Step One
Your Monument
A monument is an anchor. It’s a way to attach your faith and pin what God is saying and doing in the region you’re praying for. Write down the scriptures, lyrics or words of knowledge He gives to you. For us He likes to give us songs and lyrics to prophecy over street corners or from the mountain tops.
Get into the habit of creating monuments which proclaim the future or remember the past. Bring a notepad with you or set up a folder on your phone to make prayer notes. They don’t need to be public; the majority of mine are not. 80% of my prayer life is listening to Him in contemplative prayer, 10% of it is singing out lyrics, and the rest involves prophetic decrees and proclamations.
Step Two
Write it down
Find some way to document your experience with God. When he speaks to you, it’s important to have it written down in a Google doc (my preference), a pin on Google Maps (Like this), a physical journal or on blog. When we write down what He did in the past, it permits Him to do to others what He once did for you. It helps us remember his faithfulness and His nature. When we write down what He’s doing in the future, it anchors our faith in what’s to come and brings forth His promises. We’re able to revisit what He’s spoken and meditate on his faithfulness to deliver and send forth His word.
Step Three
Prayers of faith
Faith moves mountains. Keep it in front of you. Meditate on it day and night. Talk about it. Preach it. Let it become as much a part of you as the food you eat. Once we have it written down and anchored as a prayer monument, the real test comes. Are we willing to say to Him and press into the promise? Even if it takes years. Even if it takes a lifetime. After we’ve heard Him speak and written it down the natural response is to attach Faith and stand firm.
The world, the enemy, weariness and time will all rob you of your seed. You’ve tilled and watered the promise for so long. You’ve weeded around it. You’ve nourished the soil and protected the seed from drought and heat. Now stand firm. Do not give up. Proclaim it and hold onto what He has promised.
What is a physical monument?
When we say monument, we simply mean a place to anchor your prayers, your intercession and your prophecy. It’s a physical act representing a physical reality (much like the reality of baptism).
In a more traditional sense, there is a biblical precedent for laying physical stones as a memorial to the Lord to remember the good things He has done for us, as well as for symbolising the things He has promised to come. We take inspiration from these physical memorials and their significance.
There are at cases of biblical characters laying physical monument stones. Bethel is where Jacob memorialised his vision, Gilgal is where Joshua commemorated the Israelites’ miraculous entrance into the Promised Land, and Samuel erected an Ebenezer stone after God stopped the Philistines’ attack.
What is a spiritual monument?
Events like the Ark of the Covenant and even the Passover meal can be seen as symbolic monuments, representing what God has done, is doing and is going to do.
The concept of a “monument” or a “memorial” in the Bible extends beyond literal stone structures. It is an act of the flesh which symbolises and represents a spiritual reality, not dissimilar to aspects of baptism. It is a raising of the flag to show all heavenly oppositions and principalities of the air our true colour and where we stand firm and raise our spiritual banner.
A spiritual memorial which demonstrates a spiritual reality can include things like a Google doc, a pin on Google Maps (Like This), a physical journal or a blog.
In Joshua 4:1-8 God commands the Israelites to cross the Jordan River which He has stopped miraculously. Joshua leads the 12 tribes to remove boulders from the riverbed, which they erect in the Promised Land in a place called Gilgal. These 12 stones of Jordan were a memorial to God’s love and miraculous assistance.
However, these stones are appreciating not just by those who witnessed the miracle. Joshua 4:21-22 explains that ‘In the future your children will ask, “What do these stones mean?” Then you can tell them, “This is where the Israelites crossed the Jordan on dry ground.”’ God longs for us to proclaim His goodness to future generations.
The remembrance stones in Gilgal reminded future generations of the God of miracles so that their faith would be renewed.
The first Biblical reference to memorial stones comes in Genesis 28: 10-22, when Jacob set a pillar in Bethel to commemorate a powerful vision of God that he experienced while sleeping there. The experience was so striking that Jacob felt that it must be commemorated, so he erected the stone upon which he slept.
Jacob did not want to forget what God had given him. Bethel, meaning ‘House of God’, then became an important centre for worship. By physically remembering what God had done, Jacob increased his faith and the faith of those who later worshipped there.
Samuel erected an Ebenezer stone after God helped the Israelites defeat the Philistines.
1 Samuel 7:7-12 depicts the Israelites under imminent attack from the Philistines. God leads them to victory, so Samuel erects a large stone and names it Ebenezer, meaning ‘the stone of help’. Samuel recognised the source of their victory and publicly declared it. By permanently commemorating God’s goodness, it ensured that the Israelites would not forget God’s grace. The memorial stones made sure that all glory went to God, the illustrator of Israel’s success.
Abraham built 4 altars around Canaan to commemorate his encounters with God.
An Altar of Praise (Gen 12.1-7)
An Altar of Prayer (12.8-13)
An Altar of Peace (13.14-18)
An Altar of Provision (22.9-14)
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Rachel’s Tomb is a notable example of a monument associated with a biblical figure.
While not a monument in the traditional sense, the Ark of the Covenant served as a central symbol of God’s presence and covenant with Israel.
