“The godly will possess the land and will live there forever.” Psalm 37:29
Deuteronomy 7:1-11,
“When the Lord your God brings you into the land which you go to posses, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you, and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly.
But thus you shall deal with them:
you shall destroy their altars, and breakdown their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire.
For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, but because the Lord loves you, and because he would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; and He repays those who hate Him to his face. Therefore you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I command you today, to observe them.”
Deuteronomy 7:22-26,
“And the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you little by little; you will be unable to destroy them at once, lest the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. But the Lord your God will deliver them over to you, and will inflict defeat upon them until they are destroyed. And He will deliver their kings into your hand, and you will destroy their name from under heaven; no one shall be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them. You shall burn the carved images of their gods with fire; you shall not covet the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be snared by it; for it is an abomination to the Lord your god. Nor shall you bring an abomination into your house, lest you be doomed to destruction like it. You shall utterly detest it and utterly abhor it, for it is an accursed thing.”
Deuteronomy 9:3-5
“Therefore understand today that the Lord your God is He who goes over before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and bring them down before you; so you shall drive them out and destroy them quickly, as the Lord has said to you. Do not think in your heart, after the Lord your god has cast them out before you, saying, 'Because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess this land'; but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out from before you. It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to posses their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God drives them out from before you, and that He may fulfill the word which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Therefore understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people.”
Deuteronomy 12:1-4,
“These are the statutes and judgments which you shall be careful to observe in the land which the Lord God of your fathers is giving you to possess, all the days you live on the earth. You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place. You shall not worship the Lord your God with such things.”
Deuteronomy 12:29-31,
“When the Lord your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, 'How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.' You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way; for every abomination to the Lord which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.”
“For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture.”
God makes very clear in the book of Deuteronomy, the Israelites were meant to be a holy nation, set apart for God. But not a nation taken out of the world, living apart from sin. Instead, he places them right in the middle of all the activity. He places them in a land where people are worshiping whatever they feel like it and then burning their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.
At some time I read that one of the gods, Moloch, was like a brass stove or furnace. They would stoke it up with offerings and then place a baby in the hands of the god. As the brass god heated up from the fire, it would burn the baby to death. The priests would beat drums to drown out the sound of the poor tormented baby who was screaming while being burned to death while the parents stood by. [a]
“Holiness is what you want from me... Faithfulness is what you want from me."
He tells His people to go and possess the land. Not only take the land and live in it, but transform it. They were to convert the land from a place that worshiped idols and gave their children as sacrifices, to a land that honored and gave glory to God.
“More love, more power, more of You in my life.”
They were not to be overcome by the gods or evil of the land, but to overcome the god's of the land and evil by the power of God. Over and over, He assured the people that He would go before them as a consuming fire and devour their enemies and cast them out, giving His people the land to live in holiness. They were not to live among the gods and idols of the nation. Instead, the people were to rise up in faith and take possession. God was purging the land of sin by using His people to occupy it.
“Isn't He beautiful? Oh, yes You are!”
To dispossess the inhabitants from the land means to take possession of it oneself as one's rightful inheritance. To possess, yarash means “to inherit.” [1]
So what about today? Does God still want to use His people to 'possess the land'?
Peter says in 1 Peter 2:9-10, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.”
A Chosen Generation.
The Israelites, as a royal priesthood and holy nation inheriting the land is a type and shadow of New Testament Christians inheriting salvation[2] and abundant life through Christ. We were chosen to obtain salvation through Christ that we might be witnesses, proclaiming His praises.
This however, does not mean that we witness or possess the land by running everyone through with a sword, attacking and demanding that others follow our ways. 1 Peter 2:17 says, “Honor all people.”
Our enemy is not people. Paul says in Ephesians 6:12, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
A Royal Priesthood.
Given our enemy is powers of this dark world and against spiritual forces, our weapons need to also be spiritual. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
One of the ways we take the land is by prayer. Mike Bickle writes, “When we pray, we confront and even displace the demonic forces behind injustice. Paul tells us, 'We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places' (Eph. 6:12). Significant dimensions of injustice on the earth are empowered demonically, and humanitarian work in itself cannot break the powers instituting injustice.... Works of justice and intercession are deeply connects as one reality before God... Prayer is a primary way in which we can partner with God to shape history and bring healing to others. Paul exhorts us: 'in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Phil. 4:6). [3]
And as Mike Bickle notes, we must be a people who pray daily. He writes, “In praying daily, we confess our inability, incompetence, and powerlessness to fix the world. Persistent prayer releases the power of heaven to transform the problematic landscape of our cities and nations.” [4]
Persistent prayer matters to God and He honors it. In Luke 18:1-8, Jesus tells a parable about a widow who was given justice by an unjust judge because she was persistent in asking. Then Jesus asks, “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?” (Luke 18:7).
God would have us pray to him daily to build our relationship with Him and strengthen our faith. If we only come to Him when we want something from Him in times of distress, we miss the opportunity to share His heart and understand His ways.
Prayer changes the atmosphere. One of our primary positions is to stand before God as a priest and minister to him on behalf of ourselves and behalf of our family and community. As we pray through a difficult situation, we are inviting the Spirit of God into our circumstances to bring His kingdom. Prayer matters and makes a difference in our lives and the lives of those around us.
As an example, several years ago when I had started a new position, I found out I just happened to sit next to a woman who had my position previously and was removed from it. All the staff had threatened to quit so she had been placed in a role of project manager instead (who happened to be assigned to work with me on several system related projects). She hated me and went out of her way to make my life miserable wherever possible. She would then meet with by boss and complain about me, making all kinds of accusations, and complain about me to upper management. Because of the hostility, it got to the point where I refused to have any more business meetings with her that did not include other management present.
Things seemed to be at their worst just as Christmas was coming up. Every year around Christmas, I ask the Holy Spirit what I can give to Jesus for His birthday. That year, I felt him speak to me that I could write a note to this woman, apologizing for anything possible I might have done to cause her any pain or harm and then fast and pray for her over the holidays as a gift to Jesus for His birthday. The thought of apologizing to her after all she had done to make my life miserable made me absolutely sick. I couldn't believe God was asking me to apologize to her when she was the one clearly in the wrong and causing me harm. I cried about it and then left her an apology note on her chair on the last workday before Christmas. Over the holiday, I fasted and prayed for her. When I came back the following week, the difference was amazing. She was like a totally different person and went out of her way to be nice to me. And I noticed my heart towards her had changed as well. I wanted the best for her. I was free from the anger and resentment about her past behavior. Not too long after, she was given an opportunity to supervise a small group of staff again and it went well for her. I was actually proud of her.
We are to not only pray for and serve those who we love and care about, but also for those who cause us harm. Jesus says in Matthew 5:43-46, “You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?”
Coming back to what I wrote earlier, our enemy is not people. And how we overcome evil is by good. Paul says in Romans 12:21, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” It is our prayers and good works (obedience to God in loving others) that bring forth the kingdom of God.
A Holy Nation.
Peter says how we are live before the world in 1 Peter 2:11-12: “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.”
“One day every tongue will confess you are God, one day every knee will bow. Still the greatest treasure remains for those who gladly choose you now!”
God is the consuming fire that goes before us burning up our enemies. We 'possess' the land by faith, by not conforming to it but rather honoring God in the midst of it and allowing God to use us to tear down altars to other gods.
As an example, when I first became a Christian, my husband and I greatly struggled. He did not agree to marry a Christian and was incredibly unhappy about me becoming one. I changed fairly drastically after becoming a Christian – over a period of a few years I gave up smoking, swearing, and watching most TV and movies we had watched together, as well as the hard rock music we listened to. Instead, I was reading my bible and listening to worship music. And as I was set free from depression and some phobias, I was no longer dependent upon him in the same way I had been in the past. He felt like he had a completely different wife and he was both afraid and greatly disappointed about it. Our marriage became extremely rocky and we both wanted a divorce.
As I was complaining to God about how difficult it was to stay together, God spoke to me at the time two things: First, He spoke to me that He hated divorce. Second, He spoke to me through something I was reading and journaling on at the time that living out the word of God in my life only required me to follow it in order to have a godly marriage. I only needed to worry about what I had control over -myself.
1 Peter 3:1- 2 says, “Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.”
Submitting does not mean to just go along with sin. As one of my pastors noted in a sermon some time ago, submitting is coming under your spouse and lifting them up. Daily I would read my bible and listen to the past sermons of my current pastor on how to live out the gospel in my life and in my marriage. As I followed the gospel for my own life and came under my husband, lifting him up, encouraging him in godly choices, his heart began to change. He slowly began to change along with me. Looking back now, he has changed tremendously over the years of my Christianity. He has become incredibly thoughtful and gentle hearted and we have became true soul mates. We have a wonderful marriage and are both grateful to have each other.
In the same way, today God wants His people to possess the land. He does not want us to live among the gods of the world, or even worse, be defiled by them and follow the ways of the world. Instead, He would have us rise up and advance against our enemies, purge the land from sin and take it as our rightful inheritance.
Mike Bickle writes, “Jesus used John the Baptist's life and ministry to exemplify what it meant when He said, 'The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force' (Mt. 11:12). Jesus was not referring in any way to a physical violence, but to an interior spiritual 'violence' characterized by radical obedience and love for God. Jesus aptly describes this sort of radical abandonment to God as spiritual 'violence,' because such radical obedience is disruptive to worldly pursuits and mindsets. It violently confronts our sinful desires, pride, and selfishness.... Spiritual violence speaks of holy intensity in pursing and loving God and people. This sort of spiritual violence is motivated by love and declares war on our sin, selfishness, and compromise.”[5]
Our God is the all consuming fire who goes before us and fights for us. We are to transform the land from a place that worships idols and gives their children as sacrifices to the gods of this world, to a place where God is glorified and honored.
His Own Special People.
Everywhere we plant our feet, we bring the kingdom of God with us. We are to transform the land by our presence, not live among the ways of the world, or even worse, live like the world. By living out the word of God in our own lives, in humility and obedience, we influence and change the world around us by the Spirit that resides inside of us.
As my pastor noted this last weekend, being a witness is not something we have to do, but something we are. It is our testimony of our life in Christ that makes us a witness. This witness, ourselves, we bring into every situation and circumstance. And it is the Holy Spirit that makes us witnesses.
Jesus tells the disciples in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
When the disciples received power from on high, they did not go out and try to find people to witness to. Rather, by the power of the Holy Spirit, they began speaking in the tongues of the devout Jews from every nation that happened to be staying in Jerusalem. Acts 2:6-7 says, “then they were all amazed and marveled saying to one another, 'Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born?' And after this Peter stood up and boldly explained, preaching to them the gospel by the power of the Holy Spirit. Three thousand were added to them (Acts 2:41).
Peter had told the people, “But this is what was spoken of by the prophet Joel: 'And it shall come to pass in these last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above and signs on the earth beneath...” (Acts 2:17-19a)
In a recent Prayer and Intercession Conference I went to at the International House of Prayer (IHOP) in Kansas City, Corey Russell noted in his session that it was a season that the church was awakening from her slumber and entering into the glory of priesthood. He also referred to Mal. 4:5-6 which says, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord" and mentioned that the Spirit of Elijah was coming upon the churches and they would prophesy for 3 1/2 years.[b] Corey talked about the Spirit being that of holy, loving, and bold confrontation. He also talked about the Spirit turning the hearts of the fathers to their children (Mal. 4:6) and there being revival in families.
As the church awakens and God pours out His Spirit on His bride, empowering her to be a witness, with holy, loving and bold confrontation, (conviction of the Spirit rather than judgment or being critical) hearts will turn towards each other and His bride will possesses the land (see Rev. 19:11-21).
Lord, thank you for making us witnesses to proclaim your praises. I long to see the fullness of Your Spirit poured out upon us and Your sons and daughters walking in the fullness of Your promises. Would You pour out the Spirit of Elijah upon Your body that your sons and daughters would prophesy with holy, loving and bold confrontation? Would you go before us as a consuming fire and devour our enemies before our very eyes?
1. Vine, W. E., Unger, M. F., & White, W. (1996). Vine's complete expository dictionary of Old and New Testament words (1:182). Nashville: T. Nelson.
2.Strong, J. (1996). The exhaustive concordance of the Bible : Showing every word of the text of the common English version of the canonical books, and every occurrence of each word in regular order. (electronic ed.) (G1589). Ontario: Woodside Bible Fellowship.
3-5. Bickle, Mike with Kim, Brian. 7 Commitments of a Forerunner: A Sacred Charge to Press Into God. Forerunner Publishing. Kansas City, MO. 2009.
a. Today, we no longer burn our children in fire to gods. However, in the US, 1.4 million babies are aborted a year, 93% due to inconvenience. Forty three percent of the women you run into will have had an abortion by the time they are 45 years old. What is even more distressing, is that the majority of abortions (over 75%) happen by those who claim to have some form of religion. And almost 20% of these abortions are from women who claim to be born-again Evangelical Christians (approx 34% to 37% of the population claims to be born-again Evangelical Christians).
Abortion Statistics Located at: http://www.abortionno.org/Resources/fastfacts.html Last Accessed: 10/19/2010
b. I wonder if he got the 3 1/2 years from Revelation 11:1-3. It says that for 3 1/2 years (42 months) the Gentiles (unbelievers) will trample the holy city underfoot and that God will give power to His two witnesses and they will prophesy 3 1/2 years (one thousand two hundred and sixty days) clothed in sackcloth.
“When the Lord your God brings you into the land which you go to posses, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you, and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly.
But thus you shall deal with them:
you shall destroy their altars, and breakdown their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire.
For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, but because the Lord loves you, and because he would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; and He repays those who hate Him to his face. Therefore you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I command you today, to observe them.”
Deuteronomy 7:22-26,
“And the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you little by little; you will be unable to destroy them at once, lest the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. But the Lord your God will deliver them over to you, and will inflict defeat upon them until they are destroyed. And He will deliver their kings into your hand, and you will destroy their name from under heaven; no one shall be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them. You shall burn the carved images of their gods with fire; you shall not covet the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be snared by it; for it is an abomination to the Lord your god. Nor shall you bring an abomination into your house, lest you be doomed to destruction like it. You shall utterly detest it and utterly abhor it, for it is an accursed thing.”
Deuteronomy 9:3-5
“Therefore understand today that the Lord your God is He who goes over before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and bring them down before you; so you shall drive them out and destroy them quickly, as the Lord has said to you. Do not think in your heart, after the Lord your god has cast them out before you, saying, 'Because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess this land'; but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out from before you. It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to posses their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God drives them out from before you, and that He may fulfill the word which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Therefore understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people.”
Deuteronomy 12:1-4,
“These are the statutes and judgments which you shall be careful to observe in the land which the Lord God of your fathers is giving you to possess, all the days you live on the earth. You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place. You shall not worship the Lord your God with such things.”
Deuteronomy 12:29-31,
“When the Lord your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, 'How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.' You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way; for every abomination to the Lord which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.”
“For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture.”
God makes very clear in the book of Deuteronomy, the Israelites were meant to be a holy nation, set apart for God. But not a nation taken out of the world, living apart from sin. Instead, he places them right in the middle of all the activity. He places them in a land where people are worshiping whatever they feel like it and then burning their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.
At some time I read that one of the gods, Moloch, was like a brass stove or furnace. They would stoke it up with offerings and then place a baby in the hands of the god. As the brass god heated up from the fire, it would burn the baby to death. The priests would beat drums to drown out the sound of the poor tormented baby who was screaming while being burned to death while the parents stood by. [a]
“Holiness is what you want from me... Faithfulness is what you want from me."
He tells His people to go and possess the land. Not only take the land and live in it, but transform it. They were to convert the land from a place that worshiped idols and gave their children as sacrifices, to a land that honored and gave glory to God.
“More love, more power, more of You in my life.”
They were not to be overcome by the gods or evil of the land, but to overcome the god's of the land and evil by the power of God. Over and over, He assured the people that He would go before them as a consuming fire and devour their enemies and cast them out, giving His people the land to live in holiness. They were not to live among the gods and idols of the nation. Instead, the people were to rise up in faith and take possession. God was purging the land of sin by using His people to occupy it.
“Isn't He beautiful? Oh, yes You are!”
To dispossess the inhabitants from the land means to take possession of it oneself as one's rightful inheritance. To possess, yarash means “to inherit.” [1]
So what about today? Does God still want to use His people to 'possess the land'?
Peter says in 1 Peter 2:9-10, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.”
A Chosen Generation.
The Israelites, as a royal priesthood and holy nation inheriting the land is a type and shadow of New Testament Christians inheriting salvation[2] and abundant life through Christ. We were chosen to obtain salvation through Christ that we might be witnesses, proclaiming His praises.
This however, does not mean that we witness or possess the land by running everyone through with a sword, attacking and demanding that others follow our ways. 1 Peter 2:17 says, “Honor all people.”
Our enemy is not people. Paul says in Ephesians 6:12, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
A Royal Priesthood.
Given our enemy is powers of this dark world and against spiritual forces, our weapons need to also be spiritual. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
One of the ways we take the land is by prayer. Mike Bickle writes, “When we pray, we confront and even displace the demonic forces behind injustice. Paul tells us, 'We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places' (Eph. 6:12). Significant dimensions of injustice on the earth are empowered demonically, and humanitarian work in itself cannot break the powers instituting injustice.... Works of justice and intercession are deeply connects as one reality before God... Prayer is a primary way in which we can partner with God to shape history and bring healing to others. Paul exhorts us: 'in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Phil. 4:6). [3]
And as Mike Bickle notes, we must be a people who pray daily. He writes, “In praying daily, we confess our inability, incompetence, and powerlessness to fix the world. Persistent prayer releases the power of heaven to transform the problematic landscape of our cities and nations.” [4]
Persistent prayer matters to God and He honors it. In Luke 18:1-8, Jesus tells a parable about a widow who was given justice by an unjust judge because she was persistent in asking. Then Jesus asks, “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?” (Luke 18:7).
God would have us pray to him daily to build our relationship with Him and strengthen our faith. If we only come to Him when we want something from Him in times of distress, we miss the opportunity to share His heart and understand His ways.
Prayer changes the atmosphere. One of our primary positions is to stand before God as a priest and minister to him on behalf of ourselves and behalf of our family and community. As we pray through a difficult situation, we are inviting the Spirit of God into our circumstances to bring His kingdom. Prayer matters and makes a difference in our lives and the lives of those around us.
As an example, several years ago when I had started a new position, I found out I just happened to sit next to a woman who had my position previously and was removed from it. All the staff had threatened to quit so she had been placed in a role of project manager instead (who happened to be assigned to work with me on several system related projects). She hated me and went out of her way to make my life miserable wherever possible. She would then meet with by boss and complain about me, making all kinds of accusations, and complain about me to upper management. Because of the hostility, it got to the point where I refused to have any more business meetings with her that did not include other management present.
Things seemed to be at their worst just as Christmas was coming up. Every year around Christmas, I ask the Holy Spirit what I can give to Jesus for His birthday. That year, I felt him speak to me that I could write a note to this woman, apologizing for anything possible I might have done to cause her any pain or harm and then fast and pray for her over the holidays as a gift to Jesus for His birthday. The thought of apologizing to her after all she had done to make my life miserable made me absolutely sick. I couldn't believe God was asking me to apologize to her when she was the one clearly in the wrong and causing me harm. I cried about it and then left her an apology note on her chair on the last workday before Christmas. Over the holiday, I fasted and prayed for her. When I came back the following week, the difference was amazing. She was like a totally different person and went out of her way to be nice to me. And I noticed my heart towards her had changed as well. I wanted the best for her. I was free from the anger and resentment about her past behavior. Not too long after, she was given an opportunity to supervise a small group of staff again and it went well for her. I was actually proud of her.
We are to not only pray for and serve those who we love and care about, but also for those who cause us harm. Jesus says in Matthew 5:43-46, “You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?”
Coming back to what I wrote earlier, our enemy is not people. And how we overcome evil is by good. Paul says in Romans 12:21, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” It is our prayers and good works (obedience to God in loving others) that bring forth the kingdom of God.
A Holy Nation.
Peter says how we are live before the world in 1 Peter 2:11-12: “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.”
“One day every tongue will confess you are God, one day every knee will bow. Still the greatest treasure remains for those who gladly choose you now!”
God is the consuming fire that goes before us burning up our enemies. We 'possess' the land by faith, by not conforming to it but rather honoring God in the midst of it and allowing God to use us to tear down altars to other gods.
As an example, when I first became a Christian, my husband and I greatly struggled. He did not agree to marry a Christian and was incredibly unhappy about me becoming one. I changed fairly drastically after becoming a Christian – over a period of a few years I gave up smoking, swearing, and watching most TV and movies we had watched together, as well as the hard rock music we listened to. Instead, I was reading my bible and listening to worship music. And as I was set free from depression and some phobias, I was no longer dependent upon him in the same way I had been in the past. He felt like he had a completely different wife and he was both afraid and greatly disappointed about it. Our marriage became extremely rocky and we both wanted a divorce.
As I was complaining to God about how difficult it was to stay together, God spoke to me at the time two things: First, He spoke to me that He hated divorce. Second, He spoke to me through something I was reading and journaling on at the time that living out the word of God in my life only required me to follow it in order to have a godly marriage. I only needed to worry about what I had control over -myself.
1 Peter 3:1- 2 says, “Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.”
Submitting does not mean to just go along with sin. As one of my pastors noted in a sermon some time ago, submitting is coming under your spouse and lifting them up. Daily I would read my bible and listen to the past sermons of my current pastor on how to live out the gospel in my life and in my marriage. As I followed the gospel for my own life and came under my husband, lifting him up, encouraging him in godly choices, his heart began to change. He slowly began to change along with me. Looking back now, he has changed tremendously over the years of my Christianity. He has become incredibly thoughtful and gentle hearted and we have became true soul mates. We have a wonderful marriage and are both grateful to have each other.
In the same way, today God wants His people to possess the land. He does not want us to live among the gods of the world, or even worse, be defiled by them and follow the ways of the world. Instead, He would have us rise up and advance against our enemies, purge the land from sin and take it as our rightful inheritance.
Mike Bickle writes, “Jesus used John the Baptist's life and ministry to exemplify what it meant when He said, 'The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force' (Mt. 11:12). Jesus was not referring in any way to a physical violence, but to an interior spiritual 'violence' characterized by radical obedience and love for God. Jesus aptly describes this sort of radical abandonment to God as spiritual 'violence,' because such radical obedience is disruptive to worldly pursuits and mindsets. It violently confronts our sinful desires, pride, and selfishness.... Spiritual violence speaks of holy intensity in pursing and loving God and people. This sort of spiritual violence is motivated by love and declares war on our sin, selfishness, and compromise.”[5]
Our God is the all consuming fire who goes before us and fights for us. We are to transform the land from a place that worships idols and gives their children as sacrifices to the gods of this world, to a place where God is glorified and honored.
His Own Special People.
Everywhere we plant our feet, we bring the kingdom of God with us. We are to transform the land by our presence, not live among the ways of the world, or even worse, live like the world. By living out the word of God in our own lives, in humility and obedience, we influence and change the world around us by the Spirit that resides inside of us.
As my pastor noted this last weekend, being a witness is not something we have to do, but something we are. It is our testimony of our life in Christ that makes us a witness. This witness, ourselves, we bring into every situation and circumstance. And it is the Holy Spirit that makes us witnesses.
Jesus tells the disciples in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
When the disciples received power from on high, they did not go out and try to find people to witness to. Rather, by the power of the Holy Spirit, they began speaking in the tongues of the devout Jews from every nation that happened to be staying in Jerusalem. Acts 2:6-7 says, “then they were all amazed and marveled saying to one another, 'Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born?' And after this Peter stood up and boldly explained, preaching to them the gospel by the power of the Holy Spirit. Three thousand were added to them (Acts 2:41).
Peter had told the people, “But this is what was spoken of by the prophet Joel: 'And it shall come to pass in these last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above and signs on the earth beneath...” (Acts 2:17-19a)
In a recent Prayer and Intercession Conference I went to at the International House of Prayer (IHOP) in Kansas City, Corey Russell noted in his session that it was a season that the church was awakening from her slumber and entering into the glory of priesthood. He also referred to Mal. 4:5-6 which says, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord" and mentioned that the Spirit of Elijah was coming upon the churches and they would prophesy for 3 1/2 years.[b] Corey talked about the Spirit being that of holy, loving, and bold confrontation. He also talked about the Spirit turning the hearts of the fathers to their children (Mal. 4:6) and there being revival in families.
As the church awakens and God pours out His Spirit on His bride, empowering her to be a witness, with holy, loving and bold confrontation, (conviction of the Spirit rather than judgment or being critical) hearts will turn towards each other and His bride will possesses the land (see Rev. 19:11-21).
Lord, thank you for making us witnesses to proclaim your praises. I long to see the fullness of Your Spirit poured out upon us and Your sons and daughters walking in the fullness of Your promises. Would You pour out the Spirit of Elijah upon Your body that your sons and daughters would prophesy with holy, loving and bold confrontation? Would you go before us as a consuming fire and devour our enemies before our very eyes?
1. Vine, W. E., Unger, M. F., & White, W. (1996). Vine's complete expository dictionary of Old and New Testament words (1:182). Nashville: T. Nelson.
2.Strong, J. (1996). The exhaustive concordance of the Bible : Showing every word of the text of the common English version of the canonical books, and every occurrence of each word in regular order. (electronic ed.) (G1589). Ontario: Woodside Bible Fellowship.
3-5. Bickle, Mike with Kim, Brian. 7 Commitments of a Forerunner: A Sacred Charge to Press Into God. Forerunner Publishing. Kansas City, MO. 2009.
a. Today, we no longer burn our children in fire to gods. However, in the US, 1.4 million babies are aborted a year, 93% due to inconvenience. Forty three percent of the women you run into will have had an abortion by the time they are 45 years old. What is even more distressing, is that the majority of abortions (over 75%) happen by those who claim to have some form of religion. And almost 20% of these abortions are from women who claim to be born-again Evangelical Christians (approx 34% to 37% of the population claims to be born-again Evangelical Christians).
Abortion Statistics Located at: http://www.abortionno.org/Resources/fastfacts.html Last Accessed: 10/19/2010
b. I wonder if he got the 3 1/2 years from Revelation 11:1-3. It says that for 3 1/2 years (42 months) the Gentiles (unbelievers) will trample the holy city underfoot and that God will give power to His two witnesses and they will prophesy 3 1/2 years (one thousand two hundred and sixty days) clothed in sackcloth.
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