By Andrew Williams
Series: The Year of the Prophet- Month 5: The Prophet’s Mandate: To Root Out and To Plant
Week 20: The Architecture of Building (Reconstruction)
Anchor Scripture: “Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and called it The-Lord-Is-Peace [Jehovah-Shalom].” — Judges 6:24 (NKJV)
The Teaching
Earlier this month, we looked at the mandate to “throw down” idols and “destroy” false altars (Days 131-132). But the work is not finished once the idol is gone. The final stage of reconstruction is Spiritual Reclamation. In the natural world, reclamation is the process of taking land that was once polluted or used for a harmful purpose and restoring it for a productive one. In the spiritual world, the Prophet is called to reclaim the “High Places.”
When Gideon tore down the altar of Baal, he didn’t just leave a hole in the ground. He built a new altar to the Lord on that very same spot. This is a vital principle: the territory that the enemy once occupied must be converted into a territory for God. If a city has a “High Place” of addiction, the Prophet doesn’t just “prophesy against” the addiction; they prophesy that the city will become a “High Place” of healing and deliverance.
Reclaiming the high places means you are changing the “Ownership” of the ground. You are saying, “This territory—this heart, this family, this city—no longer belongs to the idol of [Name]; it now belongs to the Lord.” You are turning a place of “idolatry” (where man seeks his own way) into a place of “prayer” (where man seeks God’s way). You are “re-branding” the atmosphere with the Name of the Lord.
Prophetic Insight
A Prophet is a Territorial Reclaimer. You don’t just see the “bad neighborhood”; you see the “Redeemed District.” You see the “prodigal” as a “prophet.” You see the “dry church” as a “bubbling spring.” Your reconstruction work is to speak the New Name over the old ruins. If you are in a situation that has been dominated by the enemy for years, do not be intimidated. That “High Place” is actually a strategic location for an Altar of the Lord. The enemy always tries to occupy the most valuable spiritual ground. Your job is to “evict” the idol and “establish” the Sanctuary.
The Activation
Identify a “High Place” in your life or your community—a place where the enemy has had a long-term influence (perhaps a “spirit of fear” in your family, or a “spirit of poverty” in your business). Today, “Reclaim the Ground.” In your prayer, say: “I declare that this ground is no longer the territory of [Enemy’s Name]. I build an Altar to the Lord here. I name this place ‘The Lord is Peace’ [or another Name of God]. This ground is now a Sanctuary.”
Daily Prayer: Lord God, I thank You that the earth is Yours and all its fullness. I thank You for the authority to reclaim the high places. I repent for allowing the enemy to occupy Your territory for so long. I choose today to build a new Altar in the place where the idols once stood. I ‘re-name’ my circumstances according to Your Truth. Let Your Glory occupy every inch of my life and my city. Amen.
