November 24, 1996
Dear Lewis & Constance,
At our next meeting we will be doing something special. I feel the Lord's leading to do communion. We will not just be taking it for ourselves but in a prayerful way for the city. I believe it will be the most significant thing we have ever done as a group and I hope many of you can participate.
The 40 day fast is over and there are many testimonies of lives touched, purified, focused and impacted in many ways, Praise God! There will certainly be more fasts in the future.
Instead of "The Way I See It" this month I have included my views on the next steps for spiritual warfare in our city. I am writing this at the request of City Foundations and would like your feedback before I turn it in to them. Please contact me before or at our next meeting.
Our next time of prayer for the city (the first Tuesday of every month) will be at 11:30 Tuesday December 3rd at Northland Community Church (room 205). Topics will include
Your Fellow Laborer,
George Kern
(H)407/331-9577 (before 10PM)
(W)407/942-6665
"Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself shall not stand" (Jesus - Matthew 12:25).
"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard, coming down upon the edge of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon, coming down upon the mountains of Zion; For there the Lord commanded the blessing - life forever" (Psalm 133).
"being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:3).
This is a high-level plan for spiritual warfare in the city (the Greater Orlando/Central Florida area). Unfortunately we are not ready for it. A pre-requisite to effective city-vade spiritual warfare, effective city-wide evangelism and city-wide revival as well has, throughout history, been a high degree of unity in the Body of Christ in the area. We are far from unity, but moving closer. Having said that, it is also true that God is sovereign and that He can greatly speed up the process at any point in time, so it is appropriate to be prepared for some of the next steps, such as spiritual warfare.
C. Peter Wagner, in his book "Breaking Strongholds in Your City", talks about 3 Categories of warfare preparation research.
1) Historical Research - including the city's founding and significant events, people, problems, sins, religions, etc. This is to determine both sins to repent from and God's redemptive gift(s) for the city, "The City of Lights".
2) Physical Research - plotting various things on a map including the layout of major landmarks in the area, city boundaries, locations of establishments of sin and false religions, etc.
3) Spiritual Research - spiritually discerned principalities and strongholds including their names (where possible) and geographical area of influence, curses placed on the city, and God's redemptive gifts for the area.
Spiritual warfare for a city can be likened to deliverance ministry for a person. There are past sins that need to be repented from, vows and curses that need to be broken, ungodly attitudes that need to be confessed and repented from, for example unforgiveness, bitterness, pride, etc. These are the kinds of things that give the demonic an opening or "legal right" to influence thoughts and actions. After leaming these things, a person is walked through forgiving, confessing and repenting, which takes away the "legal right" of the demonic to stay. When a city is involved, the elders of the city do this on behalf of the city. At this point the specific demonic spirits are addressed and commanded to leave.
Combining the three categories of research listed above should provide a good picture of the spiritual climate of the city and give some clues as to how to proceed in addressing the issues. It might be a good check and balance for a different group to work on each of the three areas and compare notes at the end, double-checking any points of disagreement. It should be stressed that the main point is not to focus on the demonic but to discern God's redemptive purposes for our city - why God put us here and what He wants Central Florida to be known for - and to remove all hindrances from those purposes being accomplished in our city.
C. Peter Wagner also lists Six Rules for Taking a City in his book "Warfare Prayer". I think these are very instructive.
1) Select a manageable geographical area with discernible spiritual boundaries. For Pray Central Florida this includes the greater Orlando area and some surrounding cities.
2) Secure the unity of the pastors and other Christian leaders in the area and begin to pray together on a regular basis. The pastors are the spiritual gatekeepers of the city. Wagner wams not to proceed until many, if not most of the pastors in the area are praying together on a regular basis and many are involved in spiritual warfare. I agree with this point of view (with the caveat that it will take some spiritual warfare to get to this point) and this is one of the things Pray Central Florida is praying for. I see this as the biggest challenge and the biggest opportunity before City Foundations.
3) Project a clear image that the effort is not an activity simply of Pentecostals and charismatics, but of the whole Body of Christ. I lead the Pray Central Florida prayer times differently than I do prayer in my own church. In a mixed group it is not too much to ask for charismatics to keep the volume low when praying in tongues in agreement with whoever is leading in prayer. By the same spirit of tolerance, non-charasmatics shouldn't take up an offense if they overhear someone praying in tongues. The important thing is that people be praying together in unity.
4) Assure the spiritual preparation of participating leaders and other Christians through repentance, humility and holiness.
5) Research the historical background of the city in order to reveal spiritual forces shaping the city. This was covered above.
6) Work with intercessors especially gifted and called to strategic-level warfare.
Obviously this is a very high-level summary but the point is to initiate and offer a framework for on-going dialogue and prayer, regarding spiritual warfare and its application for our city. There are many other kinds of prayer that need to be happening in a city as well, but that is outside the scope of this paper. Praise is another potent weapon in spiritual warfare (2 Chronicles 20). Several churches gathered together for "City Celebrations" a few years ago which were very powerful. Praise should also be a part of concerts of prayer when possible. Also, it would be very important to sense God's timing regarding an evangelistic thrust throughout the city following a significant breakthrough in the Spirit.
I would like to close with some other scriptures.
"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12).
"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction or fortresses." (2 Corinthians 10:3-4).
"If therefore there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose" (Philipians 2:1,2).
These thoughts and plans have come out of much prayer, reading and discussion with my fellow prayer warriors at Pi-ay Central Florida, who I thank for their input.
George Kern
Founder, Pray Central Florida