TODAY’S DEVOTION (SATURDAY 19TH February 2022)
“And when you pray, you shall not be like the Hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.
“Therefore, do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. Matthew 6:5-8 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 50TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF AMAZING GRACE
Our LORD and King have been so mindful of us. To Him belong the glory for giving us another day. Being divine projects that cannot be abandoned, we do not take it for granted because each day represents a major investment of God in our lives.
In His mercies, He has watched over us, kept us from the evil one, and unleashed His Grace to work in our lives these 50 days of year 2022. Indeed, His grace in our lives has given us divine peace, divine revelation, divine direction, and made us who we are today.
This month was set aside from the onset to kindle our hearts with the fire of righteous prayers.
The LORD has opened His good treasure to us on the same and filled our hearts with living truths that only require application to turn our prayer lives around; especially truths on cultivating a heart of righteous prayers.
Yesterday’s devotional was on using the instrument of meditation to cultivate a prayer heart or a prayer spirit.
We shared some dynamic truths on what will happen to our prayer lives if we spend time meditating on things God did in Bible days when people prayed. One of the best ways to build your faith in the power of God instead of the wisdom of men is to do that.
Whenever we meditate on Bible records of what God did when men and women like us prayed in those ancient days, there seems to be a release of fresh fire from the LORD into our Spirits that enable us to believe Him for the same.
Personally, I have seen dimensions of God break out in my life and ministry doing that. The Holy Spirit will always bring one story or the other that I might have read to mind, and then move forward to animate its possibility in my spirit, as I pray. That is one way I have experienced the Spirit helping my weakness or infirmity in prayer.
The Bible says;
“Likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” Romans 8:26 NKJV
The prayer realm is a realm you cannot operate successfully in if you do not have the Spirit helping your prayer weaknesses or infirmities at all times.
TO BE HEARD IN HEAVEN, THERE IS A WAY WE OUGHT TO PRAY, AND THAT CAN ONLY BE POSSIBLE WHEN THE SPIRIT HELPS US.
If the Spirit of God is there, He will search our hearts as we pray, then connect or align us to what is in His own mind concerning what we may be praying about, making all things we are presenting to God in prayer to work together for our good. That is how the Spirit makes intercessions for us according to the will of GOD sometimes, using our own lips.
The buttress or underscore this truth, the rest of that scripture says;
“Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:27-28 NKJV
Without the Holy Spirit, nothing about righteous prayer will be possible. Righteous prayers, as we saw in times back, are prayers we pray based on what God has already done in the Spirit realm. They are not prayers you pray based on what God will do or should do. They are prayers you pray based on what God has already done in the Spirit realm which need to be done in the natural realm.
Now, praying such prayers is not possible without the Spirit of God governing you. That brings us to our devotional text for today. The text is full of great insights on result-oriented prayers. But we will cover just what we can in this devotional and leave the rest, maybe, for another day!
A major highlight says,
“Therefore, do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.”
There are some questions to ask here because if you are looking for hidden truths, you must learn to ask the questions that will unlock them.
The first question is, “who was Jesus saying we should not be like when we come into the prayer realm? And what Kind of prayer do they pray? The second is, if the father already knows what we need, why do we still need to pray? Why is prayer necessary since He already knows what we need?”
LET ME BEGIN WITH THE LAST SET OF QUESTIONS, THEN IF THERE IS TIME, WE LOOK AT THE FIRST SET DEEPLY AND OBJECTIVELY.
In one of our prayer schools, I did say that righteous prayers are prayers that proceed from God. They are not prayers that proceed from our needs or worries. They could be addressing our needs and worries, but they always proceed from God.
In other words, they begin from God, continues with us (sometimes for days, weeks, or months, if they are travailing prayers) then they return back to GOD. In the Spirit’s realm, any prayer that did not start from God will not be answered. The reason is, only what comes from God is acceptable in Heaven.
Whatever is not from God is iniquity or an abomination in His sight. That is why the prayer of the wicked is an abomination unto God because it is not always from Him. The only prayer of the wicked that comes from God is the prayer of repentance because repentance is a gift from God that is deposited in our hearts by His Holy Spirit.
The bottom line is, if you want to see results in prayer, you must understand the principle of alignment. Whatever comes from the earth that is not from God, will not be acceptable in Heaven. The Bible says;
“Forever, O LORD, your word is settled in heaven. Your faithfulness endures to all generations; You established the earth, and it abides.” Psalm 119:89-90 NKJV
If you want to see answers in prayer, make sure that whatever that has not been settled in Heaven should not be conceived in your heart or prayed by your mouth.
That is why Jesus, the who answer our prayers, said, when we pray, we should say, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth AS IT IS IN Heaven.”
What is the meaning of that? It simply means, when we pray, we should connect what the Father already knows that we need at an immediate present, and ask Him to give us. What the Father already knows that we need, is what is in Heaven. That is what to ask that it be done on earth. I hope you understand me!
The prayer realm therefore, begins with a revelation of what the Father already knows that we need. If you do not have that revelation at an immediate present, please don’t attempt prayer. You will end up praying like those Jesus said we should not be like in prayer.
SADLY, THE VERY PEOPLE JESUS SAID WE SHOULD NOT BE LIKE ARE THE ONES LEADING PRAYER MEETINGS IN CHURCHES TODAY!
Who are the very people Jesus says we should not be like in prayer, and what kind of prayer do they usually pray? Let’s get the answers.
Other highlights in our devotional text says;
“And when you pray, you shall not be like the Hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore, do not be like them….
The first people Jesus says we should not be like in the place of prayer are the hypocrites. The kind of prayer they pray is what they Bible describe as the prayer of the Hypocrites. It says “For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.”
This kind of people and prayer warriors are everywhere today.
So many prayer People do not know that prayer is not what you do to be seen by men. It is what you do to be seen by God alone. That was why Jesus never prayed publicly. Yes, you may be shocked to discover that He never prayed publicly except at the grave of Lazarus. All He did on the streets of Jerusalem was to speak and the people got their miracles.
In so many portions of the Bible, you find Him retreating to quiet places to be alone with God; most times throughout the night. There was no place He gathered people on corner of streets to pray and bind demons troubling the city, or to uproot this altar or arrest the spirit of this or that, like many so-called apostles and prophets do today.
HE KNEW YOU DO NOT BIND DEMONS OR TRANSFORM SPIRITUAL LANDSCAPES BY GATHERING IN LARGE GROUPS AND PRAYING.
You preach the word of truth and righteousness to people individually, until their spirits are reformed and mindsets transformed for demons to be bound and spiritual landscapes of Cities transformed.
The kind of religious shows our so-called fathers of faith put in the name of prayer is empty of genuine kingdom advance of impact, and unproductive, when it comes to changing the moral fabric of the society. It is unlocking ancient spirits into the spiritual lives of people. That is why in Kenya, for example, so many Christians have returned back to ancient practices and religions God buried decades ago.
It takes a strange or spiritual blind ‘child of God’ not to understand these anti-Christ developments going on as prayer movements. Sadly, they are going on in the name of the LORD and making a lot of money in the process.
The prayer of the Hypocrite people call prayer movements has never changed the moral life of any City or nation, it is Righteous preaching and Righteous prayers (made in the closet) that have changed societies.
I think enough have been shared for the day. I will pick up from here tomorrow. I encourage you to sit with the LORD with these things and let Him speak to you further.
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY
“Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.
For your hands are defiled with blood, And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken lies, Your tongue has muttered perversity. No one calls for justice, Nor does any plead for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies; They conceive evil and bring forth iniquity.
They hatch vipers’ eggs and weave the spider’s web; He who eats of their eggs dies, And from that which is crushed a viper breaks out.
Their webs will not become garments, Nor will they cover themselves with their works; Their works are works of iniquity, And the act of violence is in their hands.
Their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; Wasting and destruction are in their paths.
The way of peace they have not known, And there is no justice in their ways; They have made themselves crooked paths; Whoever takes that way shall not know peace.” Isaiah 59:1-8 NKJV