Communion: Your Powerful Tool for Effective Prayers

When we use Communion as a tool for intercession, we are not only realigning ourselves with Christ, but we are also proclaiming the reality of Heaven over every area of our lives.

When I take Communion, I take it as a prophetic act, applying it to any situation that is weighing on my heart. A prophetic act is a Holy Spirit-inspired physical action that disrupts the atmosphere. Sometimes, I’ll feel as though God wants me to do something tangible to activate something that I’m praying into. During those moments, I simply ask the Holy Spirit, “What should I do about this?” Then, I’ll feel prompted to—for example—take my shofar into the prayer house that we have at Bethel or go to a specific place to take Communion. In completing the prophetic act, we are releasing something into the atmosphere that helps the answer to our prayer to break through.

In Exodus, God had the Israelites kill a lamb and put the blood over their doors, signaling to the Spirit of God to pass by without harming the family inside. Moses instructed the Israelites:

You shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts; and no one of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning (Exodus 12:22 NASB).

The physical lamb’s blood didn’t save them; the will of God saved them. But the families that participated in this prophetic act were revealing a heart submitted to God. The lamb’s blood was a prophetic act that each family did in order to align themselves with God’s will and alert the spirit realm as to whom they belonged.

When Jesus led the disciples through Communion, during their Passover meal together He was creating and modeling a prophetic act that believers could continue implementing. He was giving us a way to align ourselves with Heaven and bring Heaven’s reality to earth. Often when I take Communion, I prophesy to myself. There is something powerful in the spirit realm about the declaration of truth, so I talk to myself out loud. I remind myself who I am, that I’m a daughter of the King and that I’m strong in Him. I pull on the promises of the Bible as they come to mind. I’ll say, “I am crucified with Christ” (see Galatians 2:20). I let the reality of the New Covenant wash over me, changing any mindset within me that needs to be changed. I declare over myself, “I have the peace that passes understanding” (see Philippians 4:7). I remind myself that I can walk in His peace no matter what circumstances surround me.

Thank You, Jesus, that because of Your blood I am free and forgiven. I belong to the Almighty God, Creator of Heaven and earth. I am loved beyond my wildest imagination. I have been chosen and fought for every day of my life. I am God’s treasure.

The Final Word

We are at war. We never want to concentrate on anything the devil is doing. We know he’s already been defeated! But there is a war constantly going on all around us. We never need to be distracted by the activity of the enemy. But we can be aware of the battle that is going on all around us for our minds, for our authority, for our health, and for our peace. We have the winning hand every time!

Every time we take Communion, we remind ourselves that the devil has been defeated. The cross had the final word. But I think everyone has experienced being attacked. I have dealt with health issues, and there are moments when I’ve been slammed spiritually. I have had to really lay hold of God’s promises of peace. I’ve always considered myself a peaceful person, but I have had to honestly ask myself, Do I really believe that I can walk in peace when there are so many things attacking that very thing?

When I’m taking the bread and the wine in a moment like that, I am in a spiritual battle for my health—spirit, soul, and body. Especially when there’s something going on in my world that is threatening my wholeness, it’s important for me to take Communion more than once a month. It allows me to continually remind myself who I am, who Jesus is, and what He did. Through Communion, I am brought back to the realization of reality: His world is my true reality, not this one.

There’s an old hymn I remember singing as a girl, and the words still ring true. “There is power, power, wonder-working power in the blood of the Lamb. There is power, power, wonder-working power in the precious blood of the Lamb.” There is enough power in His blood to cancel any curse, to save us from our sins, and to heal our bodies. And that power has not waned in 2,000 years; it is very much alive and well.

Holy Spirit, it’s so easy for me to forget that there is a war raging in the spirit realm. Will You help me to remember that my fight is not against other people, but against the powers and principalities of darkness? Today, I take Communion, reminding myself that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead has not changed. There is wonder-working power in the blood of the Lamb!

Cutting A Covenant

Why is Communion so powerful? We’ve heard of wonderful testimonies surrounding Communion—people being healed, couples who were dealing with infertility taking Communion every day and getting pregnant, and of people falling out in the middle of taking Communion. They had an encounter with the Lord that was so powerful while they participated in the sacrament that their bodies could no longer stand up. That’s more than just a wafer and some grape juice. That’s the power of the Living God.

To understand more about the power behind this, we need to go back and look at covenant. Communion is the reminder that Jesus Himself gave to us the ultimate covenant. It is the body and the blood of Jesus, shed for us.

Blue Letter Bible tells us that the Hebrew word for covenant, beriyth, is rooted in a word that means “to cut” or “to eat.” Within the expression “cutting a covenant” itself is the graphic depiction of how a covenant was made. When two individuals were cutting a covenant, the ritual included taking a sacrificial animal and dividing the animal into pieces. The two parties would then walk through the scattered carcass, swearing an oath of allegiance in the midst of a path of blood. Essentially, the two parties were making a public declaration that it would be preferable to be like the dismembered animal beneath their feet than to break this promise.

Each blood covenant was a promise of connection, protection, and provision. Like a marriage covenant, where two people are joined into one, the blood covenant created a bond that superseded all other realities. And this was done through the shedding of blood, a public expression that involved the most intimate aspect of life—the blood flowing through our veins. Blood carries and sustains life. Each blood covenant offered a promise that would enhance life, but it came with the potential cost of life.

There is an old sheep-farming tradition called lamb grafting. If an ewe (mother sheep) loses her baby to sickness or another tragedy, she will refuse another orphaned lamb, despite her plaintive cries after her lamb’s death. Her baby has a specific scent, and she will reject any baby that’s not her own. The farmer, however, can take the skin of her dead baby lamb and drape it over the back of the hungry orphan, covering his old smell with the familiar scent. The ewe, thinking that she is smelling her own baby, will accept the orphaned lamb and the baby will survive. Covenants are a covering for those involved. And no one has made greater covenants with His people throughout history than our God.

I know that I can fully trust Your promises to me, God. You are so faithful, so mighty, and so good. Even after Adam and Eve had sinned and were no longer able to stay in the Garden, You made clothes for them. Your love covers me. Your promise goes before me.