Praying Gods Way…..

1^st Corinthians 14:15

What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.

I am beginning a new series of teachings on praying in the Holy Spirit. Many in the church seem oblivious to knowing how to pray and thus I see a hodge podge of generalized prayer by many slinging prayers out to see what sticks to the kingdom of God. A couple of years ago I spent a year teaching on the Lords prayer to a group within the church I attended. I noticed many times they had that “deer in the headlight”look. Eventually I ended up teaching about prayer in a very basic format because of the level of understanding I saw in them. I must confess to you this really bothered me as many of them were older than I was and yet they were still babes in Jesus Christ. Please understand I have not arrived yet myself. There are many area’s of Gods word I am still growing up in but many in the church body were not even attempting to mature in the word of God and it showed in their thinking and behavior.

Hebrews 5:12

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.

Many in the church who do not advance into the meat of the word will regress and become as infants again in prayer and in the word of God constantly having to be spoon fed the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is my opinion that many of those in the church who never matured in the word and in prayer will fall away in times of persecution. Their root systems will be shallow unable to withstand (s)atans onslaught. I think it is vital that we put down deep in spiritual soil a mature word life and a mature prayer life having a focus on Jesus Christ and the vision, the call, and the purpose the Father has called us into in the power of the Holy spirit. I want to go through some basic prayer points that every believer needs to understand. These prayer points are the foundation of understanding the mechanics of prayer so that you can function in prayer.

Point 1

Prayer is a conversation between you and God

Everybody finds themselves in conversations throughout their day. Whether your at home, at the office, or just hanging with friends you are constantly exchanging communication with them taking in and giving out information. It is the same with you and God. You literally have a conversation with Him exchanging information back and forth in your spirit. It is simple and all it requires is for you to listen when He speaks to you. Sometimes it comes through your spirit as a rhema word or His communication comes through His written word or the logos word. It is a growing process that requires practice on your part. The Lord is looking for fellowship with you. He wants you to get to know Him learning His ways and know His will.

Point 2

Prayer is communicating with God so that you can learn His will.

God has a will and He wants you to know His will at all times. One of the most frustrating things I see in the church today is the expression coming out of the mouths of many saints is “If it is your will Father!” Listen believers God has a will!

Matthew 6:10

Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.

God has already established His will in His heavenly realm. He knows what He has designed for you and is waiting for you to withdrawal it from His Kingdom in the supernatural into the natural. We know parts of His will already. Things such as seeking His kingdom and His righteousness, praying for the sick, Evangelizing the fields of white, casting out demons, operating in His spiritual gifts, disciplining the spiritual babies and so much more. When you do not know His will that’s when you ask Him to move His will out of His kingdom and into your spirit so that it will manifest itself in the natural so that you will know His will. To pray if it is your will is to pray in doubt and in the natural man.

Point 3

Prayer is the act of getting to know God and understand His ways and the way He thinks.

Gods ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than your thoughts. We cannot understand His ways and His thoughts in the natural man. We can start to understand them as we move into the supernatural kingdom seeking Him in His kingdom and His righteousness.

Isaiah 55:9

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.”

We cannot understand Gods ways in our natural state so we have to seek Him in the supernatural in order to understand Him. Many Christians refuse to take this leap of faith into a supernatural prayer life because they fear the unknown. Many think it is (s)atanic to venture beyond their understanding in the natural. When this happens (s)atan has won the battle because the believer walks in a state of fear about anything beyond his natural control. This fear of the unknown comes from the (s)atanic realm. I see this fear quite often in the evangelical churches

Point 4

Prayer builds up our faith and deepens our belief system in Jesus Christ.

Prayer with God allows us to deepen our belief system in Jesus Christ as we see the supernatural manifest in the natural. The more we expand in our belief of Gods power showing itself through us into the natural the deeper our root system goes in Jesus Christ.

Romans 10:17

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Our faith increases as we listen to Gods word speaking it to ourselves and others. When we pray God starts placing into our spirits the seeds of His word that will expand our faith. That planted seed will increase our faith in order for His will in the name of Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit to explode in the natural. This power changes the natural to look like the supernatural kingdom of God. The deeper you go in your prayer life the more your faith expands as God reveals His will to you.

Next month I will address the two different types of prayer and how they function within us. Have a great January!

Jesus is Lord!

Lee

The Scene Behind the Scene

Genesis 16:15

So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.

In the aftermath of the massacre at a center for people with developmental disabilities in San Bernardino, California where fourteen people were killed and seventeen hurt the big question that is asked is why? Why would two individuals take it upon themselves and walk into a place meant to help people and begin shooting the innocent? What could possibly be the motive behind this tragic waste of life? In order to understand the reasoning behind this you must understand the animosity between Ishmael and Issac. Ishmael was born to Hagar a servant to Sarai who was Abraham’s wife. Now I will not go into all of the covenant God established with Abraham but suffice to say Ishmael was not a part of Gods plan for Abraham. Ishmael was a son born out of covenant with Hagar with Sara’s consent and as a matter of fact she insisted that Abraham sleep with Hagar. Why? Because she knew Abraham wanted a son and that Abraham wanted to continue his linage. Abraham chose to help God with Gods plans for him by moving in the natural ahead of Gods will in the supernatural. This line of thinking would produce animosity between Sarai and Hagar beginning a feud that would continue down both Ishmael’s and Issac’s line to this day. We know these two lines as the gentiles and the Jews. Yes I know I have over simplified the conflict between the two families but I believe you get the general idea where this is going. Now Ishmael’s line includes the Arab nations who surround the state of Israel who of course is Jewish. Within in this hodge podge of Arab nations we see many splinter groups including Isis, the Muslim brotherhood,  al-Qaeda, Al-Shabaab, Boko Haram, and the Taliban bathed in radical Islam who are determined to destroy Israel and its Jewish population. Many in Ishmaels line become radicalized whether through personal ideology or through attending radical mosques here in America or in the middle east. These men and women become radical Islamic extremists hell bent on destroying Israel and those who are not of the Islamic faith. The gunmen in this incident were Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik who were married both Islamic radical terrorists of Arab descent from Ishmael’s line. Their goal? Apparently to take out the infidels and any Jews inside the center without any regards to their own lives. The ending was tragic but there are lessons we, as the church, can grasp if we open up our spiritual eyes. what are some of these lessons?

1-Nothing happens in the natural that is not birthed in the supernatural!

John 10:10

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

This tragedy was not born in the natural minds of man but it was born in the supernatural by the twisted mind of (s)atan himself to destroy Gods creation in the natural. My question is if the church had been walking in the supernatural and able to see in the supernatural could we not have prayed against this plan stopping it before it ever began? I include myself in this as I was just as guilty of not hearing the Holy Spirit.

2-The war going on between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of (s)atan in the supernatural always manifests itself in the natural.

Galatians 5:17

For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish

What goes on in the supernatural whether it is of God or of (s)atan will always show its fruit in the natural good or bad. (Galatians 5:19 – 25) In this incident (s)atans scheme birthed in the supernatural showed its fruit in the natural causing great destruction in the natural. In other words (s)atans will in the supernatural was fulfilled in the natural. My question is if the church had sentries on the wall would we have seen this plot in the making and sought the Fathers will to raise up a wall of grace against it?

3-The end conclusion of any conflict in the supernatural will manifest itself in the natural for all to see either glorifying Jesus Christ or glorifying (s)atan.

Romans 8:37 – 39

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The shooting in San Bernardino, California allowed the whole world to see the end result of (s)atans mindset. Whether one believed in the supernatural or not deep down everyone knew this evil had to come from somewhere. I must admit this was not the churches finest hour as we try and put a band-aid on after the wound was opened instead of preventing it from happening in the first place. The good news is we are more than conquerors in Jesus Christ IF we allow the Holy Spirit to teach us how to walk in His Spirit. This life in the Holy Spirit is a love walk allowing us to be open to the Fathers will, the mind of Jesus Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit. It requires of us a rich prayer life, a rich word life, and a good grasp of spiritual warfare while walking in the Holy Spirit. Yes war will continue between Ishmael and Issac and yes there will be more violence if (s)atan has his way but why allow him free reign when we as the church can use the sword of the Holy Spirit and win against him in the name of Jesus?

Think about it!

Jesus is Lord!

Lee