Second Corinthians 4:3-4 says, “But if our gospel be hid,
it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world
hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the
light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God,
should shine unto them.”

Satan has blinded the minds of those who have not
received the gospel. Your intercessory prayer wrestles against
evil spirits that have deceived them. It is literally giving yourself,
your time, your life for others. Jesus said, “Greater love
hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his
friends” (John 15:13). This is the God kind of love. It is unselfish.

The world did not know this kind of love until Jesus came
to the earth. He laid down His life to come to earth and live as
a man. He emptied Himself of His divine privileges and fulfilled
His earthly ministry as a man, filled with the Holy Spirit.

Philippians 2:7-8 says Jesus “made himself of no reputation,
and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in
the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man,
he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross.” Love motivated God to send Him.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Jesus’ love for the Father
impelled Him to obey. He said, “My meat is to do the will of
him that sent me, and to finish his work” (John 4:34).

Jesus has provided reconciliation between God and man
through His substitutionary sacrifice at Calvary. We are colaborers
with Him. Redemption was bought with a high price.
Jesus didn’t take it lightly and neither should we. God’s heart
was hungry for a family. Jesus freely gave Himself for this
desire. What an act of love!

God’s heart is still hungry. He yearns for every sinner to be
restored to Himself through the new birth, and every believer
to be in close fellowship with Him.

To give your life means to give everything. Jesus came as an
intercessor and He is still giving Himself in intercession today.
Hebrews 7:25 says, “…he ever liveth to make intercession.” We
have said, “Jesus gave His life for us.” But, He is still giving His
life for us, still interceding. His Body in the earth is wearing the
same prayer armor He wore. We have inherited His armor to
do His work and enter into His ministry of intercession.

We have been given that same love that motivated Jesus to
come as the intercessor! Romans 5:5 says the love of God has
been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. The love that
desires to lay down its own desires, and to intercede for someone
else, is abiding on the inside of us! The love that impelled
Jesus to go to the cross compels us to intercede. We pray for
others so they can come into the knowledge of the truth.

Through the knowledge of God’s Word, we realize His love
is in us. That love urges us to reach out to others. It urges us
to be soul winners. A soul winner is an intercessor in action.
Jesus paid the price to win souls. Intercessory prayer softens
people’s hearts to receive the message of the gospel.

When you are filled with the Holy Spirit, you receive the
ability to speak in another language. “And they were all filled
with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues,
as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4). The Holy Spirit
gives the utterance and you do the speaking.

Just as your own language is the voice of your mind, praying
in tongues is the voice of your spirit. It is your spirit speaking
mysteries to God (1 Corinthians 14:2). The Apostle Paul
said, “If I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but
my understanding is unfruitful” (1 Corinthians 14:14).

Praying in other tongues is the most valuable tool you
have in intercessory prayer. When you pray in other tongues,
you operate in the realm of the spirit. The Holy Spirit knows
what is needed in the lives of others when you do not know
(Romans 8:26). The weapons of your warfare are mighty
through God to the pulling down of strongholds.

When you move in this area of intercession, your physical
man will be your spirit man’s assistant. You begin to speak
in a language that comes out of the inner man. The Spirit of
the living God can speak to your own human spirit and out
of it will come rivers of living water. You are not just praying
mentally limited prayers. When you pray in tongues, you
pray beyond your own limited knowledge. You have moved
beyond the natural into the spirit. You must yield to it as an
act of your will.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries