15 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,
16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
The Apostle Paul in our opening Scripture was making a definite request unto God on behalf of the believers at Ephesus. He was supplicating on their behalf, making a definite request that God would give unto them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, thereby causing light to shine upon their hearts. Paul prayed and asked the Father, however, there are believers today who don’t supplicate and make definite requests to God. They just make declarations, having not prayed or made supplications. Some believers are only used to praying the prayer of faith, and they think that the prayer of faith is the only kind of prayer there is. Even some believers perceive asking God as weakness. Asking God for things according to His Word is not a show of weakness. We need to pray all manner of prayers to be effective in prayer, not just the prayer of declarations or the prayer of faith. Listen, it is not the Word of Faith to only pray the prayer of faith or declarations. Understand that the word of faith excludes boasting; it is the word of faith that ministers faith, total reliance on God, not the word of pride (Romans 3:27).
If you observe carefully, you will see that in all the prayers that the Apostle Paul prayed for the churches, he made petitions on their behalf unto God. This is to the end that you might pray in the same manner and get results in the same degree. You ask to receive, and this is very important because in the kingdom of God, everything is sourced in the Father. If He does not release it to you, you can’t have it. This is how the prayer of supplication works: You ask the Father for what you require according to His Word or will, then you believe that you have received and then you declare out loud in faith what you believe you have received. It is your declaration of faith, having supplicated, that engages angels to bring it to pass. Remember the order of the movement of angels is ascending and descending. So, when you offer prayers to God, angels ascend in the smoke of the prayer and God says “granted”. So, if you declare what the Father has not granted, angels will just be looking at you without doing anything. Until you declare in faith what the Father has already granted, angels are not activated; for they only hearken to the voice of God and His voice in our mouth. Listen beloved, you don’t just go and declare things anyhow, for there is order in the kingdom of God. 1 Corinthians 14:40 says, “Let all things be done decently and in order.” So don’t just go about declaring, first, ask from the Father, then believe that you’ve received and then there is a knowing in your heart, that rhema in your heart is what you then start declaring out loud.
MY SOLID FRONT (YOUR CONFESSION):
Heavenly Father, I thank You for the privilege of prayer and supplications to You. Thank You for opening my eyes to biblical principles of effective prayers. Amen!!!
Further Meditation: Genesis 28:12; John 1:51.