“The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell therein. 2For He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters”
The earth belongs to the Lord therefore as children of God and intercessors called to declare his glory on the earth, we play a huge role in standing on God’s word and declaring according to Mathew 6:10 “ Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” God’s word is the truth that cannot be altered in any way or form. We are called to declare this trust through prayer against the lies of the world in which we live. Prayer remains the key to unlocking the gates of heaven to get the attention of the merciful God upon the earth. Our cities have been ravaged by drugs, alcoholism, the immorality of the highest degree, innocent bloodshed etc.
“Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned down. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we will no longer be a disgrace.” 18I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me, and what the king had said to me. “Let us start rebuilding,” they replied, and they set their hands to this good work”. Nehemiah 2:17
To call on the Lord for divine intervention, we must be real to state what has separated our cities from the Lord. We must stand in the place of our cities, confessing our sins before the Lord and asking God for forgiveness. Daniel 9: 4-5 “4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: “Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 5 we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws”
As we raise altars of righteous and fervent prayers, we must dedicate our cities to Lord as we see in Nehemiah 3:1 “At the Sheep Gate, Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests began rebuilding. They dedicated it and installed its doors. After building as far as the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel, they dedicated the wall.”
Prayer Points
Let us list the sins of our cities before God and plea with him to forgive us. “4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: “Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 5 we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws” Daniel 9: 4-5
Because the earth is the Lord’s pray that his desired will alone be established. “The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell therein. 2For He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters” Psalm 24:1-2
Stand on the word of God and speak these words to the gates in the north, south, west and east: 10 “7 Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 8 Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. 9 Lift up your heads, you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.10 Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty— he is the King of glory” Psalm 24:7
Pray and ask the Lord for the building grace at the place of prayer so that your name can surface on the list of those who actually build their cities spiritually. “Cain had relations with his wife and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch; and he built a city, and called the name of the city Enoch, after the name of his son” Genesis 4:17
Pray for the Jonahs sent to our cities to arise and get onto God’s work. Our cities are waiting for the Jonahs, some of whom may still be on the run, in the fish’s belly, or on their way. Pray that they will show up. “5 The Ninevites believed in God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.6 When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat down in the dust.” Jonah 3:5-6
As the light of the world, pray that you must shine wherever you go, you or nobody will dem your light. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden” Matthew 5:14
Pray for the grace to descend and hear God and when to arise and shut the gates of our cities in prayers against forces of wickedness. “It came about that just as it grew dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and that they should not open them until after the sabbath. Then I stationed some of my servants at the gates so that no load would enter on the sabbath day.” Nehemiah 13:19
As we pouch our cities in prayers, we must also pray that evil shall not enter our cities.“32 So this is what the LORD says about the king of Assyria: ‘He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow into it. He will not come before it with a shield or build up a siege ramp against it. 33 He will go back the way he came, and he will not enter this city,’ declares the LORD.” 2 Kings 19: 32-33
Pray for the grace to intercede at the gates of our cities so we will be watchful to prevent entries of anything not of God. Abraham prayed for the city where sin had metastasized to every corner and the only remedy was God’s anger. “Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it?”. Genesis 18:24
Pray for the grace to stand strong and allow God to do his work in our cities. “ Be of good courage, and let us behave ourselves valiantly for our people, and for the cities of our God: and let the LORD do that which is good in his sight” 1 Chronicles 19:13
As the Lord for this kind of grace “violent take it by force”, to take back our cities from the devil, for he will not hand our cities just like that. It must be a fight and we are winners because of the completed work on the cross. “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.” Mathew 11:12