdom, makes sure his Roman citizenship is known, which immediately puts the Roman Guard on notice that they must protect this Roman citizen at all costs. Again, wisdom and discernment in action, Paul pits the Jews against each other Pharisees versus Sadducees. Chaos follows! God chaos. Why? Because Paul’s missionary field is transitioning from ministry to the laymen to ministry to the leaders.

The Chief Captain of the Roman Guard intervenes, fearing these leaders are going to rip Paul in two.

That’s the background as Paul, persevering in persistent prayer, seeks the Lord. God is about to insert a new layer into Paul’s foundation.

Acts 23:11

The Greek word for “Be of good cheer” is Tharseo. This means to be emboldened from within, this supports unflinching courage and is the result of the Lord infusing His strength by His inworking of faith in the yielded believer.

Remember, Luke is building the case for prayer for us as he documents the chaos of the Awakening that took place in the days of the early Church. These principles will enable us today, to lean into the chaos of our own great awakening, through prayer.

Does this word from the Lord, “to be emboldened from within with unflinching courage” mean the chaos is finally over?

No, in fact, looking forward, from this point on, Paul will experience some of the greatest levels of chaos he’s seen thus far.

What kind of chaos?

The Jews take an oath that they will not eat or drink until they do away with Paul. This is seen as such a real threat, the chief Captain assembles 470 guards to protect Paul enroute to his destination in Rome.

Paul will be transported up the political chain to release the Gospel message. And, while some well-meaning commentators feel Paul should not have appealed to Ceasar in these meetings, I believe this saved Paul’s life more than once so he could fulfill his destiny. Any one of these rulers could have let him rot in prison or had him killed. The appeal to Ceasar from a Roman citizen, especially one from Cilicia, had to be honored. Plus, we know he was chosen as God’s mouthpiece for this task.

Paul will experience a violent shipwreck where all but the crew and passengers were lost at sea and then they will be stranded on an island for three months. This event alone, with all of those men, Jews, Greeks, Romans, bound together by chaos and tragedy kept alive by Paul’s encouragement and guidance from the Lord was intense. Paul could’ve hid in the hull of the ship, but he’d been emboldened with unflinching courage, and each one of those men heard the Gospel and saw the miracles of God move through this event!

What does this teach us?

The promise does not always end the chaos, sometimes it’s the catalyst for the chaos!

Paul had to put into practice tharseo “be emboldened”, walking out his salvation and his ministry with unflinching courage. He had to have faith that that which the Lord created him to do would indeed be completed in and through him.

This certainly explains why the Lord spoke to Paul in Acts 18:9-11 and as He did doesn’t it? He imparted Tharseo into Paul, just in time for some of the greatest chaos of his life.

Have you ever experienced this? Where God literally imparts into your spirit something so profound, it transforms you from within? Where you knew that this essential building block for your ministry work was inserted by the Lord?

I’m going to share one of those moments in my own life where the Lord did this for me. Keep in mind, this was a gift He gave me because of my unflinching courage in the face of unbelievable odds in my portion of the fight to overturn Roe v Wade. Each person who stood in the gap for our pre-born was, or will be blessed, as a result. Without the collective effort of the laborers, the intercessors, the voices for the pre-born, the Supreme Court Justices, and our dear President Trump, this victory would not have been possible.

Here's my small part…

On June 24, 2022, the morning the announcement went forth that Roe v Wade was overturned.

I’d spent 20 years of my life fighting for that moment. I interceded through migraines so severe; I left me vomiting in my room all night long only to then, get up the next morning and do it again all day the next day. My eyes would be so swollen in the morning; I could barely open them and would have to administer cold compresses to bring the swelling down. I would give anything to see this atrocity of abortion overturned so I pressed through. During these long prayer sessions, I saw some of the most traumatic visions as we prayed through abortion, while at the same time, witnessing the depth of love the Lord had for our preborn. It drove me onward. I wept until I had no more tears and fiercely warred against principalities and powers until I had no voice, all to see this overturned. The Lord promised me, in my lifetime I would see this day come.

The morning it was overturned, I awoke to a text from one of our staff. I had been up for several hours during the night praying and laid down for about an hour to rest before I started my day. The text came through and I popped out of bed. As I stood and read it, my whole world began to violently shake, I could not even see it was moving so violently. I had to grab hold of the counter to maintain my balance. The Lord came up alongside me and from above, drove a rod down into my body solidifying something in me. I believe this was not just for me, it was for the nation, I experienced what the Lord is bringing to our nation as a result of that curse being severed from our founding documents.

Roe v Wade should never have been decided by the Supreme Court; it was driven up the chain by activist judges. However, since it was decided by the Supreme court, it linked a curse of bloodletting through abortion to our founding documents. 50 years our nation remained under that curse. It was leech on the Civil Rights movement, draining it of any momentum to really set people free in mind or body. The more blood that was shed, the more it increased in size and the more blind we became to the wiles of the enemy. This empowered the cabal, America was sinking fast.

America would never truly be set free as long as that decision remained. It had to be overturned to start the process of setting us free from the bondage it brought us under.

The chaos we see today, I believe, is a result of breaking that curse off the nation.

Again, I was not the only one who fought for that victory, my mom led the charge, many other ministries and intercessors rose up especially toward the end to stand in the gap and fight for that day. I am only sharing my experience.

Why did He do this? Because against the odds, no matter how many losses we saw in state after state, we picked ourselves back up, and we grabbed hold of the Lord in prayer and we did not let go until He granted us that tharseo- the infusing of His strength, by the inworking of His faith, into the heart of the believer, so we would be emboldened from within and charge ahead with unflinching courage!

Today, yes, we see chaos, but that chaos is really exposing and uprooting the cabal. Our job as intercessors, is to be like Paul, hold onto the infusing of His strength, and be emboldened to stand strong, that we might fight this fight with unflinching courage on behalf of the Kingdom of God as He releases His will and His ways over our nation! In the end, you will be blessed with the sweet knowledge that like Paul, you have finished the race having firmly kept the faith while fighting the good fight of faith on behalf of your people! You will have learned how to preserver in prayer, you will have a solid foundation, and you will walk emboldened, with unflinching courage in the face of unbelievable adversity!

Lean into the chaos my friends, God is breaking up the enemy’s plans and setting the captives free. As He moves across the nation, releasing His heavenly will, we will see His glory pour out over the land and as it does, healing and restoration will follow.

Press in and press on my friends!

Blessings & love,

Ricci Johnson-Wilson