“And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, saying, Father if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony, he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” Luke 22:41-44
Background
I remember the first time I heard about Passion Prayer was in 2011. My life was in tatters, in shambles, literally everything, everything…nothing completely was adding up. I had no peace, no proper job: new companies closing down, resignations, being fired at times, performing odd jobs, not being able to pay rent or sustain myself, failures at the edge of breakthroughs, blurry future, hopelessness…and the cycle continued. Call it what you want. I call it bondage.
I was desperately looking for God, hoping from one church to another, looking for people to pray for me. I’ve literally been in more than 10 churches in Nairobi alone. Life was completely meaningless!
I remember as clear as day, sitting behind a computer in a cybercafé and writing the longest email of desperation to a prayer coach. I’d had enough of it! And my Passion Prayer journey began.
Introduction
Ignorance is costly. It’s deadly!
As Elisha Goodman puts it, “What you don’t know can kill you.”
Daniel 2:16-45, Remember when King Nebuchadnezzar asked that his dream and its interpretation be made known to him? Remember Daniel pleading against the destruction of them that were unable to do that, Daniel 2:24?
How about the effect of the spirit of slumber – of sleeping in the spirit?
Read Acts 20:7-9 the death of Eutychus.
What of this? Mathew 13:25 “While men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.” Is this slumber at night or outright slumber in the spirit?
And how about this? ~ “Before anything happens at all for you to see, it has already been enacted in the spiritual world.” – Elisha Goodman.
Sometimes when you sit and think about all the filth that goes on in the spiritual realm, then you cannot just afford to practice the habit of going to church on Sunday then relaxing ’til the following Sunday. That isn’t just enough. No! we can no longer just sit and watch things happen to us. If we’re truly honest with ourselves and we deeply understand the magnitude of battle waged against us, and we’ve observed the unusual and recurring patterns in our family lines, then we will not be exempted from the effects of such battles if we haven’t thoroughly addressed our foundations.
And from the days of John the Baptist to the present moment, the Kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent taketh it by force. Mathew 11:12
Passion Prayer has taught me to align my prayers in such a way that they address 3 crucial areas: altars, gates and foundations.
Holiness
Exodus 15:11 Who is like unto thee, O Lord among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
Look! God delights not only in praises, but also in holiness.
Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless, I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.
Passion Prayer, I would say, rides on the wheels of consistency, continual sacrifice and refusing to give up. Remember the story of the ruthless judge and the widow in Luke 18:1-8? Persistence!
Here are some of the lessons I’ve learnt from Passion Prayer:
-Persistence in Prayer.
-Praying in the spirit and subjecting my will to God’s will.
-Fasting: regular and habitual fasting.
-Praying at the midnight hour. I literally pray anytime, anywhere though.
-Operating solely within the guidance of the Spirit of God.
-Doing targeted prayers.
-Prayers of thanksgiving. Daddy loves to be thanked too.
-Praying in Jesus name.
-Taking authority. Sadly, some believers don’t understand the magnitude of power bestowed in them.
-Worship. Authentic worship – powerful in ushering in God’s presence.
-Hallowing the grounds I’m using to pray and dedicating them to God. – Psalm 24
-Forgiving + repenting (not harboring sin in my heart).
-Examining my motives when I go into prayer.
-Meditation and intercession.
-Identifying and dealing with evil spiritual attacks spiritually – Ephesians 6:12
-Praying for myself and seeing results.
-Employing the ‘power in agreement’ with prayer and accountability partners, as led.
-Deliberately and continuously putting on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:11-18) + employing other weapons of warfare from His armory – His word.
-Praying whether I feel like it or not. I doubt the devils procrastinates attacks.
Targeted Prayers
What is a targeted prayer?
The following writings by Peter Amsterdam should drive the point home.
-Picture yourself in an archery competition targeting the bull’s eye. If you want to hit the centre of the bull’s eye, you don’t shoot your arrows in all directions, hoping that one will hit the target. Even if you know the general range, you shouldn’t be in such a hurry to shoot, using only your best guess.
You aim carefully even if it takes longer for you to let go of the arrow. You want to make sure that your stance is correct, that you load your arrow right.
-Taking aim with a bow and arrow takes focus and practice, because even being a few degrees off could result in missing your target.
In a competition, you want your arrow to hit the target the first time around. While it’s a next option, you shouldn’t put your faith in the second shot. You need the first one to be it.
Praying specifically and making sure you hit the target involves clearly articulating what you want to happen. Know your target, aim precisely for your target, and hit the mark.
Prayer Tactics & Fast
How would we talk about Passion Prayer without mentioning fasting? I’m interested in the different tactics employed by some of the Bible personalities. Let’s look at a few.
Deborah intervened between heaven and earth, inviting the heavens: the stars in their courses to fight (Judges 5:20), Daniel faithfully prayed thrice a day and refused to defile himself with the King’s food or wine (Daniel 1:8) and Esther declared a 3 day dry fast (Esther 4:16 and didn’t exempt herself). A fast whose effect saw the reversal of a decree (Esther 3:12-15) to wipe off an entire tribe (Esther 7:10).
This brings me to an experience I had slightly more than 13 years ago. The first time I did an Esther’s fast, it was for a job, but instead, the Lord delivered me from an impending and intended deadly attack. See, our God sees what we can’t (situations, some of which we haven’t even prayed over), and He knows what’s more urgent and of a priority. I later learnt it was a spiritual attack launched against me.
Firstly, it all began as a cold/flu, leading to septicaemia which wasn’t properly treated, resulting in change of clinics and an eventual admission in hospital where I was diagnosed with amoebiasis + malaria, that couldn’t earlier be detected and the next thing, I was on drips. I still remember the six huge bags with chilly fluid, two of which were quinine. I recovered. Months later was another attack but which found me in the middle of an Esther’s fast (just as I’d priorly been led in the spirit), combined with hot midnight prayers. The deadly attack was stopped dead in its tracks, but not just that; it got reversed on the 3rd day of my fast just exactly as it happened in the Book of Esther. I only connected the dots later, but that goes to show you just how powerful an Esther’s fast, or any other fast for that matter is. Since then, I don’t consider an attack minor. Think twice if you perceive an attack minor!! Now I look back, I don’t see myself worthy enough to have warranted deliverance of that sort. He is a loving and a merciful God.
What is the Purpose of Prayer?
Is it solely getting answers?
I believe prayer should bring us to a point of: total submission and surrender, greater intimacy with the Father and outright brokenness. One of the indicators of growth in my prayer life is the fact that my sole expectation is not merely receiving answers.
When I checked this up, I was moved by Mark Batterson’s observation. He says, “The primary purpose of Prayer is not to change circumstances; the primary purpose of Prayer is to change us! But either way, the chief objective remains the same, to glorify God in any and every situation.”
In Conclusion:
“Passion Prayer runs on blood, sweat and tears.” – Elisha Goodman.
“Passion Prayer is the currency of the unseen world. Passion Prayer is the secret of the amazing success that Jesus enjoyed during His short, but explosive ministry here on earth.” ~ Elisha Goodman in his book, Passion Prayer of Jesus the Christ.
“Even though there’s nothing wrong with seeking out people of faith to agree with you on a certain matter, there is something wrong when you can’t go to God for yourself, by yourself, if you have to and exercise your faith in the matter and see results.” ~ Judy Jacobs in her book, Take It By Force: Faith that Stands Firm in the Face of Opposition.
To God be all the glory and honor and power for ages and ages, amen.
Wish you, as I do myself, continual growth and a dedicated Passion Prayer life journey.
Call me, ‘Hephzibah’ – His delight is in her
