February 6, 2023
Excerpt from Battle Power: Agape Intercession by our Mother Foundress

“So shall my Word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, but shall do My will, achieving the end for which I sent it.” (Is 55:11)

Jesus is the Sword of the Spirit. St. Paul tells us that “the Word of God (Jesus is the Word of God) is the Sword of the Spirit” (Eph 6:17). Jesus is the Word of God. When we are aware that we have this Word of God within us, then in union with Jesus, we become the Sword of the Spirit. The Spirit will enlighten us. The Spirit will guide us. He will lead us and show us how to pray so that Word goes forth. The Spirit uses us as His Sword. This is the power of intercession and the service role of intercession that the Church desperately needs today.

It is a double-edged Sword. Two things happen when we pray. We either are setting a soul free from bondage or addiction, connecting them with God, or we are setting a soul free from the bondage of the enemy. Either way, it’s a double-edged Sword that’s going to set someone free from Satan or from other attachments. Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me” (Lk 4:18), and now we can say the same thing because the Lord lives within us and the Spirit is upon us today. The Spirit is overshadowing us.

And what is the Spirit saying to us? He is saying the same thing that He said to Jesus. Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me … He has sent Me to bring glad tidings to the poor” (Lk 4:18). Mother Teresa of Calcutta especially taught what true poverty of spirit meant. So many people don’t know God. So many people are estranged from God. So many people are starving for God’s love, joy, and compassion. God loves to come and bring His Good News to the poor, proclaiming freedom to the captives. Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me … to proclaim liberty to captives” (Lk 4:19).

We know many people who are in captivity. God wants to release everyone from darkness, deception, and bondage. He wants to heal the broken-hearted. Only God can go into the human heart. We can’t. We can be there to console, but through our prayer, God can enter into that broken heart and heal. We may be a mouthpiece, but the One who actually goes into the heart to heal is God Himself. He heals those in the shadow of death. Jesus said that this is why He has been sent, and He is still doing it today.

“Yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:20)