Recently, Pastor Mike Wheat asked that I teach a Sunday School class on Prayer, a subject I love. The next week, I found an article in my Bible that had the following quote: “Through a lifestyle of prayer and humble obedience, you can rend the heavens. Then the Holy Spirit can impart His anointing for your service unto God. Is 64:4 states that no one has ever seen and no ear perceived what God will do for the one who waits on Him.” What is prayer? Prayer takes many forms, worship, conversation with God and sometimes just waiting on Him with no words is prayer. Jesus modeled a lifestyle of prayer… so we should to. Paul encourages us in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to ‘pray without ceasing’ and scriptures are full of encouragements and models of prayer. But to start examine subject, you must begin with He whom we are called to imitate, Jesus Christ. To have a fulfilling prayer life, we must pray like Jesus prayed. He had a lifestyle of prayer. Luke 5:16 tells us “But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness to pray.” Matthew 4 tells us that He fasted 40 days then was tempted by the devil. If you fast, you must pray, they go hand in hand. However some of the most powerful direction from Jesus in scripture is about prayer: Matthew 6:33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” And of course Matthew 6:5-13 He gives us very specific teaching on prayer and today we know it as The Lord’s Prayer. But one of the most specific and powerful instructions on prayer is in John 15:1-8 where He uses the analogy of the Vine and the Branches as he further instructs the disciples about abiding. Then in John 16:13…”But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.” This guidance and speaking to us can only be done through a life of prayer. If we don’t talk to the Lord regularly, how in the world are we ever going to recognize His voice when He speaks. How are we going to ‘hear’ the Holy Spirit if we are too busy to sit down and listen? However, with all of the amazing scripture on prayer, one of the most powerful is found in Luke 9:27-36. Please take time to read this short passage. "But I say to you truthfully, there are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.” Some eight days after these sayings, He took along Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming. And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah, who, appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions had been overcome with sleep; but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him. And as these were leaving Him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles: one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not realizing what he was saying. While he was saying this, a cloud formed and began to overshadow them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. Then a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!” And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent, and reported to no one in those days any of the things which they had seen. In this passage, Jesus tells the disciples that some standing there and listening to Him won’t die until they experience the Kingdom of God. Then some days later He takes Peter, James, and John with Him as he steals away to pray. Then they are allowed to watch the most glorious display of God’s power any human could ever experience on what we call ‘the mount of transfiguration.’ But have you ever wondered why they were given the opportunity to experience this wondrous event? When we read the Bible today, often we just read through it and never ask the question “why?” Why Peter, James, and John? Why did Jesus allow them to watch this? Why was it so important that it got recorded and was kept safe for us to read today, over 2,000 years later? There have been many teachings over the years regarding Jesus’ statement that some wouldn’t experience death before they saw the Kingdom of God. However none of those teachings rang true. While studying for this teaching on Jesus' Prayers, the Lord showed me something pretty incredible. You see, Jesus had a plan. He wanted these three followers to go with Him to pray, to see just what happened and what was possible through prayer. This passage tells us why Moses and Elijah came and visited Jesus on the mountain, to prepare Him for his death. But why did Jesus allow Peter, James, and John to experience the Kingdom of God first hand in this manner? Scripture doesn’t record exactly what happened all of the other times Jesus stole away to pray. It could be that this transfiguration took place every time, but just this time there were witnesses. Could it be that Jesus wanted these three to see what was possible through prayer? Today, unfortunately too many people have a powerless prayer life. However, in this instance, Jesus was saying “Guys, this is what CAN happen and it will empower you to do greater things than you have seen me do.” Jesus knew that Peter was going to deny Him and then go on to change the world. He was fully aware that John would be the carrier of Christ into the world and then give keys to apocalyptic revelation that would prepare us for His return. James, Jesus brother, was going to be an important part of foundation within the Jewish body, plus I think Jesus just loved him and wanted to bless him. Who knows what James had experienced with Jesus when they were kids. All three of these died horrendous deaths because of their faith, this experience taught them how to prepare for what was ahead. We too have access to that very same kind of power and experience in and through prayer today. Jesus wanted them to understand this, and also help us see what was available through them. Many others throughout history have experienced this same power. Unfortunately many today don’t believe these because it has been squelched by the enemy. I have had the amazing privilege of witnessing that kind of power, not just in prayer privately, but in services led by men and women of prayer. Once, we were in a service where Steve Hill (our then pastor and the evangelist God used at the Brownsville revival) was praying for people at the altar. My niece went down for prayer. As Pastor Steve walked toward her, he had his hand out and when he touched her, and it was only a very light touch, the power of God hit her and literally threw her into her husband standing behind her. Now she is a tiny thing, but her husband is quite large and strong. The power was so strong she flew into her husband and the power hit him and they both flew backwards and hit the floor. Now to those who have never experienced that sort of thing, you may think this is crazy, but it was amazing. As they lay on the floor, the love of God poured out on them and they were never the same. As Pastor Steve turned, my husband was behind him and he reached for Earl only to be thrown backwards as well. PURE POWER… God touched Earl’s heart in such an amazing way that he couldn’t move. Later we had to help all of them off the floor. Everyone there that night experienced the pure power of God and through that experience, they were truly transfigured because they were changed forever. That power only comes through us when we are faithful in prayer. Jesus needed the world to know what we could access. His three followers up to that mountain that day were about to experience some amazing things in their journey, but they were also going to go through horrific experiences as well. They had to know that the power of God is not only possible but accessible. But only through a life of prayer. Do you want to be transfigured and made new? Do you need that same power of God to operate in your life? Then purpose to spend the time you need with God to let Him operate through you in that way. When you do, you too can ‘rend’ or tear open the heavens and be anointed for the work He has for you. Then you will be truly praying like Jesus prayed.
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AuthorI'm a wife, Mom, grandma, teacher, friend... Lived a while and still have some living to do. Archives
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