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　　Mark 11:23-24 Truly I say to you that whoever says to this mountain, Be taken up and cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says happens, he will have it. For this reason I say to you, All things that you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and you will have them.

　　The Bible contains a most lofty and spiritual prayer. But few people pray this prayer, and few pay attention to it…It is the “prayer of authority.” We know that there are prayers of praise, prayers of thanksgiving, supplicating prayers, and begging prayers…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. (CWWN, vol. 22, “The Prayer Ministry of the Church,” p. 191)

　　A prayer with authority has two aspects. One is to bind, and the other is to loose. What is bound on earth will be bound in heaven, and what is loosed on earth will be loosed in heaven. Matthew 18:18 tells us that whatever the earth does, heaven will also do. In verse 19 there is the matter of prayer… Ordinary prayers are prayers that ask God to bind and loose. Prayers with authority are those in which we bind and loose by exercising authority. God binds because the church has bound, and God looses because the church has loosed. God has given this authority to the church. When the church exercises this authority to speak something, God does it.

　　What is praying with authority? Simply put, it is praying the prayer of Mark 11…Verse 24 begins with the words “for this reason.” “For this reason” means that this sentence is a continuation of what has gone before…Verse 24 mentions prayer. This proves that verse 23 must also concern prayer. The strange thing is that verse 23 does not sound like an ordinary prayer. The Lord did not tell us to pray, “God, please move the mountain and cast it into the sea.” What does it say? It says, “Whoever says to this mountain, Be taken up and cast into the sea.”…We think that when we pray to God, we have to say, “God, please move this mountain and cast it into the sea.” But the Lord said something else…He told us to turn to the mountain and to speak to the mountain. The speaking is not toward God but directly toward the mountain, telling it to be cast into the sea. Since the Lord was afraid that we would not consider this to be a prayer, He pointed out in the following verse that it is a prayer. This prayer is not directed toward God, but it is a prayer. It is a speaking directed toward the mountain…This is a prayer with authority. A prayer with authority does not ask God to do something. Rather, it exercises God’s authority and applies this authority to deal with problems and things that ought to be removed. Every overcomer has to learn to pray this kind of prayer. Every overcomer has to learn to speak to the mountain.

　　We have many weaknesses, such as temper, evil thoughts, or physical illnesses. If we plead with God concerning these problems, it seems that there is not much result. However, if we apply God’s authority to the situation and speak to the mountain, these problems will go away…Seldom do we pray by applying God’s authority to the problem or by saying, “I command you in the name of my Lord to go away” or “I cannot tolerate this thing to remain with me anymore.” A prayer with authority is one in which we tell the things that are frustrating us to go away. We can say to our temper, “Go away.” We can say to sickness, “Go away. I will rise up by the resurrection life of the Lord.”

　　A prayer with authority is not asking God directly. Rather, it is dealing with problems by directly applying God’s authority. All of us have mountains. Of course, these mountains are not the same in size…But whatever is blocking us from going on in the spiritual pathway, we can command to go away. This is to pray with authority. (CWWN, vol. 22, “The Prayer Ministry of the Church,” pp. 200, 195-197)

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