What is the mind of the Spirit concerning the 50th and how we should pray? Let us begin with the Biblical patterns for the week.
A. BIBLICAL PATTERNS FOR THE 50TH WEEK
The first day of creation. This is a season of conflict between light and darkness.
The 50th Book of the Bible. This is a Book of Philippians week.
The 50th-chapters-of-the-Bible.
B. THOUGHTS AND PRAYER POINTS FOR THE WEEK
Here are six things to bear in mind as we pray into this week:
1. IT IS JUBILEE: TIME TO PROCLAIM LIBERTY TO ALL PEOPLE
The Bible gives a special place to the 50th. Leviticus 25: 8-13 says, ‘And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years. [9] Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land. [10] And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family. [11] That fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee to you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of its own accord, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine. [12] For it is the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat its produce from the field. [13] ‘In this Year of Jubilee, each of you shall return to his possession.
PRAYER: Pray and proclaim liberty throughout the nations of the earth. Pray and decree that people who have been displaced, deprived and dispossessed will return to their possessions. Pray that this will be a week of returning to families
.2. IT IS A TIME OF JOY AND REJOICING TO KEEP SORROW AWAY
I believe the 50th year is called Jubilee because God intends it to be a season of jubilation (Leviticus 25: 10-13). To the evil one, the 50th season is a time to cause tears, sorrowing and mourning. In Genesis 50, Joseph mourned and buried his father. The death of Joseph and instructions concerning his burial is also recorded in this chapter. In the 50th book of the Bible, Epaphroditus was sick unto death but the mercy of God turned things around and saved his family and Paul and his team from sorrowing.America lost two former presidents, the second (John Adams) and the third (Thomas Jefferson), on 4th of July 1826 – the 50th Independence Anniversary. The year 1950 (the 50th year of the 20th century) was a year of disasters around the world. January 5, Aeroflot Lisunov Li-2 crashed in a snowstorm. All 19 aboard are killed, including almost the entire national ice hockey team (VVS Moscow) of the Soviet Air Force – 11 players, as well as a team doctor and a masseur. January 7, a fire in the St Elizabeth’s Ward of Mercy Hospital in Davenport, Iowa, United States, kills 41 patients.January 12, Submarine HMS Truculent collides with Swedish oil tanker Divina in the Thames Estuary and sinks; 64 people died. March 12, a plane carrying returning rugby fans from Ireland to Wales crashed near Llandow, with the loss of 80 lives. The Korean war and the accompanying bombing and bloody massacres started June 25. On 26 June, a Douglas DC-4 Skymaster aircraft departed from Perth, Western Australia for an eight-hour flight to Adelaide, South Australia. It crashed 22 minutes after take-off. All 29 occupants were killed in the accident; one initially survived, but died six days later. November 13, a Curtiss Reid Flying Services plane crashed en route to Paris from Rome, killing all 52 on board. The same day (November 13), the President of Venezuela, Colonel Carlos Delgado Chalbaud, was kidnapped and murdered in Caracas. November 24, a phenomenal winter storm ravages the northeastern United States, brings 30–50 inches of snow and temperatures below zero, and kills 323 people. Former President of Nigeria, Umar Musa Yar’Adua, died 2010 the 50th year of Nigeria. This week in 1937, the horrific event known as Nanking (Nanjing) Rape or Nanjing Massacre which started December 13, 1937 and lasted six weeks happened. More than 20,000 women including children and the aged were brutally raped during the Japanese occupation of Nanjing city. They butchered an estimated 150,000 male “war prisoners,” and massacred more than 50,000 male civilians. God named the 50th season Jubilee to bar the spirit of heaviness by the joy – as light drives darkness away. In the 50th book of the Bible, Paul calls believers to rejoice in the Lord always.The kingdom of darkness calls the 50th a season of mourning but we call it a season of joy and rejoicing. If we rejoice in the Lord, in Jubilee, death and mourning will have no room.Psalm 50:14-15,23: “Offer to God thanksgiving, And pay your vows to the Most High. [15] Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” [23] Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; And to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God.”
PRAYER: Pray for the release of gratitude ‘joy in the Lord’ upon God’s people in the nations. Pray that the spirit of joy will overtake and bar sorrow and the spirit of heaviness. Pray preservation over God’s people in the nations. Pray that this week shall not end with painful high profile deaths in your land and in the nations.
3. IT IS A TIME TO GIVE UP ANXIETY AND TRUST IN GOD WHO CAN TURN EVIL TO GOOD.
In Genesis 50:20, Joseph said to his brothers, “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive”. In the 50th book of the Bible (Philippians 1:12-14), Paul said, “But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, [13] so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; [14] and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.”
PRAYER: Pray this week that what was meant to work against Christ and the Gospel in nations will work for our good, end in testimonies and bring glory to God.
4. IT IS A SEASON OF GREAT EXPECTATIONS – A TIME TO EXPECT DIVINE VISITATION
In Genesis 50:24-25, “…Joseph said to his brethren, “I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” [25] Then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.”Psalm 50:2-6 says, “Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God will shine forth. [3] Our God shall come, and shall not keep silent; A fire shall devour before Him, And it shall be very tempestuous all around Him. [4] He shall call to the heavens from above, And to the earth, that He may judge His people: [5] “Gather My saints together to Me, Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.” [6] Let the heavens declare His righteousness, For God Himself is Judge. Selah”.Isaiah 50:10 says, “Who among you fears the LORD? Who obeys the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness And has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD And rely upon his God”.The 50th book of the Bible (Philippians 3:20-21) says, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, [21] who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.”
PRAYER: Pray encouragement and hope into the hearts of God’s people in the nations – especially those going through difficult times and wondering if God is hearing their prayers.
5. IT IS A TIME OF JUDGMENT FOR THE WICKED AND A TIME OF MERCY FOR THE ELECT
Jeremiah 50:18-20,34 says, “Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, As I have punished the king of Assyria. [19] But I will bring back Israel to his home, And he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan; His soul shall be satisfied on Mount Ephraim and Gilead. [20] In those days and in that time,” says the LORD, “The iniquity of Israel shall be sought, but there shall be none; And the sins of Judah, but they shall not be found; For I will pardon those whom I preserve… [34] Their Redeemer is strong; The LORD of hosts is His name. He will thoroughly plead their case, That He may give rest to the land, And disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon”.
PRAYER: Pray that Babylon (nations and races that God blessed and exalted but have become arrogant and turned against God) shall be visited with judgment and that God’s people within her will be delivered.
6. TIME OF NEW BEGINNING
The Jubilee of Leviticus 25 marked a new beginning in Israel. It’s a time of ‘return’ to liberty, possessions and family. 2 Kings 15:23: “In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah the son of Menahem became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned two years”.The day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came upon the Church, was the 50th day following the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It marked a new beginning.The 50th week is the beginning of the last 22 days of the year (or 23 days in a leap year). It is a new beginning in the year – following the end of the seventh 49 days (7th seventh 7 weeks). Seven times seven weeks is gone in the year. It is the beginning of what should have been the eighth 49 days (seven weeks) of the year.
PRAYER: Pray and decree that this 50th week is a new beginning in the year – the beginning of the end and another beginning. Decree an end to the negative experiences of the past seven times seven (49) weeks.
C. BIBLE READING SUGGESTIONS
The 50th book of the Bible and the 50th chapters of the Bible are prophetic guiding lights for the 50th week. You may read as follows or as the Spirit leads you:
AjuqDecember 10: Genesis 50
December 11: Psalm 50
December 12: Isaiah 50
December 13: Jeremiah 50
December 14: Philippians 1
December 15: Philippians 2
December 16: Philippians 3-4
SCRIPTURE FOR THE WEEK:
Psalm 50:14-15: “Offer to God thanksgiving, And pay your vows to the Most High. [15] Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”Happy 50th week of the year!
