A number of years ago I when was honoured to be a part of a blessed and anointed intercessory prayer group and one of the prayer partners handed out a little piece of paper that had only four words on its face. You may have already heard of this acronym but I have chosen to mention it because it has often reminded me of how to keep perspective in my prayer life. The four words are simple:

Praise
Repent
Ask
Yield

These simple four words or progressive steps of prayer are a fantastic way to enter into and maintain a great depth in prayer. Let me step into the meaning of each:

Praise

Active praise prepares our hearts minds and souls to be in alignment with God’s presence and will. Praying God’s will is important to the success of your prayer life. The better you understand God’s will the more powerful your prayer life will become. God always wants to save souls, deliver souls from affliction and evil. God is always merciful, quick to forgive; his words promise that and at any time we as children of God can hold Him to his promises. This very act is an act of intercession that anyone can practise.

Enough digression, what is important to remember is that praising the Lord also creates a pleasing aroma for the Lord that even He cannot resist. By praising as the first part of your prayer journey, you will find that God will enter into your midst and begin to move before even uttering a ‘traditional‘ prayer request. Let the wholly spirit flow in your life and through that spirit all things can be given and achieved.

Repent

The greatest thing that can stop the movement of the Holy Spirit in your life and thus the success of your prayers is keeping ‘sin in the camp’. When the Israelites sinned in the Old Testament you will find that they consistently lost battles and wars against their enemies. Once they repented of their sins, the Lord restored them and gave them victory. We are under a new covenant now however this spiritual law still remains true. God often answers the prayers of a cleansed vessel far more readily than that of a vessel that lives in sin with no repentance. Now the world repentance has been given a bad name by many in the past so please don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that repentance needs to draw on self hatred, denial, pain or anguish. Repentance when done right is actually relieving, refreshing, freeing and wonderful. Guilty feelings are only created to bring us to repentance. If after you repent of an issue you still ‘feel bad’ in any way then things have moved from a wholly conviction to an unholy manipulation from the enemy.

All that is needed for true repentance is two things (possibly three):

1. The act of asking for forgiveness;

2. The turning from the ways that brought on the sin in the first place; and

3. If you so choose claiming victory over those issues and asking God to fill you with your spirit and walk with you and guide you in your new cleansed walk.

You know step three is in God’s will to answer simply because it is all over the Bible that this is what he wants for all of his children, and it is step three that makes our walk easier simply because God is walking the walk through us instead of ourselves on our own strength trying (and often failing) to do everything right.

It is also stage three of repentance where the euphoria of forgiveness can begin to be felt. Many Christians unfortunately stop short of this feeling and reality.

Needless to say the freedom of repentance is key to the success of your prayer life simply because God can use you as a vessel far more readily. Repentance can take seconds, minutes, hours, days, you can stretch it to how ever long you would like or need. Simply keep in mind though. You never have to ask for forgiveness of the same action twice. Once you ask repentance once, God has wiped the slate clean. From then on it is your own feelings of guilt, remorse or even implanted emotions from the enemy that would then have to be contended with. And those feelings can be defeated by claiming victory as your right and inheritance of being a ‘Child of God‘. It is our repentance that makes us saints and not our actions. Once we are sinners, redeemed by Christ’s blood through true repentance, look out because the prayers we pray become truly powerful.

Clear your heart of anything that may stand between you and God before you ask for a request. It simply makes sense.

Ask

Now that you are surrounded by the Holy Spirit, in the spirit you have been purified through repentance and you are approaching Jesus as a living saint, you can feel free to pose your requests. Now remember when you ask the Lord of something to check in your heart if it is really of God’s will. Because you are now in his spirit and approaching him as a saint, you will be able to be far more sensitive to this. You may want a mansion, a Porsche, a yacht and ten happy children but what you spirit may truly be craving is peace, victory, or belonging. God may not grant you the desires of your mind but He will indeed grant the desires of your soul; which reflects itself quite often in your deepest longings. It is important that when you pray for someone or something that you pray from your deepest spiritual longings for that person. How many times has someone prayed for me to pray for a sick relative (to be healed) and in turn I pass that request across my heart and find that what God really wants me to pray is for that person to die in peace into his awaiting arms while God himself encourages and blesses the family through the transitioning time. To pray anything else other than God’s will would be praying a form of ‘witchcraft’.

The needs of ourselves should always come secondary to the needs of Jesus. Who is to say we know better than Jesus in how to handle a situation or what is really best for all parties involved? We can’t see the beginning and the end. Only He can. Some prayers are to be said out loud but please be careful as you discern your prayers. Often God will tell you what to pray about, but not necessarily in front of the party in front of you. Most of the time though I have found, I can peak freely of what is in my heart because my deepest desires will even echo in the life of the requester even if it is not exactly what they have asked of me.

In short, the more you pray in God’s will the more powerful your prayers will become in general. God will soon turn to you as an intercessor and ask you to pray over specific areas simply because he knows you will pray the right thing. He may have all of heaven and earth in his grasp and yes God can do anything; sometimes though He waits for us to simply ask. He then mobilizes His army and declares victory.

Yield

Bet you didn’t see this one coming? May Christians tend to pray for things as things cross their mind while doing dishes or something of that sort. God hears all of those prayers yes and answers many of them but I am writing this article to explain how I have deepened my prayer life and through doing so seen many miracles happen on a regular basis. Yielding to the spirit is so important. It is during this time that often the Holy Spirit speaks to your heart about other areas He would like to have you pray. Sometimes this is the time where the Holy Spirit communicates with you about things you may have prayed in error so that you can further refine your prayer.  Other times the Holy Spirit will send a burst of warmth through your flesh as a sign of confirmation that you prayer has been answered.

Sometimes the spirit will bring other areas about the prayers into your mind that may complete the prayer at hand. What is most important is to simply yield. And yielding does not have to be only done at the end of your prayer. I yield at the beginning. I personally also yield at the repentance and especially before every work I ask of my father. What’s the rush anyway. Do you really have better things to do with your time than impact the spiritual reality of our world and impact lives by mobilizing the same movement that threw Satan out of heaven in the first place? Yes we all live in the real world, however to everything there is a season, and when it is the season to pray, be in no hurry. Yield. You will be amazed what you find.

Many times in my yielding a quick 5 or 10 minute prayer turned into a 1.5 hour prayer and quite frankly I did not notice the time flying by. There was no place I would rather have been. I was at home with my Lord here on earth. In a state of oneness with Him.

Quite often I may enter into these prayer times expecting to pray over a friend with cancer and over one hour later I have prayed for parents, churches, lives, cities, deliverance of others, wisdom and discernment in my life and often in hopes that he wisdom and discernment will be used in my immediate prayers and completely forgotten to pray for my friend with cancer. Needless to say by the end of my prayer time when I remembered the topic of my friend God would tell me that I wouldn’t even have to pray it because it was already answered. Remember God knows the desire of our heart and God always has His agenda when we approach his throne room. Follow it at all times. Not yours. You will find victory in many ways. Pray for your friend if you are called to once you have entered into prayer with Him, or pray for that faceless person you have never met that just came to your heart. Their needs are just as real. God knows what needs to be done. Be led by Him and Him alone. Yield. Be still and know that He is God. Spend time in silence and don’t count the seconds. Communication through prayer is a beautiful thing. Enjoy it.

Through the above four points it brings into perspective how one can live in constant prayer without always actively speaking to the Lord.

The Four Main Types of Prayer

The following article is still under construction. I have included it because it might be of enlightenment to you even as I write it.

1. Authority

Living your life in authority and anointing in God’s truth often grants prayers to be answered without even asking. We as Christians are automatically given hedges of protection as we journey through our walk and as we walk in this protection utilizing the ‘full armour of God‘, God’s manifest presence is often made known. We at any time can assume a spirit of timidity in our lives and let our inheritance be taken away to keep this in mind as you walk through life on a daily base. Live with authority and knowing that you are saved and a saint in God’s kingdom, keeping all of his commands and being healed, anointed and renewed on a daily base. There is no substitution for a life lived in the solid presence of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2. Sword / Action

We can use the word of God as a sword against the enemy; we can cut him down, rebuke him, and destroy his hold on the lives of those around us. Using prayer as a sword is form of taking action. It takes yielding the authority we have been given over Satan and actively cursing him in many ways. Often we can ask God to bring to our minds how Satan may be working in a situation and He will reveal it so that we can then crush the attack in Jesus name and give victory. The work of our enemy is already lost so don’t give him too much of your attention really, he is like a cockroach that scurries away from the sun at night, lurking in corners because he simply can’t stand in the presence of the Son. He does often cast a great shadow at times.

Use your sword of the spirit and the word of God to cut down Satan any time you would like. It is part of your inheritance as a Christian. Learn the word and store the teachings of it in your heart so that you can even use it to hold God accountable to His own promises to us. Moses did it, so why can’t we. It does take years to ‘squire’ and learn to yield this mighty weapon but the weapon is yours for the taking, just pick it up and don’t let it grow cobwebs.

A simple example of holding God to his word is a simple statement like: “Lord your word says ‘Where two or more are gathered in your midst, you are there with them’, so I call upon you now Lord, be with me (us) and hear our prayers as you have promised. Hear us oh Lord and answer our call Jesus”. Psalm 1 is for example is another truth that can be spoken in prayer. There are many other quotes that can help to cut down our enemy. I won’t and can’t give them all to you, so find them and utilize them all to their fullest every day.

3. Repetition

Some prayers require patience and repetition. Elijah in the Old Testament prayed days for rain before God finally answered his prayer; and when God did, LOOK OUT! Was it ever amazing. God is God and he does answer our prayers sometimes though it does take time. This type of prayer I liken to that of filling a glass of water to overflowing. Every time we pray for an issue it is like we put a drop of water in the glass, if we pray consistently and at times also call upon others to pray as well, pretty soon the glass will over flow, and when it does, LOOK OUT. It is simply amazing how God moves for his children that are persevering and faithful.

4. Belief / Faith

There are other prayers that simply need to be said once, but believed. It is as though our faith is what brings the prayer to fruition in real life. Like the three lepers on the way to Damascus in the Old Testament. Christ healed them but their healing was not immediate. Christ said “Now go” and as they walked, they were healed. I am sure it took faith for them to experience this healing as they felt the spirit of God work in their life. That is also why Christ so often asked “Do you have faith?” before He presented His miracles to the world

Head this warning

Prayers do come true even when you may feel as though they are just bouncing to the ceiling and falling back to you. Often you may pray prayers in your youth that are answered in your adult hood. God’s timeline is different from ours and we must treat our prayer life with great respect and knowing that God is magnificent and faithful to our call. Prayers often do get answered well after we forgotten that we have prayed them. Life can sometimes appear like a road to Damascus or a filling of our spiritual cup, but truth be known, God does move and He will answer your prayers. Even if they are fleeting words or sometimes curses to another party or to yourself so please be careful of what you say and do. Words have power in more ways than many know.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father
Who art in Heaven
Hallowed be thy name
Thy Kingdom come
Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors
And lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil
For thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory
Forever and ever
Amen

There is something quite unique though about the Lord’s Prayer. It operates on two levels:

1. A level that can be taken literally and achieve great power and victory in life; and

2. As a template for prayer to build any prayer from.

With your permission I would like to briefly examine the Lord’s prayer as a perfect template or example of a perfect prayer. There is not a more beautiful prayer in the world:

Our Father

Daddy, Abba, Pops. I call your name.

Who art in heaven

I look to heaven for you. I seek to make eye contact with you. I call more directly upon your name.

Hallowed be thy name

I praise you, I love you, I cherish you. Hear me now. I am so small compared to you. Forgive me of anything I could have done to hurt you.

Thy kingdom come

Lord hear my praises and bring your spirit upon me. Dwell within me. Come down from heaven and be here right now.

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven

Let your will be done. Answer my prayers. As I pray my prayers in your will. Free __________ from__________. Deliver me from ________________. Please heal ________________.

Give us this day our daily bread

Renew me / us. Give us what we need to survive. Give_________ to __________. Provide for ____________ in miraculous ways.

And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors

Lord I repent of anything that could hold me from you. I know bitterness can even drive a wedge between us, I forgive anyone whom I may hold bitterness toward. Purify me lord. Cleanse me from within. Make me a new and perfect creation in your holy name. renew me oh Jesus.

And lead us not into temptation

Keep me from the things that tear our relationship apart because I know you cannot be where sin is, and I want to live my life so close to you. Keep me from any evil ways and help me to never turn back.

But deliver us from evil

I now smash the enemy in your holy name.  Deliver me.  Deliver ________ from __________. Free __________ in Jesus name.

For thine is the kingdom and the Power and the Glory

Lord thank you for all that you have done. Thank you for answering my prayers. Thank you for being here. Thank you for your miracles. Let your power and your glory be manifest in every way. Fall all of the people I prayed for with your Holy Spirit. Be near me oh lord as I worship you.

Forever and ever

Forever

Amen

So let it be

Can you now see how this template can be used for any prayer? Isn’t it perfect how the prayer is perfectly sealed up to create a manifestation of the Holy Spirit and be victorious in every way. Align your heart to god’s will and pray this prayer with authority in your own words and how can you not experience victory?

Let me pray with and for you.

An application and example:

Oh Lord you are an awesome God

You are magnificent. You are great, you are mighty you are holy. Wonderful. Thank you so much for being God. Thank you Jesus for being my saviour, our saviour. Oh Lord thank you.

May your spirit be upon us now

Fall upon the those that read this prayer with me. Bring you spirit upon us oh Lord right now in Jesus name. Come upon us and let your Holy Spirit flow. Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah. I repent and turn from any areas right now that may slow the movement of your spirit in any way. Please Lord. Forgive me. Be here with us. Thank you.

Father I lift my life to you

I lift the life of the person that is with us now. I pray you do a magnificent work in their life. You would minister to them by your holy word. You would lead them by your right hand. You would give them victory in every area that holds them from living in complete fullness with you. I pray you grant them wisdom well beyond their years. That you would open the eyes of their heart so that they can see you clearly. Let us see your face and live Jesus. We call upon you. Thank you! Thank you!

Thank you for nourishing us in your Holy Spirit

I thank you that we can feel your might flowing as we speak. Thank you. Continue to multiply the spirit in the life of all those who partake in this prayer. Be with us lord. Multiply your spirit in Jesus name. Fill us to overflowing I pray. Heal sickness. Heal pain, heal the past. Do your will in Jesus name! In Jesus name. Not my name. But yours. I pray this in your will and holy name.

Once again Lord, forgive me

As you bring things to my life and our lives that we need to ask forgiveness for, please encourage us, walk with us and let our words be your words. (For the sake of this prayer, I will not include my personal baggage at the moment. I have spoken it, feel free to share by doing the same). Father we give these things to you and don’t desire to take them back. Take them from our hands. Take the weight off of our backs. Be our Lord and deliver us from the hands of our enemies and free us from our sins’ in Jesus name. Thank you.

I right now lift up all those that may have hurt me or forsaken me in any way. I pray you have your way in their lives. You would bring your justice if justice needs to be served so that I can set myself free from being the judge, I also pray you bless them, restore them to wholeness like you have done me. I am a sinner just like they. Thank you Lord for forgiving me. Forgive them oh Lord and bring them into your presence and grace in Jesus name. I release any control they may still have in my life and consecrate it to you. Thank you Jesus. I feel your spirit confirming this prayer as I type. Thank you. Holy are you Lord. Holy are you.

Lead me not in to temptation

Thank you for your spirit in my life. Live in me. Take residence in my and keep me on the righteous path in Jesus name. Where you take residence, no sin can exist Lord so be with me I pray.

Let your kingdom come

Oh Lord. Let your Glory descend upon us like a cloud. Be here oh Lord I pray.

Deliver us

From any spiritual attack or oppression, protect our health, protect our family and friends, anoint our country with your spirit and move in our world I pray in Jesus name. Deliver us Jesus.

Thank you

For your spirit and thank you for you promises.

Thank you Lord

Answer these prayers I pray.

Be with us forever and ever

So let it be.

Conclusion

Now that felt good. I tried to keep it short and sweet and pretty generic. I did not write that prayer because I wanted to prove a point but because I truly wanted you to be blessed by the prayer itself. That is why I believe God moved in our midst as you read. Thank you Jesus.  Thank you Lord.

My prayer has simply made a larger template out of God’s perfect template. All you need to do is insert your heart, pray what’s in your life, be as specific as you would like and remember P.R.A.Y. and that will help to hold you in the Lord’s prayer for as long as you like. Don’t worry about always praying your prayer in order. Pray what is on your heart. Quite often you will bounce around all over the place but don’t worry, you will cover all of the bases I am sure.

May the Lord bless and keep you, may He shine his loving light upon you. May He bring a newness to your prayer life and may your entire life be lived as an act of worship, prayer and adoration to our most high and heavenly Father. Thank you Jesus.

May you be encouraged in everything you do. May you feel God’s spirit flowing through you and with you. May you be led by His spirit and may others see the love, life, anointing, heart, power and presence of Jesus with you in Jesus name.

I can keep praying like this for hours but I will try to restrain myself. I hope this has spurred you to continue praying from here or simply start your own prayer from the beginning. I worship my Lord for bringing my text to you and I pray it has been and will continue to be a light unto your path. In Jesus name.

Why Pray in Jesus Name?

This question has been asked of me a few times. The answer is simple. We as Christians are sinners turned into Saints only by the grace of God and the wholeness we experience in his ever perfect forgiveness. Therefore our will and in our name has not might, right, way or truth. It is only through Jesus that our prayers have power. Praying a prayer in Jesus name allows you to utilize the full power and might of the spirit of God without being consumed by it or having it destroy you by trying to channel it through you. If God is like a nuclear power plant, we are like an energizer bunny. His full power and presence would kill / fry us in an instant. That is why we must pray in Jesus name and in essence use his car keys to drive what is still His car.

Our will and personal will and power I like a sand grain against the canvas of our universe. Why even attempt to take things into our own hands when we have the right hand of the Creator within our midst. Don’t drive the push cart, drive the sports car.

Sensations of Intercession

The following article is still under construction. I have included it because it might be of enlightenment to you even as I write it.

In my personal victorious prayer life I have seen, felt and understood many miracles. During these miracles I have felt and gathered an understanding of the many physical sensations that are, or can be felt when God does a miracle in our midst. I will outline a few:

1. Burst of Warmth

Bursts of warmth are often felt as a confirmation that you prayer has been answered in the spiritual realm and all you have to do is wait to see it happen in the physical. I have felt this sensation when I have prayed many large and sweeping prayers as well as I have felt this sensation with smaller personal prayers. An example of a large and sweeping prayer is when I prayed for one of the churches I had attended to burn down (this is a long story and I did share it on my site so I won’t share it here). I felt the burst of warmth just after finishing my prayer for the church and true to form 3 weeks later the church burned to the ground just as God had requested me to pray it. I have felt bursts of warmth when I was praying over sickness that was healed and often felt the same burst when praising God and worshiping Him in song. These bursts of warmth are not to be confused with the bursts of warmth that are experienced with ‘Therapeutic Touch‘, ‘Reiki‘ or other New Age practices. ‘New Age’ bursts even though in our physical body may feel similar than a Holy Spirit burst (that is why they are so easily confused) is complete different than a warm blessing send down from God our Father. This article will not go into detail as to how and why this is, I will save that for another article.

An example of a small prayer that gives the same sensation is for example when you ask earnestly for God to provide for you (financially, or physically or any other way). Answering your prayer with a physical manner is a way that he shares with us that He heard our prayer and has taken action for our request. Quite often at times our prayers are not answered in the ways we first expect, so keep your eyes open to how God answers your prayers. Sometimes when we ask for patience for example, God answers us with a new challenge that teaches us patience. He is an all wise father that knows how best to help us in our lives even though at times we may disagree.

2. Shiver

A Holy Spirit shiver is in my mind in the same family as the ‘burst of warmth‘. This shiver is different than a shiver you might feel when scared by a scary movie or attacked in a spiritual manner. A Holy Spirit shiver is more like a the freeing shiver you get when you get out of cold water and shiver that last victorious shiver that brings forth a burst of internal warmth. It is like you are shedding the grips and hold of spiritual matters that once afflicted you. This can happen when you are praying for yourself, others and especially when others are praying for you. A Holy Spirit shiver often precedes a nice, lofty, burst of warmth. If you ever feel a cold attacking shiver while praying, this is a direct attack of the enemy and needs to be bound and broken immediately.

3. Waterfall

There are times in intercession you may feel like you are standing or sitting at the foot of a waterfall, this is quite normal especially if you are going through deep cleansing. In my experience, waterfalls are experienced more as a ‘person being prayed for’ rather than ‘praying for another person’ because this waterfall sensation can often become so powerful that it almost can incapacitate a person with the presence of God. The waterfall sensation is often accompanies with a ‘Coolness of Breath‘ and / or ‘Electricity’ feeling.

4. Coolness of Breath

Coolness of Breath is an interesting sensation that happens when a person is being filled with the Holy Spirit, it feels like you just swallowed ten mint gums and you are exhaling air directly from the arctic. I find it is a manifestation of how God is moving and healing in your life as you are prayed for or praying for another. Often when this happens, words come directly to your mind that God wants you to pray or you feel immediately led to pray in a certain way or direction. Sometimes you may desire to pray for a wealth of things at once but simply cannot find the English words to express, that is when falling into ‘tongues’ is ok and another powerful part of intercession.

5. Electricity

Electricity often follows the ‘Coolness of Breath’ sensation, it feels like there is a light electrical current going through your limbs or other sections of your body. It is as though the Holy Spirit is overwhelming your neurological pathways with his presence. In laymen’s terms, the Holy Spirit overflows an area of your body that is responsible to send sensations of feeling and you brain registers this as electricity. Waterfall, Coolness of Breath and Electricity can grow to become quite overwhelming when being prayed over and this is normal. As a prayer warrior you may also feel these sensations while you pray.

6. Dizziness or Shaking

Dizziness and Shaking is often felt when you are a person being prayed for, however sometimes it can happen to the person doing the praying. Shaking and dizziness in general can also be an attack from the enemy so please be discerning with these sensations and pray against them if you feel as though they might be limiting you instead of freeing, or simply uncomfortable in any way. God grants comfort when He moves in our midst unless he is specifically convicting us of something that we been to repent about before proceeding in our prayer.

7. Deep Euphoria and Inner Overflowing Joy

This is the best part of prayer in my opinion. As both the giver and receiver in intercessory prayer, this feeling can be experiences. It tends to happen after all of the above had manifested itself. Remember not all of the above are needed in intercessory prayer. I am just listing some of the things that might be experienced as you pray so you don’t have to shy away from them. Just don’t let the physical sensations get in the way of your prayer or relationship with God and please never seek the physical sensations more than God. Then we would be turning our worship from God back to our physical glory. Doing so will act contrary to the prayer you are attempting to make.

8. Altered Sensations on Skin (tingles, spiritual weight)

These sensations can happen all through intercession and can also be used as a discerning factor when praying. Often when I pray for someone I will feel a tingle or warmth in my hand, prior to or during laying my hands on the person. I will also sometimes get a vision of their entire body (inside and out) and see what is well physically and spiritually within. This discernment is meant to enlighten and deepen your prayer for that person. Often I start praying against (for example) cancer of a lung when the person has not even requested it of me as of yet. Be careful though, God often grants to intercessors visions that He does not want divulged to the party being prayed for right away, so any sensations or visions you might feel, please pay attention to how God may want you to pray. A person may not be ready to hear that they have cancer or their child will be a ‘boy’ instead of a ‘girl’ to use your tongue wisely as you pray.

9. Lightness

This is often felt as a result of a good prayer. You feel like you lost ten pounds or so, all of life feels lighter, colours more vivid. Everything generally better.

10. Fear, Confusion, Cold Shivers

The above are actions that work contrary to all of the above. Fear, Confusion, Cold Shivers all distract us and often intimidate us from our main goal. They need to be prayed against immediately: “Spirit of Confusion, be gone now in the name of Jesus Christ”. If the above are not bound immediately, then our prayer life can become limited. It is for the above reason why it is also important to pray with other intercessors at times and not always pray alone.

1. Other prayer warriors can agree with your prayers and give your prayers more depth;

2. They can see things that you might not see and pray against any attacks that might be happening;

3. They can encourage and add wisdom or biblical knowledge to a prayer;

4. They can keep a prayer on track;

5. They can ‘watch your back‘ as you declare war;

and much more.

I strongly suggest if you are entering into the arena of intercessory prayer for the first time, to surround yourself with other believers that have experience in this area and seek their guidance when the spirit leads. Make sure anyone you pray with is firmly rooted in the Bible and only the biblical teachings or else prayers of grace can quickly become prayers of witchcraft. This topic will be saved for another article.

Repent Rebuke Bind Break & Bless

When in an intercessory ministry, these five steps (done in order) is crucial to success. When done in the above order we create as Christians an impenetrable onslaught against our enemy and sometimes oppressor. Please remember though that not all intercession should be done on your own, there are often times when it is strongly advantageous to intercede as a group and not alone. I am sure I will write another article detailing why this is so. For now, let’s talk about the five steps and why they are so successful:

1. Repent / Forgive

Before approaching our God and asking Him to do a work for us, it is important for us to repent and forgive others that may have wronged us. Often our own sin and unforgiveness can stand in the way of our relationship with our God and his ability to move in our lives and even answer our prayers at all. God cannot be in the presence of sin and his spirit is bound to move in our lives if there is unforgiveness in any way. Thank Him for the fact that we have the ability to ask forgiveness and find forgiveness from any and all sin in our lives and in that joy you will find the strength peace and love to forgive others to the same level we have been forgiven ourselves (completely). Once Jesus washes us clean from our sin and we have not bound ourselves with unforgiveness, God can then move ever closer in relationship with us, guide our prayer life and direct us in intercession and quite frankly even change our lives as we know it. His spirit can draw close to us without us being consumed or deeply shaken by our sin because our sin is what makes us tremble, shake and even feel unworthy of our prayers being answered. It may be worthwhile to pause for a second and think about the full ramifications of that statement.

Repenting and forgiveness is truly important for any prayer journey and is not meant to be binding and difficult but freeing and easy. Many paint or perceive repentance in the wrong light or forgiveness as a form of bondage but in truth it is exactly the opposite. I will cover this more deeply in another article. Also, forgiveness does not mean you forget nor does it mean that the way(s) a person has wronged you has all of a sudden become ‘all right‘.

Forgiveness simply frees yourself from the hurt that has been caused to you and also frees yourself from the spirits that will assail you if you choose to live in continual unforgiveness. The act of unforgiveness is often said to be like choosing to take poison every day of your life order to try to hurt or hold accountable the person or persons that have harmed you. This approach – as you most likely already have experienced – really doesn’t work, nor does it produce much fruit, only further pain. Much can be said for true forgiveness but we will also cover that in another article.

When you are praying for yourself in intercession it is also equally important to repent before bringing your needs to the ‘Throne Room’ of God’s presence. It allows God to directly move in your life and directly answer your prayers.

Repentance can be as easy as “Father, I thank you for being such a great and loving God and sending your Son to die for me. Please forgive me of anything that I might have done that may have offended you or brought sin in my life, please forgive me and cleanse me of all of my sin and unrighteousness. I am not worthy of you Lord but your Word states that you love me and in your forgiveness I am made clean, righteous and ready to be at your side.  Bring me to your side oh Jesus and let me reflect your holiness.”

The more specific you are with your repentance the better though. This way God can work on specific areas in your life and wash you clean. It is important that you accept God’s forgiveness when you repent and don’t accept any like from the enemy that you are not truly forgiven. Once again I will cover this in another article for you.

A specific prayer: “God I am so sorry for ___________. I knew it was against your will and I did it anyway. Please forgive me and help me to turn away from damaging myself and relationship with you by ____________. Father, please wash me clean from my unrighteousness and deliver me from ____________ and the spirits of ________________. Thank you Lord for your mercy and peace. Fill me with your presence oh Lord”

Often it does help to simply ask God to bring to your mind some of the things that may be standing in the way of your relationship with Him and wait patiently for him to bring thoughts to you. Remember, true repentance is not oppressive or painful, but freeing.

Feeling bad about a sin in our life is only supposed to bring us to the point of repentance, if you still feel bad inside for a sin even after repenting, then this is a direct attack from the enemy trying to steel your inheritance of forgiveness and authority from you. Don’t listen to it, fight against it and know what once you repent of an issue you are forgiven. Even if you have a hard time forgiving yourself. By not forgiving yourself you simply let your enemy obtain a stronghold in your life that holds you from the fullness you can experience with your creator. It is easier said than done at times, but that is yet again another article that needs to be written.

Let’s just say for now that repentance is an important part of intercession.

2. Rebuke

Now that you have been redeemed from your sin and you can assume a position at the right hand of your God, you can now take your inherited position and rebuke your enemy. Here is where it all pays off. You have every right to yell at your oppressor. Reclaim the spiritual mental and emotion ground that he took from you. You can verbally ‘stomp him under your feet‘ and command him to get behind you and just roll over and die if you would like. Vindication is great when done through intercession because really you are simply taking a position with God as He takes care of the vengeance for you. It is like if a bully stole your lunch as school and your older brother came to beat up the bully later that day, you can safely ‘abuse’ the bully (verbally) while your brother takes vengeance on your behalf because he is bigger and far stronger than the one that oppressed you.

Now that you are seated at the right side of God and have been made clean, you can truly rebuke your enemy and taste the sweetness of spiritual victory in the name of your Lord Jesus. Stomp your feet, clap your hands, pray and speak aloud as the spirit moves you. Just make sure you always stay in the spirit and follow the guidance of Jesus and don’t rebuke or take vengeance on your own. That would be like pushing your big brother away and trying to take on the bully on your own. It is not biblical and it can truly lead to harm. You can easily tell the difference if you stay sensitive to the spirit and how it leads you.

Often you can ask Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit to bring to your mind the things He would want you to pray and / or how He would like you to pray it. Once you do this you can pray His requests with passion conviction and confidence because you already know God will of course answer prayers you will pray since He has asked you to specifically pray them. Especially if you ask Him how He would like you to pray for them. Sometimes it is appropriate to yell and scream; other times it might take fasting, submission and silence.

Be truly sensitive to His way and you will find victory in your prayer life. But don’t be afraid to taste the sweetness of rebuking your enemy when God calls you to do so. Rebuking the enemy actively with your lips helps to mobilize God’s army against your enemy and do a mighty work in heaven an earth on your behalf and the behalf of His son, His Glory, the person you are praying for (including yourself) and many other things. Your prayers will be answered. Pray them with passion and conviction with no hesitation. Be confident because God is leading you to pray and how to pray. Be delivered and deliver others through these five steps but remember to surround yourself with other prayer warriors if you do feel the need or calling to do so. We are not lone wolves in this world and we can sometimes get really hurt if we take things on too much on ‘our own’ (even when we are being sheltered by God). There is power in numbers at time.

3. Bind

Rebuking just successfully bruised your enemy; before you remove him from your life you must bind him. Spiritually tie up his hands and feet and bind him. Bind up any attacks he may have or be planning for your life or the life of the person you are praying for. Bind up his army and render it useless. Make your life (or the life you are praying for) like slippery soap in the hands of your enemy and he will not be able to hold on to you or have influence in your life. Say that: “Satan, you have no right or authority in my life (or the life of the person you are praying for). I have repented, I am redeemed and because of this you have absolutely no power over me. I pray against any strongholds you might have in my life or ways you might find rightful entrance into my life and walk. I rebuke you, and bind you up. I declare in Jesus name that you have no power here and command you to get under my feet”.  Sorry, I could not help but add some rebuke in there, just a little bit. It is so much fun and so powerful to do. Too few people do so.

Just remember you must bind your enemy and his work before you can kick him out of your house. Tie up his hands and feet with God at your side and allow God to take you to the next step.

4. Break

Now that you have successfully bound your enemy, you can now with God at your side, break the bonds he once held on you. Here is where if you have anointing oil it can also be utilized. A quick example of a breaking prayer would be: “Satan I now speak against the hold you once had on me and break you in my life. I command you and your minions to leave in Jesus name. You have no right to have power over me and I command you to leave in Jesus name” Breaking the bonds of the enemy is the most powerful thing you can do against him, so quite often here is where miraculous things occur. People who are deeply bound to ‘darkness’ sometimes shake with fear as the demonic influences rise up in their life in a futile attempt to fight back. Other times you might see the look in their eyes change or if you are praying for yourself you will feel huge physical sensations, shivers, heat, you might even feel self doubt rise up within you. For these manifest reasons it is important to intercede sometimes with others and not alone.

When praying against spirits of death and suicide for example, you will find huge demonic backlash as an attempt for them to maintain ground. Sometimes (if the enemy was not bound properly) the person being prayed over may even get violent so once again please respect intercession and approach it wisely. The beautiful thing is though, victory is ours, and it is guaranteed. Yes a demon may yell and scream and try to intimidate and do other useless things, but when we hold our ground and continue to pray against him, we are guaranteed victory. Angels even help us intercede at times. You can upon occasion (when lead) even pray for Michael the archangel to help you as he is one of God’s angels of war. The important thing though is to never pray to an angel. But simply ask for help from an angel. God the father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit should always be the center of our prayers because it is only through them that the angelic army is truly mobilized. To pray to anything or anyone else would be like taking yourself or the other party you are praying for and putting them before God just like putting yourself before the bully and leaving your protector and the one with the true power behind you, that kind of exposure is always dangerous when dealing with high levels of demonic activity.

When breaking the enemy, speak with authority and conviction. Know that you have been redeemed and because of this you cannot fall under attack in any way. Know that your Lord has granted you salvation and will deliver you or the party you are praying for from evil in your life. Also though, respect the leadership of our mighty God because sometimes He may rather you pray for encouragement over a person or time rather than breaking a sickness like cancer (for example). When we are sensitive to his leadership we will know how to break and who and what to break for victory. Sometimes God will come down and ‘do business‘ and heal a person or situation right away. Other times God desires someone to heal over time as and builds their faith and relationship with him. While other times sickness can be a result of poor lifestyle or a simple consequence of bad decisions in our fleshly world and deliverance might not be in the deck of cards for a certain situation; and don’t forget other times God may simply want to take a person home to heaven with Him therefore praying for healing would be contrary to God’s perfect will. Don’t get discouraged if God seems to ‘not answer‘ some of your prayers.

Many prayers you pray in His spirit will be answered in His time while yes; many other prayers will be miraculously answered on the spot. The key is to be sensitive, anointed, forgiven and standing and working in His will ass you bind, rebuke and break Satan’s hold. It is our inheritance as a Christian to be able to (with our Lord) break Satan’s spine like a twig! So enjoy this ‘prayer power‘ we can yield as Children of God and yield it well. Educate yourself in the bible so that you understand how God has moved all through history, see how he has healed different people in different places in the bible and realize that deliverance ministry has not changed in 5000 years, just our ability to yield our sword of truth and God’s heavenly spirit has changed since old testament times. Break your enemy whenever you can and remember that it is truly God that is doing the work. On our own strength we can’t even wake ourselves up in the morning.

Oh yes, one last digression: Sometimes this entire prayer (Repent Rebuke Bind Break and Bless) can last minutes, hours and with ‘fasting and prayer‘ even days to complete. Depending on the need your approach will be different. Some prayers need to be immediately yelled, while others we need to pray consistently and seek the lord sometimes for even days or weeks or as long as it takes. As for the breaking part of this prayer, in the case of delivering over a spirit of death, anger, jealousy, suicide, or any other deeply routed spirit, it might take a few minutes or some persistence to gain victory in this realm. Simply continually flip between binding and breaking until Satan’s hold begins to wither. And remember to surround yourself with others that understand intercession if you need to wage war as a group. As you gain experience you will know instinctively what to do in all situations as God leads you in your life of intercession.

5. Bless

Now that the enemy has been broken in your life or the life of the person you have been praying over we now enter into the final stage of intercession, just as sweet as the rebuking section in my mind. It is important to ask for God to bless us, fill us to overflowing in His spirit, and cover us with His peace and grace when we finish a powerful intercessory prayer.

This is because when we pray in intercession and bind and break the hold of Satan in our lives, there is nothing more that Satan would want to do then to reclaim that ground. He will try to fight back in any way He can, by sly ways like discouraging us or more overt ways like attacking us directly. We must be and stay covered in God’s presence and peace, God must fill the area in our lives that Satan once occupied because if He doesn’t that area would remain like a vacuum and be actively calling Satan and him minions back into our lives. Ask God the father to seal you up. Fill you to overflowing. Heal any spiritual puncture wounds that might be left and cover you with his grace. At this point the prayer can become cyclical because in this place where you are worshiping and calling upon God’s spirit, often things come to our mind that we can repent of or we can simply chose to repent of anything that might stand in the way of our glorious walk with God in order to receive His full blessing as this part of our 5 step prayer asks for. If we chose to enter into further repentance, it would then be easy to go from there into Rebuking, Binding, Breaking and Blessing all over again.

Each time cycling through this prayer you will feel wilder and wilder (in a good way). God will manifest more and more, you will be healed more and more. You will feel amazing physical sensations as the spiritual world is mobilized around you. You will deepen your walk and relationship with your creator and feel an intimacy that cannot been compared to. You will reach a level of communication with God that most Christians simply do not experience or understand, so please feel free to walk this journey and prayer to its fullest and receive all of the anointing God has for you. Often RRBBB will leave you or the person you are praying for in a state of euphoria as Gods awesome presence overflows in your life. And when I am talking about overflowing, I am talking about ‘holding the power of Niagara falls in a cup about the size of your hand‘. Overflowing I tell you. It is AWESOME!

Thank you for reading.

By Damian Spaulding