DAY 6: PRAYER FOR THE GOSPEL

Rev. 6:1-2; Rom. 2:4; Acts 26:20; Mark 1:15; 1 Tim. 2:4a

For the white horse of the gospel to run and for the long-suffering God to lead men to repent, to turn to Him and believe the gospel according to His desire that all men be saved (Rev. 6:1-2; Rom. 2:4; Acts 26:20; Mark 1:15; 1 Tim. 2:4a).

Rev. 6:1-2—And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying like the sound of thunder, Come. And I saw, and behold, a white horse, and he who sits on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went forth conquering and to conquer.

Rom. 2:4—Or do you despise the riches of His kindness and forbearance and long-suffering, not knowing that God's kindness is leading you to repentance?

Acts 26:20—But declared both to those in Damascus first and in Jerusalem and throughout all the country of Judea and to the Gentiles that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.

Mark 1:15—And saying, The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God has drawn near. Repent and believe in the gospel.

1 Tim. 2:4—Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth.

 

Ministry: Real Prayers Are Prayers Involving Two Parties

Romans 8:26 and 27...tell us that we do not know for what we should pray as is fitting, but the Holy Spirit intercedes in us according to God’s purpose. Actually, we do not know how to pray. We know what people ordinarily call supplication, but we know little about the prayer which is spoken of in the Scriptures. The first time I read these two verses in Romans 8, I questioned their meaning. When I was sick, I thought, Did I not pray to God asking Him to heal me? When I was in want, did I not pray to God asking Him to send me provision? How could the Scriptures say that we do not know for what we should pray as is fitting? Gradually, the Lord showed me that we really do not know anything about the kind of prayer that God desires...This is our weakness. Thank God, in this matter of our weakness, the Spirit Himself joins in to help us and intercede for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Brothers, real prayers are the Holy Spirit within man expressing God’s desire through man. In other words, real prayers are prayers involving two parties. They are not simply man alone praying to God, but they are the Spirit mingling with man, putting on man, and joining with man in prayer. “Outwardly it is man praying, but inwardly it is the Spirit praying. This means two parties express the same prayer at the same time. Please remember that this alone is the prayer which is spoken of in the Scriptures. (Lessons on Prayer, pp. 18-19)

© Living Stream Ministry. Used by permission.

 

DAY 7: PRAYER FOR THE PERSECUTED, OPPRESSED, & SUFFERING

1 Pet. 4:12-14; 5:9-10

For the God of all grace to comfort, perfect, and establish the brothers and sisters throughout the world, especially those who are persecuted, oppressed, and suffering deprivation and trials (1 Pet. 4:12-14; 5:9-10).

1 Pet. 4:12-14—Beloved, do not think that the fiery ordeal among you, coming to you for a trial, is strange, as if it were a strange thing happening to you; but inasmuch as you share in the sufferings of Christ, rejoice, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice exultingly. If you are reproached in the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

1 Pet. 5:9-10—Him withstand, being firm in your faith, knowing that the same sufferings are being accomplished among your brotherhood in the world. But the God of all grace, He who has called you into His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself perfect, establish, strengthen, and ground you.

 

Ministry: Casting Fire to the Earth to Execute God's Judgment upon the Earth

[Revelation 8:5] says, “And the Angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar and cast it to the earth; and there were thunders and voices and lightnings and an earthquake.”...God’s judgment upon the earth is the answer to the prayers of the saints with Christ as the incense. Although the sixth seal has been opened and the seven trumpets are ready to be sounded, nothing happens until Christ comes to offer the saints’ prayers to God with Himself as the incense. At that time, there are thunders, voices, lightnings, and an earthquake. This indicates that while God has the intention of executing His judgment upon the earth, there is still the need of the saints to cooperate with Him with their prayers. (Life-study of Revelation, pp. 279-280)

© Living Stream Ministry. Used by permission.

 

DAY 8: PRAYER FOR THE DORMANT, WAYWARD, & BACKSLIDDEN

Eph. 5:14; James 5:19; Gal. 6:1

For the dormant believers to be enlivened, the wayward Christians to be recovered, and the backslidden saints to be restored to the Lord and to the fellowship of the church (Eph. 5:14; James 5:19; Gal. 6:1).

Eph. 5:14—Therefore He says, Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.

James 5:19—My brothers, if any one among you is led astray from the truth and someone turns him back.

Gal. 6:1—Brothers, even if a man is overtaken in some offense, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of meekness, looking to yourself lest you also be tempted.

 

Ministry: The Prayer Life of the Corporate Christ

The prayer life of Christ is the center of God’s execution of His government on earth. Revelation 8 indicates this. But some who read chapter eight of Revelation may say, “In Revelation 8 we cannot see Christ’s prayer. We can see only the prayers of the saints.” The saints, however, are one with Christ. The prayers in Revelation 8 no longer are merely the prayers of the individual Christ, but have become the prayers of the corporate Christ. In the matter of the execution that takes place at the incense altar, the saints truly are one with Christ. Therefore, when we speak in this message of the prayer life of Christ, we mean the prayer life of the corporate Christ. (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 1594-1595)

© Living Stream Ministry. Used by permission.

 

DAY 9: PRAYER FOR THE SCATTERED BELIEVERS

Acts 9:2, Acts 26:19; Ezra 1:5; Ezek. 36:24

For the scattered believers to see the heavenly vision of God’s eternal purpose, to be stirred up in their spirits to seek the deeper things of Christ and God’s building, and to take the way of God’s New Testament economy (Acts 9:2, Acts 26:19; Ezra 1:5; Ezek. 36:24).

Acts. 9:2—And asked for letters from him to Damascus for the synagogues, so that if he found any who were of the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

Acts 26:19—Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.

Ezra 1:5—Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites rose up, even everyone whose spirit God had stirred up to go up to build the house of Jehovah, which is in Jerusalem.

Ezek. 36:24—And I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land.

 

Ministry: The Need for Intercession

In our experience we need to come to the altar, the laver, the table, the lampstand, and the ark. According to my study of the Bible, after we come to the ark in the Holy of Holies, we need to come back to the incense altar. The incense altar is not one item on the passageway through the tabernacle. On the contrary, it can be compared to a motor which causes everything to operate. Hence, the incense altar stands by itself as a turning point. Again and again we must come back to this turning point. This means that in order to experience any aspect of the outer court or the tabernacle, we need to pray. When we pray, everything works. When we pray, in our experience the altar, the laver, the table, the lampstand, and the ark are all effective. However, when the motor stops, everything else stops also. When the motor operates, everything else operates. This is the reason that we need to have a motor—the interceding Christ—operating within us. We need to have a prayer life, a life of prayer. (Life-study of Exodus, p. 1604)

© Living Stream Ministry. Used by permission.

 

DAY 10: PRAYER FOR ONE ACCORD

Rom. 15:6; Col. 3:10-11

For all the churches to be in a prevailing one accord, glorifying our God and His Christ with one mouth to bring forth the reality of the one new man (Rom. 15:6; Col. 3:10-11).

Rom. 15:6—That with one accord you may with one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Col. 3:10-11—And have put on the new man, which is being renewed unto full knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all and in all.

 

Ministry: Praying in God and with God in Us

The picture of the tabernacle portrays Christ as the incarnated God who is available for us to enter. This very Christ is also all the offerings to qualify us by opening the way into God and by filling us inwardly. As a result, we are in God, and God is in us. Therefore, by the time we come to the altar of incense, we are already in God, and God is in us. Because the incense altar is in the center of the tabernacle, which signifies the incarnated God, to be at this altar is to be in the incarnated God. Moreover, when we are in God, He is also in us. At the altar in the outer court we experience the offerings, and we have the blood to cleanse us and the meat to fill us inwardly. This qualifies us to enter into the incarnated God, the One who indwells us as our food, as our life supply. Whoever comes to the incense altar is a person who is in God and who has God in him. He is one with God and mingled with Him. What a great matter this is! (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 1611-1612)

© Living Stream Ministry. Used by permission.

 

Persevere in prayer.