Introduction: The Promise
In an open vision I received in 1982, the Lord began to reveal to me that He would raise up people who would be instrumental in building glorious cities that loved God well. These ones that were to carry His presence through the city were called “city builders,” and the Lord revealed to me that they would need to roar the “second roar.”
The First Roar
The “first roar” of these city builders was their vision to bring the kingdom of God into their arena of life, and take their city. At first, they were full of zeal and desire to further God’s kingdom in their lives and cities, and they ran out with much activity and excitement. As they did, beasts of the forest came to devour them. The picture that the Lord gave me was from Isaiah 56, where beasts came to devour them. I believe these wild beasts represented doubt and worldly concerns and unforeseen opposition that came in to attack them and their vision.
Though they didn’t realize it, their vision was based mostly on circumstances and on an “if everything goes right” mentality. They relied on sight, versus faith and this was their error. They began to retreat in defeat because their first roar had died; it was sacrificed on the altar of circumstances. They retreated to a place of survival.
Survival
This past summer, I had the opportunity to discuss the current condition of the marketplace with Bob Jones who has been a long time friend. He stated that marketplace individuals have been on “the other side of the Jordan,” where the goal was just to stay alive within the marketplace. He felt that spiritual mothers and fathers had lost their roar of vision for their cities; they were now merely focusing on survival.
Bob went on to explain that it was now time to cross over to the other side of the Jordan into the Promised Land. It was now time to take with a roar the cities they had been called to reach. The seasons had changed; there had been a great shift. Although doors had been closed in the past, believers would now be able to do things they had not been able to do before. They needed fresh faith to recognize the open doors and step into the new season.
The Second Roar
I saw that it was now time for city builders to roar again with a “second roar.” This roar was unlike the first roar of marketplace believers. This cry would be based on cultivated faith and spiritual vision that superseded circumstances. It was beyond zeal. It was based on real love and would be founded on a vision coming from the inside – an internal reality of deeper understanding. In this second roar, wisdom and long-sighted faith would go hand in hand with enthusiastic love. The second roar would be different, it would last and it would profoundly influence different cities across the world.
Those who roared again, a second roar, would have a new perspective of their circumstances based on marveling at Jesus – that He would be magnified above their circumstances. This is where the first roar had been derailed. People had looked to their circumstances above God’s leading hand.
The second roar would be fueled by prayer. By praying continually, city builders would receive new lenses of love for God and life. Circumstances would be seen through the eyes of faith as people daily turned their hearts towards heaven. As part of the promise from God, they would also be given “marvelous comrades,” true friends who would stand with each other and fight for each other while providing encouragement and friendship. This vision based on faith, coupled with earnest prayer and marvelous camaraderie, would empower marketplace people with a roar that would transform cities. These cities would become all they were ever meant to be as they loved God well.
The Problem of Doubt
Doubt and unbelief were the greatest obstacles hindering marketplace believers from roaring again. They had begun to put themselves in prisons of their own making; these prisons were called “doubt” and had been birthed out of the failures from the first roar. In the prisons of doubt, it had become easier not to believe in God’s goodness and faithfulness. Those in prisons of doubt were short-sighted and lacked the perspective it took to build a city of faith and wisdom. They had adopted three “wrong ways of seeing,” through these lenses of doubt.
The first wrong view was of the nature of prayer, and how God answers. Their prayer times were weak, doubtful, and lacking as they mostly focused on unanswered prayer, their problems and their own limitations. They needed eyeglasses to give them a corrected perspective of prayer. Often they would put God in a box, expecting Him to meet them on their own terms, or in a particular way or time. They did not know how to look to His goal and His vision and have trust in His prevailing faithfulness.
The second wrong way of seeing was of their personal history and God’s goodness in it. They perceived their history as a history of where God was not, instead of where He had been, throughout the difficult circumstances of their lives. This misinterpretation missed the goodness of God and focused on the bitterness and the mistakes of the past. These second roarers would need to become fresh in perspective of God’s proven faithfulness to them. Then they would be ready to roar the second roar with no hindrance of bitterness or doubt.
The final wrong way of seeing, was of themselves. They viewed themselves as “less-than Christians,” and they doubted the power of their own cry before God, and their ability to roar again. Limited by their own self-condemnation, they did not correctly perceive their own position before God and His affection towards them. To think less of God’s love for us is an injustice to Him and the cross. And if we are unable to receive His love, we don’t walk in our full authority and position before Him, and we limit our ability to impact and bless the lives of others.
The Doubt Addicts
Many marketplace individuals had actually become “doubt addicts”. Presently, doubt was the socially accepted disease in our midst. To have a doubt addict in the room was disastrous for children, extended family, businesses, etc., yet it was fully accepted! The enemy was excited about keeping doubt addicts alive so that they could spread their doubt to all who were around them and into the city. I saw some that were living in the “woe is me – the ship is going down,” mentality, without a perspective of faith or understanding of God’s heart.
The Lord said in this season it was not okay for His people to repeat their problems and pain without looking, in the fear of the Lord, to God’s faithfulness; because to doubt Him is to malign His character. They needed to be in a place of satisfaction and contentment with who God was to them and what He had done for them.
Many of God’s people have been given much, but were thankful for little. “Because you did not serve the Lord your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, therefore… you will serve your enemies.” (Deuteronomy 28:47) Because the Israelites did not serve God in gladness and thankfulness, recognizing their prosperity and the goodness of God towards them, they were condemned to serve their enemies. Today, in the absence of thankful hearts, many have been handed over to their enemies of depression and fear.
A Proclamation Lifestyle
A proclamation was to come forth with strength. There was to be a proclamation full of belief in the goodness of God versus what they lacked and what the Lord had not done. As they roared this second roar with a proclamation of God’s goodness, cities were transformed in the glory of His presence.
