SCRIPTURE PRAYERS FOR YOUR CITY

“Seek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read; NO ONE OF THESE SHALL FAIL..."

Isaiah 34:16 KJV

COMPILED BY Intercessors For A Righteous Nation

 “Thus says the Lord, In an acceptable and favorable time I have heard and answered you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you: and I will preserve you and give you for a covenant to the people to raise up and establish the land [from its present state of ruin] and to apportion and cause them to inherit the desolate [moral wastes of heathenism, their] heritages, saying to those who are bound, Come forth, and to those who are in [spiritual] darkness, Show yourselves [come into the light of the SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS].” Isaiah 49:8-9.

Dear Intercessor:

The Lord has been moving upon our hearts as intercessors (praying for Standerton) for the last several years to pray IDENTIFICATIONAL PRAYER (prayers of repentance) over our cities. This is a part of the PRIESTLY role of intercession. This foundation is absolutely necessary for us to lay in order to see God move in our cities. Identificational prayers remove the barriers that hinder our cities from experiencing a Divine visitation, because God’s CHARACTER is holy, righteous, just and true. Therefore, He cannot look upon sin. However, His NATURE is love, mercy, forgiveness, compassion, etc. On one hand, his CHARACTER prevents Him from intervening, but His NATURE is always yearning to reach out. That is why He is looking for an intercessor to give Him an excuse to intervene.

So, as we COVER and REMIT the sins of our cities, both past and present, God is free to intervene without compromising His holiness. What does it mean to REMIT sin? REMIT means to forgive, to surrender the right of punishment, to pardon, to restore, and to disregard an offense.

What does it mean to COVER sin? Proverbs 10:12 says, “LOVE covers ALL transgressions.” True prayer is ALWAYS born out of LOVE. If we find ourselves focusing only upon the sin of our cities, with a desire to see God JUDGE them, we are not moving in the Spirit of Christ. The church was not created to execute GOD’S WRATH upon MANKIND. On the contrary, He has created His church to extend His MERCY and REDEMPTION to MANKIND, and to EXECUTE JUDGMENT upon the POWERS of DARKNESS that would hold them in bondage. In Luke 9:51-56 we read,

“Now when the time was almost come for Jesus to be received up [to heaven], He steadfastly and determinedly set His face to go to Jerusalem.”

“And He sent messengers before Him; and they reached and entered a Samaritan village to make [things] ready for Him.”

“But [the people] would not welcome or receive or accept Him, because His face was [set as if He was] going to Jerusalem.”

“And when His disciples James and John observed this, they said, Lord do You wish us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, even as Elijah did?”

 “But He turned and rebuked and severely censured them. He said, you DO NOT KNOW of WHAT sort of SPIRIT you are,”

“For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them [from the penalty of eternal death]…”

Love ALWAYS covers. Love NEVER seeks to expose and judge. As we look at I Peter 4:8, it tells us,

“Above all things, have intense and unfailing love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins (forgives and disregards the offenses of others).”

What does it mean to disregard the offense of others? Does it mean that we are somehow minimizing the seriousness of their sin before God? Absolutely NOT! We do not have to depreciate the awfulness of sin in order to extend the limitless and never-ending supply of God’s mercy. To paraphase Francis Frangipane in his book, America at the Threshold of Destiny, we are not whitewashing sin by covering it, we are bloodwashing it! Romans 5:20-21 says,

“…But where SIN increased and abounded, GRACE (God’s unmerited favor) has SURPASSED it and INCREASED the more and SUPERABOUNDED,”

“So that, [just] as SIN has reigned in death, [so] GRACE (His unearned and undeserved favor) might reign also through righteousness…”

So, as we stand as PRIESTS and apply the POWER of the blood of Jesus that He has given us to pronounce forgiveness, God is then free to intervene, because He no longer sees sin, but he sees the blood sacrifice of His Son. Once the sin issues are out of the way, it is then time to move into our KINGLY role of intercession, as we take AUTHORITY over the powers of darkness—present because of sin— that are binding situations and individuals through CONFRONTATIONAL PRAYER.

There is a difference between POWER and AUTHORITY. PRIESTS administer the POWER of God, through the Blood of Jesus, to remit sin. POWER means ability, skill, strength, energy, force, the faculty of doing anything, or the faculty of producing a change in something. Whereas, KINGS administer the AUTHORITY of God. AUTHORITY means the right to command, the right to take dominion, the right to make official declarations, the right to rule, and the right to make legal decisions in SUPREME COURTS that have a BINDING FORCE upon INFERIOR courts. Psalm 149:6,8-9a describes this KINGLY role of intercession.

“Let the high praises of God be in their throats and a two-edged sword in their hands…to bind their kings with chains, and their 4 nobles with fetters of iron, to EXECUTE upon them the JUDGMENT WRITTEN…”

This scripture is not referring to human kings and nobles, but to the principalities and powers that would bind the people. The anointing for KINGSHIP is an anointing for JUDGESHIP. We are JUDGES in the HIGHEST COURT of the universe. Our book of LAW is the WORD OF GOD. Psalm 138:2 tells us that the Lord honors His WORD above ALL of His Name! There is NO HIGHER AUTHORITY than the Word of God! If, after having dealt with the sin issues as PRIESTS, we desire to see the powers of darkness moved out of the way in our cities, the above scripture gives us two keys—CORPORATE PRAISE and the DECLARATION of the WORD of GOD in prayer as KINGS or JUDGES.

In computer terminology, the PRIESTLY role of IDENTIFICATIONAL PRAYER pushes the “DELETE” button. We create a VOID for God to fill. In Genesis 1:2, we see that the Spirit of God loves to hover and brood over places that are dark and VOID—THEN He SPEAKS His creative WORD into the darkness. That is why we must not stop at merely creating a VOID, but we must INSTALL a new “PROGRAM”—the Word of God—with the exclusive “PASSWORD” (the Name of Jesus)—that grants God access. This is the KINGLY role of DECLARATIVE PRAYER.

God has sovereignly chosen to do NOTHING except what is ENERGIZED through PRAYER. When we, as KINGS, put a VOICE to the WORD OF GOD, a creative force is released that gives God an excuse to intervene—the same creative force that formed the world when God said, “LIGHT, BE, and there was LIGHT.” (Genesis 1:3). God said to Jeremiah,

“…Behold, I have put MY WORDS in YOUR MOUTH…for I am alert and active, watching over MY WORD to PERFORM it.” (Jeremiah 1:9, 12).

Through declarative prayer, God has given us the awesome privilege and responsibility to be His mouthpiece—the VOICE of His WORD in the earth. May we NEVER take that for granted.

SCRIPTURES PRAYERS FOR YOUR CITY

Thank you, Father, that You are restoring the judges of our city as at the first and our counselors as at the beginning. We call our a city RIGHTEOUS—a FAITHFUL city. (Isaiah 1:26).

Father, we declare that because we are SEEKING the peace and welfare of our city, and PRAYING to YOU for it, we are ENJOYING peace and welfare. (Jeremiah 29:7).

Father, we declare that this city is being delivered because the believers of this city acknowledge our poverty of spirit, by not looking to our own wisdom, but drawing from the wisdom that is from above. (Ecclesiastes 9:15).

Father, we declare that Your people in this city are not caught up in building our own houses and adorning them, but we are consumed with building YOUR house; and therefore, YOU are the Keeper and Guard of our city. (Haggai 1:9; Psalm 127:1).

Father, we declare that our city is rejoicing because it is going well with the uncompromisingly righteous. By the blessing of the influence of the UPRIGHT, we call our city EXALTED. (Proverbs 11:10-11).

Father, we declare that because Your people of this city are wise, we are scaling the city walls of the mighty and bringing down the strongholds in which this city trusts. (Proverbs 21:22).

Thank you, Father, that You are purging our city of scoffers who would set it afire, inflaming the minds of the people, and because Your people are using Godly wisdom, we are turning away wrath. (Proverbs 29:8).

Father, we lift our voice to declare the song that You have given us to sing over our city, which says, “We have a strong city, the Lord sets up salvation as walls and bulwarks.” (Isaiah 26:1).

Father, we declare that Your people in this city are called a HOLY people, the REDEEMED of the Lord. We call this city SOUGHT OUT, a city NOT FORSAKEN. (Isaiah 62:12).

Father, we decree that You are making our city to be a city set on a hill, whose light cannot be hidden. (Matthew 5:14).

Father, we declare that our city is called the FAITHFUL CITY OF TRUTH, and it is full of boys and girls playing in its streets. (Zechariah 9:3,5).

Thank you, Father, that You are raising up Your people to rebuild the ancient ruins, and to raise up the former desolations and renew the ruined cities and devastation of many generations. You are causing us to be called the repairers of the breach and restorers of streets to dwell in. (Isaiah 61:4; 58:12).

Father, because You are the holy and just Creator of this world, IT, and ALL of its fullness and ALL who dwell in it belong to You. We declare that “ALL” includes our city. (Psalm 24:1).

Father, You have said in Your word that NO CITY divided against itself will last or continue to stand. Therefore, in the mighty Name of Jesus we rebuke you, spirit of division, over our city and command you to flee. We cancel all of your assignments and effects against this city in the Name of Jesus. We loose UNITY, HARMONY and PEACE in Jesus’ Name. Father, we declare that You Yourself are our PEACE—our bond of UNITY and HARMONY. You have made us ONE BODY in this city and have broken down, destroyed and abolished every hostile dividing wall between us. We declare that Your people in this city are eager and strive earnestly to guard and keep the HARMONY and ONENESS of the Spirit in the binding power of peace. We are living in such mutual harmony and such full sympathy with one another, that TOGETHER we are UNANIMOUSLY with UNITED HEARTS and ONE VOICE praising and glorifying You. We are welcoming and receiving to our hearts one another as You have received and welcomed us, so that this city may observe our good works and glorify You. (Matthew 12:25; Ephesians 2:14; Ephesians 4:3; Romans 15:5-6).

Thank you, Father, that You are setting up Your banner—Your standard displayed because of the truth—in this city for those who fear and worshipfully revere You, to which we may flee from the bow. We call forth the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord to come upon ALL of the people of this city, so that Your banner would cover us all as ONE MAN. (Psalm 60:4; Ezra 3:1b; Nehemiah 8:1).

Thank you, Father, that You are taking away the impure speech of the inhabitants of this city and giving us pure speech from pure lips that we may ALL call upon Your Name with ONE UNANIMOUS CONSENT and ONE UNITED SHOULDER bearing Your yoke. (Zephaniah 3:9).

Father, we declare that Your people are DWELLING TOGETHER in UNITY in this city, so that Your anointing is consecrating the whole body. We declare Your promise that because we are unified, You are commanding the BLESSING upon us, even LIFE forevermore. We also declare Your promise that because we are ONE, NOTHING that we imagine to do is impossible to us. (Psalm 133:1-3; Genesis 11:6).

Father, we declare that Your people in this city are ONE—PERFECTLY UNITED —just as You are in the Son, and the Son is in You, so that this city is convinced and fully recognizes that You have sent Your Son. (John 17:21, 23).

Thank you, Father, that You are making Your Name known and revealing Your character—even Your very Self—to Your people in this city, so that the SAME LOVE, which You have bestowed upon JESUS is IN US and is felt in our hearts. (John 17:26).

Thank you, Father, that the mighty works You are bringing forth in our city are causing repentance and heart changes that will CONTINUE and REMAIN. (Matthew 11:21, 13).

Father, we declare that because the spiritual leaders of this city are SANCTIFYING themselves and COMING TOGETHER to PRAY and SEEK YOUR FACE for this city WITHOUT REGARD TO DIVISIONS; and because they are, in UNISON, making ONE SOUND to be heard in praising and thanking You, Your GLORY is being MANIFESTED in their midst so that they are not even able to stand and minister. (II Chronicles 5:11-14).

Father, You have said that as Jesus is, so are we in this world. Therefore, because He said that He was called for the purpose of preaching the gospel to CITIES and TOWNS, we, too, are called to THIS PURPOSE. Burn it into our hearts that we have been sent by You to our city to preach the gospel. (I John 4:17; Luke 4:43).

Father, we declare that our city belongs to YOU. We declare Your promise that YOUR cities would yet again overflow with prosperity. (Zechariah 1:17).

Father, we call forth YOUR FIRE upon our city to devour its strongholds. (Amos 1:7).

Thank you, Father, that You are sending Your SPIRIT OF ELIJAH upon our city to turn back the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient, incredulous and unpersuadable to the wisdom of the upright. We declare that ALL the inhabitants of this city have a knowledge of and holy love for Your will. We decree that You are making ready  

for Yourself a people in this city perfectly prepared in spirit, adjusted, disposed and placed in the right moral state. (Luke 1:17).

Father, we declare that our city is filled with flocks of men, women and children who know, understand and realize that You are the Lord, the Sovereign Ruler, calling forth loyalty and obedient service. (Ezekiel 36:38).

Father, because You have promised that Your people would renew the ruined cities, we boldly declare that every area where there is ruin in our city, whether in the spirit or in the natural, is RENEWED by Your mighty power at work within and through Your people. (Isaiah 61:4b).

Thank you, Father, that You are destroying the schemes and confusing the tongues of those who would stir up strife and violence in our city. Those who are stirring up strife against this city are failing away TO YOUR PEOPLE. (Psalm 55:9; Isaiah 54:16).

Father, we declare that the inhabitants of our city are flourishing like the grass of the earth. (Psalm 72: 15b).

Thank you, Father, that You are making the HUNGRY IN SPIRIT to dwell in our city, so that they may prepare a city for YOU to inhabit. (Psalm 107:36).

Thank you, Father, that You are delivering and defending our city to save it out of the hand of the enemy for Your own sake and for the sake of Your people in this place. (Isaiah 37:35; 38:6).

Thank you, Father, that You are raising up men and women in righteousness and directing them in how to build up this city. (Isaiah 45:13). Thank you, Father, that You are stirring up the spirits of Your people to rebuild YOUR HOUSE in this city. (Ezra 1:5b).

Thank you, Father, for Your promise that EVERY place upon which the soles of our feet shall tread is OURS. Therefore, we boldly declare that this city belongs to Your people in order to bring You glory. We shout VICTORY in the Name of Jesus, for You have given us this city. We devote this city and ALL that is in it to YOU, Lord. (Deuteronomy 11:24; Joshua 6:16-17).

Father, we declare that we, as Your people, let NOTHING TERRIFY us, even though there are those who would seek to WEAKEN OUR HANDS for the task through FEAR by surrounding us with counselors who would counsel against us to frustrate our purpose and plans to rebuild Your house. BUT, NOW. STRENGTHEN OUR HANDS, Father. YOU are all we need—You are more than enough—to complete the task. For when the enemy sees Your work complete in this city, HE will FEAR and fall far in his own estimation, for he will see that the work was done by YOU. (I Peter 3:6; Ezra 4:4-5; Nehemiah 6:9, 16).

Thank you, Father, that You are anointing Your people to be REPAIRERS OF THE BREACH in this city. In Nehemiah's day, Jerusalem's walls were torn down and its gates were burned with fire. But, when the enemies of Israel saw that the BREACHES of the wall were being  

CLOSED, they became VERY ANGRY, because they realized that as soon as ALL the BREACHES were closed, the city would be IMPENETRABLE. (Nehemiah 1:3; 4:7).

Father, we will not be discouraged when we see the enemy becoming enraged, but we will see that his anger is a SURE SIGN of his INEVITABLE DEFEAT. Thank you that the intensity of the battle will press us into YOU, Father, and it will cause us to be all the more vigilant to set a watch against him day and night. We declare that we are ONE MAN, Father, and we will build and work on the wall with one hand, and hold a weapon with the other hand. (Nehemiah 4:17).

Give us a revelation that the wall of our city is a LIVING WALL made up of LIVING STONES—Your Body—and the gates are representative of the ELDERS of the city. A wall with NO BREACHES means a city with NO PLACE for the enemy to enter.

Cause us to see that, as Your church in this city, we DESPERATELY need one another. We cannot make a city-wide impact without a UNIFIED city-wide church. Your Word says that it is the FALSE PROPHET who is like a fox among ruins and waste places, but it is the TRUE PROPHET that goes up into the BREACHES and builds up the wall for the house of the Lord that it might stand in battle in the day of the Lord. So, Father, we ask that You would give us the grace to close EVERY BREACH caused by selfishness, competition, jealousy, division, enmity, strife, unforgiveness, denominationalism, sectarianism. exclusivism, gossip, backbiting, spiritual pride, doctrinal obsession, idolatry, or ANY OTHER SIN of Your church, so that THIS CITY will go down in history as a city that was set on a hill, whose light could not be hidden. (Ezekiel 13:4-5; Matthew :14).

We declare that NOT ONE of Your people in this city be a fulfillment of the prophecy that, “in the latter times some will turn away from the faith”, for if we observe Your church in this city, yet see NO CHANCE of it becoming holy, we have turned away from faith in that area, and if we look at our city and it seems INCURABLE, then our faith needs to be rebuilt upon Your promises. (I Timothy 4:1).

Deliver us from all self-righteousness, apathy, fear, unbelief and ANY OTHER SIN that would hinder the moving of Your Spirit in this place. Burn it into our hearts, Father, that this city’s strength to stand against the onslaught of the enemy is NOT dependent upon the faith of a few or even many INDIVIDUAL BELIEVERS in this city, nor is it dependent upon INDIVIDUAL CONGREGATIONS. It is dependent upon the RELATIONSHIPS between those individual believers and congregations. In other words, our strength is measured by the WALL’S state of REPAIR!

Lord of the Harvest, we sense that You are about to issue the command to lower our net for the final harvest. Up until now, we have seen only a limited harvest, because we can catch just so many fish with individual hooks and bait, but a NET can capture MANY. Help us to see that there is only ONE NET spread over our city—NOT many little nets made up of individuals or congregations—but ONE NET. It, too, is a LIVING NET comprised of all those TRUE BELIEVERS who are DEAD to the world and ALIVE unto YOU. The knots joining the net together are symbolic of the RELATIONSHIPS between Your people in this city. If the net over this city is torn and in a bad state of repair, when You issue the command to lower  

it, much of the harvest in this city will escape the net through the holes and tears, for You have said in Your Word that the world would know we are Your disciples by our love for one another. Father, you have saved WHOLE CITIES in the past, and You are able to do it again. If there was HOPE for SODOM, for the sake of ten righteous, then there is HOPE for US! So Father, we ask that You would raise up NET MENDERS in this place, who will not rest until every tear has been mended, for the more perfectly repaired our net is, the greater the harvest will be in this city. In Jesus’ Name we pray—that mighty Name above all other names, which is our BANNER of PEACE, and our BOND of UNITY and HARMONY, abolishing every hostile dividing wall between us. Amen! (Isaiah 58:12; Nehemiah 1:3; 4:7- 17; 8: 1; Ezra 3: 1; 1 Peter 2:5; Ezekiel 13:4-5; Matthew 5:14; 1 Timothy 4: 1; Matthew 11:23; Luke 5:4; John 13:35; Jonah 3: 10; Genesis 18:32; Ephesians 2:14).

NOTE: For further Insight on the nature of a breach, I have researched Webster's 1828 Dictionary.

A breach is:

1. The act of breaking; or state of being broken; a rupture; a break; a gap; the space between the severed parts of a solid body parted by violence; as a breach in a garment, or in a wall.

2. The violation of a law; the violation or non-fulfillment of a contract; the non-performance of a moral duty; non-performance of duty being a breach of obligation, as well as positive transgression or violation. “Every breach of the public engagements is hurtful to public credit.” Hamilton

3. An opening in a coast.

4. Separation between friends by means of enmity; difference; quarrel.

5. Infraction; injury; invasion, as a breach upon kingly power.

6. Bereavement; loss of a friend and its consequent affliction.

7. A violation of the public peace, as by a riot, affray, or any tumult which is contrary to law, and destructive to the public tranquility, is called a breach of the peace.

NOTE: When constructing a building, a scaffold is often needed to aid in the process of completion. However, when the building is finished, the scaffold is no longer needed. These scripture prayers are merely a scaffold. They are not the building itself. They are designed to assist us in building the Word of God into our hearts, and teach us how to pray the Word in any given situation. The more the Word of God is deposited within us, the more spontaneous our prayers will become, as the Holy Spirit brings to our remembrance specific scriptures which apply to the area upon which we are focusing. Once we have the mentality of praying the Word, we will find that as we are reading the Word, many other scriptures will begin to “come alive” for the purpose of prayer.

Gebed verskuif Berge,

maar Gesamentlike Gebed verskuif Nasies!