Prayer and the Word

Friday 29 September
READ: Matt. 4:4-10   
MORE LESSON:  Heb. 1:1-3

The Word of God is the shell in which prayer is incubated and hatched. It helps to make our prayers acceptable to God. It shows us the requirements for answer, gives the appropriate words and compels God to act because He cannot break His Word. In Matt. 22:29 Jesus told the Jews, ...Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. The Word of God keeps us from error and opens our eyes to what God can do. God will never do what His Word forbids, no matter who prays it or how much fasting goes with it; neither will He refuse to perform His Word whatever the situation, ...for I will hasten my word to perform it: Jer. 1:12.

At Gethsemane Jesus asked that the cup be taken away from Him and got no answer. However, the moment He added, ‘not my will but thine be done,’ an angel came to strengthen Him because that was God's will;  And we have seen and do testify that  the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world: I Jn. 4:14.

Make the Word of God the bullet of your prayer gun, and there is no rock you cannot blast into pieces. Without the Word, prayer is mere noise, an empty toy gun without bullet, which can only scare an ignorant enemy. The moment the enemy discovers that your gun has no bullet he will deal a decisive blow on you even with your empty gun in place. The more of God's Word you know, the more live ammunition you have and you can dare the devil to any extent. God's Word applied in the place of prayer will quicken Heaven to answer and compel hell to submit; For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven: Psa. 119:89.

Each time I see people use the Psalms of David, I feel challenged that someone's personal prayer of over 4,000 years is still relevant today. Beloved how many of our prayers today can be used for others today not to talk of years or generations to come. The secret of such use is the inspiration and the biblical backing of the words in David's prayers. Heaven cannot reject such prayers nor will it ever become irrelevant. 

Prayer/Action
* Ask God for grace to saturate your life with His Word, in order to enjoy the blessings of prayer.
* Ask God to hasten His words to perform as you present them to Him in prayers.
*Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the Word you need to back up your prayers.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Father, for every reason I have cried this year, there shall be a sound of celebration and rejoicing, I shall be the celebrant of the year, in the name of Jesus.