(The following is an excerpt from the book The Intercession Chronicles, written by Joseph Parker that is both an evangelism and discipleship tool about prayer. It is meant to help strengthen a believer’s prayer life and set it on fire of the Holy Spirit.
Scenes from the book regularly switch between earth to heaven. All characters listed are, of course, people except for Daniel and his twenty-four companions. They are angels.)
Jennie Mae Lenoir sat up in bed very suddenly. All at once, she was wide awake. She knew that voice of the Holy Spirit was speaking to her about a very serious matter. “Jessie and his companions are in serious trouble. You must pray and intercede for their deliverance!”
She quickly jumped from her bed, turned, and got on her knees beside her bed. And she began to pray for Jessie and his companions. “Lord, wherever Jessie and his companions are, I surround him and the others with faith and love and mercy! Lord, deliver them from hurt, harm, and danger.
For Jesse and his companions, I pray -
Today, they dwell in the secret place of the most High,
and so they abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
Today I say of the LORD,
You are their refuge and their fortress:
my God; in You I trust.
Surely you deliver them from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
You cover them with Your feathers, and under Your wings they trust:
Your truth is their shield and buckler.
And so, they are not afraid for the terror by night;
nor for the arrow that flies by day;
Nor for the pestilence that walks in darkness;
nor for the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
A thousand may fall at their side, and ten thousand at their right hand;
but it shall not come near them.
Only with their eyes will they look and see the reward of the wicked.
Because they have made the LORD their refuge, even the most High, their habitation;
No evil befalls them, nor does any plague come nigh their dwelling.
For He gives his angels charge over them, to keep them in all their ways.
They bear them up in their hands, lest they dash their foot against a stone.
They tread upon the lion and the cobra:
the young lion and the serpent they trample under foot.
Because I have set my love upon Him, therefore He delivers them:
He sets them on high, because I have known His name.
I call upon Him, and He answers me:
He is with them in trouble;
He delivers them, and honors them.
With long life He satisfies them,
and shows them His salvation.
In Jesus’s Name, Amen.
(Psalm 91 prayer)
She prayed for a few other surrounding matters and then quietly climbed into bed feeling tired yet very much at peace.
I had been a part of a Ranger unit for more than two years when our unit was selected to be a part of a special ops assignment that involved a joint operation with the Navy aboard the nuclear submarine, the USS Sea Hawk.
The Sea Hawk had a crew of about one hundred twelve sailors, and our unit consisted of seven U.S. Army Rangers. We were to be working specifically with a Navy seal team of about eight men. It was a commando raid that required the unique skills of the Rangers in our unit along with the Seal team.
This was, of course, my first trip on a U.S. submarine. The operation of the sub fascinated me. One day we were given a tour of the sub and it was amazing to watch the crew in operation of that huge underwater boat.
On our fifth day at sea, I was observing the ship operations on the con, when I heard an emergency siren sound off. It continued to blare for around twenty minutes or so, before it stopped. I felt the entire sub lunge forward, and the lights on the ship blinked off for a few minutes, then came back on.
I quickly was aware that the entire crew went into emergency operation mode. The whole ship was filled with alarm and concern for a long while. An hour passed then two hours.
Eventually, the XO came into the area where we were. He asked us to sit down. He then proceeded to explain what had happened.
There had been a rupture in one of the sub’s nuclear reactors followed by a fire. The situation was very serious. The damage from these problems had affected the power for the entire sub. We actually are not sure how much longer we can run.
Time continued to pass. Fear seemed to be so thick in the air. Once again, the XO came in and shared the most current news. “We’re basically dead in the water. And we are now resting on the ocean floor. In order for us to be rescued and with the kind of operation needed – well, just looks pretty bad. This sub could possibly be our tomb.”
Finally, after about another twenty minutes, the captain came on the intercom. “Men, this is the Captain. As many of you know now, our situation is looking very serious. We are in a really difficult situation right now. Now – want to know, does anyone on this ship know how to pray. If you do, I want to invite you to come to the mic, and pray right now.”
For several minutes, there was a lot of buzz amongst the sailors, but not a single one of them volunteered to pray. But a few moments later, the XO brought a young Army Ranger to the Captain and said “Sir, this soldier said he knows how to pray.” “Sergeant Lenoir, sir. I know how to pray and so does my mother back home!”
The Captain paused and looked at Sgt. Lenoir with an odd stare then looked him up and down. Then said, “Come on Sergeant, and pray!” Just before the Captain handed the mic to Sgt. Lenoir, he said on the intercom “Sgt. Lenoir, one of our Army Ranger guests, is going to pray for us. And while he prays, everybody else do your best to try to pray the best way you can too. Also, pray that his mother will pray for us!”
With that Sgt. Lenoir took the mic and began to pray. And as he prayed there were many other voices being lifted to God as well all over the ship.
One young sailor said to his fellow sailor named Tom who also was attempting to pray, “Hey, Tom, I thought you said you was an atheist. Who do atheists pray to?” Tom responded “As of today, I am suspending my Atheism. I ain’t ready to die. If God answers our prayers, I am suspendin’ my atheism permanently, and I’m gonna start believin’ in Him!”
Sergeant Lenoir prayed for around seven minutes, and then ended “In the mighty name of Jesus, Amen!” And amens echoed throughout the ship.
“Well,” said the Captain. “What now?” Sergeant Lenoir responded, “Now, we start thanking God and praising Him for hearing our prayer!”
And Sergeant Lenoir began to thank and praise God out loud before all those on the con. The Captain just stared at Jessie with a blank stare – and continued as Jessie went on praising and thanking God.
After about three minutes, passed an extremely loud wrenching noise could be heard all over the ship. The whole Submarine began to shift – then it started to move. The Sonar tech yelled “Captain, I don’t know how, but we are rising. We have lifted from the ocean floor and we are rising!”
The Captain called the chief engineer and asked “Has any of our power been restored?!” The chief engineer said “None at all, Captain!” in a thoroughly bewildered tone.
The XO said, “Sir, as sure as we’re here, we are surfacing!”
The Captain looked at Sgt. Lenoir and whispered in a very weak voice “How?”
Sgt. Lenoir responded, “By the power of my God, who hears and answers prayer!”
The Captain looked at Sgt. Lenoir and his eyes came wide open. “Yep - That must be God!” hollered the Captain.
The submarine continued to rise through the ocean waters, and rise and within twenty-five minutes, the USS Sea Hawk was sitting on the ocean’s surface. And somehow, a few minutes after surfacing, the sub's full power was restored. Praise God!
_______________________
Daniel and twenty-four powerful angels together dove into the sea and raced to the bottom of the ocean. There they surrounded the USS Sea Hawk, spread themselves evenly all the way around the hull of the ship. And on Daniel’s command, they started to lift the eighteen thousand four hundred ton submarine.
The twenty-five angels all used their massive power to help lift the sub off the ocean floor and carried it to the surface of the Atlantic Ocean. Daniel then, with one touch, restored the ship’s power.
Daniel then turned and said “Thanks, guys. We do appreciate your help.” And with that, the twenty-four angels disappeared.
To this day, the Captain’s report of the whole incident (which is classified) offers no other explanation as to how the submarine and its crew was saved that day except the response given by Sgt. Lenoir “By the power of his God, who hears and answers prayer!”
But even if the U.S. Navy doesn’t understand what happened that day, Sgt. Lenoir and his mother understood very clearly what happened. Their heavenly Father heard and answered their prayers.
By the way, the young sailor on the sub named Tom, after this incident, sought out Jessie and thanked him. They talked and Jessie, by the grace of the Lord, led Tom to Christ. And true to his word, young Tom resigned from being an atheist and became a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise God!
(If you would like to get a copy of the book The Intercession Chronicles, click below.)
