«　WEEK 5　DAY 3　»

　　1 Cor. 12:27 Now you are the Body of Christ, and members individually.

　　Matt. 16:19 I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens, and whatever you bind on the earth shall have been bound in the heavens, and whatever you loose on the earth shall have been loosed in the heavens.

　　We must pray, taking the ground of Christ’s ascension, but we must realize that this ground is not for individuals. Rather, this ground is for the Body. Christ is the Head, and we are the Body (Col. 1:18). Today as the Body of Christ, we need to claim the ground of the ascension of Christ. I believe that this was the way the disciples prayed before the day of Pentecost. I believe that by the help of the Holy Spirit they prayed that the Lord would verify His ascension to the people on the earth. We should not cry to God as poor sinners. Rather, we must take the ground of Christ’s ascension and claim, “Lord, we are Your Body. We are in You. You are the Head and we are the Body. You are Head over all things to us as the Body; therefore, we claim all that You have obtained and all that You have attained.” We simply need to claim this ground and tell the Lord that we do not agree with certain things that are happening on this earth. We also need to tell Him that we are not satisfied with the present condition, situation, and state of His people. We need to forget about all our personal problems and declare, “Hallelujah! I am a member of the Body, the Body is in the Head, and the Head, who is over all things, is in the heavens.” (CWWL, 1963, vol. 1, p. 156)

　　Since the Body shares the authority of the Head, the Lord told His disciples that whatever they bound on earth would have been bound in heaven, and whatever they loosed on earth would have been loosed in heaven (Matt. 16:19; 18:18). When we pray with the authority of the Body, anything that we loose on the earth will be something that has already been loosed in the heavens, and anything that we bind on the earth will be something that has already been bound in the heavens. Because the Body is one with the Head in the heavens, the Body has the authority to bind or loose what has already been bound or loosed in the heavens.

　　The church is built upon a rock, and this rock is the ascended Christ. As a result, the gates of Hades cannot prevail against the church (16:18). We have the ground over Hades. Thus, we must learn to pray, exercising the authority that has been assigned to the Body by the Head.

　　To fully enter into this kind of prayer, there are two additional things that we must realize. First, we must realize that we are members of the Body, and we must live, act, and move in the Body. Second, in our daily life we must always put on the new man (Eph. 4:24). The new man is composed of the Head with the Body, Christ with the church (2:15-16). On the negative side, we need to put off the old man, and on the positive side, we need to put on the new man. By living in the Body and putting on the new man, we will be able to exercise the authority given to the Body by the Head.

　　We need to see the vision of the ascended Christ and learn to pray the prayer of authority. For two thousand years these matters have been neglected, but we believe that in these last days the Lord is going to recover them. Too often we do not take the ground of Christ’s ascension and claim what He has obtained and attained. Nevertheless, we believe that the Lord will recover this lost ground. This is the highest peak, the highest mountain of the good land. In these last days the Lord will recover this highest peak, this highest mountain. We must realize the facts, take the ground, and claim what the Head has obtained and attained. This is the prevailing prayer of the church. This is the prayer of the age. (CWWL, 1963, vol. 1, “The Prayer of the Age,” pp. 164-165)

　　Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 44, ch. 87