Fiery Prayer
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 11272 |
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November 07, 2010 |
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 "Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much." (James 5:16)
Fiery prayer can be offered to God when we pray according to the will of God, inspired and influenced by and filled with the Holy Spirit. God joyfully accepts the prayer that is in accordance with the will of God, that is to say, the prayer of a righteous man. When God takes delight in someone's prayer, His joy is also delivered to that person's heart through the Holy Spirit. Then, he becomes more filled with and more inspired and influenced by the Holy Spirit. His heart and body are set ablaze by the fire of the Spirit and also his heart is filled with joy and thanksgiving. All these are the characteristics of fiery prayer. What then should we do in order to offer fiery prayer in spirit?
1. We should not involve ourselves in our own thoughts in prayer.
Only when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, can we offer the prayer that is pleasing to God by the supervision of the Holy Spirit. If we pray in the inspiration of the Spirit, any prayer we offer can be in accordance with the heart of God. But the prayer we offer in our thoughts cannot be in accordance with the guidance of God. If the fragrance of our prayer is not pleasing to God, it cannot be a fiery prayer offered in spirit.
If we get involved in our thoughts while praying, we are led to ask for what seems good in our sight. Thus, we may pray to God, saying, "It would be better for me if You would answer this way" or "I wish You would answer in that way." When we pray in this way we are seeking our will and it is very difficult for us to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 18:19 says, "Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven." 'Two of you' here refers to a person who prays and the Holy Spirit dwelling in him.
'Two of you agree on earth and ask' means we become united with the Holy Spirit and pray under His supervision. This prayer that is offered in agreement with the Holy Spirit is very effective and powerful because God the Father fulfills whatever has been asked. I urge you to pray in agreement with the Holy Spirit and to glorify God by receiving whatever it is that you asked.
2. We should discover evil in our hearts and cast it off.
When we cast away evils from the heart, we can offer the prayer that is pleasing to God. Those who press on toward the goal of sanctification can discover the evils that remain in their hearts and try their best to throw them away. In that sense, those who long for sanctification do their best to become sanctified, repent and turn back from the sins they discover in heart. In doing so they do not build up the walls of sin before God even though they have not yet become sanctified. But some other believers fail to realize the evils revealed in action.
Those believers break peace with their self-righteousness. They have complaints and grumbling against the church and their seniors. When their rivals are praised they feel discomfort and openly express complaints. They even complain and slander those who praise their rivals. At times they are frustrated and lose strength even though they do not utter complaints or speak out in slanderous words. Their thoughts, words and deeds originally come from evils they have inside themselves. When they pray to God with this kind of evil, their prayers cannot reach the throne of God. It is just the same as recorded in Proverbs 15:29, "The LORD is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous," and Psalm 66:18 NIV, "If I had cherished sin in my heart, the LORD would not have listened." Thus, I am eagerly urging you to get rid of every form of evil by circumcising your hearts and receive whatever you ask for by offering the prayer that is pleasing to God.
3. We should pray for the church, the shepherd, and the souls from the heart and with love.
We should not pray under obligation or pray unwillingly. With what kind of heart should we pray for the church? We have to pray with love for it and with a longing heart for the fulfillment of the providence of God in this end time of the world. If we become involved in idle thoughts and pray for other subjects during the prayer time for the church, then the aroma of the prayer cannot be offered to God.
It is the same with the prayer for the shepherd and the souls. We should not pray only with our lips repeating some prayer titles, but we should pray for the shepherd and the souls with love and faith from the heart. When we pray for the souls, we have to pray for them with the heart of the shepherd who wants to lead just one more person onto the path of salvation. We have to pray for them with the heart of the shepherd who eagerly wishes for the church members not to be tempted in this world full of evils and sins and not to commit sins anymore after repenting and turning back.
Also, we have to pray for the church affairs with the heart of the shepherd who wants to glorify God in everything and feels very sorry for even the most minute thing if it disgraces God. In the same way, in praying for the construction of a new sanctuary we should not only wish the things will go well but earnestly pray for the construction of the sanctuary with the love for God considering the temple of God as our own house.
Likewise, when we pray for anything with love and faith from the heart, all the contents of our prayer turn into beautiful fragrance and the fragrance is offered to God, as much as we offer the perfect fragrance of prayer we will be paid back with heavenly rewards. That's why when you pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ you can then offer fervent and fiery prayer in spirit.
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