Gregory Dickow - The Miraculous Power of Prayer
Well, I want to add my faith to yours and for your world to get larger and larger; for you to make a greater impact in your life and in the lives of others. You know, just to add my faith to yours when it comes to giving, I really believe in Proverbs, chapter 11, where it says the world of the generous... "The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller". I believe that when we add our generosity to our relationship with God because He started by giving us everything, then we really step into the impact that each of us is supposed to make. So, I'm believing for supernatural increase in your life. I just speak and prophesy increase. I prophesy multiplied harvests back to you. I prophesy ideas, inventions, creative, supernatural breakthroughs financially. I pray for business solutions; business ideas that you are a problem solver, not a problem creator in the name of Jesus. Solutions, and answers, and wisdom, and breakthroughs, are coming to you. I prophesy, and pray it, and declare it, in Jesus' Name, amen.
Now I believe in the power of prayer, and I want you to believe in the power of prayer. And I want you to believe in the miraculous power of prayer. And I'm going to go through several points about prayer, because I want us to reimagine what a life of prayer can be. It's not overly spiritual. It's not where you spend 24 hours a day trying to have a breakthrough in prayer. The ease at which God wants us to pray and talk to Him, and pray and prophesy, and pray and experience God's presence, the ease at which he wants us to experience that is laid out for us when Jesus said, "My yoke is easy, My burden is light". Prayer is not a heavy yoke. Prayer is so simple. Sometimes a prayer in a second, in 2 seconds of prayer, "Help Jesus," that could change your life forever. I really want you to understand that talking to God should come as first nature to us. It should come as the first response to any situation that we're facing. Because prayer has power, and it has miraculous power. And so, number one, I want you to believe in the miraculous power of prayer. Jesus said that up "Until now, you have asked nothing in My name".
Ask, and you shall receive, that your joy may be made full. Wow, the connection between prayer and our emotional well-being is so clear. Jesus says that when we pray in His name, our joy will be made full. It will impact our emotional health and bring supernatural joy. What a gift; this gift of prayer and the power of it. You see, prayer has the power to change nations, to change governments, to change economies, to change families, to change our health, to change anything. No wonder Satan wants you to think it's really too hard. No wonder Satan wants to disqualify you from being able to pray. No wonder Satan wants to blind you from understanding your authority in Jesus Christ to walk in this miraculous power called prayer. The devil doesn't want you to know the power you have. I mean, I want you to think about how powerful this earth is. In this earth are the most incredible natural resources that change the world for the better every day, whether it be water, coal, forests, the sun, the wind, soil, gas, silver, gold, copper.
So much of the all of the wealth in this world God created. But while all these natural resources are good, when we begin to tap into prayer, we're tapping into the most supernatural resource that the world has ever known. It is the power of prayer. It's not a duty, it's not a ritual, it's a source of power. It's a source of supernatural goodness, and supernatural breakthroughs, and supernatural provision. I want you to think about it. If you went in your backyard and discovered an oil well back there, and you tapped into that oil well, you wouldn't be thinking about how, the work that's involved in that. You'd be thinking about the wealth that that oil well had brought you. And you would tap into that for every need you had financially. Well, prayer is a resource greater than an oil well, greater than the discovery of gold, greater than the Internet, greater than anything. It is, it has the power to do anything that you need and anything that is missing in your life. And it's available to you 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Prayer is so powerful. It can't be stopped. It can't be turned off. It can't be defeated. Prayer can do anything. I think sometimes we listen to the lie, the devil's lie, that says we're not good enough to pray. Who's heard that lie? I probably heard that thousands of times. "You're not good enough to pray. You're not holy enough to pray. You think you can pray after what you just did? You think you could pray after what you just said"? This is how the devil is trying to lie to you, because he's scared. He's scared of you discovering your power. So, it's time for us to get bold in our prayer life. We have a supernatural source of healing, and wisdom, and security, and blessing, and increase in everything we need. And it's available to you right now. James, chapter five, verse 16 says... What a great verse this is. Do you love this verse like I do? He says at the end of this verse, for "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much". What kind of man? A righteous man. This is another lie that the devil tries to tell us. That, "Oh, you're not righteous enough, you're not holy enough, you haven't been doing enough".
Religion gets in the way of our ability to understand God's power. By religion, I mean man's rituals, and man's demands that he places upon others, and man's opinion of how to be right with God, versus God's way of making us right with Him. And this is a perfect example of how religion spoils our ability to pray in faith and get results. Because when we read the word righteous here, James 5, when we read the word "righteous man," this is what the devil starts telling you. We immediately begin to analyze ourselves to see if we're righteous enough. "Have I been holy enough? Have I been doing right enough"? See, in the Old Testament, mankind's righteousness was achieved by their outward actions, or their rightness was achieved by their behavior. But Jesus changed all that forever through His behavior; through His actions alone.
In Second Corinthians, chapter five, I love this verse in verse 21, one of the core foundational verses for my life, and may it be for yours as well. It says, "Now He (The Father, God) made... He who knew no sin", Jesus, "who knew no sin," was made "to be sin for us, that we would be made the righteousness of God in Him". Jesus, who knew no sin was made sin for us on the cross, so that we would be made the righteousness of God. Why is this so important? Because when it comes time for you to pray, the devil will say, "Well, now look at how you screwed up yesterday. Look at how you didn't pray enough. Look at how you didn't fast enough. Look at how you didn't. You weren't kind enough. You didn't love enough. Look at your negative thoughts about that person. You're not worthy to go to God. He doesn't want you. You're not holy enough. You're not going to get your prayers answered".
You see, religion always gets us focused on what we're doing wrong. But God focuses us on what Jesus did right. And through His act of righteousness, you are now made righteous. And that means you're right with God through the blood of Jesus, and you have the rights of a child of God. You have the rights of the Son of God, since you are now one of His sons or daughters. So, number one, believe in the miraculous power of prayer. It's more important than anything that we see visibly. It's more powerful than dynamite, gasoline, nuclear power. No matter how hard the world or the devil try, they can't get rid of prayer. Prayer can't be hidden, prayer can't be stopped, prayer can't be limited. It changes everything when you understand you have this power. Look at what God goes on to say when it says that, "For the effectual prayer of a righteous man avails much". Because he goes on to say, "For Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three-and-a-half years".
Listen to this. The most incredible things of God happened through prayer. It says this man was a man with a nature just like ours. And he prayed that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't rain for three-and-a-half years on earth. And he said the prayer of a righteous man avails much. Now Elijah didn't even have the righteousness that we have, because he came before Jesus. But we have the gift of righteousness, and therefore, we have the power to pray at least as good as, and as powerful as Elijah prayed, and then some; then beyond, because we're New Covenant, New Testament believers. Wow. I wish you could get this because you can't be stopped when you get ahold of the power. This is the power the devil trembles at. This is the power the devil hates. This is the power that turns men of betrayal and denial into great warriors and apostles of God like Peter
Wow. I think we have to really understand how powerful that you and I are, and that we're carrying spiritual TNT to blow up the devil's plan for our lives, to blow up the devil's plan for other people's lives, to build bridges to what's missing in our life, to intercede for our family members to be saved. And this power is what man has been searching for, for thousands of years. It is the greatest source of blessing; prosperity. It's the greatest source of peace, the greatest source of joy, the greatest source of happiness. Prayer changes our lives. It changes our attitude. It changes our health. It changes anything that we use it towards.
Now, so to pray effectively, number one, we must believe in the miraculous power of prayer. Number 1A, because I want to say this. I mentioned this last week, but we must identify ourselves radically as His beloved, the one that Jesus loves. We must identify ourself. Remember, identity is everything. We must identify ourselves as the one Jesus loves. Because when we understand this, we understand our identity, we understand that we're one with Christ, we understand that as He is so are we in this world, this activates our power and our confidence in Him. Ephesians 1:11 in the New Living translation says, "Because we're united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for He chose us in advance, and (he) makes everything work (out) according to his plan".
And I love what he says in the Message translation there. "It is (only) in Christ that we find out who we are and what we're living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone". And he does that through the blood of Jesus. You and I can now identify ourselves as His beloved son or daughter. Identity really is everything. In this year in my life, not just this year, but this month, this week, this day, this hour, it's all about leaning in. I'm all about leaning in. Leaning into our identity in Christ, leaning in to our intimacy, that we can talk to God and we can walk with God, and leaning into our destiny; all that God has for us.
As I mentioned to you a couple of weeks ago, when you when you're going through a wilderness experience, how do you get out of it? How do you get out of those dry times? How do you get out of those dark times? How do you get out of those fruitless times; that wilderness, where there seems to be, nothing seems to be working? It says in Song of Solomon who is the one coming up out of the wilderness? The one leaning on her beloved. Our identity is we're His beloved. And when we're leaning into our beloved, when we're leaning into this relationship with God, when we're leaning into this intimacy He's invited us into, we come up out of the wilderness. We come up out of the wilderness. Only in Christ, we find out who we are, and what we're living for. Listen to this verse in John 13. I keep repeating it because I want you to get ahold of this. It says there was leaning on Jesus, on His bosom, one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved. John, was leaning in to his beloved Savior. He was leaning in on the bosom of Jesus. And you can lean that way too. Just say this right now. Say:
I am the beloved of God. I am God's beloved. He dearly loves me. Say that out loud. He dearly loves me.
Because when you get ahold of this identity as His beloved... It's not your identity as the ethnic group you grew up in, or the country you were born in. Those are identities that are low-level identities. Our identity in the righteousness of God as the beloved of the Father. The reason God has gone to such great lengths to give us everything is because of His great love for us. God so loved the world that He gave His Son. So, we need to realize that He loves us dearly and we're His beloved child. And He loves hearing from you. He loves watching your life unfold. He loves being involved in every moment of it. Invite Him in. Invite Him to the secret places. Invite Him to the lonely places. Invite Him into the broken places. Invite Him into the dark places. Invite Him in, because He is never going to judge you. He's only going to love you. And He's going to empower you in this moment and in this season of your life. So, we also learned that the building blocks...
So, number three... Point number one was we have to believe in the miraculous power of prayer. Point number two, which is really 1A for me, we have to identify ourselves radically. Radically identify yourself as the beloved child of God. Which leads us to number three, which is, we have to understand that love, the love of God, is the building block for powerful prayer. The building block for power in prayer is God's love for us. Not the other way around. Your breakthrough, and your miracle doesn't come from your love for God. It comes from His love for you. I want you to get ahold of this. Malachi, chapter one, verse two, God says, I've always loved you. "'I've always loved you,' says the Lord".
You see, so often we feel like we have to love God more. But that's not how God operates. He wants you to know how much He loves you. That's the "why" behind God's power. I love what it says in Jeremiah 31. This is the way God put it: They found grace out in the desert, the people who survived the killing. They were out looking for a place to rest. And there they met God who was out looking for them. Do you know, God was looking for us. And God told them, "I've never quit loving you and never will. Expect love, love, and more love"!
You see, power in prayer comes from the foundation of knowing that you're loved. Because when you know that you're loved, you know that you can ask your Father for anything. When you know that you're loved, you know you have the right to come to Him. You have the right to all that He has and all that He is. He says that; tells us we have those rights. But love tells us that naturally. Love tells us that instinctively. Love tells us that in the deepest core of our being. We truly know that when we're loved by someone, there's nothing they won't do for us within their power. And our Heavenly Father has all the power. And He's giving it and sharing it with us. Wow, I love this truth that we're so loved that we are going to experience power in prayer. The power that works within us in Ephesians, chapter three, verse 20. That God will do exceeding abundantly above and beyond all that we can ask or think, that comes through the power. That power in prayer is by having an awakening to the love of God; an awakening to the grace of God.
And number four, we must know, and I alluded to this already in talking about the miraculous power of prayer with Elijah. But we must know that we are the righteousness of God. We can't let the devil lie to us, and tell us that we're not, that we're not right enough, that we're not good enough, that we're not worthy enough, that we're not spiritual enough, that we're not knowledgeable enough, that we're not powerful enough. None of those things are true. All of those are lies from the devil. That's why this point goes so much with how we talked about identity is everything. We have to know that Satan cannot steal our identity. He cannot steal our righteousness. He cannot steal your righteousness.
So, what does he try to do? He comes to steal your knowledge of your righteousness. He comes to steal your knowledge of your identity. He cannot steal or change your identity. But what he does is, he tries to rob you of the reality, and the knowledge, and the awareness of your identity, and the awareness of your righteousness. He tries to keep you in darkness about who you really are. That's why we must never forget it is in Christ we find out who we are, and what we're living for. Who are we? We're His beloved. Who are we? We're the righteousness of God. Who are we? We're His beloved sons and daughters. Who are we? We are His kids. Let's lean in. Let's lean in to our true identity as the righteousness of God. Lean in to this intimate invitation from God, and you will find yourself walking further and further in the destiny that God has for you.
Now, I want you to see that our common identity is in Christ. In Galatians, chapter three, verse 26, it says that if we belong to Christ, we are joint heirs. For we are children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. You're a child of God by faith in Christ Jesus. And it goes on to say in verse 29, for If we belong to Christ we're Abraham's seed, and we're heirs according to the promise. Whatever promise God fulfilled in Abraham's life He'll fulfill in ours. You see, you might not be the father of the nations of Israel, and Jordan, and nations like that. Like, Abraham is the father of all those nations. But we can be fathers and mothers of new souls and lives that are transformed through knowing who we are and through the power of prayer. I love what he says in First John, chapter three, verse two, "Beloved," we are His beloved.
Now we are the sons of God. Now, we are the sons of God. Please grab ahold of your identity as the righteousness of God, as His beloved, as the building block for prayer is the love that the Father has for you. Now, my final point today that I really want to get across to you when it comes to the power of prayer, is that in John, chapter 11, verse four... I might have one more after this if we have time, but I want you to get this. John, chapter 11, verse four, when Lazarus was sick, when Jesus heard about it, He said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it". He said, "This sickness will not end in death". Now, Lazarus did die, and that sickness did bring death. But we understand when Jesus says, "This sickness shall not end in death," it included death, but it didn't end there.
You see, this point that I want to make to you about the power that you have in prayer is we have to stop caring about how it's going right now. We have to stop assessing and evaluating whether God heard our prayer and whether our prayer is working, based on how it looks right now. Because you could say, if Jesus said, "The sickness will not end in death" and then Lazarus died, you could say, "Wow, it doesn't look like it's going very well". Because it doesn't matter how it's going; it only matters how it ends. It doesn't matter how it's going. It doesn't matter how it's going; it only matters how it ends. And if we will stay with it, if you will hang in there, if you will not give up and not let go of the promise... The promise is not going to let go of you, so you might as well not let go of it. God is not going to let go of you, so you might as well not let go of Him either. You're going to make it. It doesn't matter how it's going; it only matters how it ends.
Now, I know in the natural you say, "It does matter how it's going. What if somebody's hurting me? What if somebody is abusing me"? Well, there are measures we can take when something, when we're being abused in some way. We need to take action, obviously. But I'm talking to you in general when it comes to prayer, and when it comes to it doesn't look like it's working. It doesn't matter how it looks. It doesn't matter how it's going; it only matters how it ends. Jesus said this will not end in death. It included death, but it didn't end in death. Why? Because He said, "I am the resurrection and I am the life". You know, when we realize that our prayer has power, when we realize that it doesn't matter what it looks like, it only matters how it ends, we'll end up experiencing so much of God's power; so much of God's promises. Because it doesn't matter how it's going, it only matters how it ends. And if I can say one, give you one final thought, and after telling you we have to stop caring about how it looks.
I want to say one last thing. When you understand this, it will catapult you in prayer that changes your life and changes the world around you. And it's that, you are not alone. You are not alone in this life. You are not alone in this season. You are not alone when you feel stress. You are not alone when you feel anxious. You are not alone when you feel like it's not working. You're not alone when you feel like you're alone. You're not alone when no one seems to be around, no one seems to be helping, no one seems to be knowing what's going on, no one seems to know how to help you. I want you to realize you're not alone because the Holy Spirit is with you. The Holy Spirit is in you. The Holy Spirit is your Comforter. The Holy Spirit is your Helper. The Holy Spirit is your Intercessor. Listen to this great verse in Romans, chapter eight, verse 26. "Likewise the Spirit (also) helps us in our weakness".
Oh, I love this verse. Anybody have some weakness in your life? The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray as we ought. One translation says we don't know how to pray all the time. We don't know what to pray. We don't know how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groaning is too deep for words. When you realize you're not alone, when you realize you have a Partner in prayer, and your partner isn't just me or some other human, your partner is the Holy Spirit. You're not alone in prayer. You can pray by the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and through Him you're going to have answered prayers that you didn't even know you were praying. The Holy Spirit, when you invite Him to partner with you... We're going to do that right now. Just invite Him. Just say, "Holy Spirit, come into my life". If you haven't been baptized in the Holy Spirit, it's different than being baptized in water. But if you haven't been baptized in the Holy Spirit, just invite Him. Just say:
Holy Spirit, I invite you. Heavenly Father, baptize me in the Holy Spirit, Baptize me in your power. Baptize me in the Spirit of the living God. I receive the Helper to help me pray. I receive the Helper to pray when I don't know what to pray. I invite you Holy Spirit. Pray through me, pray in me, and let the power of your Spirit manifest in my life, in this life of prayer, and my walk with God, in Jesus' Name.
It's so simple. It's so simple, inviting the Holy Spirit in. You know, there's somebody watching here that you're like, "I want the Holy Spirit to come into my life, but I got too many things in my life that I'm doing wrong. I got too many mistakes, too much sin in my life, too much of my past creeping into my present". I want you to know that even in that you're not alone. Even in that God still accepts you. Even in that God still welcomes you home. Even in that God still says, "Come to me all that are weary and heavy laden". If you've never received Jesus as your Savior, would you pray with me right now? Just pray this out loud. "Heavenly Father..." Just pray this out loud. You want to be sure you're going to heaven, you want to have a relationship with God, the only way is through Jesus. Just pray this prayer.
Heavenly Father, I invite Jesus into my life. I believe Jesus died for my sin and rose from the dead. From this moment forward, I'm a child of God, amen.