verticallife

Why We Pray.

I wonder, since God knows the end, why does He want us to pray? If He is all-powerful, why is it necessary to pray? Our answer can be found right in the beginning. Not usually thought of as a passage on prayer, there is a principle regarding God’s desire to have us involved in the process of praying, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

 ”Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and rule over…every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28) Adam was told to rule over and subdue every living thing. Though God is God, God gave authority for the rulership of earth to Adam. He was to rule over every living thing. Every living thing would have included “the serpent,” which “was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made.” (Genesis 3:1)

 Just so there is no mistaking his identity, “the great dragon…the ancient serpent…is called the devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world.” (Revelation 12:9) The serpent we find in the beginning was the serpent we find at the end.

 In speaking of his dominion and rulership Psalm 8:5-6 says, “You made him a little lower than the angels and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him lord over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet.” Everything was to be under his feet, under his authority.

 Satan’s Pride Problem

There’s no telling what could have led a being like Satan into rebellion, taking a third of heaven with him. I think Satan had a problem with this. In his pride he wanted to be worshiped and served instead of worshiping God and serving God’s creation. There’s a clue about his pride as Timothy was taught on leadership: “He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.” (1 Timothy 3:6-7) Satan was judged for his conceit and fell because of his pride. “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18)

 Angels were supposed to serve. Angels are “ministering spirits sent to serve those who are going to inherit salvation.” (Hebrews 1:14) Angels serve us. We don’t serve angels. I don’t believe he wanted to serve beings that were made a little lower than the angels. So he rebelled.

 Angels were supposed to worship. “All the angels stood around the throne…and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God.” (Revelation 7:11) Angels were not supposed to be worshiped. The Apostle John was about to worship an angel when that angel said, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you, your brothers the prophets, and those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.” (Revelation 22:9) Angels were not to be worshiped. So he rebelled.

 Angels were not to be worshiped. Yet Lucifer said in his heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of the assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High. (Isaiah 14:13) Yet God’s response was this. “How you have fallen from heaven O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth.” (14:12) Angels were not to be glorified. They were to give glory. So he rebelled.

 Angels were not to be served or worshiped, yet that’s what Adam did when he abdicated his responsibilities to rule the earth. Don’t miss this point from our Savior’s temptation. Satan said, “I will give you this entire domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You worship me, it shall all be Yours.” (Luke 4:6-7) All that authority had been handed over to Satan. Who gave it to him? God gave it to Adam, and Adam gave it to the serpent. Instead of placing the enemy underneath his feet, Adam allowed Satan to have all authority on earth as the prince of this world (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11) and the god of this age (2 Corinthians 4:4), the one who masquerades as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14).

 That was Satan’s desire from the beginning, and it will be his desire in the end. “They worshiped the dragon because he gave authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast…” (Revelation 13:4)

 What the Devil Does

When Adam sinned, he subjected the world to Satan’s power (Acts 10:38) and allowed the whole world to be under Satan’s control (1 John 5:19). Satan was free then to hold the power of death (Hebrews 2:13-15). In fact “he was a murderer from the beginning…and the father of lies.” (John 8:44) He was free to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). He was free to devour whomever he wanted (1 Peter 5:8). He was free to lead the whole world astray (Revelation 12:9). He was free to gain traction in people’s lives (Ephesians 4:27). He was free to afflict people (Job 2:7). He was free to accuse people (Zechariah 3:1). He was free to tempt (1 Corinthians 7:5), free to plan and scheme (2 Corinthians 2:11). He was free to torment (2 Corinthians 12:7) and free to obstruct (1 Thessalonians 2:18). He was free to work in the lives of the disobedient (Ephesians 2:2)He was free to sow weeds in people’s lives (Matthew 13:39) and steal the seed of the Word from their lives (Matthew 13:19). Knowing his time is short, he has been and is filled with fury (Revelation 12:12), waging war “against those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony about Jesus.” (Revelation 12:17)

 Yet Jesus came “to destroy the devil’s work” (1 John 3:8) and to “rescue us from the dominion of darkness and transfer us into his kingdom. (Colossians 1:13)

 The Reversal

The serpent was warned, “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15) Paul said “the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” (Romans 16:20) “Your feet” is our feet! God will soon crush Satan underneath our feet. How will he do this? He did it through the second Adam.

 Jesus disarmed the powers and authorities, making a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross (Colossians 2:15). He shared in our humanity so that by His death He might destroy him who holes the power of death and free those held in slavery by their fear of death (Hebrews 2:14-15).

 Remember, everything was to be under Adam’s feet and under his authority. The end will come “when (Jesus) hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he ‘has put everything under his feet.’ Now when it says that ‘everything’ has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.” (1 Corinthians 15:24-28) Remember, the enemies are not flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12).

 Where Adam was to be over all, now Christ is over all. “That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” (Ephesians 1:19-23)

 Everything was supposed to be subjected under Adam. Now everything is subjected under Jesus. “It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. But there is a place where someone has testified: ‘What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor and put everything under his feet.’ In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at preset we do no see everything subject to him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.” (Hebrews 2:5-9)

 Every knee will bow whether they like it or not as we see in this familiar early confession found in Philippians 2:6-11. “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death- even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

 ”Jesus Christ…has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand-with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.” (1 Peter 3:22) Everything. Everyone. Every being. Every angel, good and evil. Every authority. Every power. Which is why we now have authority: “I have given you authority…to overcome all the power of the enemy.” (Luke 10:19)

 The disciples experienced this first hand. After a period of ministry going out two by two, the “seventy-two returned with joy and said, ‘Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.’” Jesus then told them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” (Luke 10:17-18)

 As Christ’s body, we are now co-laboring with Him to bring His message to the world and the world to Him (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:47; Acts 1:8). And one of our primary weapons (2 Corinthians 10:3-5; Ephesians 6:10-18) is prayer.

 Prayer is…

Prayer is a partnership of the redeemed child of God working hand in hand with God to realize the redemptive purposes of God. What I thought was true of the Spirit of God was actually something Paul was called to: “To open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” (Acts 26:18) As we do this more and in more places of the world, we are literally pushing Satan our of our world. Satan was thrown out of his (Revelation 12:8-9) world. It’s time we toss him out of ours.

 Dutch Sheets in his book Intercessory Prayer says, “Let’s rise to the occasion and embrace the incredible invitation to be co-laborers with God…to be carriers of His awesome Holy Spirit and ambassadors for His great kingdom.” (p.33) We not only function in Christ’s authority. We function as Christ’s authority.

 ”Intercessory prayer is an extension of the ministry of Jesus through His body, the Church, whereby we mediate between God and humanity for the purpose of reconciling the world to Him, or between Satan and humanity for the purpose of enforcing the victory of Calvary.” (p.42)

 Jesus is the Victor – We’re the enforcers of His victory.  Jesus is the Redeemer – We’re releasers of His redemption. Jesus is the Head – We’re His body.