A prayer with authority has the position of being in the heavenlies as its basis. Since the church is in the heavenlies with Christ, it can pray with authority.

What is praying with authority? Simply put, it is praying the prayer of Mark 11. In order to be clear about this truth, we should consider verses 23-24 carefully. Verse 24 begins with the words “for this reason.” “For this reason” means that this sentence is a continuation of what has gone before. This means that verse 24 is joined to verse 23. Verse 24 mentions prayer. This proves that verse 23 must also concern prayer. The strange thing is that verse 23 does not sound like an ordinary prayer. The Lord did not tell us to pray, “God, please move the mountain and cast it into the sea.” What does it say? It says, “Whoever says to this mountain, Be taken up and cast into the sea.” According to our concept, what should a prayer be like? We think that when we pray to God, we have to say, “God, please move this mountain and cast it into the sea.” But the Lord said something else. He did not tell us to speak to God; He told us to turn to the mountain and to speak to the mountain. The speaking is not toward God but directly toward the mountain, telling it to be cast into the sea. Since the Lord was afraid that we would not consider this to be a prayer, He pointed out in the following verse that it is a prayer. This prayer is not directed toward God, but it is a prayer. It is a speaking directed toward the mountain that says, “Be taken up and cast into the sea.” Yet this is also a prayer. This is a prayer with authority. A prayer with authority does not ask God to do something. Rather, it exercises God’s authority and applies this authority to deal with problems and things that ought to be removed. Every overcomer has to learn to pray this kind of prayer. Every overcomer has to learn to speak to the mountain.

We have many weaknesses, such as temper, evil thoughts, or physical illnesses. If we plead with God concerning these problems, it seems that there is not much result. However, if we apply God’s authority to the situation and speak to the mountain, these problems will go away. What is the meaning of the word “mountain” in this verse? A mountain is a problem that stands in front of us. A mountain is something that blocks the way and stops us from going on. If we see a mountain, what do we do? When many people encounter a mountain in their life or in their work, they pray to God to remove the mountain. But God tells us to speak to the mountain ourselves. All we have to do is issue a word of command to the mountain: “Be taken up and cast into the sea.” There is a great difference between asking God to remove the mountain and commanding the mountain to be removed. It is one thing to go to God and ask Him to do something. It is another thing to directly command the mountain to be cast away. We often overlook this kind of commanding prayer. Seldom do we pray by applying God’s authority to the problem or by saying, “I command you in the name of my Lord to go away” or “I cannot tolerate this thing to remain with me anymore.” A prayer with authority is one in which we tell the things that are frustrating us to go away. We can say to our temper, “Go away.” We can say to sickness, “Go away. I will rise up by the resurrection life of the Lord.” This word is not spoken to God but directly to the mountain. “Be taken up and cast into the sea.” This is a prayer with authority.

How can the church have such a prayer with authority? It is by the church having full faith, being without doubt and being clear that what we do is fully according to God’s will. Whenever we are not clear about God’s will, we do not have faith. Therefore, before we do anything, we have to be clear whether what we are about to do is according to God’s will. If it is not God’s will, we cannot have faith toward it. If we are not sure that something is God’s will, we will not be sure that it can be accomplished. In order to not have any doubt about its accomplishment, we must first have no doubt concerning it being God’s will. When we speak carelessly to the mountain, there are no results, because we do not know God’s will. But if we have no doubts and are clear about God’s will, we can speak boldly to the mountain, “Be taken up and cast into the sea,” and the thing will be done. God has commissioned us to be those who issue the command. We command what God has commanded, and we give orders to what God has given orders to. This is a prayer with authority. A prayer with authority is not asking God directly. Rather, it is dealing with problems by directly applying God’s authority. All of us have mountains. Of course, these mountains are not the same in size. Our mountain may be this or it may be that. But whatever is blocking us from going on in the spiritual pathway, we can command to go away. This is to pray with authority.
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