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The first six lessons of this series were offered to give helpful suggestions on how to be better prayer warriors. This final study is directed to help us not
pray in an unacceptable way. We want to be an asset, not a hindrance to God's people. So let us begin our final study.
To begin with, never pray your own will over people or situations. Always pray God's will is accomplished in their life. For instance, you may personally think they need to do this, that, or the other thing, but
God may have a completely different plan in mind for them. When we pray our ideas for people, we are maybe
way off base with God's thoughts concerning them. Our prayer then becomes an evil force of manipulation and control over them, projecting the enemy into their lives. Manipulation is
a spirit, as is control an evil being, and they certainly are not of God's Kingdom. Do you see the seriousness of wrongful prayer? Demons carry out Satan's will - angels carry out God's. Just lift the person or situation to God,
bind the enemy from interfering, and loose the will of God to be carried out.
There are times the devil really makes us angry, but do not use railing or coarse language against the enemy. I'm not saying we shouldn't get angry when the enemy attacks, we
must boldly come against them, but never through cussing or screaming obscenities. Even Michael did not accuse Satan, but said, "the Lord rebuke you, Satan." They are still dignitaries. God created them as such, and only He can rebuke them.
Jude 1:9-10
9 Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"
10 But these (the rebellious end time people) speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally (or in this physical realm), like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves.
Matthew 6:14-15
14 "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Mark 11:25-26
25 "And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.
26 But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses."
Matthew 5:23-24
23 Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,
24 leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
I Peter 3:7 reminds us:
7 Husbands, likewise, dwell with them (wives) with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.
Luke 11:17-18
17 But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls.
18 If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub.
Mark 11:22-24
22 So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God. (How can we if we walk in the sin of unforgiveness, or any other sin.)
23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.
24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
Miracles cannot flow through bitterness and resentment. They are the result of prayer prayed by those that have
a loving relationship with God and His family.
Another wrong thinking process behind prayer that people are guilty of, we mostly pray for our own problems, forgetting the church family, its leadership, and the remnant out there in the world that would like to know the Lord. Our prayer life is not to be self-centered. We are to esteem the needs of others over ourselves. There are so many in bondage in many different ways to the enemy, and God's prayer warriors should be praying to set them free. Matthew 6:33 tells us if we seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness all other things will be added to us. So with a glad heart, pray for the Kingdom of God to be established and His people's needs be met.
John 10:10
10 The thief (Satan) does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I (Jesus) have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
We are to pray the Word against the enemies that would sabotage God and His people so the angels can perform the word on our behalf.
Psalm 103:20
20 Bless the LORD, you His angels, who excel in strength (can we fight the unseen enemy on our own?), who do His word (they perform it or make it happen), heeding the voice of His word (they heed the voice of Jesus, He is the Word).
This is why knowing the scriptures is so necessary. We must absolutely know God's thought on the situation we are praying about,
testifying His will and loose the angels into action. Speaking God's will is the key to the miraculous.
I John 5:14
14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
Jesus, in Matthew 6:9-10 taught:
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.
We need not use eloquent language, and what we pray may be short and to the point. God knows what we need before we ask, and created each of us with different gifts, but one thing is sure, He understands His kids when they talk to Him. No-one else may really understand us in fact, except Him. A little child's prayer is heard as quickly as the old seasoned Prayer Warrior.
Matthew 6:7-8
7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.
8 "Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.
Let me close this series on prayer by reminding us that God is a living, loving being. We are
in His image. Do we not respond to people that love us enough to thank us when we do things for them? Would we not rather be in the presence of people that love us and tell us so, than a family of people that worry about how much we will do for them and not consider what we may want? God is the same.
He wants your love, your praise, your thanks. David sang about this very thing in Psalm 100:3-4 and again in Psalm 106:1-2.
Psalm 100:3-4
3 Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
Psalm 106:1-2
1 Praise the LORD! Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
2 Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD? Who can declare all His praise?
David was a man after God's own heart, his
name means the Beloved. If you'll read the Psalms you will see over and over how thankful he was for
God's intervention in his life and how he praised Him continually out of his love for Him. Let us close with the advice found in Colossians 4:2 and Philippians 4:6-7.
Colossians 4:2
2 Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;
Philippians 4:6-7
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;
7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.