Praying Change
God has called us to be His vessels in molding the world around us to bring about the change He had predestined. His predestined plan is great and cannot be understood by human minds. He has called us to wrestle the forces of darkness and its principalities to bring about His Kingdom on earth and to wrestle this kingdom we need Him, we need His Spirit. His Spirit is the wisdom that we need to see what is going on – to know what to petition for. His Spirit is the power that we need to tear down these strongholds and thrones set in place by demon gods.
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” 1 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV)
The Bible encourages us to pray at all times and in all seasons.
“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” Ephesians 6:18 (NIV)
“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,” Ephesians 3:16 (NIV)
Everything born of God is born in prayer. God does nothing on earth when we do not pray. It is not our own intellect that will change the world but God’s mighty power and God only sends His power when we pray. He sends His power to bring hope to the broken, to be the answer to the cries of the lost and to bring His heart to the world.
What can we learn about prayer?
Prayer is communication with God, it is a place where we get to hear the heart of God about situations and moments. To know how to respond to a certain situation and what to petition for in certain moments.
Prayer according to Mounce in his paper on the Lord’s Prayer is “Prayer is listening to God and speaking with God; talking to Him about anything and everything…”
• Listening to God
In prayer we hear God. We hear Him tell us about who we are in Him and what He wants to do through us. We see this in the story of Gideon, a man who was from the least tribe and of the lowest ranking in his family. We see God speak to Him as He sees him – as a man of valor, a victorious warrior. We see God give him a strategy for war – a strategy that has been unheard of; one that would seem as foolishness to man. This is the only way to conquer – by following God closely, to be with Him every step of the way. To tread carefully so that you do not miss an instruction from Him. The ways to our victory always seem foolish to man, we can say God does this so that no man can take His glory. God is pleased with faith.
“When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, ‘The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.’ ” Judges 6:12 (NIV)
Because Gideon listened to God and to every instruction He gave to him, He succeeded. Prayer does this for us, in prayer we can listen to God as He gives us a way to tackle things then we can be guaranteed success.
“The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, ‘A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!’ ” Judges 7:20 (NIV)
• Speaking with Him
In the previous story of Gideon and the Mideanites we can see that Gideon responded to God in honesty about His fears and feelings. We too can do the same. God listens to us, He knows how we are formed and knows our limitations. He loves it when we pour them out on Him so that we can receive strength from Him. When we are weak before Him then we will be strong before man. He will never leave us alone
“Pardon me, my Lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
Judges 6:15 (NIV)
But in all this we know that victory is certain. God’s strength is more than enough and His glory can never be seen enough.
” ‘For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.’ ” 2 Chronicles 16:9 (NKJV)
God is our Victor, He is our help. Let us approach Him in prayer. Prayer is our source of strength and wisdom. As we tackle our callings and vocations set before us by God this week let us be encouraged that all that we need is the presence of God that gives us strength and wisdom which is always available to us in prayer. Let us pray change into being.