Dethrone Powers of Darkness Gripping Nations

God is the supreme ruler over the universe.

He is the Lawgiver and wants His laws to be obeyed. Since that is so, we must ask ourselves some important questions like, “Why isn’t His will being done on the earth?” and “What is my part in seeing His will—His kingdom laws—put into place in the earth (or in my family, city, or nation)?”

In a way, we can say we are called to see that God’s law becomes the law in the land. I want to add here that this is not done through physical coercion, but as we pray, the hearts of the people turn to the Lord and they desire to put biblical laws in place. Our legislation begins in the heavens with prayer and is manifested in the earth through the changed hearts of people in authority. A portion of our God-given position as His sons and daughters is to be enforcers of His will. In Possessing the Gates of the Enemy, I described it this way:

We are the enforcers of His will in the earth today as we use His name and pray His will through His Word. Human beings can now fulfill their God-ordained position given in the garden to subdue the earth and have dominion over it in the name of the risen Champion, Jesus Christ, while we at the same time discern and pray for His will. Through our taking dominion over the works of Satan in the earth and praying in the name of our King, we establish His will on earth as it is in heaven. We, in the act of intercession, are His ambassadors plenipotentiary, fully empowered with full authority to pray on behalf of the mighty, awesome God of this universe.

Our role in seeing God’s will done on earth began in the garden. Going back to the premise that we are to “steward the house”— the earth—we need to understand our roles as intercessors in that Genesis mandate to “be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; [and] have dominion” (Gen. 1:28). Our stewardship not only includes things in the seen realm but also things in the unseen realm. In other words, we must take authority over the unseen (spiritual) realm that affects the seen (natural) realm. We have a saying here in the U.S.: “There is more to this than meets the eye,” or there is more happening than we can see.

An important spiritual axiom in this regard is:

“Stewardship of God’s creation requires strategic, targeted intercession in order to see God’s will done on earth as it is in heaven.”

This intercession must break down the demonic powers behind the ideological structures that influence people’s thinking in areas such as humanism, poverty, and abortion.

There were things set in motion in the fall of Adam and Eve that need to be reversed through prayer. In order to steward all of creation, we must not only deal with what we see in the natural realm but also address the supernatural structures—called strongholds—that must be broken in the heavenlies in order to see God’s will done on the earth. Ephesians 6:12 makes this clear:

For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere (AMPC).

I call this kind of intercessory prayer legislating in the heavens. Let me explain: When the Congress of the United States meets—or Parliament in the United Kingdom, Australia, etc.—they legislate, or make laws. In legislating in the heavens, we decree through intercessory prayer that God’s laws will be the laws of our nations. We also declare His will be manifested in every area of life and society.

Daniel 7:26-27 gives us a picture of this court of heaven:

But the court shall be seated, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and destroy it forever. Then the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.

As intercessors of the Lamb, we serve as “assistant advocates” of the kingdom, charged with defending the King’s people and prosecuting the King’s enemies in the spirit realm (the adversary and his rebellious followers). Each time we come before the “bench” of the Judge of All, our Chief Advocate comes alongside and takes us by the arm to formally present us before the Judge and enumerate the legal credentials that He has delegated to us. We “practice before the bar” as lawyers sent from His high office—the Chief Intercessor and Chief Advocate of the redeemed.

Our training as intercessors must include the presenting of a legal, biblical case before the throne of God. As we do this, the Holy Spirit begins to intervene in the affairs of men, laws, and nations to bring about the changes needed to establish His righteousness. In addition, the blessings of God will begin to pour out from heaven upon the nations of the earth because of that righteousness. This is why this kind of reformation intercession is so important. If we are to be reformers, we must reform the structures of the heavens as well as the earth because both are part of God’s creation! There are dominions, or heavenly places, that hold whole sectors of society under their wicked sway and must be defeated through intercessory prayer.

A synonym for dominion is kingdom. Another way to think about our call as intercessors would be to paraphrase Matthew 6:10 this way: “Let your dominion come on earth, as it is in heaven.”

Some nations are known as dominions, such as the Dominion of Canada. One of the Scriptures the founders chose as a cornerstone for our nation is Psalm 72:8:

He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.

I am aware that the term dominion has been given a bad name by those who have theologically abused it. However, I feel strongly that we cannot let this good biblical term be preempted because of wrong usage.

The Bible gives us sound doctrinal reason to take dominion over the powers of darkness and establish God’s will—or dominion. We do this by prevailing against the powers of darkness and by reminding God of His laws and promises in Scripture. It is not that He has forgotten them, but He wants to see our faith in action as His legal representatives on the earth. He has given us authority here on earth and will not usurp that authority, but if we come to Him and ask that His promises be fulfilled and His laws enforced, then He will do just as He has written. There are several other passages that point to this doctrine of reformation intercession, such as Colossians 1:16:

For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.

Since God created His order in heaven and earth, both in the visible and invisible realms, it stands to reason that when Satan began to set up his demonic, invisible structures he would counterfeit God’s plan. Ephesians 1:20-23 gives us another biblical snapshot of heaven’s authority over Satan’s counterfeit systems:

Which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 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.

And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Simply put, we must establish God’s kingdom according to His divine rule in each sector of society by dethroning the powers of darkness that hold the nations in their grip.