Walls, Gates and Glory
Come down off that wall!
NEH 6:1 When word came to Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left in it – though up to that time I had not set the doors in the gates -2 Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: “Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono.” But they were scheming to harm me; 3 so I sent messengers to them with this reply: “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?”
The walls must be in place before the gates can be set. Gates represent strength; power; defense; governmental authority; strategy; decision making; etc. Jesus assured Peter that all the power, authority and strategy of hell would not prevail against the Church (Mat. 16:18). In its own way, the Church is a gate to eternal life. It is through the Church that the world learns of salvation through Christ. Peter used his keys (to the gate of eternal life if you will) at Pentecost to open gates of faith for the Jews (Mat. 16:19; 18:18; Act. 2). I submit that the ten days the believers spent in prayer immediately prior to Peter’s sermon at Pentecost were the walls that had to be in place (Act. 1:14). Seeking the Lord in prayer and worship represents the walls upon which the gate (Church) is to be set in place. The gate (Church) must be in place before the glory can flow. When the walls of prayer are not in place, the gate can’t be set, much less open. It is through the gate that God’s glory, power, direction and strategy flow. If the walls of prayer are not in place, forget about the gates. Opening wide the gates for the GLORY of GOD to come (Psa. 24) in won’t even be a prospect if the walls are not first established.
In Ezekiel 13, the prophet expresses God’s anger that the walls are broken and the prophets have nothing to say from God because they are on the ground and not up on the walls.
EZE 13:3 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! 4 Your prophets, O Israel, are like jackals among ruins.5 You have not gone up to the breaks in the wall to repair it for the house of Israel so that it will stand firm in the battle on the day of the LORD.
The seers of Israel could only speak out of their “own imagination” because they were not in position to see. Seeking the Lord in prayer is the absolute indispensable ingredient necessary for getting a true prophetic word from the Lord. The Church, like the prophets, will continue to be occupied with ground-bound fantasies rather than Holy Spirit inspired vision until we re-establish corporate prayer as our primary activity.
The spirits of Sanballat and Tobiah still cry out for the Church to come down off the wall of corporate prayer and be more reasonable about such things. However, there is a generation rising in our nation that is committed to the radical, passionate pursuit of the face of God. Like Nehemiah, they will build and fight (pray)… and refuse to come down off that wall until the task is complete!
