God’s heartbeat

In Psalm 2:8-10, we see God’s heartbeat for us to believe Him for our cities and nations: “‘Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; you shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ Now therefore, be wise, O kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth.”

As we intercede for our families, cities and nations, God gives us a possessing spirit. We begin to know with a great confidence that it is God’s will to save and deliver those we pray for. Then God gives us the strength and authority to “dash in pieces” the strongholds over their lives.

We are to “be wise” and “be instructed” in the realm of spiritual warfare. When Satan’s stronghold is pulled down, then the Gospel has a free course and will always prosper and produce. A lack of discerning and diligent spiritual warfare is, in effect, surrender by default to the strong man of the enemy.

When you study the life of the kings of the nation of Israel, you see that God always makes mention of how they treated the “high places” during their reign. These high places were groves, temples and altars where false gods were worshipped and pagan religions were practiced. Although many of these kings did right in the sight of God (like many ministers today have and are doing right in God’s eyes), by not addressing the “false gods” and“high places,” they did not fight for the people of God. It  is not enough for us to be content and satisfied with our own salvation and our nice little churches. We must contend with the “high places” of demonic power over those all around us! God is ready to give us the “treasures” of cities and nations as we follow Him fully and pull down and destroy Satan’s domain.

Isaiah 45:2-3 reads: “I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the Lord, who call you by your name, am the God of Israel.” The “gates” over our families and cities can be broken by the prayer of God’s people. As we respond to God’s invitation to pray for our families and cities, God delights in giving us the “treasures of darkness” and the “hidden riches of secret places.”

It is our responsibility — our obligation as the children of God — to realize and respond to the Heartbeat of God. That heartbeat is for a lost, wounded, imprisoned world to come to Him. How can those in prison free themselves? They can’t! Then how is the person who is unsaved and enslaved to Satan freed? By the intercession of God’s people!

Isaiah 66:8 asks, “Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, She gave birth to her children.” As soon as the Church (Hebrews 12:22 tells us Zion is a type of the Church) begins to intercede (Galatians 4:19 tells us travailing is a picture of intercession), new life occurs. Children are born!

Paul, in 1 Timothy 2:1-4, says, “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

As we pray for “all men” that they would “be saved and come unto the knowledge of the truth,” the Spirit of God will bring in a harvest of men’s souls into the Kingdom of God.