I know from firsthand experience how sweat-less our spiritual victories can be when people pray together and honor each other’s spiritual gifts. I found that out years ago when I first began to develop prayer groups in our church.

As I prayed on a regular basis with other believers (some who were very different from me), I discovered that prayer groups move to a higher level of power when the members recognize each other’s giftings and understand how those giftings operate. Among our first prayer leaders was one young man, for instance, who had the spiritual ability to discern when a battle could be won in prayer and push through to victory. It wasn’t just that he could hold out longer. He had a unique anointing to get the breakthrough.

One particular group he prayed with met in a building that our church rented downtown. The building was in the middle of one of the worst sections of the city right next to a homosexual bar. One night while the group was praying there, the anointing came on him to get rid of that bar. He commanded it to close and the very next day it was shut down and boarded up. It never re-opened. Today a nice, upscale restaurant is located there.

The more we begin to recognize such anointings in each other and treasure them (they won’t function if they aren’t honored) the more sweat-less victories we will see. The more we’ll get to do what Jehoshaphat and Judah did. Without lifting a finger to fight, they watched as their enemies destroyed one another.

Think of it! They won the battle without a fight—and they won it so thoroughly that not one of their enemies escaped. The only hard work they had to do was gathering up the spoil. There was so much of it that it took three whole days to pack it up.

No wonder the Bible says the manifestations of the Spirit are given to each one for the profit of all! When we put them together, our individual spiritual giftings bring great spoils into the kingdom of God. They truly make us rich!

Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 20:24 – 32