Breakthrough Prayer
The greatest prayer of all time is found in John 17. It was the prayer of our Magnificent Intercessor, Jesus Christ, spoken in the garden of Gethsemane on the night He was betrayed. Knowing He was going to be delivered up that night to be condemned and crucified, He spent His last night on earth interceding for us. This is the most prophetic prayer in the Scriptures. It is a prayer that will yet be answered by God the Father for His end-time church. The Father Himself is committed to answering the prayer of His dear Son, and every request in this prayer will be fulfilled before Jesus returns. Jesus prayed the breakthrough prayer for you! No one has interceded like Jesus Christ for His beloved bride, the church. Flaming zeal in His heart prompted Him to pray for you before He was crucified. You were in His mind the night He was betrayed. Desire for you to know the Father filled His soul. Ponder this prayer found in John 17. Pray it over a few times and allow the Holy Spirit to give you understanding. It's time for a new level of prayer to arise in the church of the nations. Aggressive, powerful, passionate, glorious breakthrough prayer!
BREAKTHROUGH PRAYER IS PROPHETIC
A radical new breed of humble, broken-hearted intercessors are rising up in the church. They are powerfully prophetic and have learned how to touch the heart of God. Many are hidden in secret and are praying night and day for revival, righteousness, the destiny of nations, churches, and leaders. It's time for the "Anna company" to arise and pray the prophetic promises back to God! Anna was a hidden but significant prophetic intercessor who was on hand when Jesus was offered in dedication as an infant. Extravagantly devoted for as much as sixty years to intercession in the house of the Lord, she was one praying widow! As one who dwelt in the secret place of intimacy with God, she was made aware of the times of transition and the appearing of the Christ. She'll have a place in history as one who waited, prayed, and believed until the Promise came. We see her at eighty-four years old, still seeking God fervently.
There had to be a burning passion in her heart to keep her praying in the temple all those years. There's no record of any prophecy she spoke, but she was a woman of the secret place. The expression of her prophetic ministry was in her enduring intercession for the redemption of Jerusalem. She prayed through the prophetic promises of God. She was given revelation, and she prayed until she saw it fulfilled. Praying prophets are anointed to bring change in the spiritual climate around them. Though not limited to women, this company of kingdom-pullers seem to follow in the steps of Anna. They give birth, travail, and labor in prayer. This is their call and their joy. These prayer partners with Jesus see with heavenly eyes and pray until His will is done. They've entered into the intercessory ministry of Jesus Christ. Seated with Him, they see from His viewpoint and their intercession flows from revelation. Their prayers become swords and weapons. It may begin by something as simple as a burden to pray. And yet, the burden will remain until they pray it through. This was God's prayer assignment for them. The heart of the intercessor becomes the "womb" where God's purpose labors to be born. The intercessor becomes a focused warrior, conspiring (to breathe together) with God to release His glory on the earth! The prophetic intercessors seen in the Old Testament include Abraham, Esther, Daniel, Deborah, Joseph, Jeremiah, and more. Ask the Lord, Is this my call? Is that what you're drawing me into?
BREAKTHROUGH PRAYER IS POWERFUL
The church of Jesus Christ is returning to the fire and passion of the first century church. This "apostolic move" of God has begun to take hold in the earth, bringing renewal and restoration to the foundations of the churches. Fresh revelation for relevant preaching is pouring out from the Word of God. And a fiery, passionate form of prayer has been birthed in our day that will unlock the heavens over nations and cities. It is breakthrough prayer, authoritative and powerful, that brings a shift in the heavens. This type of prayer has momentum and spiritual force. It blasts through the defenses of the enemy and results in accomplishing the will of God. The advance of the kingdom of heaven is a matter of intense conflict. It's the imposition of a superior force on this darkened planet. Every aspect of the kingdom of God is a threat to satan. There is no advance without his opposition and resistance. But God's kingdom will never retreat. It operates in one gear only-forward. Boldness terrifies the devil. It speaks of a divine power and a spiritual impartation that gives authority to whatever is spoken. Our words become breakers to rip open the atmosphere that hinders God's advance. It's a determination to match fire with fire and not back down from the intimidation of principalities and powers. These powerful apostolic decrees will be heard again through the lips of kingdom advancers and prophetic declarers. Our governmental prayers release the nuclear power of demonic destruction.
BREAKTHROUGH PRAYER Is GOVERNMENTAL
Breakthrough prayer shifts things in the heavens and moves things on earth. Joshua was a man who prayed governmental, breakthrough prayers. He was one who matched fire with fire, and his bold prayer changed human history. God listened to the voice of a man and stopped the sun. Joshua's voice was a cry and a decree meant to avenge the enemies of God and destroy their stronghold over the land. It's the highest level of breakthrough prayer recorded in the Bible besides the prayers of Jesus. Joshua's prayer released God to fight with man. This partnership-prayer gave the earth a display of explosive power like it had never seen before. The skies opened up, and God sent hailstones crashing down to the earth on the heads of His enemies. Joshua chased them, but God sent the hailstones. Man, and God fought together with breakthrough anointing.
Caught up in the momentum of the purposes of God, Joshua tapped into the awesome faith that took him far outside the boundaries of the natural. He commanded the physical universe to heed the call of God and hear the voice of His servant. Because Joshua shared God's heart and zeal for victory, the miracle came! Breakthrough prayer is always rooted in the passions of God and will break boundaries and decree a thing until it is done. It's time to take prayer to the breakthrough level, the place of divine response. We must not be content to leave our prayer life on the religious level of merely something that we must do to be spiritual. When David prayed, the heavens shook, and the voice of God was clearly heard.
6 I cried out to you in my distress, the delivering God,
and from your temple-throne you heard my troubled cry.My sobs came right into your heart and you turned your face to rescue me.
7 The earth itself shivered and shook. It reeled and rocked before him. As the mountains trembled, they melted away! For his anger was kindled, burning on my behalf.
8 Fierce flames leapt from his mouth, erupting with blazing, burning coals as smoke and fire encircled him.
9–10 He stretched heaven’s curtain open and came to my defense.
Swiftly he rode to earth as the stormy sky was lowered.
He rode a chariot of thunderclouds amidst thick darkness,
a cherub his steed as he swooped down, soaring on the wings of Spirit-wind.
11 Wrapped and hidden in the thick-cloud darkness,
his thunder-tabernacle surrounded him. He hid himself in mystery-darkness; the dense rain clouds were his garments.
12 Suddenly the brilliance of his presence broke through with lightning bolts and with a mighty storm from heaven— like a tempest dropping coals of fire.
13 The Lord thundered, the great God above every god spoke with his thunder-voice from the skies. What fearsome hailstones and flashes of fire were before him!
This kind of prayer stirs God to move and uncover the hidden things. God races upon the wings of the wind to break through and create the miracle prayed for. Every time your prayer is answered, God mounts the cherubim and thunders His decrees from heaven on your behalf. The results we see in the natural world are only the outer wrapping of the power He displays in the spirit realm in response to our urgent prayer. In the early days of the church, the evil King Herod came against the body of Christ. He sought to throw Peter in prison in hopes that it would paralyze the church. He recognized Peter's anointing and authority, so he had Peter seized and then had him guarded by sixteen soldiers. When word reached the church, they immediately entered into "intense intercession" to secure his release. The Greek word used in Acts 12:5 for intense intercession is literally "stretching out in prayer." It's the word from which we get the English word tension. It means to "stretch out in prayer with a tension" in our activity. It is prayer that stretches the boundaries and vibrates the spiritual realm until something pops, something gives, and something breaks through! In seasons of stretching prayer, the saints pray with intensity until the enemy yields and God's purposes stand. The saints who prayed in Acts 12 knew that Peter's deliverance in the natural was unlikely and probably would never happen. They also knew that Herod intended to either keep Peter in prison for the rest of his life or murder him. But the believers in Mary's house had a secret weapon, a stretching prayer that could change physical reality and bring a heavenly break- through. They broke through so Peter could break out! They wouldn't let up until God answered! And answer He did in a dramatic and powerful way!
When their prayers finally broke through, they were totally unaware, so they just kept up the tension, stretching their souls out! They had no way of knowing that a miracle had taken place until Peter turned up outside the door! Their prayers created a new reality on earth, breaking through the natural boundaries (prison doors) and releasing the miracle power they had asked for. Their insistent stretching accomplished the work, and it even took them by surprise! This is the type of prayer we must take hold of! No more boring prayer times and half-hearted whimpering. A holy hum begins to rise as the saints "stretch out in prayer," causing miracles to break loose!
Pray this today: Loving Father, I come to you today for supernatural strength. You have bro ken through my pain, issues, and failures, and brought me into victory. I want to linger here with you and pour out my heart to you. No one cares for me like you do, and no one answers prayer like you do. Thank you, Father, for being my Safe Place and my High Tower. I hide myself in you today. Amen.
