Archive for prayer and intercession

Are You Expecting It?

// July 10th, 2010 // No Comments » // faith and family, prayer and intercession

Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison. And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands. And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision. When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him. And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the LORD hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews. And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying. And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda. And when she knew Peter’s voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate. And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, It is his angel. But Peter continued knocking: and when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished. Acts 12:5-16
These folks were praying for Peter’s release, but when he showed up at their door, they didn’t believe it was him.  They were praying apparently because it was the thing to do. Obviously, they weren’t waiting for God to do it. Not only that, but when the servant girl came back and said Peter was there, no one believed her either. After she insisted it was him, they then conceded that “maybe” it was an angel. However, still no one got up and looked.
What have you prayed for that you feel God has not answered? Are you praying expecting it to happen? It matters not the words you use or how eloquent you are. It only matters that you earnestly expect an answer. When you expect an answer you are telling God “I trust you”.  Expectation has to be the core of your prayer. When you expect it to happen, your faith is huge! Why even pray otherwise?
You have to expect God to answer your prayers. Many of you may have the answer to your prayer knocking at the door right now. You hear the knock, but you think it’s something else or it’s for someone else. If you’re the one praying then you need to answer the door because you should be expecting something.

Don’t Get Caught Slippin!

// June 17th, 2010 // No Comments » // Discipleship, faith and family, prayer and intercession, purpose, vision and destiny

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 1 Peter 5:8 KJV

Lions are very careful and deliberate in choosing their victims. They prey primarily upon the immature, the isolated and the weak. Though we are all in various phases of our walks and levels of understanding, this season has been one of the roughest ever. The Body has been nearly beaten into submission, and most of you are beat up, worn down and hiding out. You’re tired of talking, tired of fighting and tired of being tired.

Guess what? The enemy is looking for you. He’s so looking for you! Weary, alone and just trying to get some rest. And for the few of you who have had about two good days of peace and revelation and let your guard down; oh, he wants you, too. He loves a good, struggling believer fresh off a mini victory!

This is not the time to hide, quit or get comfortable. You need to keep your eyes and ears open at all times, and keep your spirit guarded. The enemy wants to take you down, but he won’t eat you all at once. His first bite will be sudden and unexpected (usually causing fear, frustration or anger), but superficial; just enough to immobilize you (get you distracted and off task). It’s not until he’s got you shaken that you get dragged to his den where he can really go to work on you!

Watch and pray. He’s looking for you. Don’t get caught slippin!

Praise It Out!

// June 15th, 2010 // No Comments » // faith and family, prayer and intercession

Psalm 34
 
In tough times we often struggle with the truth of our facts. We are consumed with our personal situations and caught up in our emotions. Though we know that God is all and Jesus is Lord, some of us still have a hard time shaking the feelings of heaviness, sadness, depression and despair; so much so that the spirits become tangible and magnified in our homes.
 
The word of the Lord is: Praise it out!
 
Of those who are struggling and can still get a prayer out, only a small percentage of those prayers are prayed in faith and expectation, so there is no praise with it. You may be tapping into a place and going up high in your prayer and feeling good right after, but find that your good “feeling” is short-lived. Prayer alone is difficult because rarely are the results of prayer immediate, leaving the perception that it doesn’t work. Well, we know that faithful, righteous prayer does work…always. But, prayer and praise works better… and faster!
 
Let me encourage you today to allow your praise to pick up where your petitions leave off, as if they’re already done; because even while you’re waiting, God is good. You need to consistently focus on the TRUTH of God’s character and His word rather than the FACTS of your reality, and give God praise. This will shift your spirit and the atmosphere. Praise it out!

What Are You Praying?

// June 14th, 2010 // No Comments » // prayer and intercession

The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace, That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven, And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments: Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father’s house have sinned. Nehemiah 1:1-6 KJV

This scripture illustrates the perfect posture of prayer; a picture of true intercession…one that most intercessors never get to. What makes it so great is the fact that though Nehemiah was still living in exile, he was living in the palace and serving in the position of cupbearer to the Persian king. To be a cupbearer was to be a trusted individual; therefore, you can safely assume that Nehemiah had a measure of rank and favor with the king. Translation: he was comfortable!

Now, truthfully, most of us don’t pray for ourselves when we’re comfortable. We certainly don’t waste much time praying for others. Then, to pray for others and include ourselves because we know we’re just as messed up as they are? That’s unheard of, but that’s exactly what Nehemiah did.

Even though he was not living in Jerusalem suffering as his brethren were, or even witnessing their suffering for that matter, they were still his brethren whom he obviously loved. Just hearing of their conditions immediately stopped him in his tracks and caused him to weep, mourn, fast and pray before God. And to top it all off, when he prayed, he repented and prayed for them, including himself, as a people. None of that out of sight out of mind foolishness, or that, “Dang. That’s messed up. They shootin bad. Lord help ’em” crap that church people do.

Too many of us misunderstand, and at times take for granted, the intercessor authority because somehow we see ourselves as being above those who need us to pray. When the truth of the matter is, we all need prayer (and repentance) throughout our lives and our walks with Christ. Whether we’re messing up or we’re under enemy attack, we will never be exempt from trouble. God often uses the very people and situations that we’re moved to pray for to show us ourselves. We must work harder to remember that.

Posture Yourself for Prayer

// July 15th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // prayer and intercession, purpose

1 Timothy 2:1

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;

The posture of the believer in this hour is to stay committed to praying and waling in the will of God. Posturing yourself to commit to a lifestyle of prayer should be your primary focus. I often find myself talking to people who get “tired” of praying. I must admit. I would get tired of praying if it appeared that my prayers were going unanswered. Most believers simply make supplications on behalf of themselves only to realize that the true potential and purpose rests in seeking and petitioning God on behalf of all men. Don’t get me wrong, I find myself praying for myself all the time. However, my prayer posture is that of prayer for strength to do the will of God for mankind. That’s really our purpose in a nutshell. We are saved to serve. We are not saved to focus on ourselves. It should be our goal to become true “fishers of men”, those who are committed to walking out a call of service to mankind.

Surely, you could not possibly continue to go to God without him giving you some form of directive when it comes to his people. Your prayer posture will always lead you in a direction of mankind. Stay committed to prayer. Stay committed to people. Stay committed to your purpose. It all starts and ends with prayer, but don’t forget that your first posture…is that of prayer.

ATH