04-Feb-2024 – Do you have time for prayer?
And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting. -Mark 9:29
For the theme of “Do you have?”, God gave us another occasion to ponder upon our lives to set right and prepare for His glory to be manifested in our lives. In the verse we referred, a man brought his son, who is suffering from a dumb spirit. By that time, Jesus along with Peter, John and James was on the mount of transfiguration. We could see that the disciple on the foot of the mountain could not handle the situation and could not heal the boy.
But they were already given authority over the unclean spirits previously.
And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits; -Mark 6:7
So, the disciples have the authority and power to command the spirits to leave from the oppressed bodies. But they could not do it. Then Jesus after the whole incident tells them the secret to operate in the authority. It’s the fasting and prayer.
Prayer itself is so powerful. If we remember from old testament from 1 kings 8th chapter, when king Solomon dedicates the temple, he prays to God to answers the prayers of His people in various situations, even in their negative situations once they realize the relationship with God. Then God accepts the prayer and grants the ask. Even when the Israelites cried unto him He listened and delivered them. Hanna’s prayer, Elijah’s prayer, David’s prayer, Job’s prayer many prayers were powerful and never discarded by God. They were answered at least with a dose of admonition in rebellious times.
Now we are under new testament. Jesus gave us authority to pray to Father, addressing him as Abba Father. In James if we see the prayer of righteous man is so powerful.
But in this verse, the prayer is not only just asking something we require but much more than that. It seems like preparation for the exercise of the authority. If we recollect from Jesus life, he often used to spend time alone in prayers. Every night he used to pray. He never failed to exercise his authority.
As he was telling his disciples, today he is talking to us also. God gave us authority in the name of Jesus. Being a born again child of God, washed in the blood of Jesus, we are made new and powerful by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Now we have authority over everything in the name of Jesus. Because, the name of Jesus is exalted above all the names both heaven and earth. That name is given to us to use in our daily lives.
But to exercise that authority in our daily lives, we need to prepare ourselves. I see this like going to gym to get powerful muscles. Prayer makes the authority effective in our lives. That is one of the reason, why the devil always steals the prayer time from us. We have time for many things. But prayer and worship are two important components of a believer’s life. For them, we will not have time. Today God is emphasizing on the prayer part.
Do you have time for prayer as a preparation to exercise your authority? If you have you are blessed. But if you don’t have, don’t worry! Still you have time and that’s why God is speaking today. Renew your prayer life. Not to ask for something but to get prepared to exercise the God given authority in the name of Jesus.
Prayer
Dear loving heavenly Father, thank you for your love and grace. Today you taught me a powerful lesson to be prepared and equipped to live stronger and mighty for the sake of your name. To be a witness to the power of Jesus name. Help me Lord to practice daily prayer not just to put my requests before you but to be equipped to exercise my authority. Thank you for the revelation and secret to start operating in the authority. I pray with thanks giving in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!
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