Have you been praying for something specific and dramatic to happen in your life? Do you feel like you keep coming up against the same obstacles, stumbling blocks, and detours? Are you pleading with God to make a way where there seems to be none? Do you need a spiritual breakthrough?
DEFINING A BREAKTHROUGH
Although I have dealt with significant health challenges for most of my adult life, I have been praying for relief and answers in one specific area.
I have asked many of my family, friends, ministry leaders, pastors, and even acquaintances to pray with and for me. As many of you already know, when you are desperate for answers, hope, and healing–you find your way to your knees fast!
One of my dear friends, who has been a faithful prayer warrior on my behalf, told me that she was praying for a BREAKTHROUGH.
And since she gave me that particular word, I have not stopped thinking about it nor has God kept bringing it to my attention.
Here are some dictionary definitions of BREAKTHROUGH:
- A sudden, dramatic, and important discovery or development.
- An act or instance of moving through or beyond an obstacle.
- A major achievement that permits further progress.
KINDS OF BREAKTHROUGHS
While my prayers have focused mainly on a PHYSICAL BREAKTHROUGH, God has shown me that I need BREAKTHROUGHS in other areas of my life as well:
- SPIRITUAL
- EMOTIONAL/MENTAL
- VOCATIONAL
- RELATIONAL
Maybe you are starting to realize that you need some BREAKTHROUGHS too:
- Have you asked God to part the raging waters and make a way for you to pursue your passion?
- Do you need him to tear down the walls of anxiety and depression and give you freedom?
- Are you pleading with God to provide streams in the desert wasteland of failed relationships?
- Is there a tempting or trying situation where you need to shine the light of truth in the darkness?
PRAYING FOR A SPIRITUAL BREAKTHROUGH
Most of us would agree that praying for a BREAKTHROUGH is a great place to start. And it is!
Jesus teaches us in the Sermon on the Mount that we should persist in praying for BREAKTHROUGHS:
7 “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
Matthew 7:7-8 (NLT)
It sounds so simple and easy, doesn’t it? I like this formula:
Ask–>Receive
Seek–>Find
Knock–>Open Doors
So what happens when we pray, and nothing happens? The walls remain impenetrable? The storms grow fiercer? There is no water in the desert? And we cannot see any light at the end of the tunnel? WHAT DO WE DO WHEN THERE IS NO BREAKTHROUGH?
FOUR MISTAKES TO AVOID WHEN PRAYING FOR A BREAKTHROUGH
These are hard questions to answer, and I don’t claim to know all of the reasons why God delays or defers providing BREAKTHROUGHS in our lives, relationships, and circumstances.
However, God has revealed to me through his Word some of the mistakes I have made when seeking BREAKTHROUGHS in my life.
There are things I should have done and did not do. Here are the four mistakes I am still learning to avoid as I continue to pray and ask God for a SPIRITUAL BREAKTHROUGH:
- NOT PREPARING SPIRITUALLY
- NOT PRAYING SPECIFICALLY
- NOT PURSUING STRATEGICALLY
- NOT PERSEVERING STEADFASTLY
NOT PREPARING SPIRITUALLY
We can fool ourselves into thinking that because our BREAKTHROUGH involves our finances, a relocation, a family member, or a treatment/diagnosis, that it is not spiritual. Wrong thinking!! Before every discovery, development, progress, or achievement there is opposition.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.“
Ephesians 6:12 (NIV)
Jon Bloom, in his article “Praying for a Breakthrough,” reminds us that BREAKTHROUGH is also a military concept, and we need to prepare ourselves spiritually for battle: “If you’re praying for a breakthrough and not seeing it, do not give up. Opposition precedes breakthroughs.”
NOT PRAYING SPECIFICALLY
We casually throw around prayers such as “Lord, bless my career.” “Lord, heal my mom.” “Lord, protect my children.” “Lord, provide for my family.” And while these are good and honest prayers, they might not move us very far in terms of a BREAKTHROUGH. Why? Because we need to be specific in what and how we are asking the Lord to bless, heal, protect, and provide.
Carrie Lowrance offers “Six Powerful Prayers for a Breakthrough” and suggests that we “pray God’s word back to him” when we don’t know how or what to pray. Later in the week, I will be offering my email subscribers a list of scripture verses we can use when praying for BREAKTHROUGHS in different areas of our lives.
NOT PURSUING STRATEGICALLY
It is so easy for us to look at Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 7 (remember ask/receive, seek/find, and knock/open doors?) and approach God as a magic genie in a bottle who is always ready to grant us our three wishes.
When we prepare spiritually and pray specifically, we are aligning our desires and wants with God’s will. Asking God for a BREAKTHROUGH should not just involve our goals and plans, but should include what God wants to do in and through us.
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
1 John 5:14 (NIV)
NOT PERSEVERING STEADFASTLY
We may prepare, pray, and pursue a BREAKTHROUGH according to God’s purpose and plan for our lives, but it may not happen for weeks, months, or even years. Waiting can make us lose heart and hope.
While faith is crucial when we come to God asking for a BREAKTHROUGH, so is patience. Often God does not move according to our timetable; we must persevere steadfastly knowing that he is never late.
Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance.”
Hebrews 6:12 (NLT)
DO YOU NEED A SPIRITUAL BREAKTHROUGH?
Can I reach out and encourage those of you who are longing for a SPIRITUAL BREAKTHROUGH? I am in the trenches with you…learning as I prepare spiritually, pray specifically, pursue strategically, and persevere steadfastly. The Bible tells us again and again that our God is a God of BREAKTHROUGHS, and I choose to have faith and believe it!
For those of you who desire to go deeper in asking God for a BREAKTHROUGH in your life, why not consider joining us here AT THE CROSSROADS? When you sign up to be an EMAIL SUBSCRIBER, you will receive weekly blog posts, monthly newsletters, free faith resources, and more!
If this post spoke to you in any way, would you mind leaving a comment, sharing it on social media, or even letting a friend know? It would be encouraging to hear from others who are also praying for breakthroughs!
This is so good and so practical, Carla!
We are definitely in a season of wait. I’m praying for a breakthrough but also learning to accept what I cannot change!
Appreciate your encouragement today~
Melanie
Thank you, Melanie! It is a privilege to know you and pray alongside you for your breakthrough! God is on the move in both of our lives!!!
This is just excellent, Carla. I particularly like the part about “praying God’s word back to him.” I have a couple of books that help me do this, specifically related to praying for my kids. If you’re praying the word of God, you don’t have to wonder if what you’re praying is his will. Every time I do this, I feel a weight lifted, not because things will turn out the way I expect them to, but because I have laid it in God’s hands the best way I know how. Thank you, Carla! .
Thanks for your kind and encouraging words, Sarah! I especially loved your insight: “If you’re praying the word of God, yo don’t have to wonder if what you’re praying is his will.” So very true!
Hi Carla! I hope that you will soon experience the comfort and healing that you are seeking, and am sorry that you are facing hardship and trial.
One of the things I find the Lord prompting me to in a time of waiting is to remember that, though I am praying for something specific that I have not yet received, the Lord is already giving me exactly what is best for me. “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:11, NIV)”
This verse is not so much about waiting for Him to give us that good gift – it’s that, having asked in accordance with His will, I must remember that everything along the way is part of the good gift that He is providing. Even if that means trial and hardship right now, it is part of the good gift. Even if that means the thorn is never removed from my side, it means that I am receiving an even greater gift than I was even asking for! For example, if I ask for bread, and He gives me hunger that drives me to His word, He has given me the bread of life which is even better than the earthly bread I was asking for. We know how to ask for good things. But our Father knows how to give the best things!
And so He holds me fast to remember (and I cry out for His help often), as I persevere in prayer, to hold the object of my prayer loosely, and only hold my trust and faith in God’s character, and my desire for His eternal kingdom, tightly! I hope that what I have learned is a further encouragement to you during this time of persevering in prayer!
Blessings, Sydney
Thank you for your kind and thoughtful response, Sydney! I love the perspective of seeing everything God gives us (even the hard stuff) as part of the “good gift.” That is deeply encouraging to me. I so appreciate you sharing your wisdom and insight. May God continue to guide, bless, and keep you on your faith journey!
This is so encouraging Carla. I especially love the part about being specific. Sometimes I pray so long over things, my prayers get genetic when I should be getting more detailed. Love this word!
Thank you! I know praying generically is so easy to do because I get stuck in that rut as well! Using God’s Word and praying specific scripture verses usually helps me be more specific!
I so needed all of this Carla! All of it! Lord knows I have felt my own pushback and opposition I’ve created for myself, and I’ve felt the nudging of the spirit to go deeper for what I’m asking for. To quit stopping at the surface. I’ll admit that as much as my faith has grown lately, God still has so much to do in me. So much that required the time it’s taking for me to see the answers to the greatest needs in my life. Thank you for this post!
Dear Amber, I am right there with you, sister! I am thankful that the Lord has put us on the same path so that we can encourage one another on our faith journeys! You have been a blessing to me!