R3 Alliance | Online Prayer, THE MINISTRY OF PRAYER, Wednesday, January 16, 2019

19 Jan Online Prayer, THE MINISTRY OF PRAYER, Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Posted at 17:35h in R3 Newsletter, Reformation & Reformers, resource, WEEKLY POSTS by Bill Davis

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Acts 6:4 NASB

We must give ourselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the word.

Prayer is the breath of our breathing, the thoughts of our thinking, the soul of our feelings, the life of our living, and the growth of our growing. –H.W. Hodge

Introduction:

As the New Year has begun, we have been giving ourselves to prayer and fasting. However, our greatest challenge is to capture and continue the momentum that has been created. Jesus gave us the parable of the widow and the unjust judge to amplify the aim of sustaining prayer in ministry. His words were that men ought always to pray and not lose heart (Lk. 18:1).

The secret of all failure is the failure of secret prayer. –The Kneeling Christian Effectual fervent prayer is the most difficult work in ministry. Because of this it, many times, becomes just a mechanical exercise in religious futility. Other times it can be a means of attempting to manipulate God to insist on “my kingdom come, my will be done.” Prayerlessness is the greatest and most grave sin of the ministry. Without conversations with God we create “Ishmael ministries” that are born illegitimately outside of the Father’s will and grow to contend with the legitimate promises He gave us in the beginning.

Jesus is the embodiment of the ministry of prayer. He would arise a great while before the day to pray and often withdrew in isolation to pray. When the disciples witnessed the revelations, authority, and power that accompanied Jesus they saw a direct-link to His ministry and prayer. This is why they asked Him to teach them to pray. The first Christ was the Christ of prayer first. –Heb. 5:7, who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear…

In Matthew 26:41 Jesus said, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Modern day prophet Leonard Ravenhill wrote a commentary on this: No man is greater than his prayer life; the pastor who is not praying is playing; the people who are not praying are straying; we have many organizers, but few agonizers; many players and payers, few pray-ers; many singers, few clingers; lots of pastors, few wrestlers; many fears, few tears; much fashion, little passion; many interferers, few intercessors; many writing, few fighting. Failing here, we fail everywhere. –Why Revival Tarries

Prayer is the evidence of our dependency on God and proof of our trust. Without our effectual fervent prayers of intensity, frequency, and tenacity our ministries become like the tower of Babel built on corruption and confusion. Prayerless ministry is men attempting to build using wood, hay, and stubble only to see the holiness of God reduce their works to an ash heap as they suffer loss where there was supposed to be gain and reward.

It was recorded of King Uzziah: He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success (2 Chron. 26:5). However, Uzziah usurped the authority of God by not continuing by the means that got him to where he was. Because he lost his ministry of seeking the LORD and understanding the fear of the LORD the narrative later documents, But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall (v. 16). He crossed a line in burning incense in the sanctuary reserved only for priests and dishonored God in his refusal to repent. God struck him in judgment. We have a 20/20 perspective by reviewing Uzziah’s rise and fall. How many pastors/leaders are like Uzziah in having risen only to later fall because their prayer closet remained empty—there was no secret prayer in the secret place? However, we learn that as long as we seek the LORD, God will, make us to succeed! Activity without productivity is the definition of prayerless ministry. When we do not give ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word our busyness produces barrenness, our activity has loses its aim, our movements lose their meaning. Missionary Brother Andrew wrote: Only where you lay the tracks of prayer can God begin to move.

Satan’s #1 strategy is to keep believers off their knees. He knows the greatest threat to the gates of hell is the clear and present danger of a praying man or woman of God. The two hardest things in ministry are: 1. To think in order of priority. 2. To act in order of importance. Scripture implores us, Be anxious for NOTHING, but in EVERYTHING through prayer and supplication make your requests be made known to God (Phil. 4:6). A.J. Gordon wrote: You can do more than pray after prayer, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed. David Wilkerson called it “The Upside Downness of Prayer”: The more you pray the larger your world becomes; the less you pray the smaller your world will be. This is the “Snowball Effect of the Ministry of Prayer”. This was John Wesley’s Motto of ministry, I must pray as if everything depends on God; I must work as if everything depends on me.

Beloved, we would do well to remember the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. Jesus said, “My Father’s house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.” (Mt. 21:13). We will remember the life and ministry of Jesus: I can do NOTHING of Myself…ONLY what I see My Father doing…as My Father has taught Me, I speak these things. I do ALWAYS these things which please Him…The Spirit gives life, the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and they are life (Jn. 5:19; 8:28-29; 6:63). We must remember that the church was not launched from a planning committee or boardroom but from an Upper Room where Jesus said: Behold, I send the promise of the Father upon you; but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high (Lk. 24:49). We would do well to remember that He would send the Holy Intercessor to us: We do not know what to pray as we ought to pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because HE INTERCEDES for the saints, in accordance with God’s will (Rom. 8:26-27). Finally, we must remember the present ministry of Jesus in heaven is the ministry of prayer: He is at the right hand of God interceding for us…he is able to save completely those who come to God through Him because he always lives to intercede for them (Rev. 8:34; Heb. 7:25).

Today we stir up the gift of prayer and fan the flame of intercession in five respective channels where the power of prayer flows from heaven to earth.

Prayer: As A First Priority
Prayer: As A Main Focus
Prayer: As A Means to an Ends
Prayer: As A Weaponized Arsenal
Prayer: As A Way of Life

1 Thessalonians 5:17, Pray without ceasing. This is our endeavor to lay hold of the ministry of prayer to create, capture, and sustain the move of God from the Upper Room to the uttermost parts of the earth from Him who is able to save to the uttermost. E. M. Bounds wrote: I cannot speak to men for God until I have spoken to God for men.

Beloved, let us believe this:

And in all things, whatever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.—Jesus (Mt. 21:22)

Prayer: AS A FIRST PRIORITY

Matthew 6:33 (TPT/Phillips)

But continue to seek first setting your heart on God’s kingdom and His approval,

and all that will be yours as a matter of course

General Direction: That by making and keeping prevailing prayer as our first priority as pastors and leaders we make Spirit-born ministry our first works not our last recourse, the firstfruits and overflow, not the leftovers after we’re done.

Scriptures:

35 Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. –Mk. 1:35 NKJV
36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. –Rom. 11:36 NKJV
6 Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. –Is: 55:6 NKJV
3 Incline your ear, and come to Me Hear, and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you—–Is. 55: 3 NKJV
17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. –Col. 1:17 NKJV
12 Not that I have already attained,or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. –Phil. 3:12 NKJV
29 (A)But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. –Deut. 4:29 NKJV
4 Seek the Lord and His strength;(A)Seek His face evermore! –Ps. 105:4 NKJV
God, You are my God;Early will I seek You;(B)My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water. –Ps. 63:1 NKJV
Give (A)ear to my words, O Lord, Consider my [b]meditation. 2 Give heed to the voice of my cry, My King and my God, For to You I will pray. 3 My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; (B)In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up. —Ps. 5:1-3 NKJV
5 Thus says the Lord:(A)“Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes (B)flesh his [a]strength, Whose heart departs from the Lord. 6 For he shall be (C)like a shrub in the desert, And (D)shall not see when good comes, But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, (E)In a salt land which is not inhabited. 7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord. 8 For he shall be (G)like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not [b]fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit. –Jer. 15:5-8 NKJV
Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’Says the Lordof hosts.—Zech. 4:6b NKJV

Prayer Points:

That pastors and leaders establish prayer as our first priority, just as Jesus did, by arising a great while before the day and set God and His will before us and not just give Him the leftovers and thereafters.
That by seeking God first in His kingdom rule and His approval of our reasonable service we place Him before all things in doing His work and finishing His will and then all other things will be added to us as a matter of course.
That we would live and move and have our being in Christ by keeping Him as our first love and doing the first works of repentance and simplicity of devotion to Him.
That as we make prayer the key for the morning and the lock for the night we best follow in Jesus’ footsteps of doing nothing without the Father and only those things that please Him.
That before He has preeminence in our ministry He must be before all things in by Him all things are held together.
That we would not become disconnected from the Lord of the work in the work of the Lord.

Prayer: AS A MAIN FOCUS

Luke 18: 1, 8

Jesus spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart.

Yet when the Son of Man comes back, will he find this kind of persistent faithfulness in his people?”

General Direction: That we keep God as our main focus in ministry by continually giving ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word and keep His church as a house of prayer for all nations so we can be Spirit-filled and Spirit-moved to the harvest as fishers of men and make disciples of all nations.

Scriptures:

28 for (A)in Him we live and move and have our being, (B)as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ –Acts 17:28 NKJV
31 And when they had prayed, (A)the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, (B)and they spoke the word of God with boldness. –Acts 4:31 NKJV
7 But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy;In fear of You I will worship toward [a]Your holy temple. 8 (A)Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness because of my enemies; Make Your way straight before my face. –Ps. 5:7-8 NKJV
7 I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel;My [a]heart also instructs me in the night seasons. 8 (A)I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. 11 You will show me the (A)path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.–Ps. 16:7-8, 11 NKJV
2 O You who hear prayer,(A)To You all flesh will come. –Ps. 65:2 NKJV
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ,(A) set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.(B)2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.(C) 3 For you died,(D)and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. –Col. 3;1-3 NIV
7 Even them I will (A)bring to My holy mountain, And make them joyful in My (B)house of prayer. (C)Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices Will be (D)accepted on My altar; For (E)My house shall be called a house of prayer (F)for all nations.” –Is. 56:7 NKJV
23 Jesus said to him, (A)“If[a] you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” –Mk. 9:23 NKJV
27 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not(A)with God; for with God all things are possible.” –Mk. 10:27 NKJV
Now faith is the [a]substance of things hoped for, the [b]evidence (A)of things not seen. 6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. –Heb. 11:1, 6 NKJV
12 (B)Then Jesus went into the temple [a]of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the (C)money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 13 And He said to them, “It is written,(D)‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a (E)‘den of thieves.’ ” 14 Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the (F)Son of David!” they were [b]indignant 16 and said to Him, “Do You hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, (G)‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise’?” –Mt. 21: 12-16 NKJV
41 (A)Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.(B)The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” –Mt. 26:41 NKJV
11 Look to the Lord and his strength; seek(A) his face always. –1 Chron. 16:11 NIV
7 If you abide in Me, and My words(A)abide in you, (B)you[a] will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. –Jn. 15:7 NKJV
13 (A)And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be(B)glorified in the Son. 14 If you [a]ask anything in My name, I will do it. –Jn. 14:13-14 NKJV

Prayer Points:

That we would follow in Jesus’ footsteps in making prayer the main thing in our lives and ministry to have His heartbeat in ours!
That we as pastors/leaders would master the skills of making of prayer and fasting the preeminent purpose of our good works, labors of love, and fruitfulness.
That we would establish the church as a “house of prayer for all nations” to be Spirit–baptized, Spirit-led, given Spirit-vision of the harvest and moved with compassion for the lost and the need for disciple making .
That in prayer we understand that the Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak and we need our daily bread and to drink from the fountain of living waters to live and have out of our inner man rivers of living water flowing.
That prayer is the only evidence we provide of our trust and our dependency on God’s ability.
That with God nothing is impossible and all things are possible to those who believe in prayer.

Prayer: AS A MEANS TO AN ENDS

Matthew 7:7-8 NLT

Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking,

and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds.

And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

General Direction: For us to learn the ministry of prayer and master its skills of prayer’s intensity, frequency, and tenacity in overcoming obstacles and prevailing for heavenly breakthrough of experience God’s kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven; that carnality in ministry is attempting to do supernatural works by natural means in building with wood, hay or stubble an eternity that will come to an end.

Scriptures:

31 But those who (A)wait on the Lord (B)Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. –Is. 40:31 NKJV
Pursue love, and (A)desire spiritual gifts, (B)but especially that you may prophesy. 2 For he who (C)speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries. 3 But he who prophesies speaks (D)edification and (E)exhortation and comfort to men. 4 He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. –1 Cor. 14:1-4 NKJV
20 But you, beloved, (A)building yourselves up on your most holy faith, (B)praying in the Holy Spirit, –Jude 20 NKJV
24 Therefore I say to you,(A)whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. –Mk. 11:24 NKJV
6 (A)Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with (B)thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and (C)the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. –Phil. 4:6-7 NKJV
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For (A)we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but (B)the Spirit Himself makes intercession [a]for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now (C)He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints (D)according to the will of God. –Rom. 8:26-27 NKJV
12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day (A)will declare it, because (B)it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. –1 Cor. 3:12-15 NKJV
5 (A)If any of you lacks wisdom, (B)let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and (C)it will be given to him. 6 (D)But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is (E)a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. –Jm. 1:5-8 NKJV
3 (A)You ask and do not receive, (B)because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.—Jm. 4:2 NKJV
16 [a]Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. (A)The effective, [b]fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. –Jm. 5:16 NKJV
28 Come to(A)Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you (B)and learn from Me, for I am[a]gentle and (C)lowly in heart, (D)and you will find rest for your souls.30 (E)For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” –Mt. 11:28-30 NKJV
5 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. 7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do or they think that they will be heard for their many words.8 “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. 9 In this manner, therefore, pray:(G)Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. –Mt. 6:5-13 NKJV

Prayer Points:

For us to learn the unforced rhythms of grace in taking up Christ’s yoke and master the skills of praying with intensity, frequency, and tenacity.
For us to repent of the greatest—most gross sin of ministers which is prayerlessness and doing our own will, in our own strength, for our own credit.
For us to pray about everything and not be anxious about anything so that the peace of God can come and govern our hearts and minds.
For prayer to strip us of carnal affections of ministry so we can build with gold, silver, and precious stone and that we have an abundant entrance into the kingdom because we are rich in labors of love and our barns overflow with good fruit and treasures in heaven.
For us as leaders/pastors to realize that the secret of all failure is the failure of secret prayer and that the Son of Man is seeking to find faith in the earth and those who pray in secret-dwelling in the secret place.
For us as pastors/leaders to cast down vain imaginations and ascending thoughts of believing we can accomplish supernatural ministry in the natural and fulfill God’s will be doing our will.
For us to master the skills of giving ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word and pray in the Spirit, interpret our prayers, dreams, and visions, and act according to the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God.

Prayer: AS A WEAPONIZED ARSENAL

Ephesians 6:11-12, 16, 18 TPT

Put on God’s complete set of armor provided for us… Your hand-to-hand combat is not with human beings,

but with the highest principalities and authorities operating in rebellion under the heavenly realms.

In every battle… Pray passionately in the Spirit, as you constantly intercede with every form of prayer at all times.

General Direction: That we would take advantage of the mighty power of God available in the effectual fervent prayers of those in covenant with El Shaddai; that no one can stand against us, because we are more than conquerors, because the greater one lives inside of us, and because no weapon formed against us shall prosper but we will prevail against the gates of hell valiantly.

Scriptures:

27 (A)No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house. –Mk. 3:27 NKJV
29 So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but(A)prayer[a]and fasting.” –Mk. 9:29 NKJV
49 And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be(A)about (B)My Father’s business?” –Lk. 2:49 NKJV
30 How could one chase a thousand,And two put ten thousand to flight…–Deut. 32:30 NKJV
7 “The Lord(A)will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. –Deut. 28:7 NKJV
18 “Assuredly, I say to you,(A)whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 (B)“Again[a] I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, (C)it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. –Mt. 18:18-19 NKJV
16 So he answered, (A)“Do not fear, for (B)those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17 And Elisha prayed, and said, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord(C)opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of (D)horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 18 So when the Syrians came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, and said, “Strike this people, I pray, with blindness.” And (E)He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.—2 Kgs. 6:16-18 NKJV
5 So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set apart by himself; likewise everyone who gets down on his knees to drink.” 6 And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people got down on their knees to drink water. 7 Then the Lord said to Gideon, (A)“By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people go, every man to his [a]place.” –Jdgs. 7-5-7 NKJV
21 And (A)every man stood in his place all around the camp; (B)and the whole army ran and cried out and fled. 22 When the three hundred (C)blew the trumpets, (D)the Lordset (E)every man’s sword against his companion throughout the whole camp; and the army fled to [a]Beth Acacia, toward Zererah, as far as the border of (F)Abel Meholah, by Tabbath. –Jdgs. 7:21-22 NKJV
15 And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lordto you: (A)‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, (B)for the battle is not yours, but God’s. 21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, (A)and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: (B)“Praise the Lord, (C)For His mercy endures forever.” 22 Now when they began to sing and to praise, (D)the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated. –1 Chron. 20:15, 21-22 NKJV
13 (A)Through God we will do valiantly, For it is He who shall tread down our enemies. –Ps. 108:13 NKJV
17 No weapon formed against you shall (A)prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, (B)And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord. –Is. 54:17 NKJV
19 (A)So shall they fear The name of the Lord from the west, And His glory from the rising of the sun; When the enemy comes in (B)like a flood, The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him. –Is. 59:19 NKJV
3 (A)Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. –Dan. 9:3 NKJV
10 (A)Suddenly, a hand touched me, which made me tremble on my knees and on the palms of my hands. 11 And he said to me, “O Daniel, (B)man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you.” While he was speaking this word to me, I stood trembling. 12 Then he said to me, (C)“Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, (D)your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. 13 (E)But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, (F)Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. 14 Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people (G)in the latter days, (H)for the vision refers to many days yet to come.” –Dan. 10:10-14 NKJV
31 What then shall we say to these things? (A)If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 (B)He who did not spare His own Son, but (C)delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? (D)It is God who justifies. 34 (E)Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, (F)who is even at the right hand of God, (G)who also makes intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written: (H)“For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
37 (I)Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor (J)principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. –Rom. 8:31-39 NKJV

Prayer Points:

That we comprehend that our struggle in ministry is not against flesh and blood but with high-ranking forces of evil on earth and in heavenly places.
That we understand that everything physical and visible is controlled by something spiritual and invisible.
That we apprehend the awesome power of God through prevailing prayer knowing if God be for us who can be against us.
That we learn to weaponized prayer in spiritual warfare by learning to bind the strongman, reclaiming the goods he has stolen, and displacing the strongholds of the enemy by enthroning Jesus’ kingdom come.
That we realize that no weapon formed against us can prosper and what when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will raise a standard against him.
That as we are in Christ and Christ is in us we have authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions and over the power of the enemy; that we are more than conquerors because the Greater One lives inside of us, and the God of peace will soon crush Satan under our feet.
That we pray knowing that through our God we shall do valiantly and through Him, those who are with us are more that those against us, and when the enemy comes against us one way God will set an ambush and scatter them seven ways.
That we would exploit the exponential power of agreement in prayer, knowing one can put a thousand to flight and 2 can put 10,000 to flight.

Prayer: AS A WAY OF LIFE

1 Thessalonians 5:17 TPT

Make your life a prayer.

General Direction: That prayer would be as natural as breathing; that our prayer life would be like Jesus’, in that, our life of prayer is living, breathing, moving, dynamic, organic without ceasing world without end; that in prayer we learn to put off the yoke of slavery and put on the yoke of Sonship and learn of Christ and walk with Him from sunrise to sunset.

Scriptures:

35 Now (B)in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a [a]solitary place; and there He (C)prayed. –Mk. 1:35 NKJV
13 (B)And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. 14 Then He appointed twelve, [a]that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, 15 and to have [b]power [c]to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons: –Mk. 3:13-15 NKJV
31 (A)And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.”For (B)there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. 32 (C)So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves. –Mk. 6:31-32 NKJV
46 And when He had sent them away, He (A)departed to the mountain to pray. –Mk. 6:46 NKJV
28 Come to(A)Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you (B)and learn from Me, for I am[a]gentle and (C)lowly in heart, (D)and you will find rest for your souls.30 (E)For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” –Mt. 11:28-30 NKJV
24 And (A)Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God (B)took him. –Gen. 5:24 NKJV
5 By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, (A)“and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. –Heb. 11:5-6 NKJV
11 These were more [a]fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and (A)searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. 28 for (A)in Him we live and move and have our being, (B)as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ –Acts 17:11, 28 NKJV
13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, (A)and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. 31 And when they had prayed, (A)the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, (B)and they spoke the word of God with boldness. –Acts 4:13, 31 NKJV
31 But those who (A)wait on the Lord (B)Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. –Is. 40:31 NKJV
7 I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel;My [a]heart also instructs me in the night seasons. 8 (A)I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. 11 You will show me the (A)path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. –Ps. 16:7-8, 11 NKJV
Lord, I cry out to You;Make haste to me!Give ear to my voice when I cry out to You.2 Let my prayer be set before You (A)as incense, (B)The lifting up of my hands as (C)the evening sacrifice. 3 Set a guard, O Lord, over my (D)mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips. –Ps. 141:1-3 NKJV
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord-will answer;You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’“If you take away the yoke from your midst,
The [a]pointing of the finger, and (A)speaking wickedness, –Is. 58:9 NKJV
7 If you abide in Me, and My words(A)abide in you, (B)you[a] will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. –Jn. 15:7 NKJV
13 And (A)you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me (B)with all your heart. 14 (C)I will be found by you, says the Lord… –Jer. 29:3-14a
24 Therefore I say to you,(A)whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. –Mk. 11:24 NKJV
22 And (A)whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments (B)and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. –1 Jn. 3:22 NKJV
14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that (A)if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. –1 Jn. 5:14-15

Prayer Points:

That we would not diminish the power and effectiveness of prayer by reducing it to a mechanical exercise of religious futility or make it a means of attempting to manipulate God to have our way, feed our ego, promote our selfish ambitions, or gratify our lusts and greed under the façade of ministry.
That we would master the skills of prayer without ceasing by learning to destroy the yokes of slavery we once had and taking up Christ’s yoke and learning of Him and leaning on Him daily.
That prayer would become as natural to us as breathing and that, as we have breath, we will praise in the beauty of holiness and prayer for God’s kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.
That we would study the life, ministry, and teachings of Jesus and emulate His model of a living, breathing, moving, dynamic way of prayer, thus making intercession organic—Jesus with skin again!
That we would learn that we grow stronger as we wait on the Lord and as we set our prayers before Him, we are setting our lives in prayer for Him so that He can show us the paths of life and be led by the Spirit of Sonship.
That when we seek after Him with all of our hearts He will be found by those who search for Him and remain in Him and has His word in them.
That, as Enoch walked with God and was found pleasing, may we walk with God as we pray and obey, as we do not give God the leftovers of our lives but make prayer the first priority, first works, and the means to pleasing God in our works and fruits.