Category: Apostolic Prayer Partners

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Senior Pastor, Holy Church of JESUS CHRIST
United Pentecostal Church International

7 Reasons Why Prayer Is Important [Importance of Prayer]

Daniel Cutar

Seven Reasons Why Prayer is Important

By: Pastor Brian Chilton

Prayer is one characteristics that is shared among many world religions and philosophies.  In the end, the key difference is the recipient of the prayer.  But what is prayer?  Why is prayer important?  Why do speakers, teachers, and religious leaders emphasize the importance of prayer?  Books have been written on prayer.  Even Jesus gave a model prayer by which we should pray.  Prayer is emphasized because prayer is a very important practice.  Not only can prayer bring spiritual support, prayer can also benefit a person mentally and physically.  In this article, seven reasons will be listed in why prayer is an important practice, beginning with the most obvious reason.

1.     Prayer is Important Because it is Communication with God.

Many religious leaders spoke of prayer, but Jesus not only spoke of prayer, He prayed regularly.  The example of Jesus’ prayer life is seen in Luke, “It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God” (Luke 6:12, NASB).  Jesus was about to select 12 men to be His disciples.  Before He made this decision, He consulted with the Father.  Jesus did so because prayer is communication.

When many couples attend marriage counseling, one of the key areas that is promoted is communication.  How well do the individuals in marriage communicate with one another?  Communication is vital to the Christian, as well.  This is our time with God.  Recent studies have shown that most American pastors only spend about 7 minutes in prayer a day (Dave Earley Video, Liberty University, 2011).  This is not enough.  It can only be assumed that the average congregant spends less time with God.  No wonder we feel as if we do not feel the presence of God.  It is not because God moved.  It is because you did.  Prayer in its purest form is communication with God.  Just as you speak to a parent or a friend, you can communicate with God.  God hears and will respond according to God’s will.  Are you communicating with God the way you should?  There is another reason why prayer is important.

2.     Prayer is Important Because it is the Way to Give Thanks.

Before Jesus fed the 5,000 (more like 20,000 as only the men were counted), Jesus gave thanks.  Matthew, an eyewitness to the event, recorded, “He took the seven loaves and the fish; and giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people” (Matthew 15:36, NASB).  Later, John records boats coming from the place where the Lord had given thanks, referring to the place where Jesus performed the miracle.  John writes, “There came other small boats from Tiberias near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks” (John 6:23, NASB).

In our time, one is hard-pressed to find anyone truly thankful for anything.  It seems that individuals are more concentrated on what they do not have rather than what they do have.  There can be found no rest nor contentment for such a person.  However, if we really concentrate on what we have been given, we all have a reason to give God thanks.  Yes life is not perfect.  But, God has given us life.  He has revealed Himself to us through Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  He has given us food to eat, water to drink, clothing for our backs, and a place to call home.  David Platt writes, “If we make $10,000 a year, we are wealthier than 84% of the world, and if we make $50,000 a year, we are wealthier than 99% of the world.” (David Platt, “Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream”, 194).  So, look around you.  You have something for which to be thankful.  Use prayer as a means to express your thankfulness to God.  Just as a person likes to hear thanks for something that one has done, I feel that God appreciates our giving thanks unto Him for the blessings that God has bestowed upon us.  But, there are other areas in which prayer is important.

3.     Prayer is Important Because it is the Way to Intercede.

As prayer is communication, prayer is an important means to intercede for another.  What is intercession?  Intercession means that we speak on behalf of another.  We keep a prayer list at church in which we pray for the needs of others.  I also have a personal prayer list in which I pray on behalf of another.  This is a very biblical practice.  Paul writes to Timothy, “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men” (1 Timothy 2:1, NASB).  Some wonder, “How do you pray for an hour?”  I wondered the same time until I understood how many people need prayer.  Do we pray for our world?  Do we pray for the gospel to be spread?  Do we pray for our nation and our national leaders?  Even if you have an evil leader, you should still pray for him/her.  It may be through intercessory prayers that one is changed.  Do you pray for the sick?  Do you pray for travelers?  Do you pray for your police officers?  Do you pray for medical staffs?  Do you pray for those in the military?  Do you pray for theologians?  Do you pray for your neighbors?  Do you pray for your family?  The list could go on and on and on.  Yet another element of importance is found in prayer.

4.     Prayer is Important Because it is the Way to Give Praise.

The psalmist writes,

Praise the LORD!
Praise God in His sanctuary;
Praise Him in His mighty expanse.
2 Praise Him for His mighty deeds;
Praise Him according to His excellent greatness.

3 Praise Him with trumpet sound; Praise Him with harp and lyre.

4 Praise Him with timbrel and dancing; Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe.

5 Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with resounding cymbals.

              6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD! (Psalm 150, NASB).

Now even though this is a psalm, most, if not all, of the psalms are in fact prayers put to music.  We should praise God.  What is the difference between giving thanks and giving praise?  Giving thanks is thanking God for what He has done.  Giving praise is thanking God for Who He is.  When one understands the greatness, the power, the glory, the love, the compassion, and the grandeur of God, how could one not praise God?  Yet, another importance is found in prayer.

5.     Prayer is Important Because it is the Way to Confess Sin.

The psalmist writes, “O God, it is You who knows my folly, and my wrongs are not hidden from You” (Psalm 69:5, NASB).  God knows our faults and wrongdoings already.  Some would ask, “If God knows all about it, why do we need to confess our sins?”  This is a good question.  Our confession of sins is admission.  Through the admission of our wrongdoing, we are able to ask for forgiveness from God and also to allow God to direct us on how to correct the mistakes.  Confession also brings freedom.  Confession which leads to forgiveness allows one to live life without the burden of past failures.  The confessor can be like the quarterback who messes up on one play, shakes it off, and goes out looking to play better the next time around.  Also, with God, one does not have to worry about one’s faults being blabbered around to others.  God, who is the essence of holiness and perfection, forgives, corrects, and frees.  A sixth importance exists in prayer.

6.     Prayer is Important Because it is the Way to Ask for Help.

Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8, NASB).  Who does one ask?  The person asks God, seeks God, and knocks to have God’s truth opened unto them.  We all need help.  My wife says I need mental help many times…just kidding.  To ask for help, one must lower one’s pride and admit that he or she cannot do something by themselves.  This may be a shock to learn especially in our individualistic society, but you were not meant to live this life alone.  God in His essence is an eternal relationship: Father, Son, and Spirit.  You, therefore, were created for relationships: relationship with God and a relationship with others.  That is why it is laughable to hear people speak of loving God and not desiring to be in church.  Do you really think you can go this without the help of other Christians?  Do you really think that you do not need to be serving God in a capacity at a local church.

Prayer allows one to go to God in asking for help.  God may give help in a variety of means.  We were praying for a newer vehicle because my truck was getting ragged and my wife’s vehicle was becoming undependable.  God opened the doors for us both to get a new vehicle.  We were not planning to do so, but God worked out a way in that we could while only spending out a little more a month than we had for my wife’s previous vehicle.  This is small potatoes in relation to those who are praying for health issues and the like.  But God is still in the miracle business.  God can give you help in your time of need.  Will you recognize your need for God’s help and ask?  Finally, a seventh area of importance exists for prayer.

7.     Prayer is Important Because it is the Way to Receive Salvation.

Paul writes, “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9, NASB).  Although, magic prayers do not exist.  When one recognizes one’s need for God and the salvation that God offers, it is through prayer that salvation comes.  Admittedly, many have promoted the recitation of a prayer and that one can go on living just as one has always done.  This is not the case.  Salvation requires one to turn his/her life over to God, receiving the work that God has and will do in the person’s life, and trusting in and depending on God.  But the means of getting the ball rolling is prayer.  Southern Baptists, the denomination to which I belong, have given a sample prayer in which one can pray.  This is not a magic prayer.  But, it lists the elements that need to be in one’s commitment in order to receive Christ as Savior.  Such a prayer goes like this:

“Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and I do not deserve eternal life. But, I believe You died and rose from the grave to make me a new creation and to prepare me to dwell in your presence forever. Jesus, come into my life, take control of my life, forgive my sins and save me. I am now placing my trust in You alone for my salvation and I accept your free gift of eternal life” (SBC.net).

If one prays and really allows God through Christ to become one’s Lord, it is our belief that you have received salvation from Christ.  This, however, is just the beginning.  If you prayed this prayer, you need to find a Bible-believing church and get involved.  You also need to obtain a copy of God’s Word–the Bible–and begin reading it.  It is recommended that one begins with the Gospel of John and the Gospel of Mark.  Would you receive Christ today?

Conclusion

As we have seen, prayer is extremely important.  It is important for you to spend time with God in prayer every day.  Do not think that 5 minutes a day is enough.  Consider this chart below which was given to me by Pastor David Kiser and comes from ShareLife Ministries in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.  All rights reserved.  This chart shows how you can easily pray an hour a day.  The only difficulty is finding a time and sticking with it.  If your relationship with God matters to you, spend more time with God in prayer every day.  It could be one of the most important things you ever do.

Prayer Wheel from SharingLife Ministries, Winston-Salem, NC. All rights reserved.
Prayer Wheel from SharingLife Ministries, Winston-Salem, NC. All rights reserved.

How to Spend Time in Prayer
I. PRAISE Start your prayer hour by praising the Lord. Praise Him for things
that are on your mind right now. Praise Him for one special thing He has
done in your life in the past week. Praise Him for His goodness to your family.
Psalm 34:1
2. WAITING Spend this time waiting on the Lord. Let Him pull together
reflections for you.Think about the hour before you and the things you want
the Lord to do in your life. Psalm 27: 14
—-~—–~—–.—-~
3. CONFESSION Ask the Holy Spirit to show you anything in your life
which might be displeasing to Him.Ask Him to point out attitudes that are
wrong. as well as specific acts for which you have not yet made a prayer of
confession. Now confess that to the Lord and claim IJohn 1:9 so that you
might be cleansed for the remainder of the hour before you and then pick
up and read the Word. Psalm 51: 1-19
4. READ THE WORD Spend time reading promises of God in the Psalms.
in the prophets and passages on prayer located in the New Testament. Check
your concordance. Psalm I 19:97
5. PETITION This is general request for others. praying through the prayer
list. the prayer cards. or personal prayer interest on behalf of yourself and
others. Hebrews 4: 16
6. INTERCESSION Specific prayer on the behalf of others. Pray specifically
for those requests of which you are aware. Romans 15:30-33
7. PRAYTHEWORD Now take the Scriptures and start praying the
Scriptures as certain sections of Psalm I 19 lend themselves beautifully to
prayer expression. Psalm 119:38-46
a.THANKSGIVING Spend these minutes giving thanks to the Lord for
things in your life. things on behalf of the church. things on behalf of your
family. Philippians 4:6
9. SINGING Take your hymnal and sing a prayer song. sing a praise song.
sing a song regarding soul winning or witnessing. Let it be a time of praise.
Psalm 59:17
10. MEDITATE Ask the Lord to speak back to you and keep a paper and
pen handy. ready to relate the impressions that He makes upon your life.
Psalm 63
I I. LISTEN Spend time merging the things you have read from the Word.
the things you have prayed. the things you have thanked the Lord for. the
things that you have been singing. and see how the Lord brings them all
together to speak to you. ISamuel 3:9-10
12. END WITH PRAISE Praise the Lord for the time you have had to
spend with Him. Praise Him for the impressions that He has given you. Praise
Him for the prayer requests He raised up in you mind. Psalm 145: 1-13 (From SharingLife Ministries)

All Scripture, unless otherwise noted, comes from the New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).

Copyright June 24, 2013. Brian Chilton.

Moving Heaven to Move on Earth – By: Pastor/Evangelist Jerry Dave P. Cutar

Daniel Cutar #

Moving Heaven to Move on Earth

God’s Word and divine will is already settled and established in heaven. Prayer is the avenue that God has chosen for His will in heaven to be made manifest in the earth.

Verily I say unto you, “Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 18:18

Matthew chapter 6 verse 9 and 10;

9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

(In both portions of Scripture, notice that earth has to move first before heaven validates)

Jacob saw a ladder in a dream (Genesis 28:12) and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven… (the ladder came from earth first).  And behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

God wants heaven and earth to be connected. For that to happen, someone on earth must be praying to access the heavens that God has opened.

Your Christian life is only as big as your prayer life

The altar of sacrifice was the biggest piece of furniture in the Tabernacle in the wilderness that God commanded Moses to build. All the other pieces including the Ark of the Covenant where God’s presence, provision and power rested could all fit in the Altar. God’s power, provision and presence in our lives and in our church will never be greater than the size of our altar. God will only show forth His glory according to the size of our sacrifice.

It is a divine and natural principle: only what comes up must come down. When we send up prayer, God will send down power. When we send up supplication, God will send down the supply. When we send up intercession, God will send down impartation.

God will only be as big to you as the size of your prayers.

God is not drawn by need. God is drawn by faith. Faith is demonstrated. Faith is an action word. If we say we believe in the power of prayer, WE WILL PRAY. If we say we believe that God still answers prayer, we will pray. If we say we believe that our God is all powerful, all knowing and ever present in our lives, we will pray. If we say we believe that He is the only answer for our world today, we will pray. If we say we believe that neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved, we will call upon that name! (Acts 4:12)

If we say we believe in a big God, we will pray big prayers. If we say we believe that God can do anything and nothing is impossible with Him, we will pray bold prayers.

Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

When prayer is mentioned some people think it is boring. But once we realize the power that is available to us through prayer we will find out that it is the most exciting thing a believer can do. It is the most powerful and potent weapon in the hands of a person; to be able to call upon heaven to move on earth! To invite a limitless God to work in the lives of limited men and women.

Matthew 5:6 says, “…when you pray”, not “if you pray.”  Prayer is not optional for a believer; it is not a choice, it MUST be done. It is expected of believers to pray. The Bible does not say there is but a ministry or certain people in the church that are ministers of intercession. Every believer is expected of God to pray.

Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh, in the days of His flesh had a life that is dedicated to prayer. He did not just have a prayer life. But He had a life committed to prayer. Why?

Hebrews 8:5 tells us that Jesus prayed to serve unto us an example of heavenly things.  In Psalm 65:2, our Lord and Messiah prayed because all flesh must submit and come to God in prayer.  “O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.” Although Jesus was God, He prayed to show us a divine example—that all men must come to God in prayer.

The disciples would see Jesus climb up on a mountain or into a solitary place in the desert. And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. Mark 1:35

When the disciples woke up, He would have already finished praying. In the Middle East, the sun rises around four A.M. So Jesus prayed a great while before this time.

And then in the day, Jesus would perform wonders and miracles and minister to the people. The disciples would toil and labor all day with little results and then sleep at night while Jesus prayed. The disciples connected the dots. They saw the direct correlation between Jesus’ commitment to a life of prayer and the effectiveness of His ministry.

The priority of Jesus was not the ministry to men, but ministry to God. You can spend hours and hours by your own strength and have no results. If you spend minutes with God, you will spend hours with men. But spend hours with God; you will only spend minutes with men.

No wonder the only thing they asked Jesus to teach them was,”Master, teach us to pray.” (Luke 11:1) Not how to pray but to PRAY! Because it starts with the attitude and commitment to pray and God will take over. The more you do it the better you get. The better you get the better results you will see in your life. The disciples connected the miracles and the spiritual authority to prayer.

Time in prayer is not wasted, it is time invested.

In Mark 9 there was a father whose son was possessed of a devil. The disciples spent the whole day trying to help the man but to no avail. But Jesus rebuked the devil and it flees. The disciples asked why the demon would not obey them. Jesus said, it was because of your unbelief. “But this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” (Matthew 17:21)  Prayer first coupled with fasting. The devil was not the problem. It was their unbelief. Unbelief is killing us! Our lack of prayer is causing us to doubt the greatness and ability of God. But Jesus said there is a kind of faith that even the devils cannot resist. This kind of faith can only be received through prayer and fasting. It is time to pray!

  • In Genesis chapters four through six, God separated for Himself those that call upon Him. In a time of advancement, those that were called sons of God were those who called upon the name of the LORD.
  • More than ever before, in this time of tremendous progress and upheaval in technology, economy, politics, social ills, etc. the only answer is to call upon God.
  • God is calling us to pray for our communities, for our families, for our nation and society and for our world. Through Apostolic Prayer Partners, God has given us the roadmap to success, not in buildings, elaborate programs, but through powerful, passionate, prevailing, persistent prayer!
  • What will our church be known for? I want to be called a house of prayer.
  • God chose prayer as the means for Him to baptize and bathe His Body with power, anointing, compassion and love. Only through prayer do we capture the heart of the Master and receive His burden for a lost and dying world.
  • God is Sovereign and All Powerful. He can do anything, when He wants, where, how and with whom. And in His Sovereignty He chose to use the Church, His Body to carry out His will upon the earth. God will never do in the earth anything outside of human cooperation and involvement. God chose us to be co-laborers together with Him. In order to work together with God we must be touched by the things that touch the heart of God. We must love what He loves and hate what He hates. We must walk closely with Him so we can be in step. We must draw nearer to Him so we can hear His every word, even a whisper. We must turn our gaze ever in His face so we will not be distracted by the storms and waves of this present world.

For example, God went to Abraham before destroying Sodom and Gomorrah. He went and talked with His friend first, not to ask permission, but to talk to an intercessor! He knew Abraham would cry out for the salvation of the city. He knew Abraham too well. Is there a friend of God that will cry out for our city?

God came to Noah before He destroyed the earth by a flood. Because He knew Noah would obey the call to build an Ark. God is looking for Noah’s in our day that will build an Ark in the face of impending disaster and with every tear and bended knee, will build a place where people can be saved.

God talked to Moses, why? Could God not save His people by Himself? God uses His people as the agent of His will on earth. When Mary said, “Be it unto me according to Your Word.” (Luke 1:38), that is when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, the Lord Jesus Christ. God did not force His will upon Mary. Mary had to submit her will to God and cooperate with what God wanted to accomplish in the earth.

God chose you and me, the Church to carry out His purpose in the earth but God would not entrust His treasures in the hands of a prayer less church.

When God looks at a city, He doesn’t see a city with churches in it. He sees His church with a city built around it. The church is the focal point of God’s gaze and the apple of His eye. But a prayer less church is likened to a Bride who does not long for the presence of her Bridegroom. What would cause the Groom to hurry to her side if the Bride is busy with other pursuits? Prayer tells God the temperature of our passion for Him. It is the single most powerful indicator of our longing and desire for the presence of our Savior.

What then is prayer?

Prayer is man partnering and cooperating with God to accomplish His will on the earth. Without prayer God will not move, not because He cannot do it but because it is His law.

Matthew 18:18 King James Version (KJV)

18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Heaven will respond but we have to agree on earth first. Earth has to make up its mind first that it wants heaven involved. We have to determine it in our will first that we want God to step in before He does. God does not like to crash parties, He must be the guest of honor.

It is time to pray! For it is time for God to move in our generation. God is waiting on us to pray so that He can do a mighty work in our lives.

  • This message is a challenge. There is a call from the very heart of God that longs to do marvelous things among His people. That is why He is drawing us to prayer. Without anyone praying He will not move.
  • What makes us think that what God originated in the Spirit we can finish through the arm of the flesh? What began in the fire must not end up in smoke.
  • Two things in Scripture that was likened unto a field or a harvest; evangelism and Prayer. Prayer is a seed that if planted will reap a bountiful harvest.

Psalm 126:6 King James Version (KJV)

6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

The Bible said, “doubtless.” That means the outcome is guaranteed. When you sow in prayer,  IT WILL BEAR FRUIT!

It is time to pray! It is time to pray! It is time to pray! It is the greatest need of our world today. It is the greatest need of the hour. It is time to pray!

 

 

 

 

Aligning Our Will to the Will of God – By Pastor/Evangelist Jerry Dave P. Cutar

Daniel Cutar
There are five “wills” that directly affect us and shape our lives.
  1. The Will of God

This was Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Luke 22:42 King James Version (KJV)

42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

God’s will include His plans and purposes for the entire creation. But more importantly, God has a will for your life. My will must be shaped by God’s will because I cannot dream a larger dream than the dream that God has for my life.

A will is also a legal document that expresses the desires and intentions of the testator. The Word of God, the Bible, is the will of God brought to us in written form. If you want to know what God thinks and feels about a matter, you need not throw yourself to the wind or some mystical process. God has clearly detailed His will in the pages of Holy Writ.

The will of God is already settled in eternity. It is already established in heaven.

Psalm 119:89

For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.

What we need is for the will of God to be made manifest in the earth.

Matthew 6:10 King James Version (KJV)

10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

God told the prophet Jeremiah,

Jeremiah 1:5 King James Version (KJV)

5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

God also told Israel,

Jeremiah 29:11-12 King James Version (KJV)

11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.

  1. The demonic will

We have an adversary, the devil who only wants to steal from us, kill us and destroy us. The Bible calls him “the thief.”

John 10:10 King James Version (KJV)

10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

The devil wants to devour you. He wants to extinguish your hopes and obliterate your dreams. He wants to take you out!

1 Peter 5:8 King James Version (KJV)

8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

The devil is actively seeking our demise. He wants us to lose our faith in God. We can see this clearly in the life of Job. The enemy sought to destroy him through collective attacks. The enemy’s will was to cause Job to curse God and die. But Job held on to his trust in God.

In Daniel chapter ten, we read about how the devil and his demons vigorously tried to hinder Daniel’s prayer from being heard on high. But God and His angels dispatched the answer the moment Daniel prayed. From this passage we learn that there is an ongoing battle for the very life and souls of men and women. But our God has and will always prevail. We are on the winning side. Hallelujah!

  1. Other people’s will

We are all a product of someone else’s decisions. Before being born, we were not consulted if we even wanted to be here. We didn’t have a choice who our parents are/were, the color of our skin, or the place we were born but all of these decisions made by others affect and shape us in various ways.

  1. Your will

The will of God is more powerful than anything in heaven and in earth. But God has given us the capacity to choose. We are a free moral agent. It is then through our own volition submit our will to God’s will. When we do that, we do not just change your own destiny but we can change and influence the destiny of a city in a day!

We can see this in the life of Jonah. When the LORD commanded him to go to Nineveh and preach to the people in that city, Jonah initially refused.  He tried to flee from the presence and the will of the LORD for his life.

Jonah 1:3 King James Version (KJV)

3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

If you will not submit your will to God’s will, God can help you make up your will! Let us ask Jonah again.

Jonah 1:17, King James Version (KJV)

Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

You must be able to say for yourself like David said, I will bless the LORD at all times… (Psalm 34:1), my God unto thee will I pray…(Psalm 5:4),  I will be glad and rejoice… (Psalm 9:2), I will praise the LORD according to His righteousness…(Psalm 7:17), I will come into thy house in the multitude of thine mercy… (Psalm 5:7), I will sing unto the LORD… (Psalm 13:6), I will call upon the LORD… (Psalm 18:3),  I will declare thy name…(Psalm 22:22), I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever! (Psalm 23:6)

  1. Corporate will

Man when left to his own devises will destroy himself and produce cataclysmic events. When a group of individuals gather and put their wills together to do mischief against God, you have a Tower of Babel. This event in human history is marked only by confusion and chaos. This is where the people of the earth were scattered because of their willful disobedience and rebellion before the presence of God.

Genesis 11:1-9 King James Version (KJV)

1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.

2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.

3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.

4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

6 And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.

8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.

9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth

But when we decide to submit our individual wills and unite our hearts to do God’s will, something good is going to happen. When we purpose in our hearts to fulfil God’s grand design and participate in God’s vision for our lives, our families and for our churches, God is going to move mightily in our midst. When we decide to be united in doing the will of God and become of one mind and one heart, God is going to manifest His power among us. When the people are one, God can do some things.

Acts 2:1-4 King James Version (KJV)

2 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

This is why it is important for people, families and churches to agree and be together in prayer at this critical moment in time. Only through prayer can we truly submit our will to God’s will. Through fervent, passionate prayer we can change the trajectory of our world by aligning our hearts to the will of God.

When Moses killed the Egyptian who was oppressing one of his brethren, he was trying to fulfill God’s call on his life. I know that this is not the way the movie The Ten Commandments portrayed it, but that is the way the Bible portrays it.

Acts 7:25 says this,

“For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not.”

Moses knew he was a Hebrew and he was aware of God’s call on his life to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. But it is not enough to know what God wants you to do. You have to know God’s plan and timing for accomplishing His will. Moses missed it on both of these counts.

In Genesis 15:13, the Lord told Abram that his descendants would be in a strange land as servants for four hundred years.

13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

Here is where it gets interesting.

In Exodus 12:40-41 it says, “Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.”

It was exactly four hundred and thirty years, to the day, when the children of Israel came out of Egypt. Why is there a thirty-year discrepancy between what the Lord told Abram and what it says in Exodus?

If you subtract the forty years that Moses spent in the wilderness (Acts 7:30) from the four hundred thirty years, you will find that Moses actually killed the Egyptian and tried to free the Israelites in the 390th year of their captivity. He was ten years premature in trying to fulfill God’s will for his life. This comes as a total shock to many people. They think, If God was not ready for Moses to bring the Israelites out of Egypt yet, then why did He not wait to reveal His will to Moses?

There could be many reasons, but certainly one of the main reasons is that it would take at least ten years for the Lord to get Moses ready for the job. We wrongly assume that when the Lord puts a vision in our hearts, He is going to bring it to pass right then. But oftentimes, we are not ready for His will to happen so He has to prepare us in order to bring us to His promised blessing.

If you study Scripture, you will find that it always takes years for the Lord to get His servants ready. It took twenty-seven years for Abram, twenty-two years for Joseph, and thirteen years for David to become king, seven more years before he was king over the whole nation, and fourteen years for Paul. If Moses would have understood what God was doing in his life and waited patiently on the Lord, his ten-year wait would have been one of the shortest in the Bible. Instead of having to spend forty years in the harshness of the desert, he could have spent his ten years in the comfort of the palace. Could it be that it was not God who willed Moses into the desert? Could it be it was Moses’ self-will that put him there? It certainly is worth thinking about.

Let us look at another example.

In Jeremiah 25:9-11, the prophecy was spoken that Judah will be in Babylon seventy years.

9 Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.

10 Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.

11 And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

In Jeremiah 29:10-12 this is what the Lord says:

“When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plansI have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

In Daniel chapter 9, Daniel learned from studying in the scrolls of Jeremiah about the appointed seventy years of captivity. Daniel knew that the seventy years is coming to an end. He began to Pray about the fate of his people and nation. He repented and sought God in behalf of their future. He interceded for them. Let us see what happened.

In 605 B.C., in the third year of Jehoiakim, the first of the four deportations to Babylon happened. This was when Daniel, his friends Azariah, Hananiah and Mishael and other nobilities were carried into captivity.

In 538 B.C., the decree by the Persian emperor Cyrus for Jews to return and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem was promulgated.

From 605 B.C. to 538 B.C. is only sixty-seven years. Could it be that the sojourning of the children of Israel in the land of Egypt was extended by thirty grueling, back-breaking and harsh years because they did not know the hour of their visitation? However, could it also be that the actual time of slavery of the children of Israel in Babylon was shortened because Daniel, a man who understood the will of God started to pray?

God can do in five minutes what we cannot accomplish in fifty years but there must be a church that is praying! God can turn our families, our city and our nation around in five minutes than a lifetime of our programs and technology but there must be people of God that are praying! God wants to send the revival we all so dearly want and long for but there must be people of God that are seeking after God in prayer!

God can completely turn your situation and your life around. That is His will for you. You can unlock God’s blessings and favor upon you and your family through the power of prayer. Let us pray.