BLESSINGS OF THE AGE TO COME 3_UNITED PRAYING IN THE SPIRIT
(week 13/15)
OLUBI JOHNSON
Last week, we saw that we prevail in the heavenlies by united prayer in the Spirit.
We will look at this in more detail this week.
Our prayers in the Spirit release the power of God without measure when our hearts are knit together in love through forgiveness by ‘washing of feet’ by the blood, the Word and the Spirit BOTH with our words and thoughts.
Psalms 133.1-3 NKJV: Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! 2 It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. 3 It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; for there the LORD commanded the blessing– Life forevermore.
Genesis 11:6 NIV: The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.
These scriptures reveal to us the great power in united speaking and purpose.
United speaking and purpose in the church will cause the anointing that is on the Head: the Lord Jesus, our High Priest (Heb.6.20), of whom Aaron is a type, to flow down to the whole body so that all Christians, who are in unity under the covering of a leadership that has attained the perfection and fullness of Christ, will experience and manifest like the 70 disciples (Lk. 10.1-20), a significant measure of that anointing.
United praying in the spirit takes place when a group of Christians are praying in tongues about the same thing at the same time.
Now for this to work, there must be a unity of the spirit amongst them. What does this mean?
All blocks or spots (1 Tim. 6.14) of the sin-substance, between the people praying and God and one another must have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus (1 Jn. 1.7), through diligent (2 Pet. 3.14) confession of sin (1 Jn.1.9), before and during the time of prayer, so that the life of God can flow fully and freely, from the Spirit of God in and through that group of saints.
This is why the scripture says
Ephesians 4:3 NIV: Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
Romans 5:1 NIV: Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
So we make every effort to see to it that all spots (1 Tim. 6.14) of the sin-substance are removed, by frequently (at least once every 6 hours (Dt. 6.7, Mk. 13.35, 2 Sam.6.13) and at every opportunity and in every temptation with our thoughts (1 Jn.5.16, Mt.18.21-22) confessing our sins, forgiving one another from the heart (Mt. 18.35), so the life of God (1 Jn. 5.16) can flow (Jn. 7.38) in and through us optimally.
United praying in the spirit causes a tremendous amplification of our individual prayers:
Joshua 23:10 NIV: One man of you shall chase a thousand, for the LORD your God is He who fights for you, as He has promised you.
Deuteronomy 32:30 NKJV: How could one man chase a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up?,
When we are praying with united prayer in the spirit, the power each of us is releasing is multiplied by powers of ten depending on how many of us are truly united in the spirit.
For example, for 2 people, the amplification factor is 10 x the average of what each is person is releasing; for 3 it is 10×10=100; for 4 it will be 10x10x10=1000; for 5 it will be 10x10x10x10=10,000 and so on.
It is for this reason Satan tries to stop us from united praying, by either causing us to forsake the assembling of ourselves together (Heb.10.25) or, if we do come together to cause there to be sin, un-forgiveness and strife in our hearts (Jam.3.14) as we pray, reducing the effectiveness of our united praying.
With this understanding, we now can see why we must endeavour or make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond peace, by forgiving and praying for one another as often as it is necessary (Mt. 18.21-22; 1 Pet. 4.7-8).
It is instructive also to note that when one is praying alone, the Holy Spirit can still bring others to pray with you in the spirit, by gathering them in the spirit to pray in tongues about the same thing at the same time:
1 Corinthians 5:4 NKJV: In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ;
Matthew 18:19-20 NKJV: Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
We can activate this, by faith, every time we pray in the spirit by saying just before we start praying in tongues,
‘Father, I confess our sins to clean with the blood, please give life to our spirits now in a measure that is more than enough to enable us to pray in unity in the spirit concerning…(we mention whatever it is we are praying about)’.
Notice the prayer is for ‘our’ and ‘us’ not ‘my’ and ‘mine’: it is for a group not an individual.
When you do this, God will raise, depending on the level of the grace of God upon you and your prayer history (if you have sowed bountifully (2 Cor. 9.6) in prayer to others, God will cause you to reap (Lk. 6.38) bountifully in prayer from others), 1, 2 or 3 or even more (depending on your level of authority in the church) other people to join you in the spirit as you pray. This will amplify your prayers either 10, 100 or 1000fold or even more respectively, depending on your level of grace.
It is easy to see how God can do this, because over the whole earth God in this 3rd.day has people praying in tongues (Ac. 2.17); also when it is night at one place in the earth, it is day at another place at the same time. So God will always have people He can raise to join you in the spirit no matter what time of the day you are praying.
So be diligent to sow bountifully in prayer; do not forsake the assembling of the saints together (go to church and prayer meetings regularly) and grow in grace to enjoy the full benefits of united praying in the spirit.
As we write, God is uniting in the spirit the hearts of His people of different denominations and churches as they pray in the spirit with an attitude of humility, forgiveness, love and mercy.
This is just like God began to bring to and unite in HEART, men to David BEFORE he was anointed King over Hebron (2 Sam.2.4), while He was still at Ziklag.
This truth is typified in
1Chronicles 12:1 NKJV: Now these were the men who came to David at Ziklag while he was still a fugitive from Saul the son of Kish; and they were among the mighty men, helpers in the war,
1Chronicles 12:17 NKJV: And David went out to meet them, and answered and said to them, “If you have come peaceably to me to help me, my heart will be united with you; but if to betray me to my enemies, since there is no wrong in my hands, may the God of our fathers look and bring judgment.”
In our article next week, we will see how united praying in the Spirit forms the river of life
