"Nations await the rising of the Lord's
army. We can defeat strongholds - individual
by individual, then by groups, cities, regions
and nations. We must neither quail at the enormity
of the task nor rush foolishly in where the
Holy Spirit has not led. We must develop more
discipline and corporateness than we have ever
known. Self-disciplined behavior must replace
our personal desires."
It
is now time that we, as intercessors, pray and
believe that God will touch entire cities and
nations by His mighty power. God has given us
the authority to do this in prayer. Remember that
earth is the Lords and everything in it. God's
army of intercessors must arise. There are essential
keys to apply personally and corporately in order
to see major strongholds broken. What are these
keys in seeing the strongholds broken over cities
and regions?
There
is much satanic counterattack when you war against
corporate strongholds. You must first know
how to deal with strongholds in your own life
and in others. The satanic attack comes through
your own personal strongholds. You must give the
enemy no open doors. If God is calling you to
enter into spiritual warfare on this level, you
must answer the question, "What are corporate
and regional strongholds? Here is a good definition
by John Sandford: "Corporate mental strongholds
- the devil's most cogent and frequently employed
device for controlling every kind of nation -
are practiced ways of thinking, feeling or acting
that we share with a larger group, or with mankind
as a whole."
"See
to it that no one takes you captive through
hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends
on human tradition and the basic principles
of this world rather than on Christ." (Colossians
2:8)
People
develop in the mentality they share with others,
and these form strongholds over nations. They
are extremely powerful. We have been in many nations
where these corporate strongholds rule. We have
seen difficulties in the missionaries working
there. These difficulties manifest in relational
problems, depression, discouragement, hopelessness,
and many other things. We can feel the heaviness
of these spirits almost immediately entering a
country. We must realize that principalities and
powers are controlling these areas of the world,
and that these corporate strongholds are much
more powerful than personal strongholds. We read
in Ephesians 6:12, "Our struggle is not against
flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against
the powers, against the world forces of this darkness,
against the spiritual forces of wickedness in
the heavenly places"
The
world forces of darkness rule multitudes through
corporate mental strongholds. They use all
the demonic lies found in personal strongholds,
but they have much more power. We can see the
reality of this power whenever we see groups of
people doing violent things that an individual
would not do alone. For example, a youth gang
will rape or kill a woman where an individual
would not. World demonic rulers will kill and
destroy homes because of ethnic hatred. Hitler
and his men killed millions of Jews without any
guilt. Corporate strongholds can destroy guilt.
The stronghold of homosexuality has deceived multitudes
of people into thinking that being gay is alright.
"Whenever people begin to think in wrong ways,
the enemy moves strongholds over their minds,
clamps them into place like a helmet and takes
them captive to do all manner of evils that none
of them in their rightful minds would ever have
allowed."
The
devil takes people captive. He wants to imprison
whole nations and people groups. The Holy
Spirit wants to set people free. The more we are
aware of how the enemy controls whole groups of
peoples and even nations, the more we can be used
by God to demolish principalities. It is the strength
of God that will do it and not our own human ability.
It is important to realize that we can never destroy
these corporate strongholds alone. They are too
powerful. "Individuals fight individuals. Armies
fight armies. When warring against a principality
and the strongholds it employs, we are battling
not only the principality but multitudes of demons
as well - hundreds or thousands of them. No individual
believer, nor even an entire army, will be able
to eradicate such a stronghold as drugs or homosexuality
or ethnic hatred. These are too ancient, too powerful
and too entrenched in the minds and hearts of
many. We may deliver many from a stronghold, but
we can't defeat strongholds over regions until
entire masses of people hate it, repent, forgive
and ask for forgiveness, and bring it to death
on the cross."
"Let
the godly ones exult in glory; let them sing
for joy on their beds. Let the high praises
of God be in their mouth, and two-edged sword
in their hand, to execute vengeance on the nations
and punishment on the peoples; to bind their
kings with chains and their nobles with fetters
of iron, to execute on them the judgment written;
this is an honor for all His godly ones. Praise
the Lord!" (Psalm 149:5-9)
Rules
of Warfare in Breaking Strongholds over Cities
and Nations
- The
Holy Spirit must guide you - Make sure that
the Holy Spirit is calling you to this level
of warfare. God's army must be well trained
and mature spiritually. Ask yourself several
questions: Is God asking you to help break an
individual stronghold or a group, region, or
even a national stronghold? If it is more than
an individual, who are you to do it with? What
prayer groups have the same vision? Are you
supposed to set individuals or groups free from
homosexuality, drugs, alcohol, etc.? Is it your
church or several prayers groups in your city?
Is the group you are praying with united and
mature spiritually? Are you sure that God is
calling you?
"They
charge like warriors; they scale walls like
soldiers. They all march in line, not swerving
from their course. They do not jostle each
other; each marches straight ahead. They plunge
through defenses without breaking rank." (Joel
2:7-8)
- Make
sure you have enough prayer warriors - Breaking
strongholds in cities, regions and nations require
armies to match the size of the battle. "I hope
the day comes, however, when sufficient numbers
of Christians have been trained and united to
tackle and ring down strongholds and their wielders,
and to set entire regions free. Can you imagine
an army one hundred thousand strong, or even
hundreds of thousands strong, standing in determination
to bring down the stronghold of homosexuality
over our nations? Or abortion, or radial prejudice,
or the rights movement that corrupts our court
system, or opportunism in politics, or the sexual
revolution?"
"What
king, when he sets out to meet another king
in battle, will not first sit down and consider
whether he is strong enough with ten thousand
men to encounter the one coming against him
with twenty thousand?" (Luke 14:31)
-
Seek God's strategy
- Seek the Lord's guidance many times before
taking action. Make sure that there is persistent
prayer and that you have good strong leadership.
Watch carefully for strongholds in your own
life that might surface. Deal with them quickly
when they arise. Know your identity in Christ.
Satan will often accuse you of the same problem
and tap into your personal strongholds. Find
out about the history of a person, group, or
nation under the control of a stronghold. Wars
are won by battle plans. It is essential to
know your plan of action.
"But
the plans of the Lord stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations."
(Psalm 33:11)
- Saturate
the region with worship, praise and thanksgiving
- Understand the power of worship and thanksgiving
in defeating the enemy. When going to a nation,
I often spend much time in worship and praise.
I often bring praise music with me. I will worship
God on the balcony, traveling by train, riding
in the car or prayerwalking. I know that this
is one of my greatest weapons of war and so
I try to cultivate it whenever I can.
"He
who sacrifices thank offerings honors me,
and he prepares the way so that I may show
him the salvation of God." (Psalm 50:23)
-
Exercise discernment and persist in prayer
- There needs to be a lot of spirit-led prayer
and intercession throughout the whole process
of breaking strongholds. Timing is important.
The devil will try to maintain his hold over
nations and cities. Listen to Him for guidance.
Proceed carefully at His direction. Ask God
to give your group a spirit of wisdom and revelation.
"I
keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ may give you the Spirit of wisdom and
revelation, so that you may know him better.
I pray also that the eyes of your heart may
be enlightened…" (Ephesians 1:17-18)
- Pray
God's Word over the territory - God's Word
is powerful in breaking the hold of the enemy
over the land. Bathing the region in intercession
through strategically praying the Word erodes
the power of the enemy and defeats him. Remember
that Jesus came against the enemy by quoting
the Word of God. God's Word is like fire that
shatters the deep-seated strongholds of the
enemy.
"'Is
not my word like fire', declares the Lords,
'and like a hammer that breaks a rock to pieces?'"
(Jeremiah 23:29)
-
Prepare for the devil's counterattack
- Walk in holiness, and maintain a close relationship
with the Lord. Have no unconfessed sin. Realize
that the devil looks for an area in your life
that he can attack. Maintain balance in your
life in Sabbath, rest, fellowship and exercise.
Fill your life with worship and praise.
"Sing
to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his
wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let
the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Look to the Lord and his strength' seek his
face always." (Psalm 105:2-4)
"When
will great numbers of men arise in prayer,
and in righteous fury, bring down the strongholds
of aggression that kill and maim men and women
and children? Someday it will happen. Scriptural
prophecy will not be denied. How long will
our Lord have to wait patiently while we dilly-dally
in our own petty concerns. I pray that God's
men and women will arise and learn the arts
of warfare that will heal the nations!" Quotes
by John Sandford
For
additional training on praying for the nations,
victory in spiritual warfare and how to pray for
cities; read the books called Intercessors
Arise - Book 1 and 2 by Debbie Przybylski
Training
in World Missions
To
learn more about the Elijah Company please read:
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