Part 1
I use to cry out- “Father I want to be like Jesus”. He answered my prayer I had to increase my prayer life an additional hour each day, experience betrayal, lies, hatred, be called strange. be a standard bearer for Jesus and walk in holiness.
Purpose of Prayer
Before you can enter the battlefield thru prayer, you must understand why God chose to work within the framework of prayer. To obtain an eternal companion for His Son.
Christ’s eternal companion (the Church) will enter into full partnership with Him to govern the universe.
The Church is being qualified through the apprenticeship of prayer and intercession to occupy the highest position in the universe short of the Godhead. God will do nothing but in answer to prayer.
I Corinthians 6:2(a)(NLT)-Don’t you realize that someday we believers will judge the world?
Revelation 2:26 (NLT)- To all who are victorious, who obey me to the very end, To them I will give authority over all the nations.
Someday Christians will judge and govern the world. Christ and the Church will share universal sovereignty. (Limitless, supreme power)
Revelation 3:21 (AMP)-21 He who overcomes (is victorious), I will grant him to sit beside Me on My throne, as I Myself overcame (was victorious) and sat down beside My Father on His throne.
To overcome we must be trained, educated and prepared for our queenly role. Prayer is that OJT where we learn spiritual warfare, which will allow us to defeat evil forces. prayer prepares us for our assumption to the Throne and enables us to acquire the character we need to be co-sovereign.
If we do not pray, we are robbing the world of God’s best plan and we are limiting our rank in eternity.
What Is Prayer?
Psalm 42:1-2 (AMP)-As the hart pants and longs for the water brooks, so I pant and long for You, O God. 2 My inner self thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?
- Prayer is yearning for intimacy with God, which brings brokenness.
- It is the bridge between earth and heaven.
- It is communion with God.
- It is surrendering yourself to God.
- It is resting in His presence.
- It is listening.
- It is loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and might
What Does Prayer Do?
- It strengthens.
- It relieves anxiety.
- It calms the mind.
- It enables you to face crucial challenges.
- It helps you emerge from trials unbroken.
- It brings you close to God.
- It gives you a greater sensitivity to the Holy Spirit.
How Do You Prepare For Prayer?
- Pray that you be able to pray properly.
- Acknowledge that you don’t know how to pray as you should.
- Use music to aide in devotion. It stirs the heart and ejects devotion into prayer.
How Do You Pray?
- In humility.
- In reverence.
- In holiness.
- With all your heart.
To be continue next month
Prayer-Part 2
Before you go in to the battlefield thru prayer, you need to know what type of prayer you should pray.
Some examples are:
- Prayer of faith. (Matt. 21:22 and Mark 11:24)
- Prayer of consecration. (Lev. 20:7)
- Prayer of commitment. (Ps. 37:5; Prov. 16:3)
- Prayer of agreement. (Matt. 18:18-20)
- United corporate prayer. (Acts 4:23-31)
- Intercessory prayer. (Rom. 8:22-27)
- Prayer of petition. (Phil. 4:6-7 and Heb. 5:7)
- Prayer of deliverance. (Ps. 3:8 and Ps. 34:4)
- Prayer for healing. (I Peter 2:24 and Ps 107:20)
- Pray the Word. (Handout)
- Binding and Loosing prayer. (Matt. 16:19)
Remember, we are Christ’s delegated authority with power of attorney to do His bidding in the earth. In addition, we are His deputies invested with the full power of Christ. That power enables us to acquire His character and what we need to co-reign with Him.
God has delegated the Church to enforce His will on earth. That delegated authority and administrative responsibility for earthly affairs constitutes the highest honor and elevates us to the highest rank of all creation.
Most Christians want to do great things for God. The greatest thing anyone can do for God and man is pray. Prayer should be your primary business of the day.
Let me give you an illustration; Two persons are required to sign Business checks for the checks to be legal. God operated the same way through the prayer and faith of His people. His promises are checks signed by His own blood. His part was completed at Calvary. However, the promise is not good until we enter the Throne room through prayer and faith and write our names beside God’s. Then He releases the resources.
Matthew 16:19(AMP)
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind (declare to be improper and unlawful) on earth must be what is already bound in heaven, and whatever you loose (declare lawful) on earth must be what is already loosed in heaven.
Let me give you another illustration; you have a safety deposit box in a bank vault. The bank has a key, and you have a key. Neither key alone will open the box, but when both keys are inserted, the door opens, and all the treasures in the box are available.
Heaven holds the key by which decisions governing earthly affairs are made, but we hold the key to those decisions being implemented. I pray that you see prayer in a new dimension other than your conventional notion or understanding. Stop pleading with God to do what He has already done.
Prayer is not persuading God to do something He is unwilling to do. It is implementing His decision and enforcing His will upon the earth. The contents of true prayer originate in the heart of God. He inspires prayer in our hearts. The answer to our prayer is already prepared before we utter a word.
Please do not get to busy that you forget to pray daily. Failing to pray frustrates God’s purposes for the ages. Prayer moves the hand of God, and those who are faithful to pray and intercede will be rewarded.
In the 26th chapter of 2nd Chronicles as long as King Uzziah sought the Lord, God he had success. After he became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He became unfaithful to the Lord. Do not let pride stop the blessings of God in your life. Never stop seeking the Lord in His Word and prayer because the moment you do is the moment you begin your dissension.
