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!