I am Larry Sparks, publisher for Destiny Image, welcome to God Today. I want to encourage you. There is another dimension of prayer that the Lord wants to take you to. I know, often, we are familiar with two dimensions, very quickly. We are familiar with the “if it by thy will” prayer. You know those kind of prayers, where it is like, “Lord, I pray for healing, I pray for this relationship to be restored, I pray to get set free from this torment, if it be your will.”
Now, that’s a very low dimension of prayer. Let me tell you this, there are things we pray “if it be thy will about.” There are very clear things in the scripture that God has made known His will about. Let’s recognize that, “if it be thy will prayers” are not applicable to everything. Number two, this might shock you a little bit, because I know what it comes to. Again, praying for healing and deliverance, sometimes what we do is we pray, “Father, I ask in the name of Jesus that you would bring healing to this person. I ask, Lord,in the name of Jesus, you would bring deliverance to this situation, you’d set this person free from torment. We are asking Him. And it is true, because Jesus said time after time, “Ask, seek, knock.” The language of Jesus, when it comes to prayer, is asking. That is valid, it is necessary.
I want to talk about a roar that the Lord wants to release out of you and out of His Kingdom. I see a perfect example of that out of Acts 3. Let this segment challenge you. I believe it is calling you and I to a new dimension of prayer. It says this, Acts 3:1, “Now, Peter and John were going to the temple at the hour of prayer. The ninth hour. A man lame from birth was being carried whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the beautiful gate. And ask alms of those entering the temple.” Verse 3, “Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms.” Verse 4, “Peter directed his gaze at him.” I love that. “As did John.” There was boldness. There wasn’t any wavering on their end. These were the apostles and I don’t believe this is exclusive just to the apostles. The apostles, Peter and John were giving you and I a blueprint here. Acts 2, they experience the outpouring of the Spirit. Acts 3, Peter and John are operating now as the Ecclesia, as the Church. They are giving you and I a preview of how we are supposed to operate and function.
Here they are, looking at this guy, who is obviously in a crippled state. E is in a state that is not in compatibility with the Kingdom of God. He is broken. He needs an answer. They look at Him, “they fixed their gaze on him. He fixed his gaze on them, expecting to receive something from them.” But, here is that roar I was talking about, the roar of His Kingdom. This new dimension of prayer that I believe the Lord is calling us into. Verse 6, “Peter said, ‘I have no silver and gold, but what I have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, riseup and walk.’” We are familiar with what happens. The guy gets up and walks. He is jumping, leaping, and praising God. But, I want to encourage you. There Is a time to pray, “if it be thy will.” There is a time to pray, even to say, “Lord, we ask in Jesus’ name to bring healing. We ask for you to bring deliverance, we ask in His name.” There Is also a time for the Ecclesia, for the Church – which is you and me – to roar. We don’t just pray, we don’t just ask. Those are valid types of prayer, but in some cases, I believe the Lord is calling you and I to command things, to come into agreement with His Kingdom purposes. In that situation, Peter and John saw this guy in a place of brokenness. They recognized this is not compatible with the goodness of God, the life of God, and the kingdom of God. They said, “Silver and gold we don’t have. What we have we give to you. The power and the authority in Jesus’ name.”
Can I pray for you that that would be activated in you? Father, for my friend who is watching, activate them. Give them discernment to recognize the different dimensions of prayer. Let them know when they need to pray, “If it be your will.” Let them know when to pray God, “That we ask in Jesus’ name.” Let them know there is a time, and there is a season, and there is certainly a place for them to command in Jesus’ name that things are out of alignment with your will, God, be brought into alignment and wholeness, healing, and power would be released. In Jesus’ name. Amen and amen.