by W. Chaz Glass

Joshua 6:1-2

Now Jericho was straightly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in. And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valor.

We all have Jericho’s in our promised land, the kingdom of God – our spirits, the holy land where God dwells. Spiritual Jericho’s can be seen as high-walled areas the enemy occupies. These are fortified states of mind and conditions of the heart not surrendered to God. They can be extremely well-constructed by one’s distorted logic, offensive reasoning, self-centered justification, immoral worldly intellect, and fleshy desires, providing a home for sin. Jericho’s are inhabited by pride, lust, envy, misguided ambition, greed, addictions, worry, hate, doubt, despondency, and fear. The high walls appear impenetrable – states that have existed for so long; habits that seem unbreakable, a mindset locked, a callousness 6 feet thick. The Lord will send servants to scout the area and announce warning to the spirit. The enemy is afraid because the battle is already won, so the individual shuts itself up tightly and deflects any attempts by to apply the Word and Spirit to bring it down – a hardening of the heart, a spiritual blindness to the situation caused by deception. Jericho’s in the spirit cause all sorts of problems in one’s life and those close to them. The greatest impact is on prayer. If we must reconcile with our brother before prayer can be received, how can we expect an answer to anything if we leave sin standing high? What blessings can we hope to receive or achieve if these areas the enemy has fortified remain?

Before the battle, the Captain of the Lord’s host met Joshua. The Captain fights in the heavens, and we fight here on Earth, so there are two battles. We cannot win without spiritual divisions of angels fighting alongside us. We aid the heavenly battle by prayer. In prayer, we march – for ourselves and for each other’s – binding on Earth so that it will be bound in heaven. How many laps around depends on the individual. They are not marching alone for passionate intercessors march with them. By the power of the Holy Spirit, the stronghold Jericho comes down when we surrender all to Christ. To attack is to repent, violently blowing the horn of God’s truth in the atmosphere of our spirit. And they will come down. None spared. No residue, spot or wrinkle left. Only the testimony to aid in bringing down other Jericho’s in our neighbor, for we bear their burdens and help bring down their walls.

Identify your Jericho’s, march, and attack!