Chapter 13

Section 1 — Taking the Sword by Means of Prayer

Section One

Ephesians 6:17–18 is usually read as two separate commands sitting side by side: take the sword of the Spirit, and also pray always. But the Greek grammar tells a deeper story. The Greek language has no punctuation of its own; the semicolon between "word of God" and "praying always" is an English translator's choice, not something in the original text. The word "praying" is a present participle functioning as a means or manner clause. Paul is not giving two instructions. He is giving one: take the sword of the Spirit BY MEANS OF all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.

Greek scholar Kenneth Wuest renders it this way: "And take…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, by means of all prayer and petition, praying at every season in the Spirit." Prayer in the Spirit is not something you do after you take up the Word. It is the means by which the Word becomes a sword in your hand at all.

The Greek word behind "word" here is rhema, not the full written body of Scripture in the abstract, but a fresh, living, Spirit-quickened word made alive and powerful in the moment God gives it. The D.E.E.P. remnant does not simply quote Scripture. They take the sword by means of fervent, Spirit-empowered prayer, and when the rhema word and Spirit-empowered prayer come together, the sword becomes unstoppable.

Think It Through

Have you ever experienced a scripture rising up in your spirit with unusual force in a moment of need — a rhema word rather than something you studied ahead of time? Describe it.

Your Thoughts

Paul is literally saying, "Take the sword of the Spirit by of all prayer and supplication in the Spirit."

The Greek word behind "word" in Ephesians 6:17 is , a fresh, Spirit-quickened word.

The same Holy Spirit who inspired the Word must our use of it in battle.

Section 2 — Power Over Nature: The Journey to the Breakthrough

Section Two

Remember From Section 1

In February 2001, Pastor Darrel Blankenship's church in Crystal Springs, Mississippi was in a season of fasting and prayer. Steve preached a week of meetings there, and the presence of God fell so powerfully that Pastor Darrel told him, "You are carrying revival in your spirit." Late one night Steve returned alone to the darkened building, and in the spirit he saw two angels standing on the roof, each pouring out the contents of a treasure chest over the church. For a few weeks it seemed the long-awaited revival had finally come. Then, as it had many times before over twenty years of prayer, the fire lifted and the people drifted back.

By late March, Steve's normally full summer schedule had nothing booked after July 1, even though the Lord kept directing him in prayer toward a coming summer outpouring. About two weeks before a planned visit, in prayer he asked, "Where is this greatest move supposed to happen?" The words "Crystal Springs" came out of his mouth, and he was struck by the power of God and began to travail, knowing beyond doubt that was the place.

Recall Check

Fill in these from what you just read above, using your own memory.

Pastor Darrel told Steve, "You are carrying in your spirit."

Steve saw two angels on the roof pouring out the contents of a over the building.

When Steve prayed, "Where is this greatest move supposed to happen?" the words that came out of his mouth were "."

Reflection

Pastor Darrel had prayed for revival for over twenty years and had survived several false starts before this one. What keeps you praying for a breakthrough you have not yet seen?

Your Thoughts

Section 3 — Power Over Nature: The Flood

Section Three

Remember From Section 2

Steve arrived to a fairly dead crowd and a weak altar call. Then, unprompted, about a dozen children between eight and twelve years old spontaneously moved to the front wall and began weeping, shaking, and crying, "Jesus, Jesus, have mercy on me!" The anointing swept through the entire church, and a dry, discouraged congregation exploded into a revival that lasted twenty-five months.

Weeks later, on a late July night, Steve had just prayed over a specific prophetic word that God would open the heavens and pour a flood over Crystal Springs. As he prepared for bed, the Lord directed him to Psalm 119:38. He read it, then told the Lord, "I don't need you to confirm this revival. I already know it is the move You spoke to me about." The Lord answered sternly: "Pray it!" So Steve prayed the verse over and over until peace settled over him.

The forecast that night had shown less than a one percent chance of rain across the entire region. Hours later, an isolated, perfectly round thunderstorm formed directly over Crystal Springs and nowhere else, dropping eleven inches of rain in eight hours and flooding the town so severely it made national news: "Freak Thunderstorm Floods Small Southern Town."

Recall Check

Fill in these from what you just read above, using your own memory.

The Lord answered Steve sternly, " it!" when Steve said he didn't need confirmation.

The forecast had shown less than a one percent chance of for the entire week.

The storm dropped eleven inches of rain over Crystal Springs in hours.

Reflection

Steve says he assumed the "flood" meant only a spiritual outpouring, but God sent a natural sign too. Why do you think God sometimes confirms a spiritual word with something visible in the natural world?

My Thoughts

Section 4 — Power Over Death: Raised from the Dead

Section Four

Remember From Section 3

As a young believer not yet a year saved, Steve was in a youth group when word came that a local bar owner, a family friend of one of the teens, had suffered a brain aneurysm and was declared legally brain dead, kept alive only by machines. The group prayed together, but it was not especially strong or faith-filled. Afterward, Steve felt led to pray with the young man one on one, and a scripture he had barely read before rose up in him with unexplainable force before he had consciously decided to say it.

Steve prayed, "Father, raise this man from the dead long enough that he would have one more chance to give his life to Jesus Christ," then declared Psalm 24:1 over him, commanding him to be raised from the dead because he belonged to God. The doctors said even in the most miraculous scenario, he would be a vegetable if he somehow survived. His heart kept beating through Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, defying every medical expectation. On Sunday morning he finally passed — but beside his bed the family found a note in his own handwriting: "Thank you Lord Jesus."

Recall Check

Fill in these from what you just read above, using your own memory.

Steve prayed the man would be raised long enough to have one more chance to give his life to .

Doctors said even in the best case, if he survived, he would be a .

The note found beside his bed, in his own handwriting, said: " Lord Jesus."

Reflection

Steve says the group prayer was not especially strong, but the one-on-one rhema prayer carried unusual authority. What does this suggest about how the rhema word operates differently than routine prayer?

Your Thoughts

Section 5 — Power Over Regional and Governmental Forces: Kenya

Section Five

Remember From Section 4

In 2023, while skiing for a week before a ministry trip to Kenya, Steve spent his non-skiing hours in Psalm 33, and one passage kept radiating in his spirit: that the Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing and establishes His own plans forever. A week later, he and his team arrived in Kenya during a national crisis. Presidential candidate Raila Odinga, who had a history of triggering deadly tribal violence after contested elections, had organized weeks of riots and was threatening what he called "the mother of all riots" the very next day.

Preaching the second service that Sunday, Steve felt led to set aside his prepared message and shift mid-sentence into prayer, declaring Psalm 33:10–12 over the nation. A travailing spirit of prayer swept the church for nearly two hours as the congregation bound the demonic forces behind the unrest. Just hours later, without any negotiation or political concession, Odinga simply called off the riots. The next day, all of Kenya was at peace, and no one outside that prayer meeting could explain why.

Recall Check

Fill in these from what you just read above, using your own memory.

Odinga had threatened that the next day would be "the mother of all ."

Mid-sermon, Steve shifted from teaching into , declaring Psalm 33 over the nation.

Without any negotiation or political concession, Odinga simply the riots.

Reflection

A whole nation's crisis was met with two hours of travailing, Word-saturated prayer instead of political strategy. What would it look like for you to respond to a crisis in your own life or nation the same way?

My Thoughts

Section 6 — Three Realms, One Anointing

Section Six

Remember From Section 5

Power over nature. Power over death. Power over regional demonic and governmental forces. These are the same three realms in which Jesus exercised authority during His earthly ministry — the same greater works He promised in John 14:12: "He who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father."

Steve is honest that he has prayed many prayers over the years that did not produce what he was believing for — prayers born of his own need and finite understanding, which God still hears as a good Father. But Divinely Energized Prayer is a different dimension: abiding in the Vine, letting His words abide in us, asking according to what the Father reveals, then watching it come to pass. As Steve has grown older, he says this anointing has increased in frequency — not because of any elevated status, but because he has become far more willing to wait before God and hear before he prays.

Three Realms in Your Own Words

Reflection

"This is not the experience of a spiritual elite. This is the inheritance of every yielded, abiding, Word-saturated, love-driven believer." Do you believe that includes you? Why or why not?

My Response

One More Table

Personal Prayer Journal

Ask the Father for a fresh rhema word for a specific situation you are facing right now, then write it down as He gives it, and pray it back to Him with everything you have.