PRAYING IN THE SPIRIT SERIES

There are three stages in travailing prayer. First there is conceiving in the realm of the spirit, which we covered in the last chapter. Secondly there is the incubation period where we will cover in this chapter. Finally there is the period of labor or birthing forth, which we will cover in the next chapter. Just as in the natural so is in the spiritual. Many times we think that we have conceived but we have not. We have only got it in our head and in our mind. The vision or the seed of God's word or the rhema of God's word has only been spoken and we have only heard it in our soul. It has not taken into our spirit yet. So the effects of conception have not taken place. There need to be a conception in the spirit before we can enter into the incubation period in the spirit realm as we continue to travail. Then there is a final period where we birth forth that vision and it manifests.

Just as in the natural so is in the spiritual there are different symptoms that will come as we experience those different stages in travailing in prayer. In conception we see how in the natural that a pregnant woman experiences morning sickness, which are symptoms and signs that tell her that she had conceived. So in the same way in the spiritual realm there will be signs and symptoms if there is a conception that takes place in our spirit realm.

Then there are also signs and symptoms that are very visible as the pregnancy grows from month to month. As the child grows there are signs of the movement of the child within the woman. She can feel it. And sometimes the child kicks or moves and the woman feel it within her. There are different signs and experiences at each period.

And finally there is the last stage which is the birthing forth. It is a totally different signal altogether where there is a show of blood. And the woman will know that birth is coming soon. So there are different signs and symptoms that a woman needs to recognize in order to flow along with God's order of conception, pregnancy and birthing forth. In the spiritual realm there are also different stages and different symptoms that are involved as we birth forth in prayer. And we need to recognize them. We need to know what to do in order to maintain or flow along with what God is doing in our lives.

The first stage of conception is always the most interesting. That is when it is fresh it is new. And as it gets into our spirit whatever rhema God has spoken. There is freshness to it. There is an excitement that comes. The hardest stage is the middle part where the vision is incubating in you. The vision is going through the normal period of pregnancy for whatever area that you are conceiving God for. Some things take a long time in this pregnancy period. Some things take a shorter time. It depends on what we are conceiving in the realm of the spirit. But God has His own laws and set times and seasons for each area of things that He wants us to conceive.

In the middle section of incubating in the spirit, we talk about maintaining that vision in our life in prayer. Prayer is not only to conceive and not only to give birth. Prayer is a source of maintaining the vision that God has in our life so that the vision will not be aborted. So that the vision will be able to reach its completion of whatever God has designed it. There are many visions that are aborted. There are many visions that are unfulfilled for various reasons. Just as a fetus in its mother's womb draws nutrition from the mother, the vision in our life during the incubation period needs to draw nutrition from the word. And it needs to draw its life force through the mother's system. It is the same in the incubation period of the vision. We have to maintain God's vision for our lives week after week, month after month. It is the hardest period. Any woman who has been pregnant will tell you that the difficult time is during the nine months. Whatever discomfort she experience is during those nine months. Whatever comes at the end of giving birth can come forth quite fast. The hardest period for people is not the conception of the vision or the final part, the birthing forth. The hardest part is the in between period when sometimes it looks like nothing is happening. You don't seem to notice much growth at first. That is the hardest period to continue maintaining the vision, to

continue maintaining the vision through prayer. During the incubation period the vision within us needs to draw nutrition. It needs to continually be fed with God's word.

Let's look at Romans 4: 17-22 ( As it is written I have made you a father of many nations) in the presence of Him whom he believed - God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations according to what was spoken, "So shall your descendants be." And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was already a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore "it was accounted to him for righteousness."

It tells us here in verse eighteen that Abraham contrary to hope, in hope believed. It says in verse twenty, he did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief but was strengthened in faith giving glory to God. Abraham as we notice here experienced one of the longest periods in incubation of the vision that God has for him. For his life it meant a promise child. God promised him descendants and God spoke that into his life. And we realize in Genesis chapter twelve he was about seventy-five years old. Sometime after that God spoke to him about his descendants being like the dust of the sands. And his descendants being like the stars of the heaven. That vision was planted in his life. In fact the verse that tells us that Abraham believed and it was accounted to him for righteousness in verse twentytwo. This is tied back to the book of Genesis chapter fifteen verse six.

Let's look at Gen.15:6, and he believed in the Lord and he accounted it to him for righteousness. According to that passage it tells us that from that time the vision was conceived, fand implanted into his being, faith was sown in his heart and in his life. That is just three chapters after Genesis twelve. The time frame was probably about in his seventies. Let's say that it was very soon after that. That is, he is about seventy-five years old when he believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

It took a long time for Abraham to see the fruit of God's promise. In fact when Abraham was ninety-nine years old he changed his name. And that was when the manifestation started coming. And when he was a hundred years old, the promised child came forth. That will give us a period of twenty-five years of waiting on God. Twenty-five years of incubation. Twenty-five years of maintaining it.

Let us compare Romans 4: 17 with Romans 4:18. Romans 4: 17 (as it is written, " I have made you a father of many nations.) in the presence of Him whom he believeGod, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did. Roman 4: 17 is quoted from Genesis 17: 5-6 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be called Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of you and kings shall come from you. At this time in Genesis 17 when Abraham's name was changed, he was already ninety-nine years old and the following year, he will have a child. This points to the end of the time of the conception period.

Romans 4: 18 it says contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that the became a father of many nations, according to what was spoken, "So shall your descendants be." Romans 4: 18 is taken from Genesis 15: 5 Then He brought him outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be." Genesis 15 it points to the beginning of the conception period when the vision was implanted in him.

Although there are only two chapters separating the beginning (Genesis 15) and the end of the conception period (Genesis 17), the time frame is about twenty five years. What we don't realize is that between Romans 4:17 and 4:18 is a period of nearly 25 years. We read it in one go and we think that all Abraham had to do is just to confess it and he possessed it straight away. Some people start confessing the promises of God but their confession can last only three months. Very few people can really hold a prayer burden that is huge that is big that may take about two or three years to manifest.

Now there is a slight difference between the spiritual and the physical realm. In the

physical realm when a lady is pregnant and expecting there is a normal set period of about 9 months. In the spiritual realm when we do not supply the impregnated vision within us with sufficient nutrition or there is a lot of doubt and unbelief, we may not give birth to that vision in the same time frame. It may take a longer time to birth that vision. In other words the time for delivery is affected by how we maintain the vision.

Timeframes and Seasons

Some of the delays are the result of God's overall times and seasons. God has a set time and season for certain things to be done. Simeon was faithful to God but he lived in a different time frame. He was so old by the time Jesus was born. So God could only bless him to that extent possible where He allowed him to hold baby Jesus in his hands. But he never had the privilege of becoming one of Jesus' disciples. So there are set times and seasons in the reasons why some prayers don't just come at once. One of the causes is God's set times frame and seasons. For example if God has a time frame and season for Jesus to manifest as a Messiah, no matter how you pray, no matter how you try to quicken the process, it will not be quicken because there is a time frame. Simeon and Anna the prophetess were people of prayer. In all their prayer God will reward them. God gives them a foretaste for their faithfulness.

So there are time frames in God. God has difference phases in our lives. There are time frames for us to move in. Moses has a time frame. One of the reasons for his earlier failure that cause him to run into the wilderness was because of the time frame. One reason we realize is Moses' haste. In Stephen's account of Moses in Acts 7 the reason why Moses slew the Egyptian was that he wanted the Israelites to know that his hand would deliver them. That tells us that Moses knew that he had a call. Moses had a vision in God. Moses knew and was conscious of a portion of God's will in his life, that he was the chosen deliverer to the Israelites. We realize he must have known something among the Hebrews for his own mother brought him up. So Moses in his haste to show that he was the chosen and called one, he was spending time with the Israelites. We realize it was not normal for a prince to spend time among the Israelites. The reason for his spending time there was to show

himself off. What Moses may not have known is there was a specific time frame that God has set in the book of Genesis to Abraham as to how long the Israelites will be in Egypt. In Gen.15:13 Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in the land that is not theirs. And will serve them and they will afflict for four hundred years. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge afterwards. They shall come out with great possessions. It tells us that God has already set a time frame of four hundred years. And God will not allow the season that He has set to be changed. Even if Moses were fully obedient and didn't kill the Egyptian, he will still not be able to change the time and season that God has set. Even if Moses is ready to answer the call of God when he was forty years old, he still has to wait.

There are three views to a revival. One is that God sends a revival when He wants. There is nothing we can do about it. Second view, is that the revival depends on us. God wants it all the time. But it depends on our readiness. The third view is God has a time and season and He also depends on us. If you examine all the scriptures, the most scriptural is the third view because the bible does talk about the times and seasons of God. If it is the time and season for God and we are not ready, there is a delay. If we are ready and God's time and season has not come, God rewards us for our readiness. But He has His own time and season that He will still follow. And of course when the time and season is right and we are ready. That's beautiful, just nice. Of course it is always good to be ever ready on our part. We may sense a time and season but it is always good to be ever ready. Just like people are saying I don't think Jesus will come yet because there are so many prophecies not fulfilled yet. Does that mean that you prefer not to be ready? Wait till the last minute when it is about to come. Things can happen very fast. World events has been happening in the past months and show us that within a matter of days God could fulfill prophecies if He so chooses. It is better in the long run to be ever ready.

And so looking at that we realize that just as Moses time there was a set time. And Moses may not be fully aware of the set time frame of four hundred years. But there are other people like Daniel who knows about set time frame. He was reading the prophecy of Jeremiah seeking an understanding and it was supposed to be time for the Israelites to return. According to his calculation the time and season has come. Let's look at Daniel 9:2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He

would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

This verse shows very clearly that the third view of revival is the most scriptural. Sometimes when God's times and seasons come and the people are not ready, there is a possibility of a delay. So Daniel started praying and giving himself to God for the restoration of Jerusalem. What we are seeing here is that unlike physical pregnancy period where you give a little lack of nutrition it will affect the child. Not so much the time frame. In the spiritual realm when there is not enough nutrition or prayer to build up the vision that God has implanted within us. It does not mean that the vision will be birth forth in the same time frame but defective. God will never allow something defective to be birth forth. Everything the Holy Spirit does is perfect. But what happens is that there will be a longer time frame. And Daniel was thinking possibly the time has come and because the people are not ready, there is a delay coming up. Which is why he is repenting, he is praying, he is fasting. Remember he was taken into captivity when he was a young lad. Now he has grown old and has served so many kings as a top man. And he realizes the seventy years has come to pass. So according to his calculation that prophecy should have come to pass. We realize that prophecy has a dual fulfillment. It was an actual fulfillment of the Jews' return, and there was a prophecy that points to the Messiah, which the angel explained to him. It turned out to be the seventy weeks of years. So it was dual fulfillment.

Delayed Time

Sometimes the times and seasons of God are right but because we are not ready, it cause a delay. It is OK if the delay is there because it is not God' time yet. No problem with that, but there is problem if God's time has come and there is still a delay. In God's original plan the Israelites should have gone into the Promised Land. Because of their disobedience there was a total delay and they were set back for forty years. Those are called the wasted years. In the incubation period we need to be very sensitive to that. We need to be aware when there is a time and a season for something to come. And I sense in my spirit that one of things that God will speak to His people, as His coming is drawing near, is to pray for His coming. See

in the Lord's prayer there is a little phrase that says, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. My friends, that is the prayer for the Second Coming. And we are supposed to be doing that all the time. A prayer for Jesus' Second Coming is not a selfish prayer because for Jesus to come He will definitely perfect the church. He will definitely make sure the gospel goes forth and everything that needs to be done will be done for the preparation of the bride. It is a prayer of eagerness. Jesus doesn't want to come for a bride who says maybe I will come to the wedding. As Jesus' coming draws near, Jesus is going to drop a measure of His spirit that will cause God's people to literally be crying and literally be praying for His return. See there could be a time and a season that God has set and we are not ready, there would be a disastrous delay.

Does God incorporate delayed time? Yes. Delayed time is considered wasted time. It is not recorded in heaven. Do you notice something different between the book of First and Second Kings and the book of First and Second Chronicles? In the book of Chronicles every thing that did not glorify God is removed. But in the book of Kings, all is recorded there. This is to show us an example of God's record and human record. In the human record we record all those things. In God's record something that is considered not of God's will are wipe out. It is just blank. If a twenty year old Christian backslide for twenty years and came back to God when he was forty years old and goes on to live to sixty years old. When that person goes to heaven and looks at his record, he finds only forty years are recorded. What happen to the twenty years when he was backslidden? They are completely wiped out. So the bible tells us only the time lived for God is recorded.

The life of Abraham is an example. There were twelve years of those twenty-five years we can consider as wasted. Abraham had twelve silent years when he got Ishmael. We say it took 25 years from conception to bearing forth. Don't forget of the 25 years, you must take away 12 years. He chose an alternative road to try to fulfill God's vision. Ishmael was about 12 years old when he was circumcised. It was a silent period. During that period when Ishmael was going from one to twelve there is no record of God speaking to him. There is no record of him having a vision. Twelve silent years, I call them wasted years. Why, because during those years all Abraham vision was focus on Ishmael. I prove it to you that he thinks that Ishmael is the one whom he got through what I call a natural method that did not demand any working of God. See in the book of Genesis when God spoke to

him in Genesis 17: 18 Abraham said O that Ishmael may live before you. Ishmael in a sense was his own flesh and blood. He still got his hope on him. Descendants would be coming through him. But it was not acceptable to God. Twelve silent years. So you minus 12 years out of the 25 is the real conception period become just 13. And then you minus some more years when he went down to Egypt, you realize that the actual perfect time that he could have conceived could have been shorter. But there are imperfections involved. In spite of all these limitations at the back of Abraham's heart and mind, he was still a sincere person. He was still someone to a certain extent love God. So what is the delay now? He was gaining strength but was not strong enough. He was gaining in faith but was not having enough faith to bring the whole thing forth until he really mature in faith in Genesis 17.

That's the same problem the people have when they are praying for the areas in their lives. What they are facing, many times the abortion takes place in the middle part. A lot of babies are lost in the middle period. From the time the baby is conceived to the time the baby is to be delivered, a small percentage can be lost at the end there. But the most is lost within that period. And a lot of visions and rhema that God has spoken is aborted in people's life during that same period. This is a very important period because we need to know what to do. In that period there are certain strength and certain things that we must focus on. Just as in the conception there are certain laws, which were mentioned in the last chapter so also in the middle section of incubation there are certain laws that we need to apply.

Patience

And one of those important laws is the law of patience. Patience to work at it God's way not our way. One of the words for patience is the word hopomone. And the word mone comes from the word mano, which in John 15: 5 is translated as abide. It indirectly points to abiding or resting in God's word, to allow God to fulfill it His way and not our way. And so in that middle period when the vision has been conceived, we need tremendous patience to hold fast to it. The devil will throw everything against your way to try to make you doubt, to try to make you fearful. He will throw everything he can against you to dislodge the baby in you, to cause an abortion in your life. That is where we need to hold fast.

How many times in the New Testament, we are told to hold fast. We are told to hold fast because there is a snatch thief around. The devil will try to snatch what is sown in our life. In the parable of the Sower, the snatch thief stole the word after it was also conceived. He stole the word when it has not been germinated yet. It was just on the surface on the pavement. The birds of the air came ate it all up. There was no conception. But in the other type of ground there was conception. Jesus said they took root. But in time of persecution, they don't have roots. Roots are for holding fast. Then others that fell among the thorns are choked. Did they germinate? They did. Do you notice right at the end of conception he tries his best. But when it is conceived he runs. Because when the manifestation comes he is frightened. When we have conceived a vision, it is implanted in our spirit and we have to be protective of that vision in our lives. Don't let the devil steal it. The devil will send people to you to try to cause you to doubt what God has said. His whole purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. We need to be very protective.

As we said one of the most important forces is patience. Patience is very important because day in day out the vision is with you. People who don't see you very often and after a month they say you are growing bigger. So number one very important force, patience. Faith and patience possess.

Fellowship

The other force that is necessary is what we call fellowship. If you fellowship with the wrong kind, you are finished. One of the things that cause lack of productivity in the seed that is sown. See the fellowship brings forth the vision. If you have a vision of God in certain areas, mix around with the right crowd that will help that vision come to pass. Some foolish ones mix with the wrong crowd and mess their whole vision. Imagine if you have a vision from God. And God has a call in your life to do certain things. And you start mixing with the wrong crowd and you see what happen to that vision. The desire for it starts disappearing. And sooner or later you will see the thorns start choking the life of the vision. But the opposite is wonderful. If God gives you a vision and you get the right people together and

believe in that vision, it gives life to the vision. The vision grows. The more you discuss the more it grows. The more it grows the bigger it becomes. The clearer it becomes. I thank God for the right people in my life at the important point. If not for the right people some of the visions will never come to pass.

I want to show the example of the apostle Paul. From the moment Paul was born again in Acts chapter nine, he went over to Jerusalem sought fellowship with the people of God. But the people were frightened of him. In the end Barnabas came and introduced him to the apostles and he fellowship with them. He builds relationship. And it is out of those relationships that Paul's vision materialized. How do we know? Because later on in Acts 11 it was because of Paul's relationship with Barnabas that caused Barnabas to bring him over to Antioch when he saw the work of God in Antioch. Barnabas remembered Paul. Why because there was a relationship formed. No one can succeed in the vision of God alone. Even if God calls you to do something, your vision is nurtured by other vision before you. It is always down the line. You can check any man of God and you will find that he has traced his ministry to someone else. Kenneth Copeland traced his ministry to Kenneth Hagin. Hagin traces his ministry to Smith Wigglesworth. Smith Wigglesworth traced his ministry to other Pentecostals before his time. Because of the right fellowship, your vision can be nurtured. Because of that the apostle Paul move into his first phrase. He was a teacher in Acts eleven. Together with Barnabas he taught the church of Anticoh for a year. In Acts 13 they were having a prayer fellowship and as they ministered and fasted out came the apostolic ministry.

People like John Wesley, Charles Wesley and George Whitefield, who arose at about the same time in that First Great Awakening came from a small little group in a college nicknamed the holy club. If you read about the historical record about that time, England before the great awakening was as evil and immoral as San Francisco is today. It is because of the great awakening that turned the tide of society. If you read it you will see that it birthed forth because of association and fellowship. And out of that came forth tremendous things.

Fellowship is important because Paul told Timothy as he wrote to him how the faith of his mother and his grand mother was also in him. So there is an impartation along the line. In the wrong fellowship it is harder to reach out the

right thing. You try to get involved with the people of the world and you get close to them. When you get close to them it is hard to get close to God. But we learn to be like Jesus to be in the world but not of the world.

Psalm 1 protects us and say don't walk in the way of sinners. Don't sit in the seat of the scornful. Watch your fellowship because during that period is going to cause a delay or at the worst an abortion of your whole vision. Fellowship is fellowship in the word, fellowship in prayer as well as the normal fellowship. When we all come and pray together, do you know there is a kind of fellowship involved. Do you notice you relate differently with someone whom you could pray together. Why because there is a deeper realm of spiritual fellowship. I notice that when we have a business meeting, if we could have a prayer meeting before that, the atmosphere is different. Why because there is spiritual fellowship.

So number one patience. Number two fellowship. And under fellowship remember it covers an exchange between members of the body of Christ of their lives together. Praying together and not just sharing together.

The Word And of course the next thing to be injected in this period is what I call the word. The word is an important force to maintain and feed the vision. And I notice this sometimes when I see the vision of God and know what God have. Then I can have all kinds of things and face all kinds of obstacles. Then you get into the word. You read the word. You meditate on the word. You see Jesus in the word. You see the man of God in the word. Then you come out of it and say that is peanuts. It is easy to achieve. But if we talk to people who have not much of the word, neither they have that much faith, they say it cannot be done. Impossible and they give you one thousand and one reasons why it cannot be done. If you don't get back to the word and you keep hearing that all the time, your vision gets smaller. And you could be like Abraham. I think it is Haggai. There are a lot of Haggai around. Why because people listen to the wrong voices. No it cannot be done.

But when you get back to the word. You read the word. You meditate on the word. Again you are refreshed and in fire for God. You said it can be done. Every time I get back to the word I see that it can be done. You strengthen the voice of God in you by reading the word. Feeding your vision with the word. The word is the nutrition, which feeds the spiritual baby that you carry. The wonderful thing about the vision of God is that you can have multiple visions. You could be carrying several visions in you. You got to feed all of them with the word.

Worship

Finally but not least, there are other points but I am just bringing the major points, is Abraham giving glory to God. During the time of pregnancy and incubation is worship. Worship must come stronger. Worship helps to maintain your contact with God for He is the one who give you the visions. Other things will try to cut off that worship of God. But when you continue to worship and give God the glory, continue to be resourceful in finding ways to worship God. We talked about Mark 11:20-23 before. We see Mark 11:20-24 speaks on two points. From point A to point B. You pray believe you have received, point A. Then you will reach point B you shall have them. One is in the past perfect tense. One is in the future tense. Future tense is in B and you shall have them. See Jesus play with two tenses. Now what happen is from point A to point B, what do we do? Give glory to God between the time of conception and the time of birthing forth. What do we do? When you done everything you need to do, what else do you do? Praise, worship and giving glory to God. That is the best position to be in waiting on God. The word wait implied a sense of worship. Since there is a timing of God, what do you do when you are perfectly ready and the time has not come? Worship God.

And in Kenneth Hagin's book "I believe in Visions" Jesus mentioned some delays in his life. Although Jesus never used the word delay, Jesus mentioned how he has not be faithful in certain phrases. And how he sometimes has been living in His permissive will. In one of the visions he shared about how Jesus appeared to him. Halfway in his conversation with Jesus, he broke down and cried because he realized he has not been fully faithful. Jesus took him to the garden and Jesus mentioned this to him that a lot of His people had not waited on Him. And as a result they have never move into these phases.