We have seen that Patmos, which is a place ofgreat grief and loss and exile can also be aplace of extraordinary courage, devotion andrevelation.

The seventeenth century Spanish writer Cer-vantes warned he who loses wealth losesmuch; he who loses a friend loses more; but hethat loses his courage loses all.

Hold on to your courageThat’s what the enemy is really angling for dur-ing Patmos times, because loss of courage pa-ralyses faith and initiative. Nothing of worth isaccomplished without courage – and peoplewho are on the front line for the Lord experi-ence serious hostility. Wicked angels, demonicpowers in other words, are constantly on thelookout to stir up serious trouble against them.These entities may not have physical bodiesbut they are by no means lacking in intelli-gence.

You must have seen those Second World Warmovies in which courageous airmen fly straightinto enormous quantities of flak? What cour-age it took them to keep going – and whatcourage it takes us to do same when the ene-my tries to lure us into a subliminal, subcon-scious pact something along the lines of ‘Youstop troubling me and I’ll stop troubling you.Just hold back a bit. Do a bit less. A bit lessprayer, a bit less willingness to reach out topeople in need . . .’

Less, less, that’s always his intention! Hedoesn’t spell it out quite as crudely as this be-

cause we would realize what he was up to, butthat’s what he’s angling for and that’s what’sgoing on at a subliminal level – which, after all,is the level that fuels most of our actions.

The Lord redeems all our lives, including oursubconscious, which is the vast repository ofevery experience we have ever had, and whichrecords every emotional reaction we have hadto those experiences. May the Lord fill thedepths of our subconscious, that it may be thewellspring of inspiration rather than a sink ofsomething faith sapping.

It is right to ask the Lord to come into thesedepths, lest the devil press certain buttons togoad us into responding in ways that are notthe ways of faith and love.

If the devil can succeed in reducing our willing-ness to go the extra mile, a very large numberof good things will never come to pass, be-cause it is so often by going the extra mile thatthe Lord does His best work. Seek the Lordwith all your heart.

“I was in the Spirit”Being in the Spirit isn’t just about singing in theSpirit and having words of prophecy, wonder-ful though that is. It’s about living, as Jesus did‘in the spirit’ and living as his friends.

There are millions in the world today who havebeen granted visions of the world to come, asJohn did on Patmos, and who can tell us at firsthand more about the realities of heaven andhell.

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Anointing and Authority in Prayer - Click here to listen

There was a Buddhist monk who was pro-nounced clinically dead but who went on toreceive the clearest out of the body experienc-es possible which made the reality of bothheaven and hell overwhelmingly clear to him.

The Lord instructed him about them and thensent him back to this world, where, guesswhat? he didn’t go on being a Buddhist monk!He became an utterly single-minded and dedi-cated Christian evangelist to Burma.

People who have had such experiences typical-ly carry a heavenly fragrance with them thatkeeps their hearts questing for the eternalhomeland, and focused day by day by dayaway from trivia, on the things that really domatter.

When I reached Holland, courtesy of the manwith the credit card whom I mentioned earlierwhen I was standing in the queue to buy myticket (thank you Lord!) I stayed with a Dutchpastor who, as a young man, had been an im-poverished missionary in Indonesia. One dayhe didn’t even have enough money to buyfood to put on the table for himself and hisfamily.

Almost for the first time he let himself have agood moan: “Look, Lord; I’ve given up a reallygood job at Shell to come here to Indonesia tobe a missionary for you, and see where we arenow. Is this how You are rewarding me?”

He stomped off down to the Post Office to gethis letters for the day, hungry and seriously up-set – to find a letter waiting for him with acheque for over a thousand pounds in it. (Andthis was many years ago.) There and then, andin front of everyone in the Post Office, he gotdown on his knees, and said “Sorry Lord!”More than that he said, “From now on, Lord,I’m always going to praise you.”

Hans has kept that promise – and continued tolive and model it, with the result that his con-gregation reflects that same spirit of gratitude.A missionary in Livingstone's day who was go-ing through incredibly difficult circumstanceswrote, “I'm learning not to be disappointedbut to be grateful.” What an inspiration and achallenge to lift up a shield of praise over thethings we are currently finding difficult!

People will be much less inclined to leave ourchurches if our flow of praise and gratitude isever fresh. It will often contain a note of laugh-ter and joy because, as Mary Poole put it, ‘Hewho laughs, lasts’!

Scripture tells us that Jesus ever lives to makeintercession for us: as we enter into this greatministry and use the authority the Lord has giv-en up to lift up those who are broken orbowed down, we really are entering into theministry of Heaven.

It makes all the difference in the world to beprayed for. Prayer can cross any bridge, crossany distance in a twinkling of an eye. As MarkTwain pointed out, it’s the only product thatenters our country without being taxed!

There is so much good that we can do for eachother in prayer. ‘My house will be a house ofprayer for all nations’, the Lord declared – butwe need to know who is suffering and in needof prayer and reach out to them.

A poem from a Labour CampListen to this poem that Irina Ratushinskayawrote from a Soviet labour camp in 1986, inconditions every bit as bad as anything thatJohn would have been facing, and let her testi-mony of how the power of prayer helped herduring her ordeal encourage you to pray fromthe heart for others.

Believe me, it was often thus:In solitary cells, on winter nights,a sudden sense of joy and warmthand a resounding note of love.and then, unsleeping, I would knowa-huddle by an icy wall:Someone is thinking of me now,petitioning the Lord for me.My dear ones, thank you allwho did not falter, who believed in us!In the most fearful prison hourwe probably would not have passedthrough everything - from end to end,our head held high, unbowed -without your valiant heartsto light our path.

[Believe me, from ‘Pencil Letters,’ BloodaxeBooks, 1988.]

It is as we seek Him with all our heart that Hesends His answers. But we have to accept thatthe Lord answers in the way He chooses to,andnot necessarily as we had hoped that Hewould. He doesn’t always explain His workingsto us – but He does trust us not to get into astrop and be offended.

May our study of the whole Patmos experi-ence teach us to cultivate such an attitude too.Pray for God to raise up such fervent and sin-gle minded people, for whom eternity is a liv-ing reality.

I love the phrase that John used ‘I was in thespirit.’ Let’s draw the series to a close nowalong the lines of prayer and praise that keepsus in the flow of God’s Spirit.

As we have hinted before, the early church his-torian Eusebius tells us that John was releasedfrom Patmos under the emperor Nerva, andGod will find ways to release us from every wil-derness that we are pushed into or that westumble into.

He is who He is, the First and the Last and Hecan rescue us from the dullness and the grey-ness of every Patmos time – and He is trustingus to keep going through even the deepestdarkest times.

A prayer for greater authority andanointing in our livesWell, we’ve covered a vast amount of groundin this extended meditation on the theme ofPatmos times. I thought it would be good toend by praying that we are able to live morefully in the power of His Spirit.

You see every time Christians get together, weshare matters that are prayer-worthy. Some-one is sick, someone is looking for a job, some-one is something and something is in need ofprayer! We will serve the kingdom of Godgreatly by doing this. May the Lord help us toharness the information that we hear and toturn it into prayer and take actions in faith thatbring about His purposes.

Don’t be afraid of the cost. God is not per-verse: He’s our Father who wants to lead, blessand use us. However much He has done al-ready, He has more in mind for us.

So where unbelief has robbed us of the fruitand joy of walking in Your Spirit, rebuke ourunbelief. Where our gratitude has shrunk tothe size of a pea, and you would have it as aglorious shield, restore the shield of praise.And where we have allowed giants to loom toolarge in our thinking, may the Lord forgive uswe pray.

Now let’s just ask and receive for a moment:

I pray Father, that You will entrust to us now agreater measure of authority in prayer. Noth-ing that we hype up – but simply that when wepray for the sick, and those in need, more willbe healed, and more fully.

When we petition for loved ones nearby or faraway, that they will receive more of You, andthat our spirit may hear their call for help thattheir spirit sends up, Lord, and we may comealongside in prayer.

Release that flow in our lives, both corporatelyand individually, so that we can bring thou-sands of people and topics to You as the yearsgo by – and may we live to see many Patmostimes open up into something wonderful forthe Lord.

Anoint every part of our life, let there be no nogo areas in our lives. You are King and we yieldevery part of our lines to You.