This morning my thoughts are on prayer. Prayer is so very vital to our lives and the lives of others. It's important to pray every day privately to get away to our secret place and intercede on behalf of ourselves and others. Scripture says, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 …And it's important to join corporately with others in prayer as it speaks about in Matthew 18:18-20, "Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."
Prayer is a powerful, powerful weapon. It does battle in the heavenlies. When doing battle, scripture talks about how one can put a thousand to flight and two can put ten thousand to flight. You see, God supernaturally multiplies our victory when we join together with other believers in battle. ...But when we come together corporately a couple things are very important:
1. That it doesn't become a show for others to see how eloquently we can speak and pray. Matthew 6:5 says, "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full." If you have a relationship with God…you’d talk to Him as if you did... not needing any of the pomp and circumstance.
2. That it doesn’t become a gossip session about other people. God knows what people have need of. He knows their situation. Bring their name before Him so that others may agree with you upon touching any one thing, but if they aren’t in the room with you sharing their situation or asked you to share it on their behalf, then it’s vitally important to let Him hear your heart’s cry about their situation rather than spreading their story for others to hear. Trust me when I say this hypothetically…people don’t need to hear this kind of prayer… Lord, you know that Jopapa slept with Jomama, and Lord let them see the error of their ways… You haven't effectively prayed if you've spoken something like this out loud in a group setting... instead you have now just spread a rumor that will turn into a gossip train causing harm to the individuals whose names were shared.
There’s great power in prayer…To make sure it’s effective, I encourage all to remember these two things: Go boldly before the throne with full confidence that God hears your cry and will answer…“Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need,” but do not put on airs while doing so or turn prayer into a gossip session.
Prayer is a powerful, powerful weapon. It does battle in the heavenlies. When doing battle, scripture talks about how one can put a thousand to flight and two can put ten thousand to flight. You see, God supernaturally multiplies our victory when we join together with other believers in battle. ...But when we come together corporately a couple things are very important:
1. That it doesn't become a show for others to see how eloquently we can speak and pray. Matthew 6:5 says, "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full." If you have a relationship with God…you’d talk to Him as if you did... not needing any of the pomp and circumstance.
2. That it doesn’t become a gossip session about other people. God knows what people have need of. He knows their situation. Bring their name before Him so that others may agree with you upon touching any one thing, but if they aren’t in the room with you sharing their situation or asked you to share it on their behalf, then it’s vitally important to let Him hear your heart’s cry about their situation rather than spreading their story for others to hear. Trust me when I say this hypothetically…people don’t need to hear this kind of prayer… Lord, you know that Jopapa slept with Jomama, and Lord let them see the error of their ways… You haven't effectively prayed if you've spoken something like this out loud in a group setting... instead you have now just spread a rumor that will turn into a gossip train causing harm to the individuals whose names were shared.
There’s great power in prayer…To make sure it’s effective, I encourage all to remember these two things: Go boldly before the throne with full confidence that God hears your cry and will answer…“Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need,” but do not put on airs while doing so or turn prayer into a gossip session.