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The Matthias Ministries Prayer Objective
The Matthias Ministries Model
Giving Credit where Credit is Due
Much of what Matthias Ministries has learned has been gleaned and influenced by one of the foremost and enduring prayer ministries in the world – The International House of Prayer of Kansas City, Missouri. While our ministry has never sought to mimic or become a clone of IHOP-KC, we have repeatedly found this enduring ministry expression to be an important resource to us as well as countless others. This has proven true across time through the media stream that flows out of IHOP as well as through our visits to their ministry center in Kansas City. One of the more important things gleaned from IHOP-KC is the importance of Apostolic Prayer.
Apostolic Prayer
Outside of correctly assuming the nature of its name, many do not have a reasonable understanding of what “Apostolic Prayer” is, or what makes it such an important model for corporate prayer. There are quite a few Apostolic prayers within the New Testament. These do not include the prayers of Jesus, but at least two dozen New Testament prayers are obviously of the Apostles. More important than the actual number of apostolic prayers is the fact that they bear hallmarks that are unmistakably apostolic in nature, style and authority. This all goes to the “HOW” of prayer that we are going to consider.
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It is not our intention to be adamant about how one prays, but to highlight the treasure that the Bible gives us in the wonderful examples of Apostolic Prayer. It would be a worthwhile endeavor to study each of the Apostolic prayers that we have compiled “here” for your future reference. In so doing you may well agree that incorporating the essence of what is learned through them is very worthwhile for both our personal and corporate prayer time.
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There are two reasons we take time in this section to address Apostolic Prayer. The first is the importance of key principles taught through the manner of how the Apostles actually prayed within the New Testament. The second is our hope to see Apostolic principles flourish within our own ministry to the Body of Christ. The following will serve to clarify our vision of these principles to those who would align themselves with us.
The Power of Agreement
The privilege of prayer is about power. There is no greater power the Christian holds than the power to pray. How amazing that God Himself has not only invited us to speak with Him, but has encouraged us to do so boldly and consistently.
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It is important that we do not underestimate the principle that “agreement is the seat of power”. This truth is central to what makes the Apostolic prayer model so effective in bringing people into one accord. Obviously having a Scriptural understanding of the heart of God and finding agreement with Him in the spirit of His Word is paramount. Agreement with those who we pray alongside with is also vitally important. Disagreement breeds disunity and results in the opposite of what Jesus was pointing towards in Matthew 18:19
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"Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask,
it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 18:19
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Without doubt, agreement is an essential part of our communal prayer times. Yet, these important opportunities are sometimes marked by well-intentioned believers who gather to primarily pray according to what is proper in their own eyes. Some spend time “informing God” of the facts and issues they are focused upon. Others use the opportunity to teach or preach to others. Also, in what is meant to be a time of shared communion, some feel the need to pray without ceasing by exhausting every concern they feel before allowing the Holy Spirit to speak through another. These are a few simple examples of the “HOW” we pray that fails to build a consensus of agreement and otherwise hampers the ability of the true power of communal agreement.
This is why focus on the common ground we share in God’s Word is so important in prayer. It is for this reason we encourage each other to clearly state the Scriptural basis for the prayers we offer. These things are encouraged and taught but never mandated or enforced. Prayer that is clearly predicated upon the Word serves to unify and is able to keep a variety of personalities centered together upon the heart of God.
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Understanding the importance of agreement is also a good place to consider what makes Apostolic Prayer the great example and resource it can be.
How the Apostolic Perspective Unifies
It is important to understand the particular perspective that Apostolic prayer comes from to see why it has the ability to greatly enhance our corporate times of prayer. This perspective can be understood in several ways, yet chief among them is that it is this prayer that always comes from the perspective of God being solely sovereign. In their own prayer, the Apostles never waiver from the truth that God is always above every circumstance and in complete control.
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Perhaps the most beautiful aspect of Apostolic prayer is its sheer positivity and focus upon the virtue and power of God. It does not overly concern itself with the powers of darkness because the Apostles prayed with a firm understanding of who they are in Christ and the foundation of such rests upon the sovereignty of God. Their prayers consistently display their inherent understanding that the “problem or issue” is never about the presence of darkness as much as the need for His glorious light to displace and dispel it. Many well-intentioned prayer warriors pray from a perspective that highlights demonic works and strategies, whereas the Apostolic example in prayer is one of speaking the virtue, glory and power of God into a situation. In so doing there is almost a manner of ignoring “what the devil is doing” by virtue of maintaining a better focus upon what God desires.
The Power of Correct Perspective
We are instructed to occupy the ground we stand upon not unlike Jesus standing upon God’s Word when dealing with Satan in the desert. Our victories come as we resist and overcome our enemy’s attempts to obscure God’s Word and divert us from God’s desire for us to live in the ongoing reality of “His Kingdom come”. The Apostolic perspective negates and cancels any and all aspects of demonic dominance by never needing to get beyond the fact that Hell was defeated, completely, at Calvary and darkness can never encroach where there is light. The heart that is impassioned by the sovereign light of God finds little or no need to curse the darkness. The demonic objective is to pull us away from the truth of that mindset and to bait us into a struggle against darkness. Yet, there is simply no greater perspective of power than to understand that God alone is sovereign, to know who we are in Christ and the fact that the battle has already been won at Calvary.
We understand well that there is intense spiritual warfare going on constantly. Yet, what we are trying to make plain here is that the Apostolic manner of prayer is very different from the manner of some who battle against evil believing we are in some kind of spiritual fistfight with the demonic.
The Apostles never seemed to forget their place in God as they prayed. This the perspective that unifies brethren and brings the power of agreement into a corporate gathering.
Much of this website highlights the Matthias Ministries focus upon what we call “The Sound of Heaven” which centers upon the testimony of Jesus though His Bride, the Church. But make no mistake, the ministry of prayer has been central to our ministry and every event we have facilitated.
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While some deeply treasure the intimate moments of worship during “An Evening of Hosting the Holy Spirit”, others appreciate these unique gatherings as a powerful prayer opportunity. For the sake of time and focus we keep instruction given prior to these meetings to a minimum. Other than a brief explanation of how the interactive worship of Harp and Bowl resonates to and undergirds prayer, a brief appeal is given to help keep prayer offerings short and reasonably spaced. We encourage people to find their liberty in prayer, yet in a manner that respects the move of the Holy Spirit through others. This, and other aspects of our ministry, is bathed in prayer before, during and after each time of ministry. In other words, prayer is an integral part of all we hope to see accomplished in and through Him.
We desire for people to move freely in obedience to the unction of the Holy Spirit and have learned that some aspects of Harp and Bowl are better caught than taught. Hence, our ministry goal goes beyond plainly writing the vision. We also model and create an atmosphere for others to experience the expression of Harp and Bowl we desire to see take root and grow in our communal times together. All that follows is offered as a help and a resource for those meant to run with the vision that has been made plain to us.
Praying the Word
I enjoy praying with my wife, Doreen, because of her strong command of Scripture. That which is being prayed for very often finds an accurate aspect of God’s Word within her. Have you noticed how easy it is to come into agreement with others when we stand together upon God’s Word together in prayer? There is a discernable and undeniable sense of how the Holy Spirit moves to galvanize a gathering that remains centered upon the Word of God. We encourage others to base the context of what they are praying upon specific Scripture. Such is not for the purpose of using His Word to bolster what our heart would cry out for, but to submit our heart to the context of His Word. This invites the Presence of the Holy Spirit to move in our midst as only He can. Praying His Word in any situation is likely the purest aspect of spirit and truth that the worship of both our private and communal prayer time will ever find.
In Closing
In this section we have purposed to look at prayer from the communal perspective of the corporate gathering. There are many other facets to personal prayer not in the scope of our focus here that we may explore within the website at another time. For now, let us agree with the spirit and truth that is paramount to both our corporate or personal prayer. This is praying in the Spirit, in line with the spirit of God’s Word, His revealed heart and in humble honesty as we come before Him. Moreover, every maturing Christian understands the absolute importance of personal intimacy in prayer with God to our corporate experience in Him. Our intimacy with Him has its place of importance corporately as well as in the depth of our secret place with Him.
Across the years Matthias Ministries has come to understand what it means to grow in the ministry of prayer. Our “Purpose in His Presence” section emphasizes much of what must be founded upon and bathed in prayer, personally and corporately.
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May that growth never cease in us or our ministry as we mature in Him. We hope to have made clear here why learning from the Apostolic examples and learning to pray His Word are two vital keys meant for the prayer life of every believer.
…that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power.
Ephesians 1: 17-20
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Next: A Summary of Apostolic Prayers in the Word
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Also Consider: A Brief Explanation of Harp and Bowl
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