Outline
D
The Bible contains a most lofty and spiritual prayer—the prayer of authority—Matt. 18:18-19; Mark 11:23-24; Eph. 1:20-22; 2:6; 6:12-13, 18-19:
１
If we want to be a man of prayer, we have to learn to pray with authority; this is the kind of prayer described by the Lord in Matthew 18:18.
２
In Matthew 18:18 there is a prayer that is called binding prayer and a prayer that is called loosing prayer; to bind and to loose—this is to pray with authority.
E
Praying with authority is praying the prayer in Mark 11:23-24:
１
Faith is believing that we have received what we have asked for—v. 24:
ａ
According to the Lord’s word, we should believe that we have received, not that we will receive.
ｂ
To hope means to expect something in the future; to believe means to consider something as having been done.
ｃ
Faith is not only believing that God can or will do a certain thing but also believing that God has done that thing already.
２
The prayer in Mark 11:20-24 is a prayer with authority—v. 23:
ａ
A prayer with authority does not ask God to do something; instead, it exercises God’s authority and applies this authority to deal with problems and things that ought to be removed—Zech. 4:7; Matt. 21:21.
ｂ
God has commissioned us to command what He has commanded and give orders to what He has given orders to—17:20.
ｃ
The church can have such a prayer with authority by having full faith, being without doubt, and being clear that what we do is fully according to God’s will—6:10; 18:19-20.
ｄ
Prayer with authority has much to do with the overcomers; every overcomer must learn to speak to “this mountain”—Mark 11:23.
Morning Nourishment
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.In the beginning it is God who initiates, in the process you are but one who cooperates with God, and ultimately it is for the glory of God. This is real prayer—man being united with God and cooperating with Him on earth, allowing Him to express Himself and accomplish His purpose through man.
If a person only knows how to seek after himself and his own desire, he may pray, but he is not a man of prayer. A man of prayer must become such that in all the universe he cares only for God and His will, having no other desire besides this.
We can see this characteristic very clearly in our Lord Jesus when He lived as a man on this earth. When He was praying in Gethsemane, He fellowshipped with God the matter of His death, saying, “If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me.” But then He also said, “Yet not as I will, but as You will” (Matt. 26:39). Three times He told God, “I want Your will, not Mine.” Ordinarily, we think that when a person prays, he asks God to do something for him. For example, he has a desire, so he prays according to his desire and asks God to fulfill it for him. But in Gethsemane we see One who prayed thus: “Not as I will, but as You will.” In effect, the Lord Jesus was saying, “Although I am praying here, I am not asking You to accomplish something for Me; rather, I am asking that Your will be done. I seek nothing for Myself in this universe. My only desire is that You may prosper and that Your will may be carried out. I am such a One who wants only You and Your will.” (CWWL, 1959, vol. 4, “Lessons on Prayer,” pp. 34-36)
Today’s Reading
Let us look at the model prayer with which the Lord Jesus taught His disciples how to pray…At the very outset He said, “Your name be sanctified; Your kingdom come; Your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth” (Matt. 6:9-10). These words of prayer tell us clearly what His inner desire was. If we know only how to pray for our own living, business, and family, then our prayers really fall short. This proves that we are not single and pure before God but that we are still rather complicated and mixed within—we desire other things besides God. All [a man of prayer] wants is God and God’s will; he is satisfied as long as God has a way to go on and accomplish His will.Some may tell you that prayer needs faith. But faith is not something you can have just because you want it. Actually, faith is a function that emanates from God within us. If you are one who abides in God, lives in Him, and allows Him to have standing in you, then God in you issues forth a function, which is faith. Faith does not come from you. We can almost say that faith is God Himself…Only a person who is filled with God is full of faith. It is useless, therefore, to merely exhort people to have faith…If you really want to have faith, you need to be a man of prayer who lives in God, is being dealt with by Him, is willing to yield to His demands, and who gives permission to His strippings. When He thus has place in you, then He is the faith in you. When He fills you with Himself, you are full of faith. You do not need to strive to believe or compel yourself to believe, but you surely can believe, for within you there is a God to whom you pray, and He is the very God who fills you and moves you to pray—He has become your faith. Please remember, at this time you know with assurance that your prayer is acceptable to Him, is of Him, and is touching Him, and therefore, He cannot help but answer your prayer. This is faith. Faith does not come according to your wish. Rather, it is God in you filling you to such an extent that you cannot help but have faith. (CWWL, 1959, vol. 4, “Lessons on Prayer,” pp. 36, 47-48)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1959, vol. 4, “Lessons on Prayer,” ch. 4