PRAYING FROM HEAVEN TO EARTH

Praying-From-Heaven-To-Earth.pdf

PRAYING FROM HEAVEN TO EARTH

Our New Position

Most believers know that the death and resurrection of Jesus cleanses them of all sin and gives them right standing with God. They know they can receive His Resurrection Life (New Life) as the replacement of their sinful Adam nature.

However few today realize the AUTHORITY we receive through the Ascension of Jesus. Through His Ascension (and our ascension with Him) we are lifted into a new POSITION "far above all principalities and powers" and given AUTHORITY.

"He (God) raised Him from the dead and seated Him (Jesus) at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named." (Ephes.1. 20,21)

When Jesus ascended His church" ascended with Him to this new POSITION. Knowing this is especially important and relevant for believers in today's immoral and rebellious world. This position is the position of those who know they have died with Christ through the Cross, been filled with new life through His resurrection, and have ascended with Him though His Ascension.
"But God, made us alive together with Christ ... and raised us up together with Him, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." (Ephes. 2.4-6)

Since we have been lifted into this position with Christ, above the dominion of Satan, we have the authority to STAND against spirits that seek to hinder us or steal what Christ has won for us. They have no authority over us - WE have been given authority over them. "Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10.18-20)

Ignorance Has Consequences
When believers are unaware of the authority given them by the Lord though His ascension they are easily overcome. When we do not use the prayer of authority, spirits of fear, depression, infirmity, accusation etc., can easily steal our blessings.
“Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. 11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death." (Revelation 12.11)

Unless we understand our AUTHORITY we cannot exercise our mission in prayer, in sharing the gospel and bringing light to the world.

Spiritual Warfare - Upward & Downward Prayer
In prayer, of petition we pray from earth to heaven. In spiritual warfare we pray FROM HEAVEN TO EARTH. One is UPWARD prayer, and the OTHER is DOWNWARD prayer. Upward prayer is the prayer of petition. Downward prayer is the prayer of AUTHORITY which Jesus gives His disciples. We can pray with authority because when He rose we rose with Him and when He ascended we ascended with Him. (Romans 6.5-7 & Ephes. 2.6)

Jesus has given us this authority to apply the power of His Name. When we stand in the heavenly POSITION that He has given us we can use His authority to resist all the works of Satan. He gives His disciples the privilege of using His authority as we go in His Name and under the protection of His Blood.

Speaking To Problems
Jesus also taught on authoritative prayer when He said: "Whoever shall say to this mountain be taken up and cast into the sea: and shall not doubt in his heart but shall believe that those things which he says shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he says.” (Mark 11.23)
He teaches us how to speak to our problems. Here we are not asking God to do something but exercising God's authority to deal with problems. To ask God to remove a mountain and to command a mountain to move are two entirely different things. In authoritative prayer, YOU speak to whatever is hindering you in the Name of Jesus. You can speak to your temper: "Depart from me." You can speak to your sickness: "Depart from my for by the resurrection life of the Lord I WILL recover." You can speak to hindering spirits: "Begone! I resist you and dismiss you in Jesus' Name!"

In the prayer of authority we do not force OUR WILL on a situation but seek to enforce GOD'S WILL. We are applying God's authority directly to the problem.

The prayer of authority is prayed by those who are under the Lord's authority. They do not speak on their own authority but only as the Spirit directs. Therefore before we speak the prayer of authority, we must be sure that what we are commanding is in PERFET ACCORD WITH GOD'S WILL. To ask in the Name of Jesus what God has not willed is to use His Name in vain. We do not command our wishes, but only God's revealed will, which may differ from situation to situation. We need to DISCERN the will of God in each situation. We discern the will of God by the Word AND the Spirit. We do not just apply the LETTER of the word, but speak the Holy Spirit interpreted and applied word of God into EVERY SITUATION. This is only possible if we rely on the guidance of the Holy Spirit and NOT on our own understanding.

From the scriptures we know evil spirits are permitted to exist on the earth until the Lord removes them on His return. (See Rev. 20.2) Therefore, at this time, we do not have authority to drive them out of our region or off the planet. We can only use our authority to block them and to forbid them interfering with the situations we are dealing with.

A Time To Overcome & Advance
Every believer needs to know how to pray the prayer of authority for themselves for their families and for their communities etc. When the church - the body of believers - recovers its authority they will be able to shake off the fear that often paralyzes them from acting, praying and speaking. It will rise up from the place of defeat and weakness to a place of fruitfulness, effectiveness and revival. They will learn to use their God given authority to resist spirts, speak to their problems and see God's Kingdom advance.

In these days of harvest God's Holy Spirit is calling all believers to take their place in advancing God's Kingdom by knowing their authority and when and how to use it in prayer according to the will of God.