On November 7th in my quiet time, I heard the Spirit of the LORD say to me:

I have gifts for you today!

· Gift of discernment stronger than you have ever had
· Gift of wisdom so that you will have specific insights into what people have need of
· Gift of love, the ability to love without conditions attached….a perfect love

Discernment comes by the Spirit of the LORD. It usually is a strong impression about someone, something or a geographical area that will not be shaken. It is not a fleeting thought or observation. Impression is defined as what stays in somebody’s mind. Impression is a lasting effect, opinion, or mental image of somebody of something. I think the key word in that definition is stays; it is not a random thought that is quickly forgotten. What comes next is a question, “Holy Spirit what is this”? “What do you want me to do with this information you have given to me”? I have learned recently that it can come through our five senses. I have known discernment through the Holy Spirit opening my eyes to see and opening my ears to hear, but it wasn’t until recently that I have had my sense of smell opened to discern the Presence of the LORD and the presence of an evil spirit.

Last year I experienced this in a very powerful way. I was having a quiet time with the LORD when I began to see a moving picture, a vision. I was fully awake and experiencing a very intimate time with Jesus. I saw him in His priestly robes of the purest white with a velveteen rope sashed around his waist. I then saw myself as a small child running to him. I ran right into him grabbing handfuls of this beautiful robe and pressing my little face into the fabric. It had such an amazing smell of incense. I said out loud in my living room, “It smells of cassia”! This I researched later was the oil Moses was instructed by God to use to anoint Aaron as High Priest. What a beautiful picture God gave to me of my High Priest!

This was a connection to the spirit realm that had I not been discerning could have alarmed me. The Spirit of the LORD gave me discernment during the beginning of this vision and I knew it was good, holy, and precious. Why was it given to me? To increase my faith mostly is why it was given. It also increased my desires and love for Jesus. There is always purpose in discerning something. The Holy Spirit’s job is to give me a strong impression in some way, our response is to say “what do you want me to do with this”?

Discernment is given always for us to pray. Hands down that is its main purpose.

Recently I experienced the other side of discerning an evil presence through my sense of smell.

I was in a public place checking out at the register and I began smelling a very foul odor. There was the lady at the register and myself. I knew it was not coming from me, and the lady did not appear to be sick or in distress. Never the less it was coming from her. I discerned an unclean spirit. There is a difference between familiar common odors and spirits that give off offensive odors. What was I to do with this information? Pray for her once I get to a private area such as my car, always asking Holy Spirit what was that? If you are bold enough which I confess I am not, you could quietly ask if you can pray for her. I personally think it wasn’t the time or the place for such as that. I will say that I am being trained in this by the Holy Spirit. I am certainly not comfortable or perfected in this gifting. I am a student and am learning how to use this gift properly.

Several months after that encounter I did have another one. I was in church and began smelling a similar offensive odor. It was extremely pungent so I put my face down into the fabric of my sleeve to breathe fresh air. I began asking God again, “What is this”. He immediately said an unclean spirit. I knew the smell was coming from someone behind me. I did not know the person, but had shaken hands with him prior to the service. Also, no one else seemed to smell it. My husband was sitting beside me and did not smell anything. That is definitely a sign that it is discernment of spirits. If it is a natural odor other people would smell it as well.

So, again I am learning what to do with this gift. I did not step out and pray for him. He did go to the altar during the invitation and was prayed for. I have continued to pray for him also. In the future when this happens I will ask more specifically whether I should approach and pray for them. This brings me to the next gift which is so tied to discernment and that is wisdom.

Wisdom is a gift of the Spirit available like discernment for those who seek after it. It is the very gift I seek after the most as of late. When I say that I mean I seek earnestly after Jesus, because He has become for me wisdom.

I Corinthians 1:30
It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God-that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.

I desire the gift of wisdom because I know it will be an instrument in my life to liberate many people from the bondage that they are in. I know if I had been walking in the fear of the LORD which is the beginning of wisdom I would not have bruised myself so in my pre Christian days.

Wisdom says:

I am pure, then peace loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me. My fruit is better than fine gold; what I yield surpasses choice silver. For through me your days will be many, and years will be added to your life. If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you.

We are in such need of wisdom in the body of Christ! As we walk in a hostile world we need to be led by Wisdom’s cry. The voice of Wisdom brings us peace and clear guidance. A sure foothold is wisdom’s path. A peg fastened in a sure place is the fruit of wisdom.

Discernment mixed with wisdom is freedom! It’s all of the above! Discernment without wisdom is laying a wound wide open and then not knowing how to suture it. You must seek wisdom’s leading as you minister to the body of Christ. Jesus has become for me wisdom. Everything that I need is encompassed in Him. How do we receive this wisdom? Ask!

Love, love, love, there is nothing better! God is love. Simply and profoundly He is complete and perfect love. I have been a student of the word for about 29 years, and it has been my earnest prayer to be perfected in love. I have probably prayed that prayer more than I have prayed for my husband, which is saying a lot! One of my passions is to rescue the broken and show them the Father’s unconditional love! The only way that I can successfully do this is to be perfected wholly in love. When I didn’t know there was a kingdom of love, I sought after love from people who were as broken and deficient in love as me to no avail. I was trying to fill a place inside my soul that only God could ever satisfy. So, when I met a beautiful man of God and he shared the good news of the Kingdom with me I finally found the love I so needed! From that moment forward I sought God and His Kingdom with all my heart.

Luke 7:47
Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven- for she loved much, but he who has been forgiven little loves little.

Maybe that is why I have taken hold of Jesus with all my strength, because I have never experienced a love as pure and true as with him! The more we seek after Him the more we become like Him. I am taking on his nature of pure love. I have my Heavenly Father’s DNA. I think the thoughts of Jesus because I spend time listening to Him. He then shares what He hears from the Father with me.

I Corinthians 2:9-10
No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him, but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.

Having said all of that in regards to love, I want to tie it all together with the gift of discernment and wisdom.

It all flows so beautifully together!

We can not successfully bring Jesus to people without it being done completely in love. There cannot be any other motivating factors otherwise it will cause more hurt and pain to these precious people. When Holy Spirit gives discernment about a particular issue in a person it is for healing, deliverance, comfort, restoration, or exhortation. We then as ministers of this love need to ask Holy Spirit for complete wisdom on how to proceed in praying for this person. If I did this apart from doing it in love I am amiss, and will injure instead of bringing life.

Love covers over a multitude of sin, love also remembers no wrong, love lays its life down, love always protects, love always trusts, love always hopes, love perseveres, and love never fails!

So, go forth and bless the people of God with your gifts. They need a touch from Jesus, and you are His connection to them.

I John 4:19
We love because he first loved us.

What brings the deepest satisfaction to a man or woman?

To know that they are loved in return.

It is one thing to love, and to give love, but to have that love returned brings great contentment. We share great joy with the newly engaged couple that is bursting forth with shared love. It is time to celebrate! The bride exclaims, “I have found the one who loves me in return!” The groom proclaims, “I have found the one who has deemed me honorable and trustworthy. She has chosen me above all other men, and her love is singularly towards me!”

I am reminded of a child’s game. You send a note to the one you like the best. They are to check the appropriate box, Yes or No. Do you like me in return? We are so programmed to love and to be loved. Our Heavenly Father made us in His image and He exudes LOVE.

I had a dream last week of a very handsome couple with two children. They had come to me for help concerning their marriage. She was sullen and withdrawn. He was concerned, and inquisitive as to why she was not responding to him as she once had. The children seemed to be on the peripheral of it all. They were not really apart of what was going on, sort of on autopilot. The husband had loved and she had loved in return in the beginning, but this had waned over the course of seven years of marriage and two children. He still loved her but his efforts were not what they were as during their courtship. He didn’t woo her anymore.

There is a remedy for this problem that sometimes arises in marriage. It is found within the guidelines of scripture.

Ephesians 4:22-33
Wives submit to your husbands as to the LORD. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his on body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church- for we are members of his body. For this reason a man, will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery, but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

A woman and a man will respond with a reckless abandoned love when truly one is loved and loved in return. It is a safe place within the marriage covenant and the marriage bed is undefiled. Your children also recognize and feel the security and sense the peace that comes from this beautiful union between their parents.


Nate and I had been married about seven years when I began thinking about this passage of scripture. I remember being naïve concerning the power in this passage. I was thinking why is it that the woman has to submit and the husband has so little to do? I will never forget saying this to my sister-in-law Becky. She gently set my thinking straight. She said, oh Jan, the husband has a great deal more of the responsibility. He is to love as Christ loves us. Laying his life down for his bride as Christ did for his beloved church. It became an understood word to me. It had become a rhema word or revealed word. When the husband freely gives of himself to his wife she openly gives herself in return. He does not lord over her in a demanding way. On the contrary he serves her. The wives response is to give in submission as to the LORD. It is a beautiful mystery, a beautiful symphony of giving and receiving. I said this statement recently about my husband.” I know that he would literally lay his life down for me.” There is no question of his covering me with his love.

What does this holy union do for me? It washes me clean, makes me holy, and presents me radiant, without stain or blemish. How many times do we make the statement about the newly married bride, She is radiant! That is because she is! It is a beautiful mystery of the holy union between a man and a woman.

Submission brings beauty to the woman of God.
I Peter 3:5-6
For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham, following his guidance and acknowledging his leadership over her by calling him lord, master, leader, and authority.
In conclusion to the dream, I remember dancing a waltz with the handsome gentleman. I shared the wisdom of love for his marriage and it gave him great hope. He kissed either side of my cheeks and I embraced his beautiful bride of seven years and kissed her cheeks. They left as a family reunited with hope for their future. They would follow the way of wisdom and His perfect love.

In the dream, I remember seeing a large sketchpad with a breathtaking portrait of a bride adorned for her husband, but with splotches on her gown. This I believe is a depiction of humanity. Desiring relationship and so desperate to be loved in return, but settling for less.

(Post Script: Tomorrow 10-14-09 Nate and I will have been married 31 years.)

Hosea 6:6-7
For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings, like Adam they have broken covenant- they were unfaithful to me there.






We were created for noble purposes. Foremost, to love and serve an incredible faithful God! We were not made in the image of this God to be less than powerfully creative and full of His love. I am convinced that our potential is beyond our human thinking, but that’s just it! We need to be thinking and acting upon the thoughts of God! I believe we are seated positionally in Heavenly places. Christ bought this position for us on the cross. Lets begin walking in our greatest potential possible here on earth.

The conflict arises as we walk here on earth. We are in a human body but we house a supernatural God, who is continually at work in us. People who do not acknowledge our God surround us everyday of our lives. Unholy media everywhere bombards us. Hence, the conflict I spoke of in the beginning of this paragraph. A supernatural, holy God housed in a human body living on earth. Wow!

How do we stay faithful to God? God was telling them how through the prophet, but
I wonder if the children of Israel ever really listened to his Father’s heart. They certainly were having issues with being faithful. I would like to look at some of the dialogue out of Hosea. It is so apropos for this generation.

Hosea 4:1 Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites, because the LORD has a charge against you who live in the land; there is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgement of God in the land.

Hosea continues with the account of the Israelites wrong doings, their unfaithful deeds. He then says in verse 6 that my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. Now lets keep in mind that this is Father God speaking his heart through the prophet Hosea. Do you hear the Father’s concern for as He puts it “my people”.

There is much more dialogue of God’s rejection of the priests and the judgments against Israel. I believe that even through these judgments God was acting in love. He cannot go against His nature. He is love. Comparatively we discipline our children for their good and well-being, God had to bring a stop to the chaos that was going on in that day. A spirit of prostitution was leading them astray; they were unfaithful to their God. A people without understanding will come to ruin and God loved them and us too much to allow this to continue.

When you continue to read on in Hosea you will see again and again the Father’s heart of love. He is so relational that He calls us over and over to come back to our first love. This love is beautiful, holy, perfect and fulfills us completely. We were not created to prostitute ourselves and carry the shame of unfaithfulness!


Hosea 6:1-3
Come, let us return to the LORD.
He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; He has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us that we may live in his presence.
Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.

His plea to unfaithful man is simply to return to Him. He will then bind up our wounds that we received through joining ourselves with the enemy. You see the enemy of our souls leads us astray. The enemy lures us into situations, habits, and relationships that appear harmless on the surface. This could be a slightly unethical business deal or just spending too much time on the computer. Anything that distracts, preoccupies you and takes away your interests in the lover of your soul has the potential to become spiritual adultery. We are left feeling empty and discontent. Our Father who created us in His image knows exactly how to restore us and bind up our wounds.

God loves us so much and this book (Hosea) beautifully portrays His heart for us. He speaks of fathering Israel and Ephraim. He says that He took Ephraim by the arms and taught them to walk. He says I healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love. I lifted the yoke from their necks and bent down to feed them.

Hosea 11:8
How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over Israel? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused.

He is faithful Father! He will not give up on his children!

In the beginning of this dissertation I wrote that Israel had broken covenant like Adam. I say not just Israel, but mankind has broken covenant with God. We were in need of a mediator who would go before God and plead our case. This came through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. This brought us into fellowship once again with God and into a new and better covenant.

Hebrews 9:15
For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance- now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

So, the invitation is the same under the old or new covenant.
Return to the LORD!

James 1:17
Every good and perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning.



LOVE is the greatest gift!

It cannot be extinguished when once given by the Father of lights. He gives perfect gifts. The love of the Father once experienced cannot be satisfied from any other source fully. His love is complete. It is completely good! It fills every crevice of your heart and soul. It leaves you feeling very satisfied, but also desiring more of His encounters.

In my humanity I do my best to love my husband, children, grandchildren, parents and friends, but I guarantee you I fall short. Why? My love is imperfect apart from Christ mingling his love with mine.

I struggle to love unconditionally. I believe knowing how to love is a learned behavior. Our parents modeled for us how to give and receive love. This may have been a good model or a poor one. Unfortunately we cannot choose who parents us. This is where problems arise especially in a marriage relationship. One person may come from a very loving and giving home whereas the other one may have been raised with little or no outward affection. I am not a psychologist, but I can sure see where that would cause issues.

When we come into the Kingdom of Love, we have a new model to follow. It is a perfect one. We learn how to love by reading about Jesus’ relationship with his Father. We also observe his interaction with his disciples and with sinners as a guide. He always operated from the position of complete and perfect love.

When we were children we modeled our parents love. Now as children of God we model our Father’s and our Savior’s love. So, how do we do this? Simply stated, we practice what we see happening in the word of God. Also, we have the Holy Spirit living in us giving us divine help. We are not alone.

John 16:7
Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send him to you.

John 16:13
However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth, for He will not speak on His own (authority) but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

Jesus does not leave us alone with only his good example to follow. We have the very spirit of Jesus living inside of us. So, how do we utilize this power of the Holy Spirit?
I believe the very first step is to completely surrender to Him. We do this upon our conversion, but it is an ongoing process.

Lets look at these examples. I might say:

“I cannot do this on my own anymore, I need your help Holy Spirit. I surrender my will to your beautiful plan for me.”

“I cannot love my co-worker because she is constantly nit-picking and badgering me. I surrender this to you and ask for your divine intervention.”

“I cannot love my husband because he is constantly doubting me and questioning my ability to run our household. I surrender my bad feelings towards him, and I ask Holy Spirit for you to give me your heart for my husband.”

We need the Father’s way of loving people. The Father’s love is perfect and His love strengthens those who encounter it. This love is never fake or dishonest. It is true, right, and always good. It will change you as you surrender your will to His. My prayer for many years has been to be perfected in His love. I ask for this, because I am so deficient in perfect love. There is an amazing thing that happens as we begin to surrender, and also as we pray for that person we are struggling to love. Father begins to show us this person through His eyes of complete and perfect love. It changes your heart. Father may give you insight into why this person is so hard to love. When you experience this kind of encounter you go away a little more perfected in His love.

This is such a beautiful process of exchanging our humanity with his divine nature!

I said earlier that it is not a fake expression of love. Why? Because we have been supernaturally touched and our heart is made more tender towards the one who has offended us. Something truly has changed and we know it deep inside. If only the whole world could love this way, how different things would be. The love of the Father satisfies us deep within. As we are continually filled with his love our strivings cease. I am no longer demanding selfishly. I no longer desire things that I cannot have.

The bible makes a clear distinction between the acts of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit.

Galatians 5:19-21
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.

Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control

I would very much prefer the fruit of the Spirit operating in and through me. This is not a pie in the sky doctrine or dream. This can be your life surrendered to Jesus. He wants to meet you and fill you completely with His love!

Romans 5:5
The Love of God has been shed abroad in my heart.

This gives me an inner strength. I am filled to overflowing with your immeasurable love and power to finish all that has been ordained for me to do. I walk in incredible peace and assurance because of who I am in Christ. This assurance comes through love and grace. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. It’s His strength that compels me to greatness. I have pondered over the years, and remain somewhat perplexed over the mystery of Christ’s strength being perfected in me despite my humanness. Yes, it is the Holy Spirit inside of me giving me that nudge to push on a little more. He does not let me stay in my frailty of mind for long. He says to me, “You can do better than this” “Don’t you want more”? He compels me to greatness. I am being perfected day by day. I haven’t attained perfection, but it’s the greatness of God inside of me that will not let me settle for just “ok”. I am so glad of that! We are made in the image of GOD! Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all part of who I am. Wow! That would explain the insatiable desire to be someone, to make my mark in this life, to leave a legacy of the greatness of God in all that I do.

There will be amazing adventures in our lives and we will truly shine. We will see people touched by the power of God through repentance and a glorious salvation. We will see people miraculously healed and restored to life through the power of the Holy Spirit. I love this kind of display of the Kingdom of God! This power and potential is in every child of God whether it’s actively at work or not.

There are the mundane acts of life that make up the majority of our time here on earth. I believe we are to shine in these as well.

I remember the twenty-five years of raising our beautiful children. The innumerable meals that were planned and prepared, and the endless piles of laundry! There were always many tasks to do in a day. I also recall having children in all three levels of school at the same time. So much fun! I am not being sarcastic when I say that. It was a delight to serve them! That was great kingdom stuff! How fast those days came and went. I could have never successfully managed a household, loved my husband unconditionally and trained and modeled Christ’s love apart from the strength that only comes through the grace of God.

Our perfectly good, loving heavenly Father equips us with everything we need for this great life. He does not require of us what we do not have, but empowers us with his grace to do the extraordinary and mundane things of life. He is faithful Father in all areas of our lives.
There are some things you just can’t explain. I think grace is one of those mysteries. I can’t explain to you how it works, but I know from experience that it is so real!

The Little Jesus in the Tabernacle is the vivid picture I had of my Savior when I was a child.










I was raised in a Catholic family who were very dedicated to their beliefs. It was not just a religion to them; it was their strong beliefs in a true God. This was passed on to me at a very early age, and I will forever be thankful to my parents for this upbringing. We were always in church on Sundays, no excuses unless of course we were sick. I also attended parochial school and had the added benefits of mass on Fridays.

I loved the quiet, peaceful times in our beautiful sanctuary. We would enter very quietly, there was not any talking being done unless in a very low tone. This was a place of holiness and worship and we knew it very early on in our lives. This brought great comfort and peace to me as a child. I remember it so vividly and even today it floods me with a sense of all is well. There was a holiness that emanated from the sanctuary and also the grounds of the church. This was the beginning of an amazing truth; it’s called the fear of the LORD. I would say that this is probably the one priceless lesson you can learn and teach your own children.

Proverbs 1:7-9
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. Hear, my son, your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching; indeed, they are a graceful wreath to your head and ornaments about your neck.

Somehow I knew this truth at a very early age. I was a compliant child who desired to please all who were in authority over me. This included wanting to please this God that I sensed in that holy place of his sanctuary. I just didn’t know how to get to him. He was there but somehow out of my reach. I was drawn to this incense saturated peaceful place, because it brought solace to me. My spirit was being drawn by a gracious; sweet Father who loved me before I ever knew how to love him back.

There was a portion of the mass that intrigued me so. The priest would walk over to the tabernacle to retrieve the communion elements. The tabernacle is an ornate cabinet that held the communion wafers and the chalice of wine. The priest is the only one who goes into this holy tabernacle. This was definitely a mystery to my young mind and imagination

I vividly imagined a little Jesus sitting inside of this tabernacle. He looked frail and all alone. Sitting with his back to the Tabernacle with his legs drawn up to his chest. I knew He wanted so badly to interact with someone. My child’s heart ached to catch a glimpse of this little Jesus and to talk to him.

Revelation 21:3
And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them


This little Jesus has chosen to tabernacle with me!

Many years later I learned how to talk to Jesus directly. It was an amazing revelation to me that brought much freedom and joy! This was the genesis of my getting to know Jesus personally. It took many years for that little child to accept the grace of God. Now I walk in this amazing grace and feel completely accepted in the Beloved. This little Jesus has chosen to tabernacle with me! He wants to abide and make his home inside of me. I appreciate my Catholic heritage. It will always hold a precious place in my heart, because it was the foundation of all I believe today.

I know that this little Jesus was at work in my childhood imaginations drawing me to him!

Acts 27:25
So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.


Praying, Petitioning, and Intercession:
Last week was filled with all three of these! You pray, petition, and intercede when you need a situation changed. It is not those times of status quo, when your life is going along without hindrance. It is when you are desperate for breakthrough! There will be times in your lives where intense prayer is warranted.

Praying is talking to God plain and simply. I do this on a daily basis; it is a privilege of the child of God to have this resource. For me it is an on going conversation, including him in my everyday activities. I want to know what he thinks of the many things that I am doing. It is what the Apostle Paul referred to as “praying without ceasing” This is completely relational. Talking to God.

Petitioning, Yes, I do this often! We petition for all kinds of things. There are always pressing issues, for instance provisions of all kinds, employment needs, healing, relational issues, etc. I am certain we could all come up with at least ten items to petition the Father about right now. This again is a great privilege of the child of God. I am reminded in Philippians to put away anxiety and to bring all our prayers and petitions with thanksgiving before God.

Intercession is quite different. It is a passionate cry to God on behalf of someone else.
There typically is a sense of urgency in this prayer. It is deep crying unto deep; a fervent cry for divine intervention.

Romans 8:26-27
In the same way the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.

We can’t mess this one up. We are interceding and the very Spirit of God is interceding on our behalf in agreement with the will of God! What a perfect prayer!

There is what we older saints call having a burden. You feel a particular situation is pressing in on you. It’s not an oppressive feeling, but a strong call to pray. Soon after I was born again we began attending a very small Four Square church in Tucumcari New Mexico. The older ladies in the church could really pray. I went to a couple of these prayer meetings. I was so young and having been raised Catholic, I was very eager to learn how to pray.

They had a term praying through. They would pray until the release came, or the burden lifted. This didn’t mean the situation was resolved in the natural, but they were certain they had resolved it in the spiritual realm.
I have definitely experienced this in intercession. I know when I breakthrough in intercession because a release happens and you know something profound is going to happen in regards to what you just prayed.
God gives the assurance it is done!

So, what do you do now?
You rest knowing it is done. I call it “the knowing” It is a supernatural place of peace and complete trust. That is such an amazing feeling. The one thing I can compare it to is being in intense physical pain and then being given a drug that completely nullifies your pain. It is euphoric and intensely gratifying to know that you have gone to bat for someone and have pressed through.

Matthew 11:28-30
Jesus said, “ Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”


It is very simple:
We talk to God about our lives and the people in our lives.
We ask for specific things.
We at times become very burdened for someone, something, a people group, an injustice in the world etc.
We selflessly pray until we feel God’s presence and his peace.
We enter the rest of God, which is complete trust and faith that God says, “It is done!”