Authority in Prayer... principle #5

The fifth principal determining our level of authority is our ability to listen to God and discern His will. Delegated authority has everything to do with representation. We receive authority from the one we represent. Obviously, we must know what he/she expects or desires of us. ( 1 John 5:14-15 ) " This is the confidence which we have before Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him."
Jesus often mentioned that He was always and only doing the Father's will, His inference clearly being that this was what gave Him the ability to act with such authority. ( John 4:34 ) Jesus said to them " My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work." ( John 5: 30-32 ) " I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me. If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true. There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true." ( John 6:38 ) " For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me." Likewise, as His representatives, we derive our authority from carrying out His will and desires.
A story in Acts 16 from the life of the apostle Paul illustrates this. He was attempting to travel to Asia in order to preach the gospel there but was informed by the Lord that this was not His will. He then attempted to go to Bythinia with the same results. The Holy Spirit then made clear to Paul, through a dream, that He wanted him to go to the region of Macedonia.
In obedience, Paul traveled to Philippi, where tremendous ministry took place. He moved in great authority over a spirit of divination and cast it out of a person. This created a great controversy, and after being thrown in jail, Paul and Silas's worship brought about an earthquake that freed them. The jailer was born again, as was his family, and eventually the magistrates in Philippi humbled themselves before Paul, seeking his forgiveness.
The level of authority Paul operated in at Philippi was remarkable. He was able to do so because he discerned God's will and was where God wanted him to be, doing what He wanted him to do. Had he failed to discern God's will, and gone to the other locations, we have every reason to believe he would not have been able to operate in the same level of authority. Our ability to discern God's will and operate therein really does have a major bearing on our level of authority.

Health and peace to you and your family
May grace abide always