Introduction
We, the people of God, live in a time where darkness is clearly increasing in such a way that unrighteousness is rampant and therefore the love in the hearts of many grows cold (see Matthew 24:12). Thus I would like to take a closer look at an important spiritual “weapon” of God we will see more and more among the interceding saints in the body of Christ in this time.
Prophetic Ecstatic Prayer
This spiritual “weapon” of the Heavenly Father is the prayer of supplication or intercession which is accompanied by an ecstatic behavior of the respective person(s) praying, because God pours out the power of prayer over the bride of Christ in a special way (see Zechariah 12:10a).
Zechariah 12:10a:
10a “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. …
It is a power characteristic of prayer that makes “sweat” look like “blood”, because the intercessor is truly and completely devoted to the high, victorious plan of God, and this results in new life (see Luke 22:44b).
Luke 22:44b:
… 44b And his (note: Jesus) sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
What is Ecstatic Prayer or Ecstatic Prophecy?
The Greek word for ecstasy is derived from two words which mean “ék – outside” and „stasis – standing” (see Acts 10:10; Acts 11:5; Acts 22:17).
Literally translated, the word means „standing outside” or to use a more common term it means “to be beside oneself”.
=>The primary Greek word of ecstasy is “existemi” – “to move something from its place or its status, to remove it”.
Ecstasy describes a state of spirit, in which it moves itself away, is beside itself and has lost itself. That's why ecstasy can also entail astonishment or bewilderment, as well as amazement or dismay (see Mark 5:42; Mark 16:8; Luke 5:26; Acts 3:10; note: part excerpt from the Elberfelder Study Bible- Greek language key 1595).<=
Ecstasy equates to the term of religious enthusiasm (note: inspiration), where “theos“, God, “enters – entheos“, which means the word “the one full of God/alive with God“.
Ecstatic prophecy means, the kind of prophecy is received in a changed state of mind in the respective person and released, or it includes prophesying when that person is taken over by a spirit. <= (note: analogously quoted from the book “Ecstatic Prophecy” by Stacey Campbell, page 38).
What is Ecstasy, Translation or Trance in the Biblical Context?
=> It is the momentary translation from one place to another. It is a certain leaving of the body that was observed in people falling into trances.
In past times trances were viewed as a medium, by which the prophets and ecstatics received visions from God to transmit high prophecies – this means words outside of or beyond normal prophetic communication. They generally depict revelations of something new for the earth received via trances.
This was the case with Balaam in Numbers 24:4.16.
In Acts 10:10 the trance of Peter was the result of something that in those days was seen as a spiritual translation of his mind.
A region of his mind was opened up to the world of God; there the Lord communicated a message synonymous with a crash course for his global ministry. <= (note: analogously quoted from the book „The Prophet’s Dictionary„ by Paula A. Price, PhD.; page 563)
=> The term “trance” also means the expression of a spiritual state, in which the affected person is partly or totally unaware of objective perceptions, but is intensely conscious of subjective impressions.
However “trances” may be caused or triggered, they are perceived as if they were revelations from the outside. They can adopt the form of visual or audible perceptions or other impressions, such as tasting, smelling, heat or cold. These conditions are sometimes preceded by epileptic appropriations, depicting something called „Aura Epilepsy”. <= (note: analogously quoted from the book „Ecstatic Prophecy” by Stacey Campbell, page 75 and page 76).
The Penetrative Power of Ecstatic Prayer
Ecstatic prayer has a special impact in the invisible world, and it involves a great change on the earth; it causes the angels assigned by God to throw the prevailing giants of darkness off their courses by the power of prayer and the passionate zeal of God – as was the case with Goliath for instance, when he was defeated by the hurling arm of David (see 1 Samuel 17:49-50; Obadiah 1:3-4 i.c.w. Revelation 8:3-5).
1 Samuel 17:49-50:
49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.
50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.
Obadiah 1:3-4:
3 The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’
4 Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” declares the Lord.
Revelation 8:3-5:
3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne.
4 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand.
5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
Ecstatic Intercessors
Ecstatic Intercessors, who may also be called prophetic intercessors, are people close to the heart of God; they know His innermost being well like the disciple John, who knew the heartbeat of Jesus (see John 13:23).
John 13:23:
23 One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him.
The Shaking of the Spirit
The reason for the above mentioned penetrative power of the ecstatic prayer lies hidden in the vibrating of the spirit (note: the supernatural manifestation of God in the atmosphere over the present darkness and the present chaos) being closely connected to the voice of God and His word; this leads to His prophetic, eternal light shining in the world for this time in order to reveal the correct standard (see Genesis 1:1-5 i.c.w. John 1:1-5; Matthew 4:16; 2 Peter 1:19).
Genesis 1:1-5:
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering (note: vibrated, trembled) over the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.
5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning – the first day.
John 1:1-5:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was with God in the beginning.
3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.
5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Matthew 4:16:
„… 16 the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”
2 Peter 1:19:
19 We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
This means, the “shaking” – the ecstatic intercession/travailing prayer – precedes the prophet(s), so that they are able to speak the plans of God on the earth according to the measure of revelation allocated them by God, thereby initiating a transformation of darkness and chaos to give people in the world the chance to enter into a true relationship with the Heavenly Father, as Adam did when he entered into rest with God on the seventh day (see Genesis 2:2-3).
Genesis 2:2-3:
2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.
3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
The Manifestation of Jesus
This approach of “ecstatic intercession” can also be observed in the intervention of Jesus on the way to His friend Lazarus, who had just died.
Here we can quite clearly see darkness in form of death; but Jesus did not allow the peace he had with his Heavenly Father to be disturbed.
Jesus entered into the so called travailing prayer that resulted in Lazarus coming alive again.
Through the manifestation of the spirit and his acting in this circumstance, Jesus broke off all accusation, deception and unbelief in the atmosphere, so that life literally jumped out of the darkness (see John 11:33.38-44)!
John 11:33.39-44:
33 When Jesus saw her (note: Mary) weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved (note: The Greek word is “embrimaomai” and means “to snort in rage, like horses; a hard, loud sound caused by the hard intake of breath through the nostrils”) in spirit and troubled. …
38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.
39 “Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.
42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”
44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
What is Travailing Prophecy?
=> Travailing prophecy is the spiritual opposite to a natural birthing of life coming into the world. It applies to the prophetic because of its similarity of seed in regard to the natural process. For the word of God is life. The prophet or prophetic vessel is pregnant with the word of God in the spirit and can have experiences similar to that of a pregnant woman.
When the word of God as the seed has matured over time in the prophetic vessel, it is birthed forth in the spirit. This can become apparent through spiritual contractions.
The prophet Jeremiah spoke of such an event during a time of prophesying (see 1 Kings 18:42; Isaiah 21:3; Isaiah 26:17-18; Isaiah 37:3; Isaiah 66:7-8; Hosea 13:12-13; Romans 8:26-27; Hebrews 5:7; John 11:33 = The Greek word for “sigh” means “embrimaomai/ enebrimésato, derived from enebrimaomai“, which is explained as follows: “to snort in rage, like horses; a hard, loud sound caused by the hard intake of breath through the nostrils”). <= (note: analogously quoted from the book „The Prophet’s Dictionary„ by Paula A. Price, PhD.; page 95).
Amen and Amen.
In His Wisdom,
Daniel Glimm
Translation:
Margit Kelly
