There is a movement in the world-wide church that has inadvertantly divided prayer into what I call “prayer worriers”,
“prayer warriors”, and the rest of us.
“Prayer worriers” make up the bulk of Christians who treat prayer either as a kind of spiritual 911, a 60-minute delivery service, or a repair and maintenance workshop! Prayer is the way to save the situation, get what we want, or fix or get things done. Crises, needs, or concerns drive us to ask God for help. Once the crisis is over and the situation back to normal, we settle down to continue living until…we need God again.
“Prayer warriors,” on the other hand, are those people who have a special calling to engage in spiritual warfare against the devil and his works. They are highly esteemed in the church. They are the intercessors who do the work of prayer for the rest of us so that we can live in relative peace and comfort. They identify and “come against” the powerful spirit beings who rule on earth and mess with God’s people. They do “prayer walks” and “Jericho marches” to “pull down strongholds” which loose the Holy Spirit to do His work! When trouble arises anywhere, we must call in the intercessors! There are even international organisations and prayer houses set up to teach people how to be “intercessors”.
How ridiculous this sounds and what an insult to the Lord and His Word!
What does the Bible teach us about prayer in contrast to this imposition of human nonsense?
First, the church is primarily God’s family on earth. They are sons and daughters of God who have been born again into His family through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus. They have been made alive and are being transformed into the likeness of Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit in them.
Hebrews 2:10-14 NLT
[10] “God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that he should make Jesus, through his suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation. [11] So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters. [12] For he said to God, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters. I will praise you among your assembled people.” [13] He also said, “I will put my trust in him,” that is, “I and the children God has given me.” [14] Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death.”
There is no hierarchy in God’s family. Jesus is our elder brother and we are all one in Him. There are functions in this family for the benefit of one another, not for anyone to lord it over the rest. Its leaders are servants, not overlords, sacrificially serving its members for the good of all.
Second, God is our heavenly Father who has given us all equal access to Him through Jesus. There are no superior pray-ers in His family.
Hebrews 10:19-22 NLT
[19] “And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. [20] By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. [21] And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, [22] let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.”
From the lips of our supreme model and mentor,
Jesus, came this instruction…
Matthew 6:9 NLT
[9]”Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.”
No earthly father restricts access to himself except to special family members. All God’s children are privileged to approach Him personally and individually. He calls us all to draw near to Him. The only qualification is through Jesus.
John 14:6 NLT
[6] “Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”
James 4:8 NLT
[8] “Come close to God, and God will come close to you….”
Third, prayer has a much higher purpose than dealing with the devil, which Jesus did at the cross…
Colossians 2:13-15 NLT
[13] “You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. [14] He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. [15] In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.”
… or meeting needs, which the Father does for us because He knows…
Matthew 6:8 NLT
[8]… Your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!”
Matthew 6:31-33 NLT
[31]“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ [32] These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. [33] Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”
God is a good Father. He takes care of all our needs without our nagging and pleading.
What is God’s deepest desire for His children?
1 John 1:3 NLT
[3]”We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.”
Fellowship!
John 4:23-24 NLT
[23]”But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. [24] For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”
Worship!
Through His plan of redemption, God has opened the circle of His divine family, the Godhead… Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…to allow us to participate with them in their love and unity. Through His mercy and by His grace, He calls us to come in.
Needs are only triggers to the greater purpose of fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit which leads us to worship God in all the wonder and beauty of His person.
Consider these profound expressions of God’s way.
2 Peter 1:3-4 NLT
[3] “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. [4] And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.”
2 Corinthians 1:20 NLT
[20]” For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory.”
This is the way of the true “prayer warrior”, putting everything that happens in this life into its true perspective.
2 Corinthians 3:16-18 NLT
[16] “But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
[17] For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. [18] So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.”
This is the goal of prayer…not getting things done, or meeting needs, or defeating the devil, or even establishing God’s kingdom on earth. These are all stepping stones and peripheral to God’s one great goal. Worship! God accomplishes everything He plans in the universe and takes care of all our concerns by His sovereign power and wisdom as we worship Him.
Why is worship paramount in every detail of our lives, even to the simple things like eating and drinking?
1 Corinthians 10:31 NLT
[31] “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
Worship is not something we do. Worship happens when we do something! Worship happens when we honour God in everything we say and do.
Colossians 3:17 NLT
[17]”And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.”
Paul stated this truth simply and clearly to the pagans in Athens…
Acts of the Apostles 17:28 NLT
[28] “For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’”
The more we recognise this truth, as Jesus said, “Without me, you can do nothing,” the more we acknowledge God in all our ways, the closer we come to true worship.
And the outcome? Moving in harmony and oneness with the Lord, He lives His life and accomplishes His will through us. As Jesus did on earth, our lives become prayer and worship happens!!!
Matthew 4:4, 7, 10 NLT
[4] But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”
[7] Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”
[10] “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’ ”