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ACTS 29 TODAY

coming to the knowledge of the TRUTH

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PURGED TO STAND IN THE GAP

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I’ll tell you another good reason why it’s so important

not to give up on prayer when you reach an impasse.

You’ll never be able to stand in the gap for others the

way God intends if you remain an unpurged vessel.

Before we can enter deeply into intercession, we must

experience a certain degree of mortification of the

flesh nature. Intercession requires dedication,

determination, and endurance.Generally, each of these

attributes is contrary to the flesh.

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Why Prayer Groups Often Fail

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That’s why so many prayer groups fail, even though

they begin with the best of intentions. Most people who

join a prayer group don’t possess stamina,

commitment, or dedication. In fact,what they usually

have is a whole boatload of excitement and a ton of

character flaws!

These people join a prayer group thinking that they’ll

spend the time pulling down great spiritual strongholds

over the city as they pray in tongues. But in reality, all

they are really doing in the beginning is edifying

themselves, not interceding for others.

If they stick with it, this edification process will cause

the character flaws that have hindered them in the past

to surface. The Holy Spirit will bring them face to face

with the root that has borne the bad fruit — in other

words, the works of the flesh in their lives that have

caused them not to be a good mama, a good daddy, a

good provider, etc. Raging tempers may arise in those

who seemingly never had that kind of temper before.

But the capacity for these fleshly traits was there all

along; praying in tongues just caused them to surface.

Now it is up to the people to continue in prayer,

allowing the Holy Spirit to edify their reborn spirit

until it is able to purge the very root of those traits

away. If the prayer group members don’t deal with

these revealed faults, soon they will disband over petty

arguments, false doctrines, or just plain selfishness. But

if they’ll keep on praying, the Holy Spirit will finally get

them to the place where He can take the emphasis off

their personal edification and release His power

through them on behalf of others.

So the devil works on keeping believers in a state of

carnality. Many churches remain in that state, always

fighting each other, always in turmoil. In that state of

carnality, believers are not qualified for intercession,

because they don’t care enough that sick children are

dying.They don’t care that multitudes are going to hell.

They are too concerned about their own rights.

We should desire to be great intercessors. God wants to

place us between hell and those who are trying to get

there. But first we must desire to mortify the deeds of

the flesh.

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Stand Steadfast in Intercession

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However, we must remember that we cannot actively

pray for the salvation of souls and for revival without

attracting the devil’s attention. Paul warned us about

an impending war in Ephesians 6. He said, “Look, we

don’t wrestle against flesh and blood; we aren’t fighting

with a sword or a spear. But the war is just as real. We

wrestle against principalities, against powers, against

rulers of darkness of this world, and against spiritual

wickedness in heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12).

Therefore, you have to determine to stand steadfast in

intercession, cooperating all the time with the Holy

Spirit’s mortification process that continues within. As

you edify and build yourself up on your most holy faith,

praying in the Holy Ghost, you will attain a place in the

Spirit where God can literally pour the deep

intercessional groanings through you. That’s when

incredible, mega-amounts of Holy Ghost power begin to

be released.

The amount of spiritual activity that goes into

operation when God’s power is delivered to a person to

genuinely stand in the gap is phenomenal. This kind of

power authorizes a host of angels to take legal action in

others and in your affairs to ward off catastrophes and

change circumstances.

But this level of intercession also attracts powers and

principalities to challenge your authority. These

demonic powers will move in on you with the

vengeance of a freight train.Their target will be any

weaknesses or character flaws that they can use to stop

and destroy you, such as your susceptibility to ungodly

lusts or just plain procrastination.

That’s the reason the months and months of edification

through praying in tongues are so important. During

that time, the Holy Spirit edifies your reborn human

spirit to put to death any forces of the flesh giving the

devil authority and power to hinder and control your

life. He builds your spirit to such a place of spiritual

maturity that the enemy can’t stop you.

Once you have reached that place of enduring prayer,

the Holy Spirit will begin to activate incredible waves

of glory — power that floods over your soul in the form

of supernatural joy and hilarious laughter.

These waves of glory are enjoyed by people who have

mastered the art of enduring prayer and are being used

by God to rescue others from physical disaster or

eternal hell. The super-natural joy and laughter is a

report from the realm of the Spirit that faith has

obtained the answer; something has changed, and it

will soon be manifested in the natural realm.

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until next time

LARRY