Teach Us To Pray

Jesus' disciples asked Him to teach them to pray.

And He said to them, "When you pray, say: "Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come." Luke 11:1-2

I long for sustained, corporate intercession in the House of Prayer so I'm asking Him once again, to teach us to pray.

I see three main points:

1. We need to realize WHO we are addressing in our prayers. Hopefully, the corporate gathering is unified but ultimately, it's not about the people in the room. (Matthew 6:5; Romans 15:5-6)

Our Father wants us to approach Him as a child.

Jesus said, "BLESSED are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven." Who demonstrates this better than children?

Those who become as a child before Him are following Jesus' teaching on prayer.

What would this kind of prayer look like in a corporate meeting? I think this is the first thing people stumble over...who wants to look weak and needy in front of others? Most of the prayer books on my shelf do not start with a childlike cry but theological words. Sometimes the instructions about prayer are so logistical and complicated we might feel disqualified before we even open our mouths. This is not how Jesus taught. Jesus taught that my Father is waiting to hear my voice and THAT REALITY moves my heart to pray in the prayer room.

2. Realize when we "hallow" or "make holy or set apart for use" His name, we are engaging in Kingdom activity. We are agreeing with the sustained corporate prayers of heaven. He is, "HOLY! HOLY! HOLY!"

The proclamation of WHO GOD IS causes a powerful shift on earth reflecting "as it is" in heaven. It is evidence of the Knowledge of God and brings down lesser things when those who say they love God with all their heart, mind, soul and strength reflect His power in their lives with their words, thoughts, actions and lifestyle.(Eph 1:21; Eph 6:12; Rev. 15:4)

Moses proclaimed "I AM" to Pharaoh, Jonah proclaimed "Salvation" to Nineveh, Paul proclaimed "Jesus the Christ" to Jew and Gentile. Proclamation of who He is causes men to repent in the fear of the Lord and whole nations to come into alignment with the Kingdom of God. What a picture of revival!

3. Praying is a foundational key in bringing heaven to earth. The government of the King of Kings brought down to the earth through partnership with mankind.

Prayer releases the Kingdom rule of Christ on the earth (light vs. darkness, righteousness vs. unrighteousness, etc.) One day, Jesus will ask the Father for the nations!

Prayer allows the Kingdom to come near people (heal the sick, cast out demons, etc.)

We bind and loose things in heaven and on earth when we come into agreement. We are legislating the will of the Father, as the Body of Christ when we pray TOGETHER.(Matthew 18:18-20)

Sustained corporate intercessory prayer is impossible without Jesus, who promises, "My house will be called a House of Prayer for all nations". (Isaiah 56:6-7;Matthew 21:13;Mark 11:17;Luke 19:46)

JESUS - BUILD YOUR HOUSE OF PRAYER & TEACH US TO PRAY!

The Great Commission and the Prayer and Worship movement working together to fulfill God’s purpose on earth

I believe we need to be evangelizing the lost. I believe we need to have people on the mission field doing evangelism and discipleship. I believe we need people in the mission field doing the mercy deeds (clothing the poor, feeding the hungry, etc.). But, I feel like the Church has missed the place of humbling ourselves and proclaiming to God that we cannot do it without him, which is essentially prayer. We cannot do it if we leave one of our key tools (Prayer) in the tool box.

2 Chronicles 7:14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

• If they will pray
• I believe that more people will be saved (receive eternal salvation and live lives of restoration now) if He (Jesus) would “Heal our Land”.
  

Matthew 9:37-38 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; (38) therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."

• Jesus speaking on how to “Reap a Harvest” in your evangelism campaign. His clear direction was to “Pray Earnestly”.

Luke 18:1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.

Luke 18:7-8 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? (8) I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

• Cry to him day and night. I believe he’s talking about prayer.
• I believe Justice includes wining the lost, feeding the poor, healing the sick, restoring wholeness and holiness to the human heart.
• He (Jesus) will bring Justice when we cry (pray) to him “day and night”. Night and day prayer, 24 hour a day prayer. Luke 18:1 prayer that never stops. Night and day prayer rooms are being raised up all over our nation and all over the earth.
• Prayer (intercession) is when we agreed with what God says he will do.
• Worship is when we agree with who God says He is.
• When he comes back will “he find faith (people of prayer) on the earth”? I believe we have lost faith in and missed the value of prayer in our current Church culture.
  

These principals are demonstrated clearly in Acts 1&2

Act 1:4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, "you heard from me; (5) for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

• Jesus told the first disciples don’t leave the place of prayer until you receive power from the Holy Spirit.
• The Disciples, being people of faith (Luke 18:8), did what Jesus told them to do.
  

Act 1:13-14 And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. (14) All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

• They went to the upper room and prayed together (all of them) and in one accord.
• Some believe the time from Jesus’ Ascension to Pentecost was about 10 days.
  10 continuous days of prayer.
• Men and women, young and old praying “together” (corporate) and “in one accord” (Unity).
• How do we structure our prayer meetings, what format do we use, so that we can be “Together” and “in one accord”? This is one of the most important questions if we are going to be “Joyful” in the house of prayer.
  

Then the power came.

Act 2:1-4 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. (2) And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. (3) And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. (4) And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

• They were all together in one place (a cooperate prayer meeting).
• The Holy Spirit falls so powerfully that they feel the power and presence of God on them. They “felt God move”.
• Unbelievers that were lingering around were stirred and began to ask questions.
  

Acts 2:14-47
Peter seizes the opportunity, stands up and preaches a powerful sermon. He gives a brief history of Jewish tradition and explains how Jesus is the awaited Mesiah. Then 3000 people get saved. I believe that one key aspect of the 3000 people being saved was that from the time of Jesus’ ascension until the day of Pentecost all the disciples had stayed in the upper room and “IN ONE ACCORD were DEVOTING themselves to prayer.”

MY THOUGHT FOR THIS WEEK

While in prayer this week, the Lord impressed on me that my memories are not made of words but of images. That is why it is so important for me to visualize scripture. To memorize a verse and its words is one thing, but to picture that verse as a reality greater than any physical reality, is quite another.

I found that I really don't understand an idea or concept until I can see it in my mind. And the Lord reminded me that I still don't believe that what He says is more real than my physical circumstances. Until I believe the images his Word invokes more than my own memories I will not see miracles on a regular basis.

So I link these two well known verses together:

Rom 10:17 NKJV Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the (Rhema) Word of God.

Heb 11:1 NKJV Faith is the substance of things hoped for but not yet seen.

So when I really "hear" the Word it invokes a hope for something that I can now picture in my mind. I will see this "Word Image" way before I can physically see it in the natural. This could be a healing, a loved one coming to Christ, a financial breakthrough, a problem solved, or a deeper relationship with Papa.

Any of these things become real in my mind as I "picture it" as real. I don't know about you but I don't see written words, I see images those words represent. The more vivid the image, the more I can meditate on it and the more I verbalize it in prayer, the more I believe it.

When you are praying do you "see something" God is showing you based on His Word or do you see something you want to see, or do you see nothing but fuzziness because you don't believe you deserve anything from the Lord? Or do you have an image of peace as you picture what God is saying about this prayer request of yours. This sums up alot of the issues in our prayer lives.

Getting into alignment with the Lord on any issue I am facing starts with the Spirit activating the Word of God that I hear. (through reading - preferably praying outloud - or hearing another's voice praying, reading, or preaching it.)

Therefore faith for me, is alot about picturing my prayer based on what the Word says.

And my lack of faith can be attributed to the fact that I have not "heard God". Therefore I cannot see an answer or perhaps I see an answer but for other reasons I just don't believe that answer will become my reality.

Either way, this is simply unbelief on my part.