Open Door Christian Fellowship
April 28, 2010
God does nothing... but in answer to prayer... John Wesley
You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
James 4:2b-3
'Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.
Psalm 2:8
The Altar is not a place of shame - It is a place of meeting God
Pray! - Prayer at the Altar is meant to be primarily prayer.
We are at the place of prayer to PRAY!
It is not to be a counseling session.
It is not to be an answer session.
It is not to be a theological debate!
It is not to be a Christian séance.
It is to be a meeting with God through shared prayer.
Asking for what people are seeking in prayer is entirely appropriate. If you do not feel to ask it is okay. Just be sure it does not become anything else but a prayer ministry.
Pray with Humility.
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14
Humility in prayer ministry is only to be there to help people find God.
Sitting down, He called the twelve and said to them, "If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all."
Mark 9:35
If we engage in any ministry to meet our own needs we will minister death.
If, however, we die to ourselves for Jesus' sake and for others we will minister life.
And He was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
Luke 9:23
When we present ourselves for the work of ministry we must first have our needs in our lives met by God.
Some signs that we are ministering to meet our own needs are:
- Jealousy when others seem to have a greater success in the ministry. (Pride of Life)
- Ministering only to those who are attractive to us. (Lust of the Eyes)
- Having sensual feelings towards those we are ministering to. (Lust of the Flesh)
John 12:32
Pray with confidence.
Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.
Hebrews 10:35
Pray scripturally.
This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.
1 John 5:14-15
Pray until you know God has touched them.
Often there will be a release in the person. You will get to see the sign. If it takes a long time do not give up. Don't start looking around. Stay focused until released by the Lord to stop praying.
Pray positively. Say things like we are going to believe God with you that He will answer this prayer. Do not say negative things like, "You are hindering the Lord" or "You need to have more faith". Don't blame them for any apparent blockage.
Pray sensitively. If the person is weeping don't pray triumphal prayers. Pray quietly in a comforting voice. Do not look at them but pray with eyes closed. If they are rejoicing pray in a rejoicing way.
Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
Romans 12:15
Pray with emotion. Enter into their grief or joy. Intercession often leads to us feeling the heart of God about a situation. If they are weeping and you begin to weep don't try to stop it. Let God express His heart for them through you.
Pray sensitively in rebuking a demonic force. The volume of your voice or the commanding tone of you voice does not increase your authority. Prayer and fasting will. Remember that the person is listening to you pray even when you are speaking to the demon. If the person is a child or an adult who may not have any exposure to spiritual warfare pray silently.
In order to avoid confusion or condemnation if you are feeling to pray out loud against a demon tell the person. Say you feel there may be a demonic force coming against them that you would like to pray against. Ask them if they would be comfortable to allow you to pray against it.
If they say yes then tell them you will be speaking to the demon and not to be afraid.
In situations where a demonic force manifests itself do not hold the person down. If they attempt to harm you move quickly away and let them be alone. Contact the team leader.
If anyone threatens violence or acts in a way that indicates they could be violent let the team leader know and anyone who may be in harm's way to move away from the person. Do not attempt to deal with the issue yourself.
Pray confidentially. First of all anything that is prayed about with the person should generally remain in confidence.
The confession of sin involving abuse of any kind of a minor child requires by law that it be reported by the person to whom it was told to the police and the CAS. In these cases you are not to share it with the team leader for them to contact the authorities but directly contact the CAS and Police yourself.
If you are dealing with sensitive information pray very quietly so that others cannot hear. It is not good to shout out "Praise God you will forgive our brother's committing adultery last week....."
Pray considerately. Do not pray in a shouting voice when other people are praying nearby. We want the altar to be a place of peace. There may be times when you are praying rejoicing prayers that you will be louder but just survey the surroundings and be considerate. If someone is being prayed for an obviously traumatic experience and you are near you may want to move farther away in order not to distract them or the ones praying for them.
Do not pray for people if you have sin issues active in your heart at the time of prayer. If you are not in one accord with your spouse (on your part – not theirs), are in unresolved conflict with others that you know you are not walking in grace in or if you are captive to any of the three roots of sin (Lust of the flesh, Lust of the eyes, Pride of life) then have the team pray for you.
Pray during the week. When you have prayed for people try to keep them in your prayers for the week following. When you see them again let them know that you have been continuing to pray with them. Perhaps they will want to pray with you again.
Pray believing. When a person is asking for healing pray that God will heal. Don't tell them they are healed. Don't leave any impression with them that they do not have enough faith.
While we want to always leave the results of our prayer in the Father's hands we are told to pray believing that we have received. This means we pray believing that God will give His answer. It does not mean that whatever we pray for we will get. In that light, however, unless you have a specific guidance to not pray for the needs that a person shares then pray prayers of faith.
Even if you do not have a direction, pray for the meeting of needs they ask for, unless there is something wrong with the desires that someone shares (I am praying the ______ will fall in love with me..... I'm praying that I will get the right numbers from God to win the lottery, I am praying that my spouse will die soon (when she wasn't even sick) so I can marry the person who God says I am to marry after my spouse dies..... (I have actually had people seek these actual prayers)
If they are asking for prayer about these kinds of things just do not pray for them. If they ask why you are not praying for their requests ask them to sit down with you after the prayer time to discuss the issue. Ask God to give wisdom how to share with them in they way he would have you. If they don't ask for clarification just pray generally for them. Don't pray rebuking prayers concerning their wrong thinking. Then pray during the week for them.
This brings up the point of possible confrontations at the altar. Avoid them at all costs. If you find yourself getting in a wrong emotional state with someone you are praying with excuse yourself. Do not get into arguments of any kind with people you are praying for or you are praying with.
Share words, impressions and visions with humility. Learn to submit your words, impressions or visions. We are not to ever present our revelations as the final word from God. When you have something you think is from Him communicate using words like, "I have a thought, picture, impression....." "May I share it with you?" Ask for their permission. If they say no respect it. Never say God spoke to me. You may say, "I feel that God may be saying to you....." Leave the confirmation with them.
Don't use, "Thus saith the Lord" language ever! You may ask after you share if they have a confirmation or understanding in their hearts as to what you said but only if you can handle a rejection of what you said. If they don't receive what you have said graciously respond. Do not try to force your "word" on them. Don't say, "I will pray that God will show you I am right."
Do not give the interpretation of the word unless it is a message in tongues. Then the interpretation needs to be handled that same way as a word in English. Submit it.
If there is tension or division between you and the person please do not pray with them. Let another team member pray.
Don't pray from information that you may have heard from others or deduced yourself from watching the person..... This is very important. Gossip is not a good source for prayer concerns and even well meaning people can be wrong in their interpretation of the person's life. For example don't pray, God would you separate Jane from her immoral relationship with Tom.
When people are coming to the altar, as much as possible, let the people come to you rather than approaching them. If you feel however that someone has wrong affections towards you then as much as is possible avoid them.
Very wise and helpful teaching!
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