Jericho, It’s Time to Come Down
A few weeks ago, my aunt sent me a sermon by Jentezen Franklin called “The Power of Bold Prayers” and said, “you have to watch this!” Normally when someone sends me a long video, I put it off to watch until later, but something in me said to watch it immediately. As I pressed play to listen while getting ready for the day, my hope started rising, and my excitement started building. I have thought about this sermon for weeks, and even went back to re-watch it yesterday afternoon so I could take notes. The big takeaway I got from it is this, “Bold prayers honor God, and God honors bold prayers.”
The enemy would love to bring you discouragement, cause you to believe that God doesn’t hear you, and keep you from praying bold prayers. Why? Because he knows what scripture says! He has already lost numerous battles because of praying people with great faith! The Bible is full of stories where someone cried out to God, He heard their prayers, and He answered them. We have a direct line to the throne room of heaven. Did you know that? The God of the universe has His ears open to you at all times. Psalm 34:15 says, “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their cries.” He sees us and He hears us! That’s good news friends!
Simple prayers are wonderful, and God loves them. But I think even He starts to get excited when there is a wall of impossibility in front of us, and instead of running in fear, we pray boldly and declare His word over our situations. I believe God loves when we pray for impossible things, asking for red seas to part, the sun to stand still, and Jericho walls to fall. That’s when He gets to show up and show out. We need to pray from a place of faith, not from a place of fear. “God, I don’t see how I’m going to get through this, but I KNOW that You are able. I believe that You WILL deliver me!”
I love the book of Joshua, especially chapter 6, the story of the walls of Jericho falling down. To give you a little bit of context, the people of Israel at this point that were 40 years or younger, had been in the desert their entire lives. They were born in the desert, and that is all that they knew. They had never seen a city or city walls until God brought them to Jericho, which had walls 60 ft high and 40 ft wide. The people inside this walled city were terrified of Joshua and Israel because even they knew that God had promised them this land, which meant there had to be some type of battle. God showed up before Joshua and gave him the battle plan, one that made no sense! He told them to walk around the city walls one time a day for six days. Then, on day seven, they would march around seven times, and on that seventh time, all the people would shout with a great shout. Each time they walked around, the seven priests would blow trumpets, but the people were instructed in verse 10, “You shall not shout or make any noise with your voice, nor shall a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I say to you, ‘Shout!’ Then you shall shout.” So, they did just that. I’m sure they thought this plan sounded crazy, but it was a plan that required total dependence on God. Imagine walking these walls in silence for six whole days, nothing seeming to happen, walls of resistance right in your face. It takes endurance to keep circling the promise until you see the walls fall flat.
Fun fact about Jericho, it is the lowest place on earth, 60 ft below sea level. What a prophetic insight, that even when we come to the lowest of places in our lives, facing walls of resistance, God says, let’s circle this together, and target it with bold prayers. I loved what Jentezen said in his message, “God can level the walls of resistance when you begin to pray targeted prayers.” There are some walls in our lives that will only come down when we become persistent in praying boldly.
On day seven, the people marched the walls of impossibility seven times, and then released shouts of victory, shouts of recognition that God was going to do what He said He would do. As they shouted with praise, the walls fell down, and they took the city that was theirs. Hell cannot have what heaven says is yours!
What is the situation in your life that seems impossible? What is it that you are believing God for, but haven’t seen come to pass yet? Circle that thing with prayer and praise, build your faith by praying boldly, and watch as God answers your cries. Maybe you’re believing for a financial breakthrough, a healing for you or someone you love, a lost loved one to come to Christ, a child, a spouse, etc. Don’t give up. I have something that I have been praying for, for years, and I have yet to see the fruit of promise. I have a physical representation of the thing I’m praying for, so I actually walked around that item for seven days, remembering what God has said would be mine. I can tell you without hesitation that my hope and my expectations are higher than ever. What is the Jericho that you’re waiting to see fall? I want to encourage you to draw prayer circles around that thing this week. You may not see anything take place right away with your natural eyes, but rest assured that God is working things out for you. At the end of my seven days, I wrote the following:
Jericho, Oh Jericho, it’s time to come down
Your walls have no power over me.
My faithful Father spoke a promise,
And He handed me the key…
The key to unlock what’s already mine,
I just needed faith to believe.
I can now see clearly and boldly declare
Satan, you cannot take me out.
God equipped me with weapons of warfare,
Now watch me win with a march + a shout.
In silence you’ve watched me go ‘round these walls.
Over + over again with no change in sight
Weak + tired, I might be
But best believe I’m not giving up the fight.
Hope is rising as I round the corner of my day 7,
I see the promise, it’s closer than ever…
Jericho, Oh Jericho, today your walls are coming down