"Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." ~Mt. 6:10
This scripture, coupled with Matthew 16:19, contains "rules" for prayer concerning the authority God has given us.
Today, before I explain further on how we can open our mouths to work with the Lord to bring His will to pass in the earth, I feel I must address some misuses of this authority that I have seen over the years. Sometimes, in understanding how to do something, it helps to be told how not to do it. So, here goes....
This is a practical example of not following the simple rules that Jesus gave. When I was only a few months old in the Lord, I prayed a prayer I will never forget. I was in a difficult circumstance in which I felt I was being wronged. (Ever been there? We all have.) I was hurt. I cried out to the Lord in my frustration praying, "God, don't let them be happy until they do me right." I immediately felt conviction from the Lord but I didn't know why. I just knew that He was unhappy with what I just prayed. I also knew that those words were powerful. So, I took those words back and asked Him to forgive me and I asked Him to bless those people.
It wasn't for a long time later that I began to understand why it was wrong to pray that way. Let's examine, according to Matthew 16:19, why this was the wrong way to pray and what was happening in the realm of the spirit when I prayed.
"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind (declare to be improper and unlawful) on earth must be what is already bound in heaven; and whatever you loose (declare lawful) on earth must be what is already loosed in heaven."
First of all, by saying, "Don't let them be happy," I "bound" happiness from them--which went against the rules. Happiness isn't bound in heaven meaning that there's lots of happiness in heaven, right? By this prayer, I was loosing unhappiness in those people's lives. Unhappiness is "loosed" in hell meaning that there's lots of unhappy souls there right now. So, what was in essence doing? I wasn't praying, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Instead, without realizing it, I was praying that the kingdom of hell be done on earth. How scary. I can read I John 5:14 & 15 and know that God answers prayers that are prayed according to His will. This prayer was not according to His will and He definitely wasn't going to grant it. But, there is an enemy out there who only comes to steal, kill, and to destroy. He was ready and willing to answer that prayer. I was, with the words of my mouth, loosing demonic spirits to go torment those precious people. I understand now why it was so important that I was immediately convicted and so important for me to cancel that prayer I prayed in ignorance. That's why it was so important to "bless my enemies" instead.
How important are the words we pray! Death and life really ARE in the power of the tongue. With our prayers we, knowingly or unknowingly, can release God's kingdom or satan's kingdom.
There are so many intercessors who don't understand this principle. I have heard of people going into warfare and literally cursing other people. I've heard prayers asking God to curse a person's job, a lady repentingly told me she used to pray the Psalms over her pastors after they made her mad--Psalms about vengeance. One lady told me she prayed against a family member until he died and she honestly thought God was the one influencing her prayers. As I listened to each person, they honestly thought that it was God who has directed them to do so. And when each prayer was answered, it was a sign to them that God answered the prayer. It makes me feel sad, but also makes me have the desire to write about it, determined to shine the light on these scriptures--even if I'm misquoted or misunderstood.
We are never given the approval of God to curse people and are never given the right to attempt to manipulate others with our prayers. Even if we think we are being led by God to pray such a way, even if we've had 3 dreams, 2 visions, and 4 other seeming confirmations, I say completely without sarcasm that we just do not have authority over other people in this way. Concerning prayer, our authority is limited to the spirit realm. Here's what the Bible has to say about it. Ephesians 6:12 says that we are to put on the armor of God,
"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places."
It expressly says that our wrestlings in prayer are not with people ("flesh and blood") but with demonic spirits. Our right to "curse" if you will, is only over spirits. Think about it in light of Matthew 16:19 and Matthew 6:10 mentioned earlier. Demons can't do what they want in heaven; therefore, I can tell them they can't do what they want in a certain situation here on earth. People have freedom in heaven; therefore, I can't pray curses over them here on earth! They aren't cursed in heaven! Every saint who has gone to be with the Lord is so blessed!!
So, what do we do when a person is doing wrong things and we want to pray about it? We pray FOR the person and AGAINST the demonic spirit(s) that may be influencing the person. God loves the person. That person was made in God's image no matter how much it may not seem like it. God's will for that person is to redeem him or her. So, who are we to pray negative things over him/her? We cannot let our emotions, our hurts, and our limited, human way of thinking cause us to think that God is giving us the right to curse them. We can't curse someone's job, pray that their finances would crumble, pray that their marriage would fall apart, pray that a person will get sick in order to learn a lesson...I could go on and on. Have you ever heard or prayed these kind of prayers? These are curses. When Christians curse another person in these ways--no matter how much they believe they are being led by God--what kingdom are they giving permission to act? Heaven? Or hell? You guess it = hell. It's that simple.
Let me interject that I know this can be a very sensitive issue. I know that many are offended to even entertain the thought that we could unknowingly be used by satan in this way. I also know that if I hadn't have felt the love of the Lord that day when I felt convicted about my prayer and if someone would have unlovingly told me what I was really doing, it probably would have crushed me. Thank God, He knows how to teach us if we remain teachable, flexible, and open.
Even if we do get offended, the Lord knows how to turn us around. I'm sure that Peter was offended when Jesus said in response to Peter, "Get thee behind me, satan" (Mt. 16:23). Peter wasn't the devil!!! He was one of Jesus' followers, one of His beloved!!! Jesus had just said right before that, that Peter was the ROCK and that God, Himself, had revealed to Peter who Jesus was!! Now, "Get thee behind me, satan"??? I'm sure Peter was taken back by that statement. I would imagine he had to reflect on that one for quite a while. So, this may be something we need to chew on as well. Don't feel rejected by God or even less of a Christian if you have done some of these things. We are human, just like Peter, and we are still in the process of being changed to look like Jesus. It takes time.
If you are like so many who has unknowingly cursed people, then please let this truth sink in and allow the Lord to change your way of praying.
Think about Peter again. If satan used Peter in an attempt to persuade Jesus not to go to the cross--Peter, one of Jesus' closest disciples--then who are we to think we can never be influenced by satan? If I have learned anything over the last couple of years it's the fact that I am a weak, unintelligent, and sinful person without the help of Jesus!! WE ALL ARE!! I know that "nothing good dwells in me" and that's a wonderful thing to know. That's a great state to be in. Why? Because it moves my confidence from myself to God. When we are not so over-confident in ourselves and in our own spirituality, but confidence in the God who lives in us, we can with confidence agree with II Corinthians 4:7: "We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us." When Peter was self-confident in the fact that he was one of the "chosen three" who were Jesus' closest buddies, he told Jesus he would NEVER DENY HIM. After denying Jesus and cussing about it, Peter saw his own human frailty. It brought him to the place that his confidence had to move from himself to being confident in God. Understanding that reality positioned him to be an earthen vessel that God used on the day of Pentecost to save thousands of people in one day.
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If Peter could be used by God one moment, and influenced by the devil another, who are we to think that everything we think is always right? Who are we to believe that everything that runs across our minds when we are praying is always of God? It isn't. That's why we are to "try the spirits to see if they are from God." That's why when we are praying, when we are interceding, Matthew 16:19 and Matthew 6:10 ought to be our "filter" through which we decide what is proper to pray. We should ask ourselves, "What am I bringing to earth, heaven or hell?" When you cut out all the details and everything that muddies a situation and put it that basic, then it's so much easier to know how to pray and who is influencing that prayer.
Let's agree with Jesus and pray, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
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