Passion To Win
Part Six Series on Prayer
By Jacquelyn Fedor
2009 - 12 - 28
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We must truly be persuaded of God's goodness to have the boldness and passion to be angry enough to run the devil off when he intervenes in our lives and the lives of those we pray for. Without this righteous anger, the enemy laughs at our little puny attempts to drive him off. Is it OK to be righteously angry? God says be angry and do not sin.
Ephesians 4:26
26 "Be angry, and do not sin": do not let the sun go down on your wrath,
26 "Be angry, and do not sin": do not let the sun go down on your wrath,
The Word does not say anywhere that we should not get angry at our spiritual enemies. In fact Matthew 11:12 says:
Matthew 11:12
12 "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.
12 "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.
Many Scriptures confirm that God Himself becomes angry, and we are created in His image.
Psalms 76:7, talking about the Lord, says:
7 You, Yourself, are to be feared And who may stand in Your presence When once You are angry?
7 You, Yourself, are to be feared And who may stand in Your presence When once You are angry?
In other words, it is normal to be angry when we see the enemy destroying the lives of God's people. We are the head and not the tail, the lender not borrowers, and greater is He that is in us. These scriptures are truth, yet the devil continues to come in to kill, steal and destroy. As we fight back in prayer, the anger at the injustice, the animosity we feel against an unseen enemy we cannot physically fight, results quite often in angry tears running down our faces as we cry out to God to help us and come vehemently against Satan. This is the ministry of tears.
If we don't expect God to meet our needs for joy, finances, health, and yes, even our heart's desires, just because He is a good God and a Father that loves His children, then we won't be persistent enough to fight through so that His promises can be realized in our lives. We will give up if our desires or needs are not met immediately, thinking God just didn't want to meet the need. Our faith must flow without doubt to the Father for His faithfulness to manifest the answer we are looking for back to us. If we truly believe what the Word promises we will have the tenacity and courage to stand. And at the same time, we will get really angry at the enemy for putting out the illusion that the Word does not work for us or those we care about! Have you ever been so convicted of being right about something and yet to all physical appearances it looks like you are dead wrong? How angry and frustrating this was when you knew what you knew! You perhaps even threw a little fit at those that challenged you telling you that you were wrong. Well this is the same attitude as that of the prayer warrior that knows God's promise in scripture, and isn't afraid to be demonstrative in prayer. They know that they know God's opinion in the matter. So absolute anger arises, because the warrior's heart is fully convicted from hearing and knowing the Word. He is so absolutely positive his prayer is in line with God's will that he will hard-headedly, doggedly, persistently fight and battle against the enemy. In their efforts, boldness, anger, passion, and the intense drive and will to win erupts in water gushing forth from eyes so focused on the promises of God that he can see nothing but victory. This also is the ministry of tears.
Then there is the prayer warrior, again well versed in the Word, that has done all they know to reach family, friends, even loved ones, who for the most part, do not want to hear about the things of God. Perhaps they are so caught up in themselves and the pleasures of this world, that they want no part of the intense battle to establish God's Kingdom. Or maybe they are just lazy and content with life as it is, and church to them is just a feel good place you go to socialize or to be considered a good citizen in the community. Lukewarm, but good for business.
Revelation 3:15-16
15 "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.
16 "So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
15 "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.
16 "So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
How sad, tears well up in disappointment as the warrior lifts those he cares about to the Father in prayer. He is tearfully aware of their sad spiritual condition and fully understands that God will not step over their will to change them. Again, this prayer
Or perhaps the warrior is in love with someone that just doesn't have the same convictions concerning the things of God as they do. He or she may not want to walk the same narrow highway of holiness, or give up their personal agendas in the world to completely serve God. Kingdom lifestyle and God's family may not be very interesting to them at all. This can be really heart wrenching for the one that is dedicated to the Kingdom and loves the family of God. Especially if they are truly in love with that person and yet dedicated and determined to serve the Lord. As they pray for their loved one, tears of frustration, anguish, disappointment and sorrow come forth in what is known as the ministry of tears.
The Lord sees every tear we shed. He has, at different instances, changed the course of time and history for His children because of their tears. Look what He did for King Hezekiah.
II Kings 20:4-5
4 And it happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying,
5 "Return and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people, Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: "I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears (ministry of tears); surely I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD.
4 And it happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying,
5 "Return and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people, Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: "I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears (ministry of tears); surely I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD.
King David sang, begging God in Psalm 39:12, to remember his tears and outcries.
Psalm 39:12
12 "Hear my prayer, O LORD, And give ear to my cry; Do not be silent at my tears, For I am a stranger with You, A sojourner, as all my fathers were.
12 "Hear my prayer, O LORD, And give ear to my cry; Do not be silent at my tears, For I am a stranger with You, A sojourner, as all my fathers were.
Yes, David, the mighty warrior King of Israel, interceded through the ministry of tears as did all the early priesthood. Their pride did not get in the way, they did not consider this prayer unmanly. In fact there is a very unique role in spiritual warfare prayer that tears seem to play in obtaining a breakthrough. For one thing, God draws near to those with broken hearts and contrite spirits.
Psalms 34:17-18
17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit (contrite means crushed, pulverized).
17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit (contrite means crushed, pulverized).
It seems as we travail with tears of sorrow, compassion, anger or repentance, victory is birthed.
There are times that surrender and submission to God's sovereignty paves the way for our prayer to be answered also, as we will finally quit praying the way we think God should accomplish things and let Him just do it. As the old saying goes, "let go and let God." As we finally let go of our issues and opinions after many sessions of prayer, we many times release these things to God through helpless tears of frustration and utter exhaustion. It can seem like there is nothing left of us to pray, and we become almost too tired and exhausted emotionally to even care. But even in this letting go guess what, there is victory.
I Corinthians 1:27
27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;
27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;
It is at these particular moments when we have prayed all we know to pray without any release or breakthrough, that we just pray in the spirit, or in our prayer language. What happens is, we give up our human understanding and simply let the Holy Ghost take charge of the situation. This is how the Holy Spirit intercedes through us in perfect prayer. Even though we may not know what is being prayed by the Holy Spirit, we can feel the emotion of our spirit welling up in us resulting in what is known as liquid prayer or the ministry of tears.
Romans 8:26-27 explains:
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered (Notice the Spirit groans, He is not too prideful or timid to be emotional!) .
27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered (Notice the Spirit groans, He is not too prideful or timid to be emotional!) .
27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
In conclusion, people, in fact whole denominations that are not filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues, miss out on this dimension of prayer.
In I Corinthians 14:14-15 Paul says:
14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.
15 What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.
14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.
15 What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.
In Ephesians 6:18 Paul says again:
18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints
18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints
When we pray in tongues our spirit man is responding through the mind of Christ and therefore bypassing the intellect of our soul man. But, don't become mentally detached or disinterested. Stay connected. Be very sensitive to the Holy Spirit as He joins with your spirit, for together you may become emotional, compassionate or angry and breakthrough comes as you engage in the ministry of tears.
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