'TEACH US TO PRAY"
“TEACH US TO PRAY”
Sunday, September 18, 2022, the Year of Our Lord
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
Luke 11:1: It came to pass, as He (Jesus) was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”
“Prayer is an earthly license for heavenly interference” (Dr. Myles Munroe).
“Without prayer, man cannot, and without prayer, God will not!” (E. M. Bounds).
"Jesus’ life on earth is an example of a man totally dependent on divine resources that are available to anyone willing to pay the price to wait on God in the place of prayer" (Francis Myles)
Heb. 5:7: In the days of His flesh, when He (Jesus) had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries, and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, was heard because of his godly fear.
Dr. Francis Myles in his book, “Dangerous Prayers from The Courts of Heaven that Destroy Evil Altars” teaches three realms of prayer.
1. Approaching God as Father
2. Approaching God as Friend
3. Approaching God as Judge
These three realms of prayer will not be a revelation to this congregation today; because most all of you have prayed in all three realms for many years. However, I was stirred and encouraged by his affirmation and apprehension in all three realms.
These three realms of prayer are not in an ascending order of importance; they are all equally important, but different in the spiritual activity and disposition.
1. Approach God as Father: From the time of my childhood, every night before going to sleep, I faithfully prayed the Lord’s Prayer as well as intercession for my loved ones. I am sure each of you can probably say the same thing.
Matt. 6: 9-14: After this manner pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
When you pray, say; “Our Father.” In this realm of prayer, Jesus commands us to approach God as Father. God is the creator of everyone on earth, but He is not the heavenly Father of everyone on earth. This is because the right to become a child of God is only given to those who have accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.
John 1:12-13: As many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name; which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
This first realm of prayer requires an intimate relationship with the heavenly Father.
In this realm or dimension of prayer, we start by presenting our requests to God the Father after we have worshipped Him and acknowledged the greatness of His Holy Name. It is the realm of prayer where we ask for god’s Kingdom to invade our life; to provide our daily bread and forgive us of our sins as well as give us the grace to forgive others of their sins. This realm of prayer is very personal. It is not about us praying for others. It is about building an intimate relationship with our heavenly Father while getting our personal needs met.
2. Approaching God as Friend: In Luke 11: 5-10, following Jesus’ teaching on the Lord’ Prayer, Jesus seamlessly moves on to the next dimension of prayer.
Luke 11:5-10: He (Jesus) said to them, which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, “Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him.” He will answer from within and say, “Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot rise and give to you.” I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend; yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs. So, I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, it will be opened.
This realm of prayer is where we approach God as Friend. The reason is abundantly obvious. Jesus tells us about a friend in need who approaches another friend at midnight. The word “midnight” suggests a crisis of some sort. This second realm of prayer deals with “others in crisis” who need your spiritual assistance in order to obtain a spiritual breakthrough for themselves. The friend who was approached at midnight also went to see another “more powerful friend,” who had the resources needed by the person seeking help. The picture becomes abundantly clear---this realm of prayer is the realm of intercession, where we stand in the gap for others.
In this realm of intercession, we don’t pray for our personal needs; instead, we leverage our relationship (friendship) with God in order to meet the needs of others. It is truly a selfless act of love. The primary spiritual currency is friendship with God and persistence in prayer.
4.Approaching God as Judge: As most of you are aware, this is our commission for our Wednesday night prayer group. The call for this group is to pray for the nation and the nations. However, we never neglect to pray for the needs of the congregation (intercession) before we close in prayer.
Luke 18: 1-8: He (Jesus) spoke a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint. Saying, “there was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man. There was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, “avenge me of my adversary.” He would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, “though I fear not God, nor regard man; yet because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she wear me.” And the Lord said, hear what the unjust judge said. Shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bears long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, shall he find faith on the earth?
“Men ought always to pray and not lose heart.” This suggests this realm of prayer is for people who are on the verge of giving up or losing hope because the mountains of problems they face have been stubbornly resistant to the prayers they have prayed until now.
An adversary is a person or entity who is violating your legal rights as a citizen or your personhood. Jesus is placing prayer in this realm in a judicial context or framework. The corrupt judge was very reluctant to give the widow the justice and legal protection she deserved.
The moral of the story is that by going to a judge, though he was corrupt and reluctant, the woman got the breakthrough she desperately needed. Her breakthrough having come out of the court system was legally binding within the judge’s jurisdiction. The widow never addressed her adversary directly. She only talked to the judge. It is interesting that in courts all over the world, the defendant or plaintiff is never allowed by the judge to address the prosecutor directly except through attorneys. This is the difference between the realm of intercession and operating in the courts of heaven. In the former, intercessors can directly wrestle or tangle with Satan’s demonic cohorts, whereas in the latter it is strictly by judicial protocol.
Jesus then flipped the story by talking about His heavenly Father and identify Him as the righteous judge. How much more will the heavenly Father who is the sovereign and righteous judge, deliver His dear children from their adversary (Satan) in the Courts of Heaven?
The Lord further taught us to fast.
Matthew 17:21: This kind of demon does not go out except by prayer and fasting.
Daniel 10: 12-13: Then he (a certain man/Jesus) said to me, Fear not, Daniel; for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to chasten yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I am come for your words. The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; but lo, Michael one of the chief princes, came to help me, and I remained there with the kings of Persia.
Note: One Hundred world leaders are gathering in England starting today through Monday. It is time for the Church to fast and pray for if they are in submission to a satanic prince over their kingdoms, that prince will also be at that funeral. Let us pray God’s Kingdom come, His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven and the prince of the kings of the earth, Jesus Christ will reign over this gathering.
Fasting can accelerate your spiritual breakthrough. However, most of us fast for vanity, I think the depriving our flesh of pleasant food still strengthens are Spirit.
It is my personal opinion that the “certain man” described in Daniel 10: 5-6 could only describe Jesus, Brother Francis Myles defines him to be an angel (pg. 23).
I lifted up my eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz; His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lakes of fire, and his arms and his feet like in color to polished brass, and the voice of his worlds like the voice of a multitude.
The “certain man” made it clear to Daniel that God had answered his prayer on the first day of his fasting. However, the “certain man” had been delayed resistance in the heavenly realms by the principality over the country of Persia. But, as Daniel kept on praying and fasting, Michael was sent to hep him with a message to deliver to Daniel. It is clear that fasting was the accelerant of getting Daniel’s breakthrough.
The Lord is restoring to the global church how to operate in the Courts of Heaven; and the confidence of their authority to do so. In this church, you have been encouraged to pray from the Third Heaven, to go into the Courts of Heaven before the righteous judge, to charge before God the corruption of governments and government leaders using the righteous plumbline of God’s word as our prosecution.
Daniel 7: 9-10: (N.K.J.V): I watched till thrones were put in place, and the Ancient of days was seated. His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame. Its wheels a burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him. Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court (KJV judgment) was seated, and the books were opened.
Rev. 12:10: I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God, day and night has been cast down.
It is clear here that Satan is continually accusing us before God, day and night, but we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
I have loosely taken the text from Dr. Myles’ book; and it is certainly an excellent prayer guide for destroying evil altars. I plan to study out of it tonight, but we may not read the whole book, which has been our custom, but instead use it for a guide when dealing with certain evil altars.
I would expand it to include other realms of prayer.
This teaching has not addressed, “praying in the Spirit.”
Eph. 6:18: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.
Rom. 8:26: Likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
1 Co. 14:16: Well then, what shall I do? I will pray in the spirit, and I will also pray in words I understand. I will sing in the spirit, and I will also sing in words I understand.
I want to add another level of prayer that is inclusive of all the above. The intercessor cries out to God from the earth and for the earth. The prophet sits in the council of God and hears what the Lord says. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Like the “certain man” and the angels who delivered messages and visions to Daniel, the prophet not only hears what Heaven is saying, but receives directions of how God wants His church to pray, God’s strategies for victory, and answers to intercession prayed by the saints.
There continues to be misunderstanding between intercessors and prophets because the burden of the intercessor is to cry out to God to move in the earth; but the prophet will according to God’s divine time, directive and purpose speak what God is saying into the situation. The intercessor hears the groans of the earth; but the prophet hears the sounds of God’s deliverance, blessing and/or judgment.
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries Church
Scripture from K.J.V. and N.K.J.V. – I entered into the labors of Dr. Frances Myles, Dangerous Prayers from the Courts of Heaven that Destroy Evil Altars. Comments and conclusions are my own and not meant to reflect the views of Dr. Myles.