God's presence changes lives and as the saying goes, 'there is power in association'; there is power in God's presence. Whenever Moses would go up to the mountain of God and each time he came down, his countenance was radiant, Exodus 34:29-35.
One of the things that happen when we are in God's presence is that He 'trains our hands for war' and 'our fingers for battle', Psalm 144:1. An intercessor must be one step ahead of the devil by discerning spirits, which is a Holy Spirit's gift.
There are evil spirits that manifest themselves with the sole purpose of hindering our breakthrough. The only way for us to know what is happening is to perceive in the spirit and then use God's word to rebuke that spirit of opposition. The gift of discernment of spirits helps an intercessor determine the source of the resistance and the reason behind it.
An excellent example of discernment of spirits was Jesus' response when He rebuked the spirit that spoke through Peter in Matthew 16:22-23. Another good example is of Paul and the girl with the spirit of divination, Acts 16:16-18. The girl spoke the truth but with deception, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation!" Acts 16:17. The evil spirit's goal in her was to deceive people into thinking, that the girl was working with Paul and his team. We need to be careful not to get excited by anything that looks spiritual and presents itself as truth. Paul warns us in 2 Corinthians 11:14-15.
Prayer Father, I pray that you will bless us with the Holy Spirit's gift of discernment. Sharpen our spiritual senses so that we can perceive the tactics of the enemy accurately. Thank You, Father God, for access into Your presence. May we learn how to guard our lives and those of our loved ones, as You train our hands for war and our fingers for battle in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
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