Prayer is the Key to God’s Door

The key to a successful ministry and church is prayer. There is no way around it. John tells us,

“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” (John 14:12-14)

The Key to a healthy Church is prayer. We may not walk on water, but Jesus’ declaration that we will do greater is a call to the number and territory that we will cover in His name. Jesus may not give me that Viper sports car I want, but will empower me to do His will, which is greater than anything I could ever ask. God gives us an incredible promise, that whatever we ask… To ask God is His will, and the main reason for our existence, to be in relation to the God of the universe. This is His primary call for us and when we refuse or make light of it, we cut our self off from the power and God’s desire for us. You see God knows us and our need better than we can ever know, and then still asks us to be in Him, as John 15 states. To be conformed to His likeness as in Romans 8, is for us to grow. We need to be in tune to Him. For us to serve we need to be in Him and to be in Him is to be in Prayer. So for us to receive His blessings, to be fully used by Him, and to receive His full load, we need to be in prayer as individuals and collectively as a body of believers.

The key is our realization of who Christ is and the power He gives us at our disposal for His purpose. Just as the Disciples were told firsthand by our Lord that they would be able to ask anything in His name, then they lived it and experienced it. They did not realize they could do the things they saw their master do, yet they did. Do we realize what we can do and do we attempt it? Or do we shriek at the chance? And His choice is to use and work through us. And then what is our choice? The ministry that our Lord had started on this earth continues through us, and through prayer we receive His direction and power to accomplish it.

To make a simple slogan, “we are to perceive before we receive,” that is we are to engage in prayer before we can accomplish the task. And when we are in prayer, we come into a metamorphosis transforming us from the very nature of who we are. Because the first thing that changes for the person praying, is the person praying. And when we are changed that means our evil self-desire nature turns around to be a heart after others other than ourselves. So we gain the perspective of our Lord and the heart for His people, then the passion to do His will. Then we will receive less opposition from our enemy, the prince of darkness, because He that is in us is greater than he in the world. Prayer then is also our shield to protect and defend us from attack and curses. No amount of study and work we can ever do will match the work of our Lord that will flow through us in prayer!

“Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.” (Romans 8:5)

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