IHOP Atlanta

In God’s grace and mercy, the Lord has established a Bound4LIFE chapter in Atlanta, GA, in response to the cry to “end abortion and send revival to America.” God has established this B4L chapter in Atlanta as a one of His strategies to end abortion, not only unto revival, but also unto Atlanta being established as a City of Refuge in the end of the age. Abortion is linked to Georgia’s history, and the ending of this atrocity carries tremendous implications, not only for the state and region, but also the country. As Rick Joyner stated in a prophetic word, “A great spiritual breakthrough in Atlanta will result in other strategic breakthroughs around the world”1. In January 2007, Georgia submitted a bill (HB1) in the Georgia House of Representatives that would ban all abortions with no exceptions. In March a resolution (HR 536) stating that the “right to life” would begin at conception was also submitted to the Georgia House of Representatives. Could Georgia be the next flashpoint in the war on the ending of abortion?

In 2004, there were 32,708 abortions reported in Georgia. Although the numbers have fluctuated over the last 34 years that abortion has been legal in America, using this number as an average, Georgia has contributed to the world-wide holocaust with at least 1,112,072 abortions (this is most likely an understatement). If the blood of one Abel cries out to God from the ground, what does the sound of 1.1 million babies’ blood crying out to the ground sound like?

Ultimately we have abortion in our land because we broke covenant with our God and made a covenant with death (Isaiah 28:18). Subsequently, we also broke covenants we made with each other, specifically the covenants that our forefathers made with the Native Americans. Because of the broken covenants, we have given the spirit of death an open door in our state and nation. Slavery soon took a front seat in the nation, and in 1857 blacks were labeled as property, denying them the constitutional right to “life, liberty, and a pursuit of happiness” in the case Dred Scott v. Sanford. Similarly, on Jan. 22, 1973, the Supreme Court passed a law, denying personhood to those in the womb and labeling them as property, in the controversial Roe v. Wade case. Unlike Dred Scott, Roe has yet to be overturned in our country. Babies in the womb are still considered property and are aborted at will, regardless of the age of the baby.

Georgia, like many other states in our union, is guilty of the killing and removal of Native Americans, as well as the horrendous act of slavery. Georgia had a high percentage of Cherokees living in her land before the expulsion, known as the Trail of Tears, where over 4000 Cherokees died while traveling to Oklahoma. In addition, on the eve of the Civil War, the population of slaves owned in Georgia topped 44% of the total population in the state2. Both of these evils are backed by a spirit of greed and racism, influencing most of the theology of Planned Parenthood founder, Margaret Sanger. It is because of her ideas and writings that one of the primary reasons the abortion rate is so high in Georgia, especially among minorities, is because she blatantly targeted such minorities for extinction in order to produce a “pure race.”

Georgia was also the birthplace and home of pastor and Civil Rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Just as the Lord called forth Dr King, Jr. as a deliverer in Atlanta, to be a voice for the persecuted, He is also raising up deliverers to be a voice for the babies of the womb in Atlanta. Part of the prophetic word that Chuck Pierce and Dutch Sheets spoke over Georgia in 2003 during their 50 States’ Tour was that “the Lord is removing the hostile spirit…the womb is now receptive to carry forth the word of the Lord, this which it was destined to bring forth”3. We believe that the Lord was not only speaking of a spiritual womb, but the natural one as well, which carries the babies who will bring forth the word of the Lord in our state.

Another part of the word that Pierce and Sheets gave at that time was: “God says, ‘If you release and come before Me and ask forgiveness as a people and release that up to me, I will release this land from its cry of the blood that is within it.’” The Lord Himself is performing this word, by raising up His intercessors in Atlanta, where His people are coming together, asking forgiveness for the aforementioned sins night and day, unceasing. The intercessors have begun to gather, and we believe that we are on the cusp of a major breakthrough. As Rick Joyner also stated: “The cultural and spiritual forces of the world are still being assembled in Atlanta for one of the ultimate spiritual conflicts”1.

Atlanta, the capital of Georgia, has historically been known to be a city of violence and death. Even as recent as the early part of this century, it was in the top five cities in the number of homicides per capita, reported by the FBI. This is no coincidence, as the first name of Atlanta in the 1800’s was “Terminus,” a name given to it describing it as the end of the line for the railroad4. The word terminus comes from the Greek word “terminal,” meaning “fatal, ending in death.” Since we know that names have biblically been used to describe the state of something or its prophetic calling, the former name of Terminus, has literally ushered in a spirit of death in Atlanta.

Because of the redemptive calling on Atlanta, the Lord renamed her this, which actually means “New Beginnings.” We believe that the Lord is going to perform His word in Georgia, bring down the spirit of death and give her new beginnings: a culture of life. Just as one author of the American Civil War wrote, “The battle for Atlanta will decide the fate of the South,” we believe the Lord is still saying this today. As abortion is ended in Atlanta, Georgia, the gate city of the South, the gates will be opened for the ending of abortion across the region and nation.

Works Cited

1 Rick Joyner, “Strategic Prophetic Word…Atlanta” http://www.morningstarministries.org/feature/sw/us/US052902.htm

2 New Georgia Encyclopedia http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-1019

3 Chuck Pierce, State Prayer Focus: Georgia http://www.glory-of-zion.org/georgia.htm

4 Billy Humphrey, “Atlanta’s Redemptive Calling” http://www.ihop-atlanta.com/page.php?p=media_blogs&postID=8

Joe 2:17 “Let the priests, who minister to the LORD, Weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, “Spare Your people, O LORD, And do not give Your heritage to reproach, That the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ ”

Joel 2:12-18 are some of the key verses regarding How God instructed the nation of Israel through the prophet Joel to repent of the wicked idolatries before the impending day of Gods Judgment was upon them. In verse .14 Joel state, “Who knows if he will turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him…” Joel reflects a sincere fear of the Lord, which came from perceiving the reality of His impending judgments. He believed Gods discipline was coming, and was not sure whether repentance would even guarantee it being averted.
I lack this fear before the Lord in my repentance. When I cry to him in repentance, it is seldom with the perspective that his divine discipline is at hand. I do not understand the reality that if I as an individual, my city, our nation, and all the earth do not repent then HIS JUDGEMENT IS EMMINENT.
I repent because that is what the Bible says to do. I repent because I want to see revival break out. I repent because I feel the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. I repent because I love Jesus and feel sorrow for sinning against Him. All of those reasons are good and valid, however if I fail to perceive the reality His judgments as a dimension of his activity in the earth, then I lack the faith perspective needed to truly ask Him to relent.
As a kingdom of priests, and a company of them at IHOP, We must have a sincere fear of the Lord, and faith that the principles that God applied to His people in scripture still apply to us today. I must learn to stand in the gap for all people, crying out before God to spare his people, just as the priests wailed between the porch and the altar in Joel 2:17.
Without this perspective the repentance of the church is from a point of view that, “I am asking God to keep from doing something I don’t believe he is really going to do in the first place.” I don’t think we believe judgement will ever visit our land, despite our persistent iniquity. Do we trust in our religious values and wealth to shelter us from the darkness of our own inner being? Are we thrusting ourselves fully upon the grace and mercy of the cross of Christ as a Church in America?
In this Joel 2 reality, HE DID JUDGE THE LAND, and we need to wake up – not to that possibility – but to the inevitability of judgment coming to earth as the end of this age draws near. Revelation 19:13 says His robes will be dipped with blood, but this time it will not be his own, “He Himself tread the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God” (Rev. 19:15).
“His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” – John the Baptist (Matthew 3:12)

Numbers 6:22-27 - The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”

The Lord lays out very simply, how we can pray for and bless His very own people Israel. He tells Moses that He wants this prayer to be what is spoken over them as their blessing unto the name of The Holy One of Israel being upon them.

God loves and burns with a passion for His people and he will not hold His peace until His love and salvation is upon them and with this end in mind we bless Israel with this prayer (Is. 62:1).

How do we bless Israel?

In order for us to possess a passion for Israel, we must ask and receive from Him the intense desire in His heart for His very own people. We must have an exchange from the Lord’s heart to ours if we are going to be able to say from our hearts to the Lord, “I love Your children and want to bless them.” This will not come from gritting our teeth and convincing ourselves that we love His people, but only from the place of receiving His very heart for them.

For us to be able pray for Israel we must also receive a revelation of His love for us, and that He loved us so much that He would harden the hearts of His very own chosen people to bring us into His kingdom (Rom 11:25). This will lead us to possessing thankful hearts before the Lord, allowing us to thank Him for His love and asking that He would shower it down once again upon His chosen people and draw them into salvation.

In blessing Israel, it comes down to putting the name of God on them (Numbers 6:27). The name of the Lord is who God is. An example is seen in Exodus when God shows himself to Moses: Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abounding in goodness and truth . . . ’ (Ex 34:5-6).

The Lord desires to put His name on them as His own people and reveal to them His Son through the Holy Spirit. Jesus, in His earthly ministry prayed, and I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them (John 17:26). Here Jesus enlightens us that in declaring the name of the Lord the end result is that the love of the Father would be in them and that He Himself would abide in them, which is salvation (John 14:23)! So, Jesus is explaining that which the Father spoke over the people thousands of years before. He declares the reasoning for the very blessing that He gave Moses and Aaron to proclaim over the people. The whole of the blessing is unto this: that Christ would be in them! Oh the depth of both the wisdom and knowledge of God! Now let us proclaim this blessing over them with full assurance that the Lord will put Christ in them, the hope of glory.

Father, we thank You for Your love and burning desire for Israel. Lord we agree with You and we declare over Israel: The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace in the name of Jesus.

Psalm 63:2-4
So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory.
Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You.
Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.

In verse 3 of Psalm 63 David declares something that should stir our hearts. The experience of God’s lovingkindness is better than life! This declaration should leave hearts wanting and minds wondering, “What did he mean?”
I desire to live in the same reality of encounter as David, but it so often seems fleeting. The truth that the experience of God’s lovingkindness is better than any other pleasure life has to offer, I do not doubt. Yet as I examine my own heart in light of this scripture, I find I declare this back to God in prayer not from a place of knowing, but rather hoping that it is true. “God I want your lovingkindness to be better than life!”

However, David was not writing about an ideal, he was writing about a reality of his experience in daily encountering the living God. Out of the substance of his relationship with God, continually dwelling in His sanctuary, He could declare back to God something he knew to be true on the deepest levels. Out of the revelation of David’s days in Gods sanctuary, we lift our own praises, as we grasp to understand for ourselves what David knew to be true about God.

How often are the things we declare to God in prayer and worship unfelt aspirations? We know truths about God from His word, but we don’t necessarily attain an understanding of truth from the way we live before, and interact with, God. How much greater is it to worship from a place of knowing the truth about God, not simply intellectually but from a place of deep revelation in His Spirit? Truly, how would it change the way we sing and pray to declare from a place of “knowing” not just knowledge. I believe the same thing David had in the sanctuary of the most high, is what Jesus offers every believer in John 4:23-24, when he declares to the Samaritan woman “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

The angels who continually declare Holy, Holy, Holy never grow weary, because the reality of what they are saying is being continually refreshed and expanded. I am convinced we could sing “our God is an awesome God” for all eternity, and never find it dull or repetitive, if we sang in Spirit and in Truth! Worship and Prayer are more about the knowledge of God behind what we say, as opposed to the words or tune we repeat.
So Father, give us wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of who you are so that we can truly declare, because we have been convinced, that your lovingkindness is better than life.

We are in a crisis. In Matthew 24 the disciples asked, “What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age”? It is quite evident, even by watching the six o’clock news and reading the headlines in the newspaper that the end of the age is drawing near. Jesus replied to the disciple, “Take heed that no one deceives you”. He then proceeds to describe the most intense and controversial time that the planet will ever experience. He explains that nations will rise against nation, that there will be wars and rumors of wars and that many saints will be given over to much tribulation and even death. He also describes it as a time when many will be offended with one another, where lawlessness and sin will abound, and where “the love of many will grow cold”. Jesus says that, “All these are the beginning of sorrows.” Beloved, IT SOUNDS LIKE Jesus is describing our world today. We are in a crisis and we must recognize it. Times are urgent and Jesus is returning soon and the Christians on the planet will soon be despised by many, delivered up to tribulation and even killed.

How then shall we live? If everything that Jesus says in Matthew 24 is true, what should we do about it now? These are questions that often go through my mind as I ponder the shocking reality that the end of the age is drawing near and honestly, I am not ready. I am not ready to face persecution, I am not ready to face tribulation, and I am certainly not ready to face martyrdom.

Sudden fear and trembling came over me when I first I began to process these truths about the day and hour in which we live. Jesus told the disciples, “see to it that you are not troubled, for these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet”. He warns us not fear, knowing that we are made from dust (Psalm 103:14) and that our hearts have a tendency to grow weary at the first sign of being uncomfortable. So WHAT IS THE SOLUTION? How do we stand firm until the end? How can we be a people whose love does not grow cold?

1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love but perfect love casts out all fear”.

After much wrestling with the Lord over the solution, He began to show me how to start developing a steadfast spirit that would be able to stand in the most severe of times. It is essential that we have hearts that burn with love for God (Song of Solomon 8:14). We must know the affections and emotions that He has for us, His Bride, even in the midst of His judgments. Feasting on the knowledge of God and digesting the truth of His love is the only way to prevent our love for Him from growing cold and the only way to propel us forward with strength and might to persevere in the latter days when rage and malice are set against the church. Only perfect love can keep us from being afraid and falling away from God during the tribulation and even in times of personal trial and testing.

Ephesians 3:16-19 is an apostolic prayer (a prayer that the apostles prayed) that I often pray regarding this issue. Ephesians 3:16-19 “That He would grant to you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith that you being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height – to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God”. The LORD IS CALLING OUT to a generation to be rooted and grounded in love. God wants us to develop a root system that goes deep (Jeremiah 17:8). He wants the entire Body of Christ to grow up (Ephesians 4:15) in maturity so that we, in the coming days, will be able to stand and not fall away. It is vital that we fall in love with our Bridegroom Judge and continually contend for intimacy in the secret place. Love will be our safeguard from complacency, lethargy, and apathy, as the days grow darker.

God desires to raise up oaks of righteousness (Isaiah 61:3) to be a beacon of light in wicked times. Lovers of God who will be confident in the affections of the Bridegroom God and awakened with urgency for the hour in which we live will begin to emerge from hidden places. This group of lovers and warriors will have the endurance to stand in the end and also will be a shade tree for many during the coming storm (Daniel 11:33). Intimacy is the foundation of a heart that will be protected from offense in that day. Beloved, we are in a crisis and being in the place of deep intimacy is our only solution.