As believers in Christ and members of the Body of Christ, we need to see the prayer of the church as the Body of Christ and pray such a prayer, claiming what the Lord has obtained to fulfill His purpose.
For us to enter the spiritual warfare and deal with God’s enemy, we need to pray the prayer of the age, which is the prayer of the church as the Body of Christ. This prayer exercises the authority of Christ as the ascended Lord and Head of the Body to fulfill God’s economy.
For us to enter into such a prayer, we need to have a heavenly vision to see something that is far beyond our natural concept – we need to see what Christ is and has accomplished in His ascension, and what and where we are as the Body of Christ.
Most of our prayers are regular, related to our daily living and needs, but who prays the prayer of the age, the prayer of the church as the Body of Christ?
We need to see that in His ascension Christ has completely accomplished the work of redemption, and in ascension His lordship has been established. God has made Jesus, a man, both Lord and Christ, and He has given Him a name that is above every name, setting Him on the throne above all, and everything and everyone in this universe is under Him.
And the best part is that all that Christ has attained and obtained is now transmitted to the church, which is His Body, the fulness of the One who fills all and in all.
As believers in Christ as are members of the Body of Christ, and we need to see and realise that Christ has been exalted by God, established as the Lord of the universe, and made Head over all things to the church.
Hallelujah, now all things are under His feet, and everything He has obtained and attained is being transmitted to the church, which is His Body (Eph. 1:22-23). This is a spiritual fact stated in the Bible, and this is our real situation and position.
We need to realise that the position of the church as the Body of Christ is the same as Christ’s, for where the Head is, there is the Body also. We were raised together with Christ and seated with Him in the heavenlies, far above all rulers and powers.
The church shares in Christ’s position in His ascension. Since the Body of Christ is one with the Head, Christ, the position of the Body is the same as that of the Head. Therefore, the authority of the church is the exercise of the authority of the Head.
Christ has authority over all things, we as the church are His body, and we should exercise His authority in His name in oneness with Him to fulfil God’s economy and accomplish His purpose.
We should no longer be too cautious but exercise our spirit, see what our position is, and stand in the Body and one with the Head to assume and exercise the authority of the Head for the fulfilment of God’s economy on earth.
As Members of the Body we need to See the Prayer of the Church as the Body of Christ
What is the prayer of the age, the prayer of the church as the Body of Christ? How does this prayer differ from our personal prayers or the prayers in the prayer meeting?
The prayer of the church as the Body of Christ is not the prayer of individual believers but the prayer of the church as the Body of Christ.
However, this doesn’t mean that we can pray such a prayer only when we are with the saints; rather, we may physically be somewhere alone, but spiritually we are one with the Body and pray the prayer of the age (see 1 Kings 8:48).
Such a prayer doesn’t exclude the need for prayers of individuals, supplications, intercessions, and prayer for our needs. The Lord taught us to pray for all things and all men, and to cast our cares and anxieties upon Him.
However, there is a special kind of prayer, the prayer in which we take the position of a member in the Body of Christ and constituent of the new man, and we pray the prayer of the church.
Daniel prayed such a prayer, even when he was alone in his room, three times a day in Babylon; he opened his windows toward Jerusalem and prayed – he was clearly not occupied with his own needs but with God’s interest, His house, His city, and His land. We need to be such ones.
There’s an urgent desperate need for all the churches with hundreds and thousands of saints to rise up and engage in the spiritual warfare by praying the prayer of the age. In this kind of prayer we don’t beg the Lord to do something for us or for Himself, but rather, we claim what the Lord has obtained and attained.
For us to have such a prayer we need to have the realization of what the Lord has attained and obtained – He has obtained the lordship and the Headship, and He has attained to the highest position in the universe.
Our prayer should not be based our feelings or opinions but on what the Lord has obtained, applying it to our situation and to the situation around us. Such a prayer is not a begging prayer but a claiming of what the Lord has attained and obtained.
We do need to have prayers that are petitions, supplications, and requests, but the prayer of the church as the Body of Christ is a claiming of what the Lord has obtained and attained as the ascended One.
We need to take this position, make this claim, and then make our requests known. There’s a big difference where you pray from and what is the base of your prayer.
Christ has already attained to the highest place in the universe; He has been raised from the dead, he is seated at God’s right hand in the heavenlies, far above all rule, authority, power, and lordship in the universe (see Eph. 1:20-21).
Now we as the church need to be one with Him in His position and claim what He has accomplished, and we need to pray the prayer of the church as the Body of Christ!
Lord, we praise You for what You have attained and obtained. You have been raised and exalted to the highest place in the universe, and You have been given the lordship and the Headship over all things to the church. Amen, Lord, as Your Body we are one with You – we are one with You in the heavenlies, and we exercise our spirit to release Your will on earth even as it being done in heaven. Amen, Lord, may all Your saints, the members of the Body of Christ, learn to pray and practice to pray the prayer of the church as the Body of Christ for God’s will to be done and for His kingdom to come!
Praying According to what the Lord has Attained in Ascension and Declaring what He has Obtained
It is quite simple to pray one with the Lord to exercise the lordship and headship of Christ; we simply need to see our position in Christ, His attainments in His ascension, and exercise to be one spirit with Him to pray the prayer of the church as the Body of Christ.
Many times when we see a brother whose condition is not right with the Lord we may tell the Lord,
Oh Lord, this brother is not doing so well – look at his poor condition. Please, Lord, be merciful to him, and do something with him. Lord, work within his spirit, and operate in his environment to bring him back to the church life!
Such a prayer is a general way to pray for someone, but there’s even another way to pray for him, which is the prayer of the church as the Body of Christ. We may go to the Lord and tell Him,
Lord, here’s a brother who is still not fully under Your headship. We do not agree with this. Lord, we do not go along with this kind of situation. We stand up to proclaim Your lordship and claim it over this situation! Amen, Lord, Your lordship must be exercised over this brother and his situation!
Such a prayer may seem too bold or even presumptuous, but when we have the realisation that we are one with the Lord, we will no longer pray in a begging way but according to what He has attained in His ascension, claiming what He has obtained.
If we look at the situation today, our spirit does not agree with this; what should we do – should we pray for the Lord to do this or that, to bring this leader down and that other one up? No, we are apolitical – we don’t engage in politics, and the only party we hold on is God, so we stand with Him and disagree with the present situation.
Many believers look at the world situation and fall into despair just like the people in the world, forgetting that we have the job of standing with the Lord. God needs some on earth who would stand and disagree with the current situation; God needs some who pray the prayer of the church as the Body of Christ and open the way for Him to come in, work, and move.
When we pray according to what the Lord has attained in ascension, we should simply declare who we are and where we are.
Who are we? We are the Body of Christ, the Body is in the Head, and the Head is ascension, transcendent over all. If we have the vision that we are the Body of the Head and that the Head is now transcendent, we will take the ground to claim what the Lord has attained, and we will tell all the negative things,
Do not bother me. Satan, go to the lake of fire. I am transcendent! You cannot touch me – you are under my feet! Amen!
When we realise we’re in the Body and the Body is one with the Head in ascension, we will realise that just as the Head is transcendent, so are we.
This is the place from which we fight, and because the Body is one with the Head, the Body has the authority to bind and loose what has already been bound and loosed in the heavens (Matt. 16:19; 18:18).
We are not here performing something; we really have the authority to bind and loose what has already been bound and loosed in the heavens, because we are joined to the heavens!
When we pray the prayer of the church as the Body of Christ, we are one with the throne in heavens – one with God, and in this position we can bind and loose.
Our realisation must be deep, the deepest realisation, knowing that the church is built upon the rock of the ascended Christ, and as a result the gates of Hades cannot prevail against it (Matt. 16:18). Amen, may all our prayer meetings have a full change and may we all enter into the prayer of the church as the Body of Christ!
Lord Jesus, we do not go along with the present situation. As Your Body, we take the ground of Your ascension and we claim Your lordship over the present situation. Lord, come in and bring in Your kingdom. We praise You, Lord, for being the transcendent One, and for making us – Your Body – as transcendent as You are! Hallelujah! Now Satan cannot bother us – he is doomed to go to the lake of fire, and he is now under our feet! Lord, may we all have a change in our prayer so that we may enter into the prayer of the church as the Body of Christ!
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. 159-166, 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 with one accord in spirit, / Pray as in the heavenlies; / All the earthly interests treading, / Fight the principalities. (Hymns #779)
# As a member of the Body, / With the brethren stand for God; / Praying always in the Spirit, / Claim the vict’ry through the Blood. / 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. (Hymns #885)
# The churches are the Body / Of Christ on earth today. / They are His testimony, / That He may have a way. / They are the golden lampstands / In cities far and wide. / They are His fighting army, / And His beloved Bride. / The churches, the churches, / Upon the earth today; / Lord, stir our hearts for Thy desire, / And build us, oh, build us, / Lord, we pray. (Hymns #1265)
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