THE LORD THROUGH WHOM WE PRAY
The most comforting part of prayer is that we are not left as strangers before our beloved prayer-answering Father who adopted us in Christ; the Lord Jesus Himself gave us the mandate to ‘name-drop’ and make good use of our relationship with Him to get the best from the Father. What a great privilege! This is why in our first study on prayer, What is Prayer? 1, the point was made that for us to approach that singular, particular prayer-answering God in prayer, we must have given our lives to Christ to be our Saviour and Lord of our lives; and that that immediately changes our status from sinners to Sons of God.
Jn.9:31
Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.
Jn.1:12
But as many as received him (Jesus), to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
The only prayer a sinner can pray that will get attention from God is the prayer of repentance of his sins and confession of Christ as Saviour which we added to the post What is Prayer? 1. This prayer is known as The Sinner’s Prayer.
Lu.5:32
I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.
Ro.10:9
That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Jn.14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Who then is This Lord Jesus?
The beauty of our relationship with God is that He does not expect it to be based on ignorance. He fully requires us to have a working knowledge of Him, so that we get to love Him, to trust Him, to know what He expects of us and to consciously take the decision to do it.
2Pe.1:1,2
Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, 3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
So, Who is this Lord Jesus that we might love and trust Him enough to rest on Him as our worthy Mediator between us and God? This is a very wide and deep topic and we can never finish a discuss on the Lord Jesus till He comes back! The Apostle John put it this way –
Jn.21:25
Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.’
For now, we are simply going to study Him in relationship to prayer. What part has He got to play and what part have we got to play that He might fulfil His part?
The Babe in Christ
Let’s first quickly address the issue of being a Babe in Christ… The Babe is the new Believer who has just given his life to Christ and has very little knowledge of God and the principles of His Kingdom. What is the fate of the Babe? Beloved, this is actually the time when a Believer can effortlessly wield a lot of power in prayer, the kind of power a new-born baby has in the house-hold, the power of his cuteness and his newness in the home; and the power of his loud demanding wails! We are all mostly so enraptured with this enchanting creature God has blessed us with that, at the smallest whimper, we all go running to his crib to make sure he is not wet or hungry or bothered by anything. That is the time a baby gets nursed by the mother ‘on demand’. The Babe period is the time a Believer’s cry has no barrier between him and heaven, a time when Angels are on hand to bring his answers to him without let or hinderance! Many new believers have been known to raise even the dead with their new-found unabashed exciting faith!
God put it this way when the Children of Israel first came out of Egypt –
Ex.13:17 NKJV
Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.”
The new Believer, as a Babe, is deeply enraptured with the altogether loveliness of the Lord of Glory. “Where have You been all my life, Lord? I never knew Someone like You loved me so much as to die for me! And all I was looking for in the wrong places was true love which I have only just found in You. I simply must tell all my friends and all who would listen about You so that they can come and partake of Your life-giving, soul-restoring, altogether refreshing lavishly-given love. And since You have done so much for me, Lord, please let me know what I can do for You in return”
The new Believer may not know it but his love, his faith and his trust in God is at a very top level and very pure at this initial stage; even though he may not know the Lord through the knowledge of His Word but through the revelation that the light of His Glory and love and peace brought suddenly into his life. He does not know it, but this is a time he communes a whole lot with God, so so sure He can hear him and will answer him. Just like a newborn babe in his new home…
New Believers have been known to pray for the sick with any form of infirmity and they would recover! Some have been known to raise the dead! They could go and pull down shrines in some deadly forest and nobody would be able to stop them or counter-attack them spiritually afterwards. Prayer is so exciting at this time because the answer just comes ‘on demand’. That is because they are in the time of ‘on demand’ attention from the Lord, the time of honeymoon with their Bridegroom; a time when a woman could ask for the moon and her husband might just try and get it for her.
However, as every baby soon gets to know if they could tell us, this blissful time of ‘on demand’ does not last for too long and they are expected to receive some discipline or else the household would be in danger of being taken captive by the little ‘Johnny-just-come’! In the same way, the new Believer is expected to be discipled, to follow in the footsteps the Lord of Glory and begin to learn the principles of living in His Kingdom as a matured Son of God.
1Pet.2:2
…as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,
Heb.5:12-14
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
Ro.8:14
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are (matured) sons of God.
So, Who is this Lord Jesus, Our Model Son of God?
- He is the only begotten Son of the living God while the rest of us Believers are adopted sons through the grace of the Lord Jesus. He is the firstborn Son and the model Son; and all Believers are expected by God to grow up to be like Him, through help of the Holy Spirit and through the ministry of the five-fold gifts given to The Body of Christ by the Lord Himself.
Jn.1:18
No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
Ro.8:14
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the (matured) sons of God.
Eph.4;11-13
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
- The Lord Jesus is the second Personality in the Godhead, made up of Father, Son and Holy Spirit; all an indivisible Holy, equally all-powerful eternal Entity, working in unity wielding the same power and authority all over creation. The Lord has a mysterious relationship with Father God in that Jesus is God and co-existed with God from eternity; and even during the time He was on earth in the Body of a Man, They were never separated – They remained One. He is the Word of God Who became a Man that He might come to the earth to show us how to relate with God as our Father; and as well, die on the Cross and thereby fulfill His divine destiny as the Redeemer of mankind.
Jn.1:1-3
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Jn.10:30
I and my Father are one.
Jn.14:10,11
Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.
Col 2:9
For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
The Lord was not making an empty boast in the passages from the Gospel of John quoted above; because He proved by His loving ways, His power over nature, disease and demons that He is God Almighty. He proved conclusively that He is God by His power over death and the grave – nobody ever raised himself from the dead before He did, and even till date. And all those who were ever raised even by Him personally, have since died (or will die if they are still alive now), yet He lives, never to die again. Also, as He is God Who created man, He has proved that He is God by His singular amazing ability, seen over the centuries, to change the hearts of the most hardened of men simply by their contact with Him, personally or through His Word preached by men He has anointed to carry on His work on earth. The list is endless, Beloved!
- The Lord Jesus is the Redeemer of the whole world. He came to die for the sins of the world and redeem us from the power of sin and the grave. By that act, He took possession of the earth from Satan and expects those who believe on Him to enforce that which He accomplished on the Cross and possess the earth by spiritual warfare, occupy it and over-spread it with His righteousness and glory till He comes back to take us with Him to heaven. Wow! To enable us to do all that, He sent His Holy Spirit, the third Personality in the Godhead, to empower us.
Jn.3:16,17
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Matt.28:18-20
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.
Acts 1:8
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
When we believe on the Lord Jesus and accept His atonement work on the cross as the only substitute for our personal punishment for sin, we automatically enter into a covenant relationship with Him. The various types of suffering inflicted on the Lord at His Passion seemed so unnecessary; but He suffered it all so that the covenant terms can be all-inclusive counter-measures for all the forms of evil that the enemy can ever imagine to bring up against us – the Lord’s Atonement work on the Cross has paid for it ALL! What a glorious Lord! What a wonderful Saviour!
The benefits of Christ’s Redemptive work
Let’s examine the benefits of various aspects of the work of redemption for a moment –
- He chose to be born into a simple Carpenter’s household so that He might substitute His poverty and lack for ours. 2Cor.8:9 “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.”
Pray like this – Lord Jesus, let Your sacrificial life of poverty redeem my finances now, in Jesus Name. Amen.
- His Body was broken to heal our diseases and to mend all fragmentation in any area of our lives. For instance, if a marriage is broken, the breaking of His Body will mend it; after all it means one is sick in that area and needs healing there! Isa.53:5 “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
Pray like this – Lord Jesus, let the breaking of Your Body heal my body now. Let the power that was released by the bruising of Your sinless Body locate all the fragmented parts of my life and family today and make us whole, for the sake of Your Name. Amen.
- Blood must be shed from His Head for the redemption of our heads, our glory, our destiny; hence the crown of thorns. The thorns represented arrows that could be shot at our glory, our destiny, but The Lord has taken them on our behalf and said, “Behold the Blood with which I paid for their heads! It flows from Mine.”
The head is the singular part of the human body which controls all the other parts. Our destiny is the mandate God gave us to fulfill when we would come to this earth. Our destiny is the singular reason for which God gave us to the world and therefore, like the head, it controls all that we need to do. Our destiny controls where we would be born, what schools we would attend, what kind of education we would have, whom we will marry and so on. For instance, it was the destiny of Joseph that propelled his wicked brothers to send him to Egypt of all places – the very place where he would fulfill his destiny! Therefore, he was able to tell his brothers with hindsight,
“Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.” Gen.45:5
IF WE DO NOT FULFILL OUR DESTINY, WE WOULD HAVE COME TO THE WORLD LIKE A SNAKE WHICH PASSES ALONG ON A ROCK AND LEAVES NO IMPRESSION.
The spiritual importance of the head is confirmed by the following Scriptures –
Job 29:2,3a
Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me; 3 When his candle shined upon my head…
Psa.3:3
But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.
Psa.23:5b
…thou anointest my head with oil;…
Matt.10:30
But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
…just to mention one of the places the Lord spoke of the head as a significant part of the body. We can see that these Scriptures are not really referring to the anatomical head but to a more prophetic and important part of our make-up, a part which would control all we are; hence it is the part that is anointed and the part that God lifts and shines His candle upon.
Pray like this – Lord Jesus, thank You for receiving the crown of thorns to redeem my head. I ask You today to release the blood that You shed from Your Head onto my head right now and redeem my glory, my destiny afresh. Let the glory the Father gave me from heaven be ransomed now from the camp of the enemy and restored to me, for the sake of Your Name I pray. Amen.
- His Hands were pierced to redeem the works of our hands and release the power of His shed blood into our labour to defeat failure.
Prayer-point – I wash my hands in the Blood of Jesus and receive the power therein to wash away failure and disappointment from the works of my hands, in Jesus Name.
- His Feet were pierced to redeem our walk with God and direct us in the paths of righteousness which He walked.
Prayer-point – I wash my feet in the Blood of Jesus and receive the power therein to walk with God in righteousness and holiness all the days of my life, in Jesus Name.
- He hung on the tree of the Cross to break every curse that could ever be released against us. Gal.3:13 says “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Prayer-point – The Lord Jesus hung on the cross at Calvary 2000 years ago and became a curse just for me. Lord, I thank You. Therefore, by the power of that atonement work, I break any curse ever pronounced against me, my ancestors, my family and the environment where I live and work, in the Name of Jesus. I command all the demons in charge of the curse to be bound and go now and never come back! In the Name of Jesus. I shut the door against you all by the key of David that shuts and no one can open and I seal it with the Blood of Jesus, in Jesus Name. I now receive all my portion of the blessings of Abraham for which Christ died for me, in Jesus Name. Amen.
The Covenant of Redemption
Through the painful and humiliating death on the Cross, the Lord Jesus bound Himself into a covenant relationship with us, knowing that “without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better. Heb.7:7. He tied His own Hands and made Himself to be personally responsible for bringing us through from the time we get saved to the time He presents us to the Father in heaven. He really would not like to lose any of us on the way, as He promised them in Jn.10:27-29…
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
For this reason, He sent us the Holy Spirit and baptized us with His power to guide us along the way in the light of the truth of God, His Word…
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth:.. John 16:13
The Lord knows we will surely let Him down over and over as we trip on our flesh in our walk with God; but so long as He remembers the obligations of His covenant with us, He would always reach out and save us as He did Peter when he got distracted and sank as he walked on the sea of Galilee as recorded in Matt.14:30,31
Or how could we explain away the fact that the Lord forgave the same Peter who denied Him three times within hours even after being warned that he would? It is the by power of covenant made by love through sacrifice.
Covenant of Redemption explained briefly
A covenant is a binding agreement between two parties, with covenant terms, witnesses and tokens. We remind ourselves of our covenant with the Lord when we bring out the tokens of the covenant of redemption – the wine and the bread, representing His shed Blood and broken Body – and invite Him to the covenant table to dine with us. These are the tokens He brought into the agreement. Our token is singularly our circumcised hearts and brokenness before Him, such that the world will “(take) knowledge of (us), that (we) had been with Jesus”. Acts4:13b. They will testify as they did in Antioch that these are ‘Little Christs’ or ‘Christians’ in the true sense of the term. Acts11:26.
We shall study covenant in relationship to prayer in depth later in another teaching. Suffice to say here that this is how the Lord Jesus became the Mediator between us and God – by His work of redemption through which He entered into a covenant relationship with all who would believe on Him.
Heb 9:14,15
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
1Tim.2:5,6
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
He won the right to stand before God, a valiant conqueror, on behalf of Gods prime creation, Man, and plead our cause, knowing He has pleased the Father by fulfilling His mandate on earth. That is why He can confidently promise His followers –
Jn. 14:14
If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
Jn. 16:23
And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.
Refreshing our Covenant at the Table of The Lord
Everyone who would prevail in the place of prayer must of necessity nourish his relationship with his able Mediator, and one of the ways to do this is to commune regularly with Him at the Communion Table which you will set from time to time in your home for the Lord; either alone or with your family; and invite Him to come and dine with you. This is quite apart from the Communion Service we partake of in Church. We shall study the significance of The Lord’s Table or The Passover Meal in depth at a later date; but here below, we have a simple format which we can use regularly in our private devotions for our personal Holy Communion Service.
Preparation-
- It is the Lord’s Supper so it should really be taken at night, preferably at our night devotions.
- Prepare a simple tray with a piece of bread or biscuit on a saucer and some juice in a small glass. If it is for a family or a group, it is good to have one piece of bread to break into pieces during the sharing of the Body of The Passover Lamb. “For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.” 1Cor.10:17.
- A person can come to the Lord’s Table alone. He or she is simply dining with our Bridegroom by him or herself.
- Spend quality time in praise and worship to enter into the Courts of The King, Our Passover Lamb. Psa.100:4 says Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
PRAYER-POINTS –
Repentance –
Lord, I come to Your table as You told us to do in remembrance of You and the dreadful pain You went through on the cross at Calvary to redeem me from sin and death. I confess that I have taken this sacrifice for granted numerous times and crucified You afresh over and over at the times that I have sinned against You through my thoughtlessness, selfishness, pride, laziness, idolatry….
I repent also of the sins of my ancestors and those of my children. (Take time here to mention specific sins peculiar to you and your family). I ask for Your mercy and ask that You wash us with Your precious Blood and make me worthy to dine with You, not only tonight, but with You and the Father though eternity. I ask for the sake of Your Name that I carry. Amen. Thank You, Lord.
Holy Spirit of God, I yield myself to You that You may fill me afresh and guide me to walk with God from this day forth, in holiness and righteousness, in Jesus Name I pray, Amen.
Holy Spirit, I ask that You will anoint this bread and this cup with Your oils from the Two Olive Trees in heaven (Zech.4:12-14) so that in faith, as I eat and drink, I will be partaking of the virtues of the true Body and Blood of Christ, in Jesus Name. Amen.
Breaking and eating the Bread –
1Cor.11:23,24… the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: 24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
Lord, I ask You to come and dine with me that I might be strengthened with the joy that Your Presence brings. As I break this bread, let the healing virtues released by Your broken body heal all that concerns me – my body, my soul, my foundation, my marriage, my relationships, my destiny… As I break this bread, let every unbroken demonic covenant and curse operating over any area of my life be broken. Let every unrighteous altar in charge of them be shattered. As I break this bread, Lord, let my eyes be opened to know You better and to see better and understand better the deep things of God as You did when You broke bread Your Disciples after Your resurrection as recorded in Luke chapter 24.
Lord Jesus, as I eat this bread, let every demonic meal I ever partook of, knowingly or unknowingly, whether physically or in dreams, be nullified by Your Holy Body. Let the demonic covenant entered into by taking those meals be broken now and let all the afflictions that the demonic food has brought into my body be healed now. Let my covenant with You be activated and renewed afresh and let all the virtues in Your Body be released into my body for healing and for living in health all the days of my life, I pray in Your great Name, Jesus The Christ. Amen.
Partaking of the Cup –
1Cor.11:25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
Lord Jesus, behold the cup of the new covenant that You made with me as You shed Your Blood for me 2000 years ago! I am grateful to God that You are alive and therefore that precious Blood still avails for me today. Let Your Blood cleanse me and my foundation afresh and let every sin that still stands against me be washed away into the sea of forgetfulness, in Jesus Name. Let my covenant of life with You be renewed now, and let the Voice of Your Blood silence every satanic voice speaking over my life and destiny, I pray in Your great Name.
Lord, let this be as Passover night and let Your Blood mark the gates of my body, the gates of my home, my office, my children’s school, office…the gates of any vehicle we will enter and the gates of our times and seasons opening up right now. Let it be that the destroyer will see Your Blood and pass over wherever we are as it happened in Egypt on that first Passover night. Let Your mark of ownership be seen clearly on us and let every demonic mark be wiped away by Your Blood, for the sake of Your great Name, Jesus the Christ. Amen.
Proclamation –
1Cor.11:26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. (NKJV)
Therefore, I proclaim loud and clear that my Lord and Saviour, Jesus the Son of the Most High God, came to the earth over 2000 years ago, and that He died a cruel death on the Cross at Calvary to deliver me from all bondage of sin and Satan. I have accepted that He died in my place and I thank You my heavenly Father for making me Your covenant son because I have accepted Your precious Son as my Saviour and Lord.
I declare that it is written in the Word of God in Gal.3:13 that Christ became a curse for me by hanging on a Cross and thereby redeemed me from the curse of the law. Therefore, I break every curse still operating over my life and family by that Blood of redemption, in Jesus Name. I silence the speakings of the law of that curse by the Voice of that Blood and I bind the strongman and all his demons in charge of enforcing the curse, in Jesus Name. I receive the blessings of Abraham due to me and my generations, in Jesus Name. Amen.
I declare that His precious Body was broken for me by the stripes laid on Him. It is written in Isa.53:5 that by those very stripes I was healed 2,000 years ago. Therefore, I receive my healing from every sickness and disease (specify if any), in the Name of Jesus. I also receive the power to live in health, in Jesus Name, because I have partaken of the Flesh of the Passover Lamb even as it is written that there was no feeble one among the Hebrews who partook of the Passover thousands of years ago.
I declare that as Jesus my Lord was buried, I bury every challenge and reproach of my life and family (specify), in Jesus Name. I bury every flesh of sin, every shame and reproach, poverty….in Jesus Name.
I declare that it is written that my Lord rose from the dead. I therefore command all my buried virtues, all suspended promises of God and all my Godly hopes and dreams to receive that resurrection life of Christ, in Jesus Name. Hear the Voice of the Blood of redemption and resurrect, in Jesus Name! My glory! come alive and manifest, in Jesus Name!
I declare that as it is written that Christ will come again in glory, therefore I demand that all that has been stolen from me be restored to me sevenfold, in Jesus Name.
Thank You, Father. I bless Your Holy Name for the completeness of the work of redemption and for the assurance of answered prayers made according to Your Holy will. Be exalted O God! Come, rule, and reign freely over my life and destiny, in Jesus Name. Lord Holy Spirit, guide and guard me so that none of these dead afflictions will rise up again, in Jesus mighty Name. Amen and Amen.
Spend quality time in worship again, for I trust that the Lord will not just dine with us and leave us abruptly at the table. Like a loving, caring bridegroom, He will linger to hear if we still have some sweet words for Him.
What a glorious Lord we serve!
Maranatha!