Prayer
Jeremiah 7:16-17 “Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them, nor make intercession to Me; for I will not hear you. Do you not see what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
There is a time to pray and a time to not pray for certain things. This is a hard word, but important to understand. There are times when praying goes against the very thing God is doing. There are many important moments when Jesus specifically DID NOT pray for certain things:
John 17:9 “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.
John 17:15 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.
Jesus specifically did not pray the same blessing for the world that He did for those in agreement with Him. Jesus intentionally did not pray that His disciples would be removed from the world!
Our prayers are incredibly powerful. They must be aligned with God's plans. There are many who refuse to come to Jesus for direction first. Instead, they take council from each other first, and ask God later. This results in much bad prayer. There is bad prayer...any desire spoken into the earth that disagrees with God's specific plan is bad prayer. I really want to know what God intends to do in order to pray in agreement with Him. Jesus said many people in our generation would do many things that looked genuine, but they would be disconnected from knowing Jesus...that means disconnected from His plan:
Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
To pray outside the will of the father...to use my God-given dominion on earth "detached" from Jesus' plan for the earth... is called "lawlessness." It is a serious offense to God.
The reason many don't take this seriously is because they don't take prayer seriously. I want to understand the power of my words. My words are literally the way Jesus has chosen to establish His government in the earth. In a kingdom created by words, words...prayer...are incredibly powerful. My words bring life and death, blessing and cursing, abundance and desolation. My words carry this weight whether I realize it or not.
There is the amazing story of Balaam in the book of Numbers. Balaam was asked to use his dominion...his words... to curse Israel. Balaam knew that his words were only to be an echo of what God in heaven was saying. However, he relied on his own logic and desired to please man more than God. Not knowing God's plan, he left himself vulnerable to actually rebelling against God. God let Balaam have his way, eventually:
Numbers 22:10-22 So Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me, saying, ‘Look, a people has come out of Egypt, and they cover the face of the earth. Come now, curse them for me; perhaps I shall be able to overpower them and drive them out.’ ” And God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”
So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, “Go back to your land, for the Lord has refused to give me permission to go with you.” And the princes of Moab rose and went to Balak, and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.” Then Balak again sent princes, more numerous and more honorable than they. And they came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor: ‘Please let nothing hinder you from coming to me; for I will certainly honor you greatly, and I will do whatever you say to me. Therefore please come, curse this people for me.’ ”...
This is where it gets sticky for Balaam. Rather than making God's plan HIS own plan, he separates from God's desire and basically says "if it weren't for God stopping me, I would go with you...but maybe God will change his mind!":
...Then Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more. Now therefore, please, you also stay here tonight, that I may know what more the Lord will say to me.” ...
God has chosen love, which means God has chosen free will. God honored the desire of Balaam to sell out God for favor with man. It is an awful thing to be given what you want outside of God's plan. Balaam would not love God's plan to bless Israel, which would have spared him much trouble:
...And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men come to call you, rise and go with them; but only the word which I speak to you—that you shall do.” So Balaam rose in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab. Then God’s anger was aroused because he went, and the Angel of the Lord took His stand in the way as an adversary against him. And he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him....
This is the part we all remember:
Numbers 22:27-35 And when the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord , she lay down under Balaam; so Balaam’s anger was aroused, and he struck the donkey with his staff. Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have abused me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you!” So the donkey said to Balaam, “ Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?” And he said, “No.” Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand; and he bowed his head and fell flat on his face. And the Angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your way is perverse before Me. The donkey saw Me and turned aside from Me these three times. If she had not turned aside from Me, surely I would also have killed you by now, and let her live.” And Balaam said to the Angel of the Lord , “I have sinned, for I did not know You stood in the way against me. Now therefore, if it displeases You, I will turn back.” Then the Angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but only the word that I speak to you, that you shall speak.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
Right now, God is in the middle of orchestrating very SPECIFIC events in the earth. The sheer amount of fulfilled Biblical prophecy regarding the events in Daniel and Revelation over the last 60 years is jaw-dropping, yet many have not studied God's written plan, let alone agreed with Him in the very specific praying required. There are times to pray for blessing in God's plans, but there are also times to NOT pray for certain people, events, and nations...really.
There comes a time when praying for certain people, events, and nations will actually go against God's plan! There comes a time when praying for certain people will actually be COUNTER to what God is doing in the earth!
It all comes down to seeing the great dignity on our words and the great power every word we speak into the earth carries. Praying for the man of lawlessness...praying for the antichrist...praying blessing and wisdom on Him will actually help Him, because I have been given dominion on the earth:
Psalms 115:16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord ’s; But the earth He has given to the children of men.
It is important to know what God is doing and what to watch for, so I can pray in agreement with Him. Every time Jesus talked about His return He said "watch," "pray," and "be ready." To watch, I have to know what to watch for. To pray, I have to know what to pray for. To be ready, I have to know what to be ready for.
Balaam, because he compromised with Balak, taught the enemies of God's people how to lead Israel into sin through intermarriage. Giving counsel to the enemies of God through outright betrayal, or through misdirected prayer or prophecy, is the "error of Balaam." Jesus warned the end-time Church not to do this same thing:
Revelation 2:12-17 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, ‘These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword: “I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it. ” ’
Jesus isn't addressing unbelievers. He is talking to His Church. Will she listen? Will she know Him and His plans? Now is not the time to pray for the world haphazardly. Now is the time to come out of her and know His plans that we could pray them into being along with Him:
Revelation 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.
There is a time to pray and a time to not pray for certain things. This is a hard word, but important to understand. There are times when praying goes against the very thing God is doing. There are many important moments when Jesus specifically DID NOT pray for certain things:
John 17:9 “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.
John 17:15 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.
Jesus specifically did not pray the same blessing for the world that He did for those in agreement with Him. Jesus intentionally did not pray that His disciples would be removed from the world!
Our prayers are incredibly powerful. They must be aligned with God's plans. There are many who refuse to come to Jesus for direction first. Instead, they take council from each other first, and ask God later. This results in much bad prayer. There is bad prayer...any desire spoken into the earth that disagrees with God's specific plan is bad prayer. I really want to know what God intends to do in order to pray in agreement with Him. Jesus said many people in our generation would do many things that looked genuine, but they would be disconnected from knowing Jesus...that means disconnected from His plan:
Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
To pray outside the will of the father...to use my God-given dominion on earth "detached" from Jesus' plan for the earth... is called "lawlessness." It is a serious offense to God.
The reason many don't take this seriously is because they don't take prayer seriously. I want to understand the power of my words. My words are literally the way Jesus has chosen to establish His government in the earth. In a kingdom created by words, words...prayer...are incredibly powerful. My words bring life and death, blessing and cursing, abundance and desolation. My words carry this weight whether I realize it or not.
There is the amazing story of Balaam in the book of Numbers. Balaam was asked to use his dominion...his words... to curse Israel. Balaam knew that his words were only to be an echo of what God in heaven was saying. However, he relied on his own logic and desired to please man more than God. Not knowing God's plan, he left himself vulnerable to actually rebelling against God. God let Balaam have his way, eventually:
Numbers 22:10-22 So Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me, saying, ‘Look, a people has come out of Egypt, and they cover the face of the earth. Come now, curse them for me; perhaps I shall be able to overpower them and drive them out.’ ” And God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”
So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, “Go back to your land, for the Lord has refused to give me permission to go with you.” And the princes of Moab rose and went to Balak, and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.” Then Balak again sent princes, more numerous and more honorable than they. And they came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor: ‘Please let nothing hinder you from coming to me; for I will certainly honor you greatly, and I will do whatever you say to me. Therefore please come, curse this people for me.’ ”...
This is where it gets sticky for Balaam. Rather than making God's plan HIS own plan, he separates from God's desire and basically says "if it weren't for God stopping me, I would go with you...but maybe God will change his mind!":
...Then Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more. Now therefore, please, you also stay here tonight, that I may know what more the Lord will say to me.” ...
God has chosen love, which means God has chosen free will. God honored the desire of Balaam to sell out God for favor with man. It is an awful thing to be given what you want outside of God's plan. Balaam would not love God's plan to bless Israel, which would have spared him much trouble:
...And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men come to call you, rise and go with them; but only the word which I speak to you—that you shall do.” So Balaam rose in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab. Then God’s anger was aroused because he went, and the Angel of the Lord took His stand in the way as an adversary against him. And he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him....
This is the part we all remember:
Numbers 22:27-35 And when the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord , she lay down under Balaam; so Balaam’s anger was aroused, and he struck the donkey with his staff. Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have abused me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you!” So the donkey said to Balaam, “ Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?” And he said, “No.” Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand; and he bowed his head and fell flat on his face. And the Angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your way is perverse before Me. The donkey saw Me and turned aside from Me these three times. If she had not turned aside from Me, surely I would also have killed you by now, and let her live.” And Balaam said to the Angel of the Lord , “I have sinned, for I did not know You stood in the way against me. Now therefore, if it displeases You, I will turn back.” Then the Angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but only the word that I speak to you, that you shall speak.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
Right now, God is in the middle of orchestrating very SPECIFIC events in the earth. The sheer amount of fulfilled Biblical prophecy regarding the events in Daniel and Revelation over the last 60 years is jaw-dropping, yet many have not studied God's written plan, let alone agreed with Him in the very specific praying required. There are times to pray for blessing in God's plans, but there are also times to NOT pray for certain people, events, and nations...really.
There comes a time when praying for certain people, events, and nations will actually go against God's plan! There comes a time when praying for certain people will actually be COUNTER to what God is doing in the earth!
It all comes down to seeing the great dignity on our words and the great power every word we speak into the earth carries. Praying for the man of lawlessness...praying for the antichrist...praying blessing and wisdom on Him will actually help Him, because I have been given dominion on the earth:
Psalms 115:16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord ’s; But the earth He has given to the children of men.
It is important to know what God is doing and what to watch for, so I can pray in agreement with Him. Every time Jesus talked about His return He said "watch," "pray," and "be ready." To watch, I have to know what to watch for. To pray, I have to know what to pray for. To be ready, I have to know what to be ready for.
Balaam, because he compromised with Balak, taught the enemies of God's people how to lead Israel into sin through intermarriage. Giving counsel to the enemies of God through outright betrayal, or through misdirected prayer or prophecy, is the "error of Balaam." Jesus warned the end-time Church not to do this same thing:
Revelation 2:12-17 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, ‘These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword: “I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it. ” ’
Jesus isn't addressing unbelievers. He is talking to His Church. Will she listen? Will she know Him and His plans? Now is not the time to pray for the world haphazardly. Now is the time to come out of her and know His plans that we could pray them into being along with Him:
Revelation 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.
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