Breakthrough in Prayer

“The enemy of our soul wants our full attention at the gate. Fear overtakes us so we will not move forward. Yet there is Another who is not like a roaring lion but is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Mighty Warrior. He will fight for us and blast through every closed place.”  Barbara Yoder

Prayer calls for strenuous persistence until we see the breakthrough. The enemy does not like prayer. He wants to hinder and stop our resolve through discouragement, weariness, persistent obstacles and battle-worn faith that wants to give up. As you pray for all the things that God has laid on your heart, don’t quit. God is able to break through.

But we must persevere, and what has often been said, we must PUSH through in prayer until something happens (Push Until Something Happens). The really powerful things that God wants to do are going to call for this type of tenacity in order to see the breakthrough. Hindrances and obstacles will come - This is all a part of the warfare - But there is victory if we do not quit. We must choose to never give up because there is breakthrough for us, and God will blast through every closed place.

When we need a breakthrough in prayer, we saw in our last teachings that we may feel we are caught in a narrow place. When in a narrow place, there is the tendency to want to go backward and give up, rather than risk and move forward. This is when we may face a crisis as to which way to go. This is where we have to decide. The devil screams in our ear, “Quit - Give up - This is too much for you - You will never win - Take it easy, and be like everyone else.”

At this point, we must decide whether we will continue to press on. We may feel depressed or discouraged because of the intensity of the battle at the threshold of breakthrough. We must not give in to the devil’s lies. He fears our future, and will attack internally and externally. He will attack internally through our identity in Christ and negative emotions, fears and wounds of the past. He will attack externally through other people and situations in our environment.

We must hold fast to what God has told us in our heart. We must increase our intercession, and bathe that vision in prayer again and again.

When we were living in Spain a couple of years ago, we were staying in a beautiful house in the south. It had large rooms and a beautiful mountain scene out the window. There were two main floors in this house. The only way to get to the lower floor was through a tiny winding staircase. When I first arrived and saw that circular staircase going down into my bedroom below, I wondered,

“How will I make it down that tiny little staircase?”

I’m small, but I just wasn’t familiar with that kind of door opening going down to the lower level of the house. Would I fall? I was a bit overwhelmed with all the changes I was making in a new country already. This was a narrow place. It looked hard to go through, but we knew that if we wanted to sleep that night (and we were tired), we needed to go down that narrow and winding staircase while holding tightly onto the small handrail. At first there was a feeling of discomfort at the threshold. But after some time, we went up and down that staircase quickly and with no fear. And we made part of that lower floor into a wonderful prayer room! The challenge was well worth it.

We need to understand the narrow place.

When we are at the gate or at the threshold, we are often at a narrow place where we feel we can neither go forward or backward. It is easy to feel depressed at the gate because it is narrow and there seems to be no way through. The word narrow is sometimes translated as trouble. In the New Testament, it is translated as afflicted or to suffer tribulation, and it means pressure.

The Apostle Paul experienced the narrow place when he said in 2 Corinthians 4:8, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” He knew what it was like to feel extremely uncomfortable at the threshold of breakthrough.

“In the Old Testament, narrow is translated as tight place, i.e. trouble; crowded by an opponent, adversary, afflicted, anguish, close, distress, enemy, foe, small, sorrow, strait, tribulation. Those words give a picture of extreme discomfort and challenge. That is why people feel as if the wind is knocked out of their sails at the gate. They feel overwhelmed or overcome in their emotions and their faith.”  Barbara Yoder

With all the difficulties and discomforts at the narrow place, we need supernatural help. We need God to bring us forward and break through for us. We read in Micah 2:13, “One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they will break through the gate and go out. Their king will pass through before them, the Lord at their head.”  

God will break through for us. He is developing us in the process, and we need to consider this process pure joy, because God is developing our faith and maturity. We must not give way to discouragement, but instead move into a positive anticipation of the future. James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

“When we face a gate, we are at a crossroad. Which fork we take will determine the harvest and inheritance we loose. Paul said that whatsoever a man sows, that will he reap (see Galatians 6:7). If we sow faith, we will reap the rewards of faith. We will obtain the promise. If we sow doubt and unbelief, we will reap the rewards by not entering the new place, the place of promise.”  Barbara Yoder

Sow faith so that you can obtain the promise. How do you do that? There are several things to consider as you pray and cooperate with God to see the breakthrough.  

• Don’t give in - Don’t give into fear, despair, or hopelessness because this will entraps you. In your prayers, praise and thank God for what He will do in you and how He will break through for you.  

“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (fear), but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7).

• Remember - Remember what God has done for you in the past. Meditate on past experiences in your life where God helped you and brought blessing.  

“I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds” (Psalm 77:11-12).

• Strengthen - Strengthen your faith through the Word of God. The Bible will help you to continue to believe the truth rather than the lies of the enemy. Pray God’s promises over your situation.  

“Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). 

• Persevere - Persevere in prayer with unwavering faith. Increase your intercession, and press on to lay hold of God in prayer during a difficult time.  

“…but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” (Philippians 3:12).

• Build - Build a new history. Don’t let your past determine your future. Believe that God is leading you on in triumph. 

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal process in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him” (1 Corinthians 2:14).

• Expect  - Expect God to break through and bring you to a new place. Thank and praise Him with expectation. Live hopefully, patiently, and faithfully as you pray for breakthrough.   

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” (Romans 12:12). 

Remember that God is able to break through every barrier. He can break through the obstacles and bring you to a new level of victory in your life. Great things happen when there is breakthrough because it affects everything. Long-term barriers are broken. We move into a larger place, and there is an increase in blessing. The harvest is released, revival breaks out, and churches in the city begin to grow. The powers of darkness are broken.

When there is breakthrough, joy and new understanding break out. Where there was once darkness, suddenly there is new light and revelation. Worship, prayer, and thanksgiving explode in breakthrough. Even nature is affected. We read in Isaiah 44:23, “Sing for joy, O heavens, for the Lord has done this; shout aloud, O earth beneath. Burst into song, you mountains, you forest and all your trees…”

It’s time to believe God for breakthroughs!

A Prayer for Breakthrough

“Lord, I thank You for teaching me about breakthrough prayer. Help me to persevere in prayer until there is a breakthrough. I choose to not give up in the narrow places (name those narrow places in your life). Show me the way in which I should go, and help me to hold fast to You as I move forward. I claim Micah 2:13, ‘One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they will break through the gate and go out. Their king will pass through before them, the Lord at their head.’ You will break through the gate for me. I choose to positively anticipate my future. Help me to consider the testing of my faith as joy because I know that it develops perseverance (James 1:2-4). I want to be mature and complete. Help me never give in to fear or hopelessness (2 Timothy 1:7).

I will remember what You have done in the past (Psalm 77:11-12). I will strengthen my faith in Your Word (Romans 10:17). I will press on to take hold of that for which You have taken hold of me (Philippians 3:12). And I will expect You to bring me to a new place of breakthrough. I choose to be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer (Romans 12:12). Thank You for being the God of the breakthrough. Thank You for breaking through for me. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

“We as believers need to press into God, dust our faith off, get into the Word of God and prayer, and begin to believe God for a fresh wind of prophetic revelation that will impart faith and vision. The Word of God is full of promises concerning our victory and our future. Everything in the Bible is about overcoming. That was, in part, what Jesus’ death and resurrection were about. Jesus experienced the ultimate breakthrough when He overcame death. He had to risk dying to overcome it. The gate of hell or death could not prevail.” Barbara Yoder
  
By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise
deb@intercessorsarise.org
http://www.intercessorsarise.org

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