DOMINION OVER SPIRITUAL WICKEDNESS 4E

There is also the prayer of petition. Your prayer requests fall under this category. This is the one known to everyone – presenting needs before God. It is very scriptural. John 15:16, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall Father in my name, he may give it you.” John 14:14, “If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.”

God expects us to ask. “Ask, and it shall be given you, seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened” (Matt. 7:7-8). James 5:16 says, “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

Prayer of importunity. When you add importunity to petition, you are taking your prayer to another level just like the widow that was asking an unrighteous judge for help. The judge decided to heed the widow’s request because of her persistence (Luke 18:1-6).

A lot of prayers are not answered because they are selfish prayers. If whenever your son comes to you he is always asking for things that are selfish, you will definitely not be pleased with him. You can identify people by the content of their prayer. Your prayer size determines your spiritual size. A lot of Christians ask for carnal things because they are not spiritual, they are not mature in their spiritual walk. You need to be careful.

I fell into that trap at a point in time. In a very big Church, I was called out to ask God for anything I wanted him to do for me. I went to the altar and prayed, ‘heavenly Father, send me to United States of America’. To the glory of God, in miraculous circumstances, I was airborne to the US just few months after this prayer. I later realized that I had prayed amiss. However, I prayed to my size, that was what was uppermost in my heart at that point in time. I now know better.

There is the prayer of warfare. It is important for you to know when the battle has matured. You must know when to shift from other prayers to warfare. Whenever you are praying, remember that you are not to command God. There are times when you need to speak to the situation. The Bible says in Mark 11:23, “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.” God has given you the power to ‘say’ to the mountain, don’t pass the responsibility back to God. Speak to the mountain.

Learn how to execute the judgment that is written in the word of God. Spiritual warfare is real. Whenever you get into this type of prayer, you are not actually pleading, you are commanding and decreeing with power in line with the word of God. Learn to speak to ugly situations. There is a time to say, let God arise and let his enemies be scattered.

ACTION POINT

• Identify one challenge (mountain) in your life. Stand on the authority of Mark 11:23 and command that mountain to dissolve and disappear. Keep commanding until the mountain is no more.

TO BE CONTINUED………