Asking the Holy Spirit to show us the spiritual map for a territory to pray over
God, who created the heavens and the earth, demarcated our nations, peoples, and languages. Our Creator is supreme above all other gods worshipped on this earth. In fact, He holds everything together. Without the Spirit of God present in and through all things, nothing would exist. Everything would collapse into dust. God is omniscient and omnipotent. He sees and knows everything at all times. Therefore, we seek His counsel on the spiritual map of any region or country that He calls us to pray for. He knows every territory on earth better than anyone else, along with all its spiritual structures and dominions, such as the thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities that exist in the unseen world.
(简体中文 > 请求圣灵向我们展示一个需要祷告的属灵地图 | 繁體中文 > 請求聖靈向我們展示一個需要禱告的屬靈地圖)
Colossians 1:16-17 NKJV For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
Acts 17:24-26 NKJV God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,
Some key steps in spiritual mapping
1. God initiates, we follow
In the Bible, we see that God instructed Moses to send out spies to survey the land He had promised the Israelites through their forefather, Abraham, before giving them a strategy for how they were to enter it. They were to first check on the people there as well as the condition and strongholds of the land.
Numbers 13:1 NKJV And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.”
Numbers 13:17-20 NKJV Then Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, “Go up this way into the South, and go up to the mountains, and see what the land is like: whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, few or many; whether the land they dwell in is good or bad; whether the cities they inhabit are like camps or strongholds; whether the land is rich or poor; and whether there are forests there or not. Be of good courage. And bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes.
Here, we see the first step in praying over a region, and that is that it should be initiated by the Lord. Because there are spiritual rulers and authorities that exist in the unseen realm for each territory, we should not be so presumptuous to think that we can enter any territory and start taking on any spiritual power that has been ruling there for hundreds or even thousands of years. A soldier or a battalion does not presumptuously charge ahead to fight an enemy that its commander did not give the signal to. We need the wisdom and discipline to only go where the Lord instructs us to go.
Continuing with the account of the promised land, we see that some of the Israelites later made the mistake of going presumptuously to confront their enemies when God was not with them. They were defeated and driven out. Everything that is done according to God’s sovereign will will lead to good fruit and great victories. There should never be a need to suffer needless casualties. We can be confident to take on a prayer assignment for a territory when the Holy Spirit gives us a clear indication and when a local church or authority invites us in.
Numbers 14:39-45 NKJV Then Moses told these words to all the children of Israel, and the people mourned greatly. And they rose early in the morning and went up to the top of the mountain, saying, “Here we are, and we will go up to the place which the Lord has promised, for we have sinned!” And Moses said, “Now why do you transgress the command of the Lord? For this will not succeed. Do not go up, lest you be defeated by your enemies, for the Lord is not among you. For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you shall fall by the sword; because you have turned away from the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.” But they presumed to go up to the mountaintop. Nevertheless, neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed from the camp. Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who dwelt in that mountain came down and attacked them, and drove them back as far as Hormah.
2. Survey the territory
Next, we should first seek to understand the spiritual dynamics of a territory. Moses, for example, instructed the spies to check if the cities were like “camps or strongholds” i.e. easy or difficult to take on.
With so much information that is available online nowadays, we don’t need to literally send in “spies” to survey a place. We can source relatively credible information regarding a territory, such as:
| What is the history of the place? |
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| What spiritual darkness is there? |
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| How is the light of the gospel being advanced or hindered? |
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| How have the people collectively turned against God? |
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3. Seek the Holy Spirit for deeper spiritual insights
As followers of Jesus, we are not to lean on our own understanding but to invite the Holy Spirit to direct our paths. Hence, it is crucial to spend some time waiting on the Lord to listen to His directions for any prayer assignment. This may involve fasting and being still before Him.
Proverbs 3:5-7 NKJV Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil.
We will find that He may point us in a certain area to research deeper into or tell us directly what we need to know. For example, the Holy Spirit may inspire us to look up the history of certain key buildings, research the signing of any key covenants for the region, or scan past news reports for criminal activity or outbreaks of plagues.
After we compile a spiritual map of the territory and share it with our intercessory team, we invite the Holy Spirit to continue to guide us as we begin to pray. Sometimes, He may give us even more revelations on the spot and lead us to pray for certain individuals or bless groups of people, for example.
4. Some quick reminders about prayer
Any prayer assignment from the Lord requires faith and perseverance. Here are some reminders.
Walk by faith, not by sight
We see that ten of the 12 spies became afraid after they saw giants in the promised land and went back to their camp with a bad report. This caused the people to panic and complain about God (everyone except Joshua, Caleb and Moses). This was the reason the entire camp of Israelites wandered around the wilderness for 40 years. It represented one year for every day the spies spent in the promised land while disdaining it. They did not trust in or praise God for the tremendous victory that the Lord had in store for them – that they would take down giants because God was with them! Even though they had seen God part the Red Sea for them to walk through, they allowed their fleshly emotions to get the better of them. It is the same with us. Our faith is not based on what we can see or how we feel. Our faith is based on what the Lord will do through our obedience, even if we do not get to witness the results immediately.
Numbers 14:6-9 NKJV But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: “The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’ Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.”
2 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV For we walk by faith, not by sight.
Obey the Holy Spirit’s instructions
When God initiates something and gives us an assignment to pray for a region, we can be confident that He will fight our battles for us. We will not have the ability to take on ‘giant’ issues within a location, but God does. All we need to do is to go in as vessels of the Holy Spirit and pray according to His will. When we ask for anything according to God’s will, it will be done. The key is to listen to and obey the Holy Spirit’s instructions. There will often be different approaches for different places, since no two places are identical. For example, we may be inspired to start our prayer time with the reading of scripture. Other times, we may feel led to blow a trumpet, worship in celebration of what the Lord will do, or make a symbolic declaration, such raising a flag or pouring water to cleanse a place.
I John 5:14-15 NKJV Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
Exodus 14:14 NKJV The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.
Nothing in common with the idolatry in the land
Another important aspect of praying for a land is to ensure that we have repented of worshipping the very same idols that its inhabitants worship, whether it is through our own personal actions or the actions of our family. We do not want to leave any room for the enemy to create a snare and retaliate against us afterward. This is one of the protocols of territorial prayer.
Psalm 106:36 NKJV They served their idols, Which became a snare to them.
The importance of praying in one accord
The Holy Spirit does great works when we are united and pray in one accord. It is therefore important to settle any grievances or misunderstandings between members of the intercessory prayer team, and be of one spirit and mind as we pray.
Acts 4:24,29-31 NKJV So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them… Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
Acts 5:12 NKJV And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch.
Also, see Spiritual warfare prayers before sharing the gospel in any territory
Testimony: Experiencing the Holy Spirit’s guidance on praying over different districts
Since 2019, the city I live in has gone through some great changes, together with covid hitting us in 2020. It was during this time that a group of brothers and sisters felt called to start praying for our home. We believe that God has also been raising up different groups to pray for the country. We sensed God’s hand moving amongst the Christains here.
And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace. Jeremiah 29:7
Our group gathered regularly. Then in the middle of 2024, we sensed God calling us to pray for eight specific districts. The Holy Spirit’s instruction was clear too – He specified that we should ask for permission to pray inside a church located within each district, whether at some place representing a church or at a prominent church, as opposed to just prayer walking in a mall or on the street. We later learnt that in such a way, we would have spiritual covering while conducting these assignments in these districts. His instruction was to protect us. God is so great and loving!
A Commercial District
For the first assignment, we went to pray at a church located in a commercial district that is highly populated with shopping malls, entertainment venues like karaokes, cinemas, massage parlours, restaurants, horse racing, you name it. It very quickly became obvious that people come to that district to numb themselves with all kinds of enjoyment. Since this district is a very popular shopping area, I thought it would naturally be easy to spot all the significant areas that cause the people to numb themselves and escape to entertainment.
However, as we prayed, the Holy Spirit showed us that the main landlord of this district first got rich from the opium trade back in the 1800’s – hence the presence of a numbing spirit. We were in awe! Our prayer assignment is not only led by our own knowledge and research but to a greater extent, by the revelation and leading of the Holy Spirit.
We prayed to bless the people in the district, especially the churches in the area to rise up. I then saw a vision of the buildings of the major churches in the district literally rising up in the spirit to become taller than all the shopping malls. I felt this was significant.
A Gangster-Controlled District
The second district we prayed for is well-known historically for its high rate of crime, prostitution and drug use, based on our initial research. Again, it seemed very straightforward to pray to protect the residents from these dark activities and to ask God to cleanse the district.
As we started to pray, the Holy Spirit brought the many temples and monasteries in the district to our attention. There were a lot, both big and small! It turned out to be the key item to pray about, instead of the gangster activities.
Interestingly, when we looked at the map, we noticed that the main monastery in the district acted as a spiritual stronghold in the east of the country and that there was another major corresponding monastery in the west. Together, these two monasteries looked like they formed a spiritual gate across the country, from east to west, hindering God’s glory from coming in.
As for the gangster activities, we ended up praying for the gangsters involved in the local triad societies to seek God’s name and protection. We also prayed for their salvation as triad members worship idols and demons.
A Middle-Class Residential District
Another assignment we had was to pray in a relatively newer district with quite a few middle-class private housing estates. While we were getting ready to walk to the church we had made an appointment to pray at, it appeared to us that “comfort” was a keyword for the district. It was like people here long for a light in their lives but they only had man-made ones (like the bright lights in the shopping malls).
We were very blessed that a local church hosted us and provided us with information about the needs of the churches in the district, including the area’s history and spiritual mapping. Not only that, they also prayed with us! It was a beautiful team effort in Jesus Christ.
As we dedicated time to pray for the district, one of the church staff saw an image of a very comfortable sleepy cat with a red collar and a bell on its neck. We felt the details of the image represented some significant points to pray for. So we pressed on to seek the Lord and continued to pray, including repenting of idolising comfort, using abortion as a way of family planning and achieving “comfort”, blessing the local churches, etc. The vision kept evolving with each major prayer point. The red collar was broken off and the picture of the cat eventually faded off. Finally, the church leader saw a military (award) badge appear in the sky. We sensed God was pleased with our teamwork in this assignment.
Learning
Before all the assignments started, I thought there would not be much difference between each district. After all, each is an area within the same city. However, it turned out that each district has their own characteristics and specific spiritual influences.
Each assignment had a unique way of unfolding, it was a unique learning experience and encounter with God. God is faithful – each time we sought Him to pray for a place, each time He guided us, impressed on us, and revealed insights that we would not have known. We were all so encouraged!
Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’ Jeremiah 33:3
These experiences also reminded me that God is specific and detailed. He knows each of us (and the districts) through and through. He loves, cares and communicates with us in a unique and tailored way.
As we engaged in these assignments to pray for and bless different districts, there were times we might have become too passionate and forgotten about spiritual boundaries. While we want so much spiritual freedom for the people in these districts, there are territorial principalities that are not meant for us to pray against. Through these experiences, we have also learnt this very important lesson as well.
God is a good coach. We are honoured to partner with Him!
Testimony: Making the mistake of being presumptuous and ignoring the Holy Spirit’s warning
“I was visiting a foreign country where I prayed with a brother-in-Christ who used to work for the investment arm for the local government. It was a role he took a lot of pride in, as he was the leader for a team that handled billions of dollars worth of investments. This brother-in-Christ used to ‘slave’ away at his job as it had become key to his identity. Jesus was left behind and far from being his true Lord and Master.
The Holy Spirit showed us that by giving himself so wholeheartedly to his work, he had ended up serving mammon (god of money) as well as the gods of the land.
We prayed to repent of grieving God, and I suggested that he also renounce serving the principalities over the nation and tell them he was no longer going to serve them. At that moment, I felt a check in my spirit to not to pray against the principalities, but I went ahead anyway because it ‘made sense’. I was about to learn a lesson!
Two days later, I developed an unusual allergic reaction to a seafood meal at a local restaurant that worshipped idols. I have had meals there before without much problem. This time, big angry hives developed all over my body. I prayed for healing but nothing changed. It lasted over 48 hours and was so itchy, burning and uncomfortable that I could not sleep and had to go to hospital A&E in the middle of the night. The allergic reaction seemed to be getting worse.
After a few hours of continued discomfort in spite of taking an antihistamine pill, I reached out to some friends back home and asked for spiritual discernment. One of them discerned that it was a ‘time-release curse’. This led me to remember the prayer for the brother who worked for the local government.
It so happened that I had also been reading the book, Operating in the Courts of Heaven by Robert Henderson (Chapter 11, the Testimony of The Ecclesia/Church), and came across his teaching that our prayers should only be led by the Holy Spirit and not cross jurisdictions without official invitation. I remembered that the Holy Spirit had given me a warning, which I had ignored, and was therefore, not under the Lord’s covering. As I repented for my pride in confronting principalities head on and for crossing jurisdictions, I felt something lift off me and my hives immediately calm down. The recovery was instant, without the use of any medication.
I do believe there was no coincidence that I had been reading the book just at the time I needed to gain the understanding I needed to pray to break the curse of the hives on my body. It was triggered when I ate some food offered to idols of the land.
I’m very grateful to the Lord and for His faithfulness. I know He does not condemn me for my error and He lovingly guided me to important spiritual principles that I needed to learn. I have learnt my lesson and am grateful for greater spiritual awareness.”
May this sharing be a blessing to you as you seek to love the Lord with all your heart and follow the Holy Spirit’s lead in your prayers.