«　WEEK 3　DAY 5　»

　　Matt. 18:18 …Whatever you bind on the earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on the earth shall have been loosed in heaven.

　　Eph. 6:12-13 …Our wrestling is not against blood and flesh but against…the world-rulers of this darkness,… the spiritual forces of evil… Take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

　　The Bible contains a most lofty and spiritual prayer… It is the “prayer of authority.”… A prayer of authority is a commanding prayer. This is the most crucial and most spiritual prayer in the Bible. This kind of prayer is a sign of authority and a declaration of authority.

　　If you want to be a man of prayer, you have to learn to pray with authority. This kind of prayer is described by the Lord in Matthew 18:18… In this verse, there is a prayer that is called a binding prayer and a prayer that is called a loosing prayer. The move in heaven is dependent on the move on earth. Heaven listens to the earth and obeys the command of the earth. Whatever the earth binds will be bound in heaven, and whatever the earth looses will be loosed in heaven. The earth does not pray; it binds and looses. This is to pray with authority.

　　Isaiah 45:11 has the phrase, “Command Me.” How can we command God? This appears too presumptuous. But this is God’s own word.… As far as God is concerned, we can order Him, and we can command Him. Everyone who endeavors to learn to pray must learn this kind of prayer. (CWWN, vol. 22, “The Prayer Ministry of the Church,” p. 191)

　　[Commanding] prayer began from the time the Lord ascended to the heavenlies. Ascension is very much related to our Christian life… Ascension makes us victorious. The death of Christ dealt with the old creation in Adam, while resurrection brought us into the new creation… A new position before God was secured through the Lord’s resurrection, while a new position before Satan was secured through the Lord’s ascension. Ephesians 1:20-22 says that when Christ ascended, God caused Him to sit at His right hand and made Him “far above all rule and authority and power and lordship and every name that is named not only in this age but also in that which is to come.” Furthermore, God “subjected all things under His feet.” When Christ ascended, He opened up a way through “the air” to the heavenlies. From that day on, His church has been able to go from the earth to the heavenlies. We know that spiritual enemies dwell in “the air.” But today Christ has ascended to the heavenlies. A way from the earth to the heavenlies is now opened. This way was originally blocked by Satan. Now Christ has opened up a way to the heavenlies and has transcended far above all rule and authority and power and lordship and every name that is named not only in this age but also in that which is to come. This is Christ’s position today. In other words, God has put Satan and his subjects under Christ’s feet; all things are under His feet.

　　Ephesians 2 mentions sitting, while chapter 6 mentions standing; we stand in our position in the heavenlies:… “and having done all, to stand” (Eph. 6:13). Our warfare is against the demons. Hence, it is a spiritual warfare. Ephesians 6:18-19 says, “By means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit and watching unto this in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints, and for me.” This is a prayer concerning spiritual warfare. This kind of prayer is different from ordinary prayer. Ordinary prayer is directed from earth to heaven. But the prayer here is not from earth to heaven; it begins from a heavenly position and goes from heaven to earth. A prayer with authority has heaven as its starting point and the earth as its destination. (CWWN, vol. 22, “The Prayer Ministry of the Church,” pp. 192-194)

　　Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 22, “The Prayer Ministry of the Church,” ch. 4