We are beginning a month long "covenant of prayer" at our church. This morning Pastor Bryan challenged the church with a probing question spoken to his spirit from the throne of God: "What would happen if My people would pray?" We have made a covenant together to find out. We are praying around three specific areas as a people for the month - (1) That God would move upon our church, our community, and our land in a powerful breakthrough of His Holy Spirit, confirming His Word with signs and wonders." (2) That God would break the spiritual stranglehold that the Kingdom of Darkness has had upon Brattleboro and the surrounding community. and (3) That we would become a people who would fearlessly "wrestle with God" to claim our birthright and blessing as sons of the Most High God.
What a probing question: "What would happen if My people would pray?" We NEED to find out the answer to that question. As we do, it occurred to me this afternoon that there is another question that I need to ask of my self as we move into this month of a prayer covenant. “Is my Name recognized in a spiritual context?”
There is an interesting story in Acts 19. Paul is preaching in Ephesus, and God is doing great wonders among a people steeped in spiritism and the occult. The seven sons of Sevca,take it on themselves to cast out demons like Paul, using the name of Jesus as if they were just another set of magic words. They commanded the demons "in the name of the Jesus whom Paul preached." It didn’t work. Jesus name is not a magic word that intrinsically holds power and that anyone speaking those words can wield their power. The Name of Jesus and using it in a spiritual context implies a relationship. Without the relationship, there is no power in using his name. So the demons jumped all over these clever fellows, but before doing so they left us with a clear spiritual insight. They said, “Jesus we know, and Paul we know, but who are you?”
You see Jesus was KNOWN in heavenly places because of who He is. His Name had influence in Heaven because of His relationship to the Father. Even the demons knew him in his ministry as Son of David, who came to destroy them. He, Jesus, was mighty in prayer. Paul was a follower of Jesus, but he also developed intimacy with God in his closet of prayer, so that he was a familiar face before the throne of God, and evidently a terrifying spectacle to demons as well. Paul was known around the throne! Paul was known in spiritual realms as a friend of God, and therefore a force to be reckoned with. God fought for him. He was feared in Hell because of his relationship in Heaven. The question before us becomes - "Am I known at the throne?"
Jesus calls us to develop an intimate relationship with him and the Father by becoming frequent visitors before the throne. This is why Paul could say in Hebrews 4:12, “Therefore, (since we are intimate with the Son of God) let us come boldly to the throne of grace to find mercy and grace to help in the time of need.” The secret was not some pretended, forced, or ad-libbed boldness of “name-it and claim-it” before the throne, but a natural result of intimacy with God developed over long hours, days, months, and years of being a regular worshiper around the throne. If you are not willing to do the work of developing an intimacy with God, the mere use of His Name will bring about little effect. So, for those of our number who have signed on to our 30 day covenant of prayer - if nothing else, allow those days to be the crucible of intimacy with God; for then, your prayer will have influence before the throne.
We are not magicians before the throne, magically calling things into existence by using the mighty name of Jesus, but we are “friends of God” known at the throne, and therefore feared by demons. William Cowper said it rightly in his work, Exhortation to Prayer, "Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees." The notable Baptist preacher, John R. Rice. once famously wrote,“Prayer Is Asking.” One can easily be drawn into that kind of understanding of prayer but it is not entirely true. Part of prayer is asking, but “before the asking comes the basking.” We need to learn to bask in the presence of God, to revel in God himself, to soak ourselves in the presence of the Almighty, to hide beneath his wing, to take refuge in his everlasting arms. God seeks such to worship him who would worship (pray) in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24) Daniel reminds us that prayer is a relationship, “but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.” (Daniel 11:32 KJV)
Worship comes before wishing, wanting, or wallowing. We are not beggars before the throne. We are sons. Men who only know the Father as some type of celestial Santa Claus are not sons. True sons revel in the relationship of their loving Father. The “stuff” they get as an overflow from the relationship, not a manipulation of it. Prayer is not asking. Prayer is living in the presence of God. Prayer is loving God and letting ourselves be loved by Him. We must learn that prayer is a love relationship. If it is anything else it is no different than the prayers of all other religions – it becomes merely an attempt to manipulate God for our own benefit. Only when we see prayer as a relationship can we understand the exhortation, “Pray without ceasing.” (I Thessalonians 5:17) As we begin to truly explore the power of prayer with Jesus as our instructor his first words, and only words are, “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10
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