How To Handle Impasses
by Gary Carpenter

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"I hate myself. I don't know the Word. I don't know how to pray. I am useless to the Kingdom of God. I feel like giving up." Would you like to know whose words those are? Daisy Black, the head intercessor at the Prayer Center! You might think this was in the very beginning when she first began praying. No, this was after she had already been in prayer and seasons of fasting for several years ... and was ALREADY in the position of being the head intercessor! She had hit what we commonly refer to as her next "impasse!"

Dave's response? He said, "Yes you do, Daisy. You know the Word AND how to pray. You have simply prayed and fasted yourself up to your next impasse, the place where emotional pressure has always been able to defeat you in the past. For God's sake, Daisy, DON'T QUIT NOW! THIS is where you have been seeking to arrive. Once you make it past this point, the devil will NEVER be able to defeat you at this level of pressure again. God will be able to send you into more difficult situations in the future to rescue people because you can no longer be defeated (by giving up) at this pressure level again."

If you have been experiencing these emotions, yet you have been spending time in prayer on a regular basis, that tells me you have been praying and fasting correctly. Emotional turmoil? Confusion? Feelings of inadequacy and self loathing?

CONGRATULATIONS! This is where you have been praying to arrive. The key for you is the same as for us all. Keep on praying. Keep on doing the series fasting. It feels like "Hell" while you are going through this level of transformation, but the joy of emerging on the other side of it is worth it all!

Another thing: The fact that "we can't stand ourselves the way we are" is not a selfish reason for praying. That is the motivational force that keeps ALL of us praying! You have simply joined the club with the rest of us! The Holy Spirit is not content to leave ANY of us "like we are." He is transforming us to the image of Christ. Trust the Holy Spirit to know what He is doing in your prayer life. He is in the process of changing you "from glory to glory" to be more like Jesus. He is doing that in the lives of all of us who are giving ourselves to prayer and fasting.

Right at this point is where most people "fall out" of prayer and fasting. They can't stand the emotional turmoil. You are stronger than you think! Your hunger for more of God will sustain you as you continue to be transformed more and more into the likeness of Christ. You will be so glad that you endured the turmoil later on, when you emerge stronger than ever ... a pillar in the temple of your God! Again, CONGRATULATIONS!

Your fellow servant for Christ,

Gary Carpenter