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God spoke to Joshua and told him, “I have given to your hand Jericho.” This was a confirming and establishing word to Joshua. God wants to give us the cities of the world. If you are a pastor, God wants to give you a vision for taking your city. Without that vision, you will be spinning your wheels as a minister. You are either called to take a city for God or to work with someone who is.

We read in Joshua 6:1-5: “Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in. And the Lord said to Joshua: ‘See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor. You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him.’”

The Lord then told Joshua to surround the city and march around it. This marching around the city is a picture of the army of God surrounding its city with prayer. There is a revival of prayer sweeping the earth right now. In this prayer revival, we are beginning to march around our cities. We are surrounding our cities with God’s power. The children of Israel marched around the city one time a day for six days. God told them to march around the city seven times on the seventh day. I believe that God is calling us to not only pray, but to also pray without ceasing. When we increase our praying, we increase God’s power in our lives and cities. Prayer produces power, and unceasing prayer produces unceasing power.

2 Chronicles 7:14-16 tells us “…if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place.”

Stop waiting for God to move! Start praying and watch God move!

We read in Joshua 6:16, 20: “And the seventh time it happened, when the priests blew the trumpets, that Joshua said to the people: ‘Shout, for the Lord has given you the city!’…So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.”

After they had marched around the city for seven days, the Lord told them to have the priest blow the trumpet and have the people shout. This sound of the trumpet and the shout of the people was the roar of God.

In every move of God, there is a sound that becomes the symbol of that move. It is a sound that is a part of what God is doing and saying. For example, during the late sixties and the seventies, the sound in the Charismatic Movement was a beautiful harmony of worship. Charismatic services had a “sweet sound” of the blending of God’s people in a symphony of worship.

During this next move of God, the sound is going to be different. It will be a roar and a shout. God is putting a shout of victory into His people all over the earth. This shout is God roaring through His Body. It is the Lion of Judah declaring His strength and might. As time comes to an end, and as we enter into a new millennium, God is winding this all up with a roar and a shout, not with a whisper and a whimper.

Joel 3:16 tells us that “the Lord also will roar from Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; the heavens and earth will shake; but the Lord will be a shelter for His people, and the strength of the children of Israel.” Zion is a type of the Church. And all over this country, and all over the world, there is a “new sound” being heard in the Church. It is a sound of war! It is a sound of joy! It is a shout of triumph!

Amos 1:2 says that “the Lord roars from Zion, and utters His voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel withers.” Out of Zion shall come a roar. When the children of Israel gave a shout and a roar, the walls came down. The walls are coming down in our lives, families and cities because God has begun to roar.

Hosea 11:10 tells us that “they shall walk after the Lord. He will roar like a lion. When He roars, then His sons shall come trembling from the west….” And Jeremiah 25:30 says: “Therefore prophesy against them all these words, and say to them: ‘The Lord will roar from on high, and utter His voice from His holy habitation; He will roar mightily against His fold. He will give a shout, as those who tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.”

You can sense and feel the roar of God growing in the Church. It is the voice of victory. It is the shout of war. It is the Spirit of God lifting a cry of victory in our midst. We read in Isaiah 42:13-14 that “the Lord shall go forth like a mighty man; He shall stir up His zeal like a man of war. He shall cry out, yes, shout aloud; He shall prevail against His enemies. ‘I have held My peace a long time, I have been still and restrained Myself. Now I will cry like a woman in labor, I will pant and gasp at once.’”

We can see how the ROAR of God has brought down the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall. The Lord is beginning to roar out of Zion (the Church), and the earth shall hear His voice. He is warring against His enemies, and He has commissioned the Church to carry out His battle plans.

BORN IN A ROAR

In the New Testament, we see that the early Church was born in a roar.. There were 120 of the disciples of Jesus in Jerusalem, praying without ceasing. “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:1-4)

Remember:

PRAYER PRODUCES POWER, AND UNCEASING PRAYER PRODUCES UNCEASING POWER!

Acts 2:2 tells us “how” God moved. God is moving, and it is surprising people how fast and how unexpectedly it is happening. “Suddenly there came a sound from heaven.” This Greek word for sound is “echoes,” which means “a loud noise; a roar.” Suddenly there came a roar from heaven.

The roar of God birthed the Church. It was the roar of revival. The Church was birthed with a roar, and it will finish with even a greater roar. The greatest move of God the earth has ever known is before us right now!

Haggai 2:6-9 tells us more about the roar of the Lord: “For thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘And in this place I will give peace,’ says the Lord of hosts.”

This next roar of God will come to the church and then from the church. It will sweep into every nation and people, every ethnic group and language. God’s roar will be heard. His Spirit will flow into every nation. Can you hear it? I can! It is the roar of God!