If we see that the Body is one with the Head in the heavens, we as the church will exercise the authority of the Head to bind and loose what has already been bound and loosed in the heavens.
This is because in our daily living we realise we are members of the Body of Christ and we live a life of a member of the Body, and we put off the old man and put on the new man by being renewed in the spirit of our mind.
The Lord wants to recover our prayer in this way, the prayer of the church as the Body of Christ, the prayer of authority to resist the enemy and bring in the kingdom of God.
In this kind of prayer we don’t beg God to do things for us or implore Him to take care of this or that situation. Rather, when we pray the prayer of the church as the Body of Christ, we claim what the Lord has obtained and attained.
We do need all kinds of prayers, including the petitions, supplications, and requests, but the prayer of the age is claiming what the Lord has obtained and attained, and praying for His will to be done.
Christ has obtained the lordship and the headship – He has been raised from the dead and enthroned far above all, being given to be the Lord of lords and King of kings, and as such a One He is Head over all things to the church.
If we take the stand of being in the church as the Body of Christ, living as a member in the Body and practicing to put off the old man and put on the new man, we will have the realisation that we are one with Christ, the Head, and we can exercise the authority of the Head.
We will realise that Christ, the Head of the Body, has been raised from the dead and is seated at God’s right hand in the heavenlies, far above all rule, authority, power, and lordship in the universe, and that we are in Him, one with Him.
In such a position and with such an authority, we will pray according to what the Lord has obtained in ascension. We may not agree with the current situation, so we will tell Him, Lord, we do not agree with the present situation, so as Your Body we take the ground of Your ascension and claim Your lordship over the present situation.
Exercising the authority of the Head as the Body of Christ doesn’t mean that we do what we want or think it’s right – all in the name of Jesus. Rather, as members of the Body we are properly related to the other members, and we disagree with the present situation, so we claim the Lord’s authority and His lordship over the situation.
When we pray according to what the Lord has attained in ascension, we should simply declare who we are and where we are – we are the Body of Christ, we are in the Body, and the Body is in the Head – and the Head is transcendent. Hallelujah!
Because the Body is one with the Head, the Body has the Authority to Bind and Loose in Prayer
The spiritual realm is completely different from the physical or psychological realm, and if we see the vision that we are the Body of the Head and that our Head is in the heavens, transcendent, we will simply proclaim and claim what the Lord has attained.
We will not beg or request, but we will simply claim, proclaim, and declare based on our oneness with the Lord, the Body with the Head.
The devil may have a lot of power and he may be able to hurt many, but what we have is authority – we have the authority of the Head by being the Body of the Head, and we can exercise authority to bind and loose what has already been bound and loosed in the heavens (Matt. 16:19; 18:18).
For example, during World War two, the Japanese invaded China and held it under occupation, suppressing the people of China and treating them very badly. But on August 10, 1945, when the Japanese surrendered to the allied forces, even the little children in China could claim the victory and stand in this victory.
A few hours before the surrender they wet all very frightened, but once the surrender was announced, they all were happy, standing in victory, and claiming the victory.
We as the Body of Christ share in the authority of the Head, so the Lord told us that whatever we bind on earth would have been bound in heaven, and whatever we loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.
We cannot bind what has not been already bound, and we cannot loose what has not already been loosed. Because the Body is one with the Head in the heavens, the Body of Christ has the authority to bind or loose what has already bound or loosed in the heavens.
This is not something that we perform outwardly but we are in the reality of the Body, realising the oneness of the Body with the Head, and we are joined to heavens to release the will of God in earth.
When we pray the prayer of the church as the Body of Christ, we are one with the throne and one with God, and in such a position we can bind and loose. Our realisation has to be deep – we need to have the deepest realization of binding and loosing, having the reality of this in our living. Amen!
Praise the Lord, the church is built upon a rock, and this rock is not only the crucified and resurrected Christ but also the ascended Christ, and the gates of Hades cannot prevail against the church (Matt. 16:18).
The church is built upon a rock, the ascended Christ. Therefore, we have the ground over Hades, and we can learn to pray with authority, exercising the authority that has been assigned to the Body by the Head.
May all our prayer meetings have a full change; may we no longer pray in a begging way but in ascension, one with Christ as our Head, entering into the prayer of the church as the Body of Christ, and praying the prayer of the age.
Lord Jesus, we praise You for making us one with You – the Body is one with the Head, and the Body has the authority of the Head to bind and loose! May we have a deep realisation of our oneness with Christ, the ascended Head, and of our position as the church in Christ, in the heavenlies. Amen, Lord, may we as the church exercise the authority of the Head to claim the lordship of Christ over the present situation. May we no longer be oppressed or suppressed by the enemy with his tactics, but may we have the reality of the Body of Christ who is one with the Head, so that we may bind what has been bound in heavens, and loose what has been loosed in the heavens.
Entering into the Prayer of the Age by Living in the Body and Putting on the New Man
In order for us to enter into the prayer of the age and be able to exercise the authority given by the Head to the Body of Christ, we need to realise we’re members in the Body and we need to put on the new man.
These are two critical matters that have to be present in our daily living. On one hand, we must realise that we are members of the Body, and we must live, act, and move in the Body (Phil. 1:19).
For example, the apostle Paul was in prison with Silas, but not for once was he cut off from the supply of the Body. Even when he was imprisoned for a longer period of time, Paul could still testify that he believed that this situation will turn out to salvation through the petitions of the saints and the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
As believers in Christ we need to realise that we are NOT alone – we are not individual Christians, individualistic believers; rather, we are members of the Body of Christ, and we depend on the fellow members of the Body.
Our living must be in the Body, our acting and moving must be in the Body, and everything we do must be in the Body and for the Body. Secondly, in our daily life we must always put on the new man (Eph. 4:24); the new man is actually composed of the Head with the Body, Christ with the church (Eph. 2:15-16).
On one hand we need to put off the old man – the old natural man with its community life and living; on the other hand, we put on the new man by being renewed in the spirit of our mind.
By living in the Body and putting on the new man, we will be able to exercise the authority given to the Body by the Head. Amen!
How much we need to see a vision of the ascended Christ and learn to pray the prayer of authority! It’s been more than two thousand years since the Lord was raised, and such a prayer was neglected, but these days the Lord will recover it!
We believe that the Lord will recover this highest peak, the highest mountain in the good land. We all must realize the facts, take the ground of ascension, and claim what the Head has obtained and attained!
We need to have the prevailing prayer of the church, the prayer of the age, for the Lord to have our utmost cooperation for the fulfilment of His purpose and the defeat of the enemy.
Lord, grant us to see that we are members in the Body so that we may live, act, and move in the Body in our daily living. We want to put off the old man and put on the new man by being renewed in the spirit of our mind. Amen, Lord, save us from letting our guard down or being relaxed; keep us living in spirit as members of the Body, always putting on the new man, so that we may be able to exercise the authority given by the Head to the Body. Amen, Lord, recover the prayer of authority in the church meetings!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message given by Minoru Chen for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1963, vol. 1, pp. 157-166, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Spiritual Warfare of the Church as the New Man (2018 Memorial Day Conference), week 6, The Prayer of the Age to Fulfill God’s Economy and the Sacrifice of Praise to Display Christ’s Victory.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Pray to touch the throne of God / By the hand of living faith; / Exercise authority / Over all the pow’r of death. / Pray to touch the throne of God, / Pray to shake the evil pow’r; / Pray with kingship on the throne, / Pray with Christ this very hour. (Hymns #783)
# Keep on wrestling in the Body, / Mighty vict’ry you will see, / Bind and loose, God’s will fulfilling, / And the foes your food will be. (Hymns #885)
# For this cause Your Person, Lord, / We take and stand in one accord; / All the members self forsake, / And of the Body-Christ partake. / We in Christ as one new man / Now come forth to take this land. / For this cause Your Person, Lord, / We take and stand in one accord. (Hymns #1230)
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