10/09/2022
IGNORANT PRAYERS
1CORINTHIANS 2:12
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. (KJV)
Prayer is a very important spiritual exercise in the life of the believer. In prayer, we exercise our authority in Christ. In prayer, we develop boldness to do the work of ministry. In prayer, we receive instructions and directions about life and ministry. When we pray, we are fellowshipping with one another in the spirit. There are dimensions of influence that you cannot have in the work of ministry if you are not given to consistent and heartfelt prayer life. Jesus had moments of prayer and the apostles also had times of prayer. The fervency to work the works of the spirit and the endurance to face persecution is achieved by prayer. This is because in prayer we are strengthened by the spirit in our inner man. We are to pray as much as we study God’s word. We are to pray more in tongues for much edification and strengthening in the Spirit.
As much as prayer is important, ignorance of God’s word can make you pray the wrong prayers. In our previous studies, we taught that it is wrong to pray for God to give you power because all the power a believer will need for everything has already been given at the time of salvation. In prayer, we make use of the power already in us. From our opening text, there are things already given to us freely in Christ. These things are already for us and in us. It is received in full at the time of salvation. It is therefore not a prayer topic. Prayer for God to make you righteous, for God to forgive your sins, for God to give you his Spirit, for God’s presence, for God to love you are all ignorant prayers. Praying to God not to miss rapture or heaven or for your name to be written in the book of life are all ignorant prayers.
These are all available for us in Christ. We can never pray to be forgiven or righteous than the day we received Christ. Apostle Paul prayed for the Ephesians church in Ephesians 1:18 that “The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what the hope of his calling is, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints”. What we are to pray for is that the eyes of our understanding be enlightened that we may KNOW what we already have in Christ. The problem is not about God but in our ignorance. We are to know our inheritance in Christ to enjoy them. We are not to pray for God to give them to us. God has already given them; we are to know by revelation knowledge to enjoy them. We study and pray to know what God has already given to us in Christ Jesus.
Confession: I refuse to pray ignorant prayers. I don’t pray to have what I have already in Christ.
Additional Studies
Ephesians 1:3-21,
Philemon 1:6,
Colossians 1:12-14
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