Prayer is a plea for God’s ordained order to prevail above earthly powers. We can overthrow hell-power by prayer.

When we pray the Word of God we can have on earth what heaven had already decided on. [Jack Hayford]

That is why we pray according to Jesus’ command:

Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. (Matthew 16:19) [heaven=the unseen realm]

Prayer is the golden thread throughout the Bible and the most important kingdom dynamic. In days to come, it will be your joy to study the different prayers of the prophets and kings of the Old Testament. David and his fellow psalmists probably stand out as the royalty of prayer and praise. Solomon‘s prayer at he dedication of the Temple and his request for wisdom, Isaiah’s poetry-prayers – he sang his prophecies, Jeremiah’s outbursts of praise, Daniel’s prayers, Nehemiah’s shotgun prayers – the one sentence power invocation to the highest Authority. The few godly kings of Judah prayed about warfare and threatening neighbours with miraculous intervention.

The Holy Spirit will create the hunger for God in you. Prayer is all Holy Spirit work, not your own. If you do not feel the hunger, ask for it.

I saw my mother reading the Bible for hours and hours on end. I was not like her. I was very interested in other things and could not spend hours in Bible study, but I wanted to be so fascinated with it like she was. I prayed for it. I prayed for a hunger that would drive me out of bed, grabbing my Bible. Now when I wake up in the morning, it is with excitement for something new from God.

Prayer is a life of obedience

The definition of obedience is in the original meaning of the Greek word hupakoe. It comes from hupo = under and akouo = to hear. The word signifies attentive hearing, to listen with compliant submission, assent and agreement.

Obedience is a submission to God’s way and God’s time.

Greek has two words for time – chronos and kairos.

Chronos reminds us of the word chronology and indicates calendar time, measured time, counted time, the relentless and constant passing of time in minutes, hours, days, months, years, decades, centuries and millennia.

Kairos is the liberating concept of God’s time and is defined by Strong’s concordance as: opportune time, set time, appointed time, due time, definitive time, seasonable time, proper time for action, the fullness of time.

Obedience to the Word and submission to God’s timing will open your ears to receive revelational insight.

Our biggest challenge in life is to truly see. To see deeper and understand clearer. Therefore our first prayer is the prayer of the blind man:

Lord, that I can see – into my struggle and my circumstances to see You, the Giver.

Seeing brings us to the second part of the verse – seeking. When we pray to truly see, we can seek and find. It is as if the two words follow onto each other – see and seek.

Just allow the Word of God to wash over you.

 

Seek and you shall find, says Jesus in Matthew 7. What shall we find? We shall find HIM. This the Psalmist knew well.

 

And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You. (Psalm 9:10)

 

The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. (Psalm 14:2)

 

When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.” (Psalm 27:8)

 

I sought the LORD, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. (Psalm 34:4)

So did the prophet Isaiah.

O people in Zion, inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you. (Isaiah 30:19)

 

Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. (Isaiah 55:6)

 

Yet they seek Me daily, and delight to know My ways. As a nation that did righteousness, and did not forsake the ordinance of their God. They ask of Me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching God. (Isaiah 58:2)

 

You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13)

Jesus is the Key, the Door, the Life, the Way, the One and Only. Do not let the reason and resistance of the post-modern society hinder your spiritual victory. This is not a narrow and exclusive way of coming to God, as they would like to argue. It is a wide-open invitation to the warmth and provision that you will find for every possible problem you might have.

Whatever the church may be, any denomination, God is working in there. Many people are hurt and disappointed by church people and church doctrine, but God will never abandon His church. There is always a remnant of upright, loving Christians, who walk in His love and care about you. We might think that a church is dead and irrelevant. God is patient and faithful and will always be there for people who draw near to Him in spirit and truth, far away from church or inside.

Never confuse organized religion with the church of Jesus Christ.

In seeking you will find the character of the Most High, revealed to you in the person of Jesus. In Him all the promises of God is Yes and Amen to the glory of God through us. [2 Corinthians 1:20] He is the miracle-working Messiah Who works in us exactly as He worked when He walked the earth.

This is gift from the powerful hand of the Son of God Himself. Just like the miracle in Luke 24:45:

And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.

 

MOMENT OF PRAYER: Ask Jesus to reveal His character to you. Ask Him to reveal the heart of the Father, so that you experience revelation-knowledge in prayer – deep insight into God and your circumstances.

PRINCIPLE for a life of excellence: Sing the Song of Moses.

 

“Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? Exodus 15:11

 

‘O Lord God, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your mighty hand, for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do anything like Your works and Your mighty deeds? Deuteronomy 3:24

 

O Lord God of hosts, Who is mighty like You, O Lord? Your faithfulness also surrounds You. Psalm 89:8

 

Who would not fear You, O King of the nations? For this is Your rightful due. For among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms. There is none like You. Jeremiah 10:7

Seek and find Jesus and your ask-list will move into a new perspective. The list might change altogether. You will begin to ask other things that now seem more important.

Just for a moment we can swing back the armour of God, explained in Ephesians 6. We cannot pray without the armour. Prayer is the battleground. We war against invisible powers that have clearly defined levels of authority in a real, though invisible, realm of activity. The armour prepares us for battle – prayer is the means by which we engage in the battle itself, with God’s word being our chief weapon employed against satan in our struggle.

 

Dear Pebble pals – I will be away for two weeks. When I come back I will post the last pieces in this series. It is all about the words:

Knock, and it will be opened to you. In it we will talk about the events of Pentecost and how it is applicable in the church for today.