(Gen 1:26 NIV) Then God (Elohim, the Creator God) said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
This morning we continue our new series entitled, “Re-Energizing Your Prayer Life.” To understand prayer we must understand God Himself and the system He setup that governs the earth. Here are two key points about prayer:
1. Prayer is a result of God’s established authority structure between heaven and earth, as well as a product of His Faithfulness to His Word! The Bible likens our God to a king and His system to a kingdom. When kings have children they are called princes and princesses. For a prince to become a king one of two things needs to happen. Either the king dies and the prince inherits the kingdom (getting promoted to king), or the king places the prince over a foreign land. In the latter arrangement the father-king is still the overall king of the entire kingdom, but the son-king gets to exercise his authority over the land he was given rulership of. It’s obvious that our God (our King) cannot die, so we can liken what He did with Adam and Eve in the garden to the second scenario. Adam and Eve were to exercise rule and dominion over the earth, while Jehovah was still the overall King of everything. We will talk more about this later on in this series. But for today I will just tell you that if you fast-forward to the New Testament you find out that you and I have been given access to the Kingdom of God through Jesus’ finished work on the cross, and once we are in God’s Kingdom we are His children, not His slaves or servants (Gal 4:17). As God’s children we are heirs and a joint heirs with Jesus the Christ (Romans 8:17). Like Adam and Eve, we are to exercise rule and authority in the earth. The Father rules from heaven and we are to rule down here (Ps 115:16).
2. Prayer was born out of God’s arrangement for man’s assignment in the earth. Since the earth was given to man, God respects that arrangement enough to actually work through man when He wants to accomplish things in the earth. God is so committed to this that when He wanted to operate unrestricted in the earth He came as a man Himself (Jesus the Christ). This is why God wakes people up in the middle of the night to pray. It’s not like God does not want you to sleep, and it’s not like there is anything God can’t do, but since He set this system up the way that He did, He chooses to operate through humans in the earth. He wakes us up because He is looking for a human to agree with His will, so that He can perform what He desires to do in the earth with the cooperation of those that He has given the earth-realm to. 18th century theologian John Wesley, after careful prayer and study came to this conclusion and said, “God does nothing except in answer to prayer.” Once again, not that He can’t, because I shutter to think that I can say what God can or can’t do, but from what we can understand from scripture, it looks like He chooses to operate in the earth with the cooperation of man. We will stop here for today.
So what does this mean to you today? It means that prayer is God’s idea and since He setup the system of prayer, He expects us to abide by the system He created. When the Father seeks to operate in your life He actively seeks your cooperation. Likewise, when the Father seeks to operate in the earth He actively seeks the cooperation of a human to agree with His plan and purposes. There are other forms of prayer and we will discuss those, but prayer largely entails knowing the will of God and agreeing with that will to come to pass. Some foolishly think they can manipulate God to perform their will by quoting a scripture or adding “In Jesus Name” to the end of a prayer. But you can never manipulate God. Prayer is not about forcing your will, but rather about finding His and agreeing with it.
Closing Confession: Father, I thank You for this teaching. The more I learn about prayer, the more effective I will become in my prayer life. I will spend time with You in prayer and study. My time with You will help me better understand Your character, attributes, and nature. As I understand You better and as I learn to discern Your voice, I will be better positioned to know Your will and to agree with Your will in prayer. As You seek to operate in my life and in the lives of those around me, I declare by faith, that I will cooperate with You daily through the vehicle of prayer. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper!
