What Are We To Pray For?
If
we need not pray for God to do what He
has already accomplished through Christ's death, and if we need not
plead for Him to do the things that He
sent US to do, then what do we pray for?
When
Christian believers contemplate prayer, the focus should never be on struggling
or wrestling or battling with demonic spiritual powers. That is a negative and
counter-productive attitude to bring before the Father. The warfare is ended.Isa.40:2 Jesus won the victory at the
cross. When He came back from the dead, He left an eternally defeated satan.
Now, the believer's ministry is to report that victory to the world.
The Virus Of Hostility
Millions of Christians have been so infected by the spiritual
warfare virus that their only concept of prayer is to do battle with the
rulers of the darkness of this world.
BIBLICAL PRAYER is not militancy. It is
a beautiful season of communing, of correlating, of harmonizing with the Father
about His plans and about how we can represent Him and demonstrate His love to
people.
We do not come to our knees to contend with demons or to
fight with evil forces. We come to our knees to fellowship with the Father, to
draw fresh inspiration, new strength and divine guidance from Him.
In pondering a time of prayer,
never contemplate that sacred season with demons on your mind. Never project a
war with darkness or anticipate a battle with evil forces. Christ did all of
that for us, in our name. Col.1:13; 2:15
People who approach prayer militantly, those who focus on
doing spiritual battle with the powers of hell, can become belligerent, hostile and adversarial toward
other people. Instead of peace and harmony, love and compassion, an
offensive and
combative spirit is engendered in their lives that does not
reflect the Spirit of Christ.
Prayer—The Hallowed Season
As you approach your season of prayer, project the honour of
being at one with your Lord. Anticipate fellowship, inspiration, rapport with
God, communication with the Holy Spirit. It is time to absorb His love, to
discuss with the Father His plans and how you are to be involved; a time to express your
confidence in Him and your gratitude for the high honour of being a partner
with Him.
PRAYER is
communion with the Father.
PRAYER is
harmonizing our plans with His.
PRAYER is
pondering what His Word says about our ideas and conforming our concepts to
His.
PRAYER is
harmonizing our spirits and emotions with His Holy Spirit and His Word.
PRAYER is
aligning our spirituality, our meditations, our concepts with the facts of
Christ's redemption—with what and who He has made us to be and with what He has
sent us to do as His representatives.
PRAYER is
a season of intimacy with our Lord, pouring our hearts out before Him as we
contemplate our mission to represent Him to people.
PRAYER is
absorbing His love so that we may witness of Christ more effectively in a
despairing and confused world.
PRAYER is
worshipping Him for all that He is and for all that He has provided for
humanity.
PRAYER is
absorbing His Life and Spirit for our enablement in His royal
service.
PRAYER is
thanking God for His gifts and callings in our lives, and listening for His
directions in how and where to use those gifts for the good of our hurting
world.
PRAYER is
correlating our disposition with His attitude toward people, making sure that
we exhibit His compassion toward them, and not our prejudices.
PRAYER is harmonizing our spirits, our
emotions and our minds with His, then conforming our thoughts to God's Word so
that the mystery of the Gospel will never be hindered through our lives.
PRAYER is
assimilating faith, hope and love from His person and through His Word,
worshipping Him, allowing His dreams to be conceived in our spirits and
demonstrated in and through our lives.
PRAYER is
being immersed in the emotions and attributes of God's Spirit toward the un-saved
world so that no kind of person is shunned or marginalized by us as Christ's
witnesses.
PRAYER is
bi-directional fellowship with the Father aligning our thoughts and dreams with
His then listening to the response and guidance of His Word and of His Spirit
PRAYER is
interceding for the needs of fellow-believers and ministers, then listening for
His ideas of what we can do about them.— of ways we can be part of the answer.
PRAYER is
correlating God's guidance and wisdom with our agenda for sharing His plan and
His Love.
PRAYER IS THE HALLOWED SEASON.
It is never pleading and begging for divine favours, fighting demonic powers in
so called spiritual warfare.
BIBLICAL PRAYER IS LIFE AND LOVE AND GROWTH AND RAPPORT WITH THE
FATHER—IN THE NOW.
If you feel the need to reform your prayer-life as
we did, I suggest that you open this book to these pages and lay it beside your
open Bible. Then begin at the top of the check list and take time in prayer and
contemplation over each idea that is listed. Your prayer life will be enriched.
ITAENDELEA
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