Morning Chapel Prayer Playlist
Morning Chapel Prayer Today
Pastor Ken…
Happy Wednesday! It’s the middle of the week already. Welcome, everybody, who’s joining us online. Thank you for being with us.
Before we get started, let me just share a scripture, and then some reflections or thoughts from an old book I’ve had since, honestly, since I was in college by Paul E Billheimer, entitled “Destined for the Throne.” And Dr. Paul Billheimer shares some really interesting thoughts on the context of prayer in our lives, in our world, and for the church.
Ezekiel 22:30…
But before I go there, let me just quote to you, Ezekiel 22:30. It says, “And I sought a man [or a woman] among them who should build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land that I should not destroy it. But I found none.”
God forbid that that would be said of us in this generation, right? Or in this church. Or in your church. God forbid! No, He will find someone. That’s us today!
Say, “That’s me. That’s us. We will stand in the gap. We will build up the wall. We will engage in God’s sacred and holy calling of prayer.”
I’m going to read three different excerpts, starting with this one paragraph here where Paul talks about how God deputizes the church. And this is all just to kind of get your thoughts rolling this morning, your heart stirred, your expectation rising in regard to what God is going to do in and through this time of prayer today.
Paul Billheimer writes regarding God deputizing the church…
“This is the Apostle Paul’s commission and ours. We are His proxies with power of attorney to do His bidding [or to do His work]. ‘As the Father has sent Me, even so send I you,’ Jesus said. This can mean nothing less than we are His deputies with full authority to enforce the divine will and program of God. The deputy is invested.”
That’s us! We’re deputies. We’re proxies.
“We’re God’s representatives in the earth realm, and we’ve been invested with the full power of the office of His chief. Jesus is our chief. He’s the head of the church, and we are fully authorized to act in His stead.”
Then I’m going to slip over to another section where he talks about how prayer is on-the-job training for sovereignty.
Paul says…
“By delegating His authority to the church for administering His decisions and enforcing His will upon the earth, God placed the church in apprenticeship for eternal sovereignty with Christ by practicing in her prayer closet the enforcement of heaven’s decisions in mundane affairs. The church is in on-the-job training for co-sovereignty with Christ over God’s universal empire. She, the church, must learn the art of spiritual warfare of overcoming evil forces in preparation for her [or for our] assumption of the throne following the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.”
You’ve heard me say we share joint seating with Christ, right? We share with an equal position and possession with Jesus because of His redemptive work. That’s what Paul revealed in his writings to the church.
Paul goes on to say…
“To enable her [the church] to learn the technique of overcoming, God devised the scheme of prayer. To give her on-the-job training, God delegated to her [the church] authority to enforce His will right here on earth. In order to enable her to acquire the character and the knowhow she will need to co-rule and reign, Jesus has placed on her the responsibility and authority to enforce God’s will and administer His decisions in the affairs of earth. Notice how often earth as her sphere [the church’s sphere] of action is emphasized. ‘Whatsoever you shall bind on earth. If any two of you shall agree on earth,’ Matthew 16:19; this delegation of authority and administrative responsibility for earthly affairs constitutes the highest honor and elevates the church to the highest rank of all created beings.
“No angel, no archangel will ever achieve this rank, because not angels but redeemed humanity alone is qualified by original creation in the image and likeness of God to constitute the bride and share the bridegroom’s throne.”
And then one more section here where he talks about prayer, the main business of the church.
Billheimer writes…
“This is why John Wesley said [and he shares a number of quotes from great authors on prayer] ‘God will do nothing but an answer to prayer.’ This is why S.D. Gordon said, ‘The greatest thing anyone can do for God and for man is to pray.’ This is why he also said, ‘You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.’ This also explains the statement, ‘Prayer is striking the winning blow. Service is gathering up the results.’”
Ooh, I like that! So when we come to service, we’re just gathering up the results of the prayers that have been prayed in advance.
“It likewise explains the statement of E.M. Bounds about prayer, who said, ‘God shapes the world by prayer.’ The more praying there is in the world, the better the world will be. The mightier the forces against evil. The prayers of God’s saints are the capital stock of heaven by which God carries out His great work upon the earth. God conditions the very life and prosperity of His cause on prayer. If these things are true, then prayer should be the main business of our day.”
Paul said this…
“Checks used by some businesses…” [Kind of old school to use checks. Some of us still might write a check or two on occasion, right?] “Checks used by some business firms or people require the signatures of two individuals to make them valid. One signature is not enough. Both parties must sign. This illustrates God’s method of operating through prayers and faith of His people. His promises are His checks signed by His own blood. His part was fully completed at Calvary. But no promise is made good until a redeemed man enters the throne room of the universe and by prayer and faith, writes his name besides God’s. Not until then are the check’s resources released.
“It is like a safety deposit box in a bank vault. The keeper [or the bank] has a key. And you have a key. Neither alone will open the box. But when you give the keeper your key, he inserts both keys and the door flies open, making available all of the treasures stored in the box.
“Heaven holds the key by which decisions governing earthly affairs… [in our government, in your household, in our economy, in the church, whatever you want to point to, right?] “Heaven holds the key by which decisions governing earthly affairs are made. But we hold the key by which those decisions are implemented.”
So in other words…
We’re not here to convince God that He should do something. We’re not here to justify that we’re good enough that He would answer us. No, we already are proclaimed righteous because of the blood of Jesus. We’re not here to come up with our own plan. God already has a plan for you, for me, for your household, for mine, for America, for the church in this generation. He’s got an amazing plan! A foolproof plan that’s been set up to succeed and overcome every evil intent of the kingdom of darkness. He’s got the plan!
But He needs us to bring our key. He needs us to come to the throne room with our key. There are two keys [in other words, He’s saying] to the plan of God, to the implementation of God’s purpose and will in the earth realm, whether it’s your life or whether it’s something broader like your nation, or so on and so forth. Both are required to unlock what God has already planned and intends to do.
Paul goes on to say…
“This being so then prayer takes on a very different dimension from the conventional notion or understanding. Prayer is not overcoming reluctance in God. It is not persuading Him to do something He is unwilling to do. It is binding upon earth that which already has been bound in heaven. That’s Matthew 16:19. Prayer is implementing His decision. It is enforcing His will upon earth. Prayer makes possible God’s accomplishing what He wants and what He cannot do without it.”
Without what? Without our prayers. Without our faith decrees.
“The content of true prayer originates in the heart of God. So it is He who inspires prayer.”
You could say, God grants prayer. Often I’ll pray that: “Lord, grant me prayer. Inspire me with the right words in the spirit and in my understanding to pray.”
You don’t have to know a lot. You could be a follower of Jesus one day and you have far more than you realize on the inside of you. We just need to be conscious of His wisdom and inside information that is brought to us in and through the Holy Spirit.
Never forget that! I don’t care what you’re going through, what season you find yourself in, remember that the Holy Spirit indwells you if you profess the name of Jesus. That His brilliance, His… what’s the word I’m thinking for here? His intelligence, His strategy, His knowhow, His wisdom, once again, is with you. He is with you. For God is with us. Every step of the way in this earthly journey.
Sometimes that’s just where prayer starts…
Just by and through acknowledging Him, being aware of Him in every situation; at every turn with whatever challenge you might encounter today or later this year, God is with us. And His presence is not something He retracts from us. His presence has been given to us.
Moses said, “Lord, don’t take me up from this place unless your presence goes with me.”
That’s the beautiful thing about the redemptive work of Jesus is it made a way for His glory and presence to be with us always. Not just one day, but every day, in every situation. And prayer unlocks. Once again, it’s you inserting your God-granted key to unlock the storehouse of resources God intends for you to partner with and enjoy and participate in this earthly realm.
He says…
“So it is God who inspires prayer in the heart of a man or a woman. And the answer to every God-inspired petition is already prepared for the prayer uttered. When we are convinced of this, then faith for the answer is easy, far easier than it would be otherwise.”
Prayed…
So, Father, we just thank you this morning for these reminders.
We thank you for your great plan that is far reaching.
Far greater, far more encompassing than we give it credit for in our natural understanding.
Father, we pray that you would do just that in us today as pray-ers, as believers, as followers of Jesus.
May you expand us on the inside, even as we give ourselves to prayer today.
We ask that you would enlarge our thinking, that you would expand our vision and visions.
That you would help us to grasp the greatness of your goodness and your plan.
