We’ll start this word by reading Psalm 5:3
“In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly. ” Psalms 5: 3
I want to remind you of a few points from the previous message:
What is prayer?
Why should we pray?
Who should we pray for?
How should we pray?
Who should we pray to?
We saw that failing to pray is a sin, the sin of self-sufficiency! When you stop praying, you are saying: God I don’t need you, I don’t depend on you, I can do everything by myself! You may not say this with words, but you express it in your attitudes.
“The believer who prays ceases to sin, the believer who sins ceases to pray” Leonard Ravenhill
Because of the lack of prayer many sins come into our lives, such as: complaining, prostitution, addictions, pornography, dissatisfaction, disobedience, rebellion etc.
What will prayer do in our lives?
Prayer produces: holiness, salvation, fruitfulness, it produces faith, produces transparency, crying, brokenness, humility, a character according to the image of Jesus, and finally prayer gives us protection!
We also learned that failing to pray for others and for our nation is also a sin!
We concluded that prayer is the main ritual and practice of all religions. Jews pray three times a day, Muslims five times per day, Buddhists ten times a day, Satanists also have their daily prayer rituals!
In order for us to enter into a deeper level of prayer, to take delight in it, enjoy it and take pleasure in prayer, we need to understand who we are and what the Bible says we are.
“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ” I Thessalonians 5:23
The Bible says that man is a being and has 3 parts to their being. That is, body, soul and spirit.
Let’s see what the Bible says about the flesh and spirit of man.
“For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. ” Galatians 5:17
There is conflict, a constant war of the flesh against the Spirit. We must fight this war every day through prayer. And we need to overcome our flesh, crush its will and desires.
But how can we do that? Through our soul, because it’s through our soul that we seek God!
“Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the Lord your God.” 1 Chronicles 22:19
Your victory over the flesh comes when you consecrate your heart and soul to the Lord.
“Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:” Psalms 103:2
To bless is to praise, to worship, to thank the Lord.
“I love them that love me; And those that seek me early shall find me. ” Proverbs 8:17
God loves everyone, but only those who seek Him will find Him.
“And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13
There is a promise from God that those who seek him in prayer will find him.
Let’s see what Jesus teaches us about prayer.
“For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” Matthew 7: 8
Jesus taught us to ask, to seek, to knock on the door. This passage speaks to us of prayer, about persistence in prayer.
The Bible also tells us that we are a temple of the Holy Spirit.
“Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” I Corinthians 3:16
Solomon built a temple in honour of his God, which was based on Moses’ tabernacle.
Today, the temple of God is us. We are the house of the Holy Spirit.
(Temple image)
At that time the temple was divided into three parts. The Outer Court, the Holy place and the Holy of Holies.
The three parts of the Tabernacle and its objects symbolise the three main parts of man and its functions. The Outer Court symbolises the body, the Holy Place represents the soul and the Holy of Holies symbolises the spirit.
1 ° The first part of the tabernacle was the Outer Courtyard
It was the place where sacrifices were presented to God as burnt offerings. There, confessions of sins and sacrifices for the sins of the people were made. And many sacrifices took place daily.
What happens to many of us today is that prayer reaches only the outer patio. For many Christians, the place of sacrifice and prayer has never been a pleasurable spot, they only ever go as far as carnal prayer, only petitions and the search for one’s own pleasure.
I am not contradicting the Bible, as there are several texts that show us that we should ask for things to our Father in the name of Jesus. But even though Jesus does teaches us to ask, we cannot just ask, we have to go further, we have to leave the atrium (the courtyard).
For He taught us not only to ask, but to seek and knock on the door!
The atrium or patio, is related to our flesh that militates against the spirit. Jesus said that the spirit is ready, but the flesh will never be ready, because the flesh must go to the Cross every day!
“Then Jesus said to His disciples,” If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. ” Matthew 16:24
Taking up the Cross is death for the flesh and life for the Spirit. Every day we need to overcome the flesh, overcome tiredness, sleepiness, and laziness!
The Bible says the spirit is ready! Any time you decide you are going to pray and open your mouth, the Holy Spirit will even give you the words to pray. The Holy Spirit helps us, but He does not do it alone.
Your flesh always says “no” , I’m tired, I don’t want to, I’m sleepy, I can do it later… and later on you will watch TV, go on Facebook, go play a game, watch football, go on WhatsApp.
Your flesh will never want God, if you want to know God and please Him, you need to crucify your flesh every day.
2 ° In the tabernacle there was also the “Holy Place”
In the holy place there was the Golden Lamp-stand, the table of show-bread and the Golden Altar of Incense where incense was burned as a pleasant aroma to the Lord.
The Holy place represents our soul!
They speak of our praise and our prayers, as it says in Revelation 5: 8 – that our prayers they go up like incense to God.
The holy place is where we pour our souls before God, we praise, sing, dance, jump, and it is often in church that this happens.
It is in this place where we present our weaknesses, we open our hearts, we cry, we humble ourselves, we break our hearts before God.
Crying is good, it is part of breaking our will, but it is not enough.
Sometimes people cry, they look broken, but they remain in this place of the soul.
Many Christians never advance any further, and therefore do not develop their calling, they do not enjoy the benefits of following the Lord, they do not make disciples, because they have not learned to overcome their emotions, feelings, wants and thoughts.
Many in the churches are soulful people, who live in the soul and not in the spirit!
These people despair easily, they cry easily and they panic, and because they only follow their soul they stop attending meetings, stop worshiping
This is why David said: Because my soul is sad I wait on God, for I will still praise him.
3 ° In the tabernacle there was also the Most Holy Place. (the Holy of Holies)
It was where the ark of the covenant was, the tablets of the 10 commandments, the jar with the manna, and the staff of Aaron that flourished.
In the Holy of holies only the High Priest entered once a year to burn incense and to present the blood of sacrifice for his own sins as well as all everyone else’s.
Today, Jesus opened this path for us so we now have direct access to the presence, the person of God.
“Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh,”
Hebrews 10: 19-20
Through Jesus and his work on the Cross our spirit communicates with God and we can have intimacy with the Father and we can worship God in spirit and in truth!
** How many of you ever go into your rooms and before you say a word, tears start to flow down, you can’t even begin to say anything? Just crying (you’re in the holy place)
There is a Christian song that says: I just want to raise my hands up, worship you and let the tears flow.
This is worship, you don’t have to say anything, just be silent, just worship your creator. In this place you can delight in His beauty, admire your king, the most beautiful person in the universe.
In the Most Holy Place we bear fruit, we can see God moving in our lives, we can pray for the sick and see healings, miracles, and we carry out our ministry in the Kingdom of God. (Many things can happen when you enter in the most holy place)
Let’s read Psalm: 16: 11
“You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. ” Psalms 16:11
What level of prayer are you in?
What level have you reached?
The Courtyard, the Holy Place or the Most Holy Place
Let’s learn how to pray in a practical way!
“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groaning which cannot be uttered. ” Romans 8:26
What happens when we are born again?
Our spirit, which is was dormant (dead) , is revived when the Spirit of God comes upon us and takes up residence in our spirit.
Now the Holy Spirit helps us, He “in” us, he fights “for” us and “through’ ’us.
We need Him, He is everything we need!
Do you know why many do not find God? Because we don’t have time with God.
Many want to find God in 5 minutes of prayer! No, you will not find Him!
We need to have time with him! we need to have at least 30 minutes.
Some people say that 5 minutes is enough and that God always listens! Imagine someone who’s been in the church for over a year or five years in the church and praying for just 5 minutes, what result do you think they will have?
Jesus established a time of prayer for his disciples, let’s take a look:
“Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? ” Matthew 26:40
Jesus is teaching us that at the very least we should have one hour of prayer!
You may say, I don’t feel like praying, but you should still pray until you feel like you want to keep praying.
Pray until you feel pleasure and desire to pray and to be in the presence of God.
If you are not used to praying at all, then start with 15 minutes a day and gradually increase your time.
Make prayer a daily commitment and a habit, until prayer ceases to be a habit and becomes a pleasure, until you feel the joy of being alone with your Dad!
How to pray for an hour?
You need to overcome your flesh.
At the beginning of your first 15 minutes you will feel sleepy, lazy, all kinds of thoughts will cross your head: the rent you have to pay, work problems, family issues, the last football match, every kind of distraction will come, the phone will vibrate, your child will start crying , everything will happen between 15 and 30 minutes.
Depending on the time, there will be many distraction, so the best time for prayer is early in the morning. (In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.)
Jesus used to get up very early in the dark, go out to deserted places and pray.
What to do during prayer time?
For the first 15 minutes you can read the book of Psalms. Why? Because the Psalms are prayers too.
Next 15 minutes: praise him, sing, worship (you’re 30 minutes in already)
Now take 5 minutes to ask for forgiveness for your sins, for the sins of your family, relatives, your city, your nation, etc.
Now take another 5 minutes to show gratitude, thank Him for your blessings, for life, your health, work, family, church, your nation, be grateful for the work of the cross, for your rescue, the change He operated in your life, your salvation, protection, provision. We have a lot to be thankful for and five minutes is very little.
The next 15 minutes are for intercession.
Leave that part for last: we must pray, for all of those who exercise authority, for the government, for the nation, cry out for mercy, use the word in prayer to make war, memorise the word of God. The word has power, use your authority in the name of Jesus.
At the end of an hour, take 5 minutes and be silent, don’t say anything.
Remember that in prayer you speak and God listens, now take some take to let God speak.
And there, you have prayed for an hour!
You will see that 1 hour is very little and you will want more.
Make prayer a discipline, a habit until it becomes a pleasure.
Prayer is a personal relationship with the King of the Universe!
Prayer has the power to transform your life. Set up a daily prayer time, come to church prayer meetings, mornings, Saturdays, Sundays, etc.
It is through prayer that we will see the supernatural of God!
May the Lord bless and keep you !
Antonio Milhomen
Shalom Intercessory Prayer Ministry
