In one such session, after they had prayed in other tongues, the Lord began to put a feeling in the heart of one sister. She said, “I feel there are some missionaries in the Philippines who are in great danger.”

As they kept praying, someone else received a picture in their head (mind): “Yes I see them in a prison.”

Another was given further insight by the Spirit. She saw the prisoners holding the missionaries hostage with knives.

They kept praying. Another prayer team member saw the prisoners taking the missionaries into a van – so they could use the vehicle to escape. This sister cried out in horror, “They must be stopped! If they get them outside the prison, they will kill them all and flee in the van!”

They then began to urgently and earnestly pray. Two and half years later Pastor Howard found out from the author of this chapter that those events received by revelation through prophetic praying had literally happened.

The very night they were praying in California, because of the time difference, it was Sunday morning in the Philippines.

Sister Olga, a well-known missionary to the prisoners in Bilibid Prison in the Philippines, and four coworkers had been taken hostage by prisoner. The prisoners had indeed held long, sharp knives to their throats.

Sister Olga’s white van was demanded by the prisoners to be used as a means of escape. As they neared the prison gate, the van motor quit running. Despite every effort to restart the engine. It could not be started.

This gave the guards time to capture the prisoners and rescue the missionary and coworkers. God came to their rescue, and their release to safety was nothing less than a miracle.

After they were set free from the prisoners, they tried starting the motor of the van. It started immediately with no problems.

How were they spared? Intercessors in California tuned in the mind of God. By revelation they were able to pray prophetically, and God saved the lives of five missionaries. As ministers of the Gospel, it should be of great encouragement to know that there are intercessors who are supporting us by a ministry of prophetic prayer!

4. A Word Of Encouragement

May I encourage you, dear reader, to seriously consider this ministry of prophetic prayer. God wants to move by His power in our families, churches, governments and in the many nations of the world.

Exercise the Gifts of the Spirit in your prayer life. Listen for God to speak, and then let that word be brought to birth through the power of travailing prayer.

It is both a great privilege and responsibility for God’s handmaidens and menservants everywhere to earnestly pray prophetic prayer as the Holy spirit gives them the prayers to pray.

I would like to give you one more example of prophetic prayer in action. Pastor Rick Howard in Redwood City, California, has taught his people the principles of prophetic prayer.

Every Saturday night they form prayer teams for intercession in their church. This is a form of prayer in which the Holy Spirit specifically leads them in their intercession.

1. Guidelines To Follow

They usually follow a pattern for prayer which is based on the following six guidelines. Use these for your prayer team.

a. Yield To The Holy Spirit And Jesus. They prayerfully acknowledge and yield their spirits to the presence of the Holy Spirit and the Lordship of Jesus.

b. Bind Power Of Darkness. They bind the powers of darkness and deception that might try to hinder their prayers or influence their thoughts.

c. Keep Mind And Spirit Open. They open their own minds and spirits to allow the rivers of life-giving water to flow from their inner most being (John 7:37-38).

d. Be Empowered By The Holy Spirit. They pray that God’s Holy Spirit of love and truth will then specifically empower their prayers.

e. Pray In Tongues. Each team then prays in tongues, expecting God to reveal to them what, how and for whom they are to pray.

f. Pray The Interpretation. Then they pray about what the Spirit may have made them aware of by thought, God’s word or spiritual vision.

2. The Spirit Will Direct

After completing the “Six Guidelines,” the team should keep praying in tongues until one (or more) of the team feel an impression from the Spirit as to what the team is to pray for. Expect the Holy Spirit to reveal to you the will and mind of the heavenly Father that your prayers may have a specific direction.

The direction may come in the form of a thought, vision (Mental picture) or Scripture text. It might involve people, places, events related to one’s church, city, nation or some foreign field.

Often God’s Spirit will move the team to pray concerning one (or more) of the power structures of society – the so called “mind-molders”:

* Science * Media * Business

* Church * Arts * Government

* School * Home * Military

a. Each One Adds A Part. Usually one or more persons in the group will sense a direction to take in prayer. The entire group then should begin praying softly in the Spirit, relying on the Gifts of a Word of Knowledge, a Word of Wisdom, Discerning of Spirits, Tongues, Interpretation of Tongues and Prophecy.

As different ones pray forth in faith, God will reveal what and how to pray. Each one adds a part of God’s revelation as they are allowed their time to pray.

This is what Paul was referring to when he said that if revelation comes to another who is sitting by, he should be allowed to speak.. that all may prophesy one by one (1 Cor 14:30-31).

Partners With Jesus. This is true prophetic prayer in action. In this way God can bring forth a complete revelation of His will for a given situation. We are actually completing the circle of His purpose through prayer and intercession.

I am amazed and awed by what the Spirit brings forth during such times of prayer. As the spiritual tide rises, and faith mounts, prayer becomes more real than the problems and needs for which we pray.

During one of our conferences, we had ten prayer teams praying this way. Remarkably, on repeated occasions during that day of prayer, five or six of the teams were impressed to pray about the same burden of the Lord.

The various teams did not know this until we called for a testimony time. The team captains then shared what the Spirit impressed them to pray about and the results.

Over and over, others would stand and say, “The Lord told us to pray about the same thing in our team.”

What joy and comfort this brings when we realize we are partners with Jesus in His ministry of intercession.

He doesn’t go to do his own will in a self-serving way. He does not give out his prophecies for a price (as did Balaam [Numbers 22] to the sorrow of all involved). He simply did what God has said and that was all. And, because it was God’s will and word it worked – in great power, it worked!

We, like Elijah, should only speak and move in faith “according to God’s word of command!”

Some people don’t act when God speaks – that is unbelief. Other people act when God hasn’t spoken – that is presumption (going beyond God’s will). The prayer warrior listens for God’s word and then speaks and acts in simple faith and obedience.

The prophet Elijah onlyspoke and acted in line with the word of the Lord.

e. Prophetic Word Brought to Birth. After the great victory over Baal, Elijah told King Ahab, “Get up, eat and drink for there is a sound of abundance of rain”. Now notice what Elijah does after he prophesies: “…Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees” (vs 42 niv).

Earnest, Peristent Prayer. The Apostle James tells us he prayed earnestly (Jas 5:17). The Old Testament record (1 Ki 18:43) says he prayed seven times. This would indicate persistence as well as earnest fervency. This was a strong, urgent prayer on Elijah’s part

Elijah’s posture for prayer was some-what unusual. It was the position which the women of the Middle East took when they were about to give birth to a child. It was the position for travail – the painful pressure necessaryfor birth.

In the same way, the Holy Spirit often causes us to travail in prayer so that God’s word and purpose can be brought to birth.

Elijah earnestly prayed seven times before there was a sign in the sky that God’s word was about to be fulfilled. It first came in the form of a “little cloud the size of a man’s hand” (1 Ki 18:44).

There comes a time in the process of birth when nothing will stop a baby from being born. Elijah had travailed in prayer, and now God was about to make His move!

Elijah tells Ahab to hitch up his chariot and get on his way before the rain overtakes him. The story now becomes most dramatic: “Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the winds rose, a heavy rain came on and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. The Power of the Lord came upon Elijah, and tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel” (1 Ki 18:45,46 niv).

We Have A Responsibility. God wants us to understand: There is a direct connection or tie between prophecy and prayer.

Many people have received a prophetic word for their lives, but failed to see it come to pass. Why? They didn’t fulfill their part by birthing the divinely prophesied purpose from the womb of intercession.

Prophecy must be conceived, received and birthed in prayer and intercession.

“That which is born of the Spirit is spiritual…” (John 3:6).

Both the prophet who speaks the word, and the one who receives the word, have a responsibility before the Lord.

When the word of the Lord came to Mary, the mother of Jesus, it has to be received and nourished in her before it could be birthed. “But Mary kept all these things [Greek = rhema meaning living words], and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19).

Mary brought the word of the Lord to birth by prayer, praise, patience and faith.

Mary was a woman of praise and prayer. After the Holy Spirit came upon her, she prophesied.

Praise, prayer and prophecy were all three expressed through her in a beautiful and powerful way at the home of Elizabeth and Zacharias (Luke 1:35-38, 46-55).

Mary becomes a model for all of us to follow in our walk with God.

We are then responsible to nourish and bring the word spoken to us to birth by our prayers and intercession. Like Mary we must say, “Let it be unto me according to your word.”

Prophecy is spontaneous speaking forth of words, given by the Spirit, in the language which we know. They are words we have not thought of in advance of speaking them. They are words and thoughts supplied us by the Holy Spirit which we speak forth to benefit others.

We have a clear example of how prophecy is given by examining an event in the life of Moses.

“And the LORD said unto Moses… Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. You shall speak all that I command you: and Aaron your brother shall speak the words [you give him] unto Pharaoh..” (Exo 7:1,2)

The words Aaron spoke as Moses’ prophet were given him by Moses. Aaron did not speak his own words.

This is the way the Gift of Prophecy works. The Holy spirit gives the words; we speak them to others in prayer. Prophecy may also be used in speaking to others to build them up, stir them up and cheer them up (1 Cor 14:3).

Prophetic prayer is the key to opening the doors of Kingdom power and purpose for God’s people

1. Prayer is man speaking to God.

2. Prophecy is normally God speaking to man through man.

3. Prophetic praying is the Holy Spirit speaking through us in prayer to God the Father.

All three are necessary for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

As basic and important as our subject is, there is very little teaching to be found on prophetic praying. In fact, I have never heard a message on this specific topic in all of my life.

a. Thinking God’s Thoughts. In earlier chapters in this series we learned that three things happen when we yield to the Holy Spirit’s action in prayer (see Romans 8:26,27):

We begin to pray God’s prayers.

We begin to feel god’s feelings.

We begin to think God’s thoughts.

We have covered the first two topics in preceding chapters.

Prophetic prayer enables us to “Think God’s Thoughts.” This will be the central theme of this study. We will discover that prophetic insights and understanding are birthed and expressed through prayer.

I was astonished to discover that the prophetic anointing had as much (or more) to do with praying as with prophesying.

Praying and prophesying are tied together in the lives of all of the prophets in both the Old and New Testaments.

For the idolatry, child sacrifice and immorality that were part of Baal worship, God had sent the famine. Now the time for overthrow had come.

God had clearly instructed His people, “Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images” (Exo 23:24).

“And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of their place” (Deut 12:3).

So the day of confrontation is arranged. You can read the whole story in 1 Kings 18. Elijah throws out the challenge.

“.. How long halt ye between two opinions? If the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word” (1 Ki 18:21).

Then follows the second challenge. “…the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said. It is well spoken” (1 Ki 18:24).

The prophets of Baal called on their God. “And they cried aloud, and cut themselves… with knives and lances, till the blood gushed out upon them” (1 Ki 18:28). But no fire came down.

At the time of the evening sacrifice, here is what happened:

“At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command.

“‘Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.’

“Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

“When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried. ‘The LORD – he is God! The LORD – he is God!’

“Then Elijah commanded them, ‘Seize the prophets of Baal. Don’t let anyone get away! they seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered them there” (1Ki 18:36-40 niv).

All 450 of the false prophets of Baal were killed that day. Pay attention, however, to the prayer which backed up the mighty display of God’s power.

“…Let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command “ (1 Ki18:36).

Let us look to Elijah as one of God’s model men of prophecy and prayer. There is much we can learn from one who was “subject to like passions as are we,” but who, nevertheless, earnestly prayed very effective prayers (Jas 5:16-18).

a. Powerful Prayers. He had the same problems and human weaknesses that we struggle with, but his prophetic prayers still produced powerful results!

James describes his prayer-life: “Elijah prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain for three and a half years. And he prayed again, he prayed and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops” (Jas 5:17,18 niv).

These are two powerful prayers. Let us study the story in the Old Testament. Powerful prayers should produce powerful words and powerful works!

The story is a dramatic one. Elijah is proclaiming the word of the Lord to Ahab, the most wicked king Israel ever had. Listen as he speaks:

“As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word” (1 Ki 17:1).

b. Powerful Prophecy. This was a very strong word of judgment to a very wicked king. But it was the prophetic word of the Lord by a righteous man of prayer. That is the reason James could later record, “Elijah prayed earnestly that it might not rain.. and it rained not.” It was Elijah’s prayer that gave birth to this powerful prophecy!

c. A Right Time to Speak. There is a time for both silence and speaking. The writer of Ecclesiastes tells us: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven…There is a time to be silent and a time to speak” (3:1,7).

Our story of Elijah now takes a very interesting turn. After he had faithfully spoken the word of the Lord to King Ahab, the land of Israel soon became very dry. Several years passed without rain.

All went well with Elijah for a while. God had directed him to a brook where he could drink. God also sent ravens to bring food to Elijah every morning and evening. It was fairly peaceful picture. Elijah was eating, while others were starving, during this time of drought and famine.

However, in time the brook itself finally dried up, and Elijah became a victim of his own prophecy! Dry bread with no water is not a very pleasant picnic, and he could well have been tempted to re-open the heavens. If he had acted on that desire, he clearly would have been outside of God’s will. God’s word for rain had not yet been given.

If Elijah had spoken when he should have been silent, one of two things could have happened:

Asking Amiss. God would not have honored the word, for he had “asked amiss” – that is, apart from the divine will (Jas 4:3), Elijah would have become a wordless and powerless prophet.

Asking Too Soon. God would have honored the word, but that would have ended the whole story. Elijah would have missed the “fire-from-heaven miracle,” and found himself with “leanness in his soul” (1 Ki 18:30-39; Ps 106:13-15).

The devil tempted Jesus to turn stone into bread when He was fasting (Matt 4:3). Like the Lord Jesus during His temptation in the wilderness (Matt 4:1-4). Elijah waited for the word of God to come.

God is faithful. The record simply reads: “Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: ‘Go at once to Zarepheth of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food’” (1 Ki 17:7-9 niv).

Because both Elijah and the widow obeyed the word of the Lord, both were rewarded by the blessing and provision of a wise and loving God.

Their need became the opportunity for the Lord to perform the “oil and meal” miracle which saved their lives. Elijah could have missed it by speaking when he should have been silent, or by being silent when he should have spoken. It truly pays to prayerfully wait for – and then speak – God’s word!

1. Simeon and Anna

Simeon and Anna were an elderly prophet and prophetess in the Temple at Jerusalem. They were used of God to minister to Mary and Joseph when they brought baby Jesus to the Temple to be presented to the Lord.

God used Simeon and Anna to bring forth a prophetic word concerning their new-born son. It was also a word of blessing, encouragement and divine purpose at an important time in their lives.

The Scriptures paint an interesting picture of the old prophetess Anna. She was a woman with an unusual life of prayer. Listen to the record:

“Anna, a prophetess, was also there in the temple that day…She was very old, for she had been a widow for eighty-four years. She never left the temple, but stayed there night and day worshipping God with fasting and prayer.

“She came in at that very time and also gave thanks to God. She then told everyone in Jerusalem who had been waiting for the coming of the Savior, that the Messiah had finally arrived” (Luke 2:36-38 tlb).

a. Close Relationship Of Prayer And Prophecy. I noticed something of real interest while studying the lives of the prophets: There is as much said about their life of prayer as there is about their words of prophecy.

In the case of Anna the prophetess, the main witness of Scripture relates to her prayer-life rather than her ministry of prophecy. She was an “anointed” (called of God) prophetess. Nevertheless, the primary direction and expression of her “anointing” was in prayer. Her prophetic ministry was mostly prayer. She must have prayed thousands of prophetic prayers. We have only one instance of record where she prophesied to the people in Jerusalem!

This close relationship of prayer and prophecy is also seen in the church at Antioch:

2. Prophets At Antioch

“In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers.. while they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Paul for the work to which I have called them. ‘So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them on their way” (Acts 13:1-3).

This passage in Acts would lead me to believe that the prophets and teachers at Antioch spent much time in the ministry of worship, prayer and fasting. It seems this was a common custom or function in the life of that church.

For years it was my thought that the primary function and duty of the prophet was that of proclaiming or speaking the word of the Lord. In Scripture, however, we find they spent much more time in prayer than in prophesying

3. Jeremiah.

For instance, when we study the life of the prophet Jeremiah in the Old Testament, we see that his primary role was that of praying, not speaking. In other words, he spent more time speaking to God than speaking to man!

“Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!” (Jer 9:1).

I believe there is a truth here which we have missed. There is a prophetic dimension in prayer which we have failed to understand. Yet without it the full power and purpose of the prophetic anointing or calling cannot be expressed.

a. Prayer and Prophecy Must Go Together. Sadly, there has been a separation of these twin truths in modern times.

There are many who will stand and speak: “Yea, yea, thus saith the Lord!” Their words however, are often empty – without the true ring of an anointed prophet. Why? Their ministry has not been empowered by prayer. Often their lives have been filled with non-spiritual or even unspiritual activities.

One cannot rush into prophetic ministry without the proper preparation in prayer. without it, words of so-called “prophecy” are shallow, subject to much error, and even spirits of deception.

May I suggest that for every minute of prophecy there should be many hours of prayer. It is only out of the womb of prayer that a true word of God is brought to birth.

The subject of our study in this chapter is “praying prophetic prayers.” this story will help you understand what is meant by “prophetic praying.”

In 1968 we held one of our conferences. Some 1800 people attended. We set Friday aside as a special day for fasting and prayer. At that time we ministered the personal needs of the people in the conference. We formed a number of prayer teams, each made up of five or six spiritual leaders. Individuals then came forward for prayer along a railing at the front of the auditorium.

The prayer team of which I was a part included my wife and a forty-year veteran missionary to Africa – as well as Ruth and Allen Banks who were elderly ministers.

I was very impressed with the gentle but powerful ministry of Ruth Banks. She was a beautiful white-haired sister who had walked withGod most of her life

She would lightly lay her hands upon the head of each person and begin to pray. It was a pure, prophetic prayer.

Even though most of the people we prayed for were total strangers, Ruth’s prayers were specific in addressing the secret needs of each individual. In her prayer, she would mention such personal, painful secrets that they would begin weeping and sobbing.

They suddenly realized that God was aware of the smallest details of their struggles, sorrows and pain. This ministry of God’s love and grace prepared their hearts so the prayer team could give any needed counsel and direction.

I listened and watched very carefully. Never once did Ruth Banks fail to minister directly to the specific need of those she prayed for. Her prophetic prayer was always correct, even mentioning the hidden details of the person’s life.

I told the Lord that I didn’t understand everything that I had seen and heard. But I asked Him for the ability and grace to pray as that little handmaiden of the Lord had prayed.

I wanted the Holy Spirit to release me from the limitations of my natural mind and understanding. I cried out for His divine wisdom and knowledge to meet the deepest needs of hurting, lonely people all over the world. I realize now I was just beginning to see the importance of the twin roles of prophecy and prayer.

I can’t say I have a ministry just like Sister Ruth today. But I have found that as I yield to the action of the Holy Spirit in prayer. He enables me to pray God’s prayers, feel His feelings and think God’s thoughts.

Prophetic prayer then becomes far more personal and precise, and is much more effective in the lives of those for whom we pray.

This does not mean we are infallible in our ministry, and never subject to error or mistakes. None of us are so perfect that we don’t need the confirming witness or judgment of mature brothers and sisters in Christ. It does mean, however, that prayer joined with the Gifts of Tongues, Interpretation of Tongues and Prophecy can bring the intervention of God into our own personal lives and the lives of others.

1 Corinthians 14:24,25 tells us that the prophetic ministry will reveal the inner secrets of the unbeliever’s heart. He will thereby be convicted of his sin, fall down in worship, and confess that God indeed is in our midst. May it be so!

In other words, there is a Temple in Heaven. In it, there is a heavenly Ark and Mercy Seat (or Mercy Throne – called “Throne of Grace” in Hebrews 4:16). This is where Jesus took His own blood after His death. He sprinkled it on the heavenly Mercy Throne that our sins might be paid for and covered over (read hebrews 9:19-24).

There is also a heavenly Altar of Incense where a real angel takes our prayers and offers them with heavenly frankincense before the throne of God.

1) God’s Power Released. What is the earthly result of all of this heavenly activity? When our prayers are mixed with God’s frankincense and cast back into the earth, a powerful display of lightning, thunder and an earthquake result (Rev 8:3-5).

We see this happening in the Book of Acts. “And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spake the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31).

When we send our prayers by God’s Spirit to His throne, He send them back in a way that can be seen, heard and felt here on earth!

We release the power of God on earth when we give Him something to work with in Heaven. That is one of the reasons why we pray.

2. The Divine Cycle Of Prayer

Praise and prayer sent up to Heaven produce results on earth. This same idea is found in Job 36:27,28: “He draws up the vapors of water which distill from the clouds as rain. The clouds of heaven pour down their moisture received from the earth and abundant showers fall on mankind.”

This verse describes the rain cycle. Water vapor from the earth and ocean, lands and lakes rises to form the clouds of the sky. The clouds then release their moisture as rain according to their vapor content. The more moisture in the cloud from the earth, the great the rainfall of blessing that falls back on the earth.

The same is true of praise and prayer. It goes up to the throne of God and is mixed with heavenly frankincense. It is then hurled into earth as mighty manifestations of spiritual power in our homes, churches, cities and nations.

a. Spiritual “Bombs”. The more we pray, the more material we give the angel at the golden Altar to work with. This angel makes “spiritual bombs” that he throws back to earth. These “bombs’ blow away the powers of darkness and release the prisoner from their bondages to sin and sickness. The more we pray, the greater is the outpouring of his spiritual power on us and our churches.

This is what happened when Paul was in prison. He sent praise and prayer up! The angel at the altar sent “spiritual bombs” down that shook the earth and set the prisoners free.

“And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed” (Act 16:25,26).

b. No Worship – No Rain! The same truth is found again in Zechariah 14:17: “If any of the peoples of the earth do not go upto Jerusalem to worship the King the Lord Almighty, they will have no rain. “What is the prophet saying? He is saying no worship, no rain!

The prophet Joel said, “In the last days God will pour out his Spirit on all flesh” (Joel 2:28). The amount of worship and prayer which we send up determines the degree we receive this promised outpouring of God’s Spirit. If you want showers of blessing on your church, you must worship God in Spirit and in truth.

The volume of rain we enjoy will be proportionate (related to the amount) of praise and prayer we send to Heaven to be distilled back down on us as showers of blessing.

D. CONCLUSION

The Holy Spirit inspires continuous prayer and worship. Praying in the Spirit enables us to complete the circle of Christ’s intercession on our behalf. His Spirit will always move us to pray in line with God’s will.

Only through the prayers of god’s people can god’s perfect will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. We play an important part in the divine cycle of prayer. It begins in Heaven, but is completed on earth. Will you come like the disciple of Jesus? ‘…one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray..” (Luke 11:1).

It is important for us to know that our prayers are used by God in a very special way to break the powers of darkness. Let us consider this truth in regard to spiritual warfare by reading the Apostle John’s words as recorded in Revelation 8:3-5:

“And another angel with a golden censer came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to mix with the prayers of all of God’s people. This was to be offered upon the golden altar before the throne.

“The sweet smoke of the incense which was mixed with the prayers of the saints rose up before God out of the angel’s hand. Then the angel filled the censer with fire from the altar and threw it down upon the earth. Lightning flashed, thunder crashed and there was a terrible earthquake.”

1. Old Testament Patterns And Heavenly Realities

This is a prophetic picture of how our prayers are used of God to influence earthly events. This heavenly setting as seen above is understood by examining the floor plan of Moses’ Tabernacle and Solomon’s Temple. Old Testament patterns of worship reflect spiritual realities in the heavenly realm.

a. Ark Of The Covenant. You may recall that the Holy of Holies was the innermost chamber of the temple where the Ark of the Covenant rested. We need to note three things about the Ark:

Gold-Covered Box. The Ark was a gold-covered box or chest about .75 meters high by .75 meters wide by 1.5 meters in length.

Two Gold Cherubim. Two solid gold cherubim were set on either end of the cover or lid that covered the gold box, as if bowing to each other.

The Mercy Seat. The area between the Cherubim was called the Mercy Seat (Throne), and was the place where God’s holy presence was enthroned.

Sprinkled Blood. It was between the Cherubim (on the Mercy-Throne) that the high priest once a year sprinkled blood for the cleansing and covering of his own sins and that of the Israelities.

b. Altar Of Incense. The Altar of Incense was in the room adjacent to the Holy of Holies. This room was called the Holy Place. These two rooms were separated by the inner veil (a heavy tapestry).

The Altar of Incense, and the incense offered to God on it, form a special picture or type of the ministry of praise and prayer in the Holy Spirit.

Just as the fragrance of the incense wafted its way from the Altar Of Incense in the Holy Place into the Holy of Holies, so our prayers and praise make their way to the Mercy-Throne of God in Heaven.

Incense is a special mixture of perfumed powders which, when burned, releases a sweet smell. It was made up of four substances, which were obtained from crushed plants.

Frankincense – one of the substances – is a white powder. Some believe this white powder represents God’s righteousness, which is His part of the incense.

When mixed with the other three parts, which represent man’s part, the incense becomes a pleasing offering to God (Exo 30:34).

In the scripture above (Rev 8:3-5). incense is offered with the prayers and worship of the saints. When our prayers are mixed with the righteous purity of God’s Spirit, it all comes before Him as a sweet and fragrant odor.

The key to the Spirit-filled life is child-like simplicity and faith. Can we be simple enough to believe that there are times – perhaps more often than we realize- when God wants to help us through His Gifts of Tongues, Interpretation and Prophecy?

Can we trust Him to minister to our needs and desires in a personal way through our prayer life?

He knows us better than we know ourselves, and is ever ready to provide the spiritual direction, correction and protection that we need.

May I encourage you in the words of my former leader to pay close attention to your thoughts, prayers and songs following a time of praying or singing in the Spirit? The overflow of God’s Spirit will often bring words and songs of interpretation for your edification, understanding and guidance.

I am not suggesting these principles become a method for guidance – by themselves. There needs to be other confirming evidence if an important decision faces you. (See Section D12 on Guidance). People have gone into serious error when they try to “use’ God’s gifts in foolish ways.

All guidance will be in harmony with God’s word and receive approval or confirmation from wise and godly counselors in the Body of Christ.

Most of you, however, probably have been in the position of not expecting the Holy Spirit to personally move in and through you by His gifts. It is to you that my words of encouragement are directed.

If your heart has been stirred by this message, may I suggest that you bring your desires to the Lord. Ask Him to fill you afresh with His Holy Spirit. Lift your voice in a language of praise as He directs your worship. Every sound we speak in faith, love and obedience will already have been inspired by God’s Holy Spirit.

Our spiritual prayer language (speaking in tongues) is composed of sounds and syllables which we do not understand with our minds. They are inspired by God’s Spirit. We know they are an expression of praise, prayer or intercession.

By faith we lift our voice and speak forth, knowing that every sound we form with our lips and tongue has been prompted by the Holy Spirit. Sometimes our praise is carried along by a song and melody that flows from our hearts to His. What beautiful gifts God has given!

In a similar way, after a time of praying and worshiping the Lord in other tongues, we can pray and sing forth the interpretation. We simply trust the Holy Spirit to enable us to express the heart and mind of God. We then speak and sing forth the interpretation of the tongues in words we understand.

Sometimes the interpretation of tongues will be worship. At other times it may be prayer by which the Lord may wish to reveal something to us that will be in line with His purpose for our lives. In this way the Gift of Interpretation can bring added power and purpose to our prayers.

Sometimes Interpretation of Tongues brings prophetic insight (a Word of Knowledge) that can help us intercede more specifically for our families, churches, missionaries and even national and world affairs. God’s people who are empowered by the Spirit to pray can make a difference in this world!

We are now better able to understand Paul’s teaching on prayer. It was born out of his experience as an intercessor with Christ.

May his words become a motto for our daily lives: “Praying always… in the Spirit..for God’s people everywhere” (Eph 6:18).

Praying in tongues should be an expression of faith, humility, submission and obedience before God and His Holy Spirit. This helps to put our hearts and minds in harmony with His.

In this way we begin to think and feel as God does. Then we can pray forth the interpretation of our prayer in other tongues with understanding.

The same principle applies to singing, blessing and giving thanks with the Spirit. Many of us have experienced times of praising God both in languages given by the Spirit and our native tongue. We switch back and forth from one to the other.

For many years, I didn’t realize that my praise in my native language was a response to my praise in tongues. It was a form of interpretation of tongues.

c. Listen to Your Songs. When I awake in the morning, often there will be a little song singing away in my head. For years, I did not take note of the words or the message in the song. One day my home church leader exhorted me to pay attention to those faint little impressions and promptings of heart and mind. I was to be aware of the words of the song, as I would probably need the message in the song later that day.

Often the soft stirrings and gentle pressure of the Spirit can go unnoticed. He is very dove-like in nature and does not force His ministry upon our lives. He wants us to be sensitive to His slightest touch. His “still small voice” often comes as quiet thoughts or through a meaningful melody or song.

I decided I would follow my leader’s advice. The next morning as I awoke, there was another little song singing away in my head. I gave special attention to the words. I discovered that the words of that little chorus were preparing me for events during the day that I could not have anticipated.

For thirty years I had been ignoring and overlooking this gentle but important ministry of God’s Holy Spirit.

There was another way in which I was missing instructions from the Lord. I love to sing and worship the Lord during my morning bath-shower, when I wash my body. I sing and worship both in other tongues and in my native language.

It was my custom to sing in other tongues when bathing. During this time of tongues, my mind would usually be on other important details I had to take care of each day.

Following singing in tongues, I would sing in my known language. But I paid attention to neither. My thoughts were on other things. I was paying no attention to the words. One day this thought occurred to me. “Perhaps I should be paying more attention to my prayers when I bathe my body.”

When I started paying attention, I discovered that I was singing in tongues, and without realizing it, I was singing the interpretation to my song in tongues. I was praising in the Spirit followed by praise in my native language.

These Gifts of Tongues and Interpretation of Tongues had both poured through me without my even realizing what God was doing by His Spirit. He was building me up to face the problems of the day before me.

Needless to say, this precious ministry of the Holy Spirt has become a great blessing to me personally over the years. I trust it will be true of your life as well.

This brings us to some fresh and exciting principles of prayer which can transform your Christian life. I want to show you how the Gift of Interpretation of Tongues can be used with our spiritual prayer language in our daily devotions. You and I can pray in tongues and interpret in our private prayer times with God.

Paul tells us that he prayed in tongues more than anyone else to whom he was writing. Yet he says he would rather speak five words that were understood (that is, he would rather prophesy) than ten thousand words in tongues in the public worship service (1 Cor 14:18,19. It is clear that his ten thousand words in tongues were accomplished in his private times of prayer. (May be that is why his five words of prophecy were so powerful).

a. Needed To Understand God’s Will. When we use the Gift of Tongues in prayer, we are speaking to God in a language unknown to us. God understands it because the prayer is the result of the Holy Spirit’s action upon us. Such prayers are always in alignment with God’s will.

What is the problem then? It is this: While God understands, we do not understand what we are praying when we pray in other tongues. God wants us to understand. The Bible places great importance on our knowing and understanding God’s will.

“Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding…” (Ps 32:9). I must confess that, for many years, I was like the horse and mule. I prayed, sang, praised and gave thanks to God in tongues, but I never received interpretation of my prayers. This was because I had not obeyed 1 Corinthians 14:13: “Let him who speaks in an tongue, pray that he may interpret.”

To interpret, we must obey this scriptural commandment. This is the first rule of the Spirit-filled life. But no one ever taught me to do this. Even though I read this verse many times, for some reason it did not impact my mind enough to cause me to obey this word of instruction.

When asked for interpretation, God was faithful to give it to me. When that happened I was thrilled to learn that another biblical prayer began to be answered for me.

“…we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding” (Col 1:9).

The Lord wants us to know His will. “And that servant, which knew not his Lord’s will… shall be beaten…” (Luke 12:48). There is penalty and punishment for not knowing our Lord’s will.

If we do not know God’s will, we will wander around without any spiritual goal or purpose. We will do very little for the Lord.

God wants us to know and understand His will so we can obey Him. Then we will go where He wants us to go, do what He wants us to do, and say what He wants us to say.

For this reason I believe Paul placed great importance on the Gift of Interpretation. “Let him who speaks in an unknown tongue pray that he might interpret” (1 Cor 14:13). Without interpretation we do not understand what the Spirit is praying through us. Once we start interpreting our prayers, songs, thanksgiving and praise to God – understanding of His will begins to come to us.

It is a comfort to know that the Holy Spirit can intercede through us with power and wisdom when we don’t know how (or what) to pray for as we should. Often, those to whom God gives a burden of prayer do not know what they are praying for at the time.

If you feel a burden to pray for some person, but do not know what to pray, just pray in other tongues (languages) by the Holy Spirit. If you ask for and receive interpretation to the prayer in tongues, you may discover what you were praying for. The Holy Spirit knows the need, and inspires us as Christians to pray the prayer needed for those in need.

There are other situations in which God wants us to know the mind of His Spirit. We need to know His will and have His wisdom in specific situations. We need to understand the motives which are behind our attitudes and actions. At such times we can ask God to give us the interpretation to our unknown tongue in prayer.

We are again reminded that when the Holy Spirit makes intercession for us and through us, it is according to the will of God (Rom 8:27). Therefore, we can trust the Holy Spirit to inspire our “prayer with the understanding” after we have spent some time “praying with the Spirit”.

Several references have been made in this study to the importance of “praying in the Spirit.” We have seen how basic it is to intercessory prayer. What Gifts of the Spirit help us in our ministry of prayer and intercession?

1. Primary Ways To Pray In The Spirit

I believe the Gifts of

a. Tongues,

b. Interpretation of Tongues, and

c. Prophecy are the primary ways and means by which we are to “pray in the Spirit” (Eph 6:18). We will want to study in some depth what the Bible has to say about the function and purpose of these gifts in our daily prayer life.

The Apostle Paul teaches us principles in using these spiritual gifts in prayer.

2. The Gift Of Tongues

a. For Speaking to God. Commentary on 1 Corinthians Chapter fourteen:

“For anyone who speaks in an tongue [that is, a language given by the Holy spirit] does not speak to men, but to God (1 Cor 14:2).

” …..Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church.

“For this reason anyone who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret what he says.

“If I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit [by the Holy spirit within me] prays but my mind does not understand.

“What should I do? I will pray with my spirit [in tongues], and I will also sing with the understanding [interpretation of tongues].

“If you are praising God with your spirit [in tongues], how can one who finds himself among those who do not understand say ‘Amen’ to your thanksgiving since he does not know what you are saying? (1 Cor 14:12-16 niv).

Paul teaches us four ways we use tongues and interpretation of tongues in private devotions and in public meetings:

1. praying to the Lord
2. singing to the Lord
3. blessing the Lord
4. giving thanks to the Lord

Speaking in tongues can be of great value if the speech is interpreted so the meaning is also understood (see verse 5). The Gift of Tongues prepares the Church to receive the interpretation, which should follow the speaking or singing in tongues. The people are alerted and unified in the Spirit to receive and respond to the inspired word of interpretation which follows.

Keep in mind that the primary reason for tongues is to speak to God. For this reason, tongues and interpretation will normally take the form of one of the four categories outlined above.

b. In Private Prayer. What is often overlooked, however, is that Paul is placing equal importance on the role of these gifts in our private prayer life. Speaking in tongues is primarily directed towards God, not man. It is a personal man-to-God experience.

Our study in 1 Corinthians 14 reveals four ways in which the gift of tongues can be expressed in our personal communion with God:

1. Inspired prayer (vss 14,15)
2. Inspired song (vs 15)
3. Inspired praise and blessing (vs 16)
4. Inspired thanksgiving (vss 16,17)

The Holy Spirit is the unceasing (never-ending) Spirit of prayer, song, praise and thanksgiving. It is my belief that all four expressions of the Gift of Tongues are the privilege of every Spirit-filled believer.

c. Vocal Gifts To Be Exercised By All. It was Paul’s desire that all might exercise the vocal gifts of:

1. Tongues. “I would like every one of you to speak in tongues…” (vs 5).
2. Interpretation. “For this reason anyone who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret what he say” (vs 13). Paul would not instruct us to pray for this gift if God did not want to give it to us.
3. Prophecy.

“For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted” (vs 31).

Paul’s teaching is clear. He wants every believer to speak in tongues. He commands those who do to pray for interpretation. He concludes by telling us that all may prophesy.

When people are taught properly, faith will be released in them to receive these gifts.

“Faith comes from hearing the message…” (Rom 10:17 niv).

Receiving and using these three gifts is a matter of your faith levels. If you ask in faith, you will receive.

As we submit in humility, and respond in faith, we can expect the Holy Spirit to manifest Himself through us by His gifts.

Jesus is the heavenly Head of His earthly Body. We are the members of that Body. It is through the members of His Body that His will can be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

The Lord Jesus still wants to walk, talk, preach and pray as He did during His earthly ministry. “Then said Jesus to them… as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you” (John 20:21). He wants to do this through you and me by the mighty power of His Spirit. In the light of this, listen as the Apostle Paul intercedes on behalf of the believers in Ephesus:

“I pray that you will know how …the Father has put all things under the feet of his Son. He has made him the great Head of the Church – which is Christ’s body.. that body is the completion of him, crammed full of him who crams full the whole universe with himself” (Eph 1:16, 19-23 lit).

4. The Agony Of Intercession

If we are going to share in the prayer life of our Lord, we should learn a little more about how He prayed when He was here on earth. “During the days of his earthly life, Jesus prayed with strong crying and tears. ” (Heb 5:7).

This is an amazing picture of our Lord. We see Him praying, crying and weeping in great agony of soul. His praying was very intense. “And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44). Can you imagine prayer so intense it makes you sweat blood?

The Apostle Paul prayed this way also. You recall that in his letter to the church at Galatia he speaks of his deep concern for their spiritual well-being. They were in danger of falling from God’s grace by returning to the bondage of the law. They were tempted to add legalistic works to their faith in Christ, hoping by this to merit salvation. To add anything destroys everything. They were about to turn their backs on the complete and perfect work of the cross.

Their danger drives Paul to prayer: “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you” (Gal 4:19). Paul’s prayers were like travail or birth-pain agony.

Mothers well understand what it means to travail in birth. Men can only understand the experience by witnessing it. Pressure and pain are usually a part of the birth experience.

Paul uses the birth process to explain his agony in prayer on behalf of the Galatian church. He has become an outreach or extension here on earth of Christ’s heavenly ministry of intercession. Jesus was praying a powerful prayer through Paul. And he felt it!

And we said earlier, praying in the Spirit is praying as God prays and feeling as God feels. No wonder Paul says, “..The Spirit prays through us with sounds, sighs and groans which cannot be put into words” (Rom 8:26). He was speaking from experience!

Yes, Christ ever lives to make intercession for us and through us according to the will of the Father. Will you be available to the Holy Spirit to be a living channel for prayer and intercession?

a. A Personal Example. Several years ago the Holy Spirit led me to Japan. For six or seven weeks we traveled from village to village. During that time I found myself deeply moved and stirred in my soul. It seemed as if God’s heart was broken for the Japanese people. I could feel the grief of Christ’s Holy Spirit being poured out through me on their behalf. I could not stop weeping. It was as if God were shedding His tears through my eyes.

God loves the Japanese people, but their sins of pride and idolatry have shut Him out. There is little place for God or His Son in their lives or society.

Satan has struck their eyes with spiritual blindness.

“…the god of this world has blinded the minds of them that believe not. Therefore, the light of the glorious gospel of Christ – who is the image of God – cannot dawn upon them ” (2 Cor 4:4).

Satan’s battle ground and dark stronghold is the mind of man. When the light of the gospel breaks into the soul of man, the mind is one of the first things to be set free.

I realize now that my “strong crying and tears” was the intercession of Christ by the action of the Holy Spirit upon me. God was reaching out in love to the Japanese people, through my prayers and tears. He was also placing restraints upon the god of this world (Satan) and his demonic powers (see Psalms 149:5-9. it was a time of intense spiritual warfare.

Since that time in Japan in 1960, I have discovered that other preachers to that area have had the same experience. They all have spent a good part of their time weeping in intercession for the people of Japan. They too have shared in Christ’s ministry of prayer and intercession in a personal and heart-felt way.

The Lord Jesus not only gives the Holy Spirit the prayers to pray for us, but desires to use us as His mouth-piece to express His prayers through us!

This is illustrated in another passage of Scripture: “…in the … church I [Jesus] will sing praise unto the Father” (Heb 2:12). How does Jesus sing praise to the Father in the Church? Obviously Jesus has to use our vocal apparatus, our voice, our lips to sing His praises to the Father.

To illustrate the point, consider this:

Sometimes the Old Testament prophets spoke in the Person of Christ – as if Jesus Himself were speaking. David said, “The Spirit of the Lord spoke in and by me, and his word was upon my tongue” (2 Sam 23:2 amp).

This illustrates the important point we are seeking to make:.

Just as the Old Testament prophets spoke by the Spirit of the Lord in the Person of Christ (as if Christ Himself were speaking) – so by the action of the Holy spirit upon us, we pray in the Person of Christ just as if Christ were praying.

The Person of Jesus is now at the right hand of the Father. The Presence of Jesus, however, is with and in each one of us by His Spirit.

The phrase – “In the midst of the congregation I [Jesus] will sing praise unto you [the Father]” – is of great interest. Jesus is telling us that He still desires to sing praises unto His Father when we gather together in our church services.

How can Jesus sing His songs of praise to the Father in the Church when he is personally with the Father in Heaven?

It can only be done by the Presence of Jesus, by His Holy spirit giving us “songs of the Spirit” which we sing.

We are the congregation or Church of the living God through which the song of the Lord is sung. Jesus sings His praise to the Father through us! The Bible clearly confirms this: “Speaking… in … spiritual songs ["spiritual songs" are Jesus' praise to the Father, expressed through us by the Spirit of Christ in us], singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” (Eph 5:19). “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in … spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Col 3:16).

The desire of Jesus is to fill us with His never-ending praise and worship of the Father. When we are filled with and yield to the Holy Spirit, Jesus sings forth praises to the Father through our lips, with our voices in our worship services. We become channels through which His songs of praise are expressed to the Father in Heaven. No wonder the Bible calls such inspired worship “The Song of the Lord” (2 Chr 29:27).

Just as Jesus expresses His songs of praise through us, He desires to express His prayers through us. Just as Jesus can praise the Father through us, He can also pray to the Father through us.

“Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them” (Heb 7:25 niv).

One of the primary ministries carried on by the resurrected, ascended Christ is that of interceding for you and me.

1. Intercession Illustrated

We will gain an insight to what is meant by intercession if we look at an event in the life of Moses.

The Lord is angry with the children of Israel and speaks to Moses: “Now leave me alone so that… I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.

“But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God. ‘O LORD,’ he said… “Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people’” (Exo 32:9-12 niv).

God gave Moses what he asked for and spared the people. Moses saved the people by interceding with God (pleading for God to spare their lives). This illustrates two things:

a. Saved From Wrath. This is what Christ’s intercessory ministry does for us, in saving us from wrath.

b. Power Before God. You can have power before God’s bar (court) of justice when you partner with Christ in His intercessory ministry.

2. The Holy Spirit Helps Us Pray

As members of Christ’s Body, it is our privilege and responsibility – our right and duty – to share in His ministry of intercession. Such a high calling is beyond our ability. However, the Holy Spirit is with us to help (empower) us in praying. Two translations (by Greek scholars) of our key verse follow. Read them carefully and prayerfully.

“We do not know how we ought to pray; the Spirit himself pleads with God for us, in groans that words cannot express.

“And God, who sees into the hearts of men, knows what the thought of the Spirit is; because the Spirit pleads with God on behalf of his people and in accordance with his will ” (Rom 8:26,27 tev).

“We do not even know how we ought to pray, but through our inarticulate groans the Spirit himself is pleading for us, and God who searches our inmost being knows what the Spirit means, because he pleads for God’s people in God’s own way…”(Rom 8:26,27 neb).

a. Praying In The Spirit. God the Father, son and Holy Spirit are all involved in our prayers when we pray in the Spirit. “…through our inarticulate groans the Spirit himself is pleading for us…” Note three things from this verse:

1) We Express Christ’s Groanings. We are involved in intercession initiated by God. Christ’s intercessions are felt and expressed “….through our inarticulate groans.. And we … which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves…” (Rom 8:26,23). Our physical bodies are the channels through which the groanings of Christ are expressed and felt.

2) Groanings Initiated By The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the One initiating the groanings of God “…the Spirit himself is pleading for us…”

3) God Pleads Through Us. God the Spirit is pleading through us with God the Father. “…the Spirit pleads with God [the Father] on behalf of his people…”

These are remarkable concepts understood by few believers. To understand this process, reflect on how your radio works.

b. A Radio Transmitter. A radio station (transmitter) in some distant place sends out a signal. Your radio is compatible with that signal. When you switch on your radio, its electronic components receive the signal and convert it to sound. Your radio was only the receiver, which gave sound and words to the signal received. Your radio was not the originator or source of the sound. It simply echoed what it received.

In like manner, Jesus is like the radio transmitter. Jesus is at the right hand of the Father in Heaven (Acts 2:34; 7:55). He lives to make intercession for us (Heb 7:25). When Jesus intercedes, the Holy Spirit in us receives this transmission and converts that into prayers and feelings – which we (like the radio) give voice and words to. Thus we are praying the prayers of Jesus.

c. Jesus And The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is identified in a unique way with God the Son (Jesus) in the Bible. Note that the Holy Spirit is referred to as the Spirit of Christ. “…the prophets…searched intently… trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing…”(1 Pet 1:11).”..Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his (Rom 8:9).

1) Working Together. Jesus gives us a remarkable insight as to how He and the Holy Spirit will work together after Jesus goes back to Heaven.

“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes…. He will not speak on his own he will speak only what he hears…” (John 16:13).

Who is the Spirit listening to? Who is giving the Spirit the words He is to speak? I believe the Holy Spirit echoes Jesus’ words. The Spirit says what He hears Jesus saying. The Spirit prays what He hears Jesus praying. And the Spirit uses us as the channels through which Jesus’ words and prayers are expressed.

In the verse below we see the Spirit of Jesus Christ uniquely linked to the prayers of the Philippians as they prayed for Paul. “.. this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ” (Phil 1:19).

A. INTERCESSION FOR THE NATIONS

“Ask and I will give you the nations for your inheritance [birth right], and the farthest parts of the earth for your possession” (Ps 2:8).

The Lord has given us a great promise. He has promised us the nations.

I recently purchased a map of the world. I’ve found it to be a great help in my intercession for the nations. Here is how it works. I follow a weekly prayer chart for my daily prayers, so I felt I should do the same for the nations of the world.

On a certain day I will pray for Germany. “Lord, today I want to pray for Germany.” How do you pray for Germany? Our prayers are for the needs in Germany today.

As I look at the map of Germany I see a note that reminds me there are about 80 million people in Germany. That thought hits me hard. But, the Lord has said in His Word, “Ask of me and I will give you the nations…” such a great promise is almost beyond my understanding, but I choose to believe it.

Now I begin to pray for the multitudes in Germany. I see many places on my map like this: Lower Saxony, Wurtenburg, Bavaria, Westphalia. These are regions.

As I look at these different regions I see names of various cities and towns: Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin, Cologne, Hanover, Brunswick, Hamburg.

When I put my hands on the map and pray, something begins to happen in me. It will happen in you too. Germany becomes more than just a name; it is a real place with real people and real problems. And I sense that God has a purpose for that place and that people.

“How long do you go on doing that?” you say. Not a long time. May be a couple of minutes. Then I say something like this, “Lord, I pray for the people who live in Hamburg. In the Name of Jesus I ask You to send the Spirit of grace and salvation upon them, Lord, I now pray for the whole region of Westphalia.”

Why do I do it that way? Because it keep me from just praying in a vague, general way for Germany. I begin to really identify with the people and their needs.

The Holy Spirit puts His passion in my heart for them, and I am moved to intercede on their behalf. I am now praying with meaning and power; not just reciting a list of names.

If I know nothing about the needs, I use the Gift of Tongues in prayer. The spirit knows what is needed and makes intercession through me in a language I do not understand.

It is not necessary to cover a big list every day. You may only cover one nation or even a part of one nation, but you have a feeling of fulfillment.

B. INTERCESSION BY AND FOR OUR MISSIONARIES

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for you, I am filled with joy…” (Phil 1:3-6).

The missionary Paul wrote to the believers at Philippi. To win them for Christ, he had suffered beatings and imprisonment (Acts 16). He loved them and constantly prayed for them.

This is what Paul was doing from his prison in Rome when he wrote to the church at Philippi. He was reaching out to those who were an extension of his own life. He kept in touch with them and supported them with his love and prayers. Their fruitful lives were a source of great joy to him.

But Paul also counted on the churches he birthed to pray for him. “Ye also helping together by prayer for us…” (2 Cor 1:11).

This biblical pattern is one we should follow.

We are to pray faithfully for our missionaries – our “sent out” ones. I pray by name for all the missionaries we have sent out to establish churches. I start on the East Coast and pray my way across the nation for each church leader and his family and the churches which they shepherd.

May I suggest you pray for your missionaries the same way. They depend upon your prayers, that all God has purposed through their lives and ministry might be joyfully completed in Christ Jesus.

C. SPIRITUAL WARFARE FOR EVANGELISM

“Pray in the Spirit at all times and in all ways. Be always alert and ever intercede for all of the saints everywhere. Pray also for me that I may freely and boldly proclaim the hidden truths of the gospel” (Eph 6:18,19).

Paul tells us in Ephesians 6 that we are to take up our arms and armor for spiritual warfare and then pray for open doors of ministry.

We are to come against the powers and forces of darkness that are at work in the world. As Paul was supported by the intercession of fellow believers, we are to pray for men who are called of God to proclaim His gospel.

Miracles of God’s grace don’t come just because an evangelist appears on the scene. Any true man or woman of God knows that real revivals are born out of prayer and intercession.

Jesus called Satan the “strong man,” “No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house” (Mark 3:27).

Before we see victories down here on earth, there must be a battle won in the heavenly realm.

Satan is the prince of the power of the air. The “strong man” must be bound before he will surrender his territory to Christ’s claim. That is the reason Paul concludes his words on spiritual warfare with a plea for intercessory prayer. Can we settle for anything less?

D. INTERCESSION FOR NATIONAL LEADERS AND PEACE

“…I urge you that prayers and intercession… be made for… kings and all others who are in authority that we might live peaceful and quiet lives…” (1Tim 2:1,2).

We need to pray in a very responsible way for our national leaders.

“The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD. As the rivers of water: he turns it whithersoever he will” (Prov 21:1). So we need not be timid or fearful, but boldly pray for those in positions of authority. God can turn their hearts as He wills when we pray.

E. CONCLUSION

Remember, intercession is not just for a small group of people who are super-spiritual or extra-holy. There are indeed some who have a special calling to intercessory prayer, but the privilege is for all.

Even those whom we recognize as veteran prayer warriors had to start somewhere. There is a first time for everything, and most of you are much further along than that. So, start praying and keep praying.

You may say, “Well, I started and then I missed a couple of days and now I feel defeated. ” If I were the devil, I would try to make you feel defeated too. I would do anything to keep you from going on with your prayer life.

God doesn’t have a big score board where He adds and subtracts your days of heavy prayer. If that were true, most of us would be so far behind we couldn’t catch up.

Your heavenly Father is waiting for you to come to Him just as you are. If you have some failures to confess, do it and receive His forgiveness. Then get on with your prayer life. This is the way to respond to His ministry of grace.

Jesus said that if we “ask and keep on asking,” we will receive (Luke 11:10 amp). He seems to be saying our prayers add up, and therefore we should keep on with our praying.

It is good to know that when we are praying in the Spirit and in faith, God hears our prayers regardless of how we may feel. Prayer brings results; much prayer brings much results!

Some problems and issues may seem to be bigger than our prayers. This may be so, but they are not bigger than the One to whom we pray! So keep on growing and praying, and keep on praying and growing. God is going to have His army of prayer warriors, and you can be one of them!

START NOW AND GOD WILL BLESS!

Since February 28, 2009, I’ve posted The Lamp and The Light Post every Saturday. Times are changing, and as a reflection of that, the next issue will be on Sunday March 01, 2011, and God willing, will continue weekly every Sunday instead of Saturday.

with love in Jesus
John S. Kodiyil

Part 2

C. INTERCESSION DEFINED

I now want to give a simple definition of intercession. Later on we will discuss the concept of intercessory prayer in greater detail.

Intercession may be defined as: “praying on behalf of others, under the power and direction of the Holy Spirit, knowing there will be divine results.”

The above statement can be divided into three parts. We shall consider them one at a time.

1. Praying On Behalf Of Others.

Intercession means praying for somebody besides yourself. Now the “somebody” may be someone who is near and dear to you. You care very much about his (or her present welfare, and his eternal well-being. so you earnestly and urgently pray for him.

The “somebody” nay be someone you don’t even know personally – someone who lives in a far, foreign country. May be the “somebody” is a missionary in that country. It could even be the “country” itself. The basic idea in intercession is that it is prayer on behalf of someone else.

2. With The Power and Direction Of The Holy Spirit

Intercession is prayer with the guidance and help of the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul tells us the Holy Spirit is ready to help us when we don’t know exactly how or for what to pray (Rom 8:26,27).

Many matters are far beyond our understanding. At such times it is a comfort to know we have a Helper Who will direct our prayers according to God’s will.

The Holy Spirit will not only direct our prayers, but will also “prompt” our prayers. There are times when God will bring certain people to our mind. We should take such thoughts and impressions seriously. It is the voice of the Spirit saying, “Pray for this person, and pray for him now!” This is your divine call to intercession. Don’t put it off.

We see, therefore, that in intercession the Holy spirit tells when, how and for whom to pray. That is God’s part. Our part is to obey and pray.

3. Knowing There Will Be Divine Results

Intercession makes a difference.

Prayer changes things. Intercessory prayer is the cause that produces the effects. There is a divine result to prayer that can come in no other way.

The idea that prayer can really make a difference in our lives and in our world is totally against the natural mind of man. Many pagan religions teach that we are helpless, hopeless victims of our circumstances.

This idea carries over to the world at large with even deeper and darker feelings. Fate is fixed, the future is set and there is nothing we can do about it. We can only submit to world affairs as they are, for they cannot be changed. One cannot fight against a destiny that has already been determined.

Jesus taught exactly the opposite. His life, death and resurrection proved that this world can be redeemed. It can be brought back into God’s original plan and purpose. All is not lost. We are not doomed to die, but destined to live. When Christ came to this earth, He exposed the lie of the devil, and called us to a life of faith, hope and love.

Furthermore, He gave to us the right to pray as He did. His prayers were life-changing and earth-shaking in their effect. This world will never be the same.

But first, Jesus had to step in, Jesus had to take a stand and expose the Man of Darkness, and the darkness that was in man. Jesus took that step and made that stand. And so must we!

D. INTERCESSION AND SPIRITUAL WARFARE

1. The Spiritual Forces Involved

When we oppose the devil, we will be involved in a spiritual battle. For us to win, it is necessary for us to know what spiritual forces are at work. There are three:

a. The Spirit Of Darkness
b. The Spirit Of Man
c. The Spirit Of God

2. Man’s Relation to Spiritual Forces

a. Man Subject To The Power Of Satan. The Spirit of darkness is headed up by Satan, the devil. We are not dealing with a funny little idea. We are dealing with a cruel and clever personality who is opposed to God and God’s purpose.

Since God created man with holy purpose in mind, it is not surprising that man would become the object of Satan’s attack. Satan hates everything that reveals anything of God’s divine image or plan.

For that reason, the devil deceived Eve and caused Adam to fall from the position of godly character and authority which had been given them

Since that time, not only has man been subject to the power of Satan, but also to the rule of his own fallen nature.

b. Man Subject To The Power Of Flesh. The soulish-sensual part of man – the will, mind, emotions and senses of man apart from God’s Spirit – is referred to in Scriptures as “the flesh.” There is enough ungodly energy in “the flesh” to spoil our lives even without the direct help of the devil. We can do it all on our own!

Man at his best is doomed for decay apart from God. Even his finest earthly achievements finally crumble into dust. Both the spirit of darkness and man’s own sinful nature are driving him in but one direction -death and decay.

It is rather dark and dismal picture if it were not for one bright beam of glorious light – the Lord Jesus Christ.

c. Man Rules Through The Power Of The Holy Spirit. Into this dark world He came, and introduced the gracious gift of God’s Holy Spirit. In the power of that life-giving Spirit, man is once again able to rule over the dark forces of death and decay.

When we submit to Jesus Christ as the Lord of our lives, we come under His authority. In the power of that authority we can oppose the evil forces of the world, the flesh and the devil.

Jesus Christ has set us free, that we might act as His agents and bring that same freedom to the lives of others. He has redeemed us – bought and brought us back into God’s divine purpose – that we might become ministers of His redeeming grace throughout the whole world.

3. Intercession: a Powerful Weapon

We fulfill this divine calling in two ways – through prayer and ministry – and in that order. Intercessory prayer prepares the way and clears the air for effective ministry. It breaks the power of the devil’s lies which darken the hearts and minds of men.

Prayer also supports the missionaries – God’s sent ones – who will carry the good news of the gospel throughout the world. They can then touch, love, serve, give, help and minister the life of the living God in the full power and authority of His Holy Spirit.

A successful church is a fellowship of believers who are given to prayer and committed to ministry. And so it was in the church at Antioch.

They had been taught in the ways of God and sought to obey His word and wait upon Him. As they did, God said, “I am going to change the world around you, and I am going to use you to do it.”

They realized that change would involve fasting and prayer and the sending forth of missionaries. They obeyed. And the world was changed.

The course of history turned on the basis of that prayer meeting in Antioch of Syria, 2000 years go. The flow of the gospel westward, which lifted Europe out of pagan darkness, plague, poverty and despair can be traced to that time of intercessory prayer.

People of prayer can actually change the course of human history as they seek the mind of God and become obedient to His will.

So often our salvation is only seen as an escape from a wicked world which is doomed for destruction. God wants to reach the world with His love and grace just as He has reached us. He can only do it, however, through believers who will pray and obey – and by this, make room for Him to work.

E. THREE IMPORTANT CONCEPTS IN INTERCESSION

I would now like to enlarge our definition of intercession with three different words which the Lord gave me. The three words have a very special meaning. They are as following: intervention, intersection and interception. We will take them one at a time.

1. Intervention

To “intervene” means to step into a situation with divine purpose in view.

Jesus stepped into our world that we might know and experience God’s redemptive purpose for mankind. He had the power and authority to do that. And by doing it, He put the powers of darkness under His feet (Matt 28:18).

He now sends us into the very same world with the very same authority:

“As the Father has sent me, so send I you… Behold, I have given you authority and power to step upon the serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you in any way” (John 20:21; Luke 10:19).

Jesus is saying, “you are members of my Body. If these evil things are to be kept under foot, you need to step in. When you see the evil forces of the world, the flesh and the devil at work, you have the authority to intervene. Don’t just let it go.”

You say, “But what can we do?” PRAY! Many might respond. “We have prayed, but what can we do now?” Pray! – then OBEY! Intercession is the ground from which divine direction comes.

At Antioch, you recall, they fasted, prayed, heard the voice of the spirit, and obeyed. After they spoke to God, He spoke to them. People who keep asking what to do may need to check the quality and depth of their prayer life.

2. Intersection

An intersection is the place where two roads meet and cross each other. Sometimes we call it a crossroads. God will bring all kinds of people, places, and events with their needs and problems “across” our paths.

When we bring the victory and power of Christ’s cross into such meeting places, they truly become divine “crossroads.” On the cross, Jesus Christ broke all the powers of the world, the flesh and the devil. It was a total triumph – a complete victory!

However, the power of the cross must be personally focused on the crossroads of world need. Prayer is what focuses the power of Christ’s cross on to the problem places of our earth.

Christ has done all that is needed for the world to be saved. Now we must do our part. The principle is clearly seen in the plan of salvation. God so loved the world that He sent His son to die on the cross for our sins.

That was His part.

Our part is to come to God in prayer and confess both our sin and the saving work of God’s Son.

The power of the cross will never touch our lives or our world until we bring our lives and the needs of our world to God in prayer. That is our part – to pray, then go and tell others.

There are many in the daily world of our lives who know little of God’s love or His power. They do not know how to come to Him in prayer. They need someone who can pray on their behalf. The needs begin in our own neighborhood and reach on out to the whole world.

Perhaps there is a friend that is facing a divorce; someone is in prison for preaching the gospel, the crises which occur in our local and national governments; the loss of personal and religious freedom in whole blocks of nations; world-wide hunger and disease… and the list goes on, almost without end.

These are all cross roads in human experience where your prayer might determine the outcome.

God is raising up a mighty army of prayer warriors throughout the nation and around the world. They are joining ranks by the thousands, tens of thousands and even hundreds of thousands as true soldiers of the cross.

Any time you pray, you become a part of a prayer meeting which is growing in size, and will never end until Jesus comes. This is no small thing, for it is the key to God’s end-time revival which is to sweep across the entire globe.

One of the keys of the kingdom is intercessory prayer. The very gates of Hell cannot prevail against the Church of Jesus Christ when She is upon Her knees.

There may be some who still want to say, “But you have to do more than just pray.” That’s right. But I have never seen people who “just” prayed and that’s all – not if they really prayed.

As at Antioch, prayer and evangelism will always go together.

I must add, however, that I have seen a lot of people who tried to do many “busy things” without prayer. Busy things and busy people without prayer are never very productive. All they do is wear themselves and everybody else out, with little to show for their much effort.

Yes, prayer and missionary-evangelism must always go together.

3. Interception

To “intercept” means to stop, take over and even reverse the direction of something. We see this in certain types of soccer-ball games. The ball is being taken towards one goal. An opposing player stops the ball, takes it over and moves it towards the other goal. What begins as a victory play for one team is changed and – because of the “interception” – the other team wins.

Intercessory prayer does just that. The enemy is coming in as a flood. The situation looks hopeless. Then somebody steps in (intervention); applies the power of the cross through prayer (intersection); the situation is taken over for God, and the tide is completely reversed (interception). What looked like a victory for the devil becomes a triumph for the Lord. This is Kingdom power in action.

When Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch from their missionary trip to Cyprus and Asia Minor, they had many such “interceptions” (victories) to share with those who had faithfully supported them with their prayers.

It must have been a time of joyful celebration (Acts 14:26-28).

The three principles of intercession worked well for them, and they will for us as well.

Part 1

A. MODEL CHURCH FOR PRAYER AND MISSIONS

We find an outstanding church in the Book of Acts. It was both a praying church and a mission-minded church, and therefore is of special interest to us.

It was located in the city of Antioch on the northern coast of Syria. It was the first Gentile church, and some noted leaders in early Christianity were among its members. Luke tells us something about its special character and ministry: ‘There were prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch: Barnabas.. Simeon… Lucius… Manaen and Saul. While they were praying, fasting and worshiping the Lord, the Holy spirit said: ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ After they fasted and prayed , they laid hands on them and sent them away” (Act 13:1-3).

These three verses hold six ideas which will help us understand the kind of people God uses in reaching out to the world:

1. They Were A People Of The Word

From the list of prophets and teachers given in verse 1, we know they were a people who were taught and grounded in the Word of God.

2. They Were A People Of Worship

It was their practice to “minister unto the Lord.” By their worship they welcomed God into their everyday world. His holy presence in their midst was the source of their spiritual life.

3. They Were A People Who Knew The Discipline Of Fasting

In this they brought the soulish-sensual part of their beings under the control of the Holy Spirit. Fasting is one way of saying, “I am a spirit-being before I am a physical being.”

4. They Were A People Who Heard And Obeyed the Voice Of The Holy Spirit

They were in tune with His presence, and sought His direction for their lives and that of the Church.

5. They Were A People Of Prayer

The second reference to prayer and fasting shows that they knew spiritual warfare would be an important part of their missionary ministry. Their missionaries would be backed up with the battle- power of a praying people.

6, They Were A People Committed To Their Missionaries

When they laid hands on them, they linked their lives to those who were being sent out. They would continue to support them in every way possible. Their missionaries would not be forgotten.

This description of the church at Antioch gives us a practical introduction from Scripture to the whole subject of intercessory prayer.

We will develop the theme of intercession by considering a number of its different aspects.

We will also learn how to break down our responsibility for world-wide prayer into parts which we can manage without being overwhelmed. If we feel a task is too great, there is always the danger we won’t even begin.

God wants us to share in the same excitement and joy which the church at Antioch felt when Paul and Barnabas returned and told of the many ways in which their prayers had been answered. Answered prayer is a rich reward for faith and obedience.

B. PRAYER PROBLEMS

Praying for the nations is different from the kinds of prayer we have discussed thus far in our series.

The number of countries and extent of their needs requires an approach which is beyond the scope of our daily prayer routine.

1. Wrong Ideas About Prayer

Many Christians find it hard to believe that their “little” prayers could really make a difference in the course of international affairs. It is almost beyond their range of reason.

Much of this kind of thinking comes from weak and wrong ideas about the nature and practice of prayer.

Prayer is not just a good feeling or noble attitude. It is not some vague kind of influence that floats around and hopefully somewhere might do somebody some good.

Prayer is the part we play in focusing God’s purpose and power upon a specific point of need. God has given us the privilege and responsibility of working out His will on earth as it is in Heaven. He promises to back up our prayers of faith with His power and authority.

2. Doubt And Discouragement

Without Him we cannot; but without us, He will not

Because prayer releases God’s power, the devil doesn’t want us to pray, and will discourage us in any way he can. He wants us to feel our prayers are too short, too weak or too little to have any real effect upon matters so large and far away as foreign affairs.

Furthermore, many people have a fatalistic view about the actions and reactions of foreign nations.

They believe nothing can be said or done that will make any difference. What will be, will be.

this lying doubt of the devil may be hard to lay aside because we don’t always have quick and ready answers as we pray for the nations.

When we pray about daily matters close at hand we often see answers rather rapidly. This builds and encourages our faith.

However, the mixed-up matters of the world may require longer periods of time before evidence of God’s divine purpose is forthcoming.

Even then, much can happen without our notice because we are so far away from the scene.

Furthermore, God’s ways are not always our ways. Divine process and plan are often beyond our limited scope of understanding.

Paul tells us that even the Old Testament prophets didn’t fully foresee the mystery of the Church. the idea that Jews and Gentiles were to become one Body in Christ Jesus was totally outside their circle of thought.

Some events in Jewish history must have been very difficult to understand without that revelation. Only in God’s time did His purpose become clear.

The principle still applies to us today. God answers our prayers in His way and in His time. Sometimes we know, but sometimes we don’t. What we do know is that He has promised to answer our prayers when we pray in faith and obedience.

3. Wrong Motives

Wrong motives can be another source of difficulty in intercessory prayer. If we are praying only out of a legalistic sense of duty, our effort will soon become a lifeless burden. True intercession must come from a heart and mind which is motivated and directed by the Holy spirit.

Wrong methods can also defeat our desires for prayer. Our enemy would push us to one extreme or another. If he can’t keep us from praying, he wants our prayers to be so vague and general we wouldn’t know if God answered them or not.

“God bless our family, our nation, the world” isn’t really very satisfying to us or to God. That is because faith always seeks to find a focus. With specific prayer comes a sense of definite expectation.

In the other extreme, long lists of specific needs without divine direction or even practical order can become tiresome and boring. Jesus warned against the practice of “vain repetitions” in prayer – many words with little purpose or power (Matt 6:7).

When our motives or methods are wrong, we quickly become discouraged and give up. We are then left feeling both guilty and helpless. We just don’t know what to do.

For these reasons we will want to spend some time on both the purpose and practice of intercessory prayer. We need to know what real intercession is, and how it works in a personal and practical way.

A. NAME YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS DAILY

In the land of Uz there lived a man by the name of Job. He had a large family of seven sons and three daughters… His children enjoyed giving birthday parties to one another…

“Afterwards, Job would call his children to him and sanctify or purify them before the Lord. He would get up early in the morning and make a trespass [burnt] offering for each of them.

“For Job said, ‘Perhaps my sons have sinned and turned away from God in their hearts. ‘This was Job’s regular practice” (Job 1:1-5).

We have talked about offering yourself, your heart and your day to the Lord. Now we want to talk about offering to the Lord those people who are close to you those who are near and dear.

I am referring to the people who are within our “circle of touch.” They include our families, friends, and brothers and sisters in Christ with whom we are personally acquainted.

Of the different areas of prayer in our outlines, this is the one which stirs my emotions the most. I have very tender and loving feelings for those who are close to my heart. I know you do too.

We need to pray for those in our immediate or near family by name every day. this is what Job did. It was his practice to bring his children before the Lord in prayer. He was deeply concerned about their relationship with God.

You should be concerned about your grandparents, parents, spouse, children and grandchildren if you have such members as a part of your family.

Even if you are living alone, there is a small circle of people whose lives are close to yours. They may not be blood relatives, but you think of them as your “family” of friends. That is where we start. Name them in prayer every day.

I would like to share two personal things with your about family prayer.

1. My Daddy’s Prayers

The first has to do with my daddy. I have always called my father “Daddy,” and I guess I always will. Daddy died in 1979, but I have many wonderful memories of life.

We have a custom. One day each year, we celebrate a day of thanksgiving to god for His blessings on us. This has always been a very special day for our family.

My wife and I usually have everyone over to our house for a special meal. We set up a very large table for the food and our guests. The whole place is crowded with family and friends. It is a time of joy, fellowship and thanksgiving to God.

Daddy always sat at one end of the table, and I at the other end. Then everyone would tell of some of the lovely things that God had done for them over the last year.

None of us knew in 1979 this was going to be the last Thanksgiving dinner we would have with Daddy. He shared with us how thankful he was that all of his children were serving the Lord, and that our families were blessed. It was a tender time, and we all were moved to the point of tears.

Then Daddy said something I will never forget: “I pray for all of you children seven times a day!” Now I knew my daddy prayed. He was a good man and a godly man. But I never knew he prayed seven times a day.

I don’t think he meant that he got on his knees each time to pray, but he had his prayer routine firmly fixed in his mind. I think I know some of the things he would say because I have heard him pray for us out loud many times.

I don’t know when he started his daily prayers for our family. He received Jesus when I was a year and half old. I am sure he prayed for me since the day I was born and probably before – even while I was in the womb of my mother. In the latter years of his life he prayed for me seven times a day.

There is a reason our church has been so richly blessed. It is this. My mamma and daddy were people of prayer, and we all are reaping the benefits of their faithfulness. May they serve as an example for the rest of us.

Pray for your children all the time. They could not receive a better heritage.

2. Praying for My Family.

The second thing I want to share with you is the way I pray for my family. I begin by praying for my wife: “Lord, I ask you to bless my dear wife.” Then I will pray about some problems and ministry opportunities I know she will be facing during the day. It doesn’t take a long time, but I faithfully pray for her every day.

I believe prayer is one of the reasons our marriage of thirty years has been so blessed I don’t mean to say we have never had any problems of difficult times together. We have. But we have learned to grow in the Lord through such times.

Daily prayer strengthens the marriage relationship before God in a beautiful but powerful way. Pray for your spouse.

Then I pray for my oldest daughter and her husband. She loves me very much. She and her husband are part of the leadership team in the church.

About two weeks ago, she opened her heart and shared with me some of the hard things they were going through. Then she came over and hugged me and cried some.

I was glad to be able to pray with her. I have been praying for her longer than any of the other children because she is the oldest. She clearly loves the Lord, her husband and their children. she is very dear to me, and I pray for them a lot – every day – by name.

They are a lovely family, and I am a very proud father. However, good things like that don’t just happen. God does it when we as parents faithfully pray.

The Lord has led one of my sons into teaching. The training of young people is a high calling. Public schools offer many opportunities to tell other about Jesus, and I also pray for him and his spouse everyday.

Our other son and his wife are preparing for church leadership ministry. Their desire is to help a little church that almost died away for lack of leadership. I admire their zeal and faith and warmly support them with my love and prayers.

Our fourth child (a daughter) is sixteen years old. About once a week we take a walk and she tells me about her interests and problems at school. One thing for sure, she has a daddy who will pray daily for her personal needs and school activities.

Then I pray for my mother, my grandmother and others in our family who are close to my heart.

What a privilege and responsibility we all have to pray for our loved ones whom God has set within our family circles!

B. OPEN TO YOUR LARGER FAMILY

“Don’t hide yourself from your own flesh” (Isa 58:7).

I didn’t understand what this verse meant when the Lord first put it upon my heart some fifteen years ago. He simply told me the whole fifty-eight chapter of Isaiah was going to come alive in my future ministry for Him.

I came to understand that “your own flesh” means our blood relatives beyond our immediate family. It is a much larger circle by far. For me it involves my “aunties” and their children. I had not been praying for them. I didn’t even think of them. Only recently have they become part of my circle of prayer.

My wife is one of nine children. Through her I have over twenty-five nieces and nephews. Many of their names I didn’t even know. Never were they part of my prayers.

I believed that I had married my wife, not her family. They were nice to see once in a while, but apart from that I was happy to be left alone. I didn’t dislike them; I just didn’t want to be bothered by them. Our relationship was polite, but cool and distant.

In the early years of our marriage God began to deal with me about my attitudes toward my larger family. I was not to “hide from my own flesh.”

Love will gladly assume the greater responsibility for family prayer that comes with marriage. The Lord changed my heart, and now I am not only learning the names of my nieces and nephews, but praying for them as well.

Now, I can’t pray for them all every day as I do for my immediate family, but I do on a weekly basis. This way I don’t get tired or burned out with a burden God has not given. I don’t know the details of their needs, so specific prayer is not always possible.

However, I can remember them before the throne of God, by name. The Holy Spirit can then pray through me on their behalf. Should one of them need urgent and special prayer, I am sensitive and ready to take on that burden as the Spirit leads.

In this way my prayer life can stay fresh and alive, and can be a powerful force for our larger family circle.

C. REMEMBER THE FATHER’S FAMILY

I bow my knee before the Father of whom the whole family of heaven and earth is named” (Eph 3:14,15).

The Father’s family is the Church. How do we pray for the Church? First of all, we pray for the people that make up the church congregation.

This is different than praying fot the people that make up the church congregation.

This is different than praying for the “programs” or activities of the church. They are important and should be supported by our prayers.

But without our people we wouldn’t have any programs. So it is important to pray for the church family.

I encourage and tell our people that every time they bless their food they should also say: “And Lord, bless our church.” This is not a selfish prayer. It is just saying that we are a part of a church family and together we want God’s blessing.

We are aware that as we are blessing others, they are blessing us also. We are all seeking God’s favour and blessing, that we might better serve Him.

There is another way to pray for the Father’s family. It involves close friends within the congregation. These may be people in your home group, or those with whom you work in some other function of the church.

I want to share something with you that I learned from an elder brother in our church. He was in a prayer circle where each one shared a prayer-need.

He was so moved by the Lord about a need that had been shared by someone that he told the person. “I am going to pray for you every day this week.” And he did. God answered his prayer and a great victory was won. And he has prayed for many others in the same way since that day.

It is very important to support one another with our love and prayers. Truly this is what it means to “remember the Father’s family.”

D. INCLUDE THE SINGLE

“A father to the fatherless, a defender of the widows, is God in his holy dwelling. He sets the single – the lonely one – in families…” (Ps 68: 5,6).

We live in a very lonely world. It is possible to feel all alone even in the midst of a large crowd. Some of you know exactly what I am talking about, for the basic emotion of your life is loneliness.

There are lonely people all around us. Some of them may be our neighbors next door. They may seem to be doing just fine, but in their hearts they feel unwanted, unneeded and unloved. There are people in this world who have never had anyone who has ever prayed for them.

Can you think what it would be like to live all of your life and never have had anybody bring your name to God in prayer? I was always prayed for. But I know there are those who grew up and nobody ever prayed for them.

If this is true for you, then God wants to make it up to you in two ways. First, He wants you to know what it is like to be loved, cared and prayed for by your family in the Lord. Then He wants to give you a special ministry in prayer for the many lonely, left-out ones whom He will bring across your path.

In fact, God wants all of us to be on the watch for those whom He would have us adopt in prayer. All of us know persons in our neighborhood, church, school or work who seem to be lonely.

Sometimes they may appear to be a little strange or different. They don’t seem to fit in well with the people around them. for that reason they are just left alone or pushed to one side. They may want to relate to others and be warmly accepted, but they don’t know how to act or respond with social grace.

They need someone who will love and support them. This may or may not mean God wants you to become a special friend. But you can always adopt such a one as a lonely single whom God would set into His family through your prayers.

I can tell you what may happen next. You will find that you begin to love and care for these lonely ones. God will put in your heart the love that is in His heart for that person.

And love has a way of wanting to reach out and encourage people who are lonely and hurting.

This was clearly seen in the life of Jesus when He was here on earth. Now, through the grace and power of His Spirit, our hands can become His hands. We become the family into which the Father sets His “single ones.”

From Establishing a Devotional Habit by Jack Hayford as printed in the Shepherd’s Staff

A. SURRENDER YOUR DAY TO GOD

“Commit your way unto the Lord Trust also in him, and he will bring it to pass… Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act” (Ps 37, 5,7).

The two little words, “commit” and “rest”, are of great importance. They form the divine door way through which you pass into your daily walk with the Lord.

By “committing” the things to God which we are powerless to change and “resting” in the sure knowledge that “..He will work all things together for our good” (Rom 8:28), we bring divine order to each day.

We do not shout orders to God.

Come before the Lord each day and say, “Jesus, I want to talk to You about today.”

Then you tell Him what you are concerned about. Describe your day to Him point by point – people, places, events, decisions. etc.

There are always things that come our way that we don’t expect. That is why we never seem to get everything done that we have planned.

Some days, nothing we planned to accomplish gets done. Then we can feel very frustrated or defeated and upset. Fruitless days can be very discouraging.

I have discovered that with the passage of time, what I thought were “fruitless” days have turned out to be more “fruitful” than I first thought.

It is encouraging to remember that God is never caught off guard by the “unexpected.”

Our plans and purposes may fail, but never His. Nothing will ever be a total waste or loss if we give our life and day back to the Lord every morning.

There are days when I have missed my early morning devotional time with God. I failed to order my day before Him. I have been in such a hurry to get going in my work for the Lord that I didn’t take the time to wait upon the Lord of the work.

Usually on such days, by about 10.30 or 11.00 a.m., my day has become very confused. My head feels and sounds like a busy hive of bees with all

kinds of things buzzing in and out. Have you had days like that?

I can run into some very thorny and difficult things by 11.00 o’clock in the morning, whether I have prayed or not. To have been prepared by prayer provides real spiritual strength.

To have ordered the day before God gives one the faith that He will wisely guide us in the unexpected problems that arise. It makes a great difference in the day arise. It makes a great difference in the day – a very great difference!

I am grateful that God’s Throne of Grace is truly one of grace and not of judgment. I am so glad we can readily come to Him even in our failures, and He is ready to forgive and restore.

There are times in the rush and confusion of a prayer-less and unordered day that I have dropped to my knees and cried out for God’s help and wisdom. To my joy I discovered that although I had failed to wait upon Him, He was still waiting upon me.

It is never too late to pray, but we can spare ourselves and others a lot of grief by doing it early in the morning. that is the time to “commit” our day unto the Lord – then we can “rest” in Him.

B. SHOW CHILD-LIKE NEED

“In all your ways look to him, and he will direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord and depart from evil” (Prov 3:6,7).

I want you to know how important it is to maintain a childlike dependence on God. As a child needs a father, so we need God. We are totally depended upon Him. We need Him very much every day.

I have preached the gospel over forty years. But I want to tell you something. Sunday morning when I was praying, I earnestly said:

“Father God, this is your boy, Jack. I am coming to You as your child because I need Your help today. I don’t want to just follow a familiar religious form in our Sunday service at church. I want to lead Your people into true spiritual worship. Father, I refuse, to be ‘wise in my own eyes.”‘

To be “wise in your own eyes” means to be proud and arrogant – to feel confident in ourselves – that we can do things without God’s help.

And, as far as the form or pattern of the church service is concerned, that may be true. However, one can conduct a church service without the people meeting or encountering God.

The success of a meeting is dependent upon the power of God’s Spirit. We must ever and in all ways rely upon Him. This is the simple child-like dependence which we must maintain. Let us join David in his prayer: “Bow down thine ear, O LORD, hear me: for I am poor and needy” (Ps 86:1).

C. ASK FOR SPECIFIC GUIDANCE.

“Show me your ways, Oh Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation. On you do I wait all the day long” (Ps 25:4,5).

I order my day before the Lord by saying, “Father, all through out this day I will be looking to You. Show me Your ways. Teach me Your paths.” I specifically ask God to guide me on many different matters.

Then as I come to these points during the course of the day, I again turn to Him and say, “Help me here, Lord.” In this way I establish a reference point in the morning to which I can relate throughout the day.

Recently, I was just about to say something when I felt a little check or brake in my spirit as if God’s Spirit were saying, “Don’t say that!” My remark was not ugly or untrue; it was just unnecessary.

I felt like arguing with God: “I know it is not necessary, but I want to say it any way. It is not going to hurt anything. ” God simply replied, “Don’t say it. Just don’t!”

Sometimes we overlook or fail to obey God’s little stop-sign, and speak any way. What we thought was a harmless word becomes a very painful experience for someone. Then we are so sorry we didn’t heed the warning signal the Holy spirit set in our heart.

Even if it seems that our remark caused no harm, we feel a little sad that we went ahead any way just to satisfy your compulsion to talk.

In this case, I did keep my words to myself, and felt the approval of the Holy Spirit. It is a good feeling to know that our attitude and action was pleasing to the Lord.

The point I want you to get is this: my ability to exercise self-control came from my morning prayer time. I had ordered my day before the Lord, and had prayed, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight” (Ps 19:14).

If we ask the Lord for specific guidance at the beginning of the day, He will faithfully direct us in all the details that will come our way all day long.

D. OBEY INSTRUCTIONS

Jesus clearly tells us that our heavenly Father will supply our needs:

“Look at the birds of the air , they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them… Look at the lilies in the field, they do not labor or spin, yet even Solomon in all of his glory was not dressed like one of them…

“If God clothes the grass of the field…shall he not clothe you?

“…for your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things” (Matt 6:26-32).

We don’t need to worry about what we will eat or wear. Just as our heavenly Father cares and provides for the little birds and the lilies of the field, even more, He cares and will provide for us.

But do we just sit and passively wait for His provision? Or is there something we are required to do in order to enjoy His supply? The Scripture answers these questions. God is not going to fulfill these promises without our doing what He requires.

The Bible says, “Ask and it will be given to you… Pray therefore … Give us this day our daily bread [food]…” (Luke 11:9; Matt 6:9,11).

This is the simple thing God requires.

“Ask and you will receive. “Don’t worry, but do ask!

Is God saying that if we don’t pray we won’t receive? Yes!

James says, “.. you have not because you ask not” (Jas 4:2).

Salvation is a good example. It is for all, and it is forever – but only those who ask, receive it.

We receive the gift of eternal life when we ask Jesus to come into our hearts and become our Lord and Savior. But we must ask.

The same truth applies to our daily affairs and needs. We must ask God for our “daily bread.” This refers to our material or bodily needs and our spiritual needs as well.

Jesus said, “….My meat [food] is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work” (John 4:34).

What does this mean?

Just as the hunger of the body can only be met by eating a meal, the hunger of the heart and soul an only be met by doing the will of God. We can only do God’s will by knowing His will.

Our Father has a daily plan and purpose for our lives which we discover each day in our devotions. His will is to become the “daily bread” for which we pray.

The key to knowing God’s will is to ask for it – and ask for it every day. That doesn’t mean He will reveal every detail of your day before it happens. It does mean that when the day comes to a close, His purpose for your life will have been completed for that day – IF you ask for His will before the day’s activities began.

It may not have been your will, but it will have been His. God will work everything together for His good purpose in Christ Jesus. His will for us is to become like His son. Nothing will be lost, nothing will be wasted (Rom 8:28,29).

You may not even realize what details of God’s good purpose were fulfilled in a given day. It may have looked like one of those “fruitless” days that we talked about earlier.

But give God some time to bring forth the harvest. It may take a week, or a year – or even half a life time. However, there will come a day when we all can say, “Jesus led me all the way.”

Give each day back to God with your life. Order each day before Him. Joyfully ask God for the daily bread of His will for you – and be at peace!

A. INVITE A SEARCH

Along with our bodies we also need to offer our hearts to God. We should ask and invite the Lord to search our hearts. The Psalmist says it with these words: “Lord, search me and know my heart. Try [test] me and know my thoughts, and see if there be any evil way in me. Lead me in the way that lasts forever” (Ps 139:23-24).

This is not the prayer of a man who at the time was in deep sin or great failure. David experienced such times. Psalm 51 is his prayer of repentance for adultery and murder (sometimes called “the sinner’s Psalm). But this was not the case when David wrote Psalm 139).

In the earlier verses of this Psalm, David speaks of God’s loving hand upon his life. He knows that the Lord is with him everywhere, and all the time. He knows that God made him in a wonderful way, and has a wonderful plan for his life.

He goes on to say that the Lord’s promises of blessing to him are like the sands of the sea in number. He is aware of God’s great love, which is very precious to him in every way.

This Psalm is a picture of a man who is living in fellowship with God. Yet, he is asking God to search his heart, and try his thoughts for some inner evil that he might not know about.

This Psalm tells us in the opening verses that God knows us better than we know ourselves. How wise it is to invite His search; to let Him point out any danger areas in our lives that might bring hurt or harm to ourselves or others.

when I was a boy, my dad would give me a list of things that I was to do every Saturday. It was hard work, and usually took four hours or more to finish. Then I could spend the rest of the day playing.

When Dad would come home in the evening, he would take the list and look around to see if everything had been done right. Sometimes he would point out some hidden corner which had not been swept perfectly clean. I would take a little hand brush and finish the job properly right then and there.

Now my dad was not putting me down in some unkind way. He was just helping me to learn how to do a job right the first time. When I would get the job done, he was always ready to say: “That’s good work, Son.” As you might know, next week when I would sweep the floor I would remember all the “hidden corners” – places I had not even seen before.

It is possible for all of us to have “hidden corners” in our hearts that need to be swept clean.

I don’t say this unkindly, but there are many people who are caught up in sinful habits that they have little awareness of. They will eventually reap what they sow. The results of their sin will bring the harvest of pain and punishment in time. Then they will wonder, “Why did this happen to me?”

Church leaders spend many hours trying to help people with personal problems resulting from hidden sins. They are thinking, saying and doing wrong things and don’t even know it.

Very few people come and say, “I just decided I was going to turn my back on God, and live a sinful life.” Most of the time they come hurt and wounded on the inside because they don’t know how to walk with Jesus, or hear His voice.

If we ask the Lord to show us our hidden sins, He will speak to us, and help us to sweep every little corner of our lives bright and clean.

As we listen for His voice, and seek to obey His Word, we will learn to walk close by His side everyday. Then as the night draws near, we too can hear Him say: “That was a good job, Son. I am really proud of you” And that is worth it all!

B. DON’T BE DECEIVED

Deception is believing something is right when it is wrong. 1 John 1:7-10 tells us that as long as we walk in the light of God’s love and truth, the blood of Jesus keeps on cleansing us from all sin. It also says, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. “This same beautiful scripture goes on to say, “But if we confess [tell God] our sin, he is faithful to forgive and cleanse us.”

1. Three Area For Deception

From this we see there are three possible area for deception:

a. We Have No sin. Thinking we have no sin for which to be forgiven.
b. We Don’t Need To Confess. Thinking if we do sin, God will either overlook it, or forgive us even if we don’t face it or tell Him about it.
c. We Won’t Be Forgiven. Thinking we cannot, or will not be forgiven even when we do confess our sin.

2. Deception Spoils Fellowship

If we are deceived in any one of the three areas, our fellowship (walk and talk with God) will be spoiled. We will find it hard to pray, praise or worship the Lord.

God’s Word won’t bring the joy and peace it once did. It will be hard for us to look full into the face of our Lord. We may try to act like everything is all right, but deep on the inside we know something is wrong.

a. Hurting Hearts. Those who believe they never sin at all, keep having problems caused by their sin. But they don’t know why they have them – or why their heart still hurts.

b. Hardened Hearts. Those who sin but feel they don’t have to tell God, because He forgives them anyway, can become hard of heart. After a while they don’t even hear the Lord trying to warn them. To walk so far away from God is very dangerous.

Was this the problem of the Pharisees? “and [some] of the Pharisees.. said unto him. Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye [falsely] say, We see; therefore your sin remains” (John 9:40,41). the Pharisees were deceived and did not know it. Therefore their sin remained.

c. Heavy Hearts. Those who feel that even though they tell God their sins, He will not really forgive and forget, will always have a heavy heart. They ever walk under a dark cloud of guilt and condemnation.

How good it is to be open and honest and say that sometimes we do fall or fail. God is ever ready, however, to forgive, restore and strengthen us. He also wants to teach us how to walk above the call and fall of sin.

The way to live beyond sin is to come to Him before we sin. It is easier to come to Him before hand rather than afterwards.

3. Be Sensitive To the Spirit

In our morning devotion we can tell the Lord hat we have no desire to be deceived during the day. We really want to walk in the light of His love and truth. We want to know and feel His presence with us all the time. In this way we can serve and obey Him with gladness of heart.

We should ask God daily to make us very sensitive to His Holy spirit. For He can warn us when we are in danger. He will also let us know very quickly if we sin against His love or truth.

I think we all understand that if we fail God during the day, we don’t lose our salvation. The littlest sin, however, can quickly spoil our fellowship (our walk and talk with God).

We then want to be always ready to ask Him for His forgiveness, because we do not want our fellowship with Him to be broken. We want to please the Lord Jesus in all things, and grieve Him in none!

C. SET A GUARD OVER YOUR MIND AND MOUTH

David wrote, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation [thoughts] of my heart be pleasing in your eyes, Oh Lord, my strength and Redeemer” (Ps 19:14).

Someone has said that while we can’t keep the birds from flying overhead, we can keep them from building a nest in our hair!

1. Guarding Your Mind

a. Three Main Sources Of Thoughts.

Thoughts and temptations can come to our minds from many different places. In fact, there are three main sources:

1) The World - from what we see and hear.
2) The Flesh – from our old sin nature.
3) the Devil – from the spirit world.

However, just because a thought comes to our mind doesn’t mean we have to dwell on it. Unholy thoughts unchallenged – will lead to unholy words and deeds. We need therefore to cut them off short, and replace them with holy thoughts.

b. Make Jesus Lord Of Your Mind.

We can begin the day by asking God to keep our minds.

When a wrong thought arises, He will then quickly let us know. One easy way to stop it short is to say, “Lord Jesus, you see that thought too, and we are not going to give it any more time or attention, are we?”

Talking to Jesus has great stopping power. Our flesh hears it. The spirit world hears it. This keeps us from carrying the thought on, or coming under a false sense of guilt or condemnation.

Every Christian will have wrong thoughts at one time or another, but Jesus can be the Lord of our minds as well as our hearts.

2. Guarding Your Mouth

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue..” (Prov 18:21).

a. Words Are Powerful. We also want to watch our words. Words have feeling and meaning, and are very powerful for good or evil. They can hurt or heal. They can bring joy or sadness. They can build up or tear down. They can minister love or fear – life or death!

Some times words may have little effect other than to waste time. “But I say unto you. That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment” (Matt 12:36). Time is life, and to waste one is to waste the other.

b. Know When To Speak. We have all had the Lord warn us about our words at one time or another. Maybe we were about to speak, but the Lord said, “Don’t say it; it is not needed right now.” Maybe we didn’t know at the time how important it was to keep the words to ourselves. But God did!

Other times the Lord might tell us to speak out. He has set something in our hearts from His heart, and He wants His people to hear the word. That is the time to speak out in faith. Words from the Lord will always bring life!

Beginning each day by talking with God will help us to hear His voice throughout the rest of the day. This is an important reason for developing the habit of daily devotions.

D. KEEP THE GOAL IN VIEW

The Apostle Paul speaks of this in Philippians 3:13-14: “No, dear brothers, I am not all that I should be yet. But I do one thing. I forget everything that is behind me, and look forward to that which is ahead of me.

My eyes are on the goal. I press on to win the race and get the prize. That is the purpose for which God is calling us to heaven in Christ Jesus.”

This is a very special verse to me. In fact, I have taken it as my life verse. There is a reason this part of God’s Word is so important to me. Let me tell you the story which is behind it.

When I was 14 years old, I was listening to a woman preacher. Her name was Esther. She was an evangelist who had come to preach in our church.

One night when she was preaching, she told how she had come very close to death’s door. She and some other people were in a dry river bed when an unexpected flood of water came rushing down upon them.

They joined their hands together in prayer and stood against the force of the oncoming water. By “pressing against” the power of the rushing river, they were able to stand together, and finally move on to a place of safety.

She told the story to help us understand the words Paul used in “pressing on” to reach God’s goal for our lives.

I was deeply moved in my heart that night. I told the Lord: “That is the kind of person I want to be. I want to always ‘press on’ and win the very best that you have for my life in Christ” That still is my long range goal and life purpose in the Lord.

Long range goals are reached by completing a series of daily short range-goals. Every day in God’s plan for our lives there is a number of little goals to be reached. these are little “jobs” He wants us to do.

During our morning prayers God will bring several things to our mind that will be a part of His plan for the day. (We will discuss this in more detail in our next section.) These are little jobs he wants us to do. When we complete these little tasks in faith and obedience, we will have “pressed on” toward God’s greater, long-range goal for our lives.

Every morning during our devotional time, we should give both our lives and the day back to God. We should pray that we “press on” no matter what may come against us. We will not give up in our effort to do God’s will.

We can reach our goals in God. We will win our heavenly prize. Come, therefore, let us greet the day with faith, hope and courage in Christ Jesus!

A. DAILY PURPOSE IN PRAISE

The Bible says in Psalm 100:4, “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise.”

There are two basic reasons for which we can praise God:

• For who He is – truth about God’s nature and character.
• For what He has done - gifts, blessings, protection, answers to prayer, etc.

1. Praise Him for Who He Is

I can tell you something right now, dear one. Praising God every day for Who He is will change your life!

You might begin by simply saying: “Lord, I praise You today because You are my Savior. You have not only saved me from my sins of the past, but You are also my Savior right now. I know You will save me from many things even today – from fears, doubts and angry words. I really thank You for being such a strong and faithful Savior.”

On the next day you can take another side of God’s character and think about that, “Lord I praise You because You are almighty. You are stronger than anything that might come my way today. I can be sure that You will protect and strengthen me no matter what may happen.”

Then again you might want to thank the Lord for being the Truth: “Lord I praise You for being so faithful and true. I can always trust the truth of Your Word – it will never fail. In Your truth is freedom, and I can walk in that wonderful liberty today.”

In this way you can continue to praise God for a different part or aspect of His nature every day. I have seen books which give a special name for Jesus for each day of the year. You could make up your own list for a week at a time. I can assure you your praise and worship will become very fresh and meaningful.

2. Praise Him for What He Has Done

Also, praise the Lord for what He has done. There are some past blessings for which we just can’t thank the Lord enough. We keep thanking Him over and over again. That is wonderful to do, but also keep up to date. Pick out something special that God did in your life yesterday for which to praise Him. That will keep our prayers and praise life bright and fresh.

B. OFFER UP YOUR BODY TO THE LORD

Romans 12:1 tells us to do that. “Christian brothers, I ask you from my heart to give your bodies to God because of his loving-kindness to us. Let your bodies be a living and holy gift offered to him.

“He is pleased with this kind of gift. When you think of what God has done for you, is this too much to ask? This is the true and spiritual worship which he desires.”

It is spiritual worship to offer our bodies to God. How do we offer your bodies? One way is to kneel down. If you can’t kneel, sit before the Lord with a humble heart. (They were all sitting, when the Spirit first came on the Day of Pentecost.)

It is good, however, to kneel when we can. In this way we show our desire to humbly submit and offer ourselves to God. It is more than just a religious form or ritual. It means we are bowing our hearts before the Lord.

There are many ways to offer our body to the Lord.

This morning I danced before the Lord. It was only for a short time, but I did it with a heart filled with praise and joy. The Scriptures also tell us to lift up our heads and our hands unto the Lord. “Clap your hands all you people, and shout to the Lord with a voice of victory” (Ps 47:1).

It does not have to be the same act of praise every day. But do offer your body in some way to the Lord at the beginning of the day.

You will find it much easier to resist the claims of the world for your body if you do. Hands lifted to God in holy praise early in the morning will not so quickly give way to unholy acts of disobedience.

When our bodies are not offered and submitted to God, we can suffer from all kinds of problems. Overeating, laziness and unholy sex are all body sins. Body praise is one way we can become strong in resisting the “world the flesh and the devil.” Let us offer our bodies to God in praise every day!

C. SING A NEW SONG

Psalm 96:1 says: “Sing unto the Lord a new song. ” How is this possible? From whom do we receive these new songs? it is from the Holy Spirit and His gifts.

1. Three Ways Of Singing

Paul describes this. “…I will sing with the spirit…” (1 Cor 14:15). Paul used the Gifts of the Spirit to help him sing new songs. The following verses refer to three ways of singing to the Lord.

“Speaking to yourselves in a) psalms and b) hymns and c) spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Eph 5:19).

“…teaching and admonishing one another in a) psalms and b) hymns and c) spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” (Col 3:16).

Most of us sing Psalms and hymns. What are “spiritual songs?” these are “new-songs” the Holy Spirit gives us. They are available to all Spirit-filled believers who will use the enablements provided by the Spirit.

2. Singing The Psalms

Great leaders throughout the history of the Church have taught us to praise by singing the Scriptures. I was reading a book recently. It was named, “A Serious Call To A Devout And Holy Life,” This book was written in the early part of the 1700s. The author said Christians ought to sing something from the Psalms every morning.

The Psalms are a rich source for songs to sing to the Lord. They also give us an example to follow.

King David was the sweet singer of Israel. How did he begin each day? The answer can be found in the Psalms themselves:

“Morning by morning I lay my needs and desires before you and wait with great hope and expectation” (Ps 5:3).

“I will sing of your strength; in the morning I will sing of your love” (Ps 59:16).

“My heart is set, O God. My heart is set, therefore I will sing and give praise. Wake up, my soul! Wake up harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn” (Ps 57:7,8).

How long will all of this take? May be three or four minutes at the beginning. But as our spirit is joined with His Spirit in joyful song, we will forget all about the time, and wonder how it could have passed so quickly.

Besides the Psalms, other Scripture-passages can be sung as well. Sometimes the Holy Spirit will give us our own tunes.

This is what Paul and Silas experienced in prison. “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God… and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s hands were loosed” (Acts 16:25, 26). What power there is in singing TO THE LORD.

We can be sure of one thing. Whatever effort we make in singing praise to our God will be a sweet sound to His ear.

D. WORSHIP IN THE SPIRIT

“But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him” (John 4:23).

Ephesians 5:18-19 says. “Be ever filled with the Spirit… sing and make music in your heart to the Lord”.

Our prayer and singing may be “in the Spirit” (1 Cor 14:14-16). Singing and praying in the Spirit has a special meaning. it means to sing and pray in a tongue or language which comes from the Holy Spirit.

The song or prayer is made up of sounds or speech which has not been learned. This language is not understood by the mind of the one praying or singing. Nor is it usually understood by someone nearby who may be listening. It is, however, understood by God because it is by His Spirit. “For he that speaks in an unknown tongue speaks not unto men, but unto God..” (1 Cor 14:2).

The Apostle Paul tells us (Rom 8:26,27) that sometimes we don’t know how to pray or what to pray for as we should. However, the Holy Spirit can pray to God through us with sounds or a language we don’t understand. Paul assures us that such praying is always in line with the will of God.

Often after praying “in the Spirit.” we will begin to pray with our native or learned language in great power and wisdom. In 1 Corinthians 14:14-16, Paul refers to this as praying with the “understanding” (or the interpretation of what we prayed in other tongues).

Praying “in the Spirit” can be followed with “praying with the understanding”
(referred to as Interpretation of Tongues). “Wherefore let him that speaks in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret” (1 Cor 14:13).

Praying in tongues is a powerful tool and gracious gift of God’s Holy Spirit. It should be an important part of our daily devotional life.

Singing in the Spirit can have a like purpose. Sometimes we just can’t put into words how much we love the Lord Jesus. Again the Holy Spirit helps us by giving sounds and songs of praise in a language we don’t understand with our minds.

We do know in our hearts that it is an overflow of love, joy and praise to God, and that we are being strengthened in our spirit (1 Cor 14:2,4,17,18).

The above teaching explains how we can use the gifts of the Spirit in our private devotions. In our private devotions we can take great freedom. We will be built up, and the Lord will be pleased. See Section A5.4 for further teaching on this.

Paul is thankful to God that in his private devotions he prays in tongues (languages given by the Spirit) more than any one else (1 Cor 14:18). What a powerful example for us to follow in our own daily life of devotion!