Prayer – Word Study

Prayer – Word Study

Pray, Prayer
A. Verbs
euchomai
proseuchomai
erotao
deomai
B. Nouns
euche
proseuche
deesis
enteuxis


A1. Pray, Prayer [Verb]
euchomai “to pray (to God),” is used with this meaning in 2_Cor_13:7; 2_Cor_13:9, RV, “pray” (AV, “wish”); James_5:16; 3_John_1:2, RV, “pray” (AV, wish). Even when the RV and AV translate by “I would,” Acts_26:29, or “wished for,” Acts_27:29 (RV, marg., “prayed”), or “could wish,” Rom_9:3 (RV, marg., “could pray”), the indication is that “prayer” is involved.
See also : euchomai in other topics


A2. Pray, Prayer [Verb]
proseuchomai “to pray,” is always used of “prayer” to God, and is the most frequent word in this respect, especially in the Synoptists and Acts, once in Rom_8:26; Eph_6:18; Php_1:9; 1_Tim_2:8; Heb_13:18; Jude_1:20. For the injunction in 1_Thess_5:17, see adialeiptos_under_CEASE.


A3. Pray, Prayer [Verb]
erotao “to ask,” is translated by the verb to pray in Luke_14:18,19; Luke_16:27; John_4:31; John_14:16; John_16:26; John_17:9,15,20; in Acts_23:18, RV, “asked” (AV “prayed”); in 1_John_5:16, RV, “should make request” (AV “shall pray”). See erotao_under_ASK.
See also : erotao in other topics


A4. Pray, Prayer [Verb]
deomai “to desire,” in 2_Cor_5:20; 2_Cor_8:4, RV, “beseech” (AV, “pray”): see deomai_under_BESEECH.
Notes: (1) Parakaleo, “to call to one’s aid,” is rendered by the verb “to pray” in the AV in the following: Matt_26:53 (RV, “beseech”); so Mark_5:17,18; Acts_16:9; in Acts_24:4, RV, “intreat;” in Acts_27:34, RV, “beseech.” See parakaleo_under_BESEECH. (2) In 1_Thess_5:23; 2_Tim_4:16, there is no word in the original for “I pray,” see the RV.
See also : deomai in other topics


B1. Pray, Prayer [Noun]
euche akin to euchomai, denotes “a prayer,” James_5:15; “a vow,” Acts_18:18; Acts_21:23. See VOW.
See also : euche in other topics


B2. Pray, Prayer [Noun]
proseuche akin to proseuchomai, denotes (a) “prayer” (to God), the most frequent term, e.g., Matt_21:22; Luke_6:12, where the phrase is not to be taken literally as if it meant, “the prayer of God” (subjective genitive), but objectively, “prayer of God.” In James_5:17, “He prayed fervently,” RV, is lit., “he prayed with prayer” (a Hebraistic form); in the following the word is used with deesis: Eph_6:18; Php_4:6; 1_Tim_2:1; 1_Tim_5:5; (b) “a place of prayer,” Acts_16:13,16, a place outside the city wall, RV.


B3. Pray, Prayer [Noun]
deesis primarily “a wanting, a need” (akin to deomai), then, “an asking, entreaty, supplication,” in the NT is always addressed to God and always rendered “supplication” or “supplications” in the RV; in the AV “prayer,” or “prayers,” in Luke_1:13; Luke_2:37; Luke_5:33; Rom_10:1; 2_Cor_1:11; 2_Cor_9:14; Php_1:4 (in the 2nd part, “request”); Php_1:19; 2_Tim_1:3; Heb_5:7; James_5:16; 1_Pet_3:12.
See also : deesis in other topics


B4. Pray, Prayer [Noun]
enteuxis is translated “prayer” in 1_Tim_4:5; see INTERCESSION.
Notes: (1) Proseuche is used of “prayer” in general; deesis stresses the sense of need; it is used sometimes of request from man to man. (2) In the papyri enteuxis is the regular word for a petition to a superior. For the synonymous word aitema see PETITION; for hiketeria, Heb_5:7, see SUPPLICATION.
(3) “Prayer is properly addressed to God the Father Matt_6:6; John_16:23; Eph_1:17; Eph_3:14, and the Son, Acts_7:59; 2_Cor_12:8; but in no instance in the NT is prayer addressed to the Holy Spirit distinctively, for whereas the Father is in Heaven, Matt_6:9, and the Son is at His right hand, Rom_8:34, the Holy Spirit is in and with the believers, John_14:16,17.
“Prayer is to be offered in the Name of the Lord Jesus, John_14:13, that is, the prayer must accord with His character, and must be presented in the same spirit of dependence and submission that marked Him, Matt_11:26; Luke_22:42.
“The Holy Spirit, being the sole interpreter of the needs of the human heart, makes His intercession therein; and inasmuch as prayer is impossible to man apart from His help, Rom_8:26, believers are exhorted to pray at all seasons in the Spirit, Eph_6:18; cp. Jude_1:20; James_5:16, the last clause of which should probably be read “the inwrought [i.e., by the Holy Spirit] supplication of righteous man availeth much’ (or ‘greatly prevails’ ischuo, as in Acts_19:16,20).
“None the less on this account is the understanding to be engaged in prayer, 1_Cor_14:15, and the will, Col_4:12; Acts_12:5 (where ‘earnestly’ is, lit., ’stretched out’) and so in Luke_22:44.
“Faith is essential to prayer, Matt_21:22; Mark_11:24; James_1:5-8, for faith is the recognition of, and the committal of ourselves and our matters to, the faithfulness of God.
“Where the Jews were numerous, as at Thessalonica, they had usually a Synagogue, Acts_17:1; where they were few, as at Philippi, they had merely a proseuche, or ‘place of prayer,’ of much smaller dimensions, and commonly built by a river for the sake of the water necessary to the preliminary ablutions prescribed by Rabbinic tradition, Acts_16:13,16.” [ From Notes on Thessalonians by Hogg and Vine, pp. 189,190.]
See also : enteuxis in other topics

Fellowship –

With God, consisting in the knowledge of his will (

Job_22:21; John_17:3); agreement with his designs (Amos_3:2); mutual affection (Rom_8:38,39); enjoyment of his presence (Psalm_4:6); conformity to his image (1_John_2:6; 1_John_1:6); and participation of his felicity (1_John_1:3,4; Eph_3:14-21).
Of saints with one another, in duties (Rom_12:5; 1_Cor_12:1; 1_Thess_5:17,18); in ordinances (Heb_10:25; Acts_2:46); in grace, love, joy, etc. (Mal_3:16; 2_Cor_8:4); mutual interest, spiritual and temporal (Rom_12:4,13; Heb_13:16); in sufferings (Rom_15:1,2; Gal_6:1,2; Rom_12:15; and in glory (Rev_7:9).
See FELLOWSHIP

WITH GOD
- Gen_5:22,24 ; Gen_6:9 ; Ex_29:45 ; Ex_33:14-17 ; Lev_26:12 ; Isaiah_57:15 ; Zech_2:10 ; Mark_9:37 ; John_14:23 ; John_17:21,23 ; 2_Cor_6:16 ; 2_Cor_13:11 ; 1_John_1:3,5-7 ; 1_John_3:24 ; Rev_21:3,4
WITH CHRIST
- Psalm_45:9-16 ; Matt_12:48-50 ; Matt_18:20 ; Mark_9:37 ; Luke_8:21 ; Luke_24:32 ; John_6:51-57 ; John_14:20-23 ; John_15:1-8 ; John_17:21-23,26 ; Rom_7:4 ; Rom_8:1,10,17 ; Rom_11:17 ; Rom_12:5 ; 1_Cor_1:9 ; 1_Cor_6:13-15,17 ; 1_Cor_10:16 ; 1_Cor_12:12,27 ; 2_Cor_11:2 ; 2_Cor_13:5 ; Eph_5:30,32 ; Col_1:27 ; Col_3:3 ; 1_Thess_5:9,10 ; Heb_2:11 ; 1_John_2:6,24,28 ; 1_John_3:6,24 ; 1_John_4:13 ; 1_John_5:12,20 ; 2_John_1:9 ; Rev_3:20

See COMMUNION
OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
- Rom_8:9 ; 1_Cor_3:16 ; 2_Cor_13:14

See COMMUNION
See HOLY SPIRIT
COMMUNION
WITH GOD
INSTANCES OF COMMUNION
OF SAINTS
WITH GOD
- Psalm_16:7 ; John_14:16-18,23 ; 1_Cor_16 ; 2_Cor_6:16 ; 2_Cor_13:14 ; Gal_4:6 ; Php_2:1,2 ; 1_John_1:3 ; Rev_3:20

See FELLOWSHIP

INSTANCES OF COMMUNION

Enoch – Gen_5:22,24
Noah – Gen_6:9,13-22 ; Gen_8:15-17
Abraham – Gen_12:1-3,7 ; Gen_17:1,2 ; Gen_18:1-33 ; Gen_22:1,2,11,12,16-18
Hagar – Gen_16:8-12
Isaac – Gen_26:2,24
Isaac, in dreams – Gen_28:13,15 ; Gen_31:3 ; Gen_35:1,7 ; Gen_46:2-4
Moses – Ex_3 ; Ex_4:1-17 ; Ex_33:9,11 ; Ex_34:28 ; Num_12:8
Joshua – Josh_1:1-9 ; Josh_6:2-5 ; Josh_7:10-15 ; Josh_8:1,2 ; Josh_20:1-6
Gideon – Judg_6:11-24
Solomon – 1_Kings_3:5-14 ; 2_Chron_1:7-12
OF SAINTS
- 1_Sam_23:16 ; Psalm_55:14 ; Psalm_119:63 ; Psalm_133:1-3 ; Amos_3:3 ; Mal_3:16 ; Luke_22:32 ; Luke_24:17,32 ; John_17:20,21 ; Acts_2:42 ; Rom_12:15 ; 1_Cor_10:16,17 ; 1_Cor_12:12,13 ; 2_Cor_6:14-18 ; Eph_4:1-3 ; Eph_5:11 ; Col_3:16 ; 1_Thess_4:18 ; 1_Thess_5:11,14 ; Heb_3:13 ; Heb_10:24,25 ; James_5:16 ; 1_John_1:3,7

HOLY SPIRIT
General scriptures concerning HOLY SPIRIT
See INSPIRATION
See WORD OF GOD, INSPIRATION OF HOLY SPIRIT
INSPIRATION OF HOLY SPIRIT
SIN AGAINST HOLY SPIRIT
WITHDRAWN FROM INCORRIGIBLE SINNERS
INSTANCES OF HOLY SPIRIT

General scriptures concerning HOLY SPIRIT
- Gen_1:2 ; Gen_6:3 ; Gen_41:38 ; Ex_31:3 ; Ex_35:31 ; Num_27:18 ; Neh_9:20 ; Job_16:19 ; Job_32:8 ; Job_33:4 ; Psalm_51:11,12 ; Psalm_103:9 ; Psalm_139:7 ; Isaiah_4:4 ; Isaiah_6:8 ; Isaiah_11:2 ; Isaiah_28:6 ; Isaiah_30:1 ; Isaiah_32:15 ; Isaiah_40:13 ; Isaiah_42:1 ; Isaiah_44:3,4 ; Isaiah_48:16 ; Isaiah_51:12 ; Isaiah_54:13 ; Isaiah_59:19,21 ; Isaiah_61:1 ; Isaiah_63:10,11,14 ; Ezek_36:27 ; Ezek_37:9,14 ; Ezek_39:29 ; Joel_2:28,29 ; Mic_2:7 ; Mic_3:8 ; Hag_2:5 ; Zech_4:1-7 ; Zech_12:10 ; Matt_1:18,20 ; Matt_3:11,16,17 ; Matt_4:1 ; Matt_10:20 ; Matt_12:28 ; Matt_28:19 ; Mark_1:10 ; Mark_12:36 ; Mark_13:11 ; Luke_1:15,35,67 ; Luke_2:25-27 ; Luke_3:22 ; Luke_4:18 ; Luke_11:13 ; Luke_12:12 ; Luke_24:49 ; John_1:9,32,33 ; John_3:5,6,34 ; John_4:14 ; John_6:45,63 ; John_7:38,39 ; John_14:16,17,26 ; John_15:26 ; John_16:7-14 ; John_20:22 ; Acts_1:2,5,8,16 ; Acts_2:2-4,33,38 ; Acts_4:8,31 ; Acts_5:3,4,9,32 ; Acts_6:5 ; Acts_7:51 ; Acts_8:15-19 ; Acts_9:31 ; Acts_10:19,20,44-47 ; Acts_11:15,16,24 ; Acts_13:2,4,9,52 ; Acts_15:8,28 ; Acts_16:6,7 ; Acts_19:2-6 ; Acts_20:28 ; Rom_1:4 ; Rom_5:3-5 ; Rom_8:1-27 ; Rom_9:1 ; Rom_11:33,34 ; Rom_14:17 ; Rom_15:13,16,18,19,30 ; 1_Cor_2:4,10-14 ; 1_Cor_3:16 ; 1_Cor_6:11,19 ; 1_Cor_12:3-11 ; 2_Cor_1:22 ; 2_Cor_3:3,6,8,17,18 ; 2_Cor_5:5 ; 2_Cor_6:4,6 ; 2_Cor_13:14 ; Gal_3:2,3,14 ; Gal_4:6 ; Gal_5:5,17,18,22,23,25 ; Gal_6:8 ; Eph_1:12-14,17 ; Eph_2:18,22 ; Eph_3:5,16 ; Eph_4:3,4,30 ; Eph_5:9,18 ; Eph_6:17,18 ; Php_1:19 ; Php_2:1 ; Col_1:8 ; 1_Thess_1:5,6 ; 1_Thess_4:8,9 ; 1_Thess_5:19 ; 1_Thess_2:13 ; 1_Tim_4:1 ; 2_Tim_1:7,14 ; Titus_3:5,6 ; Heb_2:4 ; Heb_3:7 ; Heb_6:4 ; Heb_9:14 ; Heb_10:15,29 ; 1_Pet_1:2,11,12,22 ; 1_Pet_3:18 ; 1_Pet_4:14 ; 2_Pet_1:21 ; 1_John_2:20 ; 1_John_3:24 ; 1_John_4:2,13 ; 1_John_5:6-8 ; Jude_1:19,20 ; Rev_1:4 ; Rev_2:7,11,29 ; Rev_4:5 ; Rev_5:6 ; Rev_11:11 ; Rev_14:13 ; Rev_19:10 ; Rev_22:17
See INSPIRATION

See WORD OF GOD, INSPIRATION OF HOLY SPIRIT

INSPIRATION OF HOLY SPIRIT

INSTANCES OF

Joseph – Gen_41:38
Bezaleel – Ex_31:3 ; Ex_35:31
The seventy elders – Num_11:17
Balaam – Num_24:2
Joshua – Num_27:18

The Judges
Othniel – Judg_3:10
Gideon – Judg_6:34
Jephthah – Judg_11:29
Samson – Judg_13:25 ; Judg_14:6,19

King David – 1_Chron_28:11,12

The prophets
Azariah – 2_Chron_15:1
Zechariah – 2_Chron_24:20 ; Zech_1:1
Ezekiel – Ezek_8:3 ; Ezek_11:1,5,24
Daniel – Dan_4:8
Zacharias – Luke_1:67
Elizabeth – Luke_1:41
Simeon – Luke_2:25,26

The disciples – Acts_6:3 ; Acts_7:55 ; Acts_8:29 ; Acts_9:17 ; Acts_10:45
See INSPIRATION
SIN AGAINST HOLY SPIRIT
- Isaiah_63:10 ; Matt_12:31,32 ; Mark_3:29 ; Luke_2:10 ; Luke_12:10 ; Acts_5:3,9 ; Acts_7:51 ; Acts_8:18-22 ; Eph_4:30 ; Heb_10:29 ; 1_John_5:16
WITHDRAWN FROM INCORRIGIBLE SINNERS
- Gen_6:3 ; Deut_32:30 ; Psalm_51:11 ; Prov_1:24-28 ; Jer_7:29 ; Hosea_4:17,18 ; Hosea_5:6 ; Hosea_9:12 ; Matt_15:14 ; Luke_13:7 ; Rom_1:24,26,28

See REPROBACY

INSTANCES OF HOLY SPIRIT

Antediluvians – Gen_6:3-7
People of Sodom – Gen_19:13,24,25
Israelites – Num_14:26-45 ; Deut_1:42 ; Deut_28:15-68 ; Deut_31:17,18
Samson – Judg_16:20
Saul – 1_Sam_16:14 ; 1_Sam_18:10-12 ; 1_Sam_19:9-11 ; 1_Sam_20:30-33 ; 1_Sam_22:7-19 ; 1_Sam_28:15,16 ; 2_Sam_7:15

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Touching the Heart of God

Touching the Heart of God
By Abraham Israel

Heart is always related to somebody’s desire or his love or his likeness or his plan to do something. The heart of God is full of love and affection towards us. How can we know it? His word says, “God is love” (1 John 4:8). First of all we must understand that God is not a power, nor an influence, but a person. God as a person has His own mind, will and emotion. He is powerful and infinite in all His attributes. But we can only know this God’s heart by relating to Him spiritually.

God created man in His own image and likeness, and this God Almighty says in His word, “Now [in the present time according to human stand point] the Lord is the Spirit….” (2 Cor 3:17). Right Now if we want to know His heart, we must understand that the Lord God is the Spirit. We have a spirit with in us which becomes alive when we invite Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour in to our life by just calling Him by faith. Though this spirit that is alive in us, we can know God through His Spirit because our spirit and the Spirit of God is joined together the day we invite Jesus Christ in to our heart (1 Cor 6:17). Through our spirit we can contact Him. Our fellowship with God starts with a spirit to Spirit intimate relationship (2 Cor 13:14). This heart to heart conversation is what makes God to respond to us from His heart.

Most people want to get something or they like to get blessed by God. But they don’t realize that He is a person. Because of a religious spirit and attitude, many people want to abuse the love and friendship of God. We cannot be a friend of somebody by just lusting and desiring what they have, but not loving them for who they are. This grieves the heart of God because He is a person. So only the first and the greatest commandment that fulfills all requirement and establishes and cements our friendship with God is, “… ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37). He expects us to be friend of Him first and foremost. Friend will always respond to our need and we will also respond to his need. Friend who is real will always share what He has with us, even the most hidden secrets of his heart.

For this to happen in our life with God, we need to yield and submit to Him unconditionally and prove that we are really a friend He can trust. Only when we go through a crisis a friend can stay and comfort us and strengthen us or can desert, dump and even accuse us. The same applies with God also. If we are real friend of God, we will prove to Him by staying with Him when things don’t go well with us and even when it gets worse with us like Job and Abraham in the Bible. This can only touch the heart of God truly! He is the one and only true and faithful friend who will never ever fail and has loved us and has given even His life for us. His name is JESUS! He is a great friend indeed, and will be faithful to us as we cling on to Him. Hallelujah!

Get acquainted with God and you will touch the Heart of God! Praise the Lord!

Praying Prophecy to Fulfillment

Praying Prophecy to Fulfillment

1) Daniel was reading the book of Jeremiah and understood that the 70 years was over in 538 B.C (Daniel 9:1-4; Jer 25:11-12; 29:10). Cyrus the nephew of the king Darius becomes king of Persia (Ezra 1:1-4). At this time, Daniel prayed his way to the fulfillment of this prophecy.

2) Elijah prayed the word of the Lord [prophecy] to fulfillment (I Kings 18:1, 41-46).

3) Prophecy is God speaking through man and to man.

4) Simon means reed shaken by the wind but Jesus prophesied to him that he is ‘Peter’ which means ‘the rock’ and in fact because Jesus prayed for him, finally he became a rock and a pillar in the Church (John 1:42; Luke 22:31-32).

• Do not quench the Spirit by despising prophecies.
  

• Test all things; hold fast what is good.
  

• Get rid of inaccurate prophetic word as soon as possible (1 Thess 5:19-21).
  

• All the personal prophecy and even corporate prophecy is conditional, so we must obey it and co-operate with God to see its fulfillment in the natural (1 Kings 2:1-4; Isaiah 44:26-28; 2 Chronicles 20:20; Ezra 5:1-2; 6:14).

5) Use the Prophetic word to wage Spiritual warfare (1 Tim 1:18; Eph 6:10-20).

6) You need to recognize and continue in God’s timing (1 Samuel 10:7, 9; 1 Chronicles 14:14-17).

7) Pray for the fulfillment of the prophetic word (2 Chronicles 6:13-7:2).

You need to go through the necessary preparation.

9) There are areas that will not be addressed in the prophetic word, but you need to enquire God personally about it and find those areas according to the circumstance you are going through (1 Cor 13:9).

Prayer Imparts Strength !

Prayer Imparts Strength to obey!
By Abraham Israel

Basically Christian life is not a religious life, but it is a relationship with God. The moment we speak about relationship the key factor that influences a relationship is love. The Bible says that, “…God is love” (1 John 4:8). This clearly shows that our God is a God of relationship and not religion. Religion will say, ‘Do, Do…..’. God says, ‘I have done it for you and I love you…’.

God showed His love towards us by sending his son to the cross to die for our sins. Jesus also expressed His live towards us by saying, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15:13). He did not stop there and say ‘that’s all’, but He continued in the very next verse telling us how to respond to this love that He initiated toward us unconditionally, “You are my friends if you do whatever I command you.” (v14). And in the 17th verse He tells clearly what the command is, “These things I command you, that you love one another”. So to love one another is a divine command from Jesus. We cannot fulfill this divine command with the natural strength of ours. Divine command can only be fulfilled by God’s divine strength. (Ps 29:11).

God says in His word, “For rebellion is as the sin of witch craft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry…..To obey the voice of the Lord is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams” (1 Sam 15:13, 22). Here God says it is better to obey what He says to you, than for you to sacrifice all that you have for Him. Anything that we do with out His guidance by His voice is rejected as He rejected King Saul in the Old Testament times. We cannot do what we want to do for God, we should do always do what He wants us to do step by step. True obedience can be fulfilled only because of our love toward Him and because of a relationship with Him.

And this step by step guidance is “not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Cor 3:6). And also in 2 Tim 1:7, the word of God says that God has given us a spirit of love. This proves to us that the Holy Spirit is the channel of God’s love by whom we receive the love of God.

So in order to receive anything from God we need to ask God. The word of God says, “So I say to you, Ask and keep on asking and it shall be given you; seek and keep on seeking and you shall find; knock and keep on knocking and the door shall be opened to you” (Luke 11:9, Amp). This verse teaches us to ask, seek and knock for more of God and His guidance continuously day in and day out as a life style (Luke 11:13), through His Holy Spirit. In Matt 7:7, 8 also Jesus teaches us to ask, seek and knock continuously and Jesus promises that the result is so sure that He says, ‘askers will receive, seekers will find and knockers will find it opened’. Then in verse 11 He says, “…how much more will our Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”. Here the Greek word ‘agathos’ is used to describe the word ‘good things’, which gives us the meaning of good constitution or nature, useful, salutary, good, pleasant, agreeable, joyful, happy, excellent, distinguished, upright, honourable. In context to this challenge He says what to ask for by saying, “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the law and the prophets” (v12). In other words, Jesus is saying, ‘Only when our Father gives us good things from heaven as a result of us asking Him, then only we will be able to do good to others and in return receive good things from men.’ (Luke 2:52).Here Jesus spoke about this asking to God and receiving, and giving to men and receiving as the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. We cannot give to others what we do not have. A person can only give what he already knows that he is having (Acts 3:6; Psalm 16:2).

In Matthew 22:36-40, Jesus describes the first and the second basic commandments on which all the law and the prophets hang by saying, “… ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets”. In other words these verses say, ‘When you love the Lord, you will come to know yourself and you will start to love yourself first and all the fear and insecurity of rejection from others because of your flaws and weaknesses will be cast out of you. Then you will come to know your belonging and will be secure in His love first, so that you will be able to show His selfless and unconditional love of God to others.’ This is why the Bible says in 1 John 4:18-19, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us”.

Comparing the above two verses in context, we come to understand that Jesus expects us to ask the Lord to fill us with His love again and again, so that obedience to Him will be made perfect through the love of God filling our hearts. This will make us obey God by making us love others unconditionally which will fulfill all His commandments. If we will only ask God in prayer in obedience to His word, He will fill us with His love in our spirit so that we will bear fruit and glorify the Father.

The greatest example for us is nobody other than Jesus “… being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Phil 2:8). The reward for His obedience is given on the next verse, “Therefore God has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name” (Phil 2:9). When we have read the above verse, the question that may come to our mind is how Jesus was able to fully obey the Father in all things? Is it because He was fully divine? The answer is no. The real secret is given in Heb 5:7-8, “[Jesus] 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, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered”. From the above verses we can understand that Jesus learned obedience to the perfect will of the Father through His prayers and supplications with vehement cries and tears to God. Always prayer and obedience go together. Prayer strengthens our soul to obey God’s will and brings our body, soul and spirit inline with the will of God.

Jesus who knew that His very purpose to have come to the planet earth was to fulfill the plan of redemption and salvation (John 3:17), when He was sorrowful and deeply distressed even to the point of death in His soul, He prayed earnestly to God saying, “…Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will” (Mark 14:36). If Jesus had not prayed earnestly like this, He would have given in to temptation just like any one of us and the whole plan of salvation would have been aborted forever. The reason why Jesus prayed and He also expected His disciples to pray along with Him is because with out it they will “… enter into temptation [because] the spirit indeed is willing [all the time], but the flesh is weak” (Mark 14:38). Exactly the inner man which is created according to God’s image is always willing to please God, but the outer man [the flesh] is powerful to overcome the inner man [the spirit man] except when a person is strengthened in the inner man because of praying to God. So to be strengthened in the inner man, the first thing we need to do is “Watch [hear from God what the will of God is or what God is saying to you right now] and pray [ask God to give you His strength to do according to what God has already revealed to you while watching]…”. If you are careless to disobey the above steps, the dangerous thing that will happen is “…you [will] enter in to temptation.”. In other words, we will not be able to obey what God has told us to do and will give in to the temptation.

Never neglect to pray, because prayer gives you the power to fulfill God’s plan for your life. God’s blessing is not automatic; it comes into your life only by your obedience to God through your fervent prayers. As the Bible also says in Job 36:11, “If they obey and serve Him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures”.

Disobedience brings destruction

“But if they do not obey, they shall perish by the sword, and they shall die without knowledge” (Job 36:12). Disobedience to God not only will make you miserable in your life, but you will die miserably if you continue in it. We know in Saul’s life what had happened when he disobeyed God again and again. Not only he perished, but his whole family died miserably due to this one man’s disobedience to God. Due to one man’s disobedience [i.e. Adam], death came to all men and death entered through sin to all men. Disobedience to God’s command is what had brought the curse of sin upon the whole mankind. Samson died miserably due to a disobedient heart that leaked out the information that God had told Him to keep secretly. These are some of the examples that we can see and learn as an object lesson about the cost of disobedience in one’s life toward God and His commandments.

Ask God and receive. Never stop to do this because if any one draws back, His soul has no pleasure in him. God is pleased when we ask Him to give us His strength to please Him in obedience. When you obey what He says, then He is able to give you exceedingly and abundantly above all you can ask or even think because He owns it all! Praise Jesus!

Our Father

Our Father

By Abraham Israel

9 In this manner, therefore, pray: 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. (Matthew 6:9-13).

This prayer that Jesus taught the disciples is usually called as the Lord’s prayer. But actually Jesus was teaching the disciples to pray ‘the disciple’s prayer’. The disciple is a person who believes in the ideas and principles of someone [i.e. Jesus Christ] and tries to live the way they do or did. Up to that time of teaching this ‘disciples prayer’, most of His disciples always used to pray only Jewish religious prayers which forbids calling God as their father because that would amount to blasphemy making them equal to God as a part of His family (Luke 11:1). For this reason the Jews even tried to kill Jesus Christ because He called God as His Father (John 5:17,18). Jesus was a radical who never entertained religiosity and had always rebuked it as hypocrisy (Matt 6:5). The most wonderful thing that Jesus taught, which I believe if understood will change our prayer lives too dramatically. Here Jesus was telling His disciples to pursue the relationship [note: not religion which says do this or don’t do this] with God as a part of His family as His family member, hence starting the relationship with Him by calling Him as “Our Father…”. This is the privilege that we have through Jesus Christ which even the Old Testament prophets did not have (Matt 11:11,25-27). The knowledge of intimately knowing God as our Father is a revelation that can only be experienced by those who come to God through Jesus Christ only (Luke 10:17,20,21-24). We are able to call God Almighty as “our Father…” because of what Jesus has done and achieved for us on the cross through the blood covenant [promise] that Jesus has made with God the Father and hence crying out “It is done!” at the end of sealing that covenant (John 19:30). Jesus is calling forth His disciples to purse a relationship with God more than anything else. Are we hearing it ‘Christians [disciples of Jesus]!’. So only the Bible calls Him as the mediator of the new covenant (1 Tim 2:5). A person cannot call somebody as father unless His nature [i.e. genes] is in them. To the most if a person is not the real father they will acknowledge themselves as only a surrogate father of somebody. But Jesus urges us to call God as “Our Father” because the moment we believe and receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, God’s genes which is His Word gets implanted in to us and we become His child and part of His family, hence from there on to pursue our relationship with God as “Our Father” (1 Peter 1:23).

The moment we call God as “Our Father…”, we must understand that it is based on family relationship that we are drawing near to God and not based on our works that we do or have done for God. In a family setting a child doesn’t need to do something or achieve something to call its father as “daddy!”. A child calls its father as “Daddy!” because it has got its right to call him, and the child is a member of the larger family which is produced by the will of the father. It is God who has planned you to be “born again” in to His family by His decision, so you have the rights to call Him as your Father (1 Peter 1:23). This is the reason God the Father has sent His Spirit in you to enable [or make you understand] you to call Him “Our Father…” (Rom 8:15-16,26). Oh! What a privilege! Thank God for it!

We can be intimate and very close to His heart because He loves us as His very own children and this is the very basis of our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Here Jesus is teaching His disciples the pattern by which they can pray and relate to God.

“Our Father in heaven…” Just because we call God as our father, we do not lose our natural identity and hence our physical father’s identity (Matt 23:9). Because we are born Spiritually anew through Jesus Christ, from that point of time as a child of God there is no need of any spiritual in-between that is needed for you to approach God. Spiritually He becomes as your only Spiritual Father. When you say ‘My [Our] Father who is in heaven’, it describes the Spiritual materiality of your connection in your spirit with Him. This is possible only through His Spirit who acts as the one and only agent of this Spiritual Connection that you have established through Jesus Christ.

From that moment we have started calling Him as “Our Father in heaven…”, all the nature and character of our father in heaven will start to get activated in us as He is revealed more and more through our Lord Jesus Christ acting in us and through us to others (John 6:44-46). Jesus said “…He who has seen Me has seen the Father…” because He revealed to us exactly the essence of God the Father’s character which had been revealed in the Names [i.e.character or essence] of God in the Old Testament and manifested it through His entire life time on earth as an absolute example for us to follow and imitate Him (John 17:6). So only once we call God as “Our Father in heaven…”, all these following revelations will begin to be unveiled to us and through us. Only when something Spiritual is revealed to us and we start applying it out in our life, it will be revealed through us to others when they see it manifest in our lives.

The name ‘Jehovah’ is a covenant name which can be used only by those who are part of that covenant (Exodus 6:2-8). Through Jesus we are part of that new covenant that He made with the Father through His death and resurrection, which testifies that God the Father has agreed to that initiated covenant to be active from that time on forever (Heb 9:11-12). By us calling God as our Father all these following Name of God becomes our right to experience it in time of need,

Elohim => Creator,
Jehovah => Contains Covenant,

[The name Jehovah contains the new covenant which Jesus made with God as His Father and His God, and hence through that covenant, God becomes “Our Father and Our God” through His perfect obedience (Matt 3:17; 26:39,46;John 20:17).]

El-Shaddai => My Supply/My Nourishment,
Adonai => My Master,
Jehovah-Jireh => My Provider/My Vision/ The one I see,
Jehovah-Rophe => My Healer,
Jehovah-Nissi => My Victory,
Jehovah-Mikkadesh => My Sanctifier/My Sanctification,
Jehovah-Tsidkenou => My Righteousness,
Jehovah-Shalom => My peace,
Jehovah-Shammah => My God’s Presence/He is there [where? In my heart which is His temple].

All these covenant Name of God comes in to action when we just call God as “Our Father…”. Then we are acknowledging His sovereignty by saying, “Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.” By acknowledging His sovereignty from heaven over all (2 Chronicles 20:6), we are praising His Name and Lifting Him up because He is in control of everything that is happening around us and in the universe.

“Your kingdom come.” Here we are asking and beseeching God to establish His kingdom dominion to come in us and through us. This is an act of surrendering our-self to God and beseeching Him for His kingdom control and power to increase in our life through the Spirit of God in every area of our spirit, soul and body. This is also connected with the proclamation of the Gospel verbally and through our daily lives. That is why the Bible says, “The Kingdom of God is not in eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost.” (Rom 14:17). We are supposed to be full of the Holy Ghost by being filled again and again, this is the evidence of God’s Kingdom being extended through us (Eph 5:17,18-21).

“Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” God will is perfectly done in the highest heaven, but it is not fulfilled on earth because of satanic influence through his demonic agents influencing people. Hence not only we are asking the Lord to fill us again and again with the Holy Spirit, but also we are asking God to influence and direct our will constantly through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Also we are asking God for the Kingdom Power to flow through us for the extension of God’s kingdom. We are also aligning ourselves to God’s will, based on our family relationship with the Father which we have through the new man in us. For example, a son will always inherit his father’s property hence he will always serve his father unconditionally. His longing will always be to fulfill his father’s will through his provision and resources that he supplies, because he knows it is his father’s good intention to give him all that he [i.e. father] owns to him [i.e. son] in the future (Luke 15:31;Matt 25:34). So we as his sons and daughters are aligning ourselves to do our Father’s business by praying in this manner.

“Give us this day our daily bread.” Then as a part of the family of God (Eph 3:14-15), we are asking each day expectantly for all the provision and nourishment that he has promised to give us when we ask Him (Matt 6:34; 7:11-12). As in any family where the child will look towards their father for their daily provision, we as a part of the family of God we look toward our heavenly Father who is the head for all our daily needs. Hence He becomes “Our Vision, the One we look towards in expectation”. He becomes our Pro-supply for our vision to be fulfilled. He becomes the one we see daily with expectation so that our joy will be fulfilled each day as we receive from Him (John 16:24).

“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” We are asking for His forgiveness because of His nature acting in us as a family member. We are coming before Him on the basis of identifying with Him based on His genes and character of forgiveness which is acting in us because of our perfect alignment through the Holy Spirit already. Hence forgiveness is the root through which the whole person of our being will be nourished by the goodness of God (Matt 13:20-21;Eph 3:17;4:32; Col 2:7). Without forgiving others, we will never be forgiven (Matt 6:14-15). Hence forgiveness [forgiving others] is the most important quality through which our identity with God who is love can be established and cemented (1 John 4:7-11;3:10-12). The expression of our love towards others is shown only when we forgive others as God also expressed His love toward us by forgiving us (Matthew 18:21-22,35). If we hate our brothers then we are murderers (1 John 3:15). Even if we are angry with a cause, it is we who should approach our brother and set it right before we come to offer any gift to our God (Matt 5:21-26).

“And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” Here basically we are asking our heavenly Father for Divine protection and strength for us to overcome the evil thing or mistake that manifests in us daily without our control over it, so that we may not do the same mistake that we have done a day or week before. If we do not have a forgiving heart, we will surely be in demonic bondage because of torturers [demons and demonic activity]. You will be permitted to be in their extortion because God will allow it until you again receive a forgiving heart to forgive others (Matt 18:34-35; 5:25-26; 6:14-15). You will be given the heart of forgiveness when you take a decision to forgive others, who might or might not have wronged you and tell it to God.

When you are having a forgiving heart, you can ask the Lord any time not to allow you to sin again and again in the same way because of bondage to it and hence deliver you from it (James 1:14-16;Ps 34:17;Gen 20:6). He will be there for you to deliver you always from every evil and will protect you from falling in to the same sin again and again by empowering you (1 Cor 10:12-13). When you are able to resist the devil by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, then you will begin to experience, How the power of the Greater One in you [God the Holy Spirit] is greater than the power of the enemy [satan and his demons] who is in the world (James 4:7; 1 John 4:4).

“For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” At last we are acknowledging to our Heavenly Father and affirming it to Him that the kingdom and the power and the glory belongs to Him. In other words we are telling it to Him that He can only fulfill all that we have asked to Him because He owns everything including us. We are giving Him back the Honor that He deserves for all the things that He has done for us, doing in us and all that He will do for us in the future. Finally we are telling to Him “Amen-So be it!”. In other words we are telling Him, ‘Let all the things that I have told you happen in my life exactly by You fulfilling it according to the promise of Your Word and hence its fulfillment is no more with me but it is in Your Hands.’ Praise the Lord!

This should be the outlook, pattern or essence of the prayer of every believer and hence fulfilling the title “Disciple’s Prayer”, as we have called this prayer as. As we align ourselves according to this pattern that Jesus had taught us, every prayer that we make to the Heavenly Father will be fulfilled in due time, if we do not lose heart (Galatians 6:9,10). Glory be to God!

Prayer of Intercession

Prayer of Intercession
By Abraham Israel

Intercession is nothing but praying back the Heart of God back to Him. To intercede means ‘to stand in the gap between two persons’. God always seeks a man to stand in the gap to ask Him for mercy (Ezekiel 22:30; Micah 7:18-20). God does not seek for public audience but for a private intimate audience. Jesus is the mediator of the New Covenant, we as His Body and members of his Body which works on earth, we act along with Him. Oh! What a Privilege! Moses pleaded God to restrain his hand from judgment and asked God to forgive the Israelites. If Moses had not acted by interceding for the people of Israel, God would have surely destroyed the Israelites for their sin of Idolatry (Psalm 106:23; Exodus 32:11-14). God gave in to the honest heartfelt plea of Moses and restrained His judgment.

In the book of Ezekiel God’s heart was broken and he cried out because of His merciful heart saying ‘Is there not even one person to stand in the gap to avert My judgment, I find no intercessor even though I search for one because I passionately want to forgive My people’. Here we see the merciful heart of God crying out to shower His mercy upon His people. Still He could not show mercy until He finds His man who understands God and His merciful heart which is like a father’s heart towards his children (Ps 103:13, 17-18). Even in the book of Hosea God’s heart was crying out with mercy toward His backsliding people who were bent on backsliding from God. God Himself says in Hosea 11:7-9,” My people are bent on backsliding from Me. Though they call to the Most High, None at all exalt Him. How can I give you up, Ephraim [people of God]? How can I hand you over, Israel [prince with God]? ….My heart churns within Me; My sympathy is stirred. I will not execute the fierceness of My anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim. For I am God, and not man, The Holy One in your midst; And I will not come with terror”.

Only people of God who can feel this heart beat of God will ever respond to God to be an Intercessor and thus avert God’s wrath and His judgment. The reason God is calling many of His people these days to become an intercessory priests like never before is because intercession will make room for God to act mercifully towards humanity as a whole which is becoming wicked and fully evil ready for God’s judgment day by day as in the days of Noah and Sodom (Luke 17:26-30). If the priestly Intercessors will faithfully pray for the Mercy of God to be shown to the wicked people, by God opening their eyes with the light of the Gospel, so that because of such heartfelt intercession when Jesus comes back at His second coming to the earth, He will find faith on the earth (Luke 18:1, . Are we ready! You are asking me for what? To be Priestly Intercessors!

The word of God says that all the believers are called to be a priest of God to offer spiritual sacrifices [Intercessory prayers which is a sacrifice to God] through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:5;Rev 1:5,6). The moment we start praying to God, to show mercy to the unbelievers based on what Jesus has achieved for them on the Cross, we are offering spiritual sacrifices which is acceptable to God. When ever and where ever we see unbelievers in the cities, towns and villages that we live, we can immediately pray to God from our heart, “Lord have mercy on these precious people for whom you have shed your blood…and so on!”. We need to have the heart of God imparted in to us to pray such prayers, until that happens we cannot pray such prayers. Ask God to impart His heart in to you and He will do it. God says it is a blessed category of people who have such a heart in them, “Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy.” (Matt 5:7). When you have such a heart, you will receive abundant mercy of God upon your life and family as the Word of God says. Oh what a Blessed mercy!

Prayer of Intercession is a personal intimate heart to heart relationship between a man and God. Our example is Jesus Himself who is interceding at the right hand of the Father for us. How much more we as His friends and bride of the bridegroom should out of love intercede for others who are being destroyed like we were destroyed once in the time past, before Jesus has delivered us (John 15:14-17; Matt 28:18-20;John 3:29). If we truly are His friends we will know that He is intensely desiring all the unbelievers to be saved from the wrath that is coming upon the whole earth very soon after the rapture [getting caught up to heaven] of the Church happens. This is the reason the Bible says that the gospel will be preached in the entire world and then the end will come (Matt 24:14). Do intercessory prayers for the lost world to be saved, as a real friend and Bride of Jesus Christ our Savior (1 Tim 2:1-4).

Prayer of Intercession is a prayer of love (1 Peter 1:8). Prayer is a Spirit (Zechariah 12:10). The intercessory prayer of mourning that comes from the Spirit of the Lord will cause us to be comforted when we see people turning to the Lord in multitudes leaving their evil life style aside (Matt 5:4). Holy Spirit Himself will comfort us by filling us with His joy unspeakable which is a sign that our prayers are being answered (Isaiah 61:1-3). It is the Spirit of God who intercedes through us. We cannot do it ourselves and God is also not at all interested in our fleshly prayers (Rom 8:26-27). The word of God says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6). True intercessions are birthed in our spirit by the Holy Spirit of God. We cannot produce it ourselves apart from Him, because God searches our heart to find out our motives that has been birthed by the Spirit which is called as the mind of the Spirit in the Word of God (Romans 8:26-27). The mind of the Spirit is that which is based on the Word of God which is the will of God for us. These true intercessions will have only the Word of God [the Bible] as its foundations in which they [intercessor] will hope. These intercession as it goes deeper and deeper, literally groans and moans will come out of us because of the burden that God puts in our soul for the unsaved. These are not meaningless emotions but are words that only God understands and will answer. This is a deep heart cry that David experienced as he says, “….. Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning?” (Psalm 22:1). The groanings that come out of us are words as shown in the preceding Word of God. These intercessions will be filled with anguish in the spirit and grieving (Matthew 26:37-39;Mark 3:5;John 11:33-35). After we experience such emotions that directly come from God through the Holy Spirit, we will experience Joy and comfort as a sign that all our prayers has been heard and will be answered at the appropriate appointed time (Psalm 30:5,11; John 16:24). These joy that we express towards God are sacrifices that we offer because not only we are praying the heart desire of God to be fulfilled, but also are believing it will come to pass through us and before us. This is what David understood and has said, “And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me [statement of faith] ; Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.” (Psalm 27:6).

Intercession is also a prayer of agreement, we agree with the Holy Spirit and He prays through us. God is pleased and delighted when He hears his people pray such prayers. In fact, He longs to hear such prayers. When we pray with heavy burdens and it heaves heavily on us that we cannot take it anymore, then the Holy Spirit takes over completely and groans in and through us. Then we find true rest in taking the yoke of Jesus and sharing His burden along with Him (Matt 11:28-30). When we share His burden, He gives us His true rest through the Holy Spirit in our Souls. In the Old Testament also the Prophets carried the burden of the word of the Lord for His erring people, so God gave rest to them (Malachi 1:1). Even Jesus carried the burden [sin] of the whole world looking towards the future joy that He will experience as a reward for that obedience (Heb 12:2,3). Never forget, God is a rewarder. On the payday the retribution and reward will always be infinitely greater than the price you have paid for the work of God and the will of God to be fulfilled in your life and others life (Matt 20:15; Heb 11:6).God sees the motive with which we work, is it only for the reward we are doing His work or with a passion, love and zeal we are working for Him (John 2:17).

The Holy Spirit is the initiator of all true intercession. As He initiates, we respond and are moved by Him (Psalm 80:18-19). Another great example for the prayer of intercession is John the Baptist. It started with a groaning and a cry in the desert place and ended in the greatest visitation of God of all time (Mark 1:4-8; Luke 11:1). By Interceding for others our hearts will be filled to the full with the love of God for others (Rom 5:5; 2 Tim 1:7; 1 John 4:17-19). Will you too dedicate yourself and your time to pray as a priestly intercessor for the unsaved to be brought in to the kingdom of God. If yes, start today and ask God to impart in you a heart cry for the unsaved. I promise you, your life will never be the same again. You will experience the abundant mercy of God in your life and in your family’s life because of your merciful heart toward others. God bless you. Praise the Lord!

Pray and Associate!

Prayer guides you to Godly Association!
By Abraham Israel

• Connect to the man with the vision (Prov 29:18).
• Have the unity of the Spirit and Co-operate with the vision (Eph 4:3-6). Ex: 4 bulls.
• Make the vision of your church as your mission [the body of Christ has only one corporate vision (Mark 16:15)].
• Always have one purpose and one aim corporately and daily pray for the fulfillment of it in due time (Amos 3:3; Acts 1:14, 2:42; 4:24).

The three p’s to consider in Godly Association,

a) Pray (Phil 4:6).

i. Prayer and supplication + thanksgiving.

ii. Peace will guard your minds.

iii. Here in Phil 4:6, the Greek word used for supplication is ‘de’-ā-sēs’ which means need, indigence, want, privation, penury, a seeking, asking, entreating, entreaty to God or to man.

iv. To supplicate means beg, plead, beseech, implore, entreat and pray Ex: (Daniel 9:2, 3; Nehemiah 1:4-11; Ps 119:170).

v. Supplication means praying through the Spirit of Supplication and it is the grace that empowers us to supplicate (Zech 12:10).

vi. The more we receive this grace, the more we can be able to pray through, until we see something happen in the natural realm from the Spiritual realm (Eph 1:3; Daniel 9:2-3; 10:12-14; Matt 16:16-20).

vii. PUSH P-Pray, U-Until, S-Something, H-Happens.

b) Participate (John 4:35).

i. “Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes [the call] and look at the fields [the vision], for they are already white for harvest [the challenge]!” (John 4:35).

ii. See things beyond what you see with your physical in to the Spiritual.

iii. Always be focused on the corporate vision and its challenge.

c) Persevere

i. To persevere is to continue doing or trying something in a determined way inspite of difficulties.

ii. Tribulation produces perseverance (Rom 5:3).

iii. Perseverance, character and character, hope.

iv. Hope [which is the anchor of the soul] enters in to God’s presence (Heb 6:19).

Nuggets of truth about prayer

The Nuggets of truth about Prayer

• If you copy Jesus Christ in every way, you will have a 100% answer to all your prayers (John 14:12, 13).
• Your life of prayer will make the faith of God to flow in to you.
• Faith of God will come with the person of God when you make war against the enemy by your confession of what He has spoken about your situation (1 Tim 6:12).
• When you are filled with God, all the prayer that you will ever make will be the prayer of faith (Luke 11: 1-13).
• Prayer is more important than doing ministry for God.
• Until you feel that prayer is a Joy to do, you haven’t learned to pray like Jesus.
• Demonic powers can argue with God by saying, ‘why I should give up my rightful territory?’(Luke 18:1-8).
• Hard school of delay will make you a determined, persistent tough warrior. He wants to make you a warrior. He will delay the result until you get specific. If you get specific, then God will work a miracle in your life.
• When I pray in tongues I build a bigger house for God to dwell and He becomes bigger and bigger inside me. So that in my humanity God could sit inside me and meet the needs of humanity (Luke 11:1-13).
• Our physical condition is an important thing in our spiritual warfare.
• You need good physical condition, if you are going to change the world.
• God will give grace and power, if you seriously want to change your lifestyle.
• Getting our physical bodies in good condition is as spiritual as any other thing.
• We ought to love the world redemptively as God also loved the world redemptively.
• Kingdom employees should be better than other employees.
• Once you become powerful on your own, then when you come together, there is collective power.
• Satan controls the cities from the heavenlies. To take a city for God, you need to know the God’s specific plan for that city. You have to work with God and His angels.
• Sexual purity, financial integrity and humility are the areas where Satan can strike a hole in your breast plate of righteousness and can strike you to the ground. Be alert always in these areas.
• When you deal with the heavenlies through prayer, there will be a physical manifestation of it in this earth (Matt 18:18-20).
• In the night time, when you are in your sub-conscious state, then the enemy will try to attack you. But the good news is, the Spirit of God waits for you to give permission to fill you even when you are asleep. In other words, pray to the Lord to watch over you by filling you with the Holy Spirit before you go to your sleep. What a gentle man He is! The Lord wills if you will. The Lord will always watch over you when you invite Him to do so! Praise the Lord!
• The Holy Ghost intercedes through us as a standby, substitute in interceding for us and our circumstances, but the Lord Jesus Christ intercedes as our advocate representing us in heaven before the Father (Rom 8:26-27, 34; 1 John 1:9; 2:1; John 14:26).
• The fragrance of the man who is obedient to God and who is walking in His ways can be easily determined by the amount of Joy that we can see in his life.

Mighty Name of Jesus

The Mighty Name of Jesus
By Abraham Israel

The depths to the riches of this name are unfathomable. The whole of heaven’s riches was invested in this name [Jesus] and is given to us as a gift from God. The name Jesus, is the name of the incarnated physical human body of God’s only begotten Son, which was prepared by God the Father for His Son [who is Christ the anointed one] (Heb 10:5-7). The reason we should understand this and confess this openly is because understanding this important concept of His incarnation will give us the revelation to discern and identify the spirit of Anti-christ [i.e. thus Anti-christ himself ultimately] which is manifesting itself rapidly in these end times (1 John 2:18; 4:1-3). The angel of the Lord told to Joseph in a dream, “You shall call His name Jesus [whose name? Christ the anointed one’s name, the Son of God who was born as any other baby in this earth but the person who was inside the baby was given from heaven], who will save His people from their sins.” (Matt 1:21; Is 9:6).

First and foremost, His name means Savior who had saved us from all our sins because there is no other name given among men under heaven to be saved from the eternal penalty of the sin which is death [eternal separation from God] (Acts 4:12). This gives us a clear idea that The Name of Jesus has been already universally given to mankind with a great potential and power that is invested in it by God Almighty, so that every man can be saved from the effects of sin which is deteriorating every person living in this planet earth. Sin has been affecting mankind ever since the fall of our forefather Adam in the Garden of Eden. It has affected human kind to the core of their being [i.e. in their spirit, soul and body]. So when we use this name Jesus in our daily life against the evil oppression of the devil by faith, instantly the power and potential of the name will begin to manifest itself around us in a supernatural way. Thus by using the name of Jesus we get delivered and will appropriate the gift of God that has been given to us already legally by citizenship in the family of God (Eph 2:19). Salvation is essentially our complete well being [i.e. spirit, soul and body].

By using this name we get healed and also others can get healed when we as kingdom citizens use this name in faith. One thing is we are all citizens and we have the rights to use the name of Jesus because it is legally ours, but it is quite a different thing when we use it by faith in the name. In the kingdom of God the king will only be pleased when any of His citizens use His name by believing the potential and power of the name based on their knowledge and intimacy with the King [Jesus Christ] because only the word of the king carries power (Heb 11:6; Eccl 8:4). This faith to use the name of Jesus comes not with our mind or soulish realm, but with our intimacy with the Person of Jesus Christ. Faith is the living connection that we establish with God through the Spirit of God by which we hear the word of the king and execute the word in the natural physical realm (Rom 10:17). We can clearly see this in the lives of the apostles in the 1st century. They first understood the basics of faith and operated in the authority of the name of Jesus. People who never understood the basics of faith were always amazed and astonished, but to the apostles it [i.e. the miracles that took place by using the name of Jesus] is neither surprising nor it is a marvel because they understood clearly about faith and operated in the faith principle (Acts 2:11-12;14:11-15).

The Apostle Peter has told the secret to that miracle worked by Him, “And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.” (Acts 3:16). Here we notice two important things to work the miracle of God (John 6:28,29). First, Apostle Peter understood the power of His name by personally hearing and seeing Jesus throughout His earthly ministry. The Apostle Paul who had not directly been involved in the any of Jesus’ earthly ministry told that knowing Jesus was a revelation from God to Him personally (Gal 1:11-12; 1 Cor 11:23). We too need a daily revelation of Jesus from His word which will make us increase in the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord (2 Peter 1:2). Now we can know Him intimately not in the flesh, but in our regenerated [i.e. reborn spirit] which has been put in to us through the Holy Spirit (2 Cor 5:16-17;Titus 3:5,6). The more we receive the Holy Spirit in capacity by being filled with the Holy Spirit, the more Jesus will be revealed to us intimately through His word (Eph 5:17-20).

The second thing is to have faith in His name. We must understand that faith comes from God the Father who is the source of all good gifts, through Jesus who will speak the word and the will of the Father in heaven, which we hear in the ear of our spirit by the Spirit that Jesus has given us all as a gift (James 1:17; Rom 10:17; John 6:63; Matt 11:15; Eph 2:18). Thus this gift of faith we can receive only by having fellowship with Jesus and the Father constantly in our spirit man (1 John 1:3;1 Thess 5:17). This is what Apostle Peter was saying as “….His name….through faith in His name….the faith which comes through Him….” (Acts 3:16). Even before the miracle happened Peter said to that lame man from his mother’s womb, “….“Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.” (Acts 3:6-7). Here we see Peter having faith even before the miracle of healing was worked by him, this is why Peter said ,’what I do have I give to you’. In this case Apostle Peter had faith for the healing of the lame man. Because of having this faith, he was able to bring the wholeness and the salvation of the Lord to the lame man using the name of Jesus. Thus through His name we get wholeness in our life and also others will be blessed when we act on the faith that we have by our constant fellowship with the Lord.

The apostles realizing their lack of faith to forgive others, asked Jesus to increase their faith. Jesus replied to them saying, “…If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” (Luke 17:6). Here we notice that if we have that tangible faith even as a mustard seed size [which was the smallest seed found in Jesus’ days], then we can speak to the mountain or situation which is hindering us and it would obey us. In other words if we don’t have that faith within us which Jesus spoke about, we cannot speak to the situation to make it fall in line with our word of authority.

There are two main types of prayer in the basics of the dynamics of faith. Both are used in relation to the name of Jesus. First is, we are praying to the Father in Jesus name to receive the faith that we need in order to move the mountain, without which we cannot speak the faith that will make things to happen in the natural realm (Luke 17:5-6,10). Jesus Himself said, “And in that day [i.e. the day after My resurrection] you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.” (John 16:23). In other words Jesus was telling the apostles the secret to their future apostolic ministry, by telling them that because of the delegated power that will be deposited permanently in His name [after His death and ascension], they will no more ask Jesus as they did most of the time during Jesus’ earthly ministry (Matt 17:17-21) [because Jesus by then would be sitting at the right hand of the Father in heaven], but they will begin to use His name to ask directly to the Father because of realizing the power and authority deposited in it. We too should ask for such a revelation of the name of Jesus in order to use it in apostolic paradigm! For God says, “Ask and it [i.e. faith in different measures according to your specific need (Rom 12:3)] will be given to you…” (Matt 7:7).In this prayer God the Father moves and acts to fulfill what we ask for. Praise the Lord!

Once we have the faith in us tangibly, then we can move in to the speaking dimension of faith, where things will begin to happen before our very eyes. In this prayer we are speaking against the enemy and His strategies directly through our words in Jesus name. Here the word of faith which we speak out will begin to be the word of authority of God in Jesus name (Rom 10:8-10). This is what Jesus promised in this prayer of authority which he told us to pray once we have the tangible faith, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” (John14:12-14). The kingdom people can move in to the miraculous dimension of the supernatural power of God only if we understand these dynamics of using the name of Jesus in this way as shown above. In the last century, only we have seen more people rebuke the devil and speaking to the mountains without seeing the results accomplished. But when we speak after we have the tangible faith in us, it will happen because Jesus Himself will come in to the spiritual realm to make it accomplished in the physical realm. This will only truly bring glory to the Father in the Son [Jesus] who will do these things through His Spirit and the angels from heaven. In other words these types of prayers are like an army general commanding His soldiers to attack and win over the enemies. We as God’s Generals are speaking in to the spiritual realm and commanding our armies of heaven which God has provided for us to attack our enemy and defeat them. This is when everyone around us will begin to realize the delegated power that Jesus has given to us through seeing the supernatural things happening in the natural realm (Acts 13:9-12;16:18-19). In this prayer God the Son moves and acts to fulfill what we ask for or speak forth.

When we see with our spiritual eyes that someone has faith to get healed, we can also do the same thing [of working a miracle] by helping them to act their faith and thus get them delivered. Apostle Paul did the same thing in Acts14:9 by releasing another man’s faith by his faith of seeing in to the heart of another man, “… [a cripple from his mother’s womb] heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, said with a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” And he leaped and walked” (Acts 14:9-10). Paul always preached Christ through the gospel and this made people to receive the faith of God to be healed and saved (Acts 14:7;1Cor 1:17-18;Eph 2:8). We too can receive from God healing, health and prosperity in every area of our life by believing in the name of Jesus [this is essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ] and then speaking it out in Jesus name with the faith that we tangibly have, thus using it against all evil in the spiritual realm.

Believing in the name of Jesus will move us in to the realm of faith to lay hands on the sick and get them healed by faith in His name, will move us in to the realm of faith to cast out demons in His name, will move us to get baptized in the Spirit and speak in new tongues in His name, will move us in to a place of immunity against all evil strategies of the enemy and will give us boldness to face the enemy and destroy his plans in His name, without getting hurt by it (Mark 16:17-18). If only we will realize the power of His name, nothing is impossible to us in His name!

When Jesus came to the earth, He never used anybody’s name [but He called God as His Father and Himself as His Son] to get others healed and delivered because He was that name, all the demons recognized him as Jesus the Holy one and the Son of the Most High God (Matt 9:1-8;Mark 2:6-10;1:24;5:7). He spoke healing to the sick, and demons recognized His name (Mark 7:34;Matt 8:8-10,16). He was that sent one from heaven by God and who was given a name above all names after His resurrection because of His perfect obedience (John 6:41, 44;Matt 26:63-64;Eph 2:8-11). In other words Satan was forever defeated and his authorized name in the spirit realm was wiped off by the death of Jesus on the cross. Jesus has forever been given that name [power and authority] in the spirit realm which directly influences the happenings on earth, which He demonstrates now through the church against the devil (Col 2:14-15;Matt 16:18-19;Rev 1:18). Satan tried all the time when Jesus was on earth, to make Him disobey the Father just only once because that would have made Him a sinner, and one who is less than perfect who cannot save others (John 14:30;James 2:10). Jesus only did on earth what He saw God the Father do in heaven and hence over came all the strategies of His enemy to topple Him (John 5:19-20;Matt 6:10).

The Apostles who were sent by Him used the name and were amazed by its power because all the spirit realm was subjected to it (Luke 10:17,20). God the Father had already deposited His power in His name when Jesus was sent forth in to the ministry of healing (Luke 3:21-22; 4:14, 18-19). That is why Jesus told Mary at the wedding in Cana of Galilee that his hour [to start the healing ministry] has not yet come [so that He can use the power that the Father has already deposited in His name] (John 2:4).Even some of those who had faith in his name started working miracles without following Him during the ministry of His earthly days and used that power which was deposited in His name (Mark 9:38-39). These people truly had a reverence for the name and were not like the seven sons of Sceva who tried to cast out demons without having faith in it and so had disastrous result (Acts 19:14-17).

We too need to boldly use the name of Jesus to display the kingdom authority and power to others to be a testimony to the world that we are truly the ambassadors of His kingdom! Now Jesus is the one who has the supreme authority and sovereign control over all His creations including Satan and his demons in this planet earth and in heaven (Matt 28:18;1 Peter 3:21-22). So it is up to us [the kingdom citizens] to posses the territory that has been taken by Satan and his demons in the past. Saints, break forth in to this planet earth and take it by force by displaying the kingdom living and authority all over the world (Matt 28:19-20)! Demons will tremble and will run away when you as a kingdom citizen will cast out Demons in His name because they may be evil enough, but are not powerful enough to stand against the mighty name of Jesus which you are using as legal citizen of God’s kingdom! It is the authority and order of the king of kings [Jesus] that you are executing in this planet earth as a king under Him in His dominion (Rev 19:16).

Jesus is the name that has authority over nations and tribes of all the earth because the kingdom of heaven rules over the kingdom of this world system [which operates under the influence of Satan and his demons]. The king of the kingdom of heaven is Jesus and He rules over all the earth as the word of God says, “…The government [power center of the universe (Matt 26:64)] will be upon His shoulder….” (Isaiah 9:6). Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb 13:8). He never changes and most importantly His promises and the delegated power that was deposited in it by God Almighty never changes! Will you use it Saints! If you take the Lord at His word and begin this endeavor of kingdom life, you too will experience the same power and victory that the apostles experienced in the 1st century. Praise the Lord!

Importance of Prayer

Importance of Prayer

By Abraham Israel

It is great to know that God has a secret will and a revealed will. The secret will belongs to the Lord our God. But those things that are revealed belong to us and our children forever (Duet 29:29). The whole Logos (Ps 119:89) is the revealed will of God. The word of God says that only when we seek the Lord and as a result of it, if the Lord allows us to inquire of Him [to know the prophetic time line and the kairos (exact predetermined time) moment], then only God will increase men [provision – pro (supply for the) vision] like a flock [abundance] in order to fulfill His vision that he has given to us (Ezek 36:37). The blessing of God in our lives depends upon us responding to pray to God by what He has already revealed [By His words, dreams, visions, prophetic word, gifts or abilities and circumstances]. Infact, it is great to know that God is eagerly waiting for us to call Him (Jer 29:10-12), so that He can bless us. He promises to show us the secret things that we do not know (Jer 33:3).

None of these things that God has promised in His word can be ours till we start praying with faith for its fulfillment in our life. The Word of God says “…if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” (1 John 5:14). This easily proves to us that if we do not ask anything according to His will, we will not receive anything. Here the most important thing that we see is the need for us to start asking or praying. This gives us the fact that the most essential thing for us to do in this planet earth to get blessed from the Lord as His children’s is to ask Him and keep on asking.

It is also God’s will for us to pray for something that we desire (Ps 37:4). When we ask God for something that we desire, it needs to be a genuine heart cry. We need to PUSH [P-persevere U-until, S-something, H-happens] ourselves in such circumstances, where we need to desire strongly for something to happen for the glory of God in our lives. To delight ourselves in the Lord is to believe what God has promised to do and keep pushing forward in prayer, already praising and giving glory for what He has done (Romans 4:18, 20; Mark 11:24; Matt 21:22; 1 Tim 2:1; Phil 4:4-7). Then comes a time when God says it is done. Then our prayer becomes a substance of faith (Mark 11:22-23; Matt 21:21; Romans 4:21). After all these persevering prayer, acting by faith in stepping out and speaking against the circumstances that are contrary to the faith that we have in us will bring in to the natural realm the thing that we have desired, because by then God will intervene to fulfill in the natural what we have believed in the Spiritual realm. Then all we can give to the Lord is our heart attitude of gratitude and thankfulness toward Him. This gives us the confidence that God is very concerned even about our desires and longings that we cherish and enjoy in our life and is ready to fulfill it, if only we will pray to Him.

This kind of prayer is possible only if we continually abide in His Word (John 15:4-8). Our prayer life is the out come of Christ’s life in us. If we are connected to Jesus, we will bear fruit. When we bear fruit, not only we get the desires of our heart, but by all these super natural things that happen in our life, we will bring glory to Our Father in heaven. We abide in Jesus by the abiding in presence of Jesus which is the Holy Spirit, for He is the one who makes the words of Jesus abide in us (John 15:26). Hence the presence of Jesus that comes through abiding in the words of Jesus is the source of all prevailing prayer. With out Him it is impossible, with Him all things are possible (Luke 1:37; Mark 10:27). Hallelujah!