Authority in Prayer... principle #3

A third principle in connection with our level of authority in prayer is our understanding of God and His Word. Without knowledge of it we will not be aware of His provisions for us or His ways through which they come. "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for me. Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children." (HOSEA 4:6) God's people can be destroyed for lack of knowledge. If we are ignorant of what is rightfully ours through Christ, we will not exercise authority to lay hold of those provisions by faith. Paul told his spiritual son Timothy "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses." (1 TIMOTHY 6:12) Timothy was already saved and therefore had eternal life. Why, then, would he be told to "take hold" of it? The covenantal provisions promised to us in Christ do not automatically come to us just because we're Christians. We must learn to exercise our authority, release our faith, and seize these provisions-- which is the literal meaning of the Greek word translated "take hold of."
This third principle also links authority to faith. Without a knowledge of God's Word we will not have faith..."So then faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." ( ROMANS 10:17) To the degree we believe the Word, to that degree we will obey and act upon it with authority. After healing the lame man at the Beautiful Gate in (Acts 3), Peter said "On the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him (Jesus) has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all."( ACTS 3:16) Peter made it clear that the authority releasing the power to perform this amazing miracle was through faith in Jesus' name.
In ( Matthew 17:14-23) the disciples attempted and failed to deliver a young boy of an evil spirit. Christ delivered the boy, and when questioned by the diciples as to why they couldn't do it, He attributed it to a lack of faith on their part. They had already been given authority over demons and had delivered other individuals, ( Matthew 10:1)- And when He had called His twelve disiples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness, and all kinds of disease. ( Matthew 10:8 )" Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give."
But their faith wasn't strong enough to exorcise this one. It seems obvious that our authority level is connected to our faith level.
A story about a doctor who worked in Central Africa....talk about faith!!
One night I worked hard to help a mother in the labor ward; but in spite of all we could do, she died, leaving us with a tiny premature baby and a crying two-year-old daughter. We would have difficulty keeping the baby alive, as we had no incubator. We also had no special feeding facilities. Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly with treacherous drafts. One student midwife went for the box we had for such babies and the cotton wool that the baby would be wrapped in. Another went to stoke up the fireand fill a hot water bottle. She came back shortly in distress to tell me that in filling the bottle, it had burst ( rubber perishes easily in tropical climates). "And it is our last hot water bottle!" she exclaimed. As in the West it is no good crying over spilled milk, so in Central Africa it might be concidered no good crying over burst water bottles. They do not grow on trees, and there are no drugstores down forest pathways. "All right," I said, "Put the baby as near the fire as you safely can, and sleep between the baby and the door to keep it from drafts. Your job is to keep the baby warm."
The following noon. as I did most days, I went to have prayers with the orphanage children who chose to gather with me. I gave the youngsters various suggestions of things to pray about and told them about the tiny baby. I explained our problem about keeping the baby warm enough, mentioning the hot water bottle, and that the baby could easily die if it got chills. I also told them of the two-year-old sister, crying because her mother had died. During prayer time, one ten-year-old girl, Ruth, prayed with the usual blunt conciseness of our African children. "Please God," she prayed, "send us a water bottle. It'll be no good tomorrow, God, as the baby will be dead, so please send it this afternoon."
While I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added, "And while You are about it, would You please send a dolly for the little girl so she'll know You really love her?" As often with children's prayers, I was put n the spot. Could I honestly say, "AMEN." I just did not believe that God could do this. Oh, yes, I know that He can do everything, the Bible says so. But there are limits, aren't there? The only way God coould answer this particular prayer would be by sending me a parcel from my homeland. I had been in Africa for almost four years at that time, and I had never received a parcel from home. Anyway, if anyone did send me a parcel, who would put in a hot water bottle? I lived on the equator!
Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses' training school, a message was sent that there was a car at my front door. By the time I reached home, the car had gone, but there, on the veranda, was a large twenty-two-pound parcel. I felt tears pricking my eyes. I could not open the parcel alone, so I sent for the orphanage children.
Together we pulled off the string, carefully undoing each knot. We folded the paper, taking care not to tear it unduly. Excitement was mounting. Some thirty of forty pairs of eyes were focused on the large cardboard box. From the top, I lifted out brightly colored knitted jerseys. Eyes sparkled as I gave them out. Then there were the knitted bandages for the leprosy patients, and the children looked a little bored. Then came a box of mixed raisins and sultanas-- that would make a batch of buns for the weekend. Then, as I put my hand in again, I felt the...could it really be? I grasped it and pulled it out--yes, a brand new rubber hot water bottle. I cried. I had not asked God to send it; I had not truly believed that He could. Ruth was in the front row of the children. She rushed forward, crying out, "If God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly too!"
Rummaging down to the bottom of the box, she pulled out the small, beautifully dressed dolly. Her eyes shone! She had never doubted! Looking up at me, she asked: "Can I go over with you and give this dolly to that little girl, so she'll know that Jesus really loves her?"
That parcel had been on the way for five whole months. Packed up by my former Sunday school class, whose leader had heard and obeyed God's prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator. And one of the girls had put in a dolly for an African child--five months before, in answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year-old to bring it "that afternoon."
If your like me, your eyes are wet after reading this. Perhaps God's are too. If you will spend time reading and meditating on God's Word, your faith and authority, like this little girl's, will grow. God is waiting to be able to use you to do the impossible.
I pray this story was as much a blessing to you as it was to me.
Grace and Peace in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Stephen