Updated 8/18/15

Kingdom Principle: The veil of the heavens and earth has been torn. – Thy Kingdom can come to earth and prayer moves you into the realm of the heavens.

1 Kings 8:(1,6,10-11), 22-30, 41-43 Psalm 84 Ephesians 6:10-20 John 6:56-69

The most common catalyst to prayer is crisis. While we will see below that this catalyst for prayer is most often a self-ish motivation it still serves to teach us to pray. Engaging in the act of prayer shifts our focus from what is happening to what can happen. Prayer shifts our focus from the reality of this world to the realm of the heavens. Prayer changes your view, even if it doesn’t result in your desired answer. Prayer is a conversation with God, in which you learn to ask, seek and find. It opens your ears to listen to the response of God. (see last week) Prayer opens our eyes to see what God is doing or is not doing. Prayer guides us in the journey of faith, teaching us the very Will of the Father.  (This post will most likely be as desirable as the stage of puberty; however without it we never reach maturity)

Prior to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the veil was not torn. The movement of God to this earth was exceptional… meaning it was the exception not the norm. In Christ, the Word became flesh and dwelt (tabernacle) amongst us. (John 1:1-14) This shift culminated in the tearing of the veil in the temple physically(Matt. 27:51)as well as the veil of heaven and earth being torn spiritually (Matt. 16:19, Rev. 3:7-8)A future post will explain in more detail how everything is a spiritual reality prior to being a physical reality….  This veil is also spoken of as covering the hearts of those who do not turn to the Spirit, but rather trust in the laws of the this world. But for those who the veil is removed, the result is transformation into the likeness of God in the power of the Spirit.(2 Cor. 3:15-18) This change is the very change that we speak of when we say, “Prayer Changes things”.  You are the very “thing” that is being changed when you engage in prayer.

Last week we read Solomon asking for wisdom, because the Lord asked him what we wanted. This conversation came in the form of a dream and resulted in a prayer. This prayer is not a request for more; it is a declaration of all that already is.  God has and is already at work prior to your prayer being expressed. When you pray, God is confirming in you the work that He has already begun.  READ CAREFULLY – Not praying actually causes more change than praying. God is at work prior to your act of prayer and in prayer God is transforming your will unto His…. Therefore, not praying is to actually working against the will of God and to thwart desires of God’s heart.  We can delay God for God is patient and willing to wait, His plans are not our plans and He is greater than all. What happens when we delay God is we engage in painful repeating patterns of our problems – but while in prayer we participate in the movement of God and continue the plans of God.  So for those who feel that change is hard, how much harder is not seeing change happen and painful patterns repeat. The greater change to experience the seamless transformation that God desired for our very lives which is rooted in prayer.

Bottom line – Prayer removes any separation between us and God.  Prayer is an expression of our intimacy with the Father. This is only accessible through the Son, Jesus Christ.  From this place we engage kingdom warfare, which is to serve the King of Kings rather than the prince of this world. Our fight is not of this world, and we are called to be wise in how we engage this world. We can and do have access to the Throne Room of God which is where the war is fought. (Hebrews 3:1-3, 4:3, 12-16) Therefore the Psalm of this week is not wishful thinking rather a very reality, right here and right now.

If prayer is a difficult thing for you…. It will be my guess that you may as well struggle with wisdom. Wisdom is a gift of the Spirit, for which you must ask for in prayer. (see last week)  Therefore… don’t start by setting out to pray, if prayer for you is “you talking to God”. Rather start by realizing that God has already opened up the heavens for you, and your act of prayer is an expression of your faith based on the Grace of God received. Again – if you struggle with prayer – don’t try to start praying, start listening to someone in the “flesh” who you believe has the wisdom of God. The problem with prayer is not in our ability to express our wants; it lies in the resistance of our hearts to receive God’s will. So rather than declaring that prayer does not work, work on listening.

Food is unto the body, Prayer is unto the spirit. Is your spirit starving? Much like food, our palette changes and our desires are shaped by what we feed it. So if you want to eat more “healthy” you have to introduce healthy food  – even if they don’t taste good. Then soon that will shift and you will not only like the healthy food, you will no longer desire the junk food. How can you introduce prayer to your diet?

Does Crisis prompt you to pray more than Contentment? If so – join the crowd of the masses. However the way of the cross is narrow –So if you desire to not only pray in crisis – next time you are moved to pray because of crisis (crisis is anything that prompts you to ask for help, because you cannot achieve the desired result without help from God). Rather than asking God to change what is going on…. Ask God what is going on. God is at work long before we become aware of His actions. So we can ask, “Jesus what is your prayer for me in this situation? Then wait to for an answer, then pray as Jesus is praying for you. (Romans 8:26-39)

Listening is the foundation of relationship.  Prayer is often mis-categorized as us sharing our ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) to God…  if this summarizes our prayer life, then it also indicates the infancy of your relationship with Jesus. Jesus wants intimacy not infancy.  Three weeks ago we looked at this – growing our listening ears will increase our wisdom, produced in us based on child-like faith.  How is God growing you from infancy to intimacy?