"Don't worry. I will not let you fail."

Remember how comforting it was to hear those words from a parent, a driving instructor, or a coach who knew that you were facing something for the first time? Think how much more important that would be coming from someone who understands and is committed to standing with you through the spiritual challenges you face.

That is exactly what believers at Philippi experienced when the Apostle Paul wrote to them from a jail cell in Rome:

Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; in as much as both in my bonds, and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.
(Phil. 1:6-7)

Don't reduce these words from Paul to some kind of cordial greeting—a warm wish for their continued success. A closer look will reveal that they have much more power than that.

Paul wasn't just wishing for the best for his Partners at Philippi. His faith was much more involved. With all the force of his inner man, Paul laid hold of God's best on behalf of his Partners in ministry. He became an active participant in their success.

In Verses 3-8, we read that Paul carried in his heart the affection of Jesus Himself for the believers at Philippi. He couldn't keep those people out of his heart. In fact, it says he was constantly making requests for them in prayer, filled with joy and confidence for their future. He wasn't saying, "I don't want you to fail." Paul was saying, "I will not let you fail."

Guaranteed Success
Folks, that is a broad statement to make about a whole church—that nobody's going to goof up in this church. Nobody is going to miss it. Nobody's going to backslide. Nobody's going to fall. Nobody's going to get knocked down here. How can one preacher say that? We know that Paul recognized the prayers of his Partners for him as important to his success.

In Ephesians 6:20, he requests prayer so that, "utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel." In Philippians 1:19, Paul declares from a jail cell that the prayers of his Partners, and the supply of the Spirit, will result in his continued boldness and deliverance.

Paul was confident in the role his Partners' prayers played in his success, but how could he turn around and be so confident in their success? One reason is that he had seen them doing the part God had given them to do in supporting the ministry of the gospel. From the earliest days of his ministry, the believers at Philippi had been so involved with Paul's ministry that he said:

No church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only. For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
(Phil. 4:15-19 NKJV)

Why did Paul know they would succeed? Because he knew the same grace and anointing that empowered his success belonged to them. If Paul had accomplished great feats of ministry just because he was Paul, then no one else could hope to share in the power or the rewards of what he did.

But Paul made it clear that nothing he did was done except by the grace of God—the same grace God makes available to every believer who is obedient to do the part God has called him to do in ministry. That's what Paul knew his Partners could walk in. And you and I can do that, too. We can do exactly what those believers at Philippi did. We can have everything they had!

Force of Prayers
But there was another reason Paul could so boldly say, "I will not let you fail." That reason is found in Paul's statement, "Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy" (Phil. 1:4). He was praying for them. And his prayers for them were backed by supernatural force.

Don't miss the full impact of what Paul was saying. This joy with which he was praying was much more than a good feeling. In Philippians 4:13, Paul describes the joy of the Lord as our strength, or inner might. There was strength—there was inner might—behind Paul's joy-filled praying for the believers at Philippi. When Paul prayed, things moved in the spirit realm on behalf of those for whom he prayed.

Paul's Partners had helped him have opportunity to preach the gospel boldly, and that fulfilled his joy. And he put the full force of his joy, or inner might, behind his requests for them before the throne of his Heavenly Father.

What Paul was saying is this: "I'm praying for you with such inner might that I am confident that the thing which Jesus started in you, He'll perform until the day He comes. How am I able to think this of you? Because I've got you in my heart, and I'm going to pray for you until Jesus comes. I'm not going to let you fail." I'm telling you, that's the kind of praying I want going on for me!

Anointed Supplication and Petitions
It's a powerful thing to have someone constantly before the throne of God on your behalf—someone who knows what has been made available to us through God's Word and by His Anointing.

I discovered this about the prayers of my mother for me. Years ago, I had spent several days in prayer over some very disturbing issues in my ministry. From my viewpoint, it looked like some parts of this ministry were just going to wash out. I felt like I had gone to the throne room, taken hold of the legs of His throne and just hung on.

What the Lord said to me in that time deeply stirred and encouraged me. "Kenneth, I am not going to let you fail, He said. If I have to get you up every morning and put you to bed every night, I am not going to let you fail." "Glory to God," I said. "But Lord, why me? There have been as good and better men than I am who have failed. Why me?" He said, Because I have your mother in My face!

That was the same attitude I saw in what Paul wrote to the Philippian believers. Remember, at the time Paul wrote this letter to Philippi, there was absolutely nothing he could do for them by his physical presence. He was confined to a jail cell in Rome. I'm sure they must have longed for the day in which Paul could again minister to them in person. But Paul's ministry to them did not stop when he was physically separated from them. Even in prison, he was continually praying for them.

Ministry Without Boundaries
To have someone interceding for you in the power of the Spirit is no little thing. We can see that in what Paul wrote to the churches at Colossae and Corinth. To the church at Colossae he wrote: "For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ" (Col. 2:5).

Do you see that Paul didn't just pray little "Lord, bless them" prayers for this church, or any of the churches with whom he Partnered? Paul stayed before the Lord in prayer for them until he knew by the Spirit of God, what was going on in each one of them! Through intercession, giving his life for the work that God had placed on him for the success of the people. By interceding for them in the spirit, he was given understanding of their needs so he could apply his faith to God's answers for them.

Held in the Heart
I remember the powerful change that came years ago in my prayers for my own Partners the moment I began to see them in the spirit. As I prayed for my Partners, I was there with them in the spirit. Every time I would close my eyes, it would seem like they were all standing around me. From that moment on, I could no longer see why any of them did not have every anointing for their lives and ministries that I had received.

My Partners became so real in my prayers for them that it was no longer like praying for many different people. It was like praying for one person - as if there was one Partner out there helping me, praying for and supporting me, and working with me. It was one of the most unusual experiences I had up to that point in my life. While I was there praying for them, suddenly I knew what their hearts' desire was as a group. That day my Partners really got down in my heart, and it's been that way ever since.

Unfailing Grace
Can you see why we need to hook up with one another and hold onto one another? It isn't one another's doctrines that we're holding onto. It's one another's faith and one another's lives that we're holding onto. It's not somebody's culture that we're holding onto. I like your culture. I'd like to know about you. I'd like to know where you came from. But that's not what I'm holding onto, Brother. I don't care whether you eat with your fork in the right hand or the left. It doesn't make any difference to me.

It's you I'm holding onto. It's your success in God that I'm holding onto. If you are a Partner with Kenneth Copeland Ministries, I am telling you, you're going to make it. That's where Paul's faith was for his Partners. That's where my faith is for my Partners. That's where my commitment is. I'm committed to their success. I will not let them fail.

You will share in every reward of their obedience in ministry. And you will partake of every grace made available to confirm the Word preached. As they make supplication for you in the spirit, the full force of their inner man will be in their prayers. They will set themselves in faith that God will meet all your needs according to His riches in glory in the Anointed Jesus and in His Anointing. They will not let you fail!

Excerpt permission granted by
Eagle Mountain International Church, Inc.
aka:  Kenneth Copeland Ministries