Focus Points

This week I've felt some leading in how to better pray for my area and my city.

1.) The front line = praise & worship
In Old Testament times the musicians would go out in the front lines of the army, offering praise and worship to the Lord. Paul and Silas were miraculously released from jail while singing praises to our our king. We must not underestimate the power and importance of praise.

Praise helps to cut through the darkness and establish God's authority, preparing the way for strongholds to be broken down. Think about how the trumpets sounded and the walls of Jericho fell down.

2.) The spirit of religion/legalism
People have the worldview that they can be saved through religion or through a legalistic system of following rules and "doing good." They have no assurance of salvation but they think that if they just do enough they will be saved. This exists both inside and outside the official church.

3.) Worship of false gods
The city itself was named after a god and the patron saint of the city is worshipped at two very large shrines. One Hindu temple (unsurprisingly the one dedicated to Krishna, the "highest" god) also remains in the city. Aside from that, in reality people are worshiping a book, a black box, and the name of a prophet written in fancy calligraphy.

4.) Occult Practices
There are two basic categories I have seenof these practices. One depends on "pirs" or priests who work within the name of religion. They generally tell people that "black magic" has been done and give them ways to combat (or counter attack) these spells. The second category are astrologers, palmists and the like. These are extremely popular and even have offices at shopping malls. Within five minutes of meeting any woman I will be asked what my sign is. I thought this was only a bad pickup line, but here everyone is concerned with their horoscopes. One popular movie I watched recently had a storyline where a father broke off his son's marriage because of the girl's astrological sign. The girl's father assured the boy's father that she was actually born at a different time (thus changing the sign) and the wedding went on. On the wedding night the girl found out her father had lied and that it was "against the stars" for her to marry her love. She attempted suicide and then decided to go back to the family and tell the truth. The boy's father disowned her for having the wrong sign and was certain that his son was going to die if he married her. More powerful astrologers tend to attach themselves to rich and famous people, thus increasing their sphere of influence.

Please pray with me that the Lord would break down these strongholds and open people's minds to the truth of the gospel, for it is only through faith in Jesus Christ that they will be saved. The focus of realizing these strongholds is that we may be able to pray more specifically and open up the doors for effective evangelism and church planting.