Possessing The Gates Of The Enemy

Genesis 22:17-18 (New King James Version)
1. 17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

I. Possessing the gates through intercession

5 Key Points Of Unity Of Prayer Intercessors:
1. No one ministry has all the revelation necessary to break thru to all nations
2. It would take His Body coming together for the battle plans to be revealed.
3. When the ministers came together and each contributed his or her piece of the strategy, God would reveal His plan to us all.
4. The meetings would tear down barriers between ministries and we would have a united
front to wage war.
5. Those asked to be generals would be those Christians on staff with major ministries as
prayer coordinators.

The Basic Assignments For The Prayer Meetings Are As Follows:
1. We were to pray for the sins of our nation from its inception. These were sins of slavery,
our treatment of the Indians, strife and division during the Civil War, the internment of
Japanese during WWII and other like sins.
2. We were to use John 20:23 as a pattern: “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven
them: if you retain the sins of any they are retained.” Some of the sins we were to deal
with were prejudice, materialism, mammon, murder and idolatry.
3. After we repent of these sins, God would show us which rulers of Satan’s kingdom needed
to be called down from their high places and whose right to reign should be broken. By
doing this we would tear apart Satan’s stronghold.
4. We were to pattern ourselves after Jeremiah 1:10: “See, I have this day set you over the
nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to tear down,
but to build and to plant.” The next step was to pray that the United States would return to
it’s godly heritage. The planting would be that the “hearts of the children would return to
their fore fathers.”
5. God would adapt us and use this pattern for the various nations to which we would go.

II. The Call To Intercession

Isaiah 56:6-7
6 “ Also the sons of the foreigner
Who join themselves to the LORD, to serve Him,
And to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants— Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath,
And holds fast My covenant—
7 Even them I will bring to My holy mountain,
And make them joyful in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
Will be accepted on My altar;
For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.”

God calls us, everyone in covenant relationship with Him a house of prayer for all nations. We need to seek and pray Psalm 51:10: “Create in me a clean heart, O God.” We must ask Him to come in and to make us clean, that is His desire but we must seek for ourselves and invite Him in. The Holy Spirit is a gentleman, He won’t enter unless invited. “Before He (The Savior) can lead a chosen vessel into such a life of intercession, He first has to deal to the bottom with all that is natural.”-Rees Howells. We need to give all of ourselves in exchange for all of the Holy Spirit.
The second step in asking God to create a clean heart in us is letting Him deal with what is there that needs changing. We must be willful to be sheared and let go of all that isn’t righteous and that He doesn’t have for us, at whatever cost. If we aren’t willing to undergo this change, it will take us to a place that God never intended for us to be and it can and will eventually if unchecked pull us into sin. This process is a process and not instantaneous. We have to learn to be sensitive and willful to the convictions of the holy Spirit when we sin. This will soften our heart and make it more pliable. Remember when we sin and we will, we aren’t yet perfect, we need to repent and just get right back up and continue in the battle!

III. Personal Points

I must get over the idea of “spiritual superiority,” God has called all to intercession, I am not extra special because He breaks my heart over things and furthermore I still have a long way to go to true spiritual maturity! When God trusts us to pray, He must first cleanse our hearts to the point that the report we give in prayer are not biased or tainted by personal “stuff.” He wants to teach us to pray, His will and not ours. Because of His Fathe’s heart He works at stripping us of “our anointing,” selfish desires, seeds of bitterness, rejections, doctrines, and biased opinions. One of the most difficult lessons of young intercessors is: God is not in a hurry. He takes the time He needs to build character in us. Most of us want it to happen immediately, but God loves to marinade us, grow us in maturity! He wants tender hearts in His living sacrifices. The problem with living sacrifices is that they want to jump off the alter. After some time they begin to realize it is sometimes painful to be conformed to the image of Jesus. This is the point at which some decide that the price is too high to serve Christ in prayer.
When we begin to have some measure of “success,” it is easy to fall into the trap that says God has placed us above our brothers and sisters in Christ because of our ability to pray with more authority or to hear Him mor clearly. We must continuously hold to the Father’s hand in this case that we not become puffed up and arrogant or prideful. We must seek diligently to do as Matthew 6:5-13
5 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly 7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. 9 In this manner, therefore, pray:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
We must do these things in secret and not for our own glory, if God gives us a word for someone we must first have that word confirmed and present it to someone in authority over us. In closing we must also not only allow Him to clean up the sins of our heart, but also the wounds of the heart, we must allow Him to heal our hearts too. “See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble or defile many.” Hebrews 12:15

IV. Key Scriptures:

Isaiah 14:12-14 (New King James Version)
1. The Fall of Lucifer
12 “ How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer,[a] son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
13 For you have said in your heart:
‘ I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’

Footnotes:
1.
Isaiah 14:12 Literally Day Star


Jeremiah 1:10 (New King James Version)
2. 10 See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms,
To root out and to pull down,
To destroy and to throw down,
To build and to plant.”

Ezekiel 22:30 (New King James Version)
1. 30 So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.

Ezekiel 28:11-19 (New King James Version)
2. Lamentation for the King of Tyre
11 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 12 “Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD:
“ You were the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The sardius, topaz, and diamond,
Beryl, onyx, and jasper,
Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold.
The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes
Was prepared for you on the day you were created.
14 “ You were the anointed cherub who covers;
I established you;
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created,
Till iniquity was found in you.
16 “ By the abundance of your trading
You became filled with violence within,
And you sinned;
Therefore I cast you as a profane thing
Out of the mountain of God;
And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones.
17 “ Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty;
You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor;
I cast you to the ground,
I laid you before kings,
That they might gaze at you.
18 “ You defiled your sanctuaries
By the multitude of your iniquities,
By the iniquity of your trading;
Therefore I brought fire from your midst;
It devoured you,
And I turned you to ashes upon the earth
In the sight of all who saw you.
19 All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you;
You have become a horror,
And shall be no more forever.”’”

Daniel 10:12-13 (New King James Version)
1. 12 Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. 13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia.
Matthew 11:12 (New King James Version)
1. 12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.
Matthew 16:18 (New King James Version)
1. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
Luke 11:17-22 (New King James Version)
1. 17 But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls. 18 If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub. 19 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 20 But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. 21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. 22 But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.
2 Corinthians 2:10-11 (New King James Version)
1. 10 Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one[a] for your sakes in the presence of Christ, 11 lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.
Footnotes:
1.
2 Corinthians 2:10 NU-Text reads For indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did it.
2 Corinthians 10:4-6 (New King James Version)
1. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
Ephesians 1:15-21 (New King James Version)
1. Prayer for Spiritual Wisdom
15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding[a] being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
Footnotes:
1.
Ephesians 1:18 NU-Text and M-Text read hearts.
Ephesians 3:8-10 (New King James Version)
1. Purpose of the Mystery
8 To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to make all see what is the fellowship[a] of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ;[b] 10 to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places,
Footnotes:
1.
Ephesians 3:9 NU-Text and M-Text read stewardship (dispensation).
2.
Ephesians 3:9 NU-Text omits through Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 6:11-12 (New King James Version)
1. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,[a] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Footnotes:
1.
Ephesians 6:12 NU-Text reads rulers of this darkness.
Colossians 2:11-15 (New King James Version)
1. Not Legalism but Christ
11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins[a] of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
Footnotes:
1.
Colossians 2:11 NU-Text omits of the sins.