Throne Room Prayer (eBook)

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THE MYSTERY OF PRAYER

You answer our prayers with amazing wonders

and with awe-inspiring displays of power.

You are the righteous God who helps us like a father.

Everyone everywhere looks to you,

for you are the confidence of all the earth,

even to the farthest islands of the sea.

PSALM 65:5

Have you ever considered the mystery of prayer? It’s both simple and profound at the same time. Prayer has changed the world and affected human history more than any of us could ever calculate. It’s a divine, sacred, glorious mystery that will draw you into His heart. It’s the privilege and the opportunity to lock arms with God and labor together with Him. It’s life taken to its highest degree! It takes us into the timelessness of His presence as we speak with God and hear His heart.

Did you know there are over six hundred prayers in the Bible? And that doesn’t even count the 150 Psalms, which are prayers set to music. As we pray, we’re actually partnering with Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Only a friend that truly loves you will always be there to hear your cry. Jesus is that friend: He will never leave or fail you. We cry out to Him because our heart is lovesick for the Son of God! We can learn of His kindness through prayer. He loves to hear our cry and loves to spend time with us.

We must be those who seek His presence, not just His presents. The Lord’s Prayer begins with “Our Father,” not “Our needs.” Worship, not whining, is the highest form of prayer. As we pray, our friendship with the Beloved One deepens and sweetens as the true needs of our heart are answered by loving Him (Song of Songs 2:14).

PRAYER WAS THE PRIORITY OF JESUS

Many mornings, Jesus began with prayer in solitude. And Jesus was in prayer when the Holy Spirit came upon Him at His baptism. He received power, wisdom, and strategy by His intimate prayer life with the Father. We see Jesus praying over twenty-five times in the Gospels. During the last hours of His life, He prayed. On the cross, He prayed. Everything about His ministry was rooted in prayer. May we have the same longing for time alone with the Father that Jesus did.

As he prayed, his face began to glow until it was a blinding glory streaming from him. His entire body was illuminated with a radiant glory. His brightness became so intense that it made his clothing blinding white, like multiple flashes of lightning. (Luke 9:29)

This was the “transfiguration” of Jesus found in three of the four Gospels. It is considered one of the highest moments of the life and ministry of Jesus. But what stands out to me are the words “As He prayed.” It is as we pray that God is released within us to unveil who we are in His eyes. The real change we want can be found as we pray.

If it was a priority to the Holy Son of God to live continually in the presence of His Father, so must that be our priority. The very prayer habits of our Lord Jesus will be repeated on earth by those that seek Him above everything else. Jesus is the perfect prayer partner for you (Matthew 14:23; Mark 1:35; Luke 6:12).

PRAYER OPENS OUR SPIRITUAL EYES

God’s Spirit can open blind eyes. We’re all born blind because of sin, but when we are born again, God’s Spirt opens those blind eyes. It’s only by the Holy Spirit that we receive our spiritual eyes to see as we pray. And true spiritual insight comes with a humble desire to know Jesus. Many things will be shown to you as you pray. Expect your eyes to be opened to see into the spiritual realm all around you. For the kingdom of heaven is at hand and even close enough to reach. Sacred secrets will be shared with you as you make Jesus your lifetime prayer partner. Pray and God will open your eyes to see the glory of Christ (2 Kings 6:16–17; Ephesians 1:17–18; 1 Corinthians 2:9–10).

PRAYER IS A LOVE RESPONSE TO OTHERS

Every true prayer partner with Jesus will learn to carry the concerns of others. When we understand how powerful our prayers are, we will use them to pray for God’s best to come to others. Prayer can lift the burdens of others, just as it lifts ours. When we pray for another person, we’re participating in one of the most loving things we can do. As you grow in love, you’ll grow in your prayer response to the burdens of your friends. Ask the Lord to show you today how to pray for others—and watch as miracles come to them (Philippians 1:7).

PRAYER ESCORTS GOD’S WILL TO THE EARTH

It is time to pray the power of God out of heaven onto the earth! The ministry of prayer is to bring the will of heaven here. We stand on God’s side, wanting what God wants. It’s as though our prayers paint a “bull’s-eye” for the next place where God’s power will fall. True prayer is discovering God’s heart as we draw near to Him. And then as we join Him in intercession, we’ll begin to see His will done on earth as it is in heaven. When you know what’s happening in heaven, you can pray it done on earth (Amos 3:7).

True prayer is Christ in you praying through you to accomplish the Father’s desires for the earth. It’s true: Jesus Christ is your prayer partner, and He will pray through you as you pray through Him! It’s by your prayers that God takes charge of things here on earth. The highest privilege of the church is to be the outlet of God’s will. We escort God’s purposes to the earth. We can pull down the future into the present with our prayers of faith (Matthew 6:10; Psalm119:126).

PRAYER BRINGS PEACE, COMFORT, AND JOY

Most of us are carrying burdens that must be given up and laid aside (Philippians 4:6–7). Prayer from the heart is like dialing 911. It is God’s system for emergency response. Yes, He knows what you need before you even ask, but He wants you to ask. And when we do ask, we’re turning our hearts to our true source of life, comfort, and peace. Nothing soothes the heart like prayer (James 5:13).

Just as a parent is stirred by the cry of their children, so Abba, our Father, is moved by your sigh. He is touched by the feeling of your weakness and understands you more than you realize (Hebrews 4:15–16). As we pour out our hearts before Him, we touch the flow of compassion in Abba Father’s heart (Isaiah 30:19). Read Psalms 61–63 and underline the references to prayer and see the results of prayer!

PRAYER IS HOW WE RECEIVE WHAT WE NEED

What would you pray for today if you knew you could have it? Simply stated, we don’t have what we need because we don’t ask for it (James 4:2). Asking and receiving is the dynamic of prayer that relieves the pain of life and releases the substance of heaven. Whatever we need, whenever we need it, we simply ask the Father to give it. This cultivates your relationship as His child. Just as earthly fathers delight in caring for and providing for their children, so our heavenly Father knows what we have need of and will give it to us when we ask. Jesus once said to blind Bartimaeus, “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus is still saying this to us every day. Do you have a need? Is there a burden on your heart? Is there something you want that only God can give you? Ask and watch Him answer! He’s your Father and He loves you!

PRAYER IS HAVING THE PROPER FOCUS

True prayer must be addressed to our heavenly Father. There are about forty New Testament prayers recorded in the Scriptures; all are addressed to God the Father. We have no New Testament prayer directed at the devil. Jesus clearly taught us to pray to the Father (Matthew 18:19; Luke 11:2, 13). The prayer of Jesus in John 17 was directed to the Father. Even in the warfare epistle of Ephesians, the apostle Paul prays to the “Father of Glory” (Ephesians 1:16–17). The prayer focus of the book of Revelation is to Him who sits on the throne or the Father and the Lamb or the Son (Revelation 4).

True prayer is focused on prayer from the throne room. If we pray from the throne room, our focus will help us to remain free from “preaching prayers.” These are exhortations and descriptions of events rather than true petitions to God. Many corporate prayer meetings are stifled by “preaching prayers” that inform rather than the powerful prayers that exalt the Father, thanking Him and bringing our requests to Him on behalf of the people. Prayer must always be for an audience of One. Exhortation should not be done in prayer. The more we fill our hearts with the throne vision of Ezekiel 1, Revelation 4–5, and John 17, the better and more potent will be our times of prayer! When you pray from the throne room, you will pray from an “open heaven” mentality.

We become prophetically alert in the Holy Spirit when we pray from the perspective of being in the throne room instead of the prayer room. We won’t be so concerned about who is praying, how they’re praying, or how long they’re praying. We’re able to discern the “air currents” of the Holy Spirit and echo the heart of God through our prayers. For then the higher levels of His glorious presence are released through our united, focused prayer.

And true prayer maintains a positive focus. For faith to operate, we must pray with gratitude and confidence. Our times of prayer are spent praying for more of a release of the Holy Spirit, for righteousness to prevail, for grace to empower and mercy to triumph. It’s more important to...