Last week ended on a pleasant note for me, discussing prayer and revival with my friends. We are currently reading a book by Leonard Ravenhill titled- Why Revival Tarries. My last Saturday ended with a charge to reexamine my prayer life and do better. Then my week started off with another discussion about prayer in another fellowship and then the sharing of this video by late Pastor Myles Munroe.
Listening and watching to the video really shifted a lot of things inside of me; and like I shared with friends it is something I cannot explain in words. But I can come to the conclusion that it wasn’t a coincidence that almost all the conversations,sermons or focus for this previous week for me was on prayer. I am thankful for the revelation, understanding and growth.
In as much as I’d share with you the things I am learning in this moment, I’d love for you to watch the video for yourself and have a personal revelation, conviction and testimony.
To understand prayer, I must understand the Kingdom; otherwise the result will be a religious activity. The kingdom mentioned here is the kingdom of God and this statement makes me think of God’s grand plan for humanity and the whole earth. It makes me think about the reasons for which God has created me and you; therefore if and when we say we are children of God every aspect of our lives, everything that we pray for should align with God’s grand plan for our lives and the whole world as a whole.
I believe when Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:33 to seek the kingdom of God & His righteousness first, it also means seeking first the kingdom of God in prayer. Seeking that the kingdom of God be done on earth as it is in heaven.
For example praying for good health may be in alignment with God’s will for our lives so that we are able to cater for the needs of the family, people God has put in our care or carry on with kingdom roles such as sharing the word of God and so on. Conclusively on this point, I am learning that prayers made to God through Christ Jesus isn’t meant to be for selfish reasons or ambition, it should be made with the kingdom of God in view.
I do not mean to invalidate any prayer requests you may make to God, by all means go ahead! But I am beginning to understand that all the prayers that God hears & answers always help to advance His kingdom whether we know it or not.
I John 5:14 may help us to bring my thought process to a wrap and perhaps help you comprehend what I am trying to say- This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, He hears us.
This brings me to the next thing which Leonard Ravenhill said in his book; “Let us pray for sight-Upward, inward, and outward! Then like Isaiah, as we look upward, we will see the Lord in all His holiness; as we look inward, we will see ourselves and our need for cleansing and power; and as we look outward, we will see a world that is perishing and in need of a saviour!“
He shared in his book so much light about prophet Isaiah that I had never seen before. In Isaiah chapter 6, it tells us about how prophet Isaiah saw the Lord in the year king Uzziah died, right after the prophet had seen the Lord, then he saw himself for who he truly was- a man with unclean lips and once his unclean lips was taken care off, he saw the world around him in its true perishing state. For easy comprehension, we can say he became burdened by the dying state of the world around him which instigated his response to God to be sent to save the dying world around him –Isaiah 6:8.
In the same light, I realize that my prayer should encompass three dimensions:
- Upward dimension – which points to praying to see God for who He truly is which may be similar to understanding the kingdom of God. Because seeing God for who He truly is means understanding Him, knowing His heart per time, knowing the things that please Him and then praying in accordance to His will.
- Inward Dimension – This points to seeing myself for who and what I truly am. A sample of this kind of prayer may be the one made by king David in Psalm 139:23-24 where he prays to God to search him thoroughly to see if there are any wicked ways in him and be led in the way everlasting. I believe that king David understood that every form of uncleanliness or unholiness repulses God and hence his prayer. In the same light, I am reminded to keep praying these kinds of prayers to God so that I can really see the decaying parts of me and ask God to help me by bringing them to life just like prophet Isaiah’s tongue was saved from uncleanliness.
- Outward Dimension – I do realize that the world needs a lot of help that it can get and I believe God has saddled every human with a role to play in saving the world or bringing the world back to a place of fellowshipping with Him. Yes! He has the power to do it but we need to express our authority here on earth for the manifestation of His power. ( I will get to that in a bit) . A practical example I may be able to give at this point is as follows: Once a believer comes to Christ, begins to see God for who He really is, begins to understand the things that makes God happy, begins to work on how to remain in right stand with Him, He begins to point us to things in our environment that He needs us to do. Many times, these things need to be initiated and accomplished through prayer.
Without God, man cannot and without man, God will not- John Wesly – This statement brought to light that God there always has to be a partnership between God and man for anything to be done on earth. What happens on earth depends on humans said pastor Myles Munroe.He also said that prayer is earthly license for heavenly interference. After watching the above video, I gave it along thought and came to the conclusion that it is true! Here is why.
So like I have always said in previous posts that man is a spirit living in a body, pastor Myles Munroe said so in his video but he referred to the human body as “dirt body”. He goes on to say that the dirt body we live inside gives us legality and authority here on earth as opposed to spirits who have no bodies and are illegal on earth. That is why these demonic spirits be steady looking for bodies to possess to become legal on earth.
Myles Munroe in his sermon stated that when God speaks, every word becomes a law and even God Himself can never violate His law. Therefore when He said let them (humans) have dominion over the earth, it became a law which He cannot violate. And God is a spirit and hence He needs humans corporation and license to intervene in the affairs of the earth.
Jesus was 100% human and Christ is 100% God, God came in Jesus’ body to become legal to operate here on earth without boundaries. You may ask or say that God operated here on earth way before Jesus Christ came. Yes God did work His signs and wonders but He did all of that through men and women of God who were right with Him but it was usually for a certain period of time.
God couldn’t live freely in the body of man before Christ came, God had to come upon man or overshadow man to work out His wonders here on earth. But thank God Jesus Christ came! What He did on the cross, in the grave and at resurrection enabled God to dwell freely on earth inside any man who believes in Jesus Christ, accepts Jesus Christ into his life and remains in unity with Christ.
Therefore, this is why the bible tells us to keep praying because as long as we keep praying, God keeps working here on earth.
In summary, I am beginning to see and express myself in prayer differently. I doubt that I am able to fully express in words how differently I see prayer now but I encourage you to never stop praying– I Thessalonians 5:17.
Provided you have accepted Jesus Christ into your life, the Holy spirit who is God lives in you and you can talk to Him always. Talk to Him freely, hopefully you grow to the point where you are able to see God for who He truly is, see yourself for what you really are, see the world around you for how it really is per time and pray accordingly in Jesus name.
Amen.