And I also say to you that you are Peter [petros], and on this rock [petra] I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
Christ spoke of building His church even before it was realized. He made the statement while He was still dealing with Israel – though the nation was rejecting His claim to be the Messiah.
For the last two thousand years He had been adding “daily such as should be saved” (ACTS 2:47). In these last days, He is looking to complete His bride, bringing in those last few souls that in His Omniscience knows who will receive Him as LORD and Savior.
May we labor with our LORD, His yokefellow, in the fields which are white already for harvest, praying that He will send even more laborers to rescue precious souls that He died for (JOHN 4:35-39).
One of the ways that we encourage spiritual growth is through prayer, an underestimated heavenly power that too many Christians neglect – either not appreciating its value, or not knowing exactly how to pray…
WHAT IS PRAYER?
We know what it is to read, study and apply the Word of GOD. We understand more or less how this works. We likewise understand the dynamics of the Gospel message and the ministry of salvation just as we comprehend what discipleship is all about.
Prayer is a bit of a mystery, however. We often know how to pray; we mostly know what to pray and we read about prayer and the prayers of individuals in the Scriptures. But we don’t entirely understand how and why prayer works, do we?
Nevertheless, we are commanded to pray. It’s found everywhere in the Word, and we use prayer regularly (or we should) without understanding it fully. But I don’t understand how electricity works, or solar energy or gravity, or my computer at home. Regardless, I employ the use of these things in my daily life.
Despite our intellectual inability to fully grasp what prayer is about, by faith and obedience, we exercise this holy ministry, following our LORD Jesus’ example, Who regularly arose to pray and commune with the Father, sometimes very early in the morning.
PRAYER IS PARAMOUNT
We recognize the truth that if the Son of GOD, the Word made flesh found prayer a necessity, of course how much more should we?
Charles Spurgeon said, “Prayer meetings at church are the powerhouse, the source of unction that rests upon the preached Word. Prayer is not so much about length as it is about weight.”
Most of the prayers and petitions cited in the Scriptures are quite short:
The blind man said to Him, "Rabboni, that I may receive my sight."
The Canaanite woman for her demon possessed daughter:
MATTHEW 15:25-27
25 Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!" 26 But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs." 27 And she said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.
MATTHEW 14:30
But when he [Peter] saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!"
“We think of prayer as a preparation for the work, or the calm after having done the work, whereas prayer is the essential work.” Oswald Chambers.
One preacher said, “You can tell how popular the church program is by how many attend the morning service. You can tell how popular the preacher is by how many attend the evening service. And you can tell how popular the LORD is by how many attend the prayer meeting.”
John Bunyan was famous for this quote:
“You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed. Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to GOD, and a scourge to Satan.”
SATAN’s STRATEGY – PARALYZE PRAYER!
Our prayer meetings at church as well as those intimate times of prayer in our private times with the LORD are the primary focus of satanic opposition. It’s been said that “Satan trembles when he sees [even] the weakest saint on their knees [in prayer].”
Satan hates the prayers of the saints and does all in his power to stop them by distractions, diversions and discouragement.
Perhaps that is why Prayer Meetings are so depopulated these days? Some fellowships don’t even have scheduled prayer! In this day and age, we need to do all that we can to reverse this terrible trend towards prayerlessness – because, as I’ve often said:
Prayerlessness brings about paralysis to the body of Christ.
In a certain church there were signs displayed for all to see as they entered the foyer. One of those signs read as follows:
“Before the service, speak to the LORD. During the service, let the LORD speak to you. After the service, speak to each other.”
Prayer! The Word! And fellowship! That’s the ‘Three-Legged Stool’ of the Christian church. Take any one of those away, and you’ve got spiritual instability!
The late Dr. Chuck Missler was fond of saying, “Prayer is GOD’s way of enlisting you into His plans.”
THIS IS PRAYER – OUR POWERHOUSE
Prayer is serving, ministering to and being obedient to GOD (such as Anna the prophetess; LUKE 2:36-38). GOD commands us to pray (prayers, supplications, thanksgiving; PHIL 4:6-7).
Prayer is exemplified for us by Christ Himself, as well as the early church (MARK 1:35; ACTS 1:14; 2:42; 3:1; 4:23-31; 6:4; 13:1-3). A study in the book of ACTS is a study of interaction between the Risen Christ and a praying church!
We pray the prayer of repentance and confession that starts our Christian journey (2 CHRON 7:14; LUKE 18:14; 1 JOHN 1:9) We pray in preparation for major decisions (Christ spent all night in prayer before choosing His Twelve; LUKE 6:12-13) and overcoming demonic barriers (the LORD’s example in preparation prior to delivering a boy from demonic possession – “prayer and fasting” MATT 17:14-21).
Prayer is our means of plugging into GOD’s power, and defeating Satan and his army that we are ourselves are powerless to overcome. “All prayer and supplication in the Spirit” is another vital weapon in the arsenal of armaments in EPH 6:10-18.
By GOD’s grace hell’s authority (“gates”) cannot prevail against us, the church (MATT 16:18). We pray to the LORD Who gathers workers into the spiritual harvest of souls (LUKE 10:2). We pray for strength to overcome temptations (MATT 26:41).
We pray for blessing, strengthening and enlightening the saints (EPH 1:18; 3:16; 6:18). Prayer is our primary means of seeing GOD work in the lives of others (EPH 6:18-19). Prayer is also the means by which we are enabled to discern His will and acquire wisdom (JAMES 1:5).
MAKING A PRAYER LIST – CHECKING IT TWICE?
Prayer isn’t a Grocery List: While we are to present our petitions and needs to the LORD (1 JOHN 5:15; MATT 6:11), prayer is far more than just praying for our material needs, or even our spiritual needs for that matter. Imagine if the only time you communicated with your spouse was when you needed something!
What would be missing in that relationship? That would be you expressing your desire for greater intimacy, to share your heart, to have them share theirs.
Imagine if you had a family business. You drive up to your warehouse with your loading truck and meet your Dad at the loading dock. You have the roster of products lists, and you tally them off as they are loaded into the truck to be delivered to the family store. The last item is loaded on, the roster has all the items checked off, you ask for your Dad’s signature, and with a “thanks!” you turn around and head for the driver’s seat.Our prayer life is all about communicating, fellowshipping, gaining intimacy with our Abba Father, who delights to see us visit Him!
But your father says, “Son, how about a cup of coffee and a bit of chat? It’s been a while!”
“Oh, gee Dad, I’m awfully busy right now, but how about next time?”
“Son, that’s what you said last time,” replies your Dad sadly.
Prayer is only one of three legs in the ‘Christian stool’ of a solid, stable foundation: There is prayer, the reading, studying, applying the Word of GOD to our lives, and godly fellowship (this excludes clean social activities among Christians: that isn’t fellowship, that’s socializing, which is fine, but they are not synonymous).
Take any one of those three away, and you’re left with just two legs: how stable will that be? All three are important!
POWERFUL PRAYER PARTNERS
The admonition for “secret prayer” is given to Christ’s church in:
MATTHEW 6:6
"But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
He has promised that when we ask according to His will, we can be confident about receiving those answers, even though sometimes He delays His answers according to His wisdom, for our benefit and His greater glory. In these situations, we are to be diligent and persistent in prayer (1 JOHN 5:14-15; MATT 7:7; LUKE 18:1-8).
Prayer is not a means of getting GOD to do our will on Earth but rather as a means of getting GOD’s will done on Earth (MATT 6:10). Some may pray and fast until GOD hears and fulfills the will of the petitioner – but that isn’t really a prayer and fasting: that’s a hunger strike!
Not only are we admonished to pray, but we have the two most powerful intercessors praying for us! The Holy Spirit and the LORD Jesus Christ!
ROMANS 8:26-27, 34
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
P.U.S.H. – Pray Until Something Happens!
If the Syrian woman with the demonized daughter had not prayed to Christ, her daughter would not have been made whole (MARK 7:26-30). If the blind man outside of Jericho had not called out to Christ, He would have remained blind (LUKE 18:35-43). GOD has said to us, that we often go without because we fail to ask Him (JAMES 4:2).
A lack of prayer demonstrate a lack of faith. Daniel Henderson once said,
“One that does not pray is declaring independence from GOD”!
Not at all the sort of independence we want as followers of Christ! Not only a lack of faith is demonstrated, but a lack of trust, and an assertion of self-will, self-determination, and self-life.
It’s as we pray to the LORD that He brings about such tremendous answers that we would never pray for, much less even think of!
EPHESIANS 3:20-21
20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Sometimes GOD blesses us in ways that we don’t expect; in fact, in some ways that we in our own wisdom would wish He hadn’t! Like giving us a dislocated thigh bone, as He did with Jacob. Remember the story?
After spending some years with Uncle Laban, away from the family – and his brother Esau who vowed to kill him if he ever saw his brother again.PRAYER ANSWERED, PEACE PROVIDED
And the LORD told Jacob, “It’s time to go back home!”
To say that Jacob was nervous would be an understatement! He was really sweating this confrontation with Esau, and he thought to send him three waves of gifts before he saw his brother. And when the moment of truth came, Esau ran to him – and fell on his neck and wept and kissed him!
But before any of that happened, he wrestled all night with “the Angel of the LORD” – an Old Testament Christophany – and in desperation Jacob wouldn’t let Him go until He blessed him. That was when He touched the hollow of his thigh and dislocated his thigh bone. I can imagine what Jacob must have thought:
“And THIS is a BLESSING?!” Yes, Jacob! It is; because you’re used to handling your own problems, coming up with your own schemes and solutions to dilemmas, and if nothing worked, you could always run away!
Not anymore! Now you have to trust GOD to help you, deliver you, bring about answers that you can’t come up with on your own! You get to see how much GOD loves and cares for you in your helplessness!
I recall a time in my life when I had a serious prayer need, and I kept at it in prayer for days, weeks, even months! Still, no answer. One day at church a (rather carnal) brother asked me how I was doing, and I was honest. He asked if he could pray for me.
I thought to myself “Well, it couldn’t hurt…” And the next day the prayer was answered! You see, as we pray for one another and the LORD answers those prayers from the lips of our brothers and sisters on our behalf, rather than our own lips, He is showing how we are one body, and all the parts work together, and need one another! There are no Lone Rangers in GOD’s Kingdom (EPH 4:4-6)!
PHILLIPIANS 4:6-7
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Being anxious or worried is antithetical to faith. Faith says, “I trust You LORD”. Worry says, “I don’t know if I can trust You LORD.” Seeing how the LORD is our GOOD Shepherd, we not only have no reason to worry – we aren’t allowed to be!
“Be anxious for nothing” is not a suggestion or even (just) an exhortation. It’s a command, the same as “fear not” (JOSH 8:1). As a substitute for anxiety, we are to pray, and pray about everything! And offer to GOD our supplications as well as our thanksgiving. Why is this?
As we offer up our thanksgiving to GOD, we are reminded of all the times He’s been faithful to us and provided for us. Recalling to mind these times, we are encouraged to pray in faith in GOD Who doesn’t ever change! The same LORD Who was faithful to us in the past, will continue to be faithful to us today and tomorrow!
This will guard us and ensure that the peace of GOD won’t escape us!
ABIDING IN CHRIST, ABIDING IN PRAYER
JOHN 15:1-5
1 I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
Our connection to fruitfulness is Christ Himself. Fruitfulness brings glory to the Father, especially “much fruit”. This connection is established and maintained by prayer – and a daily digestion of the heavenly manna, the Word of GOD. We can’t have an effective ministry for Christ if we don’t have an effective prayer life with Christ.
Christ abides in us once we receive His salvation and His Spirit that indwells us. But how do we abide in Him? By walking in the Spirit, living our life “Jesus-Style” by the power of His Spirit, being enabled by the Word and prayer, and denying the flesh that only wants to get in the way of our spiritual progress.
If you’re really going through heavy trials and someone asks how you’re doing, and your answer is “I’m hanging in there!” that is the perfect answer: that is what a branch is supposed to do – hang in the Vine!
WHAT’s IN A NAME?
We pray individually, we pray collectively. And collectively what we agree on in prayer (MATT 18:19), if it also is in GOD’s will (1 JOHN 5:14), we can be assured of the answer. It’s not a ‘maybe’, it’s a WILL BE!
JOHN 14:13-14
13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 "If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
What does it mean to pray “in Jesus Name”? Is it a blank check from GOD? You can pray whatever you want in JESUS Name, and because of that tag, you got it guaranteed? No, not at all.
To pray in JESUS Name is to pray according to His character, His nature, His will. It’s praying a prayer that Jesus would pray Himself. Names were very important in the Old Testament. They were indicative of what the person was like. The name JESUS is from Y’shua in the Hebrew, which itself is a contraction of YHWH-Shua – “Our GOD is Salvation”.
Jesus is all about salvation, redemption, healing, restoring, blessing in accordance with His will and wisdom. So, I’m not free to pray for that mansion in the foothills “in Jesus Name”! That would be out of character for Jesus and thus, an invalid prayer.
THE MODEL EXAMPLE OF PRAYER
The LORD taught us the model prayer. A kind of template that guides us into prayer the way that the LORD would want for us. We call it the LORD’s Prayer, but really it’s more the Disciple’s Prayer:
MATTHEW 6:9-13
9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
We should always open our prayers with recognition of GOD’s glory and worship Him for Who He is, thanking Him for His truth, His grace, His love and faithfulness. To thank the LORD for His holiness and justice (not yet fully realized in this world – not yet!). To thank Him for His provisions, His blessings, His gifts. We thank Him for being our beloved heavenly Father!
We should always seek His will to be done here, just as it is in heaven! When we pray for His kingdom to come, we aren’t praying for the kingdom of GOD, because we who are born again have entered into the kingdom of GOD spiritually speaking. What we are specifically praying for is the restored kingdom of Israel by means of the Messianic King returning to His people.
When we “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” we are petitioning the Messiah King to return to the Holy City “The City of Peace” which cannot know true peace until the Prince of Peace rules and reigns from the throne of His father David!
We pray for our needs – daily; thanks to refrigeration and freezers, we don’t have to pray daily for provision of food: but we can thank GOD daily for the food He has provided!
You may have heard the saying, “Keep short accounts with GOD” – that means that we continue to go to GOD in a heart of repentance when we slip and fall into sin, to seek forgiveness for these debts and understand that we are indebted to GOD always because of His sustaining grace and eternal salvation!
In an evil world such as this, we need GOD’s leading to avoid evil, corruption and sin that’s being orchestrated by “the evil one”.
In all of our petitions and prayers, we should end prayer in testifying the glory of GOD, acknowledging His power, and hoping for His coming kingdom!
You can find prayers throughout the Bible – consider this one from the apostle Paul found in EPHESIANS 1:15-23!
For more on the subject of prayer, see the following:
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