Throne Room Prayer E-Book

Brian Simmons

• Herausgeber: BroadStreet Publishing Group, LLC
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Serie: The Passion Translation
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Seitenzahl: 246

Beschreibung

Your prayers in the throne room live forever. Learn to pray with Jesus, not just to Him. The day will come when each of us will stand before God in His throne room. Many of the prophets from the Bible have seen the throne room and shared their observations with us. The book of Revelation specifically gives us stunning insight into what God's glorious throne room is all about. Understanding prayer from within the throne room will change how you pray and how you live. Throne Room Prayer will take you into the sea of glass to experience for yourself the beautiful throne of God. Throne Room Prayer is God's invitation for you to become a prayer partner with Jesus and learn sacred secrets. This book will help you to: - Enjoy personal, obligation-free prayer with Jesus - Understand and utilize all types and tools of prayer - Hear the voice of God and fill your heart with heaven's plans - Use your voice as a magnet to pull His presence to the earth - See heaven's purposes fulfilled here on earthThrone Room Prayer is a wonderful resource for individuals and groups. Expect your eyes to be opened to see into the spiritual realm all around you. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Lift up your voice and watch how God changes you through Throne Room Prayer.

Leseprobe

BroadStreet Publishing® Group, LLC

Savage, Minnesota, USA

BroadStreetPublishing.com

Throne Room Prayer: Praying with Jesus on the Sea of Glass

Copyright © 2018 Brian and Candice Simmons

978-1-4245-5782-0 (softcover)

978-1-4245-5783-7 (e-book)

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Unless indicated otherwise, all Scripture quotations are from The Passion Translation®. Copyright © 2017, 2018 by BroadStreet Publishing Group. thePassionTranslation.com. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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Printed in the United States of America

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CONTENTS

Introduction

1 Thirsting for God

2 The Mystery of Prayer

3 Beautiful Realms of Prayer

4 Hearing the Voice of God

5 Listening Prayer

6 Hearing God’s Voice

7 Priests of the Planet!

8 Intercessors Are Bridge-Builders

9 The Prayer of Unity

10 The Lord’s Prayer

11 The Lord’s Prayer—Forgiveness and Freedom

12 The Prayer Warrior

13 Weapons from the Throne Room

14 More Weapons from the Throne Room

15 Breakthrough Prayer

16 Apostolic Prayer

17 The House of Prayer

18 Watchmen on the Hilltop

19 We Have Dual Citizenship

20 The Throne Room

21 The One Who Sits on the Throne

22 The Twenty-Four Elders

23 Enthroned Intercessors

24 Ezekiel’s Vision, the Fiery Cherubim

25 Prayer Partners with Jesus

Suggested Reading

About the Authors

INTRODUCTION

Like most believers, I (Brian) have struggled through my prayer journey with typical highs and lows. There have been days that I really felt as though I could pray without stopping—it was a sheer joy to be with Jesus and to pour out my heart to Him! And on other days, well, not so much. In my journey, I’m learning to lean on my Beloved and become a prayer partner with Jesus in the heavenly realm. He has become my prayer life. These notes reflect this process of becoming one with Jesus in prayer.

Many people have made rich deposits in my life, deposits that have taught me about prayer. A dear brother was led by God in the first months of my new life in Christ to be a prayer partner with me. As a young believer, this made all the difference, for I felt so weak and inadequate. The memories I have of praying with Bob Bence are sweet indeed. Many could testify of the presence of the Lord that is released when Bob enters the room. He taught me that I could pray at any time, and for anything, with bold faith and with tears.

I also had older men that influenced me by living what they taught about prayer. Most of them are now in heaven enjoying their eternal reward: Duane Stous, Jim Ostewig, Robert Kamin-sky, and Clarence Preedy. I am grateful for their impact and their challenge to me to become a man of prayer.

Yet there are three men who stand out to me as powerful examples of praying men. Their lives and their prayers have imprinted my life: Mike Bickle, a fervent man of God who has made prayer and fasting his lifestyle; James Goll, who has taken a leap into the deeper waters of intercession and learned the secrets of prayer power; and Lou Engle, a friend who has changed the world with his fiery intercession and passion for God. I am thankful that these three—Mike, James, and Lou—“come up for air” long enough to tell the rest of us what they are learning.

But even beyond these three, there is a woman who has helped and mentored me in this prayer journey, my treasure and darling wife, Candice. She is one of the deepest prophetic wells on earth today. I have seen in her a ceaseless spirit of prayer that both convicts and soothes my soul at the same time. She has followed me to the ends of the earth as a covenant partner in our forty-five (and counting) years of ministry. How could I even speak of my love for her? Candice has taught me that Jesus loves to hear us pray, and what a prayer partner she is to me! I’m so grateful that she has co-authored this book with me.

Expect incredible things to happen to you as you read through this book and become a prayer partner with Jesus on the Sea of Glass. What you’re about to read is the expression of my heart in longing to be one with Jesus, not only on earth, but also in heaven. The heavenly realm is my focus, my eternal delight. I am praying for you as you read that you will get a “jump start” in your prayer journey. Whether you are a mature or new believer, this book is for you.

In the following pages, you will be taught the basics of prayer, intercession, and being one with Jesus in the heavenly realm. Jesus truly longs for you and me to become the echo of His heart, sharing eternal life with Him, and changing the world through our passionate prayers. Apply your heart to all that you read. Go deep. The more you give yourself to this study, the more you will receive. Perhaps a chapter or two may seem basic to you, but it is always good to ensure that our foundations of prayer are deep and strong. You might want to look at the chapter headings in the front of the book and see them as rungs on a ladder, a stairway meant to take you to the Sea of Glass. And after climbing this DNA-shaped ladder, you will be soaring into the heavens in an ecstatic experience of Throne Room Prayer, in union with the One you love.

We have asked God to make this the most encouraging book you have ever read on prayer. Wherever you are in your journey, I have prayed that you would find here a booster-rocket on each page that will shoot you right into the glory clouds of prayer. May you have a good ride and enjoy the view! Hope you don’t mind high places! Start by praying this prayer with me:

Dear Lord Jesus, you know that I love you. You know that I want to be your prayer partner on the Sea of Glass. Teach me to pray as you taught your disciples. Take me into your realm and make me one with you as I pray. Help me when I don’t feel like praying to remember how you prayed in the garden of Gethsemane. I give myself to you to be taught to pray. Change my life as I learn to make prayer my top priority and my joy. Give me the prayer assignments that you want me to have. I give myself to you. I call you my Beloved, my Friend, my Prayer Partner. Impart your grace into my life today. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

1

THIRSTING FOR GOD

I long to drink of you O God,

drinking deeply from the streams of pleasure

flowing from your presence.

My longings overwhelm me for more of you!

PSALM 42:1

Join us on this journey to become one with Jesus on the Sea of Glass—to become His prayer partner. We’ll talk more about the Sea of Glass in Chapter 22; for now, just know that it’s a place of prayer that we learn about in the book of Revelation. Candice and I long to know Jesus, and we long to help others know Him. We want to teach others how to pray without feeling ashamed, guilty, unworthy, or inadequate. In reading through the Gospels, you’ll never find Jesus making people ashamed about prayer or condemning them for not praying. He told His disciples, “When you pray”—not “Why don’t you pray more?” We somehow sense that our Lord Jesus understands the battle we engage in as we develop a life of prayer.

Everything about you was made for God and created for His presence. And the true longing of your heart is to know Him because we were all formed in His very image. Just like every one of us longs to know our earthly fathers better, so there is a deep longing for all of mankind to know our heavenly Father. You might call it our soul-thirst for Him. When we enter His presence and come before Him, we are connecting with our True Source. It’s in His presence that we’re empowered. It’s in His throne room that we come to life because there is absolutely nothing else on this side of heaven that can compare to communing with Him!

We’re all created to be the Father’s living vessels, filled with all that He is. He becomes our content, our substance—and we become His container—containers of the Christ! Without man, God has nowhere to put Himself, nowhere to pour out His very life. He can fill the universe with His wisdom and order, but He longs for a home, a place of rest. In a very real way, God needs you to become His completion, His fullness on the earth (Ephesians 1:17–23).

As we thirst for God, we connect with the desire of our eternal soul. Like a hunted deer panting for refreshment, we thirst for the living God. And this thirst can sometimes be overwhelming. As you go on this journey with us, you will begin to find that you just can’t go on without a fresh infilling from the Fountain of Life, and prayer gives us that infilling.

After years of seeking Him, we have discovered that the way to live Christ is to breathe Him, and the way to breathe Him is to call on Him without ceasing. In 1 Timothy 6:12, Paul says, “Lay your hands upon eternal life to which you were called.” We’ve been called to eternal life. Now we must lay hold of this life by calling on the Lord night and day, day and night. By calling on Him, we breathe Him in.

The greatest lesson we have ever learned about prayer is this: Jesus is my prayer life! Jesus is our life, our strength, our victory, our hope of glory. He is the life and power of our prayers. Jesus in me is my prayer life and to be His partner in prayer must be the passion of every intercessor. His life in me is an ever-praying life! He ever lives to make intercession for me and in me! When you really believe this, your fear of not praying correctly will vanish! God has given us the privilege of taking hold of Him and borrowing His strength. Fellowship with the eternal God takes weak and unfit people and makes them His co-rulers, working together to bring His purposes to pass. You can become a walking prayer meeting on two legs as you intercede throughout the day. Busy moms, hurried men, students, and ministers alike can all mingle prayers with their daily work. An intercessor can maintain a spirit of constant prayer no matter what else is going on.

Calling on the Lord is one way that He draws us into His heart. He knows that His life-changing power is released when we spend time with Him. And He knows that adoration turns into transformation if we’ll be patient. To love Him must be our supreme occupation. And the more we love Him, the more we spend time with Him, and the more we spend time with Him, the more our soul is transformed into His image (2 Corinthians 3:18; John 14:21). As we give Him our heart in prayer, He gives us His heart in exchange, transforming us from deep within. The more you give your heart to prayer, the more you’ll experience His presence.

THINK OF THE HOLY OF HOLIES AS THE HEART OF THE FATHER

Think of the veil separating you from the Holy of Holies as being torn open by the Father’s hand. Think of it as God’s heart being torn open for you to peek inside. When you do, you’ll see that He really is kind and merciful and forgiving after all. Prayer is the exquisite privilege of looking inside of God. He’s not a condemning Father staring at you and wondering why it took you so long, but He is a Father whose heart has been torn open and is ready to receive you and hear your voice as you cry out to Him. He loves it! Prayer is not a burden, and it’s not a duty. It’s a privilege, and it’s easy. It’s a pleasure-filled experience of entering the ecstasy of His presence. When we understand the heart of the Father God torn open to receive us, we will run into His presence with delight and joy. Remember, prayer is easy when you love Him!

We pray not only to receive what we need but to know Him. All prayer is union with God. We join our heart, our spirit, and our longing with God’s as we touch the eternal together. Our hearts are drawn toward heaven when we open our lips and call upon His name. Any need we have must be secondary to satisfying His Father-heart in prayer.

You are a priest coming to God with words, a priest with a ministry before the throne. Prayer is the greatest and noblest human action possible. Our true ministry is not what we do before others but who we are before the Lord (1 Peter 2:5–9). Most of us measure our ministries by their size, the number of people impacted, or books sold. But in heaven, our ministry is with God. We serve Him, we wait upon Him, we pour out our hearts to Him, and we listen to His voice. Yes, true ministry cannot be measured by any of earth’s values; it can only be measured by heaven’s glory.

Wherever you see miracles, you’ll find prayer. God releases His power to work miracles in answer to the prayers of His people. You are one who can pray down the miracle power of heaven. We don’t “hype it up”; we “pray it down.” More prayer means more power. Without prayer, we can’t do the works of Jesus, let alone the greater things He claimed we would do.

Miracles are waiting for your prayers. Everything we want is in heaven, and our prayers come alive in the heavenly realm. It’s time for you to pray bolder prayers! Bolder prayer brings big miracles. Don’t let everybody else see the miracles without you being included! If your prayers don’t move your heart, then they won’t move His heart! Pray with passion, and the miracles will flow (Luke 5:15–16; John 14:12–14).

WHY DO WE PRAY?

The first thing that happens for many people when you mention prayer is a feeling of condemnation rather than a joy of communing with the Living Father. Many people think God is either mad or sad. They imagine that He’s mad at every sinner, every backslider, and every Christian who blows it. Or they think that He’s sad and melancholy over a world that’s abandoned His ways. But we need to see that God is a happy God. He enjoys weak people, loves our prayers, and is touched by everything that affects us. And prayer touches His heart. Believe it or not, the Lord Jesus understands the difficulty we have in developing a life of prayer. He understands all our weaknesses!

Song of Songs 2:14 says, “How beautiful your eyes of worship and lovely your voice in prayer.” Where is there condemnation in that? Guilt is the greatest hindrance to prayer. And guilt is such a poor motivator in the Christian life. It will produce results for a while, but it leaves a horrible aftertaste in our soul. You may start to feel that you never pray enough. And you may never feel as though you pray perfectly, with the right passion and the right words. But He’s not keeping a record. In the ears of the Father there is a sweetness to our voice. “Come and pray to me,” He says. “Let me hear your voice in prayer!”

This is an invitation for you to arise and pray. It is time to worship Him even in your place of need. If only you knew how sweet your voice is each time you call out to Him, it would bring you over and over into the secret chamber of His heart. Jesus calls to you: “How lovely you look there hidden in My love. Let Me hear your heart’s cry, and I will answer you. Your voice is music to My ears—sweet, pleasing, and acceptable to Me.”

He’s waiting and longing to commune with you. It’s time to invade His privacy. Rush into His presence like a child and love on Him. Let your words be free! Speak from your heart! And like any child would like to enjoy his own natural father, why not crawl up in His lap just for the sake of enjoying Him?

He is saying to the Shulamite, and He is saying to you and me: “Let Me take pleasure in you.” Jesus always finds delight in His times of fellowship with you and me. Imagine Jesus looking at you where you are today and saying, “I enjoy you; I call you delightful; and I love you! Arise from your self-life and let Me break your shackles of introspection and fear that keep you distant from Me. Give Me your worship, for it is sweet.” Just think: Jesus loves your voice in prayer.

Pray this today: Lord Jesus, you have won my heart. You tell me that my voice is sweet and that you delight to hear my prayer. Your love is the strength of my heart. Show me even more of your love today. I want my prayer to move your heart and to change me. Teach me how to value prayer as you did. Help me to rise early to seek your face and gaze upon your glory. I trust in you, my Lord and my God. Amen.

2

THE MYSTERY OF PRAYER

You answer our prayers with amazing wonders

and with awe-inspiring displays of power.

You are the righteous God who helps us like a father.

Everyone everywhere looks to you,

for you are the confidence of all the earth,

even to the farthest islands of the sea.

PSALM 65:5

Have you ever considered the mystery of prayer? It’s both simple and profound at the same time. Prayer has changed the world and affected human history more than any of us could ever calculate. It’s a divine, sacred, glorious mystery that will draw you into His heart. It’s the privilege and the opportunity to lock arms with God and labor together with Him. It’s life taken to its highest degree! It takes us into the timelessness of His presence as we speak with God and hear His heart.

Did you know there are over six hundred prayers in the Bible? And that doesn’t even count the 150 Psalms, which are prayers set to music. As we pray, we’re actually partnering with Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Only a friend that truly loves you will always be there to hear your cry. Jesus is that friend: He will never leave or fail you. We cry out to Him because our heart is lovesick for the Son of God! We can learn of His kindness through prayer. He loves to hear our cry and loves to spend time with us.

We must be those who seek His presence, not just His presents. The Lord’s Prayer begins with “Our Father,” not “Our needs.” Worship, not whining, is the highest form of prayer. As we pray, our friendship with the Beloved One deepens and sweetens as the true needs of our heart are answered by loving Him (Song of Songs 2:14).

PRAYER WAS THE PRIORITY OF JESUS

Many mornings, Jesus began with prayer in solitude. And Jesus was in prayer when the Holy Spirit came upon Him at His baptism. He received power, wisdom, and strategy by His intimate prayer life with the Father. We see Jesus praying over twenty-five times in the Gospels. During the last hours of His life, He prayed. On the cross, He prayed. Everything about His ministry was rooted in prayer. May we have the same longing for time alone with the Father that Jesus did.

As he prayed, his face began to glow until it was a blinding glory streaming from him. His entire body was illuminated with a radiant glory. His brightness became so intense that it made his clothing blinding white, like multiple flashes of lightning. (Luke 9:29)

This was the “transfiguration” of Jesus found in three of the four Gospels. It is considered one of the highest moments of the life and ministry of Jesus. But what stands out to me are the words “As He prayed.” It is as we pray that God is released within us to unveil who we are in His eyes. The real change we want can be found as we pray.

If it was a priority to the Holy Son of God to live continually in the presence of His Father, so must that be our priority. The very prayer habits of our Lord Jesus will be repeated on earth by those that seek Him above everything else. Jesus is the perfect prayer partner for you (Matthew 14:23; Mark 1:35; Luke 6:12).

PRAYER OPENS OUR SPIRITUAL EYES

God’s Spirit can open blind eyes. We’re all born blind because of sin, but when we are born again, God’s Spirt opens those blind eyes. It’s only by the Holy Spirit that we receive our spiritual eyes to see as we pray. And true spiritual insight comes with a humble desire to know Jesus. Many things will be shown to you as you pray. Expect your eyes to be opened to see into the spiritual realm all around you. For the kingdom of heaven is at hand and even close enough to reach. Sacred secrets will be shared with you as you make Jesus your lifetime prayer partner. Pray and God will open your eyes to see the glory of Christ (2 Kings 6:16–17; Ephesians 1:17–18; 1 Corinthians 2:9–10).

PRAYER IS A LOVE RESPONSE TO OTHERS

Every true prayer partner with Jesus will learn to carry the concerns of others. When we understand how powerful our prayers are, we will use them to pray for God’s best to come to others. Prayer can lift the burdens of others, just as it lifts ours. When we pray for another person, we’re participating in one of the most loving things we can do. As you grow in love, you’ll grow in your prayer response to the burdens of your friends. Ask the Lord to show you today how to pray for others—and watch as miracles come to them (Philippians 1:7).

PRAYER ESCORTS GOD’S WILL TO THE EARTH

It is time to pray the power of God out of heaven onto the earth! The ministry of prayer is to bring the will of heaven here. We stand on God’s side, wanting what God wants. It’s as though our prayers paint a “bull’s-eye” for the next place where God’s power will fall. True prayer is discovering God’s heart as we draw near to Him. And then as we join Him in intercession, we’ll begin to see His will done on earth as it is in heaven. When you know what’s happening in heaven, you can pray it done on earth (Amos 3:7).

True prayer is Christ in you praying through you to accomplish the Father’s desires for the earth. It’s true: Jesus Christ is your prayer partner, and He will pray through you as you pray through Him! It’s by your prayers that God takes charge of things here on earth. The highest privilege of the church is to be the outlet of God’s will. We escort God’s purposes to the earth. We can pull down the future into the present with our prayers of faith (Matthew 6:10; Psalm119:126).

PRAYER BRINGS PEACE, COMFORT, AND JOY

Most of us are carrying burdens that must be given up and laid aside (Philippians 4:6–7). Prayer from the heart is like dialing 911. It is God’s system for emergency response. Yes, He knows what you need before you even ask, but He wants you to ask. And when we do ask, we’re turning our hearts to our true source of life, comfort, and peace. Nothing soothes the heart like prayer (James 5:13).

Just as a parent is stirred by the cry of their children, so Abba, our Father, is moved by your sigh. He is touched by the feeling of your weakness and understands you more than you realize (Hebrews 4:15–16). As we pour out our hearts before Him, we touch the flow of compassion in Abba Father’s heart (Isaiah 30:19). Read Psalms 61–63 and underline the references to prayer and see the results of prayer!

PRAYER IS HOW WE RECEIVE WHAT WE NEED

What would you pray for today if you knew you could have it? Simply stated, we don’t have what we need because we don’t ask for it (James 4:2). Asking and receiving is the dynamic of prayer that relieves the pain of life and releases the substance of heaven. Whatever we need, whenever we need it, we simply ask the Father to give it. This cultivates your relationship as His child. Just as earthly fathers delight in caring for and providing for their children, so our heavenly Father knows what we have need of and will give it to us when we ask. Jesus once said to blind Bartimaeus, “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus is still saying this to us every day. Do you have a need? Is there a burden on your heart? Is there something you want that only God can give you? Ask and watch Him answer! He’s your Father and He loves you!

PRAYER IS HAVING THE PROPER FOCUS

True prayer must be addressed to our heavenly Father. There are about forty New Testament prayers recorded in the Scriptures; all are addressed to God the Father. We have no New Testament prayer directed at the devil. Jesus clearly taught us to pray to the Father (Matthew 18:19; Luke 11:2, 13). The prayer of Jesus in John 17 was directed to the Father. Even in the warfare epistle of Ephesians, the apostle Paul prays to the “Father of Glory” (Ephesians 1:16–17). The prayer focus of the book of Revelation is to Him who sits on the throne or the Father and the Lamb or the Son (Revelation 4).

True prayer is focused on prayer from the throne room. If we pray from the throne room, our focus will help us to remain free from “preaching prayers.” These are exhortations and descriptions of events rather than true petitions to God. Many corporate prayer meetings are stifled by “preaching prayers” that inform rather than the powerful prayers that exalt the Father, thanking Him and bringing our requests to Him on behalf of the people. Prayer must always be for an audience of One. Exhortation should not be done in prayer. The more we fill our hearts with the throne vision of Ezekiel 1, Revelation 4–5, and John 17, the better and more potent will be our times of prayer! When you pray from the throne room, you will pray from an “open heaven” mentality.

We become prophetically alert in the Holy Spirit when we pray from the perspective of being in the throne room instead of the prayer room. We won’t be so concerned about who is praying, how they’re praying, or how long they’re praying. We’re able to discern the “air currents” of the Holy Spirit and echo the heart of God through our prayers. For then the higher levels of His glorious presence are released through our united, focused prayer.

And true prayer maintains a positive focus. For faith to operate, we must pray with gratitude and confidence. Our times of prayer are spent praying for more of a release of the Holy Spirit, for righteousness to prevail, for grace to empower and mercy to triumph. It’s more important to ask God for the impartation of good instead of having a negative focus on removing evil. Good overcomes evil. This focus enables us to pray in the love of God for those who are still trapped in darkness. It also provides “shock absorbers” for a prayer meeting when another intercessor prays differently than we do. Grace-centered prayers align with the throne of grace.

Let the word of Christ live in you, flooding you with all wisdom. Apply the Scriptures as you teach and instruct one another with the Psalms, and with festive praises, and with prophetic songs given to you spontaneously by the Spirit. As the fountain of grace overflows within you, sing to God with all your hearts! (Colossians 3:16)