02-11-2019
Ephesians 2:1-6 New King James Version (NKJV)
By Grace Through Faith
2 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the [a]course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
There is no such thing as enough in prayer.
Prayer is spiritual. It is in prayer that the spiritual realm affects the physical realm.
Every religion prays. Everyone who prays will determine what happens in the physical realm. The person who prays is the person who is connecting the physical realm and the heavenly realm.
Prayer should be a lifestyle.
Prayer is a gift from God.
There is something about the prayer life of Jesus that caused the disciples to say to Jesus, "Teach us how to pray."
If a church is to become a house of prayer, prayer cannot be delegated to a few people. Prayer must be the main life of the church.
Jesus Himself taught us how to pray in Matthew 6:9-13:
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in 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 lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
When a child of God does not pray, he cannot link earth to heaven and heaven back to earth. Everything starts in the heavenly realms.
Ephesians 1:22-23 New King James Version (NKJV)
22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Christ reigns in the heavenly realm.
We have blessings in the heavenly realms.
Constantly declare truths to ourselves.
God has great love for us.
And God is rich in mercy.
You were once not part of God's kingdom. (v. 1-3)
Because God is rich in love, grace and mercy, the fact that you are a Christian is immediately seated with Christ in heaven. (v. 6) Spiritually we are seated in heaven. And a lot of Christians do not realise that.
Why is it that we are still on earth?
The secret lies that we are reigning with Christ.
The battle for the souls of man, and the battle for the control of the physical earth is in the heavenly realms.
The spiritual realm is what affects the physical realm.
After He was resurrected, God raised Jesus far above principalities, powers and dominion. He is far above every spiritual realm. There is no opposition to the rule of God. God reigns supreme in the third heaven.
We are seated with Christ. So we are seated in the third heaven because it is a position of authority.
When God created man and woman in Genesis 1:28, He gave man and woman dominion over the earth.
But we lost it in Genesis 3.
The whole purpose of Jesus Christ is to restore us back to the original plan.
How come this is not happening?
In the second heaven, it's where the war is.
As he prayed, Daniel found that there was opposition to his prayer. And his angel, the Archangel Michael, was activated. There is warfare in the heavenlies. There is activity in the second heaven.
When you understand prayer only as warfare, we feel that the devil is stronger than God. The whole focus is stuck at the second heaven. The very fact that you're a Christian, there is spiritual attack. But you give too much credit to the devil when every time you pray, you say there is spiritual attack. You're saying that the devil is more powerful. You are focusing on the devil, and not on God. You make God as if He is inferior to the devil.
There is a world of difference between prayer altar and prayer meeting. It starts with our Father in heaven and connects with God and brings down from heaven to earth.
In the first heaven, the ruler is Satan, the prince of the power of the air. (v. 1-3) The first heaven is the heaven just where the earth--the physical realm--is.
In the first heaven, the people who live there follow the ways of the world. (v. 2) In the first heaven, what controls most of our lifestyle is worldviews.
In the first heaven, the people who live there follow the ruler of the kingdom of the air or a prince of the power of the air. Jesus rules in the third heaven. Until Jesus comes again, the physical realm is under the control of the prince of the power of the air.
1 John 5:19 New King James Version (NKJV)
19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.
In the physical realm, we live to satisfy the cravings of the sinful nature. (v. 3)
Position is power.
Although physically we stay on earth, Jesus left us on earth to give us authority and power.
The devil wants churches to be weak. The devil doesn't want us to pray.
The position of prayer is actually from the third heaven.
Start your prayer with connecting with God. Declare scriptural truths to align to God's purposes and God's Word. Start by praising God.
Then start praying down. Now we decree to the physical realm.
But Satan seeks to disqualify us.
Prayer is all about authority. The key is to maintain our authority.
Satan aims to take away our authority.
An ungodly man who prays has control over you. They are calling down the demonic realm to control you and me. They are calling down the second heaven.
God has give us the power. Pray down the presence of God from the third heaven.
The key to prayer is God's presence.
Satan also energises everyone who wants to rebel against God and he makes the Christian to disobey God.
The devil controls the ways of the world.
The spirit is at work in those who want to disobey God. The devil is energising them.
Isaiah 55:8-9 New King James Version (NKJV)
8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
As Christians, we need to know the ways of God. And the only way to know the ways of God is to read the Bible.
Do not succumb to the worldview! Have the fear of God, and not the fear of men!
As a believer, when you move into the position of authority and the position of aligning with God, we are bypassing all the things that the devil wants to do and bring down power and authority from heaven.
Your calling is to be a church that has spiritual authority. The devil will fight you tooth and nail. Connect to the third heaven. Be seated with Christ in the heavenly realm.
When you pray from the third heaven, you see what God sees. Everything in prayer must start from the Father's heart.
"My Father will reveal to me what to pray."
"I know the will of the Father."
"And I will obey the will of the Father."
Connect with God in the third heaven because it is a place of authority.
Prayer is just about connecting with God, your Father in heaven. Prayer is about connecting with Christ who has victory over the earth.
We never read the Bible. We never pray. The devil makes us disobey God because we don't believe the righteous truths anymore.
The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. (James 5:16)
Our position makes us effective because we have a position of authority.
The devil has access to the throne of God. (Job 1) He can accuse the believer. Immediately we are disqualified because God cannot answer prayers by unrighteous people. He has no legal right to answer our prayers.
What then must we do? Repentence is an essential part of prayer.
Repentence makes sure the devil does not disqualify us from our position. Repentence restores our legal rights to God.
No comments:
Post a Comment