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The Light
Dr David Wood
MY PRAYER FOR YOU – PART FOUR
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ of Nazareth! Another month has come and gone and again I am late
getting my article up on the website. Lord Jesus help me. We have been very
busy getting my second book ready and off to the publisher. This book is the
second in the three book series titled; Awake, Arise and Triumph. This one is
subtitled; Book II – God’s Road to Redemption. Now back to the business at hand
which is this month’s article again entitled, My Prayer for You, and this is
part four. Our text comes from Ephesians and under the unction of the Holy
Spirit Paul first prayed this prayer for his partners in Ephesus. No doubt many
of these believers were his spiritual children or grandchildren. Let us once
again read our text.
Ephesians 1:15-23 (KJV)
15 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus,
and love unto all the saints,
16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my
prayers;
17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may
give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know
what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his
inheritance in the saints,
19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward
who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and
set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion,
and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is
to come:
22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to
be the head over all things to the church,
23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
In the sixteenth verse he says: “Cease
not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;” The “I” is
implied before the word cease. He is saying; I “Paul, an apostle of Jesus
Christ by the will of God” (Ephesians 1:1) am praying for you on a continuous
basis. Every time I think of you, I pray for you. I thank God for you and
mention you before the throne of God when I speak with the Father. What a
comfort this must have been to them. You know how you feel when someone you
respect in the faith says I am praying for you. It edifies you. It gives you a
feeling of confidence; it encourages you to press on in the good fight of
faith. This was a common thing that Paul did and he communicated that
encouragement to those for whom he was praying.
Colossians 1:3-4 (KJV)
3 We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
praying always for you,
4 Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love
which ye have to all the saints,
I believe we are to pray for one another just as
Paul prayed for these brothers and sisters. As the Lord brings people or
Organizations to your remembrance pray for them with your understanding and pray
with the spirit. I would encourage you to pray much in the spirit for those
that God places in your heart to pray.
Romans 8:26-27 (KJV)
26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not
what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession
for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind
of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the
will of God.
You may say, well I don’t speak in tongues or I
don’t believe in speaking in tongues. Well get over the not believing part by
reading your Bible and receive the Word on this subject and not your
Denominational doctrine which is of men and makes the Gospel of no effect.
Jesus spoke of this tradition of men in the Gospel of Matthew.
Matthew 15:6 (AMP)
6 So for the sake of your tradition (the rules handed down by your
forefathers), you have set aside the Word of God [depriving it of force and
authority and making it of no effect].
And get over the, “I don’t speak in tongues” part
by receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit right now in the name of Jesus. The
baptism of the Holy Spirit is a separate experience from salvation. The purpose
of this article is not to provide the Scriptural proof of this but to encourage
you to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and then use your new heavenly
language on behalf of others and yourselves. In the following passage Peter is
preaching to Christians and the experience they are about to have is not
salvation but the baptism of the Holy Spirit. They didn’t say, “whoa you can’t
do this you must first be saved” no the Jews were astonished that the Gentiles
who had received Christ, the Gospel, were now receiving the gift of the Holy
Ghost. The other thing you will notice is that you can receive the baptism of
the Spirit before the baptism in water.
Acts
10:44-47 (KJV)
44 While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them
which heard the word.
45 And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as
many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the
gift of the Holy Ghost.
46 For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then
answered Peter,
47 Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which
have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?
When we speak in our native language it is a
series of sounds that we put together in a certain way and we understand by
learning. Our heavenly language is the same, a series of sounds that the Holy
Spirit gives to us so we can speak the perfect will of God. So just tell the
Father that you want all He has for you and have come now to receive the
infilling of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. Say, “I
thank you Jesus for the baptism of the Holy Spirit” and then say the first
sounds that you have an urge to utter. Go ahead and say them and do not think
about them just say them and keep going as fast as you can. You are speaking
but the Holy Spirit is giving the utterance or the sounds and the sequence in
which they are to be spoken.
Acts 2:4 (KJV)
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak
with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Next time I will move into the actual prayer that
Paul prayed and how we should pray this same prayer for ourselves and those in
our circle of influence. Now, do not be confused by the use of the term “circle
of influence.” This includes all you have contact with and all God has
instructed us to pray for like those in authority and the peace of Jerusalem.
Until next time, shalom.
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