The Effectual Power of Prayer

Read Daniel 10:11-21 to awaken your perspective on prayer.

Many people use this acrostic as a simple reminder of the ingredients of prayer:
A-adoration

C-confession

T-thanksgiving

S-supplication

However, this guide is very limiting, because there is so much more to the vital ministry of prayer. Effectual prayer is productive and powerful, and reaps many benefits and rewards (James 5:16)

Prayer is not a formula; but a living, breathing power swirling through the cosmos and changing the face of both the physical and spiritual world (Daniel 10:11-21).

Prayer is our tool for communicating with God and for accessing the power of God in order to storm the gates of hell and to do business for God's Kingdom (Matthew 16:17-19; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5).

Before we pray, we put on the armor of God, which prepares us to draw near to God, to stand strong and to resist Satan's influence during our spiritual battle with his demonic forces (James 4:7-8).

We start with a relationship with God through Salvation, which guards our body, soul and spirit with the righteousness of God (Ephesians 6:10-12). We walk in the spirit, which gives us God's supernatural peace and power and transcends human effort and reasoning (Zechariah 4:6).

The faith of the Son of God within us shields us from the devil's fiery arrows when he fights back (Galatians 2:20). By praying the scriptures, we use the power of God's Word as our sword to do actual spiritual battle (Ephesians 6:13-17).

Prayer changes the spiritual world, as well as the physical, mental and emotional world (Mark 9:29; Psalm 107:28-30; James 5:1-16; Philippians 4:6-7). It tears down spiritual strongholds, moves mountains and makes the crooked places straight; so pray without ceasing (Matthew 17:20; Isaiah 54:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

Prayer:

Father God, reveal to Your children the seriousness of our prayer ministry and the spiritual power You give to us during prayer. Help us to pray without ceasing in order to do spiritual warfare on behalf of our self and the people You bring to our mind.

Remind us to communicate with You during every moment of our day. Impress on us the importance of staying alert and praying persistently for unbelievers to come to Christ; as well as for all believers everywhere, including those in our church family and those persecuted Saints in other countries (Ephesians 6:18).

Thought for the Day:

"Prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan." - John Bunyan

Understanding Our Mind - Part 1

Our Subconscious Mind

God gave us two compartments in our mind: the conscious and the subconscious. We are aware of our conscious thoughts, but the information filed in our subconscious mind comes from a lifetime of thoughts and experiences. Even the briefest encounter in our past is recorded in our subconscious mind.

We react to life in ways, which are prejudiced by the stored memories in our subconscious mind. They even affect our body’s health and our soul’s well-being. The visual information and emotional impressions of our past affected us all of our life and continue to influence us today. This is often helpful.

For instance, if I cannot remember whether or not I turned off the stove before I went to work, I can pause and review my behavior, which is stored in my subconscious mind. I can actually visualize or replay my actions to see if I remembered to turn off the stove. The subconscious helps us in so many practical ways. However, unresolved conflicts from our past are also stored in the subconscious.

These memories will not lay dormant, but need resolution and closure. They attempt to gain our attention by inflicting us with physical or mental illnesses, nightmares, binging, sexual deviance, addictions and negative emotions. Paying attention to the thoughts from the subconscious, which filter into our conscious mind, help us to resolve these unsettled issues and restore our health and give us peace of mind ( www.theophostic.com ). 

Pleasant dreams also aid our subconscious mind to uncover the unresolved concerns in our soul. Our soul is attempting to dialogue with our conscious mind through our dreams. Dream interpretation sites online give us the meaning of the symbols in our dream, and God uses these to inform our conscious mind about these unresolved issues.

Prayer:

Father God, You created us as such complex creatures both physically and mentally. Thank You for giving us Your Spirit to bring healing to our body and soul. We are so glad that our Born Again spirit controls the carnal aspects of our body and soul by Your Spirit’s direction. We live a life of serenity and joy because of Your presence in our life. Remind us to pay attention to our dreams, negative emotions and times in which we over-react to situations in life, so that we can come to You to shine Your light on these hidden issues in our subconscious mind and bring healing to our body and soul.

Thought for the Day:

Life has inflicted our soul with injuries since conception, and the pain of these issues continue to control our thoughts, words and deed even now; only God’s Spirit can set us free from the wounds of our past.

Childlike Faith

 

God made mankind in His image and likeness (Genesis 1: 26). God is a triune being...Father, Son and Spirit. He created us as triune beings with a Spirit, Soul and Body. Genesis 2: 7 states, "And the LORD God formed man (body) of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (spirit); and man became a living soul."

Due to Adam's sin, our spirit is dead within us at birth, until we ask Jesus Christ to be our Savior. Then the Holy Spirit breathes the breath of life into us and our spirit is redeemed. We cannot truly live integrated, connective lives until we are Born Again. Our body is our physical being that ends up in the grave at our death.

Our soul is our mind, will and emotions. Our mind is renewed into the mind of Christ (Romans 12:2), our will is submitted to the will of God (Philippians 2:13) and our emotions are controlled by the Spirit of God who dwells within us (James 1:19). Our soul also contains our Inner Child, Inner Parent and Inner Adult.

David spoke of the Inner Child of the soul when he stated in Psalm 131:2 , “Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself, like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother's milk. Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me.” So often, we lose the innocence of childhood and adopt a prideful and rebellious mindset.

As we grow up in this life, we surround our self with defense mechanisms to prevent others from perpetrating their sins on us. We mature quickly and develop strong emotions, which we use to protect our self. Unless we nurture that childlike aspect of our soul, and allow the faith and unfettered trust of a child to reign in our hearts, we cannot fully please God (Matthew 18:3).

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, help us to remember that in order for You to fulfill our soul, we first need to be filled by Your Spirit. Our spirit must be born again by asking You to be our Savior and our Lord (2 Peter 3:18). Then, our Inner child will feel more secure, and adopt that childlike faith, which You desire from each of us.   

Thought for the Day:

Unless we are Born Again and become as little children, we have no hope of entering the kingdom of heaven. - Matthew 18:3

Giving God Control

 

There are people who live in every generation who want to know God. They explore several venues provided by Satan and his minions, and many are taken captive by empty philosophies and spiritual sounding half-truths, which come from human traditions and the god of this world, rather than from God Himself (Colossians 2:8). These people stop short of the truth; and, instead, cheerfully believe a lie.

Then there are those who claim to know Christ as their Savior, but they have not made Him the Lord of their life. He is their helper and their insurance policy in times of trouble; they trust Him and they believe in Him, but He is not their Master and King. They have not yet come to a place of absolute surrender of every known area of their life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

However, if we want to live in a place of perfect peace, we will keep our mind constantly in tune with the Spirit of God (Isaiah 26:3). We will do the works, which God created for us to do. We will seek His pleasure in all things, rather than to seek our own pleasure in this life (Ephesians 2:10). Believers realize that the temporal, earthly aspects of this life are all passing away and only the eternal components will last.

Believers are living stones, fitted together into the dwelling place of God (1 Peter 2:5). We walk worthy of the calling He gives us (Ephesians 4:1). We avoid sin and deprivation by walking toward the Light of life (John 1:4; Matthew 5:16). Jesus died in our place and gives us the victory over both sin and death (1 Corinthians 15:57). We have faith in His faithfulness and walk in His divine power within us (2 Peter 1:3).

Prayer:

Father God, I totally surrender every part of my life to You. I want You to have it all. I want to walk in Your divine will and to do the works You created for me before I was ever born (Ephesians 2:10). I devote my every waking moment to You to use at work, at home and at play. Fill my heart with Your love for those You want to love through me.

Thought for the Day:
Everything in our life, which we surrender to God’s control, will come back to us refined and renewed.

Making Plans

Our salvation was paid for by the work of Christ on the cross. It is a free gift from God for anyone willing to humbly admit their sins and truly submit to Him throughout their lifetime (Romans 3:23; 6:23). This results in a relationship rather than religion. Most of the world’s religions are based on teachings, which require good works to procure salvation. Anyone caught up in religion is not Born Again.

Nothing in this world exists of its own volition. God started and maintains it all (Genesis 1:1; Colossians 1:17). No one can come to Christ without God’s Spirit drawing us, and we are not perfected without the Spirit’s work in our soul (John 6:44; 2 Timothy 1:12). We do not wake up one morning and decide to go to church or to live a holy life. Those desires come to us from God.

We can never do enough good works to deserve heaven. Unless the Spirit of God leads our efforts, we have no hope of achieving Godly results. Our union with Christ leads us to perform only those acts, which His Spirit leads us to do (Ephesians 2:10). Regardless of our vocation in life, God will use us in this calling to fulfill His work (Exodus 31:1-6). It is only as we choose to walk in God’s will that we live in success.

We often disregard the elementary teachings of the faith (Hebrews 6:1-2). We slowly slip back into a carnal lifestyle, and are in danger of walking back into sin as a reprobate and denouncing the name of Christ (Romans 1:28, 8:9). However, if we start our day in prayer, acclaiming our faith in God’s faithfulness, He will keep us steadily maturing in Christ.

We repent of our sin as God convicts us, and we walk in His Spirit each moment of our day (Galatians 5:16,25). We connect with God through the constant practice of prayer, rather than living according to our own plans. Our life is then a demonstration of God’s Spirit and power. The One who promises is able to minister through us and to use us to deliver the lost world around us (2 Peter 3:9).

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for sending Your son to pay the penalty of our sins, in order to give us confidence to approach Your throne (Hebrews 4:16). We have a personal relationship with You that transcends the body and soul and rebirths our spirit. We have true fellowship with You, the creator of the universe (Genesis 1:1), every moment of every day of our life.

Thought for the Day:

The Bible is not a decoration for our home, but a source of life to our body, soul and spirit.