Why Pray Apostolic Prayers?
Apostolic Prayers is a fancy title used to reference prayers that Jesus, our chief Apostle (Heb.3:1), and His apostles prayed as recorded in the New Testament. While God is not looking for perfection in the articulation of our prayer language it is helpful to know how we ought to pray (Rom.8:26). Maturation in prayer includes not only growing in the application of certain disciplines but growth into the knowledge of what pleases God. We are to partner with God in prayer asking for His will to be done (Matt.6:10) and to this end, God has given to us on-ramps, so to speak, in the pages of the New Testament.
To be clear, the Bible validates many forms of prayer such as prayers of thanksgiving, praise, adoration and supplication. There are prayers in the form of groanings. There is the prayer of the Spirit by way of speaking in tongues. There are spoken prayers, singing prayers, devotional prayers and corporate prayers. There isn’t any single form or expression of prayer that God highlights as better than the others. But what God does emphasize are what I would call healthy and divinely inspired character traits of prayer that are intended to serve as a basic model for the New Testament church.
The apostolic prayers, including the prayers of Jesus, in the New Testament, are more than just an historic account of patristic prayer life. They are divinely inspired entry points into the power, glory and majesty of an eternal Kingdom! Let’s take a look at a few of their major traits.
1. Apostolic prayers, as scripture, are divinely inspired and Holy Spirit breathed. As such, these prayers are unique, authoritative and eternal. We can give them the same treatment and confidence that we can assign to any other portion of Holy writ.
2. Because apostolic prayers are scripture, we can use them to gain insight into the nature of God. Not only are they encapsulate eternal truths but they are vast theological statements!
3. Apostolic prayers are God-centered. They magnify the person and power of the God-head instead of making the enemy and his works central. The Bible teaches us that we become like what we behold (2 Cor.3:18). When we continually focus on our adversary we can easily be distracted or even consumed with his works and their impact.
4. Apostolic prayers are always directed to God and not to the devil, or principalities or seats of demonic power. While we wrestle against demonic powers rooted in positions of authority (Eph.6:12) we are never exhorted in scripture to address them directly in the place of prayer. When Jesus spoke to demonic powers it was always to those embodied within a person as He commanded them to go. Daniel prevailed over the Prince of Persia principality by fasting and praying while focused on God (Dan.10:12-13) not by engaging with the demonic realm.
5. Apostolic prayers never focus on binding the enemy or his power. Instead they focus on releasing the goodness and power of God to people and places! As an example, consider this prayer prayed by the apostles in Acts 4:28-30. “29 Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, 30 by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.”
6. Apostolic prayers focus primarily on the church in a city. They reveal God’s will for His people gathered in any particular region, city or town.
7. Because apostolic prayers reveal God’s will we can pray them knowing that God will always answer them! As an example from Eph. 1:17, God will always give the increase of revelation into the knowledge of God to a people that sincerely ask for it. (see Eph.4:13,15).
8. One of my favorite apostolic prayer virtues is also one of the most practical as it pertains to leading corporate prayer meetings. Prayer language centered on the goodness of God sets our corporate focus on the goodness of God. While this isn’t a biblical rule stated as such, it is an observable one. When we use the language of these prayers in our corporate gatherings they help us to keep our focus Godward even in the midst of seemingly overwhelming darkness (Is.60:2). Apostolic prayers can easily be spoken or sung (Eph.5:18-20) and release not only the language of Heaven but the intent of Heaven. They keep the emphasis Godward and help direct the priority of our prayers into the place of agreement with Him. Because of the reality of pervasive wickedness, many sincere and well-meaning intercessors, including some who have been taught this way of praying, focus almost exclusively on the presence of sin and often want to shout or rail against demons as a way of participating in spiritual warfare. While this might be effective on some level, more often than not it serves to detract from what God is doing in the room and where He is in a given situation. “Let[ting] the peace of God reign in our hearts” (Col.3:15) is just as much practical as it is spiritual. Nowhere does the Bible teach that shouting or yelling at devils is an effective way to war in the Spirit. Neither volume nor strong emotion in and of themselves carry any anointing whatsoever. The anointing is the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in action!
*MAKE SURE TO CLICK ON OUR APOSTOLIC PRAYERS SHEET TO ACCESS A LIST OF APOSTOLIC PRAYERS YOU CAN PRAY.
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