Pray Until Something Happens!!!
Recently I have been meditating on the Word of God in the area of prayer. It is clear that prayer is foundational for all who would live a successful and victorious Christian life.
It is in Matthew 6:5-15, that Jesus shares with his disciples how they (and we) are to pray:
“When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. “ Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen] For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” (NASB)
The prayer that Jesus prayed starts out by saying “Our Father.” Jesus was helping the disciples know that prayer was more than saying a lot of meaningless words in a public setting merely to be seen. Prayer should emanate out of a place of relationship with God!
Prayer is more than our talking to God and telling Him what we want or need! It is an open line of communication with the Creator of the universe! It is a two-way dialog that allows us to interact and be a part of the Father’s intentions for all of creation! We have been granted the privilege of participating through the vehicle of pray! It is through the avenue of prayer that He also speaks to us and it is through Spirit-led prayer that we have the awesome privilege of being used by God to speak forth His will in the earth! It is through “Spirit led” prayer that we are able to pray with the assurance that what we are praying is in alignment and agreement with the will of God! It is through “Spirit led” prayer that we are able to create forward movement and forcefully advance the Kingdom of God in the earth! In Romans 8: 26-27, we see how the Holy Spirit works through us to pray into existence the will of God:
“And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans to deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”
It’s Time To P.U.S.H. Back
In Matthew 11:12, Jesus makes this statement:
“And now from the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force.”
When I read this scripture recently, I thought about the acronym P.U.S.H. PRAY UNTIL SOMETHING HAPPENS! The word PUSH means “the act of applying force in order to move something away.” It also means “an effort to advance”.
What was quickened in my spirit is that prayer is one of the ways that we PUSH back the forces of the enemy! When we exercise our prayer language and have a disciplined prayer life, we are continually and consistently pushing back the forces of darkness rather than being pushed around by them!
It’s Time To P.U.S.H. Back!!!!
In order to further appreciate the statement that Jesus made when He said, “violent men take it by force,” we have to understand some things about “the laws of motion.”
Newton’s First Law of Motion: “The velocity of a body remains constant unless the body is acted upon by an external force.”
Original Quote: In the absence of forces, a "body" at rest will stay at rest, and a body moving at a constant velocity in a straight line continues doing so indefinitely.
Newton’s Second Law of Motion: “The acceleration of a body is parallel and directly proportional to the net force (f ) and inversely proportional to the mass.”
Original Quote: When a force is applied to an object, it accelerates. The acceleration is in the direction of the force and proportional to its strength, and is also inversely proportional to the mass being moved.
“Force is any influence that causes a free body to undergo a change in speed, a change in direction, or a change in shape.”
Newton’s Law of Reaction : “To every action there exists an equal and opposite reaction.”
The world was created by the WORD of God.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. John 1:1-4
We are created in the image and likeness of God! Our words have the power to create also!
It is important that we remember that everything that happens in the Kingdom of God is the result of something that has been spoken! Death and Life are in the power of the tongue! This is why speaking “Faith-Filled Words” are so important!
“Faith-filled words are words spoken that are in line with the Word of God or words spoken directly from the Word of God! They are positive words spoken with an expectation and anticipation that allows room for God to move as He wills. They are words that ring with confidence that God is able to work in any situation regardless of its complexity, appearance or predicted outcome! Faith–filled words are words of hope, joy, peace, love and life!”
In the spirit realm there is always movement — both positive and negative! There are forces at work all around us. Just like the laws of motion, there is always a cause and effect! What we say and how we pray has an effect on the forces in the spirit realm! The Apostle Paul makes this very clear in his writings to the Ephesians Church:
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak (Ephesians 6:10-20).
You see, in the realm of the spirit there is no inactivity! There are forces at work to hinder and even destroy the people of God! The reality is you are either pushing things or things are pushing you! We can move things through prayer. We can move things through praise! We can move things through the spoken Word of God!
Paul made it clear that even after putting on the whole armor of God, it was important to maintain constant prayer!
Pray Because Something Is Happening
While we should certainly pray until something happens, it’s equally important to pray with the knowledge that something is already happening even as we are praying!
Jesus told the disciples to pray believing that what they are praying is being heard and answered!
As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. Being reminded, Peter *said to Him, Rabbi, look, the fig tree which You cursed has withered. And Jesus answered saying to them, Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, Be taken up and cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you (Mark 11:20-24).
Jesus was showing them that they, too, would see results if they prayed in faith believing. That’s exactly what He is requiring of us! Through prayer we have the power to move things in the realm of the spirit! That’s what we see in the book of Daniel when he prays for understanding.
Then behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. He said to me, O Daniel, man of high esteem, understand the words that I am about to tell you and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you. And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. Then he said to me, Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia. Now I have come to give you an understanding of what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision pertains to the days yet future (Daniel 10:10-21).
The angel said the moment that Daniel spoke, his words were heard! He further says, “I was coming to respond, but was delayed!” This is a powerful example for us to see! Our prayers initiate movement! They release the angels to act on our behalf! Think about it! There are angels assigned to you, waiting for you to give them an assignment through the vehicle of prayer! We have been given the awesome privilege of being used by God to pray His will and purposes into existence! When we pray, things are activated in heaven! Daniel prayed and even though the messenger was delayed we can see that there was an immediate response to his prayer!
We see one more example in the book of Acts. In Acts 12:5-16 we have another account where the Church is praying, and while they are praying there prayer is being answered!
So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God. On the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peters side and woke him up, saying, Get up quickly. And his chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, Gird yourself and put on your sandals. And he did so. And he *said to him, Wrap your cloak around you and follow me. And he went out and continued to follow, and he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. When Peter came to himself, he said, Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting. And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. When he knocked at the door of the gate, a servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer. When she recognized Peters voice, because of her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate. They said to her, You are out of your mind! But she kept insisting that it was so. They kept saying, It is his angel. But Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were amazed.
It was because of the prayers of the Church that Peter was miraculously delivered! While they were praying the angel was getting Peter out of the prison! The Lord wants us to have the kind of faith that believes things are moving and shifting on our behalf while we are praying! It may take a while for us to see it in the natural, but by faith we should rejoice and thank Him that what we are praying for is already done!
I want to encourage you to start today! Make a personal commitment to establish or renew a discipline of praying daily and often throughout the day. Maybe you are already doing this. If so, I want to encourage you to not stop! I believe that it will be through this discipline that you will begin to see and experience the power of God in your life in a fresh way! He wants to move miraculously in your life! He wants to move miraculously through YOU!
P.U.S.H.
By John W. Stevenson
