God is calling His people to communicate better with Him and for Him—to get in touch with Him in a way that makes a difference. It is time for the church to learn to pray adult, knowledgeable, well-informed, intelligent, strategic, Scripture-based prayers that will help bring the supernatural plans of God into earthly reality and destroy the works of the devil. Time has run out for prayers that are based on selfish needs and that reflect culture, custom and tradition.
In order to heed the call, we must first make sure we understand the basic purpose for prayer and how to effectively use it. Prayer is a supernatural tool created by God that allows natural human beings to communicate with Him in the supernatural realm. It was created for His purposes, not man’s purposes.
Prayer is not ACTS (adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication), nor is it a posture or attitude. Though these elements are important for producing results, they are simply components necessary for effective communication—not prayer itself.
Prayer is a supernatural entity governed by its own set of principles. It is an invisible reality. Like the wind, we are unable to see it, but we see the effects of it. Without prayer it is impossible for human beings to transcend the natural realm and impact the supernatural realm, where the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness operate.
Hundreds of books have been written about prayer. I am not a scholar on the subject, yet neither am I a novice. My approach to prayer is simple.
As I’ve studied various aspects of prayer during the last 10 years, the Lord has revealed strategies that have produced significant results and impacted thousands of people. Employing these strategies has provided the necessary spiritual foundation to build our Power Center—the multi-faceted complex that houses Windsor Village United Methodist Church, employs more than 200 people and pumps approximately $15 million per year into the local economy—as well as fund numerous related projects: a master-planned community that will include 454 single-dwelling homes, a prayer center, a family life center, a tennis complex, two commercial catfish ponds, a business park, a YMCA, a public elementary school and a community park. Though these community development projects are materializing through the hard work and faithfulness of many professionals, the genesis of this God-inspired vision was in strategic, Scripture-based prayers.
At Windsor Village, we use two primary methods of prayer: praying God’s Word and praying in tongues. Our method of supernatural communications is based on 1 John 5:14-15: “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”
In this passage, God promises to hear the prayers of the believer if the believer prays in accordance with His will. What is the will of God? His will is His Word—the Bible. God is legally bound to adhere to His own Word, but He is not obligated to answer anything outside it.
Jeremiah 1:12 tells us that God watches over His Word to perform it, and Isaiah 55:10-11 states that God’s Word will not return to Him void but will accomplish what He has designed it to accomplish, and will “prosper in the thing for which [He] sent it.” God has created His Word to perform and produce results, and it is His Word that He acts upon.
Furthermore, the Word of God is food for life. Luke 4:4 tells us that “‘man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'” Without God’s Word as a source for nutrition, our spirits and souls become malnourished.
Building a Powerful Prayer Ministry
The spiritual maturity of our church increased rapidly after my pastor-husband, Kirbyjon, and I began to emphasize the importance of prayer. As the people grew and as God’s vision for the church was being manifested in the natural, it became paramount for us to operate supernaturally. We had to effectively address the increase so that growth, both natural and spiritual, would continue. In order for the church to operate as dictated by Jesus, we had to become skilled in both the natural and the spiritual realms.
To address the spiritual need, we created a special department at our church called the Department of Supernatural Services and Communications (SSC). This department, which I oversee, houses the prayer ministry, miracles and healing ministry, Repairers of the Breach (ROB) deliverance ministry, youth prayer ministry and Christian education. The purpose of SSC is to teach people how to operate in the supernatural power and authority of Jesus Christ.
Supernatural Services and Communications provides services that minister to the individual and empower the corporate membership to operate more fluidly in the supernatural. Responsibilities include developing programs and systems that inform and educate about the supernatural; interceding and ministering through prayer; providing prayer counseling; coordinating church family fasts, prayer vigils and corporate prayer events; and providing spiritual guidance.
SSC began more than nine years ago as a small group of seven people who prayed regularly for the corporate church. Through a methodical, systematic and patient process, the steadfast efforts of a small group of people flourished into a movement of prayer.
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