This year will be a time where we are going to possess these gates.
By Cindy Jacobs
On the Hebrew calendar, 2018 is the year 5778 and, if we see the pictorial emphasis from this, 5778 forms a gate. In fact, this gate can look kind of like a bridal canopy. So, as I was asking the Lord what is going to happen in 2018, I felt the Holy Spirit saying it's the year to possess the gates of your future.
This is very important. I'm going to use the text Genesis 22:17-18, “Blessing I will bless you. Multiplying I will multiply.” Whenever the scripture reiterates something, such as “blessing I will bless you”, this is a form of emphasis meaning it's superlative. It's going to be greater than you can imagine. “Multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars in the heaven and as the sand washes on the seashore and your descendants shall possess the gates of their enemies, and your seed, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed because you have obeyed my voice.” I feel those descendants are not just our natural children, but also our spiritual children—people we have mentored or movements that we have started.
Some of you know that I wrote a book that came out in 1991 called Possessing the Gates of the Enemy, and I've just finished the 4th edition for it, which is coming out later this year. It's a new update with a fresh, new look at prayer and spiritual warfare. As I was writing it, I didn't even think about the significance of gates. But, this year will be a time where we are going to possess these gates—opportunities that are before us that we haven’t been able to reach before. In other words, we've not been able to go through the gates of opportunity.
It’s very interesting that this promise was given to Abraham around 2018 BC, which was 2018 years before Christ and 2018 years after, so it's like a double full-circle time. We are children of Abraham, since we have been grafted into the vine, so promises given to Abraham are promises for us. Now, let's talk about some ways to possess those gates.
Number one, you have to be prepared. Sometimes people just take life day by day, like, well, whatever comes I'm going to deal with it, but this is a year to possess your future. So, you need to look and say, “What does God want me to accomplish this year? What is it that I am supposed to possess? What are those things that have been dreams that you have longed to fulfill?”
It's a time to dream again. It's a time to sit down and say, “Maybe we had a business failure, or maybe we had something happen to our family, or maybe that dream didn't come true,” but don't give up on your dream. Possess it. This is a special year with special promises. We need to get ready for it, but how do we do that? One way is to surrender to God. Just surrender everything to God.
What Gates Has Satan Closed?
Where has Satan closed your gates? Don't just let life pass you by. Think about where Satan has come in to those gates. Maybe it’s been friendship gates or family gates. Maybe there are some things that happened in your family and they were really painful. Don't let Satan just win. Say, “No! Satan, you can't win. You can't have my family.” It’s time to stand and declare and decree.
As we sought direction together for the year, we kept hearing that “Glory” is going to be a significant word in 2018. There are going to be so many incredible miracles that God is going to show us. Habakkuk 2:14 says that the Earth shall be full of the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. God is going to show himself as the great God, the glorious God.
We are to live from the glory down, not from the problems of our life up. In other words, if we're seated with Him in Heavenly places, and He’s a glorious God, He has all the solutions. He has all the answers. He has everything you need. So, when you're looking at a situation, don't look at what the current situation says. Don't look at the problems of it. Seek God from the Heavenly, being seated with him in Heavenly places. Ask him to give solutions and bring those solutions down into the problem. God is full of wisdom. He's a kingdom administrator. He knows how to do everything.
I can't tell you how many times I could not figure out what to do until I finally just calmed myself inside and said, “God, you know what to do”, and all of the sudden, I had the solution. It was like I suddenly realized that I was seated with him, talking to the Lord and He gave me the solution. I knew what to do, and I brought that into the current situation. You can do this when you need wisdom with your children, wisdom with teenagers—praise God that's a very interesting time of life, isn't it—or whatever it is. If you're married, you might need wisdom regarding your spouse.
There are gates that Satan wants to shut—gates of relationship, gates that will slam in your face—and Satan will say to you, “You're never going to have a good relationship with your family. You're not going to have good times. The things that have happened have caused irreparable damage.” No, that is not true, because it's not God's will, and God created your family. He meant it to be good. Don't give up your battle. Now, maybe it won't come about in 2018, but don't give up the battle. God will turn it.
Cindy Jacobs is a prophet, speaker, teacher, and author with a heart for discipling nations in the areas of prayer and the prophetic. She and Mike, her husband of 43 years, co-founded Generals International in 1985. They also founded the Reformation Prayer Network, which consists of a large fifty-state coalition of prayer leader. www.generals.org
