THE POWER OF BINDING AND LOOSING IN PRAYER

9/19/2019

THERE ARE TIMES WHEN I FEEL FRUSTRATED IN MY LIFE AS A BELIEVER. THOSE TIMES SEEM TO ALWAYS CENTER ON HOW IN THE WORLD I FOUND CHRIST AS MY LORD AND SAVIOR AT 17, AND YET IT HAS TAKEN ME UP UNTIL THE LAST FEW YEARS TO GAIN SUCH A THIRST FOR GOD THAT I BEGAN TO CLIMB UPWARD IN MY FAITH AND HAVE SO MUCH REVEALED TO ME ABOUT HIM. I SPENT A FAIR AMOUNT OF TIME IN CHURCH, AND YET MY FOUNDATION AND WISDOM SEEMED VERY LIMITED. LOOKING BACK, I REALIZE THAT I HAD FOUND GRACE, AND NO ONE TOLD ME OR SHOWED ME THAT THERE WAS SO MUCH MORE. NO ONE HELPED ME LOOK PAST MY SALVATION AND GRACE TO GOD’S KINGDOM, AND HIS POWER AND AUTHORITY. NO ONE SHOWED ME THE PATH FORWARD INTO LIVING IN HIS KINGDOM AND MAKING A DIFFERENCE ! I WAS SATISFIED IN BEING SAVED AND LEARNING SOME SIMPLE CONCEPTS AND IDEAS. BOY HAS THAT CHANGED. I PRAISE GOD AND AM SO THANKFUL THAT HE CHANGED MY DESIRE FOR A DEEP AND INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM. I SAY THIS, BECAUSE IF I HAD STAYED WHERE I WAS, I NEVER WOULD HAVE UNDERSTOOD JUST HOW POWERFUL AND CRITICAL PRAYER IS, AND SUCH AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD. I NEVER WOULD HAVE HEARD OF LOOSING AND BINDING, LET ALONE BEGAN TO USE THEM IN MY PRAYER LIFE…..AND THEY ARE OH SO IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND AND USE.

“AND I WILL GIVE UNTO THEE THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN; AND WHATSOEVER THOU SHALT BIND ON EARTH SHALL BE BOUND IN HEAVEN; AND WHATSOEVER THOU SHALT LOOSE ON EARTH SHALL BE LOOSED IN HEAVEN”.

THERE ARE MANY INTERPRETATIONS OF SCRIPTURE. I OFTEN WRESTLE TO UNDERSTAND JUST WHAT GOD IS TRYING TO SAY TO ME, AND I SPEND A LOT OF TIME ASKING FOR DISCERNMENT AND UNDERSTANDING, AND I ENCOURAGE YOU TO DO THE SAME. THIS PARTICULAR PIECE OF THE WORD OF GOD IS A VERY, VERY IMPORTANT ONE TO CONTEMPLATE, ESPECIALLY IN THE CONTEXT OF PRAYER. THIS IS WHAT I BELIEVE MAKES IT SO IMPORTANT. IN CONTEXT, JESUS WAS WITH THE DISCIPLES IN A PLACE KNOWN AS CAESAREA PHILIPPI, AND HE WAS ASKING THEM WHO THEY THOUGHT HE WAS. PETER BOLDLY ANSWERED HIM, “ YOU ARE THE MESSIAH, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD”. JESUS PRAISED PETER, AND ACKNOWLEDGED THAT HE KNEW THIS SPECIFICALLY BY THE GRACE OF GOD THE FATHER, AND THAT PETER WAS A ROCK AND THAT THE CHURCH WOULD BE BUILT UPON THE ROCK FOUNDATION PETER HAD SET. JESUS TOLD THEM THAT THE CHURCH WOULD BE BUILT AND NOT EVEN DEATH WOULD OVERCOME IT. THEN HE SHARED THE KEYS OF HEAVEN, AND LOOSING AND BINDING.

WHAT MAKES THIS SO IMPORTANT IN MY VIEW, IS THAT JESUS WAS TELLING THEM THAT HE WAS GIVING THEM THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN ! HE WAS SHARING THE IMPORTANCE OF BINDING AND LOOSING IN HEAVEN, AND HOW THEY WERE TO USE THEM TO EFFECTIVELY HARNESS THE POWER OF GOD. BECAUSE GOD HAS GIVEN MAN DOMINION OVER THE EARTH, MAN CAN ASK GOD FOR THINGS TO BE BOUND AND LOOSENED UPON THE EARTH, AND GOD WILL DO JUST THAT ! WE HAVE THE POWER AND HONOR TO ASK GOD TO BIND THINGS THAT WE BELIEVE ARE HARMFUL AND EVIL IN OUR LIVES, AND LOOSEN OR SPEAK THINGS INTO OUR LIVES THAT ARE GOOD AND DESIRED. THINK ABOUT THAT FOR A MOMENT….YOU AND I CAN PRAY FOR THINGS IN OUR LIVES, OTHERS LIVES, AND OUR WORLD TO BE CHANGED. WE CAN ASK GOD TO STOP EVIL, CHANGE BEHAVIORS, CHANGE CIRCUMSTANCES, TIE THEM UP, AND THEN BRING IN GOOD AND RIGHTEOUS THINGS, AND ACTIONS, AND RESULTS THAT CAN CHANGE THINGS. SPECIFIC THINGS ! OUR PRAYERS CAN CHANGE THINGS. OUR PRAYERS ARE POWERFUL. GOD HEARS THEM AND HE WILL ACT ON THEM. GOD WILL TURN THEM LOOSE. JESUS HAS GIVEN US SOME VERY POWERFUL KEYS. HE SAID SO DIRECTLY TO HIS DISCIPLES. NOW THE TASK BECOMES OURS….WILL WE USE THEM ? WHEN WE PRAY WILL WE TRUST WHAT JESUS SAID, AND USE HIS POWER TO EFFECT THE WORLD HE CREATED FOR US ?

I AM SUPER EXCITED ABOUT THIS, AND I HAVE BEEN DOING JUST THAT IN MY PRAYERS FOR SEVERAL WEEKS. I AM SEEING THINGS HAPPEN THAT I CAN HONESTLY SAY AT TIMES I WONDERED IF THEY WOULD. WAS GOD HEARING ME ? PERHAPS THE REAL TRUTH IS THAT MANY OF THE THINGS WE WONDER ABOUT, AND TRY FIGURING OUT HOW TO PLUG IN TO THE POWER OF OUR ROLE IN GOD’S KINGDOM ARE RIGHT THERE IN PLAIN VIEW. WE JUST HAVE TO BE IN GOD’S WORD, AND LET HIM SHOW US HIS TRUTH AND POWER. THEN WE SEEK HIM, ASK HIM, AND TRUST HE IS MOVING !

SOME DAY JESUS WILL RETURN. HE HAS PROMISED US THAT HE WILL RULE A RIGHTEOUS AND AMAZING KINGDOM FOR THOSE WHO ARE HIS. LOOK AROUND YOU. HIS KINGDOM IS ALREADY HERE, IT IS ALL AROUND US, WE ARE A PART OF IT…..AND HE WILL BE HERE SOON. EVERY DAY IS ONE DAY CLOSER :) PRAISE OUR GOD, AND WE GIVE THANKS FOR HIS LOVE AND POWER. GET BUSY PRAYING, BINDING AND LOOSENING TO THE GLORY OF GOD/JA

FOR YOU, LORD, ARE GOOD, AND READY TO FORGIVE , AND ABUNDANT IN LOVINGKINDNESS TO ALL WHO CALL UPON YOU. Psalm 86:5

EVERY GOOD THING GIVEN AND EVERY PERFECT GIFT IS FROM ABOVE, COMING DOWN FROM THE FATHER OF LIGHTS, WITH WHOM THERE IS NO VARIATION OR SHIFTING SHADOW. James 1:17