(Josh. 6:1 – 2 Amp)
Someone might wonder why it’s so important for us to yield to various expressions in prayer. Why shouldn’t we just be content to pray in English or in tongues and nothing else? Why do we need this great range of spiritual expression?
Because they aren’t our expressions. They are the expressions of the Holy Spirit.
To understand the importance of that fact, you must realize that in the dispensation we’re living in, there are only two intercessors. (Praying people sometimes refer to themselves as intercessors but that’s unscriptural. The Bible doesn’t call us that. It simply calls us believers and instructs us to pray all kinds of prayer. Intercession is just one kind.)
Of the two intercessors the New Testament talks about, the first one is Jesus. He is at the right hand of the Father ever living to make intercession for us and there is nothing we can do to help or to hinder His intercession.
The other intercessor the Bible refers to is the Holy Spirit. He is living on the inside of us and the only way He can pray is through us. If we yield to Him, He will be able to express Himself and say what He needs to say. If we don’t yield to Him or we only yield to Him in a limited way, His prayers will be limited.
To see how important yielding to a particular expression of the Spirit can be, read Joshua chapter six and consider how the Israelites conquered the walled city of Jericho. They didn’t storm the city gates. They didn’t use physical force to chisel holes in the walls. They didn’t use dynamite to blow them down.
What did they do?
They obeyed the Holy Spirit. He told them to march around the city seven days. Then on the last day, He instructed them to blow the trumpets and shout.Verse 20 says that “When the people heard the sound of the trumpet, they raised a great shout, and [Jericho’s] wall fell down in its place, so that the [Israelites] went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city” (Amp).
The Israelites’ shout was a spiritual expression so powerful that it broke something. It sent out such shock waves in the realm of the spirit that it caused Jericho’s walls to collapse. Actually, that makes sense if you think about it. Every musician knows there are certain sounds that can pierce physical material. Certain notes can be sung in such a way that they will break glass.
The Devil thinks he has some places fenced in and protected against the move of God. He has them surrounded with high spiritual walls. But those walls can be brought down—not by our might or by our power but by the Holy Spirit. They can be destroyed by expressions of the Spirit that come through us!
Scripture Reading: Joshua 6:1 – 20
Source: Devotions for the Praying Heart by Lynne Hammond.
Excerpt permission granted by Lynne Hammond Ministries
On the chilly March night in 1972 when Lynne Hammond took her first step into a life of Spirit-led prayer, she had no idea what was about to happen. All she knew was the hunger in her heart for God wouldn’t let her sleep. In the few short months she’d been born again, her desire to fellowship with Him had grown so strong she could hardly contain it. “Help me, God!” she cried. “I want to know you. I want to be able to talk to you. Please, teach me to pray!”
Suddenly, a heavenly presence flooded the room. Lynne sensed waves of spiritual fire sweeping over her and a beautiful language began to flow like a river from within her. Although she’d never heard of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, she knew instantly, without a doubt—this was God!
What began that night soon blossomed into a life of prayer that ultimately became a ministry of prayer when, in 1980, Lynne and her husband, Mac, founded Living Word Christian Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Under Lynne’s leadership, the prayer ministry at Living Word has become an internationally recognized model for developing effective pray-ers in the local church.
A teacher and an author, Lynne publishes a newsletter called Prayer Notes, has written numerous books, and currently serves as the national prayer director for Daughters for Zion. Her passion for inspiring and leading others into the life of Spirit-led prayer continues to take her around the world to minister to believers whose heart cry, like hers, is “Lord, teach me to pray!”