"Then it came about on the seventh day that they rose early at the dawning of the day and marched around the city in the same manner seven times; only on that day they marched around the city seven times. And it came about at the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, 'Shout! For the Lord has given you the city. And the city shall be under the ban, it and all that is in it belongs to the Lord…'"

God gave a very unusual battle plan for the destruction of Jericho: don't use weapons, armor, or strategy, just walk around the city. Hence, for six days they walked in obedience, trusting God at His Word. Those six days must have been an intense time of spiritual struggle and faith building for Joshua and his men. Instructions such as those make little sense to people programmed for action. However, on the seventh day God made the city fall by supernatural means, using highly unusual battle tactics.

The New City was built during the Qing Dynasty and is one of four distinct districts in Hohhot. There are numerous walls in this city; some are made by hand, while others are built of greed, materialism and other controlling desires.

• Pray that believers would not chip away at these walls by using human wisdom and understanding, but would rely on the supernatural power of God to see them crumble.
• Pray that the walls around individuals' hearts will also fall by His power and authority. Ask that when people come to the New City, they will find that it belongs to the Lord.

"And Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, 'Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.' What therefore you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands…'"

Athenians were highly religious people, seeking to appease the spirits in every way possible as a part of their polytheistic practices. They even set up an altar to worship someone or something they could not specifically identify. They knew there was a God they were neglecting, but did not know His name was Jesus Christ!

In Hohhot's Old City it is common to come upon ancient places of worship. The oldest and biggest Tibetan Buddhist temple, Da Zhao, is home to numerous Lamas and active worship even today. Two other temples, Xiletu Zhao (the small temple) and Wu Ta Si (Five Tower Pagoda), also possess great spiritual significance. For many, they believe there to be a dragon spirit beneath the city and different temples are located over different parts of the dragon spirit. Other deities were also worshipped throughout Hohhot's history, including the god of war and the god of wealth.

• Pray that those people who seek to fill their spiritual void through the worship of a greater power would find their true rest in Jesus Christ.
• Pray that they would realize that the One True God does not dwell in temples made with hands, but in the hearts of believers.
• Please ask that the believers in the Old City would overcome the powers of darkness through God's strength and be a light to their neighbors.

"And when He approached, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, 'If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.'"

Jesus was heartbroken for the city of Jerusalem, for he looked out upon her people with great compassion. He realized the yearnings of their hearts and the desperation they had to achieve a peace that could only be found in deep relationship with the Lord. But without Christ, true peace is not possible amongst a people whose hearts are hardened to Him. In Hohhot, the Hui people look for peace through Islam and acts of good works.

The Hui district comprises the western part of the city, and although Hui people are spread throughout the area, the largest Hui concentration is in this Muslim sector. The majority of Hui schools and mosques are also in this district. This nationality descends from Arab merchants traveling the Silk Road who intermarried with local Chinese women. Today, many businesses and factories are owned by the Hui.
Jesus is heartbroken for the people of the Hui City because they are seeking peace through Islamic rituals and rules.

• Pray that the Hui would see the futility in their works and would find grace and salvation in Jesus Christ alone.
• Please also ask for Hui believers to come forward in boldness in their community and for there to be great opportunities to see a church planting movement occur amongst Muslim business persons.

"I said to myself, 'Behold, I have magnified and increased wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.' And I set my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly; I realized that this also is striving after wind."

King Solomon thought that he could gain meaning in his life by becoming wise, gaining wealth, enjoying pleasures, working hard, and advancing his status. He had become a man who had everything a person could ever want. King Solomon did not gain the peace he was looking for through earthly pleasures, but instead learned that all the world's trappings are meaningless. Wisdom, wealth, pleasure, toil and even advancement in life is meaningless without a relationship with the living God.

Many of Inner Mongolia's largest and most prestigious universities are located in the fourth and newest district of Hohhot. These universities are filled with students who work hard to reach their dreams of gaining wealth, success and status. Just like King Solomon, they feel that these materialistic things will bring meaning to their lives. Even some believing university students sometimes put their studies before God because they desire to find successful jobs. God desires all these students to realize that everything is meaningless in comparison to knowing Him intimately.

• Pray that university students will desire God more than success and wealth.
• Pray also that believing university students will want to grow in their relationship with God, share with their friends, and see His kingdom come in this land more than personal success.
• Please pray that many university students will accept the gift of salvation during this teachable time of their lives. Ask that they would be trained up as the future leaders of the Chinese church.

"Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same."

God is sovereign. He is sovereign even when we do not see the way His hand moves throughout the course of history. However, we do know that in His sovereignty He establishes governments and gives them authority over the people. Therefore, it is the responsibility of believers to humble themselves and be subject to those in leadership while continuing to pray fervently for them. We can see from the Bible that God raised Joseph in Egypt so that the Israelites could be saved in the drought. God also raised Ezra, Daniel and Esther in alien countries to protect the Israelites. It is apparent from church history that patience, submission and perseverance before those in authority has changed the course of history, and in doing so has ultimately honored the Name of God.

• Please pray that Christians will be seen with favor by those in authority and that they would be a tremendous blessing to those in leadership.
• Please also pray for a tremendous outpouring of God's wisdom, mercy, and grace upon those in government.
• Pray that government officials will accept the gift of salvation.

"I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all."

After Christ ascended into Heaven, He no longer ministered to the people in the same way as when He was physically present on earth. He sent His Spirit to indwell within the lives of believers so that they might be able to minister as He had when He was with them. Because as followers of Jesus we are to be made complete in Him, we are also to be complete and undivided in the greater Body of Christ, for we shall be known as Christians because of our love for one another. Christ's physical body when He was on earth was only one body: complete and undivided. Yet the church today is often splintered and discordant because of pride and a desire to be "right" in often-petty issues. This divisiveness then works contrary to fulfilling the Great Commission and the works of Christ. Imagine if you were trying to read this page and your brain and eyes were in disagreement with one another as well as with your hands. It would be virtually impossible to accomplish the task of reading, for each part of the body would be insisting on following its own course.

• Please pray that the believers in Hohhot would be united as one body, humbling themselves before both God and one another.
• Pray that they would also have a spirit of gentleness and patience with each other to work diligently in attaining unity within the church.

"And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into him, who is the head, even Christ…"

God has been faithful to call out specific people to be in positions of leadership in the church. Their purpose is to give themselves wholly to Christ, who is head over the church, and to humbly equip other believers. A leader must be grounded in the Word of God so that he or she will be able to speak the truth in love. When storms threaten to blow the winds of false teaching and the waves of hardship or persecution into the church, the leader must direct people to Christ.

• Today, please pray for the equipping of church leaders in Hohhot, that they will be grounded in sound doctrine and an intimate love relationship with God.
• Pray that leaders will continue to build up the body of Christ, serving others humbly and speaking the truth in love. May God continue raising up more leaders who will be passionate about the work of Christ.