prayer that changes things

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THAT CHANGES THINGS

By

Bobby Grapenthin


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All scripture references are from the King James Bible,

Copyright 1992,

by Zondervan Publishing House,

Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA

All definitions referenced or paraphrased are taken from

Websters Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language,

New Revised Edition,

Copyright 1996, by Gramercy Books,

a trademark of Random House Value Publishing, Inc.

New York, New York, USA

Copyright 2003, 20112st Edition January 9, 2007

3rd Edition March, 2011

This is copyrighted material,

but I am giving you permission to downloadand make copies as needed.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to:

The Lord Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit

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for revealing the power of prayer in a way that has caused results

to happen in my life.

My husband, Terry, who was willing to implement

the teachings in this book to cause mighty turn arounds

in our life through binding, loosing and dispatching. Our prayers ofagreement caused impossible situations to be reversed

and many financial miracles to occur.

Patty Sell, who saw mighty changes occur in her family

as she used these teachings to take back family members

from the ways of the world. She truly has been an inspiration

in the area of binding, loosing, dispatching,

the prayer of agreement, and in getting results.

Dave Smith, who insisted that I get this manual published and

has stayed on top of getting this publication.

His persistence is the reason this is now available.

PRAYER THAT CHANGES THINGS

Table of Contents

CHAPTER PAGEChapter 1 5

What Happens When You Pray 6

Sequence of Events 9

How Prayer Mixes with Priesthood 10

Worksheet #1 13

Chapter 2 16

Pleading Your Case 16

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Get Ready to Pray Effectively 19

1. The Prayer of IntercessionThrough Jesus 24

Through People 25

Through the Spirit 26Worksheet #2 28

Chapter 3 29

2. The Prayer of Supplication 30A. Supplication in the Old Testament 31

B. Supplication in the New Testament 37

Worksheet #3 41

Chapter 4 42

3. The Prayer of Agreement 42

What Makes this Work? 45How Do You Get Unity In Your Prayer 46

What If I Am Afraid It Wont Come to Pass 49

Why Does God Want to Answer my Prayer of Agreement? 51Discipline Your Actions 52

Worksheet #4 54

Chapter 5 554. The Prayer of Binding and Loosing 55

5. Binding, Loosing and Dispatching 62

Worksheet #5 66

Chapter 6 67

Portals 67

Worksheet #6 77

Final Test 78

Test Answers 79

Appendix A - Sample Prayer of Agreement 80Suggested Reading and Publications 83

References 84

PRAYER THAT CHANGES THINGS

CHAPTER 1

In this study on prayer we are going to investigate severaldifferent types of prayer. First of all, prayer, according toWebsters Dictionary is "a devout petition to, or any form ofspiritual communion with God, or an object of worship, to

petition or entreat." For prayer to be prayer it must be verbalized; otherwise it

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is just "a thought". Without being vocalized, and I know this will provecontroversial, as how does that he does not give those who have the ability. Ifyou went through your grade school years with the ability to speak, but refusedto speak, the school would not give you the grace they would a person whowas not capable of speaking. God expects you to do what you can do and Hewill do what you cannot do.

Prayer requires speaking. The Word says in Romans 10:10 that itrequires confession for salvation, yet a mute person cannot confess. Perhapsthey actually can, even sign language is recognized as a "language".

ROMANS 10:1010 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; andwith the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Either way, we are not disputing mute people, but again prayer is verbal.

A thought is mental activity. It falls in the category of meditation,

contemplation, consideration and reflection. Nowhere in the definition byWebsters Dictionary does it include prayer". Also none of the definitions of"prayer" are found in the definitions of "thought". They are not one in thesame.

Prayer has many aspects and can be used to accomplish many things inthe spirit realm. Since it is a spiritual communion with God then it has spiritualproperties that can be tapped into to make it more effective. James said wehave not because we ask amiss. We are asking with misunderstanding that therequest is evil, corrupt or has the wrong motive behind it and is not right

before God.

JAMES 4:33 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye mayconsume it upon your lusts.

One of the types of prayer we are going to investigate is the prayer ofsupplication and the prayer of intercession. They are different, yet one ismore effective for a particular request than the other. Intercession is acommon key word used in the church yet in reality the majority of the time the"intercessors" are actually making supplication!

Lets look at what happens when we pray.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU PRAY

Amazing things happen when you pray. If we could see into the spiritrealm every time we prayed, I think we would be amazed at what we seehappening and would probably be more motivated to pray than we ever have

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before. Let's start in the Old Testament with Job and see how several versionsof the Bible translate these passages.

KING JAMES

JOB 36:32-33; 37:1-332 With clouds he covereth the light; and commandeth it not to

shine by the cloud that cometh betwixt.33 The noise thereof showeth concerning it, the cattle alsoconcerning the vapour.37:1 At this also my heart trembleth, and is moved out of hisplace.2 Hear attentively the noise of his voice, and the sound that goethout of his mouth.3 He directeth it under the whole heaven, and his lightning untothe ends of the earth.

In Chapter 36, verse 32, the word clouds in the Hebrew translates

"palm of a hand". The words "cometh betwixt" is the Hebrew word "paga"which is also the same word translated as intercession in Isaiah 59:16. Italso means, "strikes the mark". The New King James says:

NEW KING JAMES

JOB 36:32-37:332 He covers His hands with lightning, And commands it tostrike.

33 His thunder declares it, The cattle also, concerning the risingstorm.

37:1 At this also my heart trembles, And leaps from its place.2 Hear attentively the thunder of His voice, And the rumbling thatcomes from His mouth.3 He sends it forth under the whole heaven, His lightning to theends of the earth.

Elihu, in the book of Job, was stating that God covers His hands withlightning and He sends it forth. When He sends it forth it strikes the mark. Buthow do we know it is the prayers He is answering. Let's look at how this isdescribed in Revelation 8:3-5.

REVELATION 8:3-53 And another angel came and stood at the altar, havinga golden censer; and there was given unto him muchincense, that he should offer it with the prayers of

all saints upon the golden altar which was before

the throne.

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4 And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers ofthe saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of thealtar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, andthunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.

This reminds us of the phrase "what goes up must come down". It

appears that when prayers go up from the earth to God, there are "altarattendants" (angels) that take censers and fill them with incense and theprayers of the saints and present it before God. They then take the censersand fill them with the fire of the altar and throw it back down to earth. Theevents that follow are multi-directional. "Voices, thunderings, lightnings, andan earthquake" are such big categories that whole studies could be done aboutthose four words alone. Just to give you some idea of what those fourcategories are, they include the following:

1. VOICES The prophetic words sent by God. Today prophetic wordsfrom the true servants of the Lord are restoring direction in the church

and the lives of the people. (Luke 1:30, 31) (30) And the angel said untoher, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. (31) And,behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, andshalt call his name JESUS.)

2. THUNDERINGS The return of Gods glory being manifested upon theearth. (Psalms 29:3 The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the Godof glory thundereth; the LORD is upon many waters)

3. LIGHTNINGS An increase in angelic visitation and assistance.(Ezekiel 1:14 And the living creatures ran and returned as the

appearance of a flash of lightning)

4. EARTHQUAKE Deliverance. Those who are held captive are set freefrom all the chains that bound them. (Acts 16:25-26) (25) And atmidnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and theprisoners heard them. (26) And suddenly there was a greatearthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: andimmediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands wereloosed.)To sum it up we can say that these different answers follow the act of

praying, including the answer being mixed with signs and wonders.

Imagine what it must look like, to see the shower of lightening bolts thatare bombarding the earth at this very minute as people are praying.

Prayer releases God's lightning to "strike the mark". But what is the"mark"? The mark is the thing we are targeting in our prayer. It isaccomplishing whatever we requested that was totally in line with His Word.

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God is directing His power and glory into desired situations with supernaturalresults.

Lets look at Darby's New Translation and the New Century Translation ofJob 36:32.

1. DARBYS NEW TRANSLATIONJOB 36:3232 hands he covereth with lightning, andcommandeth it where it is to strike.

2. NEW CENTURY TRANSLATIONJOB 36:3232 God fills his hands with lightning and commands itto strike its target.

In both these translations, God is commanding where this lightning is

going to strike. Using the word "target" in place of "mark" makes it easier tovisualize. A "mark" in a sense is a "target". God is in a sense, zeroing in onthe area of need with His glory.

We need to realize that every time we pray according to His Word, weare painting a target for God to zero in on and strike it? Think about all thetargets God wants us to paint. He wants us to target cities, nations, churches,and individual people. Prayer will affect the destiny of individuals, cities,nations and churches. What a powerful privilege we have in prayer.

As our prayers ascend and are mixed with incense, man has created asmoke signal to God in which he declares "Send forth the fire!" Our humanprayers are exchanged for a heavenly manifestation of the power of God.

We are going to take another look at the series of sequences that havehappened in this passage of Revelation. To make it easy to understand, it isdivided into four parts.

SEQUENCE OF EVENTS

1. The saints speak forth their prayers and paint a target.2. An angel with a golden censer mixes the prayers with much incense

and delivers it before God.3. God sets his sights on the targets.4. God "strikes the bulls eye" with his lightning or "signs, wonders and

answers".

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THE PRAYERS OF MAN CAUSE AN INVITATION IN HEAVEN FOR A

RESPONSE FROM GOD.AND GOD ANSWERS HIS INVITATIONS!

Here is an example of God answering an invitation made to him in KingSolomons prayer. In 2 Chronicles 7:1-3, Solomon experienced this.

2 CHRONICLES 7:1-3

1 Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the firecame down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering andthe sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house.2 And the priests could not enter into the house of the LORD,because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD'S house.3 And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire camedown, and the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowedthemselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, andworshipped, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for hismercy endureth for ever.

The Bible tells us to pray all of the time. The reason is now a lot clearer.It is so that we will paint targets and give God the invitation to strike them. Nowonder we are instructed in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to pray without ceasing.

1 THESSALONIANS 5:1717 Pray without ceasing.

Rephrased, in the Greek these three words mean "pray continuously,without interruptions". If the whole body of believers took this seriously andstarted prayer twenty four (24) hours a day without interruption nation-wide,

imagine the impact it would have on this earth! As we would allow God tochange us to think and act on that, then God would change the world.

Again, try to imagine how effective one uninterrupted hour of prayercould impact a nation if the people of that nation were praying in one accordfor that time.

Prayer is one of the first steps in fulfilling our priestly duty that Godappointed us to walk in.

HOW PRAYER MIXES WITH PRIESTHOOD

Not to lock one into a country club mentality, but for lackof a better illustration, lets think about "priesthood" as afraternity or a club. To be a member you make application andyour application is approved. We have received salvation as afree gift from God and we now stand approved by Him becauseof the shed blood of Jesus. As members we now have rights or

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privileges we did not have before, but with those rights and privileges camewith new responsibilities.

One of the responsibilities we were given by God was that we were to bekings and priests before him. We were not chosen as priests by man, but byGod. Man did not institute us into the role of a priest, but God placed us thereas part of our responsibilities when we received Jesus as our Savior. Prior to

this, we did not carry this responsibility.

REVELATION 1:5, 65 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the firstbegotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth.Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his ownblood,6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father;to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

1 PETER 2:4, 5

4 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed ofmen, but chosen of God, and precious,5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holypriesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God byJesus Christ.

1 PETER 2:9, 109 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holynation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises ofhim who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the

people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now haveobtained mercy.

One of the duties of the priest is to pray. One of the changes God isgoing to make in the church is to move upon the people to assume theirresponsibility for prayer. We are priests in transition, being changed from gloryto glory. Priests not only pray, but also make sacrifices as part of their spiritualservice to God.

There are times when prayer will look like a real sacrifice in our lives, butthink about the target we are NOT painting for God to strike when we withholdpraying. God views prayer as part of our reasonable, normal service to Him.

ROMANS 12:1, 21 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that yepresent your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto

God, which is your reasonable service.

2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed bythe renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good,and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

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In order to understand the functions of our priestly duties, we have to goback and study the Old Testament priesthood. By understanding that, we canunderstand the functions that were instituted by God.

The chief function of the believer-priest today is to pray.

The first person that was actually called a priest was Melchizedeck, king

of Salem. Notice he ministered in two dimensions.

1. To God on behalf of men

2. To men on behalf of God.

GENESIS 14:18-2018 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine:and he was the priest of the most high God.19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the mosthigh God, possessor of heaven and earth:

20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath deliveredthine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

The next establishment of the priesthood came with Aaron.

EXODUS 27:21, 28:121 In the tabernacle of the congregation without the veil, which isbefore the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall order it fromevening to morning before the LORD: it shall be a statute for everunto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.28:1 And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons

with him, from among the children of Israel, that he mayminister unto me in the priest's office, even Aaron, Nadab andAbihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's sons.

Aaron was required to follow a series of rituals in preparation to ministerbefore the Lord. The first part of the preparation was the sacrifice of blood foratonement of sin. Jesus laid down His life for us and shed His blood, makingthe atonement for our sin. To Aaron, this was a ritual; to us it was receivedbecause of a relationship and revelation.

At this point in the believer-priest life, we have to make sure that beforewe go to God in behalf of others, there is no sin in us that would interfere withus going before God.

STEP 1: GET YOURSELF RIGHT BEFORE GOD BEFORE YOU COME TO HIM INBEHALF OF SOMEONE ELSE.

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Would we want someone to pray for us the way we are praying for them?Would we want the prayers we prayed for someone else to come to pass on us?Would we still pray the way we do now if we knew our prayers were going tocome back and yield like answers in our own life? Would we still pray the waywe do if we knew God was writing down our prayers and we would have toaccount for them one day? This is why it is important to be careful how weword our prayers.

We need to make sure we have rid ourselves of any strife, sin, offensesand especially the works of the flesh before we go to God. In the OldTestament, not being right before God could cause a priest to loose his life.

If we were taken back in time and told today, at this very minute, wewere to go into the Holy of Holies, would we come back out alive? As we gotcloser to that Temple veil, would our repentance get more intense? Yet manytimes we go before God without preparing ourselves first. We need to seeprayer from Gods perspective. He has set up the way we are to approach

Him, and we need to remind ourselves of those ways. He has a protocol, or setof rules, for us to follow.

STEP 2: PRAY UNTIL YOU SEE LIVES SAVED.

Prayers, intercession, and supplication can save the lives of thousands asit did on the day when Aaron took incense and fire from the altar duringKorah's rebellion.

NUMBERS 16:1-3

1 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi,and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son ofPeleth, sons of Reuben, took men:2 And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children ofIsrael, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous inthe congregation, men of renown:3And they gathered themselves together against Moses andagainst Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you,seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and theLORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above

the congregation of the LORD?NUMBERS 16:5-8,11,28,325 And he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying,Even to morrow the LORD will show who are his, and who isholy; and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whomhe hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him.6 This do; Take you censers, Korah, and all his company;7 And put fire therein, and put incense in them before the LORD tomorrow: and it shall be that the man whom the LORD doth

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choose, he shall be holy: ye take too much upon you, ye sons ofLevi.8 And Moses said unto Korah, Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi:

11 For which cause both thou and all thy company are gatheredtogether against the LORD: and what is Aaron, that ye murmuragainst him?

28 And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hathsent me to do all these works; for I have not done them ofmine own mind.

32 And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, andtheir houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and alltheir goods.

Have we ever noticed how one person in a household will seem to getsaved and no one else in the house is pleased with their conversion? LikeKorah came against Moses and Aaron in Numbers 16, the unsaved familymembers will come against the one that make Jesus the Lord of their life.

Be of good cheer! God has planted us in our family to be a priest in ourown household. He has put us there to intervene between the living and thedead, between the saved and the lost, to reconcile them back to God. It wasthrough Aarons intervention that lives were saved after the earth swallowed upKorah and his family and the plague spread among the people. By one manwas a plague stopped that would have destroyed the whole nation of Israel.

NUMBERS 16:46-4946 And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put firetherein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly

unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: forthere is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun.47 And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst ofthe congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among thepeople: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for thepeople.48 And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plaguewas stayed.49 Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand andseven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah.

Our prayers can and will paint the target for God to strike in ourhousehold to bring the rest of our family to salvation and to stop thedestruction in their lives.

Again, think of all the targets in that arena that we have NOT painted.Remember, God is an equal opportunity employer and eventually will employtomorrow those we prayed for today. Prayer is not the occupation of a select

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few; it is the occupation of all God's people. Look at the power released byGod when we humble ourselves and pray.

2 CHRONICLES 7:14-1614 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humblethemselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from theirwicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their

sin, and will heal their land.15 Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent untothe prayer that is made in this place.16 For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that myname may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart

shall be there perpetually.

Let me shed some light on the Hebrew word "house" here in verse 16.This word means "family". If that doesn't get us excited, I don't know whatwill. That verse is saying that God decided to choose our family and Hesanctified our familyso He can completely put his name there, his eyes there

and his heart there continuously. Oh to be where the heart of God isperpetually!

God is calling the believer-priest to rise up as Aaron did and stand in thegap between the living and the dead. It doesn't matter what our backgroundis, God has made us a king and priest UNTO HIM, not unto another man. It'stime for the church, the believers of Jesus to stop being immature childrenclinging to the leg of mother refusing to go to school on the first day. We needto put away our childish things and move on to the mature things of God. Weshould all purpose in our heart to start today and pick up our priestly calling in

God.

There is no way around it, every priest of God is called and anointed topray, make supplications and intercede.

A PRAYERLESS PRIEST ISN'T A PRIEST AT ALL.

PRAYER THAT CHANGES THINGSWORKSHEET #1

1. Prayer requires ______________________________whereby a thought is

____________________________________________________

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2. When James said in James 4:3 that we were asking amiss, he said we are

asking with___________________________________________

3. In Job 36:32 the word "clouds" in the Hebrew translates__________________________________________________________________

4. When God sends us answers to our prayers according to Revelation 8:5,

what do these answers come mixed with? (What four things do our answered prayerscome back mixed with from God.)

A. ________________________________________________________B. ________________________________________________________C.________________________________________________________D. ________________________________________________________

5. When God directs His power and glory into a desired situation, He does it

with __________________________________________________

6. When we accepted Jesus as our Savior, God made us______________________ and ________________ unto him. (Revelation 1:6)

7. Finish this phrase, the prayers of man cause an _____________________in heaven for a ___________________________ from God and God_____________________________________________________________!

8. How are we supposed to pray according to 1 Thessalonians 5? __________

_____________________________________________________

9. The chief function of the believer-priest today is__________________

10. What two steps should we take when we pray?

A. Step 1: ____________________________________________________________________________________________B. Step 2: ____________________________________________________________________________________________

BONUS QUESTION FOR THE STUDIOUS STUDENT:

1. In Numbers 16:46, what happened to the congregation that Aaron had tomake atonement for them (this answer has two parts, one happened in heavenand one on earth)

A_________________________________________________________

B_________________________________________________

2. What did Korah accuse Moses and Aaron of doing?__________________________________________________________________________________

3. The Hebrew word "house" in 2 Chronicles 7:16 means _________________

PRAYER THAT CHANGES THINGSCHAPTER 2

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In this part of the study of prayer we are going to discuss the ingredientsof prayer and move on to the first type of prayer, intercession.

As a king and priest before the Lord we have the right to enter before thevery throne of God with our requests. Jesus taught about a woman who pledher case before an unjust judge and how it availed much. How much more will

our God respond to our request.

LUKE 18:5Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her

continual coming she weary me.

PLEADING OUR CASE

First of all, let me make this clear. Pleading our case does not mean

"beg". God is not moved by begging, but by His Word and faith. When webeg, we are trying to evoke pity from God. God gives mercy, not pity. Jesusnever begged God for anything. He operated in a dimension that He expectsus to operate in, one of power and authority. The definition of "plead" is:

1. To argue a case or cause in a court of law.2. To make an allegation in an action or other legal proceeding.

In the Hebrew language the word "caphar", which was translated into"plead" in Isaiah 43:26, means to score with a mark as a tally or record,to inscribe, and also to enumerate; to recount, to number".

It is obvious from these definitions that the word "plead" was a judicialterm, much like what you find in a court of law. We have an invitation to pleadour case with God's permission before the courts of Heaven and see Himperform and enforce the verdict.

In this following King James scripture, Isaiah uses a word "plead" whichtranslates "to judge and pronounce a sentence." God issued a challengethrough his prophets to those who believed in Him, to perform their priestlyduty for themselves and those who were in rebellion against Him. Notice the

wording in the other listed translations.

The first scripture is from the King James. Look how it is translated inthe three translation after King James.

ISAIAH 43:25-2725 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mineown sake, and will not remember thy sins.26 Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou,that thou mayest be justified.

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27 Thy first father hath sinned, and thy teachers havetransgressed against me.

NEW KING JAMES VERSION

ISAIAH 43:25-2725 I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake;

And I will not remember your sins.26 Put Me in remembrance; Let us contend together; State your case,that you may be acquitted.27 Your first father sinned, And your mediators have transgressedagainst Me.

NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION

ISAIAH 43:25-2725 I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake,

and remembers your sins no more.26 Review the past for me, let us argue the matter together; state thecase for your innocence.

27 Your first father sinned; your spokesmen rebelled against me.

NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE VERSION

ISAIAH 43:25-2725 I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My ownsake; And I will not remember your sins.26 Put Me in remembrance; let us argue our case together, State your

cause, that you may be proved right.27 Your first forefather sinned, And your spokesmen have transgressedagainst Me.

God wants our sin cleared before the courts of Heaven and he puts nolimit on how many times we can plead our case.. He wants us proven "notguilty".

Satan, who is everything opposite of a loving God, is a legalist and willtake every opportunity to condemn us before God. We are invited under the

authority and invitation of our Judge God to clear these accusations throughthe shed blood of our attorney Jesus Christ. Jesus comes alongside us andformally presents us before the Judge and through our repentance, proves usto be "not guilty."

HEBREWS 12:22-2422 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city ofthe living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to aninnumerable company of angels,

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23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are writtenin heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just menmade perfect,24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood ofsprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

Look at the people assembled in your courtroom listening to your case,

backing you up, and remembering how God intervened in their behalf. Peoplelike Moses, Aaron, Isaiah, Deborah, Paul, Peter, Corrie Ten-Boom, John Wesley,Smith Wigglesworth, angels that are so many that they cannot be numberedand the list goes on.

God is pleased when we bring our requests, petitions, and pleas beforeHim. He loves it when we take His Word before Him, whether it is forrepentance or for a petition, to have Him act upon it. Job longed for a placewhere He could plead his case.

JOB 23:3-53 Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come evento his seat!4 I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth witharguments.5 I would know the words which he would answer me, andunderstand what he would say unto me.

If a man who did not have Jesus as his Savior, did not have the power ofthe blood or the Holy Spirit inside of him would do that which will bringrighteousness into a situation, how much more will our righteous God do justice

for us?

Job desired to have what we have as believers today. He desired to havea judge that he could come before and make his requests known to him. Jobwanted to have everything that we have in our relationship with God but didntand couldnt because Jesus had not come yet to redeem mankind.

The fact that we are presenting our case in accordance to His Wordshows we are exercising our faith in God's Word. Look at the verdict of theunrighteous judge and what Jesus had to say about it.

LUKE 18:4-84 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself,Though I fear not God, nor regard man;5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by hercontinual coming she weary me.

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6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and nightunto him, though he bear long with them?8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when theSon of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

This word "speedily" not only refers to a time frame meaning shortly or

quickly but adds with it the intensity of "mightily" God will intervene in ourbehalf powerfully. People will know that He did the work and there is no waywe can take the glory for ourselves.

BUT! If we do not pray, we do not give God anything to work with.

GOD DOES NOT WORK IF MAN DOES NOT PRAY.

GET READY TO PRAY EFFECTIVELY

What is meant by praying effectively? James told us to pray effectivelyso there must be something to this. If we can pray effectively, then we canalso pray ineffectively. A glass of water to a dry plant can be effective inkeeping it alive. That same glass of water has no impact when poured into theocean.

Certain types of prayer are more effective for targeting certain situations.I can repent (which means to stop and turn around from what I am doing thatis wrong) but I cannot physically stop someone else from what they are doing

that is wrong if they dont want my help. I can only affect what someone elseis doing if I pray effectively because God will then intervene. He will be doingthe changes, not me.

JAMES 5:16-1816 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another,that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of arighteous man availeth much.17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and heprayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the

earth by the space of three years and six months.18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earthbrought forth her fruit.

An effective prayer begins with knowledge of the Word andunderstanding.

If we do not know the laws of the land, if we have to go to court, howcan we effectively defend ourselves? I took an international negotiations class

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one time and was amazed to hear the instructor say that the laws of manycountries are based on the religious beliefs of that nation. To negotiate in aforeign territory required knowledge of the religious beliefs.

He said the people of the USA are logic people. Religion has nothing todo with their philosophy when it comes to negotiations. As a result we havelost the very tool of negotiation in our belief structure. We have to go back and

look at this the way God set it up and how His laws are the presiding way.

Looking at it that way, how much more should we have knowledge of theWord when negotiating in a (spiritual) Heavenly courtroom?

This is one area we need to do our homework in. How futile it would befor a lawyer to go before a judge without any facts to prove the innocence ofhis client. Yet we go before God with the same lack of knowledge andunderstanding of what God designed and uses to base His outcome on.

Most of the time we come before God and we don't have the correct factsor we pray amiss. Many times we just pray and think that if we are doing itincorrectly God will overlook our ignorance. I doubt a judge in a court of lawwould overlook an attorneys ignorance of the law and just grant him a petitionbased on the fact he didnt know any better.

A good attorney gathers the facts then presents his case.

God gave us a covenant in which are all the tools necessary, all theinformation necessary, and all the instructions we need to be effective increating a response from His Kingdom. Ignorance of His Word affects our ability

to get a response from Him.

Imagine knowing the rules for football, but then trying to adapt them to abaseball game. It just doesn't work. We can't play baseball with football rules.We must recognize the conditions God requires to see His various promisesfulfilled.

Jeremiah stood on the covenant to get the desired results and he knewwhat the specific part of the covenant was that he was standing on. He hadfactual knowledge of the part of the covenant he was accessing.

JEREMIAH 14:7,10,11,20,217 O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou itfor thy name's sake: for our backslidings are many; we havesinned against thee.

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10 Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Thus have they loved towander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the LORDdoth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, andvisit their sins.11 Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people fortheir good.

20 We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness, and the iniquity ofour fathers: for we have sinned against thee.21 Do not abhor us, for thy name's sake, do not disgrace thethrone of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant withus.

JEREMIAH 15:19-2119 Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring theeagain, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth theprecious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return untothee; but return not thou unto them.

20 And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brazen wall: and theyshall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I amwith thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the LORD.

21 And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I willredeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.

We need to know what God's Word says about the conditions that mustbe met so that the situation we are petitioning God to answer, will be granted.If there is sin in our own life, we need to repent before even coming to God.Like it was said in the first lesson of this teaching, prepare yourself. A priestdoes not even think to come before God without the proper preparation.

Once we have prepared ourself, then we should bring the petition beforeGod according to His Word.

We need to be prepared, do our homework, and find out what the Wordsays.

This is so vital, yet not limited to, praying for the sick.So many faithless prayers include the phrase "if it be Thywill". Jesus never prayed like that. He always knew the

Fathers will before He approached any situation. Thatswhy he retreated to pray all the time. He sought Godscounsel before hand and when the situation was there, Heknew the Fathers will and spoke it forth.

No where does it say Jesus asked God to heal, if it be Thy will. Hespoke forth their healing because He already knew it was Gods will to healwhen He encountered the sick. Gods will is that people be healed.

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If the Lord wills was a statement that James made that has been usedto excuse the lack of the Word in lives. The scripture that this phraseappeared in was in regards to a statement he was making to a group ofadulterers and adulteresses. They were engaged in lust to the point of envy.They had become entangled with materialism to the point that they were morewilling to be a friend of the world, than to be faithful to God. They had crossedover the line and were now being an enemy of God.

James then rebuked them and told them to humble themselves. He wasnot telling the believers to always be on guard because God may not answertheir prayers due to the fact that it may not be what the Lord wills. Theproblem wasnt the Lords will, the problem was the lack of Gods Word andtheir friendship was not with God but with the world. Gods will is statedclearly in His Word.

Look at what James 4 says in context with the Lords will. These peoplehad operated in such evil that even James wasnt sure if God would approve orbless their plans. They were in a dangerous place spiritually as they had been

speaking evil of people, judging people and participating in adultery.

In verse seven through eleven, James tells them what to do, because heknow that IS the will of God, but he is not sure of the rest. The lawgiver Godwould have to make the final decision.

JAMES 4:4-174 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship ofthe world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend ofthe world is the enemy of God.

5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in

us lusteth to envy?6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth theproud, but giveth grace unto the humble.7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will fleefrom you.8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands,ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned tomourning, and your joy to heaviness.10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of hisbrother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeththe law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but ajudge.12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who artthou that judgest another?13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such acity, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:

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14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is yourlife? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and thenvanisheth away.15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this,or that.16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it

is sin.

If we don't know His will, we need to go research it and then come backand pray. Then, like Moses, we can put God in remembrance of what He said.

EXODUS 32:9-149 And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, itis a stiffnecked people:10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot againstthem, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great

nation.11 And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doththy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth outof the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?12 Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did hebring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume themfrom the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of thisevil against thy people.13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whomthou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I willmultiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I

have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit itfor ever.

14 And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto hispeople.

Moses knew what God had said and God was not angry that heconfronted Him with His own words. I believe God actually enjoyed hearingMoses quote what He had said to Isaiah.

That is why God encouraged Isaiah to remind Him of why He

should do something. Moses then put this word in action.

ISAIAH 43:2626 Put me in remembrance: let us plead together:declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.

Ignorance of God's Word is no excuse. God does not listen toexcuses; He listens and hearkens to His Word. We should not doubt the Wordof God, as that leads to unbelief. God has strong things to say to those whooperate in unbelief.

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Believing the Word of God and that He is able and WILL DO what He saidis "faith". God's Word says this kind of faith is accounted to us asrighteousness and we know that the prayers of a righteous man avail much.Faith was never designed to work by a negative input from the five senses.

We can actually exchange the word faith with the word trust in the

Bible and it would be proper to do so. It changes the way we see things.Now, instead of saying, Do I have faith for this? we can ask ourselves, Do Ihave trust in God for this? It will cause us to re-examine just how much wedo trust God. If we dont have the trust, here is what God says about himselfso that we can trust Him.

JEREMIAH 1:1212 Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I willhasten my word to perform it.

ROMANS 4:20-2220 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; butwas strong in faith, giving glory to God;21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he wasable also to perform.

22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.

Before we pray, we should know what God has promised in His Wordabout our petition. This also applies to prophetic promises that are spoken.

1 TIMOTHY 1:18, 19

18 This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according tothe prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by themmightest war a good warfare;19 Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having putaway concerning faith have made shipwreck:

Prophecies are also the Word of God. That is why it is so important torecord or write down prophetic words. They are also God's Word whendelivered through legitimate prophetic men and women of God.

REVELATION 19:1010 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, Seethou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren thathave the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony ofJesus is the spirit of prophecy.

1. THE PRAYER OF INTERCESSION

A. THROUGH JESUS

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A lot is being spoken about intercession in the church. Intercession isBiblical and was one of the priestly functions, but it must be done in properperspective to the Word of God.

ISAIAH 53:1212 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall dividethe spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto

death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sinof many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

The word intercession" here is an act of interceding. When a personintercedes, they do the following two things:

1. Interpose in behalf of one in difficulty or trouble by pleading orpetition.

2. To mediate, attempt to reconcile differences between two people orgroups.

To "intercede" is to intervene. If that is true, and intervention is donebetween two people or groups to reconcile their differences, then the Wordshould confirm that intercession is for someone who does not know God, inorder to reconcile them to God.

If we look at the first definition of intercede, a person is in trouble withGod when he does not know Him, and the one doing the intercession ispleading or petitioning God for salvation upon the one that does not know Him.

Intercession occurs nine times in the Bible; four of the times in the Old

Testament and five in the New Testament.

In Isaiah 53:12, Isaiah is referring to Jesus and that He intercedes forthe transgressor. This transgressor in the Hebrew is in rebellion to God, doesnot know God and is not part of the household of God. This is a non-believer.

We were transgressors against God until we were reconciled to Him bythe shed blood of Jesus, and now are no longer enemies of God, but sons. YetJesus still makes intercession for us, reconciling us to God when we sin.Reconciliation occurs through the blood of Jesus Christ.

ROMANS 8:3434 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather,that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, whoalso maketh intercession for us.

HEBREWS 7:22-2522 By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.23 And they truly were many priests, because they were notsuffered to continue by reason of death:

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24 But this man, because he continueth ever, hath anunchangeable priesthood.

25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermostthat come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to makeintercession for them.

In Hebrews 7, intercession was done by Jesus for the non-believer, not

the non-believer interceding for himself. Jesus takes the role of a priestseriously and beyond the confines of this earth. If he still performs the priestlyduty of standing in the gap for the people, how much more should we stand inthe gap for the lost as part of our priestly duty. Jesus is able to reconcileanyone that comes to God by Him.

For a believer to be petitioning for himself is another word entirely. Thewriters of the Word use the word supplication" for this situation, which we willget to in the next lesson.

B. THROUGH PEOPLE

JEREMIAH 27:1818 But if they be prophets, and if the word of the LORD be withthem, let them now make intercession to the LORD of hosts,

that the vessels which are left in the house of the LORD, and inthe house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, go not toBabylon.

Here again is the word "paga" which in the Hebrew means to "intervene

in behalf of those who have not been reconciled to God, through prayer."

ROMANS 11:2, 32 God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot yenot what the scripture saith of Elias? how he makethintercession to God against Israel, saying,3 Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thinealtars; and I am left lone, and they seek my life.

Elijah made intercession for the nation Israel, who had strayed away

from God. Elijah was afraid that he was the only prophet left in Israel that stillspoke the Word of God in behalf of Israel, and if he was gone, who would standin the gap for the people. We find this in 1 Kings 19:10 after he had defeatedthe prophets of Baal and provoked Jezebel.

The word "against" is not negative, but a positive. God was againstIsrael for their transgressions; Elijah was standing in the gap for the Israel Godwas against. Think of it this way, "He maketh intercession to THE God WHO

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WAS against Israel and to the Israel that was against GOD." Elijah was tryingto find a way to rectify the problem between the two.

C. THROUGH THE SPIRIT

The Spirit makes intercession for us when we do not know how to pray.This is where praying in the Spirit, praying in tongues, benefits our prayer life.

The Spirit knows what to pray when we do not. The Spirit can pray the perfectprayer or petition to change what is going on in our lives. However, it is theSpirit making intercession, not our own intellect that is changing things.

We are not making the intercession; the Spirit is making the intercession.When we pray for ourselves, we are not in intercession. The Spirit prayingthrough us can intercede for our sicknesses, weaknesses, diseases, frailties andinfirmities because all these things are in us and against God. Disease,infirmity, sickness and other physical attacks are against the healing providedfor us by the cross. They are not only against our health, but against what Godprovided, and against Him.

ROMANS 8:26, 2726 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for weknow not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirititself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannotbe uttered.27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind ofthe Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saintsaccording to the will of God.

It is not enough to get inspired and to have sincerity when we pray, butwe need to distinguish what we are praying for. When we pray for the lost, weare in intercession. As blood washed believers, we are to lift up and "plead" forthe lost.

There are millions of lost people who desperately need a Savior. It is ourduty as a priest to approach God in behalf of the lost. We are to stand in thegap and present them for salvation.

Our prayers can and do target the lost with tremendous impact. Allbelievers should plead the case of the lost in their household. The believer

should paint the target for God to strike. We shouldnt withdraw from theJudges' bench until we see our petition for the lost granted. We can argue ourcase according to the Word of God and see the results we are seeking for thosethat are separated from God.

I like what was written in 2 Kings 8. Here is a story of a woman thatcame before an earthly king with a petition. She wanted her land back, which

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was a lawful thing for her to request. She legally had a right to make thisappeal.

Because it was lawful for her to make this petition, the king had to honorthe law. He then also had to give her the officer necessary to enforce the law.If a human king would assign an officer to grant a womans petition, how muchmore does our heavenly King of Kings assign officers to grant and oversee that

our petitions are granted according to the Word (laws) of God.

2 KINGS 8: 66 And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the kingappointed unto her acertain officer, saying, Restore all thatwas hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she leftthe land, even until now.

This is why it is important that we know the purpose of each type ofprayer. It is so we dont pray amiss or incorrectly which will stop God from

assigning an officer to us to make sure our petition that we are granted isenforced.

If we go before a Judge and petition him for a request and then we dontback up our petition with the facts or laws that state we have a right to thisrequest, we may not see our answer.

Satan is a legalist and will present to God why a person should not begranted his request. God gave us a system to use against him that willoverride his accusation with a turnaround or counter legal right.

As believers, we should petition God, not beg God to do something forus. God is moved by His Word, not tears of hopelessness. He delights inhearing his Word spoken, not despair or fear. He is moved by his Word; He isnot moved by how bad our situation is.

When we come before God with prayers of intercession, remember thereis a difference between praying for a person that is not a believer and prayingfor one that is. When a person is praying for a non-believer, their prayers ofintercession should be directed toward their salvation.

When praying for a believer, the prayers are made in one of three ways.

A. Through JesusB. Through PeopleC. Through the Spirit

Intercession means to intervene and that intervention is in behalf of aperson or even a nation in a difficulty situation or in trouble, or if any of them

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need to be reconciled. When praying for a nation, it is mostly the prayer ofintercession at work and the best way to do it is through the Spirit.

Never underestimate the power of intercession. One should alwaysintercede with the Word of God and the legal rights the Word has given us tomake this petition. Intercession is powerful to freeing the lost from theirearthly captivity. Its time to see the intercessors God designed to stand in the

gap rise up and become effective in the body.

WORKSHEET #2 - PRAYER

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1. The word "plead means:A. ________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________B. ________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

2. From the definitions of "plead" it is obvious that this is a _______________term, much like you would find ______________________________________

3. In Job 23:3-5 what did Job long for? ______________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Finish this phrase: "God does not work ___________________________________________________________________________________________

5. What was Jeremiah bringing back to God's remembrance on the behalf ofthe people in Jeremiah 14:21? ______________________________________

6. Many times people use the phrase If the Lord wills as an________________________________ for the lack of the Word in their lives.

7. Was God angry with Moses for quoting His word back to him? __________.

8. God does not listen to excuses, He listens to ________________________

9. The word faith can be exchanged for the word _____________________in the Bible.

10. To intercede is to_____________________________________________

BONUS QUESTION FOR THE STUDIOUS STUDENT.

1. What did Moses do that caused God to change his mind in Exodus 32?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. In Isaiah 53, who made intercession and who was the intercession for?(This was discussed in class only)

A. Who made intercession? ___________________________________B. Who did he make it for? ____________________________________

3. When you pray for the lost you are in ______________________________

PRAYER THAT CHANGES THINGSCHAPTER 3

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In our study in Chapter 2 we discussed the prayer of intercession. Toreview, intercession is done by the following.

1. By Jesus for the lost.2. By Jesus for the saved.3. By people for the lost.

4. By the Holy Spirit for us.

The responsibility of interceding for the lost is part of our priestly duty. Apriest that does not pray is not operating in their priestly duty. Since mankindwas not redeemed in the Old Testament until Jesus came, it was the duty ofthe priest to stand in the gap for sinful men to be forgiven, make sacrifices foratonement and have them restored to God continually. Likewise it pleases Godto see us pray and stand in the gap for the lost.

One of the first signs of revival is the lost returning to God. Every greatmove of God began with the lost returning to God. That is why Jesus told his

disciples in Luke 10:2 to pray for the laborers.

LUKE 10:22 Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but thelabourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that hewould send forth labourers into his harvest.

At the time that Jesus walked the laborers were few. Those who wouldreach the lost were very few in number. Salvation was about to be birthedwith the death of Jesus and up to his death, he only had twelve men he wastraining and seventy that were following by their own choice. On top of that,

one of the twelve was about to betray him.

Today, on the other side of the coin, we still have a great harvest that isout there and more laborers than this world has ever counted before, but thelaborers are lazy. The great harvest can never be brought in by a few hiredhands, nor even a great team of highly gifted fivefold ministers. The work istoo great to be reaped by an elite few. Only a global praying church canharvest an entire lost world in the span of a single generation. God is holdingevery member of His household responsible to be laborers, and to restore thefoundation of intercessory prayer for the lost, that will launch the greatestmove of God this earth ever experienced.

The body of believers ARE responsible to intercede for the lost.Intercession is not something we do IF we have time, IF we can work it intoour schedule, or even IF we remember. IT IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY AND WEARE ACCOUNTABLE FOR IT. That is why David said in Psalms 2:8:

PSALMS 2:8

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8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, andthe uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

For too long, the body of believers have been willing to turn the land andthe lost over to the hands of the giants of secularism and materialism. Whatwe need are some Joshua's and Caleb's to take on God's perspective and gorepossess the land and the lost.

2. THE PRAYER OF SUPPLICATION

What is supplication? Why is there a prayer of supplication? Just to lay afoundation for supplication, notice that the root word of "supplication" is"supply". To supply means you are furnishing or providing something towhere it is needed. An example would be to supply a community with electricstreet lamps. Not everyone may be in need of them at the exact same time,but to those who need it, it is being furnished or provided.

Supplication, for the believer, is not a task we take on just for ourself,but it also touches a broader perspective than intercession. The scope ofintercession is limited to the lost for salvation. Supplication petitions foreverything needed that is necessary for survival, maintenance andreinforcement in life.

The prayer of supplication is supplying, providing, or furnishing prayer toGod in behalf of the person who needs it. In a court of law, a lawyersupplicates in behalf of his client. The lawyer and the client are on the sameteam. They are soliciting the favor of the judge together for a particularsituation. The ability to present their case, the rights they have to their

request and their knowledge of the laws will get them their desired request.

When we supplicate for people, we are supplicating for those who are onthe same team as we are. This is the prayer of the Christian believer for thebeliever, not for the lost.

When we send prayers of supplication for ourselves or for other believers,it can also be for healing necessary for survival, or to bring angelicreinforcements in to fight battles. It can bring deliverance to situations orpeople that are suffering captivity through debt, loss, or other satanic attacks

and supply a variety of other things that are needed. It can even be forcircumstances where a mechanic is needed to fix a car, a plumber to fix aplumbing issue and other skilled people to help with daily living situations.Supplication is a very diverse type of prayer.

A. SUPPLICATION IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

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1. WITH A WRONG MOTIVE

Supplication is also a duty of a priest. Beseeching the Lord on behalf ofanother is part of our priestly duty. Samuel recognized it as part of hisrequired actions on behalf of Israel to offer supplication with a sacrifice toevoke a blessing and the favor of God during a battle. When Saul took it uponhimself to offer supplication and the offering outside of the designated pattern

it was to be offered, this angered Samuel and God both.

1 SAMUEL 13:12-1312 Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me toGilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the LORD: I forcedmyself therefore, and offered a burnt offering.13 And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not keptthe commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: fornow would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever.

Saul needed God's favor, but did it outside of his realm of authority. Plushe did his prayer of supplication incorrectly. His real motive was to save hisown reputation and prove the authority of a priest was not necessary to assistIsrael in the victory. Samuel loved Saul and was betrayed by this action.

2. WITH THE RIGHT MOTIVE

In the time of the dedication of the temple by King Solomon, the priesthad already taken care of the atonement for sin. This gave Solomon the abilityto offer prayers of supplication for the people. He entreated God on behalf ofthe people and encouraged the people by providing for them, a request to God

for their supply. His response to authority was totally different than Sauls wasin 1 Samuel 13.

I KINGS 8:52-6052 That thine eyes may be open unto the supplication of thy servant,and unto the supplication of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them inall that they call for unto thee.53 For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth,to be thine inheritance, as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thyservant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD.

54 And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying allthis prayer and supplication unto the LORD, he arose from beforethe altar of the LORD, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spreadup to heaven.55 And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with aloud voice, saying,56 Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel,according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all hisgood promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.

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57 The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him notleave us, nor forsake us:58 That he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, andto keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, whichhe commanded our fathers.59 And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplicationbefore the LORD, be nigh unto the LORD our God day and night, that

he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israelat all times, as the matter shall require:60 That all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God, andthat there is none else.

Notice the difference in the level of prayer here. Solomon is not prayingfor their sins. They are not separated from God at this point because theatonement was made by the priest, now he is beseeching God for good thingsin their behalf. Provisions, promises to be fulfilled to the people as promisedthrough Moses, and the turning of their hearts toward God. What a prayer.

What wisdom and humility is being demonstrated by Solomon here.

Even though there were those who were against Solomon in that crowd,and false gods being worshipped by his wives, he still turned to Jehovah andsought His favor for his people. He petitioned God to bestow His favor andkindness on the nation he was ruling. He could do that because this nation waspart of the original family. They may have grown into a nation but they werestill all related. This just proves that a person can pray blessings for otherseven when things are not right in their own household or the household ofothers, when they have made themselves right before God. Our office andlegal right in our household permits that.

3. FOR ONE'S OWN NEED

When David wrote Psalm 6, he was under great pressure. There aretimes when the pressures so overwhelm us that it takes God to intervene inour behalf to pick us back up again. Had David been living today and made thecomments about his tears, we would have diagnosed him as on the brink of anervous breakdown. His supplication for his own need to God, who was able tosupply his need, brought him out of his situation.

Notice where Psalm 6:10 ends, Psalm 7:1 begins on an uplifted note.God had answered his supplication and his attitude improved.

PSALMS 6:6-10 7:16 I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; Iwater my couch with my tears.

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7 Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of allmine enemies.8 Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the LORD hath heard thevoice of my weeping.9 The LORD hath heard my supplication; the LORD will receive myprayer.

10 Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed: let them return and

be ashamed suddenly.

7:1 Shiggaion of David, which he sang unto the LORD, concerning thewords of Cush the Benjamite. O LORD my God, in thee do I put mytrust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me:

If a person can sing in the midst of their trial, it is supernatural. Psalm 6was sung by David. He was overwhelmed but we do not find him having a pityparty before God however he is pleading his case and we know that God didanswer this supplication. We find this same reaction in Psalm 30:8-12 also.

PSALMS 30:8-128 I cried to thee, O LORD; and unto the LORD I made supplication.9 What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall thedust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?10 Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me: LORD, be thou my helper.11 Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hastput off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;

12 To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent.O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.

4. SUPPLICATION FOR DIRECTION OR WISDOM

There are times people will come to another believer because they areunable to hear from God on their own. This can be for a variety of reasons, sodon't issue judgment here.

Sometimes this happens so that the body will work together for acommon cause. When we are unable to hear from God on our own, we shouldcall on the body for assistance. There is nothing wrong with asking for help.Dont let pride block what God wants the power of agreement in the

body of believers to accomplish.

When we have pride in our lives, or are afraid of the judgment that willbe upon us by others that find out about the problem, we hold back fromasking for help.

If anyone is judging a person by their situation, I have one word for thatperson; stop. Not everything that happens to another person is because theyare bad. There is a lot of false judgments going on against believers based

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on opinions and not facts. Jesus constantly went around doing good andhealing the sick and look what happened to Him.

A person might be in a situation just because they were demonicallyattacked by something outside of their understanding. Devils are smartenough to know that when they can't do things by themselves, they need tocall for reinforcements. If devils will call for reinforcements in order to kill, rob

and destroy, how much more should the Body of Christ wake up to thisprinciple, lay down their pride, and get the victory.

LUKE 11:24-2624 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dryplaces, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto myhouse whence I came out.

25 And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished.26 Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits morewicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there : and thelast state of that man is worse than the first.

Notice in this next example that Jeremiah is going to make supplicationfor information from God on behalf of someone else. If you are the personneeding wisdom or direction from God and you seek a person with provencharacter and integrity who legitimately hears from God, then you have aresponsibility to follow through with the direction given.

JEREMIAH 42:1-61 Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, andJezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even untothe greatest, came near,

2 And said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we beseech thee, oursupplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto theLORD thy God, even for all this remnant; (for we are left but a few ofmany, as thine eyes do behold us:)3 That the LORD thy God may show us the way wherein we maywalk, and the thing that we may do.

4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard you; behold, Iwill pray unto the LORD your God according to your words; and it shallcome to pass, that whatsoever thing the LORD shall answer you, I willdeclare it unto you; I will keep nothing back from you.

5 Then they said to Jeremiah, The LORD be a true and faithfulwitness between us, if we do not even according to all things forthe which the LORD thy God shall send thee to us.

6 Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voiceof the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be wellwith us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.

5. MAKING SUPPLICATION MORE THAN ONE TIME

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Sometimes supplication requires going after the petition or desiredprovision from God more than once, when it is on the behalf of ourselves orsomeone else. The best thing to keep in mind is when we pray like this, backup the reason the request should be granted with more scriptures than whathas been used before. This not only strengthens our spirit, but validates ourrequest even tighter.

There are demonic forces that want to intercept answers. It is possibleto give up only moments before the answer arrives and surrender the victorywith ones own negative words. This is the number one reason people do notget the answers they are believing God for. They say one thing to God, andanother to people.

I like what God told me once to say to another person about theirsituation. He said to tell them, Dont tell me about your problems; tell yourproblems about me. In other words He was saying, Quit moaning andgroaning to me about the problem. Start telling the problem, In the name ofJesus, you are going to change to line up with what God has provided for me.

The Word says (Then quote Gods promise about His provision).

I heard a preacher tell a story once about a financial situation he wasgoing through that seemed hopeless. One time when ministering, he turnedaround to see this man dressed in a very expensive suit standing on hisplatform. He thought it was odd that someone would walk up on the stage so

he stopped and asked the man what he wanted.

The man replied (and Im telling this as exact as possible asto what he said), I am your financial angel that has beensent to help you but you are provoking me. I have been sentto turn around this situation but you are talking against whatI am trying to do. And furthermore, you are going to falselyaccuse me of not doing my job when you stand before theLord to judge me.

The preacher said it didnt take him any time at all to repent of hisnegative words and start speaking what God said about his finances. A goodbook to get that has the right words to speak over all situations is, GodsPromises for your Every Need by A.L. Gill.*

Daniel was aware that there was a battle going on for his petitions inbehalf of Israel during the captivity, and that his own life was in danger. Hewas standing in the gap for himself and his people, entreating God to intervenefor the covenant He had promised Israel and that Daniel and his people wouldlive under.

* Ordering Information for Gods Promises for your Every Need are in the back of this book.

Daniel petitioned God three times a day for his deliverance and thedeliverance of Gods people. By his act of petitioning his God, he knew if it

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were found out, he would be in trouble, and so would everyone else that wouldask petition of God. Again, notice Daniel is not begging God, he is bowing andthanking in an adverse situation.

DANIEL 6:7-137 All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, thecounselors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal

statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition ofany God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast intothe den of lions.8 Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be notchanged, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which alterethnot.9 Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree.10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into hishouse; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, hekneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave

thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.11 Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying andmaking supplication before his God.

12 Then they came near, and spake before the king concerning thekings decree; Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shallask a petition of any God or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king,shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thingis true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which alterethnot.13 Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, which is ofthe children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the

decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times aday.

The king, even though he was responsible for the calamity that cameupon Daniel, when he saw his own wrong-doing quickly came into agreementwith Daniel that God would deliver him. Remember, Daniel grew up with theking when they were young boys as Daniel was mentored and almost raised byShadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

Both Daniel and Darius had seen how God delivered them from the fiery

furnace as reported in Daniel 3. Even though Darius did not believe in the Godthat Daniel served, his character and integrity caused even a non-believer torecognize the power of God.

Daniel had to hold to a God approved response in his trial. He could notget mad or blame the king, but had to walk in forgiveness and love.

DANIEL 6:16

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16 Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast himinto the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy Godwhom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee.

Because of Daniel's character, perseverance of his faith and rightresponse, God sent an angel to protect him.

DANIEL 6:2222 My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut thelions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch asbefore him innocency was found in me; and also beforethee, O king, have I done no hurt.

In chapter nine, Daniel's ability to not give up caused his supplications toreceive the attention of God a second time and Daniel to get an answer onceagain. This time God sent an angel to give skill and understanding. Thatshould be everyones desire; to have skill and understanding of spiritual things.

DANIEL 9:20-2220 And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sinand the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication

before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God;21 Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom Ihad seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly,touched me about the time of the evening oblation.22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I amnow come forth to give thee skill and understanding.

B. SUPPLICATION IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

1. FOR THE PRESENCE OF GOD

Supplication, seeking God or petitioning Him, continued into the NewTestament. Jesus gave instructions to tarry in Jerusalem until the promise ofthe Holy Spirit came. The people did this even though it ran into their feastcalled Pentecost.

One hundred and twenty people gathered to pray and make supplicationin agreement, in one accord for the power of the Holy Spirit to come. Theirprayer and supplication was not left unanswered, but the answer came in sucha great way that it shook the entire city.

ACTS 1:13-15

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13 And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room,where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, andThomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, andSimon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication,with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.15 And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and

said, (the number of names together were about an hundred andtwenty,)

ACTS 2:1-71 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with oneaccord in one place.2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushingmighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it satupon each of them.

4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak withother tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of everynation under heaven.6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, andwere confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his ownlanguage.7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another,Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?

2. SUPPLICATION FOR THE SAINTS

Paul showed that we make supplication in the Spirit for others. He toldthe believers to make prayers and supplications in the Holy Spirit. Since theHoly Spirit is a helper, he can help us pray for other believers. He is a helperof those who believe on the Lord Jesus and the work done at Calvary. Paulsaid, pray for yourself, pray for others, and pray for me in the Holy Spirit forboldness. Paul gave them a specific request so that they wouldnt prayincorrectly.

EPHESIANS 6:18-20

18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, andwatching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for allsaints;

19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may openmy mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speakboldly, as I ought to speak.

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In verse eighteen, he is saying watch for the needs of other believers andpetition God for them. Paint a target for God to strike in behalf of otherbelievers. Don't become so self-centered in your prayers that you neglect therest of the Body of Christ. Be observant and alert toward the needs of otherbelievers.

He even gives them a direction to supplicate for him. He says to pray

that he would have more boldness to preach the gospel. He didn't want toback down or become intimidated by man and not proclaim the very thing hislife was dedicated to. He needed their supplication and their petitioning Godfor the strength necessary to do the task he was sent to do.

It is wisdom to find out from the person you are going to supplicate for,what their need is and what they believe God will do. Then you not only areoperating in supplication, but the power of agreement also.

3. SUPPLICATION SHOULD ALWAYS BE DONE WITH THANKSGIVING

Supplication can be done without thanksgiving, but how much more doesit yield when it is mixed with thanksgiving. It takes faith to be thankful forsomething you haven't seen yet. The Word shows that a supernatural form ofpeace is released concerning the items prayed for when thanksgiving is addedto the prayer.

PHILIPPIANS 4:6, 76 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer andsupplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made knownunto God.

7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keepyour hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Verse seven shows a connective word. It is the word "and". "And" joinsand links everything found on the right side of the word to the words found onthe left side of it. It bridges two events and locks them together so that onefunctions with a direct result on the other. It is like saying "The cloth is blackand white". It is not white alone, nor is it black alone. It is both at the sametime.

Always add thanksgiving to your supplication, and it will give you adimension of peace that will guard your heart and mind against doubt, fear, orunbelief that there will be the desired results you are looking for. It takes faithto thank God for something you haven't seen yet.

Supplication is the responsibility of all the believers, not just a select few.As a priest, it is our duty to offer supplication in behalf of the saints. We are tofurnish petitions for others when they are in need.

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Supplication brings the wisdom of God into our situations and thesituations of others. When one offers prayers for the saints, they aresupplicating, not interceding. Intercession is between two opposing parties,and God is not opposed to His children, no matter how much they fail.

Supplication for the saints is done by the Holy Spirit; intercession for thelost is not. Because the Holy Spirit is our helper, we have access to a

dimension of Him that the lost do not. Through speaking in tongues we canaccess a language that exceeds our natural level of prayer.

Don't give up and don't put a time limit on your answer or petition. Donttell God If you dont do it by (and then give a negative consequence that willhappen) as part of your petition. Thank Him that He watches over His Wordto perform it. Just because Adam and Eve fell in the garden, the promise of adeliverer didn't arrive until everything was in order. God is getting things inorder for each one of us so that the request will come and not be destroyed inthe process. He is getting our mouth lined up to receive and not destroy our

very petition. God had to get things in order even to send His very own Son.

GALATIANS 4:44 But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth hisSon, made of a woman, made under the law,

There is even a fullness of time to gather the people of God to himself.

EPHESIANS 1:1010 That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gathertogether in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which

are on earth; even in him:

There is an appointed time when we will see the results, so patiently waitfor it and never stop thanking and praising Him for it. Thanksgiving helps tospeed up the answer.

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WORKSHEET #3 - PRAYER

1. What is the root word of "supplication"? ___________________________What does th

prayer that changes things

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