Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart. Luke 18:1.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
Prayer is our connection of direction where you receive revelation, inspiration, impartation, emancipation, and participation with Me in the great works of the Kingdom on earth. Prayer with Me is the place where I make known to you the path of life. It is a place of joy. It is our secret place where I surround you with songs of deliverance. It is a place of giving and receiving. It is the flow of life and life between us.
You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever. Psalm 16:11.
The first protocol of prayer is that you need to lift the eyes of your heart to Me. Give Me your attention.
To You I lift up my eyes, O You who are enthroned in the heavens! Psalm 123:1.
Jesus, when the disciples asked Him to show them how to pray began the same:
“Our Father who art in Heaven.”
You need to put your mind above where Christ is seated at My right hand because that is where I have seated you in Him in the spirit as well.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:4-7.
Know who you are praying to and from what position you are praying. You are not way off far from Me. You are right at My throne.
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:14-16.
I am Spirit and to hear from Me you must worship in Spirit and truth. Another way you could say that is in faith and in My Word. Walking in the Spirit and living by faith are one in the same and walking in the truth and living by My Word are the same.
To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul. O my God, in You I trust. Psalm 25:1.
So first you lift your heart to Me, going from the mental arena to the realm of the Spirit. Next you need to be mindful of who you are praying to, I am not a force, in a statue, or an alien being.
Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Your Name.
I am a Person, you are in My image and according to My likeness. I speak of My heart, My soul, My ears, My eyes, My hands, My arms, walking with Me, talking with Me, and I have a Name and I expect you to call upon Me by Name. I am not the voice of a stranger. I am your Father. My Name is LORD (Yahavah) and My Son is Yeshuah (Lord) and I give you many adjectives with My Name that are My Covenant promises signed and sealed in My Name. I am the LORD your healer, the LORD your provider, the LORD your righteousness, the LORD of Hosts, the LORD who is peace, the LORD your deliverer, the LORD your Shepherd, the LORD your redeemer, the LORD your refuge, the LORD your fortress, the LORD your sanctifier, and the LORD your helper. I am the Most High, the Almighty, and God. My Spirit witnesses with your spirit that you are My child, My heir, and a joint heir with Christ, and you cry out “Abba,” which means “Father,” in a familiar way, such as Papa or Daddy.
I lift you on high, far from the dirt where the devil crawls, because you know My Name.
How do you come before Me? With joy, the joy of the relationship of love and the joy of receiving the mercy and answers you need right when you need them. You come before Me with a joyful shout, with joyful songs and hymns, and all with thanksgiving. You keep alert in prayer by thanksgiving. This is a matter of faith. You come with anticipation of finding with Me all you are seeking and more. If you believe you receive when you ask, then you are thankful.
O come, let us sing for joy to the LORD, let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, let us shout and sing joyfully to Him with psalms. Psalm 95:1-2.
I look forward to fellowship with you and it is good to spend time together. It is a time of refreshing for you where I can give you new strength and fresh inspiration.
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30.
I stoop down to lift you up and make you great in Jesus.
Now let us go on with the protocol that will help you to go higher and hear better. Remember first, lift your heart up to Heaven where you are seated with Me and come with confidence with your great High Priest, Kinsman Redeemer, Brother, and Lord Jesus to pray together in agreement with Him. When you come to Me you always come through Him whether you are conscious of it or not, for He is the only way to Me. He is the new and living way of perfection, for He has given you all He is and has to make you righteous, holy, and blameless before Me by His becoming sin for you and bearing all the weight of divine justice. For I cannot look upon sin without working justice upon it and that is why I accounted it all to Him and punished Him in your place. Because He lives you live free from sins that so encumbered you.
This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:5-7.
So you begin by entering into the Spirit and knowing with whom you are speaking by holding My Name up as Holy. And there I want you to recall My Covenant Name and all the Covenant promises that are added as adjectives describing My Name and what I do for you who have opened your hearts to enter Covenant with Me in Jesus.
Next comes the prayer of My royal priesthood: “Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” I have put My Words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of My hand to plant the Kingdom of Heaven and establish it in the earth. I am relying on you using your dominion authority to release My Kingdom into the earth so that the knowledge of My glory, that is, My goodness, presence, and power, may flood the world in miracles of healing, provision, and wonders of My lovingkindness. Release My mercy and grace, grace upon grace—the surpassing riches of grace. And you know My Will. I desire that all people be saved and come to know the truth. Set them free! Show them Me, awaken them to their destiny. And I desire that in all things you prosper and are in good health even as your soul prospers. And you soul, which consists of your mind, will, and emotions, only prospers when you are walking in the truth. That is, in My Word, and the parameters and boundaries it puts in your life so that you are safe and secure from the wickedness and snares of the devil. He comes only to steal, kill, and destroy, and those are NOT My Will and never will be. I sent Jesus to save you and give you abundant life of highest quality. He came to undo the works of the devil. And you are to do the works He did and greater by the Holy Spirit in you and on you. You are anointed with the same anointing as Jesus and He came to set the captives free, to make the blind to see, and to declare a year of Jubilee!
“Give us this day our daily bread.” We are now moving on to the protocol of personal needs for you and those close to you as we continue on from the protocol of the intercession of the royal priesthood to rescue all people and nations from the snares of the devil and bring the glory of My Kingdom to earth, for wherever the Kingdom plants the works of darkness are driven out. My Kingdom is a kingdom of light and there is no pain, no sickness, no mourning, no death, no lack where I am, only righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Love heals, love restores, love makes all things new and true.
In the protocol of personal needs you bring Me all that you are facing in your life, whether it be physical, material, social, mental, or spiritual, and receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. This covers every arena and facet of your life. Nothing is too small and nothing is too great for Me to take care of with you. I look ahead and provide, I know what you need, and I am ready to meet all your needs according to My riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Pour out your heart and let Me know. Take delight in sharing with Me and I give you the desires of your heart, meaning that I will direct you in what the desires are that match your assignment and give you maximum fruitfulness and joy.
“And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” The next protocol is repentance of sin and forgiveness of yourself and others. When you repent and confess your sins, I am faithful and true to forgive you and cleanse you of all unrighteousness.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9.
Jesus already bore the punishment for all your sins and gave you His righteousness, so you are merely claiming what I have provided for you. I knew from the beginning of time you would sin but when you repent and confess it is when you get rid of it so that I remember it no more. It is gone, Jesus took it from you. I can justly forgive you for you are justified by receiving His gift of redemption by His blood.
I forgive you by the blood of Jesus. He paid in full the debt you owed Me. I tell you to imitate Me as My dear children and walk in love. The way I walk in love with you is I put all your sins and faults on Jesus and punish them on Him and thus you are free and forgiven. That is what I want you to imitate as well. When someone sins against you, forgive them under the same standard I use so it can be measured back to you. Forgive them by the blood.
Jesus died once for all. Whether each person receives that gift or rejects it is up to the individual, but as for you imitate Me and forgive anyone who has sinned against you by accepting the blood of Jesus as your payment in full. If you refuse to forgive others you are saying the blood of Jesus is not enough to pay that debt to you and if that is the case, it is the spiritual law that the standard by which you judge must be measured back to you. So if the blood is not enough for you to forgive another, then it is not enough for Me in your case either. Be careful about that. What you bind I cannot loose. You must do so.
“And do not let us enter into temptation but deliver us from evil.” This is the protocol of protection from sin, the evil one, and the realm of darkness. I rescued you from the realm of darkness and transferred you to the Kingdom of My beloved Son, in whom you have redemption, the forgiveness of your sins by His blood. But Satan keeps trying to drag you back into his domain to take you captive to do his will by tempting you to sin and know evil. That was what he did with the first man and woman. Do not let him get away with it a second time with you.
When Jesus took all your sins upon Himself in the Garden of Gethsemane the night He was betrayed, He asked you to watch and pray that you not enter into temptation for your spirit is willing but your flesh is weak. You have a born again spirit from above filled with eternal life and your soul is eternal as well, but your body will return to the dust from which it came and your spirit and soul will be clothed in a new body of heavenly substance that will never grow old or die. You will be immortal and live forever in the beauty of holiness. But for now, so that you can complete your assignment on earth, you are still in a mortal body and subject to temptations of the flesh. The best is to avoid such things and pray that I shield you from them. I am your shield and great reward. You can take refuge in Me. Though you are in the world you do not have to let the world into you. Avoid sin by staying away from those places and people that draw you away from the truth of My Word and pull you into evil. Pray that I keep you out of situations that cause you to deny Me or fall into sin. I can keep you in the strong tower of My Name and lift you higher than the devil can ascend. He has to stay in the dirt as a snake and higher realms put him out of commission. Keep your thoughts on things above where you are seated with Christ at My right hand and not down in the dirt and filth that the devil crawls in. Watch your language and guard your heart form listening to just anything and everything. Be selective as to what you hear and read.
And He was saying to them, “Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.” Mark 4:24-25.
“My son, give attention to My Words. Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your sight. Keep them in the midst of your heart. For they [My Words] are life to those who find them and health to all their body. Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life. Put away from you a deceitful mouth and put devious speech far from you.” Proverbs 4:20-24.
But we will talk more about this in a later Life Lesson.
And the protocol of prayer ends where it started, with praise, thanksgiving, and joyful shouting, for that is the way you come in and go out from the secret place of payer.
“For the Kingdom, the power, and the glory are Yours now and forever. Amen.”
And you have learned the basic protocol of structured prayer to get the maximum benefit for you and Me every time you pray. It is the way to focus and not be distracted. The devil tries always to distract you with other things just when you want to do the One thing necessary for all the other things.
I love you. Come with joy to My house of prayer.
How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house; and You give them to drink of the river of Your delights. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light. Psalm 36:7-9.