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

THIRTY DAY PRAYER CHALLENGE - DAY 29

PRAY THE NAMES OF GOD

DAY 29
GOD IS INTERCESSOR


We have all prayed for someone else, at one point or another. That is called Intercession...i.e. pleading their cause before God.


If and when God answers our prayers to the benefit of that person, it is His Will. If He does the opposite, it is still the Will of God! His Will and His Ways are perfect, whether we like it or not. But we press on.


In the Old Testament, believers had to go to the synagogue and have the priests pray for them. Since Christ, we now have direct access to the Throne of Grace and can press into and pray ourselves.

Even so, Romans 8:26-27 says "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God" (Emphasis mine).


Therefore, this is how it works: we immediately know in the Spirit man or woman, if our prayers are meeting with agreement with Holy Spirit! Trust me! We do!  If a christian is walking the Spirit-filled life, she or he will be sensitive to Holy Spirit's promptings and, if we are really fortunate, He allows us to have prophetic insight into whether the person you just prayed for will be healed or have a broken heart mended or whatever the issue is!


This is the dynamic power God gave us as He revealed in John 1:12! We pray in the Spirit, Who IS God and then transmits to Father God, in Jesus' Name!

There is a stunning example of Jesus interceding for Simon Peter in Luke 22:31-32a "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” (Emphasis mine)


Here is God the Intercessor, in the Person of Jesus Christ! Notice Jesus did not pray for Satan to leave Peter alone! He prayed that Peter's Faith does not fail! So what happened not too long after that? Well, Peter boasted about his loyalty to Christ...and then denied Him thrice with curses! So, friends, you and I must be careful about the things we do and say when engaging in spiritual warfare....which is what is actually happening, depending on the level of Intercession. 


Jesus' High Priestly prayer is the perfect living example of God as our Intercessor...or Prayer Warrior Advocate! I urge you to read John Chapter 17, by clicking here. In this chapter, Jesus first prayed for Himself (verses 1-5). Then He prayed for His disciples (verses 6-19). Jesus then prayed for all believers until the End of Time (verses 20-26).

Father God, in the Name of Jesus, I thank You, oh Most Holy and High God, that You are God and seated on the Throne. Father, I love, adore, praise, worship, magnify, glorify and lift up Your Mighty Name above all Names this day, which You have anointed to live fully in the Spirit - man for You...and You alone, in Jesus' Name.


I thank You most Holy Father for sending Your Spirit to live in us - all who believe in Your Son as the Lord of Heaven. I thank You that You gave Holy Spirit instructions to lift up our prayers and intercessions on behalf of others in a such way, that those prayers will be acceptable unto You.


I thank You that Jesus is our Intercessor and Prayer Advocate before the Throne! Lord, with Christ praying that our Faith not fail, how can it?! Lord, when Jesus prayed for us in John 17, He prayed that the glory You have Him, may now be ours! He prayed for unity between us believers and You, Almighty Abba in Heaven! Therefore, Lord I pray, in response, for Your church worldwide to stay on our knees, in one accord, until He comes!


He prayed for that unity to be so dynamic and powerful - that the World will see the Power of the Testimony of You living in and through us and therefore, come to know you and the Wonder of the Most High God. Therefore Lord, make me a living Bible to those with whom I come into contact.


He prayed and still prays that You, Father, continue to love us as You love Him! Lord I receive that Grace and Love! Thank you, Father.


Lord, Jesus used the word love or loved five times in three verses, Lord. He used the word know or known five times in the same three verses.  Lord, for Your Glory, I accept that unconditional love You gave Your Son, when He prayed this, and which He passed on to us, because You so freely gave it to Him before the world even began! We now KNOW that Love and respond in complete awe, amazement and submission to Your will, oh God.


Father, I gave Holy Spirit permission to cleanse from within that I may be ready to intercede for someone else as Christ did, for us,  in John 17 and still continues to, until He comes in glory, some day soon, in the Mighty Name of Jesus, amen.

TOMORROW: GOD IS JEHOVAH SHAMMAH

(image by google images)