Shared…
The following excerpt is taken from Devotions for the Praying Heart by Pastor Lynne Hammond:
Releasing the Power of Corporate Prayer
The Power of Divine Connections
As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.
Proverbs 27:17
One thrilling benefit of praying with other believers is this: when we work together in the spirit, giftings that have been hidden within us are revealed and activated. The anointing on us connects with the anointing on someone else and enables us both to step into spiritual positions we could never occupy alone.
One of my favorite scriptural illustrations of that principle is the Old Testament story about Saul. When he was first anointed to be king of Israel by the prophet Samuel, he didn’t appear to be kingly material. He was naturally timid, and he had no experience operating in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Do you know how God changed him?
He changed him by bringing him into contact with anointed people. God used gifts in others to awaken the anointing on Saul and those gifts turned him into another man.
To make sure he didn’t miss those connections, Samuel told him about them in advance. He let Saul know they would be strategic in his life. He said:
When you have left me today…you will come to the oak of Tabor, and three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three kids, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin bottle of wine. They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall accept from their hand. After that…you will meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place…prophesying. Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you mightily, and you will show yourself to be a prophet with them; and you will be turned into another man. When these signs meet you, do whatever you find to be done, for God is with you. (1 Samuel 10:-7 Amp.)
Usually we think of “signs” in terms of miracles and wonders that come from heaven. But in Saul’s case, the signs that changed his life were people. They were believers who imparted to him certain spiritual supplies he needed to step into the office of king.
That just goes to show you how important spiritual connections and relationships are. They change us. They activate spiritual endowments within us. They prepare us for our future. They inspire us to rise to new heights in God.
We can walk around for years with supernatural endowments and giftings lying dormant within us like seeds in the ground. But when God sends somebody across our paths who is anointed to cultivate them, those seeds in us will begin to sprout. The more we’re with that person, the bigger those seedlings grow.
Patsy Cameneti (my dear friend and one of my favorite ministers) tells about a preacher named David Grant who had that kind of cultivating effect on her as a teenager. He carried an anointing to awaken people to the call of God. When he ministered at her church, people would tarry around the altar all night long seeking God about His will for their lives.
Without brother Grant, an all-night prayer meeting wouldn’t have been possible. Everybody would have been asleep under the pews before midnight. But when he ministered, the anointing on him activated people’s spiritual hunger and they were supernaturally energized to pray.
All of us need the power of divine connections with people like brother Grant. For, truly, as iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend!
If you would like to purchase this book, please contact Living Word Bookstore online or call (763) 315-7015.
Prayed…
Lord, thank You for Your Word and all the connections for this time
You help us to step into new places
You hear the hearts of Your people
Father, we lift up every part and joint of the body of Christ
For everyone supplying and preparing a way for You to come
Operating in healing, deliverance, and saving of souls
Combining and assembling together
Destinies!
We need people to be saved, to take their places in Christ!
It is a key for these days
Operating and moving by the Holy Ghost
Going from glory to glory
It is a command so respond to it!
Eyes to see how it works together
Mantels coming down-touching, changing, and making adjustments
Letting it go deep!
Father, we lift up the international churches
Strengthen the inner man of the pastors and ministry of helps
That they would stay strong and stay in their place!
Increase and expansion for these churches
Reaching greater territory!
We apply the blood of Jesus over that and declare they will see it today!
Keep the vision!
Press toward the mark, all the way to the finish line!
Bust out of those hindrances in Jesus’ name!
You are seated with Him, so step out
Working as a team and submitting to the leadership
Holding up the hands that hang down
Lord, we lift up the armor bearers of the pastors in each church
Souls hang in the balance
Lord, we lift up the sent ones
Strength to the missionaries
Calling for a supply of provision
Increase to walk out EVERY step
We lift those who are called to come up alongside of them
Father, thank You for the honor to worship You!
You are so worthy of glory and honor!
Jesus, thank You for what You did on the cross
We can come boldly into Your presence!
