A young minister once sat with a father of faith. The father asked, “Son, what’s your vision for this city?” He answered, “We will take charge of the spiritual and economic climate of this city.” The father replied, “You cannot do both at the same time. The way to control the economy is to first take your place in the spirit.” It is higher life before better life.
Friend, go for a higher life before a better life. Really, the way to take cities and territories is to take your place in the realm of the spirit (Psalm 110:1-3). When we say “the spiritual controls the physical,” it is not a cliché. It is reality. Those who chase the physical at the expense of the spiritual often lose both. You cannot serve God and mammon (Matthew 6:24).
Taking territories begins by confronting the forces ruling those territories. There are princes in localities called principalities. Until you deal with them, you won’t make a lasting impact there (Daniel 10:12-13). These powers shape the political and economic climate of places. They demand submission through platforms and systems (Ephesians 6:12).
God will first make you big in the spirit before He gives you a platform among men (Genesis 32:28). While you pursue a better life, God’s goal is for you to have a higher life. Higher life is spiritual dominion that eventually produces a better life (Deuteronomy 32:13). If you have a better life without a higher life, you become a victim of the forces in your environment.
Higher life is built through prayer and capacity (Jude 1:20, Revelation 4:1). It sharpens your sensitivity and accuracy. You see things as they truly are. You gain mastery over the forces around you. Higher life has a price. Like digging wells, it may look like nothing is happening now. But it is what will later sustain your life and relevance (John 4:12).
Whatever God plans to give you in this life, the devil can also offer you (Luke 4:5-8). If the enemy wants to steal your future, he will try to give you today what God planned for tomorrow. Like Jesus, you must come to the place where you know that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word from the mouth of God (Luke 4:4). Go for a higher life. That is how to take territories.
‘Demola Awoyele,
Destiny Impact Church
Akure, Nigeria