Prayer with authority has much to do with the overcomers. If a Christian does not know this, he cannot be an overcomer. We have to remember that God and the Lord Jesus are on the throne, while the enemy is under the throne. Only prayer can activate the power of God. Nothing can activate God’s power except prayer. This is why prayer is indispensable. If one does not pray, he cannot be an overcomer. Only after one knows to pray with authority will he know what prayer is. The most important work of the overcomers is to bring the authority of the throne to earth. Today there is a throne, the throne of God. This throne is ruling, and it is far above everything. In order to have a share in this authority, one must pray. Hence, prayer is very necessary. Those who can move the throne can move everything. We must see that Christ’s ascension has made Him far above all things, and we must see that all things are under His feet. For this reason, we can rule over all things with the authority of the throne. All of us have to learn to pray with authority.

How do we practice praying with authority? Let me mention some small things. Suppose a brother has done something wrong, and you want to exhort him. The problem is that you are afraid he will not listen to you. You feel somewhat unsure because you do not know whether he will listen to you. You are afraid that the matter may not be simple to deal with. However, if you pray with authority, you will know how to rule over the situation. You can pray, “Lord, I cannot go to that brother. Please send him to me.” From your position on the throne, you can cause him to move. Soon he will come to you personally and tell you, “Brother, I am not clear about a certain matter. Please tell me what to do.” Then it will be easy for you to say something to him. This is to pray with authority. You do not do anything according to your strength; you do it by first going through the throne. To pray with authority is not to ask against God’s will. It is to know how a thing ought to be done and inform God of what one knows. When that happens, God accomplishes the work.

A prayer with authority rules not only over man but over the weather as well. Muller once had such an experience. He was on his way to Quebec on a ship, and a thick fog came. He told the captain of the ship, “Captain, Saturday afternoon I have to arrive at Quebec.” The captain said, “That is impossible.” Muller responded, “If your ship cannot take me there on time, God has other ways to take me there.” He knelt down and made a very simple prayer. Then he told the captain, “Captain, open the door and see how the fog has cleared.” By the time the captain stood up, the fog was cleared away. He was able to be in Quebec as scheduled. This is to pray with authority.

If God is to have a group of overcomers, there must be warfare in prayer. Not only must we war with Satan when we ourselves encounter problems, but also we must rule through the throne when problems arise in our environment. A man cannot be an overcomer on the one hand and fail to be a warrior in prayer on the other hand. If a man wants to be an overcomer, he has to learn to pray with authority.

The church can rule over Hades when it prays with authority. Since Christ has transcended over everything and He is the Head of the church, the church can rule over the demons and everything that belongs to Satan. If the church did not have the authority to rule over the demons and if the Lord had not given this authority to the church, the church could not even survive on earth. The church is able to survive on earth because it has the authority to rule over every satanic thing. Every spiritual man knows that he can deal with the evil spirits with his prayer. We can cast out demons in the name of the Lord, and we can restrain the secret activities of the evil spirits. Satan is very crafty. Not only will he possess man’s body with evil spirits, but he will engage in many secret activities. Sometimes he works in man’s mind and injects many undesirable thoughts, such as suspicion, fear, disbelief, discouragement, or unfounded and distorted ideas, into man’s mind. Through these he deceives and fools man. Sometimes he steals man’s word, turning it into a different kind of thought and injecting it into another person’s mind. In this way he achieves his goal of causing misunderstanding and stirring up storms. Hence, we have to subdue all the activities of the evil spirits by means of prayer. In our meeting, prayer, or conversation, we must first pray, “Lord, chase away all the evil spirits and do not allow them to do anything here.” It is a fact that all the evil spirits are under the feet of the church. If the church exercises authority to pray, it will indeed see the evil spirits being subjected under its feet. This kind of prayer with authority is unlike ordinary begging; it is a command that is based on authority. A prayer with authority is a commanding prayer. It proclaims, “Lord, I will,” “Lord, I will not,” “Lord, I want this,” “Lord, I do not want this,” “Lord, I am determined to have this, and I will not allow that to happen,” or “Lord, I only want Your will to be done. I do not want anything else.” When we exercise authority this way, we will feel that our prayer has hit our target. If more people rise up to pray this way, many problems in the church will easily be solved. We should exercise dominion through prayer and manage everything in the church through prayer.
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