Eph. 6:18 (KJV) Praying always with all prayer and supplication IN THE SPIRIT, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints (emphasis mine);
The Apostle Paul, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, exhorted the Church to keep on praying continuously, during every strategic season, with all types of prayer and supplication “in the Spirit.” It is interesting to me that, although many English translations add it, the Greek text does not include the definite article for “spirit” in this verse. In Koine Greek (the “common” Greek spoken throughout the known world for several centuries) there is no “indefinite article” as we have them in English. There is only the “definite article.” The absence of the definite article here indicates that we should understand the verse as J.B. Phillips rendered it, “with every kind of spiritual prayer.” I would expand the thought thus: “By means of every kind and variety of prayer in the sphere (realm) of spirit.”
Paul is reminding us that it is through “spiritual prayer” (as opposed to prayer based only in our human understanding or desires) that we become the connecting link between the “unseen realm” and the “seen realm.” Jesus put the same principle this way in Matthew 6, in His teaching outline on prayer that has become known traditionally as “The Lord’s Prayer” (or the “Our Father”).
Mat. 6:10 (KJV) Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Jesus taught that we were to pray for God’s Kingdom (His Rule, Dominion and Authority) to be extended in the earth, and that His Will would be accomplished on earth as in Heaven. Our prayer life is to be rooted in the Kingdom, not in the “kosmos.” It is through “spiritual prayer” that we decree the Kingdom Purposes of God from the realm of the “unseen” into the realm of the “seen.” Of course, if we are to declare God’s Purpose “be done” in earth, the implication is that we need God to illuminate our hearts to better understand His Purpose.
Mat. 16:19 (KJV) And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
It seems that in the last thirty years, some Charismatics have gone “nuts” with this particular verse, “binding and loosing” at their own human initiative and then wondering why God did not vindicate their fleshly declarations. The Greek verbs in this verse carry the following idea: “Whatever you forbid on earth, shall be what has already been forbidden in heaven. Whatever you permit on earth, shall be what has already been permitted in heaven.” Do you see it now? We are to speak into the earth what Heaven has declared, not merely our own human ideas and agendas. When Scripture (the “Constitution” of the Kingdom) declares the revealed Will of God, we have the authority in prayer, as God’s Kingdom Ambassadors in this “foreign” realm, to decree that revealed Will into the earth. If we are praying about some area where Scripture is silent (such as precisely whom we should marry or where we should travel or work), then we need to spend time in God’s Presence, worshipping Him and praying “in the Spirit” (in other tongues), claiming His Promise that as we trust in and acknowledge Him, not relying on our own human understanding, He will reveal His guidance to us (Prov. 3:6). Also, God may have us to begin “praying forth” aspects of His Plan into the earth that are “generational” in scope, affecting those that come after us in ways we might not even begin to recognize in our own lifetimes. The important concept for this installment, is to have you realize afresh that we are Ambassadors of God’s Kingdom, representing Him and not ourselves, and that, as we place His Kingdom Agenda as our priority (Matt. 6:33), He will illuminate more and more of His Purposes to us, enabling us through prayer to “birth” those Purposes from the “unseen” realm into the realm of “seen” manifestation. Be Blessed!
