Three Circles of
Spiritual Warfare

Ed Corley

From Paul we gain insight that leads us toward what we will now call THREE CIRCLES OF SUPPLICATION. Whereas in the past we have made reference to the “discipline of intercession,” it has come to my attention that the term intercession is used in the New Testament only with reference to the Lord Jesus and to the Holy Spirit. The term supplication defines the kind of praying we do one for the other. Still, in our praying, we maintain three circles. Within each one is the hope, or expectation, that the strength and grace of God's Kingdom will prevail in the lives of those for whom we make the supplication.

The FIRST CIRCLE is small, only large enough for "me." In it we fight our own private wars and deal with our inner struggles. Oswald Chambers, a man of God from the early Twentieth Century said, "Every man is a walking civil war." But, the strength and government of God's Kingdom can reach each one of us in our private war. As we come under the influence of what these prayers will release in a life, we begin learning that the Lord is on our side in all of our battles. He is with us to prevail over our weaknesses, and as well, to prevail over the strength of the enemy who is opposing us.

If we continue in our private circles without opening ourselves to the administration of God's Government, we may have well enough inner struggles to go with us all the way to the grave. There may never be a peaceful day, unless we should, perhaps, sign an inner truce with some of the forces of evil at work in us, then allowing them to do their work unopposed. But, we're not going to consider this. The glory of God’s Kingdom is open to us. It can set up its rule in us.

The SECOND CIRCLE of supplication is at least double the size of the first. We discover this when we move from our private circle of “civil war” into the circle of someone else to help in their war. In our supplications before God’s Throne we can release into the circles of others the same strength and grace of that Kingdom we are coming to know. That doesn’t mean any other one has to submit to its rule, however. The Holy Spirit does not violate anyone’s will. But, as we hold others before the Throne with the urgency of praying like the Lord Jesus teaches in the parable of the man begging for bread in Luke 11:1-13, we might well expect hearts to become softened. Let’s remember that man begging for the bread was doing so for another man who had lost his way in the night.

We move into the THIRD CIRCLE when we enter the conflict with spiritual forces that rule large areas—like villages, cities, states, and nations, or clans, corporations or institutions. We can also bring the disciplines of the second circle into this third as we hold before the Throne people who lead states, nations, clans, corporations, etc. We learn to seek the release of God’s strength, wisdom and grace in them. Then, as the leaders become godly in their leadership, the Holy Spirit will have instruments through whom He can bring godliness to the realms of their leadership.

The First Circle

Many of us can find—some in greater measure than Paul, some in less—an identification with him in both of his battles. The first conflict was settled by the official—yes official—work of Jesus Christ Who was his Lord. The other was resolved by the grace of God. There is no doubt but that, whatever the conflict of anyone of us, the same resolutions can become effective for us. The reason we speak of the work of the Lord Jesus as an official work is that He officiated in resolving Paul’s inner conflict. We might think we can officiate in our own process of becoming an overcomer, but there is really no one of us who can succeed without the work of the Lord who will come within us to carry out the work.

It is amazing what we can find in the Romans 8 account that comes through with the answer for a conflict that may well be like our own. As we view the Scripture about Paul’s struggles, particularly as it comes through in the Greek New Testament, we can see why his battles were so fierce. In seeing his conflicts, we may well see our own. And, in seeing his resolutions, we can discover what can be ours also.

Without going into a theological explanation of his problem, let us simply view the passages in which Paul tells of his conflicts. We take them from the King James Version, but with some revelation that comes through from the Greek New Testament. They brings to us the answers we may grasp for our own. Paul held two answers for the triumph he knew in his life: Christ Jesus and God’s grace.

Before we see the passages, let us take a very brief lesson in New Testament Greek. Nearly all Greek Verbs have built into them a personal Pronoun that informs the reader who is performing the action of the Verb. This is so, unless there is an emphasis on the one performing a particular action. Then the Pronoun is written as a separate word. Usually, the First Person Greek Pronoun indicating the one performing the action is added on the end of the Verb. In English, the first person Pronoun serving as the Subject of a Verb is “I.” In Greek it is ego. But, as we have said, it is seldom placed separately in front of the Verb, except for emphasis on the one performing the action.

It is to be noted in the passage from Romans 7 how Paul made excessive use of the word ego. Not every time he made a statement in the First Person did he do this. It was so frequent in the Rom 7 passage, however, that it takes our attention. And, it reveals something about Paul’s struggle. As we observe the passage, let us take note of all the times he told of something with a First Person Noun. Since it cannot become evident in a translation how often he made use of the word ego, we will place this word each time he used it. We will take special note of it in verse 24. This verse places a most unusual emphasis upon Paul’s ego. In this brief verse, we can find the key to his problem. It may very likely provide the key for the problem any one of us may have with sin.

We have underlined each First Person Pronoun. A life centered in itself, with one’s ego as the point of reference for all its desires, actions, ambitions, toils and labors can never know true freedom from “the sin” of which Paul tells in the Romans passage that extends from verse 5:12 all the way through verse 8:14.

Romans 7:

14 For we know that the Law is spiritual: but I [egw] am carnal, sold under (the) sin. (My ego is entirely under the control of the sin that was brought upon the race of man by Adam.)

15 For that which I do I allow not (I don’t know what I am achieving,): for what I would, that do I not (for what I desire to do I’m not making it my practice to do.); but what I hate, that do I do (It’s the things I hate that I’m doing.).

16 If then I do that which I would not, (If then I do what I do not want to do,) I consent unto the Law that it is good. (I am in agreement with the Law that it is good, even though I do not keep it.)

17 Now then it is no more I [egw] that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. (It must be the sin that has made its home in my nature.)

18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: (And indeed, I know from experience that the carnal side of my being can scarcely be called the home of good!— J.B. Phillips)  for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. (I have a desire to do good, but I don’t know how to make a practice of it.)

19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. (For I do not do the good that I want to do, but it is the evil stuff that I make a practice of doing.)

20 Now if I do that I [egw] would not, it is no more I [egw] that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. (Now if it is my ego leading me to do what I do not really want to do, then it must be that my ego, that is the central part of who I am,  is the home of the sin that is in me.)

21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. (I find then an established principle in me, that, when I have the desire to do what is good, what is wrong is what is at hand. It comes through whether I want it to or not.)

22 For I delight in the Law of God after the inward man: (Somewhere inside of me I hold a delight in God’s Law.)

23 But I see another law in my members (but I see a different kind of law, that is a different ruling principle in who and what I have become), warring against the law of my mind, (It is at war with what my mind wants to do,) and it is bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. (and it is making me a prisoner of the sin that has taken up residence in the person I have come to be. Oh, I am worn out from this struggle!)

24 O wretched man that I [egw] am! [talaipwroV egw anqrwpoV - ”Oh, ego man, wretchedly miserable from the toil and trouble that is going on inside me!”] who shall deliver me from the body of this death? (Who will rescue me from the death that has tried to rule my whole natural being?)

25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Thanks be to God! It is coming to pass through Jesus Christ our Lord!) So then with the mind I [egw] myself serve the Law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. (Again, I borrow from J.B. Phillips. He seems to have captured the agony of what Paul was saying—“In my mind I am God's willing servant, but in my own nature I am bound fast, as I say, to the law of sin and death. It is an agonizing situation, and who on earth can set me free from the clutches of my sinful nature? I thank God there is a way out through Jesus Christ our Lord.”)

Now  we come to Paul’s statement of resolution. There is no way humanly possible to overcome one’s carnal nature whose will it is to rule in every person who is outside of Christ. The foregoing verses from Romans 7 have been filled with the account of Paul’s struggling ego as he tried to overcome the rule of the sin brought upon the human race by Adam’s rebellion. But we are beginning to see the emergence of THE answer. We are about to see a man coming from under the rule of carnality to become a son of God.

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We come now to the continuation of Paul’s revelation of the redemption that became effective in him. To him, Christ Jesus was his Salvation. He wasn’t just Paul’s hope of a way to arrive in heaven. He was Paul’s life while still on this earth. Even in his Roman imprisonment, he made little mention—he made almost no mention—of being incarcerated. Instead of being in prison, Paul was in Christ. An amazing thing for us to lay hold on is that Paul lived in the same dispensation in which we live. He never knew Christ after the flesh. Jesus had been here, had trained His twelve disciples to be Apostles, had died on the cross, had been buried and was raised from the dead. Then He was taken back into the heavens, all before Paul knew Him. Yet, Paul came to know Christ Jesus in a way others before him had not.

What Paul wrote is some of the greatest revelation of Light and Life mankind might ever read. We are about to explore—though I feel not worthy or capable of leading you in it—a section of the revelation given to him. In it we will find one of Paul’s greatest string of words, short but so long they reach into eternity. Let us see them here. They are: them which are in Christ Jesus.

Reaching back upon what we call “Romans Truth,” Paul made the following reference in Ephesians 3 to the revelation given him. Even though he was incarcerated in Rome when he wrote this, we remember of Whom he said he was a prisoner. After we complete this brief Ephesians interlude, we will resume our time with Romans.

Ephesians 3:

1 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles (on behalf of you who come from among the nations),

2 if ye have heard of the dispensation (this means the office of an administrator, or an overseer) of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward (on your behalf):

3 how that by revelation (by a disclosure of truth before unknown) He made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words) (recorded in Eph 1:9-12),

4 whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ). (It was Paul’s desire that readers might gain the understanding he had of the hidden things of Christ not generally known to mankind. He called it a “mystery,” for how could a soul outside of Christ have any understanding of what it could mean to live “in Christ”? That, indeed, remains, to this day, a mystery to any person who has not the Holy Spirit abiding in them.)

As with the words from Romans 7, we will go on in Romans 8 to discover what Paul called the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. By his use of the word law, he meant the general principle, or rule of life, which declares that anyone “in Christ Jesus” will know the Life that emanates from Him. As the Word of that “law” opens to us, we enter some of the most amazing writing ever opened to the eyes of man. As before, we will take the verses from the King James Version then gain what further understanding the Holy Spirit may open to us from the Greek text.

Before looking into this passage, let me say the following about it. On looking at it in the Greek, I took note of two prominent words. Twelve times the word sarx (“flesh”) appears, no more to be seen in Romans 8 after verse 13. Fifteen times the word pneuma (“spirit”) appears within the first fifteen verses, and continues on  throughout the chapter. The Spirit brings us into the will of the Father by helping us in our weaknesses, especially that of communicating with Him. Oh, the power of a Spirit-filled life!

Romans 8:

1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, (There is no judgment, no damnatory sentence, against them who are in Christ Jesus.) who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (This means those whose manner of living has come to be according to the leadership of God’s Spirit and not according to their own carnal way of doing things.)

2 For the Law of the Spirit of (“the”) Life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of (“the”) sin and (“the”) death. (Here, in the Original, the words Life, sin  and death are all preceded by the Definite Article “the.” We learn of “the sin” and “the death” in Rom 5:12. Both came through Adam. But it is here in this verse that we learn of “the Life.” It came through Christ Jesus. Life was mentioned frequently before this in Romans, chapters 5 and 6, but it was always without the Definite Article “the.” This, because it was with reference to a quality of Life not known before. When a Greek Noun appears without a Definite Article, it may be known as a “qualitative” noun. Thus, the quality of the thing is emphasized. But now that the quality of the Life in Christ is established, we read of it as “the” Life. Its reference is to the Life that is becoming ours in Christ.)

3 For what the Law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His Own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned (brought judgment against the) sin in the flesh:

4 that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (This is, that the righteousness of the Law might reach its fullness in us whose lives are ordered, not according to the mandates of carnality, but according to the bidding of the  new Life that is ours under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.)

5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. (Those who live according to the carnal orders of their old man have a frame of mind that guides their thinking into carnal ways. But those who live under the guidance of God’s Spirit have a way of thinking brought on in them by the Holy Spirit.)

6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. (A carnal way of thinking leads to death, but a way of thinking brought about by God’s Spirit leads one on in His way of Life and peace.)

7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the Law of God, neither indeed can be. (This is because the carnal way of thinking is at odds with God; actually it hates Him. It does not live according to God’s commands because the carnal person, in fact, cannot live God’s way.)

8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. (Those who live carnal lives have no ability to please God.)

9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. (But, if the Spirit of God is now dwelling in you, you are set free from the need to live that carnal life style.) Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. (Now, the fact is: if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ living in him, it simply means he doesn’t belong to Christ.)

10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. (But, and if, Christ is living in you, your old carnal way of  living has lost its “life.” The Holy Spirit is vibrantly leading you in a different way that is right in the eyes of God.)

11 But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies (bring Life to your bodies that were once subject to the rule of death) by His Spirit that dwelleth in you. (But if the Spirit of Him that raised Jesus from Death’s dominion finds His home in you, He that raised Christ out of Death will bring Life to your body that has been subjected to “the Death” brought on by Adam’s transgression. Paul is telling of the hope of eternal life that is now ours through Christ.)

12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.

13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die (If you are still living according to the dictates of your old carnal life, you are still headed toward Death.): but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. (But, if through the help of the Spirit you are putting to death the practices of your carnality, you are headed toward “the Life.”)

14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. (For all who are under the government of God’s Spirit are mature sons and daughters in His family.)

15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. (For you have not received a spirit that makes you timid and afraid before God, but you have received the Spirit that has placed you as a son, or daughter, in His household of faith. Because of this, God is like a father so dear to you that you can call Him, “Daddy.”)

Whereas the battle just described was settled by God’s indwelling Spirit, the one we are about to consider was resolved by God’s enabling grace. Both the flesh and the affliction would have swallowed up Paul had he not found his answers from God. But he profited from them both to become a better minister of the mystery of Christ. He set a powerful example for us in both.

Paul’s First Circle of Supplication

One winter night I was standing alone in a drizzling rain, waiting for a bus to come along that would take me to a little mission church where I would lead a few people in a Bible study and prayer meeting. I felt a little sorry for myself as I thought I was “suffering” for the Lord. As I stood up against a building that I think now was a bar, I took out my pocket testament and began reading Paul’s second Epistle to the Corinthians.

My “suffering” that night was so trifling as to not even be worthy of being called “suffering.” Nonetheless, that’s what it was to me at that time and it became an occasion for me to learn one of the greatest lessons I might ever learn. I invite you to read these verses with me, as I read them that night.

There is so much that is amazing about Paul’s writing, that I find myself making use time and again of the Word that came to me that night. I use it with regard to this passage. There is an unusual amazement about II Cor 1:3-7. Ten times in those few verses, Paul made use of some form of a word based on parakaleo. This is the base of the word “comforter” that Jesus used when He made reference to the Holy Spirit in the following verses from John—14:16, 26; 15:26 and 16:11.

Now, let us simply read this opening passage to I Corinthians. I don’t think I can add anything to what Paul said. It was clear to me that night standing in the rain. May it be clear to you, and bring comfort to you, as it did to me. Whatever comfort the Lord brings to you in any time of trial can become a resource from which you may draw to minister comfort to others.

II Corinthians 1:

3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; (Paul had discovered that God is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who came into the world as the gift of His endless love to all mankind. He is also the Father from Whom all mercy flows. He is the God of all comfort, the Fountain from which all consolation, happiness, and earthly bliss flow. [Thoughts from Adam Clarke])

4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.

6 And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.

7 And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.

Paul has much more to teach us about personal suffering, or we could call it personal conflict, or personal trials out of which he learned to draw as he ministered to others. The significance of what we learn from what he went through in his battle with a thorn in the flesh is great. It probably helped define Paul’s personal being as we learn from him as a man who knew himself in Christ. See his following testimony.

II Corinthians 12:7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

We can't know for sure what Paul’s thorn was. We can only perceive it was grievous. Some think it was bodily pain or sickness, perhaps near blindness. Could it have been the result of the light that shined upon him when he met Christ on the Damascus Road? That would not seem probable for Ananias came to him and prayed for him, after which, as it were, scales fell from his eyes. But, he did say to the Galatians, Ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me—Gal 4:15.

Some think his thorn was the indignities imposed upon him by the false apostles, and the opposition he met from them. They considered his bodily presence was weak, and his speech contemptible—II Cor 10:10. Whatever his thorn was, he considered it was given to him lest he be exalted because of the great measure of revelation  given to him. Whatever this was, for a time Paul considered it a grievous thing. But the thorns Christ wore for us, and with which He was crowned, sanctify and make easy all the thorns in the flesh with which we may at any time be afflicted. Christ Jesus suffered, being tempted (being put to the test), that he might be able to succour (come to the aid of) those that are tempted (Heb 2:18).

Should it have been a temptation to sin that Paul faced, it would, indeed, have been a most grievous thorn. Such testings are messengers of Satan, sent to buffet us. “Indeed it is a great grievance to a good man to be so much as tempted to sin.” Matthew Henry

II Corinthians 12:8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice (that is, on three significant occasions), that it might depart from me. Besought is a strong word, from that Greek word parakaléo. Basically it means "to call someone to one's aid." With a desperate cry and an earnest persistence, almost like the widow, of whom Jesus told in Luke 18, who came before the judge with a refusal to go on without her supplication being answered. Paul cried, and cried, to the Lord, "Help me! Please remove this grievous thing from me!"

9 And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee (“My grace is possessed of an unfailing strength on your behalf”): for My strength is made perfect in weakness (“for My power—dunamis—is brought to its brought to its fullness in weakness.”) Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Grace in any situation is wonderful. From the Greek cháris, it means what is beautiful, charming, beneficial. What a powerful word! For us who will hear it: Whatever the grievous thing that may rest upon us, it makes us a candidate for God's beautifying grace. The Lord will bring it, not send it, into our circle. He will take any affliction and bathe it with His healing grace. And, wonderfully, that is enough. The painful relationship, the terrible loss, the wearisome work, the frightful path or personal debilitation can all become bathed with a beauty and charm that can come only from God Himself. Into our circle His grace brings His Kingdom with its wisdom, provision, protection and strength, as well as its healing and enabling power.

Note in this verse the Lord's special word to Paul about His strength being made perfect in weakness. Here, strength is from dúnamis, the same word the Lord Jesus used in Acts 1:8 when He said, . . ye shall receive power. It means the power of ability. Again, what a wonder! The Lord told him, "The ability to be and to do what I want you to be and do will come into it's fullness in your weakness."

That thorn in the flesh from which Paul sought freedom was, indeed, the very platform from which he could be launched into the greater purpose God had for his life. See it! This same grace will work for you and me. Whatever is grievous can become a platform for something wonderful, if we but open ourselves to the grace God proffers us in it.

10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities (my physical afflictions and lack of strength), in reproaches (the outrage and insolence of violent persons), in necessities (the distressing obligations pressed upon me), in persecutions (the pursuit upon my life of ungodly persons), in distresses (the narrow and grievous circumstances that crowd in upon me) for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

Why did Paul rejoice in these things? Because in them—or maybe through them, or maybe because of them—he came to know the enabling grace of God and the power of Christ's Kingdom. Simply put, in his weakness he came to know the strength of Christ. And that was cause for rejoicing. When we too come to know this, our testimony becomes not so much, "I have been healed! Or, I have been set free from a terrible situation!" We begin, instead, to bear the testimony of Christ Himself Who has become our life and our strength.

Let's face it. All of us have a battle with weakness. Even the strongest persons in the world continue with its encroachment upon them. So, whether it is the end of the age, or the end of life, that moves in for the strike, they both crowd us into finding answers that will stand in the final contest between weakness and strength.

Personally, as I grow older, I see that the most important things in life are those that give me confidence with regard to the Kingdom of God. There alone can I find the unchallenged stability that will prevail over everything that would try and weaken me or make me fear.

The Second Circle of Supplication

We learn of Paul's movement in the circle of praying for others when we read the Epistles he wrote from his Roman prison - Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, I Timothy and II Timothy. In these, the only shadow of a glimpse we have that he had a personal need was when he asked Timothy to bring the cloak he left at Troas with Carpus and the books and parchments (II Timothy 4:13). His only personal request for prayer was that utterance might be given unto him to open his mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the Gospel (Ephesians 3:18). But even in this, it was a prayer that would lead to his helping others.

The greatest thing we go on to learn about Paul’s praying was that he left his own circle of personal needs and made his supplication for others. His prayers while in jail are what have guided us through years of disciplined praying for others. We find these prayers, always prayed on behalf of others, recorded for us in Eph 1:15-19; Eph 3:14-19; Phil 1:9-11 and Col 1:9.10.

We enter the second circle when we care enough about what is going on inside the circle of someone else to enter their conflict with them. We do this with the knowledge that God's glory is open to them and that the government of His grace can prevail in the circle of their warfare. The beauty of this second circle of war is that we can enter it without "interfering" in the other person's affairs, sometimes without their even being aware we're praying for them.  They just come to know the work and presence of Christ in their circle with them.

But there is another beauty. When we enter the conflict for someone else, we make room for the Lord in our own conflicts. It may even be when we return to our own circles to nurse our wounds, we will find they have been healed. God's grace has prevailed and the battle that once dragged us down in defeat has become His battle. We have vacated our post to Him. What an exchange!

Few people want others to touch their inner man, but at the same time they all have a silent cry for help. Generally, when people have inner turmoil, they do not want advice or preaching, nor will they receive it. But the love, and faith, and care of an intercessor is different.

Of course, when someone needs a friend, loses a loved one, has an accident, needs some groceries or help with their children, we learn to go openly, with compassion and with a willingness to do what we can. The open works become evident; that we're praying for them may remain silent to their ears. But it will reap results.

Something happened several years ago that helped me learn the lesson about moving from my own circle of need. I was overcome with the sorrow and despair of having lost my wife and family. I thought it would destroy me. I didn't see how I could continue living. At one time during this trial, I needed someone who would listen to me with some understanding and pray with me. I visited some friends, a couple whom we had received into our home many times when they were traveling in ministry and whom I felt would understand and sympathize with my pain.

As I talked with them of the loss that had come to me, the wife of the couple said to me, "You know, we can understand exactly how you feel. We just lost our dog."

I couldn't believe my ears. Had this sister in the Lord actually said this to me? Could she compare my loss with theirs? I could not respond. I became silent about my own hurt.

Later the Lord spoke to me, "I am bringing you to the place where you will not depend on others to minister to you. If you will leave the circle of your own hurt and take on the concern for others who may seem to have even lesser trouble than your own, I will take on your concern." What a powerful exchange! It is one of the greatest principles of living in Christ's Kingdom we can know. It is a secret that those who make supplication for others must come to know.

However, we should never think ourselves beyond asking someone to pray with us about an inner conflict. Sometimes the breaking that comes with an open confession is useful in setting us free from inner bondage. But, as intercessors, we come to know that our dependency will usually reach unto the Lord Himself, while we become instruments for Him to use in bringing healing to others.

We have several things to learn from Paul about praying for others. Probably the most striking for us now is that his intercession went beneath the surface and worked toward releasing the character and strength of God's Kingdom into lives and situations. He had discovered this for himself and made supplication for others that they might know the same.

It seems we are most often inclined to pray surface, or emergency prayers. If we have a prayer meeting and ask for requests, generally the needs that present themselves are for sicknesses, finances, family problems, trips, programs, and losses. We all seem to want immediate answers and quick releases. But Paul's praying reached beneath the surface of life to lay hold on things eternal and that could be worked out by the presence of the living Christ. He asked for things that, if they find their release in us, will bring sickness and loss and need over into the strength and grace of God. He sought release and answers from a resource far beyond what the world affords us. Thus, all the answers to his requests would hold in them the elements of miracles.

Paul never regarded that the impossibility of any situation or that the weakness of any life could prevail. He saw only that the power and authority of God's grace and the presence of Christ would prevail.

Let us go now with Paul into his Roman Prison. What a place for the mighty Apostle! He was stripped of his personal freedom. He had no ringing testimony of God's intervention in "getting him out." Whereas Peter had been set free from his incarceration, he was left to discover the grace of God in his prison, not in release from it. But there, he moved out of his own circle of need and took up a concern for others. It is apparent; as he did this, God moved into his circle.

By finding exactly what Paul prayed while in his prison, insight and inspiration will come to us who sometimes feel enclosed in our own .

We ask you now to move out of your own circle of need and enter the circles of others. It is not a thing too difficult to do. Let the ones you take on become as many you can bear.

• First, embrace in prayer the people you're inclined to worry about. Let your place of worry and anxiety be turned into a place of supplication on their behalf.
• Then draw into your circle as many others as you feel you can hold in intercession. It would be good to make a list. Call it your "prayer list". With some, you can communicate what you are praying and ask them to agree with you. This is always better.
• Then, let us learn from Paul what he prayed. It will become part of a divine instruction showing us how and what to pray.

Paul never mentioned sicknesses or personal needs. He never brought his own financial difficulties or agonizing circumstances before the Lord. Instead, he reached for the power, character and qualities of God's Kingdom and prayed for their release in others. It was all material for miracles.

We see in the four passages the substance of twelve prayers which we can stretch over a year, taking a month with each one. In doing this, we have seen repeatedly in our own lives and families the power and effectiveness of what we may call "soaking prayer.”

Become very familiar with the following Scriptures. Read them in their context. Study them, memorize them, learn to meditate on them as you incorporate them into your praying, both for yourself and for the persons you are ready to embrace in your circle of supplication. While these prayers reveal the desires we hold for others, there is nothing to rule out making the same supplications for ourselves.

As we spend time praying along the lines of these prayers—generally every day, sometimes repeatedly throughout the day—we will find that the very discipline around which each revolves will begin working its way into our own lives. Just handling the Word of the Scriptures in our hearts and using it in prayer will release its power in us.

We took up this discipline of intercession nearly a quarter century ago. Our lives were changed. We invite you to enter it with us yet again in this current year. As we all come together in agreement, although miles and oceans separate most of us, we will see the healing and regeneration of families, fellowships, ministries, fellow employees…and, the list could go on and on.

The Third Circle of Supplication

This must be a brief survey. By no means can we cover what could be, and should be, presented.

• First, we go to Abraham and what we discover in Genesis 14, the account of him taking his trained servants into battle to rescue Lot. There we have foreshadowing principles of the spiritual battles we will face in the time of the end. It is significant that in this chapter we meet Melchizedek whom we see him again in the prophecy of Psalm 110.  We see the fulfillment of this in Hebrews 6:11 through Hebrews 7:8.
• Next we go to Exodus 17 to observe Moses instructing Joshua in leading the battle against the Amalekites. The greatest significance in this chapter is what we learn from Moses as he lifted his hands unto the Throne of the Lord, countering the defiance of the Amalekites. Verses 15 and 16 carry an unusual significance. And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi: for he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. The greater significance, however, is lost in the translation of verse 16. It should read, “Amalek has lifted a hand against the Throne of the Lord.” The old man Moses saw behind the veil and knew Amalek’s attack was against the Lord. Thus, the battle was the Lord’s. His acknowledgment of the Lord turned the tide.
• Then we go to I Sam 17 where we see David, but a mere shepherd boy as opposed to the old and experienced Moses, facing down the giant Goliath who stood in the office of the anti-Christ. What we learn in this and the preceding accounts present us with the beginnings of spiritual warfare. While we cannot fathom their depths in so brief an article, for the open and Spirit-led believer they offer extensive information and training that will continue serving us well as the final battle of the ages comes on.
• The Psalms, especially those ascribed to David, hold amazing understanding for us with regard to the conflict into which believers are called as the age moves toward its consummation. We gain special understanding from several of  what we call the “High Covenant” Psalms, each of which are enlarged upon in the Psalms that follow them. See especially Psalm 2, Psalms 8 thru 11, Psalm 16, Psalms 32 thru 37. Oh, the divine Light that shines through in each of these. They are Scriptures in which we must learn to indulge our spirits as we face the battles that will bring the ages to their consummation.
• Then, there is the very special significance of Psalms 149 and 150. Let me draw your attention particularly to the following verses from Ps 149. Take notice of the terms the meek and the saints. Prophetically, these are the designations of those who will take the field from the enemy in the final day of conquest. If we acknowledge these people, and allow the Lord to draw us into their ranks, we can expect the following. The enemy will give special attention to both the meek and the saints with the intention of driving them into a position of defeat. There is much information, beginning with the revelations of David’s Messianic Psalms and the prophetic visions of Daniel, recorded in Daniel 7 thru 12.  and leading us on through Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians.

By no means are the above allusions to specific passages the full revelation of instruction for our preparation. What is contained in them, however, will lead us toward our becoming the overcomers to whom Jesus made reference in His Letters to the Seven Churches, seen in Rev 2 and 3. The following two passage of Scripture are but samples of those we must give attention to in the days that follow.

Psalm 149:

4 For the LORD taketh pleasure in His people: He will beautify (adorn, glorify) the meek (those whom David saw inheriting the earth) with salvation (deliverance, welfare, spiritual prosperity).

5 Let the saints be joyful (give a ringing cry of joy) in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds (even in the nights as they awake from their sleep). It is well to take note that demonic activity may be the most intense in the mid-night hours. Thus, our praises to the Lord in that time will give the demonic hosts great alarm and confusion.

6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand; (To what could this have reference other than “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God”? See Eph 6:17. Take note now of the following verses each of which begins with an Infinitive. They state the purpose of the preparation we have seen in the preceding verses.)

7 To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; (The meek, the saints, will be the instruments through whom God’s judgments become known.)

8 To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; (They will be instruments through whom principalities, powers, etc. lose their influence over the nations.)

9 To execute upon them the judgment written:  (They will be instruments through whom the Word of the Lord will bring its judgment upon the rebellious.) this honor have all his saints. (What could this Psalm mean, other than what its Word declares? ) Praise ye the LORD.

Finally, we see Ephesians 6:10-18, the prime passage of all Scripture that lays out the principles of the spiritual conflict. It leads us into that place to which we who know Christ Jesus as Lord are called. These verses give us the key that opens the third circle of supplication. It becomes a contest between the spiritual forces that oppose the Kingdom of God and believers in the Lord Jesus Christ who have come to know their position in Christ. In the consummation of the ages this conflict will be brought to its end. Presently, we are being called into this matter of supplication. This is the strongest form of praying in which we might engage.

If Thy people go out to battle against their enemy,

 whithersoever Thou shalt send them,
 and shall pray unto the LORD…
II Chronicles 6:34,35

...then hear Thou in heaven their prayer and their
supplication, and maintain their cause.
I Kings 8:44,45

Leaving the Circle of Our Private War
To Hold Others Before the Throne of God's Grace in Their War