Ancient Gates

The tone of this post will be quite different to usual. It’s because there’s a burden on my heart that I want to invite you into. Recently, I was in a room of prayer when the Lord directed my attention to Psalm 24 and in particular, verse 8.

“Lift up your heads, you gates;
be lifted up you ancient doors,
that the king of glory may come in.”
- Psalm 24:8

There’s debate over what exactly the Psalm was referring to for the original readers but there is little doubt as to its ultimate meaning. This Psalm foreshadows The King of Glory entering Jerusalem as Jesus did when he rode in on a donkey.

What the Psalm suggests to me is that a city can be closed to the presence of God. That it can close its gates to the entry of the true king. Certainly this was true of Jerusalem in Jesus’ day because within a week of that entry, they had crucified him. If the literal gates were open to his entry, the gates of their hearts were not.

If you haven’t noticed it, Wellington is a notoriously difficult place to share the message of Jesus. There is a spiritual darkness and resistance to the things of God. It’s like over the years, giant gates have been closed to Him  and they’ve been closed for so long that they’re stuck that way.

But as I was praying, there was a sense for me that we’re praying for these gates to be opened. We’re praying against the long term opposition to the things of God and the inauguration of a new season. A season where Jesus is welcomed in a way we’ve never seen.

Can I invite you again into the 24/7 prayer room or at least to bring a greater focus to prayer where you are. And as we do, to join in with the millions of prayers that have already been prayed over this city and pray that these ancient gates be lifted up so that the King of Glory may come in.

Much love,
Simon

---

This post is part of the Senior Pastor’s weekly blog. Go to the blog feed >>