Prophetic Prayer

6 Paul and his companions travelled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. Acts 16:6-10

We have seen how prayer is the chord that binds us to God. We have read how it can build our character, our relationship with Him and even the very fabric of the Kingdom of God. We have seen how it is ordinary, it is warfare, it is construction, it is praise and it can be solace. We have seen how Jesus is our model and our partner as we pray to the Father. We have seen how the Holy Spirit is our helper and our translator in the process. But if we are to pray effectively how is it that we can know what to pray for and in what way? How do we know that we are praying God’s will?

One way of course is to test our prayers by our own spirit. As we grow in the knowledge and love of the Lord our spirits will testify with His Spirit as to what is His good and perfect will. Another way that we have already seen is to take our prayers and God’s purposes from the Bible. Scripture contains both evidence of God’s past workings and His future intentions and these are reliable for our current understanding. But sometimes our own inadequacies – our confusion, our busyness, our well intentioned error, our selfishness, our woundedness, our immaturity – will cause us to be uncertain as to how to pray or act. It is at this time that the Holy Spirit may himself guide our paths.

We can see in the passage above how St Paul, headed at first for Asia, was carefully redirected by the Holy Spirit. Although we are not told how the information was imparted we see clearly that St Paul was prevented from going to Asia. Then, as he and his companions changed direction and tried to enter Bithynia, once again they were thwarted by God. Finally they were directed in the correct course by a dream sent by God.

We worship a God who speaks to His people. He speaks through our world/environment/ and the course of history around us, He speaks through the Scriptures and by His Holy Spirit. He speaks directly to us today. This may come in the way of dreams and interpretation, words of knowledge, words of wisdom, prophetic words or in other ways. We may “see” something of His purposes through dreams or visions, “hear” His words aloud or inside our minds, “understand” with a clarity which is more than natural or even be given information supernaturally. If we receive this communication from God we must first test it against Scripture, against human knowledge, with our God-aware inward spirit and through the counsel of other mature Christians. If however, it seems right after all of this, as with St Paul’s direction from God, it may be helpful in directing our steps or our prayer.

I can remember when I first thought that God might be calling me to an ordained ministry. Linda and I prayed for almost three years asking God for assurance and confirmation. Over time we found that assurance in the encouragement of other Christians, in the circumstances of our testing, in Scripture, through clear prophetic leading and insight into God’s purposes (both in dreams and inner voice during retreats) and finally in the peace within our hearts that we both felt. The Holy Spirit will work through this same process for major decisions or daily direction. It is one of the ways in which God builds intimacy with us in prayer, guides our steps and enables His sheep to hear and recognize His voice with increasing confidence.

Can I encourage you today, as you pray, to ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in what you pray and how you pray and see if in time it doesn’t make you a more effective prayer.

Mike Clarkson