The 27th week is a critical gate of time in the year. It is a book-of-Daniel week. It is also a 27th-chapters-of-the-Bible week. Here are seven things the Bible shows about this season. They will guide us to pray into this week. There are also some eight broad prayer points you can bring before the Lord this week.
- THE 27TH WEEK IS A SEASON WHEN THE TRUTH IS VEILED TO DECEIVE THE BLIND AND UNDISCERNING.
In Genesis 27, Jacob disguised himself and deceived Isaac to bless him. Isaac was deceived because he was blind.
In First Samuel 27, David was a undercover refugee and offered to serve Achish the king of Gath. The king was deceived. He gave Ziklag to David and his men. He believed David was killing Israelites whereas David was killing Philistines.
- THE 27TH WEEK IS FOR DISMANTLING VEILS, BARRIERS, AND COVERINGS HIDING PLACES, PEOPLE, AND THINGS
The veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom in Matthew 27. In the 27th book of the Bible, God unveiled Daniel and his friends in Babylon. God also gave revelations that unveiled the future in the 27th book of the Bible. In Acts 27, Paul was unveiled amid prisoners sailing to Rome. In Genesis 27, Isaac saw, and spoke into the future of Jacob and Esau. God unveils the future in 27th seasons. The 27th season is a season of visions. The word ‘vision’ is used in 97 verses in the entire Bible (NKJV). The book of Daniel alone, it is used in 29 verses. No other book of the Bible uses the word ‘vision’ more than the 27th book.
- THE 27TH WEEK IS FOR PROBLEM SOLVERS
The 27th week is for problem-solvers but it is a season of tough questions. It is a season of tough demands. Daniel was a problem-solver. He told secrets, that no one else in Babylon. He interpreted dreams that others could not. He read strange handwriting that others could not. He knew what others did not know. That was how he rose to great power.
- THE 27TH: THE HUMILIATION OF THE PROUD AND THE EXALTATION OF THE HUMBLE
Pride and arrogance are great temptations in the 27th season. God promoted Nebuchadnezzar in Jeremiah 27 and humiliated him in the 27th book of the Bible because of pride. God humiliated Belshazzar in Daniel 5 for the same reason. Great Babylon fell to the Medes in the 27th book of the Bible. God spoke about the fall of Tyre in Ezekiel 27. In Isaiah 27, God spoke about punishing Leviathan, the fleeing and twisted serpent; and about restoring Jerusalem. Fascist Benito Mussolini was the 27th Prime Minister of Italy. He was an ally Adolf Hitler. It is important to pray that our hearts are protected from pride in this week. The 27th President of the United States, William Howard Taft distanced himself from the policies of his predecessor, the 26th President(Theodore Roosevelt) who hand-picked Taft to be his successor. He was racist. When it was time to run for re-election in 1912, Roosevelt ran against him. The two lost to Woodrow Wilson (the 28th President). Pray that people God had helped in the past do not become His enemies in the 27th week. It was within the 27th seven years of the United States that America banned State-sponsored prayer and Bible reading in public schools. God fights the proud and helps the humble in the 27th season. 2 Chronicles 27:6 says, “So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the LORD his God”.
- THE 27TH WEEK IS FOR THOSE WHO KNOW THEIR GOD
This is a season to take bold, fearless, and courageous, stand for your just conviction. This is a season of intimidation from hell; but the 27th book of the Bible says, “…but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits” (Daniel 11:32b). Daniel and his friends chose to die instead of casting their faith away. Psalm 27:1 says, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” This is a week to demonstrate great confidence in God. Jesus was crucified for what He believed in Matthew 27. Paul was among prisoners for his faith in Acts 27.
This is a week to remember people of the past who stood for what they believed: The 13 colonies constituting the United States declared independence from Britain on July 4, 1776. John Hus died for his faith on July 6, 1415. The Catholic Church condemned him as a heretic and had him burned at the stake. Sir Thomas Moore was beheaded on July 6, 1535 for refusing to renounce his catholic faith – repudiating the pope and accepting the annulment of King Henry VIII’s marriage. He left behind the following words: “The king’s good servant; but God’s first’. French Huguenots lost all freedom on July 7, 1585 after King Henri III and Duke de Guise signed the treaty of Nemours. Pray, this week, for those who are persecuted for their faith in different parts of the country and around the world.
- THE 27TH SEASON IS A TIME OF GREAT PRESERVATION
God preserves lives in the 27th season. God saved Daniel and his friends from death by revealing the king’s secret to them in Daniel 2. God saved Shedrach, Meshack, and Abednego, from the fiery furnace in Daniel 3. God saved Daniel from lions in Daniel 6. God saved Paul and the other prisoners from shipwreck in Acts 27. God told him, “there shall be no loss of any life”; and he announced it to them. In Matthew 27, Jesus died that we may live; and when He died, Matthew 27:52-53 says, “and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many”.
In the season of the 27th President of the United States, the 26th President, Theodore Roosevelt, survived assassination attempt while delivering his campaign speech for the 1912 presidential election. The traitor was arrested and Theodore Roosevelt continued his speech as if he had not been shot. The 27th season and the spirit of death are not friends. It does not cooperate with death. Benito Mussolini, the fascist 27th Prime Minister of Italy did not know that. Unfortunately, John F. Kennedy did not enjoy this privilege of the 27th season. He was assassinated within the 27th seven years of the United States; on November 22, 1963. This week, may the God that delivered His people from fire and lions, in the book of Daniel, keep you.
- THE 27TH WEEK IS A SEASON TO SUBJECT PHYSICAL APPETITES TO HIGHER PURPOSES .
Food was the foundation of Jacob’s problem with Esau in Genesis 27. In the 27th book of the Bible, Daniel and his friends did not fall for the king’s menu. In Acts 27, Paul and the other prisoners did not have time or appetite for food because of what they were going through. They had “long abstinence from food”. This is a season to discipline the appetite for food and drinks. Daniel gave himself to prayer and fasting in the 27th book of the Bible and secrets were revealed to him. This is a season of communion with Heaven and with “the God Who reveals secrets”. This week, do not let food and other material things get a better part of you.
PRAYERS
- Pray against the spirit of Babylon that seeks to take the place of God in the lives of people in the 27th season.
- Pray for those who are going through persecution in different nations. Pray for believers in lands where they cannot freely express their faith. Pray that the Lord will vindicate His own that trust in Him in this week of promotion through pressure.
- Pray for believers working under cover for the cause of God and His Kingdom, in ‘dangerous places’, will escape detection and be protected this week.
- Pray that the Lord will help you to detect evil workers who disguise themselves as good and innocent people. You will not be deceived like Isaac in Genesis 27; and like Achish in First Samuel 27.
- Pray that God will humiliate proud and arrogant leaders in the nations this week as He did to Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar in the 27th book of the Bible; and as it happened to the Captain of the ship in Acts 27.
- Pray for the unveiling people, secrets, and mysteries, in this week. This is the week of the God Who reveals secret things. Pray that satanic veils over God’s people that seek to make them what they are not be lifted.
- Pray that veils of spiritual blindness and insensitivity be lifted in this week of dreams, visions, understanding times and seasons, and interpreting mysteries.
- Pray for courage to take a fearless radical stand for Jesus Christ – wherever and whenever it is necessary this week. Psalm 27:1-3.
- Pray against abductions and captivity and loss of freedom in this 27th week.
- Happy 27th week!