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

Entering God's Rest

All during our lifetime, we love to create on God's behalf through our vocation, hobbies, parenthood and church ministry. However, we fail to heed God's advice to take times off to rest (Genesis 2:1-2:3).

God gave us an example of how to spend our time by taking a day to focus on rest. We usually use our "day off" to catch up on chores around the house, to stock our pantry and to prepare for the coming week.

During the most hectic days at work, home and with family, we often wish we could fly away on the wings of a dove and be at rest (Psalm 55:6). Yet, we fail to use our days off to relax and breathe.

Most of us enjoy our work, and realize that no matter what our vocation, it is God who actually pays our check (Ecclesiastes 2:24-25). This helps us not to be anxious about our livelihood.

God gives us our job and keeps us there until He has another place for us to minister for His Kingdom (Acts 8:39). Regardless of our vocation, God has His perfect plans for us (Ephesian 2:10).

There is no reason to feel worried about any aspect of our life. We take all of our cares to the Lord in prayer, because He cares about us (1 Peter 5:7).

God's peace guides us, not through our human mind, but through our spirit. He guards our emotions and mind from worry and stress, because we abide in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7).

Jesus modeled this peace through storms, Satan's temptations, persecution and His crucifixion (Matthew 8:24). God is humble and gentle with us and gives us rest for our soul (Matthew 11:28-29).

Pray:

Father God, remind us that You offer us a fulfilling and passionate relationship with You, which keeps us in peace because of Your faithful provision for all of our needs (Romans 8:28). This requires regular quiet times in order to enter your rest (Hebrews 13:5).

As we pray with our children and model a Godly walk for them, they too will learn the importance of trusting You with their life. Help us to enter into Your rest and to abide under the shadow of Your wings (Hebrews 4:10; Psalm 91).

Thought for the Day:

Pray as a single person, as a couple and with your children to inspire anticipation for the miracles ahead, as well as faith in God's faithfulness, which both inspire us to rest in Him and to walk in His peace in every situation.

All Things Are New

 

Every person ever born inherits a sin nature from the first Adam, which results in our fall from God's grace (1 Corinthians 15:45). That is why God gives us both the desire and the power to walk in His salvation (Philippians 2:12-13). He purifies us in order to present us holy, blameless and beyond criticism. Holiness unites us with the Trinity of God (John 17:21).

Holiness does not involve legalism, stoicism or an angry God. There is nothing we could ever do, which is too hard for God to forgive. He knew we were going to commit sins before He ever created the world (2 Timothy 1:9). He sent Jesus to pay the debt for each sin we commit, as well as those things, which He led us to do and we failed to obey (John 1:29).

When we come to Christ in repentance, Jesus makes us a brand new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). He moves in and gradually removes every area, which stands in opposition to God. Then He remodels and restores us from the inside out (Romans 2:4, 12:1-2; Acts 11:18). God changes our will and our intentions. He is purifying for Himself a people who are passionate about obeying Him (2 Corinthians 5:15).

God helps us to stand firmly on the Rock of Christ, to remain steadfast in our devotion to Him and to cling to the hope He gives us through the Gospel of Christ (Psalm 18:2; Colossians 1:22-23). The entire Godhead is found in Jesus, and He and His divine nature abide in each of us (Colossians 2:9; 2 Peter 1: 2-4). I heard it said, "God cares about every aspect of our life, from the nursery to the nursing home."

Prayer:

Father God, by Your Holy Spirit and with Christ in us, we contain the fullness of Your power, authority, fruit and gifts (Galatians 5:22-23; 1 Corinthians 12; Acts 1:8; Ephesians 3:19). You call us to be light and salt in the earth so that people will see You in us (Matthew 5:13-16; Colossians 1:27). Remind us to cooperate with Your Spirit as He transforms us into the image of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18). Thank You for loving us enough to send Jesus to die in our place (Romans 4:25).

 

Thought for the Day:

God has good plans for our future; and He always gives us hope, regardless of our circumstances in life. - Jeremiah 29:11

Free at Last

 

God gave us the law to bring us to the realization that we can never keep it and to point us to our Savior, Jesus Christ. Jesus set us free from the law, because He writes His law in our hearts (Hebrews 8:10; Romans 8:2). We obey them instinctively. We are no longer separate, but we are one with both our Father and the Son (John 17:11, 21-23). We live and move and have our being only in Him (Acts 17:28). We stop courting our own way of life or pursuing our goals, ambitions and desires.

As long as we insist on working “for” God, we are like the foolish Galatians (3:1-3). We try in our own strength and effort to please God. Until we realize that our old human nature is dead and passed away. Everything about us is a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). We live only for Christ now, just as He lived only for our Father. We are united with Christ in God, and Christ is our only way, truth and life (Colossians 3:3-4; John 14:6).

God and Christ have a difference in manifestation, with Christ being Immanuel, the physical form of God; and also in persons, with God as the Father and Jesus as the Son. However, Jesus states that He and our Father are one. Due to their union, Christ who dwells in us by His Spirit unites us with the Trinity (John 17:21). We do greater works than He did, because His Spirit abides within each one of us (John 14:12). We are His instruments for righteousness (Romans 6:4-11).

When we stand firm in the power of Christ’s might (Ephesians 6:10-12), we withstand the devil and all of his demons. We are no longer slaves to sin or under the penalty of the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2). Jesus took our sins and nailed them to the cross, giving us His righteousness in exchange (2 Corinthians 5:21). We are raised to walk in freedom in this new life, not to indulge our flesh, but as an expression of Christ in the earth.

Prayer:

Father God, as long as we hold onto the barest shred of carnality, we hinder our union with the Lover of our soul. Our only hope is to totally surrender as Your Spirit crucifies the desires of our flesh, especially when they attempt to retake control our life. Help us to completely surrender to Your holy virtues through our life in Your Spirit. Use us to improve the quality of nature in our city and to nurture the hurting lives, which live all around us. Remind us that we serve as Your representatives for spiritual change in the sphere of life all around us.

Thought for the Day:

Without total death to our carnal, self-life, we have no hope of living in the freedom of a passionate walk with our Lord.