Target Your Binding & Loosing: How to Effectively Intercede
How do we know what to bind and loose?
God reveals His will in His Word. By studying the Bible, we know what does not line up with His will, and then we develop a prayer strategy to “legislate” His will, or bring our world into alignment with His Word.
When a general goes to war, he prepares a plan. To develop this plan, he needs to know the topography of the land, where the battle will take place, the weapons the enemy has in their arsenal, and even the way the opposing general thinks. He does this through gathering intelligence.
It is no different when we go to fight a spiritual battle against all the strategies that satan has put in place against our nations. We must gather spiritual intelligence and then plan for how we will pray. My friend George Otis Jr., who created the excellent Transformation series, has coined the phrase for this type of plan development. He calls it spiritual mapping. Spiritual mapping, previously discussed, provides an X-ray of what is happening in the invisible realm so we know how to pray effectively.
We must study the strongholds or illegal places of our nations and put together an intercessory plan to legislate God’s will into every sector of society. For too long we have been ignorant of satan’s devices (see 2 Corinthians 2:11).
How do we develop a spiritual map or prayer strategy for a specific sector of society? To start with, the following are some good questions to research and find answers:
Who were the founders of your city?
What did they believe?
Were their beliefs biblically based?
How did their actions affect the society in which you live?
If the founders established your city on righteous truth, did this change over the years and who changed it?
How has this affected the thinking of your society?
What does your society believe and teach through sectors such as education, media, and other channels of communication?
What strongholds have developed as a result of this wrong thinking, laws, or actions?
I am going to illustrate three areas as examples for prayer that need serious legislating in the heavens. They were chosen because of their particular influence on nations and their cultures. Each is a mind-molder in some way and key to renewing the hearts and worldviews of our nations.
Education
Let’s put education in the context of teaching nations. This is how I would do this for the American education system, starting with answering the eight questions presented:
The founders were godly believers who taught from righteous educational textbooks such as The New England Primer.
Their beliefs were that we should teach our children based on Scripture.
Their beliefs were biblically based.
As long as the original methods of education were in place, the nation and its children prospered.
5. Education took a turn away from God beginning in a visible way in 1933, with the Humanist Manifesto and the change in teaching philosophy presented through the “Father of Modern American Education,” John Dewey.
6. Every sector of society has been influenced through humanist doctrine.
7. Educators in general have been taught “situation ethics,” the nonethical approach that has led to a moral breakdown in our society.
8. Strongholds of humanism (remember, the humanist believes that the universe is self-existing and not created) have now permeated film, television, art, science, architecture, and all teaching of the liberal arts in colleges and universities.
How do we, on a practical level, begin to “demolish” the stronghold of humanism in our educational system?
Be informed. Know what is being taught to students on every level in the schools in your area.
Obtain a roster of teachers, look at the curriculum being taught, and find out what the teaching philosophy of the school system is.
Go to the library and see what reading material is provided for students.
Find an interested group of Christian students and encourage them to form a prayer group on campus. Get as close as you can yourself to the campus and pray. Intercede for God to bring others across your path to join you in prayer.
Like Daniel, repent for the sins of the school that your children attend or that your tax money funds (see Daniel 9:8-15).
Ask God if you should fast. I suggest doing so.
List the points in the Humanist Manifestos I, II, and III, and ask God to reverse these strategies that have been put in place in your schools. A few of these are:
The teaching of evolution
The belief that God is not a prayer-hearing God
The endorsement of sexual promiscuity
Last, but certainly not least, fast and pray for God to send a mighty revival among the students.
This is only a partial list. Be led of the Lord in your praying, and He will fill in the other specifics that pertain more directly to your area.
Architecture
While teaching in a church in Phoenix, Arizona, I shared about the Humanist Manifesto and the devastating spiritual results it has had in our school systems. During that time, I also had a revelation that the Lord would use the graduates of the various colleges, such as the school of music, architecture, etc., to return to their campuses to pray and intercede for God to bring revival to those schools. Then, through their legislating the will of God in these schools, God would free the minds of the students to be open to learn biblical truth, even to hunger and search for it.
There is a saying, “From the roots grow the shoots.” What is planted through a life affects the particular sphere that we influence. I believe that Frank Lloyd Wright’s unholy roots affected the school of architecture he founded, which closed in 2020.
In the Bible, Nimrod was a city builder who did so unrighteously. Israel needed to repent of his unrighteousness to get back into favor with God. We need to repent of past sins and pray that God will release righteousness into the teaching of architecture today.
The Entertainment Industry
There can be no doubt that this industry can be a major mind-molder for either good or evil. Media is, without a doubt, one of the most important influencers of culture around the world. Much prayer has saturated Hollywood from groups such as the Hollywood Transformation Group. I have personally been involved in prayer gatherings at major Hollywood studios. For years, there has been a systematic plan by the homosexual community to infiltrate Hollywood.
It is sobering to say that there are nations today where pastors can be jailed if they openly speak out against homosexuality from the pulpit. However, we must be willing to do just that, even if it means going to jail.
We need to intercede for Hollywood and the homosexual community because homosexuality has become intertwined with the arts on every level. The Lord wants to touch those who are stars in the eyes of the world so they will have a righteous influence. Intercession must be made on behalf of those in media and communication because what goes across the airways touches millions of people the world over. It affects what cultures and societies think, wear, act, and feel.
At one time the church had godly sway over the movie-making industry. There was even a production code that was strengthened and fortified by the Catholic Legion of Decency, which designated “indecent” films Catholics should boycott. The church has lost its voice.
There cannot be a more critical area for intercessors to focus on in prayer than Hollywood and the media. We also need to intercede for the Christians who are working diligently to change this area of influence.
Many nations of the world have their own film industries, and there is a great need to spiritually map their roots and develop prayer strategies to take dominion in the heavenlies over these molders of society. We all want to see the will of God done on earth as it is in Heaven, and targeting these areas is one way to see it happen.
As stated previously, targeted intercession will unleash revival, awakening, and reformation. And I believe God is raising up a powerful army of intercessors of all ages who will give their lives to pray for God to change the places where they live into holy habitations of peace, righteousness, and joy. Will you be one of them?
