SERIES ON PRAYER: "PREVAILING AND VICTORIOUS PRAYING"

The word “prevailing” can be used in many ways. In economics, they speak of the “prevailing wage”.  This is the current pay for an employee and could include benefits, depending on the context. God’s economy though is ENTIRELY different than man’s fiscal operations.  “Prevailing” in terms of heaven, means something entirely different. The word itself – prevailing – derived from the Latin and means to “have greater power”.

There is a perfect example of prevailing prayer with King Jesus Himself when He told Peter (in Luke 22:31-32a) that “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail.“ Now Jesus praying for one of His Creations – Peter – is guaranteed success! He is God, after all! We ain’t!

BUT, the Savior of the World showed us something special here. Basically, the Lord is teaching His prayer warriors to prevail and avail. One of the very potent facets of the type of prayer is expectation by predomination. That may sound like some preacher man made-up phrase.  

But look at some of the words uses in these two victory verses, of prayers well answered by Heaven:

• ....(Jesus said) “I have prayed for you”. Jesus has prayed for Peter AND HE HAS PRAYED FOR US! He is a Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Jesus is Prophet, Priest, and King. He is still interceding for us before the Throne of Almighty God the Father. When we pray for someone else or ourselves, the Holy Spirit interprets our prayers with “groanings and more which only the Trinity can comprehend”.  Therefore, Satan can slam as sideways every which way from Monday, but the truly born-again have the right as sons and daughters appeal to heaven!
• This is ALL Jesus had to say – “I have prayed for you.” So now, how do we prevail – get the superior answer from Heaven for which we are hoping? Two things: we avail and call on His Name!

All the riches of Heaven (which are not the same as the temporary scratch of this world) are available to the Christian. By the way, it is available to only those who not just profess Jesus is the Savior and Lord, but have had their sins forgiven and accepted Him as Lord of their lives. Anything else is ignoring the Jesus-spoken truth of Mark 1:15.

We have not, as Christians, because we ask not. If what we ask for is not good for us, in the opinion of our Creator, we will not get it. If the timing is not right, according to His plans and purposes, we will receive the correct version of our request when our hearts, minds, and circumstances are aligned to see God’s Perfect Hand in the matter.

The first key to availing ourselves in prayer and supplication is to persevere in our Faith and love for Christ, then to persist (see the previous posting on Persistent Prayer).  The second key is to stay in the zone. Each of us has our own piece of the wall, in this life, to which to attend.  While most may do this correctly, our attitudes and love for God while building our portion of the wall, will count in towards the outcome of our prayers.

If we start doubting God, by thinking He has turned a deaf ear to us…..and continue in this unbelief, well, sometimes He may answer, sometimes He may not. Everyone has down moments. Even John the Baptist got depressed in Herod’s prison and sent a messenger to ask his own cousin, whom he (John) knew was God, “if he was the Messiah”! Jesus was not offended but sent a word back of encouragement and testimony of miracles.

This is how the Lord rolls. In seasons of doubt and despair, He will not abandon us.  It is impossible to recall how many times in the last few decades, that the Lord has sent help, hope, encouragement and more…even before He answers a prayer request.  Availing is simple – just trust and be faithful. You will prevail.

The (half) brother of the Lord – James – who was saved after the Resurrection, reminds us that the "effective and fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much”. That is an almost week English translation, as beautiful as the prose is. What James actually said, in the original language is this “much prevails the prayer of a righteous man”! 

Now, this is even more significant, because of what goes before this phrase in the same verse, and the very fact that we are availing ourselves of the very power direct from Heaven.  The full verse reads “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5:16).

The word confession here says nothing about going to a priest. It means holding yourself accountable before God and man. This makes the prayer even stronger.  The power being this righteousness, keeping short accounts with God and man and praying (communicating) via a direct line with the Almighty is what makes this so strong.

In fact, this is what the word “prevail” means here. It means my prevailing prayer has strength. It means I am able to boldly approach the Throne of Grace and offer my petitions. It means that according to my strong faith and confidence in the Savior, I can pray like Jesus and be successful….even if the answer is no!

The word “confidence” is derived from “con” – meaning with and “fide” – faith.

When we pray with confidence, we pray WITH FAITH.

When we pray as one who is settled up with God and those around us, we pray righteously.

When we pray thus, we pray effectively.

When we pray effectively, we pray in sweet, sweet victory in Jesus, my Savior forever. This is the essence of prevailing prayer. 

(Photo Credit)

PURSUIT WORTHY OF CONSIDERATION

""Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you...Matthew 7:7"
We all love watching a good fast chase, whether it is a car chase in the movies or on TV, or a boat race on the lake.  We even think It’s cute when one of our pet dogs playfully chases the other one around the back yard. We involve ourselves in our own chases at various times in our lives. In our teens and early twenties, the more educationally ambitious of us may chase down multiple college degrees (not me – one is enough). Those who are more bent towards business take risks and joyfully suffer the birth pangs of launching, maintaining and growing their own small business, as they chase their dream of the freedom of self-employment and probable riches. in general, though, it does seem as if sometimes, everything else is a chase, race or making haste.

The common goal of these various chases, from the self-motivated  young entrepreneur to the person who obtains the right educational background for a better job and benefits in order to raise a family or accumulate enough of a nest egg for later on, is success. There is absolutely nothing wrong with success and the process it takes to get there. As long as everything is legally,  ethically and morally done – the sky is the limit. Millions are willing to go into major debt to, excuse me, kiss the sky, in this pursuit.

Most times oft, than not, though, matters of the soul are completely ignored in this paper chase. (The paper chase mentioned in this article is all about the financial documents which represent wealth held by those who primarily seek only worldly success). Increasingly, with very few exceptions (less than 10%) the vast majority of people under the age of 40 have little or no faith in the God of Heaven. Men and women instinctively know that we were ALL created with the Law of God (His commands) written on our hearts. Even those who have not heard the Gospel possess this.  It is called the conscience where we learn right from wrong. Even those who hate God have a conscience. They just block it out. They just don’t pursue Him.

In the greatest sermon ever preached – the Sermon on the Mount, God Himself – through His Son the Creator, teaches many Eternal Truths about Life on earth. Almost all of the Teachings of Jesus are counter-cultural and against any of the worldly thinking of man. There is so much in this Greatest Message of All Times, but what is relevant here is the statement of Matthew 7:7 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you"

In short, the Lord recommended the following three specific actions – all in the present tense:

-          Ask

-          Seek

-          Knock on the door

Those in pursuit of success in the Natural (through Education, Business etc.) have no problem at all with any of those three. Whether we work for a company or run the company or teach a junior college class for a living, around age 30-40 we have done more than our fair share of asking, seeking and knocking on doors.  A 75% or more failure rate never stops us in our pursuit of excellence in our chosen career paths. The majority of us would just take deep breaths and move on to the next thing. However, for some reason, on the supremely important matter of eternity, the hard work of research into the Truth – the True Truth – is left on the cutting floor!

It is very telling that the very same committed and purpose-driven people who would work 70-90 hours per week to study part time while working would not take an hour of their entire week, on one day, to see if the claims and promises of God are true. A small business owner would be the last person to get paid at his business, while getting no sleep or vacation, but he or she would press so hard in one direction, that the real direction that matters will also be neglected.

Even so, Jesus has a proposition for those who are worn down, beaten up, tired out, flamed out and just plain over their heads in the hot pursuit of success, the World’s Way. He has three simple words: Ask, Seek, Knock. What’s behind these three doors is nothing magical, but it IS something Eternal. It is Rest. It is Peace. It is Joy. It is Contentment. It is Heaven.

Success the world’s way could and should get you that – a comfortable successful life….in THIS Life ONLY!  But the Pursuit of Heavenly Treasure lasts forever. For those are interested in what comes next after this swift fleeting life.  Again – it’s free ….and so simple. In fact it is so simple, most do not believe it cost them nothing, thereby missing the boat.

ASK:

Like everything else in matters of eternity, it comes down to the Heart – the Spiritual Heart. To even get to the point of asking, we need to be able see and then know, that for which we are asking or requesting. Scripture, in Ephesians 1:18, cries out to us “open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord”.  There is nothing in the make-up of a human being which is worthy of us being even qualified to "ASK" the Great God of Heaven for anything. It is by sheer mercy and grace we are alive and then have the means to live comfortably, and function at any capacity. The sooner we realize this, the quicker we will make haste to the Throne Room of God to ask Him to be the Guiding Light of Our Lives.

SEEK:
Anyone who is born again, instinctively knows we were near seeking and finding a relationship with the True God of Heaven and our Creator. At some point in life, we may have been seeking for the great answers of life - (who am I, why am I here etc...). However, if you look at some of the "-sims*" that led countless millions astray, none of them sought after the real God of Heaven as found in the Bible. (Think of "isms" like extentialism, atheism, communism etc...etc...). All of these "systems" were thought up by mortal men. All of these men had disturbing final words and horrible fruit of their labors and teachings. Jesus is inviting us to search Him out AND He gave us the most powerful flashlight and road map ever- The Bible. To those who have been redeemed, He sends the Holy Spirit to continue the life long pursuit of seeking out eternal truths in through Prayer and the Full Counsel of God. These are the only riches which are worth nailing down first, before all else. Seek and look for Him, He and all Heaven are within reach!

KNOCK:
The portals of Heaven still remain open to all who ask, seek and then knock. The original meaning of the word "knock" is to literally "beat the door down with a stick"....or perseverance, persistence and never giving up in your pursuit of this amazing God. How do we knock on Heaven's door? We do so by daily, consistent pressing into the very Throne of Heaven, where we camp and not leave until God provides the guidance, direction and answers we are seeking and asking. 

All there active processes imply and ongoing and well, active response on our part. They proceed out of a heart set on God. In all the great chases and pursuits we can have in this life, at any age, this is the only one built to last.

THY WILL BE DONE: PRAYER - "BE PERSISTENT"

If you look up the definition of the word “persistent” in the great Webster’s Dictionary, the word “relentless” stands out boldly. A classic version of this same dictionary, before language and culture got as corrupt and out of sync with reality and God, as today, has a significant definition for those who seek to pursue the Heart of God. The man or woman who fights life’s battles on his/her knees is to be admired and as a result immediately stands out among the ordinary.  To wit, the 1913 Webster’s defines Persistent, in relation to such a person, as one who “remains beyond the period when parts of the same kind sometimes fall off!!” This is actually the biological definition of the word, but describes what we are studying here, perfectly!

What this says, in essence is the persistent prayer warrior is one who presses on, when others simply give up because they think they are not getting the response from God they seek. We all have matters before the Lord, from the moment we were aware of His presence in our lives, before He called us through the process of rejuvenation and salvation, where prayers are either never answered (human perception) or the matter is under consideration (divine perception).

Jesus Himself showed us the way to perseverance in prayer in Luke 18:1-5 “Then He spoke a parable to them that men always ought to pray and not lost heart. Saying ”There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a certain widow in that city; and she came to him saying, ‘get justice for me from my adversary’. (The unjust judge) would not for a while; but afterward he said to himself, ‘though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her CONTINUAL COMING she weary me’.” (Emphasis mine).

This incredible teaching by the Lord in the passage above, followed by the analogy or anecdotal evidence of the "unjust judge" is all we need to persist in prayer. Let us briefly examine what Jesus said here: "He spoke.....that men.... always ought to pray and not lost heart (verse 1)
Consider this:
Jesus spoke- Now this is the very SAME voice which SPOKE the world into existence, "in the beginning" of time, as we know it! Think of what power the Voice, Which sounds like Niagara Falls, actually has! He Who spoke us into existence.... He Who parted the Red Sea....He Whose Voice called Lazarus from the dead....it is He Who is telling us HOW we are supposed to pray! Earlier on, the Voice of God also "strongly recommends", in the Sermon on the Mount, that we both pray and fast. This is NOT Old Testament, so LISTEN TO HIM!

So we have the underlying directive from the Greatest Authority of the World - the Voice of Jesus (re: Jesus spoke) and He tells us we "always ought to pray"! The word "ought" here is originally written "dei". This strong word means more than "you should....or you REALLY ought to"! What Jesus is saying here is "it behooves you to so do, and in fact, it is more than NECESSARY for you to press on and then press in, because you know what, you really MUST...." All of this is wrapped up in this one word!

Then finally, the Voice, after saying it is necessary to pray for (or offer prayers about), directs that we should NOT lose heart. The original language here, which is key to understanding Truth, is "ekkakeó". Jesus is saying in common vernacular "come on, man, are you going to give up this easy? Are you going to fall away too? I expect one of My children, My sons and daughters, My prayer warriors, My men and women of God to fight all the time, in all circumstances, in all manner of ways on their knees!"

Jesus knows He can answer any prayer and correct every wrong immediately, if He wanted to, but just like the woman who had the blood issue, He allowed her to SEEK HIM OUT, THEN touch the priestly tassels on His garment so she could be healed. This is the only way humans can really appreciate how great a Salvation we have and how much God really loves us and wants to help us! We do all of this praying and not getting weary or "losing heart" or otherwise throwing in the towel like most modern Christians - we do this ALL on our knees. We are the only people in Creation ever, who are strongest when we are weak, meek and seek on our knees!

In these few words from the Creator of the Universe (Colossians 1:13-21) we see the exhortation and the example of persistent prayer. So when things are not going our way, things which affect us deeply, personally and even professionally, we stay focused on Him, we fight with Him and we finish the course on our knees before Him. The key thing is "we stay", we persist, we never lose heart and never weary in doing good, or speaking with the One Who is forever Good, True and Holy! If He answers differently  than we expect, well then, it is for our own good. 

Be persistent! Stand out as a warrior on your knees, staying there, while everyone around is giving up and walking away. Be strong and courageous, for the Lord thy God, is with us. Amen.

Next: "Be Positive"

THY WILL BE DONE.....PRAYER - THE PLAN

Continuing on in the area of the Methodology of Prayer and God’s response, let us first recognize what an incredible privilege this is! In the west, we take Christianity and the God of the Bible so casually (which we all do) that we fail to full comprehend just Who we are talking about!  For goodness sake, He is the God of the Universe. He is the Ancient of Days.  He is the Sustainer of Life, the One Who holds every single breath in His Hands. He is the Creator and thus the Judge of all things and all peoples, the One Who holds our eternity in His Hands.

In His Hands,  reside the keys to this wonderful mystery called Prayer.  This is very important to note because this Almighty Supreme Being of the Universe, Who always existed owes us sinful humans nothing but the back of His Powerful Hand. We deserve nothing more than rebuke from He Whose Voice sounds like Niagara Falls (the Book of the Revelation calls His voice “the sound of many waters”). So understanding this truth is primary to grasping absolute fact which is thus – God owes us nothing. Conversely, we owe Him everything. We owe Him Respect; Obedience; Worship and Praise.

Therefore the Methodology of the Effective Prayer life begins with the full comprehension of just to Whom we are praying.  Secondly, we simply do not know how to pray! The average Christian may pray once a week in church or in an emergency health or traumatic situation, cry out for help. Statistics show the average American pastor only prays 10 minutes per week! When we do pray, we stumble around unless we have been prayer warriors for a while. The bible says the following from Romans 8:26-27 “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God".

So given all of this, are we losing courage in our prayer lives when God does not immediately, five minutes after we pray, tell us His Will for our lives? Do you get disheartened when we pray for the healing or health of a loved one and either nothing happens or the loved one’s health declines? Do we give up when we pray about say, moving to a state with more career opportunity when others are telling us to stay put? How does Sally if she should marry Jim, or Junior should marry Jill? Decisions decisions decisions.....How do we pray for an and expect an answer to these life-changing events we all must make, at one time or another?

God knows our weakness. The awesome thing about being born-again is that the same Spirit Who raised Christ from the dead lives inside of us to execute what God has revealed in the two verses above from Romans 8:27-28. The thing is we literally cannot do this on our own. Christians are supposed to function in such a way as to allow the Spirit access to our lives and decisions so He can interpret the needs and wishes of our hearts. This way, He can fulfill what this scripture says, in order to transmit our petitions and prayers directly to the Father in Heaven. Think of it this way. Think of the Holy Spirit as the Divine Filter of Heaven, Who takes our jumbled up words and weird wants, cleans them up and presents them the way God will accept before the Throne. This is the only way for the saint by calling to have our prayers heard by God. There is no going through a third party like a priest or pastor, or lighting a candle or whatever material thing mankind thinks must occur.  There is only the Holy Spirit and what He does, as just described here.

Subsequently, this also confirms a significant truth from the Bible that God ONLY hears the prayer of a righteous man! Who is a righteous man since we are still sinners from time to time? A righteous man is one who has repented, believed the Gospel, cried out to the Lord for the forgiveness of sins and accepted Jesus Christ as LORD and Savior. Anything else is easy believism modern western cotton candy Christianity. THIS is the only first step to following the Plan for Prayer, as God has ordained. This first step is Salvation. 

NEXT: EFFECTIVE PERSISTENT WARRIOR