We need to pray in harmony to release God’s will on earth and to prepare the glorious church for Christ. In the church as a house of prayer, we pray in an executing way by asking in harmony; we bind on earth what has been bound in heaven, and we loose on earth what has been loosed in heaven.
The church is a house of prayer, and we as members of the Body of Christ can and should participate in Christ’s interceding life; we can pray at the center of the divine administration to release on earth what the Lord has already released in heaven.
As for the central subject and goal of our prayer, it is that the church would be prepared for Christ to be a glorious church, matching Him and fulfilling the desire of His heart.
He really wants to gain Zion, the overcomers in this age; when there’s a sufficient number of overcomers on earth, the bride will be prepared, and the Lord will return.
May we realize that our position is in Christ, in the heavenlies, in the position of ascension, and may we remain here, in ascension, one with Christ.
As we remain in ascension, one with the Lord as the Head of the Body and also one with the Body, we can offer the prayer of authority to deal with the enemy and execute God’s administration.
The Lord desires to gain an outlet for His prayers; He is interceding for us in the heavens, He is ministering the heavens into us, and He is executing God’s administration, and we need to be those who respond to His heavenly ministry by our prayers.
By our prayers in the church as the temple of God, a house of prayer, we can respond to the Lord’s interceding, ministering, and executing God’s administration; we can cooperate with Him in prayer to carry out His administration on earth.
We offer all kinds of prayers to God, but the meaningful prayers that we can offer Him are related to the carrying out of His will on earth; His will is done in the heavens, but it needs to be carried out on earth, and we can cooperate with this by our prayer.
May we realize our position in Christ; may we see we are in the heavenlies, in ascension, and may we seek the things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God! Amen!
If we seek the things which are above and if we have one life and one living with Christ, we will be wholly occupied with the Lord’s interest! Amen!
Yes, we will still pray for our needs, but His need will be more important to us, for when His need is met, our need is also met. When God is satisfied, we are satisfied; when His need is met, our need is also met.
The Earth Controls Heaven: We need to Pray in Harmony to Release on Earth what God Decided in the Heaven
In Matt. 18-19 we read of this quite amazing prayer that binds on earth what has been bound in heaven and looses on earth what has been loosed in heaven.
If two or three of us are in harmony on earth concerning any matter for which we ask, it will be done for them by the Father who is in the heavens. Wow!
This means that, before the heavens can do something on earth, the earth has to do something; before the heavens can carry out something on earth – either binding or loosing – the earth has to agree in prayer.
After the earth binds, heaven binds; after the earth looses, heaven looses.
The move in heaven seems to be controlled by the move on the earth, for there’s no move on the earth, the heaven cannot move, but when the earth prays in harmony to bind or loose heaven acts.
The earth controls heaven; wow, we on earth, the church as a house of prayer, can control what the Lord in heaven can do and cannot do! Some may say that this is too much, for God is Almighty and He can do whatever He wants to do.
But it seems that, again and again, God puts Himself under the limitation of man’s cooperation in prayer; when we pray in harmony on earth, the Lord will move, and when we don’t pray, He is limited and delayed in His move.
Look at Exo. 17:9-11; Joshua was in the valley fighting the enemy, Moses was on the mountain praying, and God was in heaven.
God in heaven decided the victory belongs to His people, but He waited for Moses’ cooperation in prayer; when Moses lifted up his hands in prayer, Israel had the victory, but when his hands were lowered, Israel was losing.
On one hand, God already decided certain things in the heavens; on the other hand, He is waiting for man on earth to agree with Him by praying in harmony on earth, so that He may carry out what He desires to do. This shows that the earth controls heaven.
In Ezek. 36:37 God’s desire is to increase His people with men like a flock; God can do this, but He asks His people to pray for this.
On one hand, nothing can stop our God from doing what He wants to do; on the other hand, He is waiting for His people’s cooperation in prayer so that He may do what He desires to do.
Even though God decides on a matter, He will not do it immediately; He reveals it to His people, He waits for them to agree with Him as they pray in harmony, and then He does what He desires to do.
The church has free will; however, the church submits this will to God’s authority, and the church chooses to pray for God’s will as if no other will existed.
When this happens, God can do whatever He wants to do.
When we as the church place our will under God’s will, He will move in the same way as He moves in the heavens; if we don’t agree with God’s will in prayer, however, He is hindered from doing what He intends to do.
The church is not merely a group of Christians or a meeting of believers; the church is a group of people who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, who have committed themselves to God’s hand, and who are willing to take God’s will, do God’s will, and stand on earth for God, for the sake of maintaining His testimony.
The church has no testimony of its own; the church is the testimony of Jesus, it prays for the carrying out of God’s will, and it is here to maintain God’s testimony.
God will not annul man by His own will; He gave man free will, so He waits for man to agree with God in prayer.
God is great; He is not like Satan, who deceives man and usurps him, ruining man and corrupting man without man even realizing what’s going on.
will not usurp man’s will on earth; He will not act independently, but He reveals His desire to man, and when man’s will cooperates with God’s will in prayer, God can carry out His will on earth.
God must have man’s will in harmony with His will; we need to pray in harmony to carry out God’s will, and He will do it on earth as it is done in the heavens!
In the church as a house of prayer, we pray in an executing way, binding on earth what has been bound in heaven, and loosing on earth what has been loosed in heaven; such a prayer is the prayer of the Body, and we can have this kind of prayer only when we ask in harmony.
This is the prayer of the church, the prayer of the vital groups who live in the reality of the Body of Christ.
Lord, reveal Your will to us and make us one with You for the carrying out of Your will. Thank You for redeeming us with Your blood regenerating us with Your divine life; we commit ourselves into Your hand to take God’s will, do God’s will, and stand for God on earth for the maintaining of His testimony. Amen, Lord, may Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. May Your kingdom come and Your will be done. We join ourselves to You; we align our will with Your will, and we choose Your will as if there’s no other will in this universe! Amen, Lord Jesus, may we realize that earth controls heaven, and may we cooperate with You in prayer so that You may do what You desire to do on earth!
Participating in Christ’s Interceding life by Praying to Prepare a Glorious Church for Christ
In the church as a house of prayer, we may participate in Christ’s interceding life, praying at the center of the divine administration (Rev. 8:3; Heb. 7:25; Rom. 8:26-27, 34).
Christ as our High Priest is at the golden incense altar before the throne of God in the heavens, in the true tabernacle; He is executing God’s will and economy in the whole universe from the throne.
And we can join Him there, at the center of the divine administration in the universe, by participating in His interceding life.
The One who intercedes in the heavens is in our spirit today; the One who prays for God’s move and carries out God’s divine administration on earth is in our spirit, and He transmits what He is praying in the heavens into our spirit today. Amen!
What a privilege it is for us as human beings to cooperate with the throne of God in prayer, as we pray in harmony on earth! What a privilege it is to cooperate with Christ by participating in His interceding life today!
This is why we don’t have time to run for politics; being a politician and even a president or a prime-minister is too low, for in prayer we govern the whole universe, and the Lord intends to make us kings, co-kings with Christ, to execute the decisions of God’s throne in the whole universe! Wow!
May we exercise our spirit and be joined to the Lord in His word, uttering the prayers that He puts in us so that we may participate in Christ’s interceding life today; when we pray in such a way, we touch the throne of God, and we pray one with Christ to release God’s will on earth.
What is the central subject and goal of our prayer in the church as a house of prayer?
Prayer has a central subject; it is not merely to ask for things from God or to open to God concerning our situation or others’ situation.
The central subject and goal of prayer are to prepare a glorious church for Christ; it is to prepare a church that will match Him and will fulfill the desire of His heart (Eph. 1:5, 9; 3:14-21; 5:27).
Prayer has a central subject; there may be many subjects in our prayer, but in God’s eyes there’s only one central subject, which God is eager to carry out.
In John 17 the Lord Jesus prayed for this; He prayed that we all may be one, enjoying the Father’s name, His life, His nature, and His glory, so that we may express God in a corporate way for all to see.
Then, in Eph. 3:14-21, Paul uttered a prayer for the saints, and the subject of his prayer is the same as the subject of the Lord’s prayer.
The two prayers have different words, but the central subject is the same: it is for the glorious church to be prepared for Christ to match Him and fulfill the desire of His heart. Amen!
If this subject and goal govern our prayer, it will direct it and limit it, and our prayers will be prevailing.
As we pray in harmony on earth for God’s will to be done, we realize that He desires to gain a glorious church to express Him and represent Him.
Amen, once we learn to pray such a prayer, eight out of ten of the prayers we used to pray we will no longer pray, for we realize that they are not necessary, they are not meaningful. Amen!
The Lord’s recovery is to build up Zion, which is the reality of the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem; we reach Zion by praying in the church as a house of prayer (Eph. 4:16; Rev. 14:1; 21:2). May the Lord train us and cause us to advance both individually and corporately in this great matter of the prayer of the age!
Lord Jesus, we want to participate in Your interceding life, praying at the center of the divine administration in the church as a house of prayer. Amen, Lord, we pray for the building up and preparation of the church as the bride of Christ! Gain the glorious church that matches You and fulfills the desire of Your heart! Make Your home in our heart through faith until we all apprehend with the saints the universally vast Christ and are filled unto all the fullness of God! Amen, Lord Jesus, gain Your glorious church! Gain the reality of the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem. We give ourselves to You, dear Lord, to be trained and perfected to advance both individually and corporately in our prayer, so that we may cooperate with Your heavenly ministry!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Mark Raabe for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 22, “The Prayer Ministry of the Church,” ch. 1, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Christian Life, the Church Life, the Consummation of the Age, and the Coming of the Lord (2020 fall ITERO), week 5, The Prayer of the Age Offered to God through the Church as the Body of Christ as a House of Prayer.
- Hymns on this topic:
– In the heav’nlies more than conqu’ror, / In the power of His might, / As a soldier in the army, / In the Lord the battle fight. / 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)
– Pray with one accord in spirit, / Pray and watch persistently; / For God’s kingdom and His glory, / Pray and watch in harmony. / Pray with one accord in spirit / Seeking God in unity; / In the Spirit of the Body / Ever pray in harmony. (Hymns #779)
– 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)
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