Breaking the Powers of Darkness

Pastor Julius Suubi preaching on Day 2 of the conference

25 March 2014 by Natasha Kim CM-

Many more people attended Apostle Julius Suubi’s conference on day two, including many more pastors, on the 12^th of March 2014 at the Bible College of Malaysia. There Julius continued on with the main subject of the conference, that is, “Transformed into the same image from glory to glory”. In the previous article, he shared about the steps that we need to take in order to obtain a revival in our nation. This time, he shared about the key component that is important in breaking the powers of darkness that are ruling over the land as well as how we can open up the land for the presence of God to come.

The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. (Genesis 8:21)

“Building up prayer alters was a strategy that God gave to Uganda long ago when our nation was in troubled waters,” he shared. For those who do not know, Uganda has experienced some of the most powerful moves of God in the African continent, including one of the longest revival.

“Many revivals don’t last for more than five years. We are talking about a revival that had impact on the entire nation of Uganda, not only Uganda but on the entire east and central African region. When the spirit of God visits the land, it does not only heal the people, but He also heals the land,” he shared. When that happens, there will also be good impact on the economy as well. Both man and the land have a covenantal relationship, for you cannot separate man from the land. Hence, for revival to come the land must be healed first and foremost. “The land of Malaysia is weeping. It’s crying because there have been so many things that have been done on this land that are causing this land to be grieved,” he shared.

Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous²¹that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.” ²²The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord.²³Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?²⁴What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare^[^b^]the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? ²⁵Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

²⁶The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” ²⁷Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, ²⁸what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?” “If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.” (Genesis 18:20-28)

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)

A very big problem with nations and its people is the fact that prosperity often drives them to slumber, it makes them feel at ease and lose their passion for the Lord. The strategy of ease is one of the strategies the devil uses to destroy many men and women of God, including the many nations of the world. “This is where the enemy does not fight you so much on issues of finances and so on. Many people are very passionate for the Lord when they have problems but when the Lord blesses them they just say, ‘Thank you so much,'” shared Julius. In terms of Uganda, Julius shared that at one point, it was as if the country was going through one calamity after another, and it wasn’t getting any better. “Why? When nations seek God, God pours out His blessings upon that nation but when nations backslide from the presence of God, the forces of darkness become so attracted to those nations,” he said.

The significance of Altars and Daily Prayer

A significant way to activate God’s promises is the building of altars. “There are so many prophecies over the nation of Malaysia. Great prophets from this nation as well as great prophets from outside have released so many prophetic words, but I can assure you brothers and sisters that unless you raise up altars of prayer, you will never see those prophetic words coming to pass. It will just be good words spoken over a nation. You have to pray for them to come to pass!” he shared. Julius then began to go in depth about the subject of prayer altars. First of all, it is important for one to have a personal altar, where you can have personal one-on-one time with the Lord. “This cannot be replaced with corporate prayer,” he shared. He added that as men of God, we should develop a discipline of praying for three hours every day. Without discipline, people will fall away; though God is with us, be aware that there is the devil that is committed to his tactics of destroying mankind.

A family praying together during the time of prayer

Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. (Ephesians 6:11)

“Prayer is a discipline! You don’t pray because you feel like praying or because you feel happy. You pray because you have developed it as a discipline! Just like you don’t need to be happy in the morning to brush your teeth,” shared Julius in a serious but humorous manner. The relationship with God is one that needs to be activated by you and your altar of prayer. It must be initiated by you in order for you to be on the cutting edge! If you have not been praying however, train yourself and begin with one hour and time yourself! “If you do not time yourself, your flesh will deceive you. Our aim of prayer is to draw the presence of God and that is very important!” he said. Another important thing that we need to know, is the significance of the Church that comes together in prayer at the Church altar. In order for the congregation to come together in prayer, they need to see that the pastors see how special prayer is. “Stirring up the Church to rise up and pray is one of my greatest passions! Why? Because the Church is the womb of intercession! Because Jesus Christ said I will build my Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail! (Matthew 16:18). The Church altar is the one that fuels the territorial altar, it is the one that fuels the national altar and it is the one that fuels the personal altars. You make your altars strong by connecting your altar to the one that is higher in power,” shared Julius.

There are forces of darkness that have been in this world from the beginning of time, and these ancient dark forces rule over cities and determine how people behave. “They affect the lifestyles of the people and their thinking patterns,” he said. Therefore, it is important for churches to unite and raise another type of altar as well; and that is, the territorial altar. A territorial altar is much larger and it involves many people and watchmen coming together. Julius urged that it is important to come together at the territorial altar at least once a month, in a corporate vision. Julius then illustrated the importance of unity by telling the story of how the animals in Kenya march strongly together and round themselves up perfect co-ordination to cross a river of many crocodiles, in order to get to the Serengeti every year. “It is not about a Church, it is about the nation and your nation needs to step into destiny. You need to have a heart for your nation! This is a critical time for your nation. Your nation will either enter into a powerful revival or it will enter into a season of judgment, and this means that the heavens will close over the nation,” he shared.

Style of Prayer is Important

“We have people leading us in worship and leading us in the word of God but many times we do not have people leading us in prayer. Many times we just say, “Let’s go and pray… we’ll pray the way the Holy Spirit leads,” he shared. In this case, if we were to do the same with worship without practicing every week, it would be a disaster. “The people who are leading the prayer must have also have practiced just like the whole praise and worship team has practiced. Do not allow a prayer-less person to lead a prayer meeting. He has no spirit of prayer! He has the sleeping anointing and he’s going to release the sleeping anointing on people,” he said. One needs to have touched the heavens in their own personal altar in order to lead a successful prayer meeting. This is so that the fire of God can come and touch peoples’ lives! He then began to illustrate by sharing about how the people in Kenya pray. “Our style in Kenya is, we pray while walking around and by opening our mouths. We do not pray from the heart. I know some of you are experts of praying from the heart where the prayer meeting will be as quiet as a cemetery,” he shared while everyone giggled at it’s humour. They established this style of praying for many reasons, but to most importantly manage the flesh! “If you pray when you’re quiet, you begin to sleep, and it is impossible to sleep when you are talking loudly and walking around. Those are very simple things but they change the momentum of the prayer meetings,” shared Julius in regards to prayer.