Pray to be Guardians

We pray to be Guardians (keepers) of the land. Since the very beginning, God has destined mankind to be Keepers or Guardians of the land. According to Genesis 2:15, God took man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it. The Hebrew root word for garden is to hedge about, to protect, and to defend. And Eden means the region of Adam’s home, or his region, his land. So, Garden of Eden, literally means to protect, to defend and build a hedge around your region.

Adam’s failure in keeping God’s charge to him resulted in disastrous effects for all mankind. We have to ask ourselves, are we putting a hedge around our family, our church, our region where God has placed us? Are we doing the best we can to protect and defend our region, the land God assigned to us?

According to Strong’s Concordance, “hedge” means protection, fence, to make a hedge or wall. Based upon the meaning of garden that we read above, we are to make a hedge or wall of protection around the region where God has placed us. A hedge must be a powerful tool against our enemy because in Job 1:10, Satan accuses God of placing a hedge (an all-encompassing wall of protection) around Job and his household so Satan could not lay a hand on him, his family, or any of his possessions!

In Isaiah 5:5, when the hedge is taken away (or broken down; or never put up in the first place) the vineyard will be eaten up and trodden down. God scolds the foolish prophets for not building up the wall (hedge in KJV) in Ezekiel 13:5. Is not the Lord looking for us to build up the hedge (spiritual wall of protection) around our region as He did in Ezekiel 22:30 and Psalms 144:14b?

Using Genesis 2:15 as an example, He has placed us in our region to tend and keep the land. In the Hebrew, “tend” means to till, to keep, to dress, to serve and to work the land. So, we are to not only till, but to serve the land and all that is in it. Spiritually speaking, it appears one way we can serve our land, or region, is to protect and defend it from principalities, powers, rulers of darkness (Eph. 6:12).

Again, Genesis 2:15 also says we are to “keep” the land; the word “keep” in the Hebrew means to hedge about, to care for, to guard, to protect, to watch. This is what our Captain of Heavenly Hosts expects us to be doing right here, right now—in the region He has assigned us to.

That word, to guard, or to be a guardian, really speaks about our assignment, our mission. To “guard” in Strong’s means custody, a guard, the post, ward, to watch. A Guardian, per the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary, is someone who protects something or a person who has legal right and responsibility for taking care of someone. Hasn’t Jesus given us the legal right and responsibility to rule and reign on the earth (Matt. 16:18-19; 18:18-20; Rom. 5:17; Ps. 8:4-6; Rev. 5:10)?

One of the meanings for “keep” is “to watch”; to be a watchman. Watchman means to peer into the distance, observe, to keep the watch. Watchmen can refer to the king’s guards (1 Sam. 14:16) or to those who look out from a tower on the city wall (2 Kings 9:17). In other instances, it is spiritual watchmen, or prophets, who look out, see danger and report to the people (see Isa. 52:8; Jer. 6:17; Eze. 33:2-7). God sets a Guardian, a Watchman to declare what he sees (Isa. 21:6-10). So, combining this with what we have seen in Gen 2:15, we can surmise He has called us to be Watchmen on the wall declaring what He reveals to us. Our Captain has made us Watchmen of the land to hear the word of His mouth and give the people warning from Him (Eze. 3:17).

God’s plan for the land is to have Watchmen of prayer and intercession set on our walls. Watchmen who will never hold their peace, day or night. Intercessors who will not keep silent, and will give Him no rest until He establishes that which He has assigned us to pray for; our family, our church, our city, our region, our country, our world (see Isa 62:6-7). Oh, may we take God’s assignment for us seriously.