“Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors. . . .” (Acts 13: 36)

Lance Lambert, one of our generation’s most distinguished Bible scholars and intercessory leaders in Israel, died peacefully Sunday 10 May at age 84 in Jerusalem.

There are no coincidences in God. . . the date when modern Israel’s Declaration of Independence was declared, May 14, was the date for the burial of our dear brother. Somehow it is very prophetic: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth by itself alone; but if it die, it beareth much fruit.” (John 12:24) A memorial service in Jerusalem will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, 27th May, at the Pavilion in the Klal Building.

Until recent years, Lance enjoyed a worldwide itinerate ministry. Born in 1931, Lance grew up in England and met the Lord at age 12. He entered the school of African and Oriental studies at London University to prepare for the Lord’s work in China. He studied Classical Chinese, Mandarin, Oriental Philosophy and Far Eastern History, but the revolution closed the door to his entry into China.

In the early 1950’s, Lance served in the Royal Air Force in Egypt, where he learned many principles in intercessory prayer.  He later founded Halford House Christian Fellowship in Richmond, England.

Having discovered his Jewish ancestry, Lance became an Israeli citizen in 1980. His father and many members of his family died in the Holocaust.

Lance was noted for his eschatological views, which placed him in the tradition of Watchman Nee and T. Austin-Sparks. He wrote numerous books on prayer and Israel, including The Uniqueness of Israel.

Christine Darg and Lance Lambert in 2010 at a prayer meeting inside Jaffa Gate

Christine Darg and Lance Lambert in 2010 at a prayer meeting inside Jaffa Gate

A personal word from Christine Darg:

I first met Lance Lambert in Richmond, Virginia, at least 40 years ago when he used to preach in the summertime to a fellowship along with Chinese Brother Stephen Kaung. They were instrumental in introducing to my Mother and me the writings of Watchman Nee, which greatly impacted our spiritual lives. Through the years I learned many principles of leading intercessory prayer meetings from Lance.

For the past ten years, Lance addressed all of our New Year Intercessory Prayer convocations in Jerusalem, and whenever he happened to be in the country, he also agreed to speak at our other Jerusalem convocations.  The loss to the Body of Messiah cannot be calculated. His gravitas as an intercessory leader was unparalleled in Jerusalem, and it was always a privilege to be in a prayer meeting with Lance, as he truly knew how to follow the Holy Spirit and to hit the target in prayer.  We learned from Lance so very much about the nature of corporate prayer–how to follow the Holy Spirit in prayer and how not to run ahead of God in prayer. He understood the protocol of corporate prayer more than anybody I’ve ever known. Many years ago, I learned from Lance the Jewish principle of praying in a corporate prayer meeting using “we” rather than “I,” and to this day, when somebody prays in a corporate prayer meeting, “Lord, I ask. . .” rather than “Lord, we ask,” it grates on my spirit, like the scratching of fingernails on a blackboard.  This is because, in corporate prayer, we pray on behalf of the Body– we never isolate ourselves.  There’s great protection in that wisdom.  I’ve noticed that the corporate “we” also helps an intercessor to decrease and the Lord to increase. We need prayer leaders like Lance who can correct us as we learn to pray. Such praying is both taught and caught.

Lance had learned much about the nature of spiritual warfare. In “Spiritual Protection,” he wrote, “There is a war on against Christians and the church at large. Satan’s strategy is to lure us out of a place of safety into an exposed position. None of us is safe from his wiles unless we can recognise the danger. . . . When the enemy hunts for you, he must come up against Christ as your stronghold and fortress.”

We will never forget his British sense of humour and the twinkle in his eye when he exhorted us and ridiculed some of the excesses and foibles of “intercessors” whom he felt were not intercessors at all.

His last public address was during our 2015 Passover Convocation during which he exhorted us that the grace of God will be sufficient in turbulent times ahead. Lance exerted an extraordinary effort to attend that meeting, and we shall always cherish the thoughts that he shared with us that evening in a question and answer session.  Many of us that evening thought it was perhaps his last public address, yet we had hoped that the Lord would raise him up to continue weekly prayer in his home in Yemin Moshe.

One of the delegates present in that last meeting with Lance wrote to me, “Being present where those last words were spoken was a huge privilege. Seeing the effort it took him to walk was extremely moving. I remember his speaking of the Archbishop and the fire. At the time I thought I had missed the news that day! However he spoke of Cranmer, not Welby, the fire being that which was lit in England by Cranmer’s [Latimer’s and Ridley’s] death. . . . I sense Lance’s work was truly well done and complete and the fire in England is not yet extinguished.”

Since the Lord has seen fit to take Lance home during the counting of the omer, we can only imagine that the coming of the Lord is very near. Baruch dayan emet.

Lance once said in “What Is God Doing,” the following statement, “Oh, how thankful we should be to the Lord and how we need to ask that we might serve the counsel of God in our own generation (Acts 13:36).”  He did just that–he served the counsel of God in our generation!

The following prophetic word from his website was given by Lance Sunday 17 April 2011 in Jerusalem and sums up his prophetic style and thoughts:

It is well with you that you intercede for Israel that she be saved, for it is My purpose to save her. I will complete the circle of Redemption that began with Abraham and my promise that a great nation would come forth from him, and that in him would all the families of the earth be blessed. And so it has happened! For Israel became the vehicle through which My Word has come to all the nations; And also My Salvation; and the knowledge of My Purpose. From this nation, above all, came the Messiah. Soon the fullness of the Gentiles will have been saved, and I will turn again to Israel, to My Jewish People. They shall be reingrafted into their own olive tree, and My promise to Abraham will be gloriously fulfilled. Then their hardness of heart will melt, their blindness be turned into sight, and their suffering to radiant Glory. This is My determined purpose, and I shall not be turned from it. It will shortly begin to be fulfilled. I will turn all their weakness into unbelievable power, and I will use this nation as the last witness to the world as to who I am.

Take very seriously what is taking place in the Arab world. It is no good for Israel! It is not a move toward freedom and true democracy, but an enormous gain for militant Islam. They will seek to annihilate and liquidate Israel, but they will not only fail; their strength and power will be broken, and a huge harvest of souls will be saved from amongst them.

Hear Me, I call you to intercession! It will not be easy. All the powers of My enemy are centred and focused on stopping this people from coming into My Redemption and Salvation. But he will fail! I look therefore for those who will stand in the gap, who will build up the wall; those who will stand in the place of intercession.

Shortly also I will begin more serious judgment on the Western nations. I will bring them to nothing; I will turn them upside down; I will grind them to powder. They will not know what has hit them. It will seem as if there is nothing left of what once I worked in those nations; Especially that Superpower. I will bring it to weakness; she will no longer be super, but a pity of the nations.

Hear this Word of Mine; I call you to intercede for those who belong to Me in those nations; that they will be saved from it! Hear this cry. My heart yearns for those who belong to Me, that they might be clear in their understanding, clear in the way that they are to walk in the midst of all this. Do hear Me! For I speak to you who love Me, and who have this morning remembered Me; I do not desire judgment, but judgment of the most serious and devastating kind will fall upon those nations. Hear this Word from Me, and obey My call to intercession!