May 2022 Meditation – Cornerstone #5, Prayer

Just a Little Talk with Jesus

Prayer is a much-misunderstood concept.  A few humorous stories might help us get the point of how radically in error we can be when thinking of prayer.

Two Russian cosmonauts were in outer space when something went wrong with their space capsule.  They had lost contact with the command tower and seemed to be hopelessly lost in space.  It looked as though their fates were sealed.  Having no hope of any other avenue, one of the cosmonauts turned to the other one and said, “Perhaps, we should try to pray.”  Being an atheist, he had no knowledge of God or prayer.  But the other one replied, “Don’t worry.  Once I was in a Catholic church in America and I heard them pray.  I know everything there is to know about prayer.  Repeat after me; ‘Under the B, 7.  Under the O, 62.'”

One night at dinner, the four‑year‑old son was asked to say the blessing over the meal.  All the heads were bowed and their hands were folded as the family waited.  After a few moments of silence, the father looked at the son with a glare of impatience when the child looked up to his father and replied, “But Dad, if I thank the Lord for the broccoli, He’ll know I’m lying.”

As three preachers sat discussing the best position for prayer; the telephone repairman was trying to work on the phone quietly so as not to disturb their discussion.  One preacher said, “I think that kneeling is definitely the best position for prayer.”  The second replied, “No, I get my best results when I have my hands outstretched to heaven.”  The third pastor said, “You’re both wrong. The most effective prayer position is lying prostrate on the floor with my face in the carpet.”  At that point, the telephone repair man interrupted, “I’m sorry, sirs, but the best prayers I have ever prayed were when I was hanging upside down from the top of a power line.”

When the mother told her son, “Of all living creatures, human beings are the only ones who know how to pray,” the little boy responded, “Yeah, and probably the only ones who need to.”

On the other hand, many true things have also been said about prayer.  “A man cannot stumble as long as he is on his knees.”  “A church can only move forward when it moves on its knees.”  Prayer is a very important part of our spiritual life and a very important part of our spiritual warfare.

The Christian world today seems to have received a renewed interest in prayer.  We are crying out like the disciples of old, Lord, teach us to pray. (Luke 11:1)  Yet, in our desire to pray, maybe we do not know so much about what prayer really is and how it is done.

Jesus’ prayer life had so impacted the lives of His followers that they felt that they needed to have His secret.  Dr. Lester Sumrall once said that this might have been the biggest request that the disciples ever made of the Lord.  As we think of it, prayer really is the gift that keeps on giving.  When a person learns to pray, he has the key that unlocks the door to God’s storehouse containing everything else.  Knowing how to pray is like having a fruit-bearing tree rather than a handful of fruit.  Jesus was a person of prayer.  The scriptures record that He sometimes prayed all night long. (Luke 6:12)  He also was known to arise very early in the morning and pray even before it was daylight. (Mark 1:35)  The very end of His life was climaxed by three hours of prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, and He even breathed a prayer from the cross itself. (Matthew 26:36)

The Christian’s success depends upon his ability to pray.  It has been said that what a telescope is to an astronomer and what a microscope is to a doctor and what a compass is to a navigator, that is what prayer is to a Christian.  Because it is so important, the devil hates prayer and will do anything to keep Christians from it – or at least from doing it effectively.  Mary Queen of Scots put it so well when she said that she feared the prayers of John Knox more than the armies of England.  There is nothing so frightful to the devil as a Christian on his knees.

Dr. David Yonggi Cho, pastor of the largest church in the world, says that he is too busy not to pray three to four hours each day.  In fact, when he enters into his prayer closet, he refuses to be disturbed by anyone – including the president of his country, South Korea.  He says that this is his time of ministry to the President of the Universe and that it cannot be interrupted by any lesser ranking personage.  In his book The Jericho Hour, Dick Eastman, president of Every Home for Christ, writes of supernatural results around the world as Christians began to pray for world evangelism.  Among the stories he relates is one of an entire national reformation from communism because a visiting team of Christians stopped and prayed in a park across from the government offices.  Just a few weeks later, a quiet revolution and a bloodless revolt began at the exact spot where the believers had knelt.

In the nation of Nepal, we are seeing the harvest of international prayer.  In 1986, the Holy Spirit challenged me to pray for religious freedom to be given to the nation.  Every day for four years, I lifted that request to the Lord in prayer.  Calling out Proverbs 21:1, I asked the Lord to turn the heart of the king.  No one can describe the joy I experienced when I heard the news in 1990 that a new democratic government had been set in place.

Prayer is the key to unlocking heaven’s treasures and locking out hell’s thieves; yet, we must know how to use that key effectively.  Too often, we have prayer meetings that are mostly meetings and not much prayer.  Songs, scriptures, testimonies, preaching – anything but prayer – dominate.  Too often, our hour of prayer turns out to be short of an hour and even shorter on the prayer.  That is why it is important to study what prayer is and how it works.

 

Three Levels of Prayer

Possibly the first or primary area of prayer is that of asking and making requests.  I suppose that the very basic form of all communication must be related to this self-centered nature of man; it is when a baby wants something that he gives out his primal cries and first faltering words.  So it is with prayer.  Our first prayers are requests of God for things to be done in our lives or for things to be given to us.  As new Christians, it is not out of nature to live in this arena of prayer – after all, we are described as “babes in Christ” at this point in our spiritual development.  Asking carries with it some wonderful rewards.  James 4:2 tells us that unless we ask and ask in the right way, we cannot expect to receive anything from God.  In John 16:24, Jesus assures us that if we ask in His name we will receive the thing we ask for.  He explains in John 14:13-14 that He would see that our prayers are answered.  He further explains in John 15:16, 16:23, 26 that the Father Himself will act on our behalf when we ask in Jesus’ name.

To understand what it means to pray in Jesus’ name, we must not think of just simply saying the words “in Jesus’ name” at the end of our prayers.  Seven sons of a man named Sceva tried that in Acts 19:13-16 and found that it did them no good.  To speak in the name of someone means to speak in and with his authority and in alignment with his character.  If I were to walk up to you and tell you that I was directing you to do something and that I was acting in the name of the President of the United States of America, you would be foolish to obey my command.  It is obvious that I don’t know the President and, therefore, cannot be speaking on his behalf.  However, if I were to come with directions in the name of the president of the school where I teach, you should listen carefully to what I say because it is obvious that I work under him and can speak on his behalf.  This is exactly how prayer works; if a person has a relationship with Christ, he can ask things from God and expect to receive them.  Without having been born into a new life in Christ, we cannot expect our asking to produce any receiving.

As we advance a bit in our spiritual maturity, we can come to a second level of prayer that Jesus described as seeking. (Luke 11:9)  Seeking has to do with a more intelligent quest than simply asking.  To seek involves an unrelenting quest.  The Bible advises us that we should seek for the Lord, the face of God, the kingdom of God with its righteousness, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the truth of the scriptures.  In questing for any of these things, we cannot just simply ask and wait for them; we must diligently apply ourselves to pursuing them.  The Psalmist said that he had determined to seek after the Lord with the same intensity that a thirsty deer searches for water. (Psalm 42:1)  This description demonstrates the maturing process in our prayer lives.  We are no longer simply asking; we are questing for the answer.

A story is told of a man who was crawling around on the sidewalk under a lamppost.  When a passerby stopped to ask what he was doing, the gentleman replied that he was looking for his lost wallet.  Offering to help look for the wallet, the passerby asked the gentleman where he was when he last knew that he had the wallet in his pocket.  His reply was that he was up the street about a block.  The helper’s immediate response was, “Why aren’t you looking up there?”  The answer came, “There isn’t a light up there, and I thought I could see better under the lamppost.”  If we ever hope to find the answers we are seeking, we have to be sure that we are looking in the right place.  I find that I must do my most diligent seeking in the Word of God – for it is in the scripture that I find God’s promises which answer my quest.

Yet another level of prayer beckons the believer; it is the arena of knocking.  This level of prayer is often associated with the worship dimension of prayer.  When we think of knocking, we associate it with being greeted by an individual on the other side as the door is swung open.  So it is with the knocking and opening of doors in the prayer world.  As the doors are opened, we expect to meet an individual or individuals who are the doorkeepers waiting on the other side.  In the realm of prayer, the individuals we expect to meet on the other side of our open doors are the members of the Godhead themselves – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost!  The book of Revelation describes a number of various stages of open doors bringing us into the presence of God: a door in the heavens was opened; then, the heavens themselves were opened; next, the temple and the tabernacle in heaven were opened; in addition, Revelation directs us to open the doors to our own hearts so that He can come in and sup with us.  The one hundredth Psalm describes our entrance through various doorways as we approach the presence of God.  Verse four says that we can come through the outer gates with thanksgiving and through the courtyards with praise.  Verse two tells us that the actual entrance into His presence is with singing which is associated with worship. (II Chronicles 29:28, Psalms 66:4, 138:1)  There is a simple difference in these three steps toward the presence of God.  Thanksgiving has to do with appreciation for the gift that has been received; for example, we thank Jesus for our salvation.  Praise has to do with appreciation for His act of giving; in this case, we praise Jesus for saving us.  Worship has to do with the giver; this is exemplified in that we worship Jesus, the Savior.

A truly developed Christian will enter into this knocking dimension of prayer where he knocks on heaven’s doors through worship, not because he wants something from God but because he wants to be in the presence of God and fellowship with Him.  In fact, we can actually chart a believer’s spiritual development by locating which prayer dimension he prefers.  As a person matures, he will advance toward the knocking dimension; as he backslides, he digresses toward the asking stage and away from prayer all together.

These three stages of prayer (asking, seeking, and knocking) also represent the three areas of our personalities: body, soul, and spirit.  Our bodies are the part of our personalities that are in communication with the world around us. It is in this arena that we concentrate on the asking level of prayer.  The body realizes its need for things and begins to ask for them.  The soul is the part of the personality that consists of our mind, will, and emotions.  It is with these dimensions of our make-up that we are able to seek and press into the second world of prayer.  The spirit is the part of us that is created for fellowship with God; it, therefore, is the part that knocks on heaven’s door through worship and enters into the presence of God.

 

The Components of Prayer

When Jesus answered His disciple’s request to teach them to pray, He led them through a prayer that encompassed all the great levels of praying.  Your elementary school teacher may have been satisfied for you to learn the “three Rs” – reading, ’riting, and ’rithmetic, but Jesus gave His disciples a dozen “R”s to incorporate into their prayers.  He taught His followers to pray:

 

Our Father – a confirmation of our relationship with God

Which art in heaven – a statement of reverence for God

Hallowed be Thy name – a recognition of God’s divinity

Thy kingdom come – a declaration of God’s regal authority in the universe

Thy will be done – a verbalization of our readiness

On earth as it is in heaven – a reaffirmation of God’s control

Give us this day our daily bread – a verification of our reliance upon God

Forgive us our trespasses – a repentant plea for forgiveness from God

As we forgive those who trespass against us – a declaration of God’s requirement upon us

Lead us not into temptation – a resistance against those things that are contrary to God’s will in our lives

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever – a drawing upon God’s resources

Amen – a  reassurance that God is hearing and answering

 

There are many components to prayer and many types of praying.  The Apostle Paul admonished us to pray always with all prayer in Ephesians 6:18.  Literally translated from the Greek, his command to us was to pray with all kinds of prayer and to do this on a regular and ongoing basis.

One of the many kinds of prayer mentioned in the scriptures is confession – a cleansing of our souls and an elimination of the obstacles between ourselves and God through acknowledging our sins which include both our wrongdoings and our shortcomings. (Psalm 51:1)

Another kind of prayer is thanksgiving – a prayer of appreciation (Psalm 107:1) and faith in that we can actually speak forth thanksgiving as we are still making requests for prayers that have not yet been answered (Philippians 4:6).  As we thank God for what He has already done and thank Him for what He has promised to do, we have no reason to worry whether our requests will be granted.

The next kind of prayer is praise and worship – focusing on what God does and who He is.  When we concentrate on Jehovah Rapha (the Lord our Healer), it is easy to receive healing.  When we acknowledge Jehovah Jireh (the Lord our Provider), it is easy to receive the supply for all our needs.  When we focus on Jehovah Shalom (the Lord our Peace), it is easy to have peace in the face of any storm.  When we focus on Jehovah Nissi (the Lord our Victory Banner), it is easy to go into any conflict knowing that we will come out victoriously.  When we focus on Jehovah Shammah (the Lord Who is There), it is easy to know that He is our ever-present help in time of trouble or difficulty.

Another form of prayer is meditation – a contemplation on the person of God as well as His works and His words. (Psalms 63:6, 77:12, 2:2)

Yet another form of prayer is called supplication or petition.  This is an earnest and sincere entreaty of God. (Philippians 4:6, Hebrews 5:7)  Although this type of prayer speaks of a humble request, it does not imply begging.  Because of our relationship to God as adopted sons, we can boldly make our petitions before the throne of God our Father.  Closely akin to this kind of prayer is intercession – a petitioning on behalf of others.  This prayer is when we care for the requests of others with the same – or even a greater – level of intensity than we would exhibit when praying for our own needs.  This is what Abraham did for the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 18:23-32 and what Moses did for the rebellious Israelites in Exodus 32:30-32.  Sometimes this kind of praying leads into travailing – an agonizing prayer of warfare that breaks through demonic as well as our human resistance to God’s perfect will. (Luke 22:44, Galatians 4:19, I Thessalonians 2:9)  Persistent prayer is prayer that doesn’t give up. (Hebrews 6:12)  Persistent prayer may be repeated prayer.  Elijah had to pray seven times before he saw the cloud that was only the size of a man’s hand.  Proof that this persistent prayer is effective can be seen in the fact that, when the cloud did come, it brought a flood that inundated the whole vicinity.

One other area of prayer is prayer through the Holy Spirit.  This dimension is opened to us when we allow the Holy Spirit to work through our spirits and assist us in our communication to God. (Romans 8:26)  Most often this kind of praying is associated with prayer in unknown tongues, but the Holy Spirit can also anoint and direct prayers spoken in our native language. (I Corinthians 14:15)  Prayer in the spiritual realm is prayer that builds us up on our faith (Jude 20); it is prayer that brings results for others (Ephesians 6:18); it is prayer that is in accord with the Father’s will and mind. (I Corinthians 2:11)

 

Prayer and Fasting

Yet another kind of prayer is prayer with fasting.  Throughout the Bible, serious prayer is associated with fasting.  This association has often led people to the misconception that fasting is a way to prove to God that we are serious about our requests.  Quite the opposite is true; through fasting, we prove to ourselves that we are serious about our requests.  When we are more serious about seeking God than about fulfilling our human desires, we are on our way to a miracle answer.  When we can strengthen our spirit man to the point that it can dominate our soulical and physical dimensions, we are entering into a realm of spiritual authority where we will see results from our prayers.  Fasting is a propellant to our prayers.

Many people feel that fasting is really a way to get God to do something that He has been reluctant to do.  Their mentality is that, if normal prayer doesn’t get His attention, fasting will.  At that point, we should ask ourselves, “Are we on a fast or a hunger strike?”  If fasting is seen as a way to turn God’s sympathy toward His poor, hungry children or as a way to prove our seriousness about our requests, then we really need to seriously rethink our relationship with God.  The Bible teaches that it is faith that pleases God. (Hebrews 11:6)  Jesus taught us to approach our Heavenly Father with the same kind of confidence that we approach our earthly fathers. (Matthew 7:9-11)  With these ideas in mind, it is obvious that fasting must serve some function other than to be a way to persuade God to act.

Actually, fasting should be a time of fellowship with God.  It is not a time of outward mourning visible to our human neighbors.  Instead, it is a time of inward seeking for the presence and favor of God.

 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast.  Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.  But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. (Matthew 6:16-18)

When the hypocrites whom Jesus mentioned woke up in the morning, they didn’t bother washing their faces or combing their hair.  They would go out into the street looking ragged as a sign that they were fasting.  If this scripture had been written in the twenty-first century, Jesus would have said, “Go ahead and take a nice hot shower in the morning, shave your face, and comb your hair.”  Jesus said that those who go around making a sign to people that they are fasting have their reward because everybody around them knows how miserable they are and admires them for it.  Those people who fast secretly and use the time for fellowship with the Lord will be rewarded openly.  Fasting brings the reward that you need from God into open manifestation.

However, there are times when fasting would be totally out of place because God has already chosen to visit us with an expression of His presence and favor.  In ancient Israel, the religious calendar included fasting days, but it also celebrated numerous feast times.  Jesus explained that His disciples could not fast while He, the bridegroom, was present with them.

 And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not?  And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them?  as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.  But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days. (Mark 2:18-20)

On several different occasions, I have had the opportunity to be among Muslims in such nations as Egypt, Israel, and the Maldive Islands when they were celebrating their month-long fasting period of Ramadan. This mandatory fasting was established by Mohammed as one of the basic obligations of the Muslim faith.  The Muslims are some of the greatest fasters in the world.  During Ramadan, the total body of Islamic subjects fast from morning until night for thirty full days.  The Koran directs that the person hold a black hair at arm’s length away.  When it is daylight enough to see the hair, he is not allowed to eat until it gets dark enough in the evening that he can no longer see the hair.  The fasters are not allowed to eat, drink, smoke, or even swallow their own saliva.  Of course, an all-night banquet awaits as soon as the sun drops below the horizon.  It is fascinating to observe the religiousness with which they follow their Koranic mandate on fasting.  But that is exactly the problem – religion.  The Bible teaches that fasting is to be an expression of our spiritual nature, not a religious ritual.  If their fasting were truly spiritual, the Muslims would be the most spiritual people in the world.  On the contrary, Ramadan is a very volatile time for the Muslims.  When I was in Jerusalem during Ramadan, our group had to have special police escorts around the Temple Mount.  Several thousand extra policemen were called into the city to guard the Jewish population because violence often occurs during this time of year.

Jesus told a parable about two individuals who came to the Temple to pray.  One was justified even without fasting because of his spirituality while the other found that his religious fasting was to no avail.

 And he spake this parable, unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.  I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.  And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. (Luke 18:9-14)

In this story, the religious man said that he fasted twice a week, but at the end of the parable, he went to his house without being justified.  His fasting had not helped him because he had done it for religious purposes rather than spiritual purposes.  We have to make sure that our fasting is a time of spiritual renewal and a time of spiritual warfare, not just a time of fulfilling a religious requirement.

King David illustrated that fasting must be the product of the spirit and heart when he fasted for seven days as his infant son lay at death’s threshold.  However, as soon as the child slipped into eternity, the king arose and asked for a meal.  Any further fasting at this point would have come from his desire to follow some unwritten religious expectation – and it would have been futile.  Therefore, just as adamantly as he had refused to eat while his child’s life hung in the balance, he now refused to fast.

 And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife bare unto David, and it was very sick.  David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.  And the elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them.  And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead?  But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead: therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead.  Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat.  Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread.  And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?  But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him backagain? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me. (II Samuel 12:15-23)

Through fasting, the mind, will, and emotions are brought into subjection to the spirit man.  The mind has to be told, “I am going to set myself aside to pray today and not to eat.”  Our wills have to be broken, and we have to rise up with a stronger spiritual will to overrule our emotional will.  Our emotions can go crazy when we are fasting; therefore, we have to bring our emotions back into submission.  Our wills and our emotions have to be brought under the spirit that has determined that we will not eat.

Eating is more mental than it is physical.  It is important to remember that it is the soul – more than the body – that desires food.  We actually eat, or consume, more with our brains than with our mouths and stomachs.  Just a whiff of the wrong scent, a glimpse of the wrong sight, or a wrong thought or suggestion can make a very hungry man’s stomach turn and his appetite vanish.  I remember assisting with some fascinating experiments in food science research.  The researcher added food coloring to perfectly good food and watched the reaction as test subjects tried to eat the samples. Homemade mashed potatoes like Grandma used to make suddenly became impossible to force down the esophagus once a green tint was added.  Red orange juice with natural fruit pulp looked too much like coagulating blood for the subjects to enjoy.  It tasted just like orange juice, but to drink that juice was almost an impossibility.  I had to force myself to drink it, even though I was the one who mixed it up and knew exactly what was in it.  People would report that the food was rotten, that it was tainted, and that it wasn’t any good.  But it was perfectly good food.  The only thing that we did was to either put some dye in it or some odor in the air.  A friend of mine, a chef in a five-star restaurant, put it this way, “It really doesn’t matter so much what the food tastes like, just get it past their eyes and it’s sold.”  In the same way, the right aroma or a tantalizing view of the right foods can make a perfectly satisfied individual become almost crazed with uncontrollable food lusts.  This is the reason that so many humans are overweight: we eat according to what our brains and our taste buds tell us, rather than what our stomachs actually need.  This is also why it is possible to treat eating disorders with hypnosis – a treatment that works on the soul rather than the body!  I once saw a man hypnotize a woman.  He told her he was going to give her a delicious red apple to eat, but he handed her an onion.  Under the power of hypnosis, she ate the onion and enjoyed it as if she were eating an apple – because eating is from the mind.  Fasting is not just physical; it is an act of humbling that brings the soul into submission to the spirit man.

The true biblical purpose for fasting is to humble the soulical parts of our personalities so that the spiritual parts can develop and be strengthened.  When the spirit man is strong enough to control the most basic of human drives, the desire for food, then the spirit’s dominion has been established.

 And as for me when they were sick my clothing was sackcloth.  I humbled my soul with fasting and my prayer would return to my own heart. (Psalm 35:13)

And I wept and I chastened (humbled) my soul with fasting and that became my reproach. (Psalm 69:10)

 When a person allows his spirit to dictate to his soul and to exercise authority over his mind, will, and emotions, his spirit man becomes stronger and stronger and the soulical nature is put in the proper place of submission.

The real blessing of fasting is that the total man is brought into a place of proper relationship to oneself, to his neighbor, and to his Savior.  A person who is observing a true fast will come to a place of purity in his heart so that he will no longer oppress or misuse his fellow man.  He will come to a place of spiritual relationship with God in which he will no longer disobey or neglect the voice of his Lord.  He will come to a place where his total man is in alignment with, and a receptacle of, God’s healing, deliverance, and blessing.

 Is it such a fast that I have chosen?  A day for a man to afflict his soul?  Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?  Wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?  Is not this the fast that I have chosen?  To loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?  Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house?  When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?  Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall by thy rereward.  Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am.  If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day:  And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. (Isaiah 58:5-11)

Isaiah asks if our fasting is acceptable to the Lord.  He tells us that a scriptural fast is all about reaching out and helping other people.  Our fasting is not just a time of depriving ourselves, but it is a time of reaching out and seeking how we can help others in need.  In a true fast, we will feed and clothe the destitute.  To truly enter into a fast, we should find someone with a problem and counsel him and encourage him.  If there is a person who is in contention with us, we are to use this time of fasting to settle the problem between our neighbor and ourselves.  Then our light will break forth like the morning, our healing shall speedily spring forth, our righteousness shall go before us, the glory of the Lord shall be our rear guard, and the Lord will answer our call.  Even the present darkness will shine like the noonday.  In other words, this is a form of deliverance.  Our spiritual warfare will break forth into deliverance by the proper fast – not just afflicting ourselves but using the time to bless and reach out to others.

One other area of importance to consider when studying fasting is that of spiritual conflict.  Many people point to Jesus’ statement in Matthew 17:21 as a proof text that Christians need to pray and fast in order to have authority in warfare against demonic forces.  This is true, but likely in a different way from what most individuals understand it.  In Matthew chapter seventeen, the disciples had been asked to deliver a young boy who was attacked by a demon and often suffered from being thrown into the fire or into the water as the spirit tried to kill him.  When the disciples’ attempts to help the lad proved futile, they asked their master why.  His reply that this kind would only come out with prayer and fasting^[1] suggests to most who read it that the disciples needed to stop and fast and pray for some time before attempting to expel the spirit.  However, this is certainly not the case since that time delay would give the demon even more chances to complete his plan of destroying the boy.  I can just imagine what would happen if the apostles asked the father to make an appointment to bring the boy back after the disciples had three days to fast and pray.  Almost without question, he would come back, not for an exorcism session, but to arrange for the lad’s funeral.  Obviously, Jesus had something else in mind when He reprimanded His followers for their unbelief.  Perhaps the key to this seemingly uncalled-for rebuke is that seven chapters earlier He had given them power to cast out unclean spirits and to heal all manner of sickness and diseases.  He then challenged them to go out and put that power to use with the admonition, Freely you have received, freely give.  He did not tell them that having the power would be the result of laboring in prayer and fasting; He said that the power was something that they freely received.  The authority over evil spirits is not something that is earned; it is a quality that is imparted due to the believer’s relationship with the Savior. It seems that the Lord’s disciples must have let their relationship with Him draw somewhat distant – hence, His evaluation that they were in unbelief.  Had they stayed in a vital relationship with Him and the authority He had given them, there would not have been unbelief when they were confronted by a demon.  The authority of Matthew chapter ten which was evident in their exuberant proclamation of Luke 10:17, And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name, would have been theirs at this point as well.

But what did Jesus mean when He said this kind only goes out with prayer and fasting?  Is it not possible that He was saying that this kind of unbelief only goes out through the suppression of the soul (the seat of unbelief) and the elevation of the spirit (the seat of faith) that occurs when one maintains a lifestyle of fasting and praying?  If so, Jesus was not admonishing His disciples to go fast and pray for extra spiritual power or authority when confronted with major spiritual warfare; rather, He was instructing them to always maintain a perpetually high level of faith and expectancy through a lifestyle that regularly incorporates fasting and prayer.  The fasting and prayer are to get ourselves in the spiritual condition for this spiritual warfare.

Matthew tells us the story of Jesus’ temptation.

 Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  And when he had fasted for forty days and forty nights afterward he was hungry.  And when the tempter came to him he said, if you are the son of God command that these stones become bread and he answered and said, “It is written.  Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” (verses 4:1-4)

The passage continues to show how the devil tempted Jesus in every area of His personality.  First His body, then His soul, and finally His spirit.  The spiritual conflict came only after Jesus had fasted for forty days.  He was led up by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness for the purpose of being tempted by Satan.  The scriptures record that it was after He had fasted forty days that He hungered; it was at this point that the tempter came.  He was brought into the spiritual conflict after the fasting.  After the fasting, he had the authority to resist, rebuke, and overcome Satan and his temptation.  Our fasting is for the same purpose – to prepare us for victory when we enter into spiritual warfare.

Every person needs to find his own way of fasting.  Some people go into long fasts of a week or more.  Some fast only on occasions; others, on a regular basis.  It is important for each of us to find a program that is comfortable between ourselves and the Lord as we establish our own regimen of fasting.  I recommend that we have a set discipline of fasting – for example, once a week for a day or a couple of meals.  In our society, just missing one meal doesn’t mean a lot because many people miss one meal during the week just because they are busy.  Missing one meal on one day and then going three or four days and missing another meal probably won’t have a lot of spiritual impact in anyone’s life.  But going a full twenty-four‑hour period without eating is quite different from just skipping a meal.  Some people feel led to go on special fasts when they are seeking real fellowship with the Lord or when they are seeking an answer to a serious problem.  Those fasts may go on longer.

On a short fast – one meal, a couple of meals, or one day – the physical effects are not much more than just hunger.  Hunger will persist up through a three-day fast.  During the first three days, the body is living off of retained food in the digestive system.  Depending on the complexity of the protein structure of the particular foods, some foods are retained in the body for up to a couple weeks.  About the third day, the body finally realizes that it is not being fed and that it needs to find another source of calories.  The body then begins to consume stored fat.  At that point, there is no more hunger as the body has shifted its metabolism.  From the third day up to about the thirtieth or fortieth day (depending upon how heavy the person is) the individual can be in an almost euphoric state.  After this point, fasting can be very detrimental to the body because all the basic body fat has been used up and the body now begins to consume muscle material.  It is not recommended for most people to go on such long fasts.  There are only three people recorded in the Bible who went on long fasts – Moses, Elijah, and Jesus.  The average Christian can go into a several day fast, but he needs to be careful about fasting longer than three days, making sure he knows what he is doing and that he is in the proper physical condition for such an ordeal. 

Fasting has more than a spiritual benefit; it has a physical benefit on your body.  Medical doctors will tell you that it is good for a person to fast on a regular basis just to clean out all that garbage that we pump into our bodies.  Our bodies are made up of ninety-four percent water.  Because water moves everything through our bodies, it is dangerous to our bodies if we to try to fast without water.  Some people fast by only drinking water, but I find that I have to have a certain amount of available blood sugar that I get from fruit juices to keep myself mentally alert.  Daniel 10:3 records that the prophet fasted from “pleasant bread,” which would mean that he ate his basic meals but didn’t allow himself any treats like desserts.  He ate simple meals – just enough to get by – as he kept himself in submission to the Lord.  First Corinthians 7:5 indicates that we can even fast from sexual relationships with our spouses.  The Lord will begin at a point which is comfortable for each individual, and as we mature with the Lord, we will feel more comfortable going into a more disciplined fast.

 The Bible doesn’t say anything to us about “if you fast.”  In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, “when you fast.”  I think fasting is a directive.  Just as we set aside a time to pray and to read the Word, we need to set aside a time for fasting.  I have a set time each day when I pray, but there are times when the Spirit impresses me to pray more, so I pray more.  I have a set time to study and read the Word, but there are other times during the day when the Lord may impress me to just sit down and read the scriptures.  I think the same would be true for fasting.  We need to set aside a time every week or month for a time of fasting, but we also need to be open for the Spirit to speak to us for some specific direction.

 

 Effective Prayers

There are a couple very important principles that determine the effectiveness of prayers.  The first is knowledge of the will of God.  If we know that we are praying correctly, we can have all confidence that our prayers will be answered. (I John 5:14-15)  If the thing that I want is not clearly defined as being within the will of God, I will actually spend more time praying about knowing the will of God on the matter than in actually seeking the answer.  Once I know the will of God on the issue, I can pray a simple prayer of faith and receive the Lord’s provision.  According to Romans 12:2, my mind can be renewed so that I readily prove or manifest the perfect will of God.

 If we are praying incorrectly and do not know how to pray or what to pray for, then we will have ineffective prayer.  Years ago, just before the dawn of the computer, a student of mine told me that she had been praying for a very long time for a new typewriter.  She had a certain kind in mind and asked very specifically for that kind of typewriter.  After a long time without getting an answer to her petition, she asked the Lord to just give her whatever He wanted her to have.  Within a couple days, she was given a computer that was an incredibly better typing system than even the best typewriter she had been wanting.  She could have gotten a much quicker response had she known how to pray from the beginning.  Generally, there are two ways to know that our prayers are in the perfect will of God rather than in our own human will: to pray according to the Bible (because the scripture is the express will of God) and to pray according to the Holy Spirit (because the Holy Spirit is the revealer of the express will of God).  It is important to search the scriptures and know exactly what God’s Word says about our specific request.  Once we find a promise or a principle that speaks to our need, we should lock into that scriptural truth and use it as an anchor for our prayers.  In addition, we should always pray in the Spirit over our needs.  The Holy Spirit always prays in accordance with the will of the Father and, therefore, prays a perfect and effectual prayer. (Romans 8:26-28)

 Another type of knowledge needed for effective payer is the knowledge of the nature of God.  Sometimes we may not know the exact will of God, but we could determine it by knowing what is in alignment with the personality and character of God.  For instance, the lady who was praying for the typewriter had no way of knowing that God’s will was to give her a computer rather than a typewriter.  However, she finally decided to pray in accordance with the nature of God, which is that He is the giver of all good gifts. (James 1:17)  Because she prayed in confidence that whatever He would give her would be the best thing that she could get, she received a gift that was far better than what she would have picked on her own!

 The second principle to effective praying is that prayer must be in faith. (Mark 11:24)  Since the whole Bible is a textbook on faith, this topic could be inexhaustible; but it is advisable to at least touch on a discussion of how faith and prayer work. Before the advent of online shopping, many department stores had catalogue stores where no merchandise was actually stocked in the store but people could order the merchandise they wanted.  When a customer made a purchase, he walked out of the store with only a little slip of paper that promised that a deliveryman would appear at his door in a few days with the product.  When the customer walked out of that store, he didn’t have the item in his hand, but he did own it.  He was demonstrating faith.  If you were to ask him if he had a certain item, he would certainly respond in the affirmative.  If you would then ask to see the item, he would have to tell you that he didn’t have it yet. What seems like a contradiction is actually the same truth looked at from two different angles: yes, he has the item in that he owns it; no, he doesn’t have the item in that it hasn’t arrived yet.  This is a picture of faith: a positive affirmation while still being in the process of obtaining the promise.  But let’s back up to the moment just before the customer entered the catalogue store and ordered the item.  If you were to approach him on the street outside the store and ask him if he had that specific item, he could not honestly answer you that he did.  Even though he desired it and had every intention of getting the item, he could not truthfully claim to have it until he made the transaction and walked away with the sales receipt.  So it is with our faith – until we have assurance that comes into our hearts through the witness of the Spirit or the confirmation of the scripture, we are not actually operating in true faith.  To pretend that we have things from God that are not actually present yet may be hope or desire; or it may be presumption.  Once we receive that faith confirmation of God’s promise, our prayers can catapult to a new level – from asking to assurance.  It may take many prayer sessions to reach that transition stage.  Elijah prayed seven times for the rain (I Kings 18:42-44), Elisha prayed several times for a boy to be raised from the dead (II Kings 4:34-35), Daniel prayed for twenty-one days before he got an answer (Daniel 10:2), Paul prayed three times about his thorn in the flesh (II Corinthians 12:8), and even Jesus had to pray for one blind man twice (Mark 8:22-25) and struggle in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane for three long hours (Matthew 26:41-44).  But once this faith transition is reached, definite results will follow.

 Another principle of effective prayer is obedience.  The scriptures are pregnant with examples: Saul and the slaughter of Agag, Naaman and the seven dips in the Jordan, Joshua and the numerous trips around the walls of Jericho, etc.

 The scriptures mandate that we pray specifically for several different areas and needs:

 Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6)

The nations of the world (Psalm 2:8)

Government authorities (I Timothy 2:1-2)

Our enemies (Matthew 5:44)

Evangelism (Matthew 9:38)

Other Christians (James 5:16)

Ministers (II Thessalonians 3:1)

A brother caught in a fault (I John 5:16)

 

Other obvious areas of prayer would include our families, our church, and ourselves.

 Many questions arise when it seems that our prayers are going unanswered.  Yet, the scriptures specifically direct us to reasons why we fail to receive prayer results.  One important factor is that often we simply neglect to pray. (James 4:2)  When we do pray, if we ask for the wrong things or in the wrong way, our prayers will not be effective. (James 4:3a)  If our motives are selfish, there is no promise of an answer. (James 4:3b)  Wrong relationships, especially in the family, will hinder our prayers. (I Peter 3:7)  Most obviously, sin is a major barrier to productive prayer. (Psalm 66:18, Isaiah 59:1-2) The Bible especially lists the sin of unforgiveness (Mark 11:15) and the sin of hypocritical pride and conceit (Matthew 6:5-6) along with the sin of selfishness (Proverbs 21:13) as faults that specifically block the effectiveness of prayer.  Lack of faith, unbelief, and hardness of heart depict advancing stages of doubt that must be removed if we expect to see results from our prayers (Mark 11:23).  Wrath or anger is another element that must be removed in order to ensure effective prayers. (I Timothy 2:8)

 Sometimes our hindrances are external rather than internal.  Daniel discovered that his prayers had been hindered for three full weeks because the devil had intercepted his answer; finally, the angel assigned to minister to the prophet had to bring in reinforcements. (Daniel 10:12-13)  Job would be another example of this sort of demonic hindrance to God’s provision.  Even in the New Testament, Paul – the apostle who tells us so much about our victoryover demonic forces – admitted that he was occasionally hindered by Satan. (I Thessalonians 2:18)

 One of the many things we can do to make our prayer lives become more effective as a spiritual force in our warfare is to write down our prayers and note the answers when they come.  Keeping a prayer diary in which we list the date and nature of the request and the date of the answer can be a real faith booster and focusing element in our prayer time.  One lady was concerned about how few of her prayers were being answered until she began to think that maybe more prayers were actually being answered than she realized.  She decided to start keeping track by stapling an envelope to her calendar each month so that each time she prayed for something she could drop a note in the envelope.  At the end of the month, she would tear off the envelope and separate the little pieces of paper – the answered prayers in one pile and the still-to-be-answered prayers in another.  She said that she is always amazed to note all the answered prayers she had forgotten!

 Prayer needs to be intelligently directed.  First John 5:14-15 tells us, Now this is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us, and if we know that he hears us whatsoever we ask we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of him.  If we know that we have asked in accordance with the will of God, then we know that He has heard us.  Then we can – and will – have the confidence that He will answer us.  Many times, we cannot have confidence in our prayers because we have not asked according to the will of God and there has not been any intelligence behind our praying.  Sometimes we pray unintelligent prayers because they are so far out of the will of God and God’s direction.  We can’t have confidence that such prayers are going to work and that they will be answered.  John tells us that we have a confidence in prayers that are prayed according to the will of God.  The will of God is found in two different ways.  The will of God is always found in the Word of God.  If the scripture tells us that it is God’s will for a specific thing to happen, then we can pray for that with unwavering confidence that we will receive it.  For instance, we are told that it is the Father’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom.  We know, then, that God wants us to have the kingdom, but we need to know what the kingdom is.  The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:17)  We should never walk around without righteousness, peace, or joy. These are the kingdom of God and it is God’s good pleasure to give them to us.  We can pray without question and in total confidence when we ask for righteousness, peace, or joy.

 Another promise verse reads, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33)  If we have sought the kingdom of God, then we have no question that He wants to add the other things. What “other things” was Jesus talking about?  The previous verses explain that He was talking about what we should eat and what we should wear.  God wants us to be well dressed and well fed.  We have a promise that these things will come after we have first sought His kingdom and His righteousness.

 For further study on God’s will for our prayers, we could turn to II Peter 3:9, It is not God’s will that any should perish, but that all should come to salvation.  When we are praying for someone’s salvation, we can pray withconfidence because we are praying the will of God.

 Yet another scripture concerning God’s desires for us reads, Beloved, I pray above all things that you prosper and be in health even as your soul prospers. (III John 2)  We can pray for healing and prosperity with no question.  Sometimes there are delays before we receive the full manifestation, but healing and prosperity are His purpose. 

We can know the will of God by the Word of God.  If we don’t know the Word of God, then we may pray prayers that are so far off from God’s will that they have no meaning.

 The second way in which we know that we are praying in the will of God is recorded for us in Romans 8:26-27.

 Likewise, the Spirit helps our weaknesses for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought.”  When we don’t know how to pray for something, we cannot have confidence.  But the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  “The Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered.  Now he who searches the heart knows what the mind of the Spirit is because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. 

When we are praying in the Spirit, our intercession is according to the will of God.

 The first way that you can know that your prayers are in the will of God is that you know that they are based on the Word.  When you pray, make sure that you have scriptural backing for everything you pray.  Know what the Word of God says about it.  We can pray in confidence for any specific thing when we can point to a specific place in the Word of God that addresses that need and God’s will for us to receive it.  The second way to know that you are praying in the will of God is by praying in the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit makes intercession for us, and He always prays according to the will of God.  The tremendous results of this kind of prayer are given in the next verse.

 And we know that all things work together for good for them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (verse 8:28)

 This verse has been subject to terrible injustice.  People have taken it out of context to say that all kinds of terrible things that happen are the will of God.  What is it that works together for our good?  The answer is, “The things that we have prayed for in the Holy Ghost.”  When we don’t know how to pray for something, our spirit man can pray in our prayer language through the Holy Ghost.  In this way, we are praying in alignment with God’s will, and then we can know that it will work out for our good.  Verse 28 begins with the conjunction “and.”  This conjunction joins the sentence with the one before it where we learn about praying in the Holy Spirit.  In other words, Paul is saying that after having prayed something through in the Holy Ghost, you can know that it is going to work together for your good because your prayer was in the will of God.

 

 Six Relationships in Prayer

There are six different relationships that we need to cover when we are discussing prayer.  The first relationship is the relationship between ourselves and God.  In Matthew 7:10-11, Jesus said,

 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?   If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

 Once I saw a skit depicting prayer.  In an office, a secretary was sitting, working away at a typewriter.  The first gentleman came in dressed in a nice business suit, looking very important.  He asked to speak to the head of the company.  The secretary asked him to take a seat.  Another person came in asking to see the boss, and the secretary replied, “Take a seat; I’ll call you when he’s ready.”  A third gentleman came in to see the owner, and the secretary responded that he, too, would have to wait.  Then a little boy rushed in and ran past the secretary, heading for the boss’ office.  “I’ve got to see my dad,” he called out without waiting for permission.  When we understand our relationship to the Father, we can get into His office.  If we want to come in as a business relationship, we do not have the access that we need to the Father.  It is only when we cry out to “Abba, Father” that we have immediate access to the Father.

It is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:32)

 The first relationship is to understand that God is our Father, but our second relationship is to the problem we are praying about – a relationship of unwavering faith.

 But let him ask in faith with nothing doubting.  For he who doubts is like the 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 and unstable in all his ways. (James 1:6‑8)

 If we ask anything from God, we must ask without any doubts.  We have to have a relationship with our problem in that we do not doubt when we deal with that problem.  James said that a double minded (doubtful) person is unstable in all his ways; he is tossed back and forth like a ship on the sea (some of the time, he thinks that his prayers will work; the rest of the time, he isn‘t sure).  When he asks for something, he won’t receive it because his wavering has canceled out his faith. The word “double‑minded” literally translated from the Greek means “double‑souled.”  The three parts to our personality – our spirits, our souls, and our bodies – have an all-important interrelationship.  Scripture tells us that we need to be “spiritually minded.”  We need to have our minds (our soulical nature) linked to our spirit man.  If we do that, Paul tells us that we will have “life and peace.”  On the other hand, Paul explains, “To be carnally minded is death.”  To have our minds, our wills, and our emotions (our soulical man) linked to our carnal being (our physical man) will result in death – including death to our faith life. (Romans 8:6)  The double‑minded or “double‑souled” individual will try to link to the spirit man, but at the same time will keep linking back to the carnal man.  Therefore, he has an unstable soul.  He is trying to believe God, but he looks at the circumstances and the physical symptoms and cannot get any results.  If we want to have an answer from God, we have to come in unwavering faith, believing God’s report and not the circumstances.

 A good friend of mine was diagnosed with a fast‑growing type of cancer.  A team of ninety-nine doctors at a major hospital reviewed her case and recommended that she go immediately to the top cancer center in America for treatment.  As a result of the doctors’ report, she was struck with panic and fear.  When she went to her pastor, the best encouragement he could find for her was that sometimes the best form of healing is when God takes the believer to heaven.  Even among the congregation, she could not find one person who knew how to believe God with her for her healing.  Her husband assured her that he would take her to the cancer center or any other place in the world she wanted to go.  She told him that she would go to the hospital, but first wanted to stop by South Bend, IN, to have the believers there pray for her.  My wife and I picked them up at the airport that weekend and invited them to stay in our home for a couple of days.  Dr. Yonggi Cho was in town at the time ministering for Dr. Lester Sumrall at our church.  Both these great men of God laid hands on her and prayed over her.  Immediately after prayer, she felt a tingling in her body and knew that there was a healing going on.  One thing she said was, “When I looked at the believers in South Bend, I saw their faith and I knew that when they prayed for me I would be healed.  I never saw a moment of anxiety or fear – only faith that God wanted me totally healed.”  After we prayed against the cancer once, we never prayed for it again; we just dealt with the fear and anxiety.  When the doctors at the cancer center examined her, they could find no trace of cancer in her body!  We had a relationship to her problem such that we walked in unquestionable, unwavering faith.  The double‑minded pastor at her home church would never have been able to help her since he vacillated in his faith and did not take an aggressive relationship to her problem.

 Third, we have to have a relationship to the answer.  We must see the answer as our answer.  Dr. Cho talks about “getting pregnant” with the answer.  He tells the story about his early years as a poor preacher.  When he needed a desk and a chair, he believed God for them.  He says that he “felt” that desk and chair inside his spirit man.  He became “pregnant” with a desk and “pregnant” with a chair.  Just like a woman pregnant with a baby, he was “pregnant” inside his spirit with a desk and a chair.  We have to see the answer as already ours.  Even though you don’t yet see it in the physical, you are pregnant with it.  There is substance and evidence – a guarantee that you have it.  This is the kind of relationship we must have with the answer.

 Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

 Bill, one of my roommates in college, had such poor eyesight that he had to wear very thick glasses.  He was so cross-eyed that when he took his glasses off, you didn’t know which person in the room he was talking to.  Each night before going to bed, we always prayed together, and every night Bill would always ask, “Pray for my eyesight.  I want my eyes healed.”  Night after night, we would pray for his eyes.  One night, God suddenly dropped a gift of faith into my spirit, saying, “Bill’s eyes are healed!”  Two weeks later, his eyesight was completely restored.  It has been many, many years now and his eyesight is perfect so that he still doesn’t have to wear glasses.  There was an evidence – a substance in the spirit realm – that came into my spirit two weeks before the healing was manifest.  During these weeks of waiting, the healing was as good as done because in my spirit I knew it was done.

 Our fourth relationship is to ourselves.

 To redeem those who were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons and become as the sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts crying “Abba, Father.”  Therefore, you are no longer a slave but a son and if a son then an heir of God through Christ. (Galatians 4:5-7)

 The prodigal son asked his father for his inheritance.  After receiving his portion, he went off and wasted all his money on riotous living.  When he “came to himself,” he was in the pigpen.  He saw that there was no hope for him unless he went back home.  He remembered how well his father treated the hired servants who worked for him – those servants were certainly living better than he was living right now.  On his way back home, he rehearsed the speech he planned to deliver to his father.  He only hoped that his father would treat him as a hired servant, but his father wouldn’t receive him that way.  When his father saw him coming afar off, he ran to him and cried, “He’s my son!”  The prodigal son became engrafted again into the family.  If the boy had refused his entrance as a son – insisting that he come home as a hired servant – he would never have received the sandals, the ring, the robe or the fatted calf.  Our Father wants to give us the Kingdom.  But many of us want to come to God with the wrong relationship to ourselves.  We want to come to God and try to earn our gifts and our blessings.  We cannot do enough to earn our relationship with the Father.  Sometimes we think that we need to fast enough or spend enough time in prayer.  We do need to be regimented in our Christian walk in fasting, praying, and studying the Word of God.  But it is possible for these things to become like rosary beads to us – just another religious exercise.  We have to come to God with the revelation that we are the adopted sons.  There must be something inside of us that cries out, “Abba, Father.”  We must have a relationship with ourselves such that we no longer expect to earn our way as hired hands.  How many hired hands could have earned enough money to have purchased a gold ring?  How many hired hands could have worked and saved enough to have the banquet where they ate the fatted calf?  None of them.  We cannot earn our credits with God.  We must realize that we are adopted sons.  Romans 12:3 says that we should not think more highly of ourselves than we ought by getting boastful and proud.  On the other hand, we have to walk in a sonship relationship – a right relationship with ourselves.

 Our fifth relationship is with the devil, recognizing him as a defeated enemy.  In Colossians 2:15, Paul gives us a wonderful teaching on what relationship the devil is to us:  Having disarmed the principalities and powers, he made a public spectacle of them triumphing over them.  In biblical times, there was a custom of building an Arc de Triomphe, or a triumphal arch, as a public structure in a capital city to honor someone who had been off to war and had come back in victory.  On that arch would be depicted the hero’s victory and how he had totally decimated the enemy.  The arch would be dedicated with a parade of the treasures and of the slaves who had been captured during the war.  The Arc de Triomphe of Titus in Rome shows Titus marching back into the city of Rome with the menorah from the temple in Jerusalem and carts piled with gold and treasures that he had taken from the people of Israel. It shows him marching back in with whole armies of stripped slaves who were chained like wild animals.  Titus was bringing the top scholars, politicians, and warriors of Israel back to Rome as slaves.  These engravings bear testimony that Titus had disarmed Israel and was making a public show of this victory.  The scripture tells us that the same thing is true about our diabolical enemies.

 The devil has been disarmed of all his weapons and armor.  Jesus has stripped him down to nothing and humiliated him in public by marching him through this triumphal arch.  The devil is no longer able to put up a resistance against us if we recognize that he is the defeated enemy.  Through Christ’s victory, we have triumphed over him.  We have to have a relationship with the devil in which we recognize that he is a defeated enemy. 

We also have to recognize that the devil is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44)  Therefore, he will keep lying to us and telling us, “I’m gonna get you!”  I once saw a picture of a huge, ferocious lion in a cage; just outside the cage is a six‑year‑old boy looking up at the lion.  The little boy could look nose-to-nose at that lion as long as the lion was inside the cage.  That is the way we have to relate to the devil.  He is a liar, and he may roar, growl, and threaten – but he is inside a cage.  There is a shield of faith between him and us.  All his roaring and growling are all lies; he can’t harm us because he is a defeated foe.  Christ has already triumphed over him publicly and we are seated above the devil with Christ in heavenly places.

 Our final relationship is with others – a relationship that is sometimes so easily overlooked.

 For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. (Matthew 6:14)And when you stand praying, forgive. (Mark 11:25)

 Jesus told us at one point that, if we come to give an offering to God and realize that we have an issue against a brother, we should lay down our gifts and go make things right with our brother before coming back to present our offering.  Our offering won’t profit anything until we get right with others.  The right relationship with other people gives us the power to pray in the right way.

 First Peter 3:7 tells us that a man has to be in a right relationship with his wife so that his prayers may not be hindered.  If a man is holding a grudge or having a problem with his wife, his prayers will not be effective.  Until we get to the place where we have a right relationship with our families and others around us, we cannot have full prayer power.

 In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus goes through every one of these relationships.  He begins with a relationship to the Father: Our Father who art in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread is a relationship to our problem.  Unwavering faith is expressed when we speak of the provision as our daily bread because we recognize that it is already our bread even if we don’t yet have it in our hands. Too many times we pray, “Sometime, in the by and by, whenever You can get around to it, God, meet my needs.  I’ll keep hanging on to the bitter end.”  If we have a relationship of unwavering faith, we will be able to view our problem as already solved in that we see it as our daily bread and know that God is going to supply it to us this day.  We also have to have a relationship to the answer.  Even though it has not yet manifested in the physical realm, we are pregnant with the answer, Give us this day our bread.  The fact that we call it ours already means that we are already pregnant with it.  It is already the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not yet seen.  We are asking God to give it to us, but we know from His Word that it already belongs to us.  Even though it hasn’t been delivered yet, it is our bread.  Jesus also addressed our relationship to ourselves when He taught us to pray, Our Father.  God is not just someone else’s father, but He is our Father.  We also have to have a relationship to the devil: Lead us not into temptation.  We don’t have to go into temptation.  We don’t have to be subject to the devil.  We recognize that he is out there, but we don’t have to be led into his path.  We can be surrounded by the shield of faith and insulated from his attack. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors speaks of having a right relationship to others.  If we do not have the kind of relationship in which we are able to call upon our own ability to forgive others, then we cannot receive forgiveness in ourselves.

 

 Dimensions of Prayer

We also need to recognize the several basic dimensions of prayer.  Even though we have already mentioned some of these areas as components to prayer, it is good to take a deeper look at them to understand how they operate in our lives and how we can benefit from them.

 The first dimension of prayer is a dimension of confession.  We often think of confession as having to do with repentance and confessing our sins.  But the word “confession” literally means “to say with.”  We have to find out what God is saying and say the same thing God is saying.  If God is saying, “You’re a dirty, rotten sinner,” then we had better agree and repent.  If, however, He is saying, “You’re my beloved son,” then we need to say what He is saying.  Confession is simply agreeing with God – what He has said in His Word and through His Spirit.

 Another dimension of prayer is meditation – contemplating, sitting quietly and letting God’s thoughts enter into us and work through us.  One illustration many use in talking about meditation is that of a cow chewing her cud.  Meditation means to reanalyze, to repeat, or to recite.  In many traditions of the world, the people have repetitions that they like to do; but the Bible challenges us not to be like the heathen who make vain repetitions, saying the same thing over and over with no confidence. (Matthew 6:7)  On the other hand, it is good to say the Word of God over and over until it really becomes a part of our being.  Some of the deepest experiences of spiritual growth that I have ever experienced came one summer when I worked in a cardboard box factory.  All day long, I would stand in the same place folding boxes and putting them into a machine to be stapled.  Every morning before I went in to work, I would read a passage of scripture and begin to memorize it, getting it inside my mind and my spirit.  All day long while I folded boxes, I would recite the scripture over and over, pondering over each word and its meaning.  Atbreak time, I would get out my Bible and find another verse and begin to memorize it.  At lunchtime, I would locate another verse and begin memorizing it.  By the end of the day, I would have meditated on about four verses.  I came out of that factory with some real spiritual growth because I had been doing repetition and meditation – a form of prayer.

 Another level of prayer is petition – drawing from the storehouse of God by asking for the things that we need.  A further dimension of prayer is intercession – standing in the gap for others.  Ezekiel 22:30 says that God is looking for someone to stand in the gap to intercede for others.  The next dimension of prayer is persistence.  This is where we just refuse to give up when we don’t immediately receive the manifestation of the thing for which we are praying.  The Prophet Elijah said that it was going to rain.  He sent his servant out six times, but the young man couldn’t find the cloud.  Finally, on his seventh trip, he saw a little cloud like the shadow of a man’s hand.  In Elijah’s persistence and staying there, he was able to bring his request to pass.

 We often hear the passage about the widow’s petition to the judge taught as a parable about insistent prayer – seeing the widow’s persistence before the judge as an example for us to be doggedly determined when appealing to God.  begging, pleading, and importunity to get his attention, we should expect that the message being presented about God is that He should be easily drawn to our petitions.  This is exactly the conclusion Jesus is directing us toward – God is our Father, not our judge, and He responds readily to our cries whether they be at day (during regular business hours) or at night (after office hours).  This parable does not teach us that we must beg and grovel to get God’s response.  An unbiased look at the section reveals quite the opposite; it teaches us to pray and expect an immediate response from our Heavenly Father.  After all, the nature of God is that He is the One who answers even before we ask and responds with blessings that are bigger than we could even think of asking.

 One other aspect of prayer can be found in Deuteronomy 32:30, How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up?  When two people agree on a prayer request that is the will of God, they can chase ten thousand.  Our prayer power is multiplied when two people agree.

Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 18:19)

 This is why Paul called the believers in Ephesus to united prayer as the concluding statement of his discourse on spiritual warfare. (verses 6:18-19)  It is important to pray together believing that the answer will come.  We can then move mountains and do spiritual warfare.

 And all things, whatsoever you ask in prayer, believing you shall receive. (Matthew 21:22)

 It is important to have a time, a place, and a method by which we do regular spiritual warfare – drawing close to God, resisting the devil, and submitting to God. (James 4:7-8)  In this, we will see victory in our lives through prayer.

 Thanksgiving, Praise, and Worship Yet another dimension of prayer is thanksgiving – showing our appreciation to God.  You will likely remember from our study on asking, seeking, and knocking that it is with thanksgiving that we are able to enter into the Lord’s gates and that we can enter into His courts with praise.  One of the major keys to a successful Christian life is an attitude of gratitude.  If we look only a little, we can always find something for which to be thankful and to express our gratitude.  A story is told about a nursing home employee who really knew and applied this principle.  One night there was a terrible ice storm, but the next morning she reported to work as promptly as ever.  Surprised to see her, her supervisor asked how she had made it.  “I live only two blocks away,” she said, “so I just crawled on my hands and knees, and here I am!  I’m so thankful.”  “Just what is there about crawling up a hill on your hands and knees, through ice and snow, at six o’clock in the morning that would make you so thankful?” the supervisor asked.  Removing her wet coat, she replied, “It was dark – no one could see me!”

 When ten lepers came to Jesus for healing, He graciously healed them all.  However, only one took the time to offer Him thanks.  That one, the scripture said, was made whole.  The others were healed from their disease, but this one had a re-creative miracle in which the disfigurement the disease had left behind disappeared.  It was thanksgiving that made the difference!

 In our lives, there is always something we can be thankful for and something that we can praise God for, no matter what the situation may be.  The Bible enjoins us to verbalize our praise to God in a joyful noise.  Even if our praises may not do much for others, God loves them and welcomes them.  Even the judicial system of our land upholds our rights to praise God regardless of how that praise may sound to others.

 A North Carolina man was once convicted in court for disrupting church services with his horrible singing.  In 1873, William Linkhaw was hauled into county court in Robeson, NC, by fellow Methodists who charged that his singing had disrupted church services week after week.  Among his offenses to the ear, they said, was the fact that Linkhaw kept singing long after the rest of the congregation had stopped.  Asked to remain silent, Linkhaw refused, protesting that church singing was part of his duty to God.  Linkhaw was found guilty of a misdemeanor and ordered to keep quiet in church.  He appealed to the state supreme court, which overturned the conviction.  Even if Linkhaw’s singing was as awful as charged, the court ruled that the state had no business disciplining him.

 On a bit more serious note, I do want to present some truths about what an important role the expression of gratitude plays in the believer’s life.  A student came to me with a pressing problem, “The past couple of days I’ve been tempted by lustful, sexual thoughts.  This is the first real problem I’ve had since receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit about four months ago.  What can I do?”  My answer was, “Praise the Lord!”  I meant that as something to actually do.  A lot of times we just say, “Praise the Lord,” as a Christian cliché, but this time I meant it as an action to take in overcoming temptation.  Then I reminded him of some of the principles concerning James’ directions to “count it all joy” when we are tempted and Paul’s admonition to glory in tribulations.

 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. (James 1:2-4)

And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: (Romans 5:3-4)

 From these verses, it is easy to see that these great apostles of the faith didn’t count temptation and troubles as occasions for discouragement.  Rather, temptation was an occasion for praising the Lord.  Joy and rejoicing were their responses when Satan tried to get them down.  They knew that they needed strength, and they must have remembered what Nehemiah had said: The joy of the Lord is your strength. Paul proved that joy, rather than discouragement, was the better response to trouble when he and Silas were in the jail at Philippi. (Acts 16:24-26)  They had been beaten, imprisoned, and held in chains.  But at midnight, when everything was the darkest, they were singing and praising God.  Through their praises, an earthquake delivered them from the jail.  These apostles could rejoice and praise God through their troubles because they saw that the final result of all soulical temptation and physical tribulation is a stronger spiritual character.  James claimed that the final result was “wanting nothing,” and Paul saw that it was “having nothing to make you ashamed.”

 Praising God is an absolute necessity to being an overcomer.  Praise is an actual form of warfare.  The Lord inhabits the praises of his people. (Psalm 22:3)  When we praise God, we establish a place for the Lord to live.  In the presence of the Lord there is fulness of joy. (Psalm 16:11)  The joy of the Lord is our strength. (Nehemiah 8:10)  From the strength that we receive from the Lord as a result of the joy which we received while being in His presence, we know that we can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)  Our praise establishes the presence, which brings the joy, which produces the strength, with the end result being that we are victorious in all things.  Praise warfare is a very important key that we must have because it allows us to go into spiritual warfare with an attitude of total victory.  Prayer is the propelling force to get us through, and praise warfare establishes strength in our lives.

 Second Chronicles chapter twenty tells the story of Jehoshaphat, who was far outnumbered as the armies of the enemies were approaching.  Jehoshaphat declared a fast and sought the Lord for His intervention.  The Lord answered, Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude for the battle is not yours but God’s…You will not need to fight in this battle.  Position yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord who is with you.(verses 15 & 17)  Then all the people of Israel worshiped the Lord.  Praise and worship were the important elements that won the victory for Jehoshaphat.  Victory will also be the result of our praise.

 Jehoshaphat did indeed have his army dressed in battle array, ready for combat.  Paul tells us to put on the whole armor of God.  We don’t just act like there isn’t a battle.  We get dressed for the battle even though we know that God will do the fighting.  We must equip ourselves with our battle gear.  When Jehoshaphat’s army began to sing and praise, the Lord sent ambushments against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir who had come against Judah.  Ammon and Moab got confused and started fighting the army of Mount Seir.  They then fought against themselves until they destroyed one another.  It took Jehoshaphat three days to carry off all the spoils of war.  On the fourth day, they worshiped God and returned to Jerusalem with joy for the Lord had made them to rejoice over their enemies. (verse 27)

 James tells us to count it all joy, not because we are to have the struggle but because we know that we will come out from the struggle stronger than when we went in.  When Judah went in to fight the battle, they did not have that bounty of loot and booty in their hands.  They came into the battle with a concern in their soulical man, but they sought God.  When they finally came to the place that they worshiped God because they had faith that God was going to fight their battle, they were able to use their prayers to propel their spiritual weapons as they went into the battle in the spirit.  Instead of losing their houses, land, and families, they returned home with so much treasure that it took them three days to gather it all up.  They came back better than when they went out to fight.  James tells us that when we come to the temptation or trial, to come to it with rejoicing because on the other side we will be better off for it and we will not be ashamed.  Jehoshaphat came back full of rejoicing because, not only had their enemy been defeated, but he also came back to Jerusalem with great wealth.

 There is a victory that we will establish when we wage warfare through praise.  Yes, there was a battle, there was a struggle, and there was warfare – but the Israelites only had to stand and watch it happen.  Jehoshaphat came home that day more than a conqueror.  He did not have to fight the battle; he just reached out and took the reward from the battle.  God tells us that we can do the same.

 Moses numbered the warriors from twenty years old (Numbers 1:3), but he numbered the priestly tribe of Levites from one month old. (Numbers 3:28)  I think that this is symbolic in that we are to begin to serve in our worship relationship and in our priestly role the moment we are born again.  The warrior position is something that we grow into, but the priestly position is something that we start immediately.  It is a very important place.

 What is the difference between praise and worship?  Praise is the recognition of God for what He has done.  We praise Him for His mighty acts and the things He has done.  Worship is acknowledging Him for who He is.

 When the spies came into Jericho, Rahab actually praised the God of Israel.  She said,

 We have heard the report of how you walked through the Red Sea on dry ground.  We have heard of what you did to King Sihon and Og.  We have heard how your God has provided for you and brought you out of Egypt with ahigh hand. (Joshua 2:9-10) 

She went through the many repetitions of what she knew God had done for His people.  She acknowledged the greatness of Israel through fear.  There was not yet a love relationship between her and God, but she still praised Him for what He had done.

 Worship is adoration for a person for who he is.  We recognize him for who he is and not just for what he has done.  Worship means “to count the worth” – not to count the accomplishments, but to count the value.  Praise is centered on accomplishments.  We praise God for His mighty acts.  But in worship, we begin to express our relationship to Him and how much we love Him and value our relationship with Him.

 There are several different things that may happen in our lives that could keep us from being true worshipers of God.  One hindrance to worship and praise is having little or no knowledge of what the Word of God has to say about Him.  If we enter into His presence with rejoicing, we must enter in the way He has outlined.  If we want to do that, there are a few scriptures to study and begin to put into practice.  The Psalms are full of the praises of God and full of instruction on how we can enter in.

 In Psalm 96:1 and Psalm 98:1, we are told to sing a new song unto the Lord.  There is no better way to praise Him from our own hearts according to what He has done for us than to create our own words and tune which fit our feelings toward Him.  It doesn’t have to be elaborate, just sincere. In I Corinthians 14:15, Paul speaks of singing in the Spirit and with the understanding.

 In Psalm one hundred fifty, we are taught to praise God with all types of instruments.  In verse four, we are told that dancing is a form of worship. Like any other form of worship, dancing is not to be performed to the gratification of the flesh, but to the glory of God.  It is a willful act of worship, a deliberate gesture of adoration.  In Psalm 95:6, we are taught to kneel and to bow down before the Lord in worship.  In Psalm 63:4, we are instructed to lift our hands unto the Lord.  In I Timothy 2:8, Paul speaks of lifting up holy hands.  Psalm 47:1 tells us to clap our hands and to shout unto the Lord.  There are many ways to worship, but we cannot know about them unless we search the scriptures.

 One hindrance to being a worshiper of God is not knowing what the scriptures say.  There is a whole denomination that doesn’t believe in having musical instruments in church, but the Word of God commands us to praise Him on the psaltery and harp.  The Word commands us to praise God with the timbral and the loud sounding cymbal.  There is another denomination that only sings the Psalms.  They believe that you can’t write songs in any modern period.  But the Book of Psalms specifically teaches us to sing a new song to the Lord – to keep creating new songs unto the Lord.  If we are ignorant of the scriptures, then we are ignorant of what to do and how to do it and we miss our real ability to worship God.

 The second reason that some are not real worshipers of God is that they have no real revelation of Christ.  A revelation of Christ comes to us not by our works or our own efforts but through the Spirit.  Paul received the revelation of Christ on the Damascus Road, and that revelation changed the course of his life forever.  The revelation of Christ began on the Road to Damascus but grew and grew until there was a very intimate, settled relationship over the years.  It is the same in every normal Christian life and in every Christian who is following on to know the Lord.  The relationship gets richer and, therefore, the worship gets deeper.  How can we worship Christ if there is no initial revelation?  How can we not help but worship Him if that revelation unfolds more and more each day?  The more that we see Christ, the more we will worship Him.  But if we don’t see Him, then we cannot enter into worship. The reason that many do not have true worship and are not able to worship in Spirit and in truth is because they have no true love for Christ.  If there is no real love for Christ, all worship and praise is mere words and actions and is not accepted by God.  If our love for Christ is real, we will long to please Him and be in His presence.  It is important to be accepted by those whom we love.  If we long for fellowship with Christ, then we will go to any length to please Him.  When we love Christ, we will long to be with Him.  In those precious times alone with Him, we will find our love for Him growing and we will surely find that His lovingkindness is better than life. (Psalm 63:3)  Worship is naturally born out of a true relationship and love for Christ.  Without deep love, there is no deep worship.

 Another area that stops us from being true worshipers is sin in our lives.  Sin separates us from God.  We cannot truly worship Him with unforgiveness, bitterness, or resentment in our hearts.  The sacrifice He accepts is a broken and contrite heart. (Psalm 51:16-17) Therefore, we must deal with sin in our lives before we can worship him in purity.  Remember the story of Cain whose offering was not accepted – not because the offering was offensive but because Cain himself was not pleasing to the Lord.  As we have already mentioned, God is not willing to accept our offerings as long as we have unresolved differences between us and our fellowman.  Many times, as we enter into His presence, His great light will zero in on something that we need to deal with.  If we allow His Spirit to cleanse us, we can freely worship Him with no condemnation.  If we withhold, there will be no release or acceptance, no matter how long or how loud we praise him.  Sin in our hearts will separate us from God.

 A fourth major area that keeps people from entering into true Spirit worship before God is tradition.  Religious tradition is one of the most binding hindrances to those who would be true worshipers of God.  In the scripture, we read about many forms of worship, but we can quickly reject them if they don’t fit into what we have always been taught.  If it is commanded in the Word, then it is God’s desire for us to do it.  That’s why He took the time to have it recorded and passed down from generation to generation.  Many things we are taught are viable and conform to the Word of God, but many things still restrict and put limits on our relationship with Him.  The bonds that keep us from entering into God’s best need to be broken and cast aside.  Make sure that everything lines up with the Word – whether tradition or breaking from tradition.  Man puts us into categories and each category worships in its own way.  But God did not write to one part of His family and instruct them to be silent before Him (Habakkuk 2:20) and write separately to another part of His family to shout and rejoice with a song and dance (Psalm 132:9).  He said both things to all His children.  There is a time to be silent and there is a time to shout and to praise with a loud voice.  We must be bold enough to follow the Word of God and to break from some of the traditions that keep us from praising our Lord and worshiping Him in Spirit and in truth.  Jesus rebuked the Pharisees because they were bound by the traditions of men.  We have to break free from the traditions of men.  We can be shouting and dancing, but it may not be worship; it may just be a Pentecostal tradition.  On the other hand, we may be very, very quiet and not of any religious tradition at all – but that may be true worship that touches the heart of God.  When it is real worship before God, it can be loud or it can be quiet.  It is a matter of tuning into the Holy Spirit.

 We have a general pattern of worship and praise in our services.  Generally, we start out with the “fast” songs and move to the “slow” songs. That usually works because of our own soulical nature.  When we come into the service, we need to get pumped up and moving.  But when we move from the soulical man into the spirit man, we want to move into worship.  But that’s not always the case.  Sometimes the Holy Ghost may want you to start off with a slowerpace; however, once you have come into the presence of God, all heaven breaks loose and you can’t help but sing, dance, jump, and shout.  We have to break free of the traditions of men and do whatever the Spirit is dictating for us – to worship in Spirit and in truth.

 Personal inhibitions are a major hindrance to worshiping God.  How many times have we been in services where we wanted to lift our hands in worship but just didn’t do it because we were afraid of what other people would think?  Personal inhibitions are a derivative of pride.  What difference does it make what others think?  Dr. Sumrall would say, “Another man’s head is a very funny place to keep your happiness.”  In worship we seek to give God pleasure, not to prove or disprove our spirituality to those around us.  You may be shy and find it difficult to outwardly express what is in your heart but go ahead and begin to express those feelings outwardly when you are in the closet alone with the Lord.  When you are released to worship Him fully, you will find it easier and easier to join in when you are in a public service with the congregation.  Those who are a little more exuberant outwardly and call attention to themselves instead of directing their worship to the Father and blending in with the worshiping congregation need to be dealt with in their own lives and brought into balance so that their worship – whether alone or corporate – will truly glorify God to the very highest degree.

 A major hindrance to really worshiping God is a lack of our will to do it.  Hands that hang down and feeble knees must be strengthened lest they be turned out of the way. (Hebrews 12:12)  A lack of will or interest will definitely hinder worship.  It will stop it all together in the life of one who is apathetic concerning worship.  But there are those who are callous and do not intend to worship God fully according to his Word.  Many are complacent and have no desire to learn the scriptural methods of praise and worship; instead they pursue their own method.  They must remember that worship is not acceptable if it is not in the Spirit and in truth.

 The church needs a clear understanding of worship; not soulish worship, but pure spiritual worship.  We can worship in our own way, but it is too often based on how we feel rather than how God desires to be worshiped.  I have seen people “broken” by simply entering in with a congregation that was worshiping purely with their whole heart.  Through the expression of love and adoration in the presence of God as He comes among them, lives can be changed and wounds mended. It is the anointing in the midst of worshiping people that can break the yokes – even yokes of bondage that hinder true worship and praise.

 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.  God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and in truth. (John 4:23-24)

 True worship is a form of warfare.  True praise is also a form of warfare.  When we enter into true worship and true praise, we will find that God fights the battle for us.  I have seen people healed during the praise and worship time.  I have known of many people being baptized in the Holy Spirit during praise and worship; the praise just began flowing out of them and they were filled with the Holy Spirit.  People are delivered and saved through praise and worship.  When I was in college, a group of us was worshiping the Lord when a young lady leaned over to me and said, “This is so wonderful!  How can I get what all these people have so I can enter in?”  She was immediately born again.  No one had preached a salvation message.  It was the first time she had been in a meeting like that.  Yet, she was touched.  Spiritual warfare was going on.  The devil had her soul in his bondage, but his power over her was broken because worship is a form of spiritual warfare. It is in times such as these that we are able to stand still and see God fight our battles.

 

 Spiritual Warfare

When Paul discussed spiritual warfare in Ephesians chapter six, his focal point was prayer.

 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:10-17)

 In these verses, Paul is giving us our marching orders and directives for what we are to do in spiritual warfare.  It is interesting to note that he uses only a handful of verbs.  He uses the verbs “stand,” “withstand,” “take,” “puton,”and “quench.”  In our normal concept of warfare, we imagine struggling, fighting, tumbling, bouncing, and being knocked against the ropes.  But this natural concept is not what Paul describes.  Our stance is a position of standing and withstanding – of taking the armament, putting it on, and quenching the fiery darts of the wicked one.  He does not talk at all about taking and giving blows.

 In verse eighteen, Paul mentions two other verbs, “praying” and “being watchful.”  In this verse, Paul comes to the focus of the warfare – the area of prayer.

 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for the saints and for me that utterance may be given to me that I may open my mouth boldly and make known the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains that in it I may speak boldly as I ought to speak.

 Prayer is the battle for which we get dressed in Ephesians 6:11-17; yet how many messages do we hear about the getting dressed and how few do we hear about the actual battle?  The old rhyme tells us that it’s “one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, and four to go.”  Let’s not get all dressed up with nowhere to go!  Paul tells us that we must enter into “all prayer,” meaning all types of prayer.  Prayer is an all-encompassing factor in the Christian life.  We are directed to pray all the time (I Thessalonians 5:17), in every place (I Timothy 1:8), with every kind of prayer (Ephesians 6:18), about everything (Philippians 4:6), and for all people (I Timothy 2:1).  The biblical summation on the topic is found in James 5:16, The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

 

^[1]     Some translations omit “fasting” based on the fact that many ancient Greek texts do not contain the term.  Whether the Lord spoke of prayer alone or prayer accompanied by fasting, the spiritual principle remains the same.