All Kinds Of Prayer
The Word Of God - Lesson V D
All Kinds of Prayer
Introduction
Having learned about our position in Christ and how we are to make our position in Christ a reality in our own lives as well as our authority in Christ we will now study the topic of prayer.
When looking at the subject of prayer the first question we need to ask is:
What is prayer?
Prayer is communication with God which is expressed in words as well as in body language.
The second question we need to ask is:
What is this communication based on?
This communication is based on a relationship with God. You and I do not have a relationship with just everybody. We may meet many people but we do not necessarily communicate with them because we don’t know them; we are not in relationship with them. Then there are people in our life who we do know, but not very well. Our relationship with them is somewhat distant and our communication with them reflects that; we may talk with them about the weather but we will not share with them our greatest needs, our deepest longings. We only share these needs, these longings with those whom we are in close relationship with. God has created us in such a way that we are in need of relationship with each other and in fact with Him. And communication is a very important part of a relationship because through our words we express what we think and how we feel. Now we must remember that communication is a two-way stream: we not only speak, we listen as well. After all, God has not only given us a mouth, He has given us two ears. We can read of the creation of the first man and woman in:
Genesis 1:26-28
Then God said, “Let us make man in Our image, in Our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
At that time God created them to have a close relationship with each other as we can read in:
Genesis 2:18
The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
Genesis 2:21-23
So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, He took one of the man’s rib and closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib He had taken out of the man, and He brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man.”
And to have a close relationship with Him as we can read in:
Genesis 3:8a
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as He was walking in the Garden in the cool of the day…
No doubt they would have walked in the Garden every day with Him, sharing freely with Him what had happened that day. Then something happened to disrupt that close relationship between the man and the woman and God: they disobeyed Him. This caused an instantaneous breakdown in their relationship with God as foretold by Him, as we can read in:
Genesis 2:16-17
And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the Garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”
It was no longer possible for them to have that intimate communication with God. As a result of the first couple’s disobedience everyone born after them is born with a sinful nature and therefore separated from God as we can read in:
Romans 5:12
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.
This was our condition too. Thankfully, God in His mercy, has put a plan into place whereby the relationship between Him and people can be re-established. As we can read in:
I Peter 1:18-21
For you know that it is not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
Even though God is everyone’s Creator He is not everyone’s Father. God only becomes our Father when we recognise that we are sinners, ask God for forgiveness of our sins and accept the free gift of life in Christ Jesus as we can read in:
Ephesians 2:8-9
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.
At that moment we become a child of God and God becomes our Father as we can read in:
John 1:12
Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God.
It is only then that we can have a close relationship with Him in prayer.
That raises the following question:
Can an unbeliever pray?
We have already stated that prayer is communication with God based on a close relationship with Him. Unbelievers do not have a close relationship with Him and do not have access to God since our access to God is through Christ as we can read in:
Hebrews 4:14-16
Therefore, since we have a great High priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have One who has been tempted in every way, just as we are -yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Therefore, the only prayer an unbeliever can pray which is acceptable to God is the sinner’s prayer as we can read in:
Acts 2:38
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptised, everyone of you, in the Name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
That prayer will bring him/her into a relationship with God who will then become his/her Father. Our earthly father took care of us, based on his relationship with us. However, he would not have taken care of just anybody who might have knocked on his door, at least not in the way that he took care of us, since he was not in close relationship with these strangers. In the same way we as believers can go freely to our heavenly Father for He longs for us to come to Him with whatever we may have on our heart.
The Lord’s Prayer
Jesus shows us that in the prayer that He taught His disciples as we can read in:
Matthew 6:9-13
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your Name,
Your Kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
We will look at that prayer in greater detail:
Our Father
These words speak of intimacy. Jesus teaches us here that we can call the all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful God, Father.
And, as I have already said, earthly fathers take care of their children. That is their responsibility. Likewise it is the responsibility of our heavenly Father to take care of us.
Hallowed be Your Name
Jesus reminds us here that God is a holy God and is to be honoured and respected when we approach Him.
Your Kingdom come
God invites us here to participate with Him in the bringing forth of His Kingdom on earth. Now we know that we will not see the fullness of His Kingdom here on earth until the return of Christ as we can read in:
Revelation 19:11-16
I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice He judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on His head are many crowns. He has a name written on Him that no one knows but He Himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and His name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following Him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of His mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron sceptre. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On His robe and on His thigh He has the name written: King of kings and Lord of lords.”
However, we can already see a manifestation of His Kingdom here on earth through our lives as we love and obey God. This links in with the next line of the prayer:
May Your will be done in earth as it is in heaven
Again we will not see the fullness of that happen until Christ reigns on earth during the Millennial reign, which will take place after His Second Coming as we can read in:
Revelation 20:4b
They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
But we are called to pray it in for God wants us to co-operate with Him so it will happen one day. In the meantime we are to see the manifestation of His will being done on earth through our lives as we walk in obedience to God and His Word.
It is only then that Jesus tells us to bring before God our personal needs for God does care about them as we can see from the words of Jesus:
Give us today our daily bread
Jesus teaches us here that that we can ask God to meet our daily needs for He is our Father and as our Father He is responsible to meet our needs. Our responsibility is to ask as we can read in:
Matthew 7:7-11
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks received; he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
Moreover, Jesus tells us to ask “daily” because God wants us to come to Him daily just as the Israelites in the desert had to gather manna daily as we can read in:
Exodus 16:13-21
That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, ”It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. This is what the Lord has commanded, “Each one is to gather as much as he needs. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.” The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. And when they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little. Each one gathered as much as he needed. Then Moses said to them, No one is to keep any of it until morning.” However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them. Each morning everyone gathered as much as he needed, and when the sun grew hot it melted away.”
The next line Jesus teaches us to pray is:
Forgive us our debts
This is about confessing our sins to God and is linked to the next line:
As we also have forgiven our debtors
Jesus teaches a great deal about the importance of forgiving others in order for us to be forgiven by God as we can read in:
Matthew 6:14-15
For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
And in Matthew 18:21-35
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times , but seventy-seven times. Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
The servant fell on his knees before him. “Be patient with me,” he begged, “and I will pay back everything.” The servant’s master took pity on him, cancelled the debt and let him go. But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him, “Pay back what you owe me!” he demanded. His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, “Be patient with me and I will pay you back.” But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and went and told their master everything that had happened. Then the master called the servant in. “You wicked servant,” he said, I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?” In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
“This is how My heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from you heart.
Jesus then teaches us the words:
And lead us not into temptation
This is different from being tested because all believers will be tested so their faith will mature as we can read in:
James 1:2-3
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
Jesus then moves on to the words:
But deliver us from the evil one”
With these words Jesus tells us to ask the Father to protect us from the evil one so that he may not harm us. However, we need to do our part in that we are to obedient to God. Otherwise we will give room for the enemy to work in our lives as we can read in:
Ephesians 4:26-27
In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down wile you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.
Jesus ends this prayer with the words:
For Yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory for ever. Amen
These words remind us of the words the Apostle John wrote in:
Revelation 4:11
You are worthy, our Lord and God to receive glory and honour and power…
The Apostle Paul’s Prayers
The Apostle Paul teaches us about prayer in:
Ephesians 6:18
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
Here, Paul tells the believers that they are to pray in the Spirit meaning to pray in accordance with the leading of the Holy Spirit.
He then tells them that they are to pray on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.
What kinds of prayers might he be talking about?
Let us look at Philippians 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
And I Timothy 2:1
I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone – for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.
So here we have different kinds of prayers:
Requests
They can include anything from a daily practical need to a much greater need because God cares about every detail of our lives.
An example is Paul’s prayer for the believers in Colosse which we can read in:
Colossians 1:9
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
Nothing is too small to bring to His attention or too big for Him to be able to deal with. That’s why Paul makes this subject very broad; he simply calls it “requests”.
Prayers
These are more general types of prayers and would include prayers for family, church leaders, leaders of our nation etc.
Petitions
These are prayers in which we plead with God regarding certain situations, leaving the matter entirely in His hands.
Thanksgiving
Paul gives us examples of prayers of thanksgiving in:
Colossians 1:3
We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you.
And in Colossians1:12
Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.
And in I Thessalonians 5:18
Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
We are to always end our prayers with thanksgiving believing that God has heard our prayers and will answer them in His way and in His time.
Intercession
Intercession means standing in the gap on behalf of others. We have a number of examples in Scripture. The first person we will look at is:
Abraham
Genesis 18:16-33
“When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? Abraham will surly become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations on earth will be blessed through him. For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.” Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.” The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord. Then Abraham approached Him and said, “Will You sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will You really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing –to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the city because of five people?” “If I find forty-five there,” He said, “I will not destroy it.” Once again he spoke to Him, “What if only forty are found there?” He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.” Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?” He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?” He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.” Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?” He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.” When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, He left and Abraham returned home.”
In this passage Abraham is standing in the gap in prayer before the Lord on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah. He was able to do this because of his relationship with the Lord. Moreover it was what God wanted him to do for God always desires to be merciful rather than bring judgement for mercy triumphs over judgement as we can read in:
James 2:13b
“Mercy triumphs over judgement!”
Abraham’s prayers did not save Sodom and Gomorrah but they did save the lives of Lot and his family as we can read in:
Genesis 19:15-16
With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.” When he hesitated, the man grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and his two daughters and let them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them.
And in Genesis 19:29
So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, He remembered Abraham, and he brought Lord out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.
The second person we will look at is:
Moses
God had called Moses to bring His people out of Egypt into the Promised Land as we can read in:
Exodus 3:9-10
And now the cry of the Israelites has reached Me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring My people the Israelites out of Egypt.
When the Israelites were travelling through the desert on their way to the Promised Land Moses spent time in the Presence of God. However, the people become impatient as they are waiting for his return as we can read in:
Exodus 32:1-14
When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.” Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord.” So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, because our people whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” “I have seen these people,” said the Lord, “and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave Me alone so that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.” But Moses sought the favour of the Lord his God. “O Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, “It was with evil intent that He brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth”? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: “I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.” Then the Lord relented and did not bring on His people the disaster He had threatened.
In this passage of Scripture we read of Moses standing in the gap between God and the Israelites and pleading with God on their behalf that He will not destroy the people.
This again is based on Moses’ close relationship with God.
We can see from Moses’ prayer that he had great insight into who God is and what God will do based on who He is. Moses reminds God of this and, it seems, God listens to Moses. No doubt, this is, because, as I have already mentioned, God prefers to be merciful rather than to bring judgement. That is why God is always looking for intercessors to stand in the gap so His judgement on people can either be limited or postponed because of their prayers.
There will come a day of final judgement but we do not know when that day will be so we are to pray for His mercy in the meantime.
The third person we will look at is:
Daniel
Daniel 9:1-19
In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom –in the first year of his reign, I Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to the prophet Jeremiah, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with Him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and confesses: “O, Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of love with all who love Him and obey His commands, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from Your commands and laws. We have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. Lord, You are righteous , but this day we are covered with shame – the men of Judah and people of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to You. O Lord, we and our kings, our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against You. The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against Him; we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws He gave us through His servants the prophets. All Israel has transgressed Your law and turned away, refusing to obey you. Therefore the curses and sworn judgements written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against You. “You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favour of the Lord our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything He does, yet we have not obeyed Him. Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and made for Yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. O Lord, in keeping with all Your righteous acts, turn away Your righteous anger and wrath from Jerusalem, Your city, Your holy city. Our sins and the iniquities of our fathers have made Jerusalem and Your people an object of scorn to all those around us.
Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of Your servant. For Your sake, O Lord, look with favour on Your desolate sanctuary. Give ear, O God, and hear; open Your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears Your Name. We do not make requests of You because we are righteous, but because of Your great mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people bear Your Name.”
Daniel was in exile with the people of Israel because of their sinfulness as we can read in:
Daniel 1:1-6
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried of to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god. Then the king ordered Aspenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility – young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years., and after that they were to enter the king’s service. Among these were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.
However, God had declared that one day they would return to their land. Daniel had understood from Scripture that the time of their return was at hand. However, he knew that prayer was needed before that could take place. Moreover, he realised that this required intercessory prayer; he knew that he needed to stand in the gap on behalf of his people so the door would be opened for the return to their land.
In this passage we see Daniel identifying with the sins of his people. He acknowledged that God was the Righteous One and that he and the people were the unfaithful ones who deserved what had happened to them. He then pleaded for the return of himself and his people. This plea was based solely on God’s mercy and was for God’s Name sake because Daniel and his people bore God’s Name. God could then begin to act in response to Daniel’s prayer, which God did and the people did indeed return to their land.
God has chosen the instrument of prayer as a way to interact with this world because He delights to have His people, the believers, participate with Him in the work He is doing in the world. Prayer is one of the activities He desires for us to be involved in. It is not the only activity He has for is to take part in but it is a very important one. And it is fundamental to any other activity.
Healing prayer
Having looked at intercession in greater depth I would now like for us to focus on a particular type of prayer which is included in the general term “prayer” and which I call “healing prayer”.
This kind of healing prayer is focused on healing of the emotions.
We are after all body, soul and spirit as we can read in:
I Thessalonians 5:23
May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
When we are born again, the Holy Spirit comes to reside in our human spirit and we are new creations in our spirit as we can read in:
II Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
However, our soul realm, which contains our mind, will and emotions, needs to undergo a process through the renewing of the mind as we can read in:
Romans 12:2
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will.
This takes place through the study of God’s Word and prayer. That is how we become more Christ-like in our behaviour. However, many of us have blockages in our soul realm which hinder us from growing into spiritual maturity. Paul wrote that we are to forget what lies behind us as we can read in:
Philippians 3:13b
“…. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.”
It is this “forgetting” what I would like for us to look at because it is not always as easy to do as we might like, it may take some work.
And I am going to show you some steps to take so you can indeed learn to forget what lies behind, and teach others to do likewise.
I would like for you to see your soul realm as your “Promised Land”. Just as God told the Israelites in the Old Testament to spy out their Promised Land as we can read in:
Numbers 13:1-2
The Lord said to Moses, “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.”
So God wants you to “spy out your Promised Land”. You do that by asking God in prayer what are the blockages in your life that hinder you from being all that God wishes you to be.
These are the places of hurt, of grief, of wounds, of sins committed against you or even sins you have not been able to overcome as yet, as we can read in:
Hebrews 12:1
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”
Write down everything the Lord reveals to you. Some of the things He reveals may be from a long time ago, while other issues may be have happened to you very recently. When the Israelites entered their Promised Land, God showed them which city they were to attack and gave them a specific strategy for the attack as we can read in:
Joshua 6:1-5
“Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in. Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. March around the city with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up every man straight in.”
Likewise, you need to ask the Lord which particular hurt He would want you to deal with first of all and ask for Him to guide you through your prayer time.
Once the Lord has shown you which particular hurt has to be brought before Him, you begin to share with Him that event. Remember to not just tell Him the details of the event, but to release to Him the emotions connected to this particular event, asking Him to give you His peace instead. As you remember this event before the Lord, you will remember the ones who caused this painful event in your life. You will need to forgive them. Moreover you will begin to realise that very likely you have carried a measure of unforgiveness in your heart towards those who have hurt you. It is therefore important to ask God to forgive you for your unforgiveness towards them as we can read in:
Matthew 6:12
“Forgive us our debts; as we also have forgiven our debtors.”
And Matthew 6:14-15
For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
And Matthew 18:21-35
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. The servant fell on his knees before him. “Be patient with me,” he begged, “and I will pay back everything.” The servant’s master took pity on him, cancelled the debt and let him go. But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him.”Pay back what you owe me,” he demanded. His fellow servant fell on his knees and begged him. “Be patient with me and I will pay you back.” But he refused. Instead he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and told their master everything that had happened. Then the master called the servant in, “You wicked servant,” he said, “I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?” in anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.
As you forgive those who have hurt you and ask God to forgive you as well for holding unforgiveness towards them in your heart, let go of all of your emotions connected to this particular event and allow the Lord’s healing balm to flow into you.
Once you sense complete peace, you then declare to the enemy that the door is closed to him to work in that particular area in your soul because you have forgiven those who have wronged you and you have asked God to forgive you for your unforgiveness towards them. God has forgiven you based on:
I John 1:9
If we confess our sin, He is faithful and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
The enemy can work in our lives through our wounds, our hurts as we can read in:
Ephesians 4:26-27
In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sin go down while you are still angry and do not give the devil a foothold.
However, when we are healed of these wounds, these hurts, the enemy can no longer attack us in these areas.
Please remember that it takes time to bring Gods healing into your soul realm. After all, these hurts, these wounds did not get there overnight, they developed over time.
Moreover God wants to deal with each area one by one. Otherwise it will be too overwhelming for you.
Furthermore, God wants you to deal with each issue thoroughly so that the enemy will not have opportunity to come back to ensnare you in that particular place in your soul once again. This means that you must forgive anyone not just a little but 100 percent. Remember that forgiveness is for your sake, not for their sake. When you forgive others, you will be set free from whatever may bind you to them.
Finally, you are to bless those that have hurt you as we can read in:
Luke 6:28
Bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you.
As you bless others God will bless you.
In our next study we will look at the subject of the Church.