Blog 52 / Our High Calling
February 24, 2022
The Indispensable Prayers of the Church
True prayer, simply put, is praying what God desires. When He wants to do a work, whether great or small, He puts the desire in the hearts of His people to pray for the work He wants done; and He is the One who answers those prayers.
True prayer always begins with God and involves all members of the Godhead. The Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit are interceding continually in agreement with the Father’s will. But their prayers, dare I say it (gasp), don’t seem to be enough! This is because God has brought His Church into the loop. He has made her prayers indispensable for carrying out His will.
God delights in His people and wants to involve us in all He is doing. Before moving ahead with His divine plans, He waits until He has the agreement of His people. This is much the same as a loving husband who wants his new bride to share in the decisions of their life together. Choices he once made alone when single, they now make together as a couple.
God too wants His Son’s Bride to participate fully in His Kingdom affairs and He does this through her prayers. This is perhaps good preparation for when we will rule and reign with Him in eternity.
Another reason that our prayers are indispensable is that God has made us joint heirs with His Son, whom He appointed as heir of all things. Joint heirs of a will cannot act independently. All must be in agreement before any action can be taken. In the same way God will not override our rights as joint heirs. He waits to act until He has our agreement in prayer. Of course, God is sovereign and making us joint heirs with Christ was a sovereign decision.
What a wonderful privilege and awesome responsibility we have as intercessors. Our prayers restrain the enemy and soften hearts of those opposed to the gospel. They release workers and resources for God’s work. They change the hearts of kings and governments. God rules the nations through the prayers of the Church. It is not the armies, the media or governments that hold the balance of power in the world. It is the prayers of the saints!
If our prayers are indispensable, then we must make time to pray. Prayer must be the primary work of the Church. Why else would God implore and urge us to pray at all times and for all things? The fact remains, God works through the prayers of His people. As a joint heir too, He will wait to act until His people pray. And it appears He will wait for as long as it takes.
Colin Stott
GRN Global Prayer Coordinator
