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PROPHETIC PRAYING FOR
OTHERS
Shocking damage stalks the
church because too many ‘amateur providences’ have prayed for others without
the Lord’s permission and authority. The bogus word from ‘the Lord’ has
been more evil spirit than Holy Spirit revelation. Correct prayer that
respects the sanctity of the individual will bring the sanity of His peace
and wisdom. What are the ingredients of true prayer from the heart
in the Holy Spirit? Firstly, we must be aware of the tripartite being of
man, and allow the word of God to be a living scalpel to divide soul and
spirit, to reveal what originates in man’s flesh and what is of divine
purpose. Read Nee’s ‘The Spiritual Man’ and you may be on the road to true
Christian counsel as you live in those truths. The intellect is NOT the
shrine where the Holy Spirit lives in the believer. Jessie Penn-Lewis predated
Nee in this liberating discovery, of the great principle found in
1 Thessalonians 5:23:
“Now may the
God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely, may your whole spirit, soul,
body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
I am convinced that those ministries
who cling to the traditional view of merely soul and body have been left
behind by the God of truth. To keep in step with the Holy Spirit involves
a careful application of truth being rediscovered. The twentieth century
was a hundred years of rediscovering vital church and mission truths.
So what has this to do with
prophetic praying for other people? If we understand the word ‘prophetic’
correctly - everything! To prophesy means to live out as well as speak
out God’s character. The outshining of His love, His wisdom, holiness,
mercy and so on has to come through His vessels - us! Most christians
have trapped treasure deep down in their spirits. Praying for others has
one redemptive aim: to liberate the real you in the new creation so others
may see Christ IN you, the hope of glory. In our spirits there is the new
creation. It must permeate our affections, to feel.
It must penetrate our thinking,
to see. It must provoke our will, to do His will,
and pulse through our bodies,
for His glory alone. Prayer for others is to make them truly prophetic….a
God coming through kind of person. A generation of priests.
The Relationship between
the Word of God and Prayer
Now to be a prophetic prayer
warrior a very strong relationship with the Word of God is essential. Here
are some avenues of enquiry, and experience.
John 15:7, 8
states the two conditions for answered prayer……..
a) the indwelling
word;
b) abiding in Christ
Something of the Book must in
IN you actively at work in your life.
Something of the Blood must
be OVER you bringing unclouded fellowship with the Lord Jesus.
We know from 1 John 5:14,15
that confidence comes from praying in His will, which is always found within
His word. This simple truth is underlined in Romans 10:14,15
where five key words form the link between word and prayer.
Tracing the keys backwards
we have five steps:
a) the preacher
is sent by God;
b) the preaching (of
the word of God);
c) hearing;
d) believing;
e) calling on Him
(praying).
The conclusion is that people
cannot pray unless a preacher with the word of God is sent.
Again in Ephesians 3:8-10
we see the relationship between word and prayer. To preach the unsearchable
riches of Christ leads to fellowship of the mystery (which is the corporate
sharing of Christ IN you) and to spiritual warfare where the church exhibits
the power of the Cross to nullify the purposes of evil spirit agencies
behind the scenes!
To pray for others prophetically
we see two essential truths:
1) Understand
spirit, soul and body in order to recognise the blockages of self, sin
and evil spirit power;
2) Be aware of the
power of the preached word in the power of the Spirit so your prayers have
the proper faith foundation. When a sermon is anointed you are wise to
realise God is speaking to you - so fix the revelation by taking notes
or getting the tape! PRAY into the anointed word so it becomes LIFE to
your spirit and soul. The anointed word is faith fuel for prayer. To pray
the word of God as a sword of the Spirit is to take Satan’s prey from him!
So Ephesians 6:17 works to set free in a ministry of command over evil
spirits in the name of Jesus Christ, our victor. This only attacking piece
of God’s armour means using a specific word or sword given by revelation
to destroy a specific satanic situation in someone’s life. A general sword
like Revelation 12:11 or Psalm 118:11, 12 may not be enough. Here
we have to wait on the Lord’s direction, to give the rhema word.
Prophetic praying for
others begins by detecting the hindrance or roadblock Satan has manufactured
that prevents the believer from becoming a disciple. Even the apostle Paul
was hindered! (1 Thessalonians 2:18). Our desires from God can be thwarted
and here we need encouraging prayer from the beloved! We destroy enemy
wiles and methods by the sword of the Spirit before we can speak into an
agreed future plan that the Father has revealed. There are so many dashed
hopes in the body of Christ because of a lack of spiritual warfare! We
take the Kingdom of heaven by extreme exertion! We press into the Spirit
realm led by the Lord, our Man of war who has already defeated the devil.
Our task is to overcome the one, who at the Cross was vanquished. A knowledge
of the full panorama of the Word of God is required to move in aggressive
warfare……….anointed by the Spirit it is our greatest weapon.
Deliverance is not an
end in itself
Personal deliverance from
evil spirits should open the heart door for the intentions of God.
What are the safeguards in prophetic praying for other lives, who are individually
responsible to do the will of God?
1) Do not
emphasise personal prophecy. So much of horizontal words from God are minus
His character, that what is being uttered is soul-power. See Watchman
Nee, ‘The Latent power of the soul’. Sometimes an Agabus may intervene
with a ‘thus saith the Lord’ …..but it is exceptional in the New Testament.
2) We need to experience
the inner registration of the Holy Spirit in determining His future path.
Refuse worry and fear and experience His peace or the name of Jesus will
have no effect in your life. After true deliverance ministry the effect
of righteousness will be peace. (See Isaiah 30:15; 32:16,17).
3) Be aware of timing
in a life. Our past is preparation for His future……and counselling is to
stop the past (sin, self or evil spirit) influencing the future. Many of
God’s children are not in a place to receive the fulness of Father’s love-plan.
We need great wisdom as prayer-warriors and counsellors to know when to
impart a revelation. Big prophecies have wrecked little believers.
Can the revelation be properly handled?
4) Never see deliverance
joy as ‘I’ve arrived’! You have just started out the journey of faith.
When Nehemiah cleared away the rubbish he could start rebuilding the walls.
The recovery of the testimony of the Lord lasts a lifetime and beyond.
See deliverance ministry as part of the salvation package, and related
to inner healing processes.
5) Know where the believer
is in the Lord Jesus. Our journeys and pasts are all unique. Some get big
deliverances and are pushed into a ministry prematurely. The prayer-warrior
must slowly get a full picture of the person they are praying for. We must
be watchful but never controlling. There came a time when Jeremiah could
NOT pray for God’s backsliden people. Sometimes we have carried a person
in our prayers - we are to help, but God carries us from the womb to tomb.
Beware of the ministry-dependant sponge. You have to know when to call
it a day with certain lives. Sometimes Calvary love is tough.
6) Be aware you may
not be God’s appointed channel of deliverance to a specific sufferer. Sometimes
our job is merely pass them on to someone else, who we feel has the appropriate
anointing to bless.
7) See deliverance
as a basic foundational doctrine and not a higher truth. See it in
the context of mentoring a disciple. When self, sin, and evil spirit interaction
issues are cleared up the way is open for God’s INITIATING particular word
to describe the future INTENTION. Deliverance, like forgiveness of
sins, is never and end in itself. Our goal is Revelation 3:21 :
“To him who
overcomes, I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame
and sat down with My Father on His throne.”
Will we walk the way of the
Cross in order to overcome sin, self and Satan and finally take our place
in the glorious future of reigning with Him? We need to pray for the Joseph
remnant to come out of prison and for the obedient Esther church to move
in holy boldness.
Seeing Negatives as part
of God’s plan
In 1 Samuel 1 we see the
birthing of the heart of the prophetic. Hannah’s domestic tragedy becomes
Israel’s national triumph.
Check out her three griefs
of soul:
v.7
provocation from Peninnah at the house of the Lord;
v.10 anguish over
her barren state;
v.14 misunderstanding
from Eli, the backslidden priest;
In the mercy of God she experienced
three graces:
v.5 a special
love from her husband;
v.11 a vow to the
Lord concerning a Nazirite;
v.15 an ability
to pour out her soul;
Out of these six aspects so
beautifully linked and balanced, a prophetic heart is born -the one who
hears God, and begins 400 years of prophets to Israel and the world.
Samuel, the originator of universities, came out from heartache that turned
to a heartcry. Before the faithful priest emerges, we see three spheres
of failure:
a) Failure
of worship - 1 Sam 2:16,17;
b) Failure of
word - 1 Sam 3 :1;
c) Failure of
word - 1 Sam 4 : 2 .
God has to thoroughly DISILLUSION
His people before the TRUE PROPHETIC arises. God is at work in the
negatives among individuals, churches, and nations. The prayer warrior
must discern this strange and unusual work.
In the New Testament the
same principle emerges in 2 Corinthians 1:8-10. The sentence
of death is the particular work of the Cross that was cutting away self-reliance.…so
the God of resurrection could do a deeper work in the apostolic team.
Some believers confuse a sentence of death with a spirit of death, which
must always be resisted and expelled in the all-prevailing never failing
name of Jesus Christ our Lord. In the very next verse, Paul writes “you
also helping together in prayer for us” (v.11). God carried Paul through
the heavy pressure situation, but the local church prayer meeting helped.
True prophetic praying sees
the Cross in the will of God for others. Too often we see negatives in
our lives as disqualifications for service. As we surrender them to a sovereign
God our valleys can actually be essential steps to becoming vessels unto
honour. Habitual sins will have an effect to hinder the purpose of God,
but the valley of adverse circumstances so often hides a personal Cross
so that death can work in us in order that eternal life may flow to others.
The prayer warrior must carefully discern this, and not be wanting the
removal of things that seem to obstruct a soul’s progress. I remember
once a keen and diligent lady feeling hindered by her once-born husband
- a good man but not spiritually alive. My counsel was for her to abide
and see the cross at work in the domestic situation rather than strive
for ministry. She came to the place of peace.
We sometimes forget the Spirit-filled
life will make us an automatic target of the enemy. The sovereign Lord
permits the assault that we may learn to abide under the shadow of His
wing, knowing our life is hid with Christ in God. Job 13:15
says :
“Though he slay
me, yet will I trust Him.”
Do we have courage to accept
his acceptance even when things appear to go wrong? God allows the
enemy to go far sometimes, and those who pray for others must cry out for
a continual supply of discernment, and for the trust of the sufferer to
stand firm.
Prophetic praying the
Word
The Word of God is the way
out of every trauma and difficulty the counsellor hears. We have
to find a Psalm to comfort, a verse to direct thinking, or a prohibition
or command. The beginning and end of all true ministry is Scripture as
a seed, anointed by the Holy Spirit, and obeyed, so the seed may enter
our innermost being. There is a time to boldly proclaim the truth over
our lives, (A); There is a time to sense what is happening through the
given word and then find a sword of the Spirit to use in the conflict,
(B); Thirdly, there is a time when God may bring a prophecy to encourage
the sufferer toward God’s love-plan for their lives, (C).
(A) DECLARATION
To minister encouragement
is often the vital pre-requisite because lives are so often broken, with
low self-esteem, abuse etc. Declare who they are in Christ Jesus. This
begins to release the necessary faith in order to receive from God.
Good procedure begins with the establishment of faith because,
“If
you will not believe, surely you shall not be established.”
(Isaiah 7:9)
Here is a quick A-E of who we
are in Christ Jesus, in the wonderful new creation realities, planted in
us by the new birth and the Holy Spirit infillings:
| A |
Adopted
Accepted
Anointed
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Galatians 4:4-6;
Ephesians 1:6;
1 John 2:20,27;
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| B |
Blessed
Babe
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Ephesians 1:3;
Luke 10:21;
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| C |
Chosen
Called
Cleansed
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Ephesians 1:4;
2 Timothy 1:9;
1 John 1:7-9;
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| D |
Delivered
Dreamer |
2 Corinthians 1:8-10
;
Joel 2:28 (old
men, but not as a derogatory term) ;
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| E |
Elect
Evangelistic
Eternal |
1 Peter 1:2;
Matthew 28:18-20;
John 6:40, 17:2 .
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One could go on to F to Z,
but the essential step to healing and deliverance is to know your heavenly
citizenship, your status of being in Christ. Of course, sin and self stops
us from abiding in Christ and realising our status. Declaration,
confession, and repentance of sin areas or unforgiveness must precede true
Holy Spirit ministry. The depth of repentance corresponds to the realities
of deliverance and prophecy.
(A) DELIVERANCE
The blessed relief and release
in the Holy Spirit comes through a knowledgeable use of the sword of the
Spirit to cut away demonic interaction. Through a family member,
a boss or colleague at work, through relatives or church friends the enemy
attack can paralyse the will, torment the mind, confuse the emotions. Deliverance
ministry is not just casting out demons, but standing in active opposition
against evil with the armour that God fully supplies to make us heavily-armed
soldiers.
(B) PROPHECY
Getting words for others
can be devalued to a hazardous game of fortune-telling. The guidelines
are found in “Prophetic ministry” chapter. Let us have a holy caution before
we take it upon ourselves to lead a life by directional, horizontal prophecy.
Lives have been shipwrecked by trusting a “word from the Lord.”
True prophecy will accurately
assess where a life is actually at; what have been the prevailing problems,
and what level the resources are at to live in the good of the prophecy.
Can the person rise to God’s level of faith? Are they deceived about some
sin or self issue? Will they yield to the Lordship of Christ Jesus? ASSESSMENT
of CHARACTER should undergird the ambition of charisma.
Sadly hundreds of Christian
workers and thousands of Christians are disillusioned and frustrated because
they have gone ahead of the Lord, working out some prophecy or idea of
service, in their own resources. The first step in Christian service is
to be a love-slave of Jesus, a bond-man with no rights, no recourse when
wronged, and no reward for their labours. This call is for every Spirit-filled
believer because if the Cross does not penetrate our lives we will fail
to be a faithful follower and representative of the Father and the Son.
Prophetic praying for others
sees the heart-state of the believer now, and the glorious goal of Sonship
in Revelation 3:21.
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