First of All, Pray

I caught myself a few weeks ago while watching conservative news wringing my hands in despair and moving into hopelessness and unbelief over the things I was seeing and hearing that I was allowing to vex my righteous soul: all of the Covid news, riots and violence, and the polls that appeared to favor anti-life candidates and policies/programs. 

God got my attention by bringing me to His Word and telling me, “You (my church) are the change agents to what is going on negative in the world, but you will not effect change agreeing with what you see and hear or by putting all of your hope in the ballot box.” 

In the Word, Paul established Apostolic order by exhorting the people to, first of all, pray.

“Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:1-4).  

Praying for kings and all who are in authority:

• Allows us to live a quiet and peaceable life 
• Pleases God; this is good and acceptable in His sight
• Creates an environment where evangelism and discipleship are flourishing and unhindered by government restriction

Paul wrote this letter to Timothy, who was pastoring the largest church in the world, Ephesus with 50,000+ members, so he would know how the church was to operate (1 Timothy 3:15). He emphasized that we should pray first–not as last resort. Obviously, by implication there are other things to do besides prayer like preaching, teaching, modeling, serving, loving, leading, and getting involved, including voting. But real kingdom prayer sets the stage for all the rest to happen unhindered.

When considering prayer, it’s important to look at Jesus’ instruction to His disciples. This modeled His own prayer life, and it impacts change in the earth. He said, “Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.” First of all, we must exalt His name above all other names, and then realize you are seated together with Him far above all principalities and powers (Ephesians 2:6). This is essential in your prayer life, so that you are praying from a place of authority representing Heaven. 

We must also spend time with Jesus to find out what is on His heart and mind. Then we can declare, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” You and I are co-laborers with Him and it is our privilege to establish His will on earth. That is the way He set it up.  Matthew 16:19 reminds us, “whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven.” Whatever you don’t, won’t be. Whatever you tolerate will be tolerated even if it is not His will. The will of God is not automatic! 

For example, let’s take a look at the book of Daniel:

“In the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem” (Daniel 9:2).

This is the word to which Daniel is referring:

“For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you and cause you to return to this place,” (Jeremiah 29:10).  

So, the will of God was written, yet Daniel prayed for His will to be done:

“Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession…” (Daniel 9:3-4).

Why would Daniel have to be praying about something God had already established would happen in His written Word? Because the will of God is not automatic. God has to find someone on earth to agree with His will by praying and inviting him to fulfill it. 

Soon Daniel learned from the angel Gabriel, “At the beginning of your supplications the command went out…” (Daniel 9:23).

Think about it: the written Word – God’s will – spoken by Jeremiah was fulfilled through the prayers of Daniel. And so it is with us today: the will of God will be fulfilled if we pray; if we don’t, it won’t. 

This is how the Kingdom of Heaven works: someone on earth agrees with heaven, establishes authority in the spirit realm, then it is released on earth. When you are in a place of authority or have His Word as authority, your prayers and words are law in the spirit realm. 

Whenever you face an obstacle to the will of God in your family, finances, or health, tell the enemy, “This is the way it really is – what the Word says, not what the circumstances say” – then don’t doubt.  The results will be that satan will move over and circumstances will change. 1 John 5:14-15 remind us:

“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”

We can pray to effect change in our lives and  in our nation by co-laboring with God. In Psalm 122 we are reminded to:

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls, prosperity within your palaces. For the sake of my brethren and companions I will now say, Peace be within you” (6-8).  

Why would God ask us to pray for Jerusalem if we could not make an impact? If we can pray for the peace of Jerusalem, we can certainly pray for the peace of our cities at least for the sake of our brethren. All of this violence and unrest is not the will of God. Who is going to stop it? The church doing its first work of prayer will stop it.

The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). Anytime we see unrighteousness, chaos, and dismay manifesting, it is our privilege to establish His kingdom in its place! Jesus did this when he spoke peace to the storm (Mark 4:39).  Ezekiel saw the dead, dry bones and prophesied that they would live (37:1-14).  God spoke, “Let there be light” to an earth without form and in complete darkness (Genesis 1:3). 

When we hear the negative reports about our health, our finances, our children, or our nation, we must let the enemy know how it really is from our place of authority seated together with Christ – far above all the enemy’s authority to bring evil in these areas of our lives. 

In regard to his governing authorities, David prayed, “O Lord I pray, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness” (2 Sam. 15:31).

It’s time to pray and speak confusion to the enemy’s camp where they turn on one another (Exodus 23:27, 2 Chronicles 20:22-23). The enemy’s kingdom is the kingdom of confusion, not the kingdom of God. We can also pray that the hidden things of darkness be brought to light, and for the Lord to reveal the deceptive plans of the enemy to the American people.