We all know how important prayer is, without it needing to be restated. However we do not always achieve through it all that God wants and it is one of those paradoxes about His nature that He chooses to work through our prayers and not independently, which He could of course do. We therefore need to be sure that our prayer is not limited to what we want but that He wants us to pray.
As far as our own lives are concerned Jesus has given us one of the most open-ended promises possible, namely that God will give us anything we ask for in His Name. If we therefore do not have anything it is either because we have not asked for it, or if we have asked, it has been incorrectly.
James said: "You ask and do not received, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures" (James 4:3, NKJV).
The principle is that if we ask with the right motives in the Name of Jesus we shall receive. If we do not receive this is the place to seek the reason. The promise of Jesus opens up tremendous possibilities for the active prayer: "If you abide in Me, and My word abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples" (John 15:7, 8).
If we remain connected to the vine, in fellowship and obedient to Jesus' command, then He will give us whatever we asked for, which is up to us. The reason for this is so that we can reveal the blessing of God on our lives as a sign to the world, not to feed our self-indulgences. The phrase 'In Jesus' Name' has been misunderstood and used too loosely, tagged onto the end of prayers in the hope that this will ensure a positive answer! We need to understand all that God requires of us to be able to receive in the way Jesus intends.
James said: "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways" (James 1:5 - 8).
This little passge can often be the reason for unanswered prayer, because it highlights the issue of faith. We have to be single-minded, sure of what we want, sure it is Biblically correct and good and proper for us to receive for our Christian walk and ministry. Only if all these are true can we ask in faith in the Name of Jesus and believe for it to happen.
Pray to the Father in the Name of Jesus
It is important that we learn to pray to the Father in the Name of Jesus. This may sound odd but many people pary to Jesus or the Father or even a mixture of the two in the same prayer. Jesus is quite specific about this and does not tell us to ask Him and He will then ask the Father for us. He tells us to ask direct in His Name, because He has secured this access for us. This is the way the Trinity operates. The Holy Spirit inside us prompts us to pray to the Father in the Name of Jesus. Prayer is a privilege and a wonderful gift we can use. We can actually influence God because He wants us to be involved in what is happening on the earth and prayers do influence Him. An excellent example of this is in the Old Testament concerning Hezekiah.
Hezekiah's life extended
"In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, 'Thus says the Lord: 'Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live'.' Then he turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord, saying, 'Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your sight.' And Hezekiah wept bitterly. And it happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 'Return and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people, 'Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: 'I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears, surely I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. And I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend the city for My own sake, and for the sake of My servant David'" (2 Kings 20:1 - 6).
In fact to confirm the word of the Lord, God made the shadow go back ten steps. If God was willing to do that for Hezekiah because he humbled himself, He is no less willing to do it for His children today. Where there is repentance and humility God will move in love and grace for the sick person, maybe even adding extra years that would otherwise be lost.
Situation in the New Testament
The situation in the New Testament is better than that in the Old Testament because answered prayer is no longer by grace alone but also by invitation. God acted out of grace to Hezekiah; we have grace plus the invitation to ask. This is not based on merit because we have earned enough favor and goodwill to ask with a reasonable chance of success but boldness to ask in the Name of Jesus believing the Word of God. This is an important principle because we tend to be reluctant to ask God for the big things we need because we doublt His grace and love toward us. The result is under-asking and an absence of visible provision of God. It is better to over-ask if anything, but even that is not possible because we are told to pray about everything, not just the things we feel we need. There is nothing like a crisis to get Christians praying about things that maybe could have been avoided if they had prayed sooner. We need to see that God's plans for us are for good.
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thought of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I willl listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart" (Jer. 29:11 - 13).
We need to know that God wants the best for us and always hears our prayers. When Jesus prayed for Lazarus He lifted up His eyes and said. "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me, and I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me" (John 11:41, 42).
We need to know that our prayers are heard and answered, either yes, no, later, wait or whatever. The assumption must not be that the answer is always yes! If we really do know and understand that God always answers this should stir up our faith to pray much more fervently about those things that really are important. There is an area of confusion about the two different types of prayer and what praying in the Name of Jesus is meant to achieve. Although all praying is in His Name, because that is the way we have access to God, it does nevertheless differ in purpose and faith. There is the normal straight asking type of prayer which is quite valid. For example, we expect God to guide us, so we commit our way to Him and pray about decisions until we have peace and witness of the Spirit. We ask for things wanting one answer but willing to accept another. The answer is not automatically 'yes' because you pray in the Name of Jesus! even Jesus prayed of release from the cup of suffering (Matt. 26:39) but of course prayed that the Father's will should be done. We too can pray for what we would prefer to happen but always in the context of the Father's will. That is precisely why we need to know and understand He will in those areas when He has specifically revealed it.
This leads on to the second type of prayer which James described where we know that we should be praying for and God wants the specific directed prayer of faith to release His provision. This type of prayer is much more purposeful and directed because we know what we want and stick at it in prayer until we see the result. This requires single-mindedness and stickability and we do need to know that we are praying for something to which we are Biblically entitled.
Let us look at the example of John's letter: "Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers" (3 John 2).
This highlights two major areas we need to be in faith and praying about - prosperity and health. We need to know the mind of the Lord on both. Prosperity means the abundant provision of God in every area so that you have enough food, warmth, clothing and a home. Jesus lived in prosperity as far as the Bible is concerned and although He didn't have a home stayed regularly with Martha and Mary in Bethany. Prosperity is not riches or a high standard of living despite popular teaching that this is a sign of God's approval.
Proverbs gives the balance: "Remove falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty or riches - feed me with the food allotted for me; lest I be full and deny You, and say, 'Who is the Lord?' Or lest I be poor and steal, and profane the name of my God" (Prov. 30:8, 9).
In those days where materialism has spilled over into the Church we need to be praying that God will not give us riches that compete with Him for our time and affection. Solomon found this to his cost and the prosperity he had led him into sin. Ecclesiastes is the book of his regrets for missed opportunities. If only Christians would see this then a lot less time would be wasted asking God for wealth, which is what it boils down to. It is up to God to determine our standard of living and we need to learn to be content with what we have. The other area is of course health, and again we need to know how to pray correctly both when we enjoy health and when we are on degree under. Many Christians are missing out on health by believing that it is somehow God's will for them to be sick and therefore accepting it passively. Healing is included in the Atonement and we can therefore move in faith in this area until we see our physical bodies living in health.
Whwn we pray for both financial and physical blessing we need to be single-minded (James 1:6 - 8) about both and invest our faith for God's provision. In David's days there was no unemployment benefit, no social security and no National Health Service. Life was a great deal toughter than now yet David could still write - "I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteious forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread" (Ps. 37:25).
Elijah was fed by the ravens when all other natural supply ran out. We need to pray in God's daily provision and never take it for granted, because one day there may be famine in the land as part of the birth-pangs of the Great Tribulation. Health is a difficult area because of the Fall and all creation is subject to decay and death. Nevertheless we should press on into increasing health and pray actively when we are sick expecting God to restore us to health. It is worth just mentioning that sickness can be both physical and spiritual in origin and if God shows you that the cause is spiritual then pray against the sickness or spirit of infirmity in the Name of Jesus, which is the only remedy. You can have a medical cure for a medical sickness. But you cannot have a medical cure for a spiritual sickness; you need a spiritual cure that only God can give. Either way you should look to the One risen with healing in His wings.
We need to experience more of the prayer of faith where we hear from God and move out in faith or invest our faith sigle-mindedly to achieve some goal or objective. We need to know what to pray for and stick at it until it happens. Some things seem to take a long time but there can be spiritual reasons blocking the answer. We are given a glimpse of this in Daniel. Three times a day Daniel would pray. Several occasions are recorded where Daniel had visitation from Gabriel or another angel. On one of these occasions the angel said: "Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble youself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia" (Daniel 10:12, 13).
Spiritual Warfare
We are not dealing with flesh and blood, but principalities and powers and they have power over nations, cities and individuals which have to be prayed against to clear spiritual atmosphere for the work of God. This is something God reveals so that we can pray spiritual rulership over specific areas because we have been given authority to do so. Satan actually has a headquarters on the earth. In Revelation, Jesus said to the Church in Pergamos: "I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan's throne is, ..." (Rev. 2:13). In other words, Satan would be based in Pergamos. Some prophetic teachers think he is now based on the West Coast of the USA, possibly San Francisco, which is the world homosexual capital and full of every imaginable cult. Wherever Satan may be, the point is that there is a hierarchy of demonic principalities and powers and Christians need to be praying against it and exercising spiritual rulership. God wants us to achieve rulership through prayer and negligence in this area limits what is done for the Kingdom. The battle is in the heavens even though the manifestation of the result is seen on earth.
It is because of spiritual warfare that God gave us the ability to pray in the Spirit and in tongues. The Devil does not understand them. It is a bit like praying to God in code as He does understand them and then the power of God is released. We have tremendous spiritual power and authority in the Name of Jesus. We are not supposed to be on the defensive because we are more than conquerors (Romans 8:37).
Isaiah said: "...When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him" (Isaiah 59:19).
In my opinion, it is more correct to say - "When the enemy (Satan) comes in, like a flood the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him."
A flood is the uncontrollable overflow of water that pushes everything out of the way. This is not true of Satan. he is not like a flood and definitely containable. It is the Holy Spirit who is the flood - rivers of living water. The Devil comes in and faces this mountain of water against him that he cannot resist and is swept away. The whole meaning of the passage changes and our attitude should too. We must not expect him to come flooding in uncontrollably, but rather expect him to be flooded out by the Spirit of the Lord. If you can see this then your attitude to prayer will change from being defensive to offensive. The Devil is meant to be defending his territory from the advancing army of God not vice versa! This is true individually for each one of us, in our Churches and in the nation. It is not a factor of numbers but Power from above. Down through history men have changed the destinies of nations through prayers.
Conclusion
If we are to grow in the walk of the Spirit, God is going to call on us to be more involved with His purposes on the earth and we are going to be prompted to pray some unusual but effective prayers. We need the revelation of the great purposes of God and to know how much He looks to us to pray. He has entrusted to us the amazing power of prayer. If Church members have this revelation the prayer meetings would be packed! If we want to move on with God then we have to be men and women of prayer knowing how to pray both with our minds and in the Spirit, for ourselves and our nation; for the work and Kingdom of God to be established on the earth. There is no limit to what can be achieved if we will use what God has given us!
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