Summoned by God: Your Prophetic Commission as a Watchman for America’s Future

Excerpted from The Spirit of Elijah.

Many are called in their generation by the Voice of God.

In my case, they are summoned for a generational and prophetic purpose. Please allow me to share a part of my summoning that released a generational assignment in my life. I desire that you find what God has called you to and that the Spirit of the Living God will summon you to engage with the location, people, and purpose God has for you. That is why I want to share this with you.

I have long believed that the Holy Spirit is summoning many to engage with the reformation spirit of Elijah in this generation. One day, the Voice of God found me, like on other occasions, but this time, it was unique, directional, and weighty.

When God speaks, it can be a small voice or through a burning bush. He speaks at different times and in various ways. In the instance that led me to write this book, His Voice was stark and direct. The encounter was supernaturally audible in my intellect and my spirit. The Voice of God came directly at me, knocking me from a standing position into my chair while saying, “Come up here, Joseph! Come up higher, come up where I AM!”

Nothing was unique in my surroundings when this happened. I was standing in a meeting with several other ministers I respected during ministry time. Prophetic ministry was happening at the front of the meeting, and I was simply praying in the Spirit while this took place. As my eyes were fixed on the moment and my heart engaged in prayer over those receiving, that supernatural moment suddenly happened, which I now know impacted me more than I first understood.

While watching that time of ministry, it was as if power opened from the spirit realm and roared across the room like a narrow spotlight in the form of spiritual sound—my eyes and ears were taken over by the Spirit realm with what felt like a flash of lightning. Nothing changed in the natural, but a sudden and spiritually audible snap struck me from the platform of this meeting to the back of the room where I was standing. It was a message for me directly from the throne of God, saying these powerful and highly potent words:

“Come up here, Joseph, come up higher, come up where I AM!”

These words struck me in my intellect and inner man when they were spoken directly. They caused me to fall into the seat directly behind me. Those words knocked me down! To everyone around me, it was calm and mellow. A simple time of wonderful ministry was taking place in the room. It was an earth-shaking moment that had rocked me from the inside out. Then, as quickly as it came, it was over. All was quiet and normal again.

However, those words stayed with me like a brand on my heart. Experientially, I knew something significant had taken place. I held it in my heart and began to ask the Lord why I heard such a precise word that lines up with Revelation 4:1, which says, “…come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.”

Waiting on The Lord is Not A Passive Action

I prayed about the words “come up here, come up where I am” for weeks until another moment unfolded. Now, just before telling the next encounter, let me say that it is crucial we don’t spend our lives waiting on an encounter or some supernatural experience to do what God tells us to do or as our guide for life. Reading the Bible for a long time is necessary for those seeking the Lord and praying in the Spirit.

God is Calling Many Into Action Service

When we seek the Lord or have a supernatural encounter, we should bathe in it by praying in the Spirit and staying firmly in the Word of God throughout the process. Having said this, let me share with you what happened next, as I believe it will shed light on the way God calls many to active duty in this generation.

Once again, by sharing some of my journey, you may discover how God could be calling you to serve actively in response to the spirit of Elijah’s arrival in your generation. Answering the specific call that God presents to you is the gateway to engaging the spirit of Elijah and fulfilling your role as a reformer in your generation.

Summoned As a Watchman on America’s Mountain

Only a few weeks after I heard the words, “Come up higher,” I found myself praying early one morning, when with great clarity came an inner witness, in the form of an unction or desire, I knew the Holy Spirit was speaking to me. “Get up, go to the top of Pikes Peak,” I heard this in my spirit. It was strong on me with a desire to do this, so accompanied by my son Daniel, we got in our pickup truck and started the drive.

Driving up that windy journey was delightful. I prayed in the Spirit the entire way up, and my son agreed. As we approached the summit, we spent some time looking around and identifying other areas surrounding us.

Once we arrived at the summit, we walked around while praying in the Spirit. We found a location to look over the vast landscape before us. Pikes Peak is breathtaking; you can see a tremendous distance into the horizon. While standing high on that summit area, the Spirit of the Lord spoke to me about a prophetic assignment to “America’s Mountain.” What the Lord was saying began to dawn on me as His Voice grew stronger in me regarding this moment. Going to the zenith of Pikes Peak was a prophetic sign to me.

While standing at the summit of America’s mountain, the Lord began to speak to me, saying, “I have called you as a watchman to America.” God had summoned and commissioned me to the top of Pikes Peak to get my undivided attention and give me this assignment.

The Purple Mountain Majesty

Some may not know this, but the phrase “purple mountain majesty” in our great national song, “America the Beautiful,” is a direct reference to Pikes Peak.

Much of this was the beginning of the fulfillment of a prophetic word my wife and I received many years before that time. The prophecy given to us declared that I would come to a time when our ministry would move to the mountains, and we would become like the mountains around us. This was a representation of ministries and our voice on the earth.

We know this was when the Lord called us to have a specific voice in America, even though we have an international prophetic ministry with a worldwide broadcast. I love all nations and desire to preach the gospel and impact society in every culture—primarily through media!

However, as an international prophetic voice, we have a specific assignment to the United States of America: to call her to repentance, warn her, prepare her, and interpret the signs as the sons of Issachar did in Israel.

Come Up Higher Became Clear

As my son and I stood at the summit area of Pikes Peak, I realized the Holy Spirit was calling me to America as a watchman. I also understood that Pikes Peak is known as America’s mountain, and the words “Come up higher” started to become clearer!

Not only was this a revelatory and prophetic watchman calling, but now, standing on America’s mountain, I recognized that I was being called as a watchman based in a geographic location representing America. That moment, God reminded me of my studies regarding the apostle John, who, in his later years, wrote 1, 2, and 3 John and finished the book of Revelation in his home overlooking Ephesus.

Sent to The Seven Churches in Revelation

Several months after our divine assignment on the summit of Pikes Peak, my wife, daughter, and I took a trip to Turkey to physically visit the sites of each of the seven churches mentioned in the book of Revelation—a journey led by my dear friend, Rick Renner.

John the Revelator’s House

While in Ephesus, we had the opportunity to stand on the well-preserved remains of John the Revelator’s house. John, who wrote the book of Revelation, was the one who heard the words, “Come up here!” in Revelation 4:1. Standing in that location was a prophetic moment as I heard what John heard, and now I was standing at John’s house. God’s Voice is so powerful and clear at times. He shows no favoritism, and it was a profound moment to hear those words and find myself standing in the very place where the wonderful man of God lived.

John’s house was above the temple of Artemis, where he could hear pagan worship and the sounds of a godless culture. My daughter Ali walked with me as I found a place on the ridge overlooking the temple of Artemis. This scenic overlook was a brief walk away from John’s house, and I could imagine John standing there and praying over the temple and city below him.

John was stationed right there! It struck me deeply that God assigns some to a location for His kingdom’s purposes. Above that temple on that mountain range, God had John tucked away from the attention of a pagan world gone mad, yet he still made a global impact on the kingdom of God!

While there, my heart was full when I considered John in his later years—an old tenured saint who endured in his generation yet found himself in his later 90s (or older) writing the most incredible piece of inspired prophetic literature in the history of the world! What ministered to me powerfully was realizing John was called to do the assignment God gave him. He was different from all the other apostles, even outliving them by decades.

John was located in one of the ancient world’s main epicenters for pagan idolatry, yet thrived in God’s will. It was a powerful moment when considering that God not only had a profound calling for John but also, again, has a distinct calling for every person—there is a distinct calling God has for you!

My heart was full while standing at John the Revelator’s house, as the Spirit of the Lord was speaking to me and confirming my assignment. I was being called as a watchman to America. In biblical terms, a watchman is appointed by God as a spiritual guardian through prayer to warn of impending danger and to proclaim God’s truth. This watchman call rang stronger when I saw where John lived. No matter the climate of the culture, the watchmen are to be situated where God places them as a distribution center of revelation and for understanding the signs of the times.