Bye bye, baby crib prayers

The tyrannical news cycle continually screams at us to try to stir up our emotions – fear, anxiety, anger, mercy (even unsanctified mercy), etc.  Many Christians are motivated to pray according to the latest news.  If our prayers commonly follow the media reports, there is very high likelihood that we’re praying from our soulish emotions.  This is just one of the ways that we conform to the patterns of this world (Rms 12:2), which very likely puts the devil in charge of our prayer initiatives.  Why?  Because we’re being led by the latest ruckus that the devil is causing.  He gets to dictate what we pray for and when we pray.  I wonder how happy he is that he gets so much free attention!   

But if we’re going to be led by the Spirit then we must stop being led by our soul.

Soulish prayers are immature prayers… one might even call them ‘baby prayers’.  Babies don’t have the capacity to analyze the bigger picture when something goes wrong in their diaper. 😊 So as paidion sons (baby sons) they ‘cry out’ to daddy for help when the boogeyman rattles his chains.  But mature sons don’t let themselves be distracted by the devil banging his drums for their attention.  They listen to the Voice that is higher.  Mature sons dwell far above the cacophony of banging drums.  They’ve “set their affection on things above… not on things of earth”.  They listen for the higher report… and the higher directives.  This, my friends, is where God is inviting His sons and daughters.  This will qualify us to become huios (mature) sons and daughters who get to rule and reign with Him.

So, what I’m getting down to is that we may have made prayer an act of babies soulishly crying out plaintiff prayers to a god way out there and if he doesn’t answer right away, we cry louder trying to ‘deliver the mail’ across that great distance.  As we mature we realize that we are in Him and He is in us… and thus there is no need for delivering the mail to some far-off hard-of-hearing ears.   Our maturity has taught us how to experientially come into union with God and KNOW His thoughts… and realize that He KNOWS ours.  What a beautiful destination our Father has brought us to.

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” – Eph 2:13   

Yea, not just near, but in union with Him, because listen to this: “He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.” – I Cor 6:17.   We must learn to live in the reality and expression of this union.  This is our inheritance.

Set your attention on things above the banging drums and rattling chains of the devil.  Begin to identify what prayer looks like when you are fully homogenized into union with God.  Consider what it looks like when He’s graduated you out of the baby prayer crib and you find yourself freely and voluntarily conversing with Him as a partner versus a plaintiff.  In this reality, what should your appropriate prayer posture be?  What is appropriate prayer vocabulary now?  How do you describe and define prayer at this level of intimate union?  A biblical conclusion to these questions will begin to define our new M.O.!

Happy graduation!   

–MLH

Resource:  Ascended Life Study Course   (New)
Level 1   New Creation Identity     
Level 2   Our Expanded Inheritance