Praying In Authority

I have not posted all week, and we are getting ready to head down to Wisconsin for Peyton's birthday, but wanted to blog a little anyway. This morning I was reading through a magazine called, "The Glory Watch" from the ministry of Billye Brim. There were two articles I read which I wanted to blog about. One is titled, "How I Learned to {pray in the heavenlies}". The other article is titled, "The Authority of The Believer." There is a lesson in the articles that is very timely in its message, and was something I needed reminding of, that I wanted to share.

The message of the authority of the believer is based on the Book of Ephesians, which we have read from. There is so much in Ephesians! What I want to touch on quickly is the message from Ephesians that as a member of the Body of Christ, we have been raised with Him, and are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (2:1, 4-7). Physically we are on this earth, but our identity and authority are heavenly. We need to acknowledge this every day by taking the time to bring this to our remembrance and then thank God for it. There is a prayer that Billye Brim printed in the article that she got from a book by John MacMillan that I will quote here:

"Do we believe that God 'has quickened us together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus?' If we do, our reaction to it will be a fervent, 'Lord, I accept your gracious word. I believe that Thou hast done this for and in me. In humble faith I do now take my seat in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus at Thy right hand. Teach me how to fulfull this sacred ministry, how to exercise the authority which Thou hast entrusted to me. Train me day by day that I may attain to the full stature of the perfect man in Christ, so that in me Thy purpose of the ages may be fulfilled. Amen."

This is just a small portion taken from this article, and because of the lack of time that I have today, I cannot comment much for now on this concept. However, I would encourage you to read Ephesians again, taking the words to heart as if the letter was written personally to you. I love the Book of Ephesians because is it a picture of what the Church is called to. Also, Billye Brim's web site is good to check out. The web address is: www.billyebrim.com.

Have a great Easter, and remember. . . when Jesus was resurrected, so were you! You were raised with Him, and are seated with Him in heavenly places! When we pray to the Father, we are coming face to face with Him. We have His ear. He is interested in what we have to say. Don't pray as if we have no hope, but pray with the knowledge that He is our great, big, strong Papa, and He loves us. And return His love as His dearly beloved Child.