Friday, November 17, 2006

The Commanding Force of Prayer

Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, “Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons; and concerning the works of My hands, you command Me.” (Isaiah 45:11)

Prayer puts God in full force into God's work. “Ask of Me things to come, concerning My sons, and concerning the work of My hands command ye Me” — God's carte blanche to prayer. (E. M. Bounds, Purpose in Prayer)

The church seems almost wholly unaware of the power God puts into her hand; this spiritual carte blanche on the infinite resources of God's wisdom and power is rarely, if ever, used. (E. M. Bounds, Purpose in Prayer)

Prayer brings God into the situation with commanding force. “Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons,” says God, “and concerning the work of My hand command ye Me.” (E. M. Bounds, Winning the Invisible War)

Our prayers are God's decrees in another shape. The prayers of God's people are but God's promises breathed out of living hearts, and those promises are the decrees, only put into another form and fashion. Do not say, “How can my prayers affect the decrees of God?” They cannot, except to the degree that your prayers are decrees, and that as they come out, every prayer that is inspired of the Holy Ghost in your soul is as omnipotent and as eternal as that decree which said, “Let there be light: and there was light” (Genesis 1:3). (C. H. Spurgeon, The Power of Prayer in a Believer’s Life)

Faith in God so unites to God that it passes beyond the privilege of asking to the power of commanding. This language of Christ is not that of a request, however bold, but of a fiat … And so—marvelous fact! The child of God, laying hold by faith of the Power of the Omnipotent One, issues his fiat … Obey the Law of the Power and the Power obeys you. Conform to the Laws and modes of the Spirit’s operations, and in the work of God’s hands you may command the Spirit’s Power. (A. T. Pierson, Lessons in the School of Prayer, quoted in Moving Mountains, by Paul L. King)
When we begin to know the heart of God, we begin to understand the commanding force of prayer.

See also “Ask Me, Command Me,” Says the LORD and Commanding the Hand of God.

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