Yesterday, we were only able to touch one point of what one should pray for, which is God's will. I hope something has been stirred up in our heart as touching what we read. Moving on, the next on the list is...
2. The scriptures; praying “from" the scriptures: If you've run out of prayer points, or you've been praying and praying and you're thinking, “what can I pray about again?" (Oh yes! It's possible to run out of prayer points when you have everything you need. Abi nah?) There are scriptures you can pray with to help aid your spiritual life. One of it and my favourite is Ephesians 1:17-20, which says
“[17] That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
[18] The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
[19] And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
[20] Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places" (KJV)
It is necessary that a believer have the knowledge and understanding of who Christ is, your stand in Christ, and how to exercise your authority in Christ, and there's no other way to get an in-depth knowledge if you do not ask for it or study the scriptures, and pray it out... I like the way The Passion Translation translated the verses...
“I pray that the Father of glory, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, would impart to you the riches of the Spirit of wisdom and the Spirit of revelation to know him through your deepening intimacy with him. I pray that the light of God will illuminate the eyes of your imagination, flooding you with light, until you experience the full revelation of the hope of his calling —that is, the wealth of God’s glorious inheritances that he finds in us, his holy ones! I pray that you will continually experience the immeasurable greatness of God’s power made available to you through faith. Then your lives will be an advertisement of this immense power as it works through you! This is the mighty power that was released when God raised Christ from the dead and exalted him to the place of highest honor and supreme authority in the heavenly realm! " (TPT)
Whatever Jesus has authority over, you also have authority over. I mean, you're now in Him, and He in you. When Christ died, we died with Him, when He was raised, we were to new life with Him (Ephesians 2:5-6). Therefore, it is paramount that we know what kind of authority the Lord has given unto us, and this kind goeth forth by praying about it! The devil might end up bastardizing and making a fool of your authority as a believer if you have no idea what kind of power and authority resides inside of you. You know, a king who doesn't know he is a king, even when he has been crowned is nothing less than the rest of the subjects because he doesn't know his role and how to exercise his authority over the subjects. We are Kings and priests. In fact, the Bible says, “We're gods!" If you have no idea that you're a god here on earth, the devil will definitely have a field day making you miserable because you do not know how to exercise your authority over him.
Before now, there are some things that scare me about the devil, and that was when I was oblivious of my authority because of my association with Christ. But as of now, I can beat my chest and say, NOTHING, and NOTHING at all scares me about the devil! Why?? Because he's a very stupid boy! I have all the authority in Heaven and on earth residing inside of me. Therefore he can do next to nothing to me. If he tries, he'll only fail! I didn't get to this stage yesterday. Matter of fact, on a normal day, I'd be scared saying this, but I tell you, when you come to light of your stand in Christ, you'll understand what Jesus said in Luke 10:19, Mark 16:15-18. Pray with the scriptures, pray in your understanding and pray in tongues, and you'll see your mind renewed.
Another scripture one can pray with is, Ephesians 6:19 speaking about utterance especially when you're going out to preach the Gospel and you feel you don't have the right words to say... Also check, Colossians 4:3. You can also read through the epistles and make out prayers you can pray for yourself.
3. Mentors, Spiritual parents/head: the first two points on praying was for yourself. But here, you're praying for someone else. Our major example of prayers since we started this topic has been our Lord Jesus and Apostle Paul. They were never selfish with prayers. Jesus told Peter one time that He had prayed for him. Apostle Paul would always mention that he prays for the churches he overseas; it is mentioned in most of his epistles. It's not everytime you should focus on yourself. Sometimes, pray for those who have rule over you, like your mentors, spiritual heads. These men have laboured to see you grow. It's only right that if not always, at least, once or twice a week, you should pick out time and put them in your prayers. They need your prayers as much as you need theirs. Do not think they have it all figured out just because they are your spiritual head. They have blood running through their veins too. The prayer shouldn't just flow downwards, i.e. from mentors/spiritual head to mentee/spiritual children, but it should also flow upwards, i.e. from the mentees/spiritual children to mentors/spiritual head.
Your pastor is your spiritual head. That person who is devoted and committed to seeing you grow in the knowledge of Christ and the things of the kingdom is your spiritual head. It is now a different ball game if you do not have either a mentor or a spiritual head. You need to go and ask God for one, and stay there till He gives you one. I'm not talking of someone you do not have access to. Some say Apostle Joshua Selman, Papa Adeboye, and other great men of God happen to be their mentor/spiritual father... But eskiss me (excuse me) please, if something is happening with you spiritual and you need the intervention of someone with a higher authority, can you call Apostle Selman on the phone and he'd pick your call?? Can you quickly contact Uncle Theophilus Sunday and he'll look into the matter?? (No, wait fess. Don't continue reading yet. First of all answer the question...) The answer is ‘no,' right?? Let's agree you have their contact, would they actually relate with you like they'd relate with their actual mentee/spiritual child?? Definitely not! So dear reader, if you do not have one, go and hold on to God's legs now like Jacob and refuse to let Him go until He sends a mentor your way. Trust me when I say you cannot grow in isolation. Even these our great men of God that we see today have spiritual heads over them. They're not operating alone. They have those who have spiritual rule over them as well. You too, you have to discover yours.
(Please note: I'm not implying that you shouldn't pray for these renowned men of God. As a matter a fact, you should pray for them as often as you can. My point is that you do not neglect those who have direct rule over you. Those within your reach!)
Now, when you have them, you should pray for them. Some of y'all are quick to judge a man of God who falls into sin. I choose to believe if they had someone praying for them, someone interceding for them, when they're about to fall, the Lord will raise a standard against the devil at that time. You pray for them; that they do not fall, they do not fail. Paul had quite a list of “pray for us that..." in his epistles. Imploring his readers to remember them in their prayers. You can use; 1 Thessalonians 5:25, 2 Corinthians 1:11, Romans 15:30-31, 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2, Colossians 4:3-4 as examples of what and how to pray for your spiritual heads. You can always pray for them as you're led by the Spirit of God.
We're going to stop here, and I hope with these few points of mine, I've been able to convince you and not confuse you that there other prayers you can pray asides asking for material things. As believers, we should be able to cross the bridge of asking for what we want, and praying for and about what God wants. When the Holy Spirit drops the inspiration for more prayers, I'll drop them here.
In all, do not forget to make prayer your daily routine! Soon, we'll bring to us, how to study the scriptures.
إرسال تعليق