Leon Fontaine - Prayer's Real Purpose
So many people, don't know how to pray. They just have no idea. Prayer has gone in so many directions. Prayer if it's not done correctly, becomes a work of the flesh. And it feels good perspiring, and screaming, and binding, and loosening, and all that. But it has no effect at all on the planet. Other than to bring doubt and unbelief into your life. Unless, as Jesus taught us, that it's from the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks. Then it teaches us that what's in our heart, flows forth. Prayer must come from the heart. So I want to talk to you today about prayer, I want to teach you immediately how to change if you've maybe not been taught this, or you haven't looked at this. You know there's a precious verse in the Old Testament that says, let God arise. His enemies be scattered. That is a beautiful, prophetic look at the New Covenant.
See, God is rising through you and I, through our prayers, through our actions. Through finding our place in the body of Christ. Through finding our place in society, the church of Jesus Christ rising and advancing. This is God arising in us. And the enemies, plural, are scattered. Always remember according to Jesus in John 10:10, that whenever anything kills something, steals from you something, destroys something in your life. That there's a spirit force behind it. And that our warfare is not with people. Now there are times where you'll have to stand up to people. There are times you will have to shut people down. But it says that we don't wrestle with flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers. And so behind all of that, there is a force. A dark world. And so we need to recognize how to pray.
Now, the greatest battle that any child of God will ever fight. The greatest battle the child of God will ever fight, is the battle of faith. Because prayer done incorrectly has no power. And prayer done incorrectly will literally manifest and deepen your unbelief. People don't pray from the church world today probably because prayer was ineffective and it didn't work for them. And they lost faith in God, they got ticked off at God, and many leave the kingdom of God. By that I mean they just, they walk. Because they prayed, nothing happened, and no one taught them what prayer is. And so, we've got to recognize that in the New Covenant, since the cross, the only fight that we can see is the fight of faith. And so this fight according to 1 Timothy 6:12, it says fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold of eternal life to which you were summoned, and for which you confessed the good confession of faith before many witnesses.
Now, to lay hold of eternal life in your physical world, it is to understand these two words. Eternal and life. Eternal means it's never stopping. Doesn't matter, death does not mean the cessation of existing. The word 'death' actually simply means moving into another realm. And there's different meanings, there's about three different meanings for the word 'death'. But eternal life, eternal is the timeframe, life is the kind of life. And everyone keeps thinking eternal life just means being saved. No, no, no. It's way more than that. This life, in the Greek, is 'zoe' life. And it says that you were summoned, and that you must confess a good confession. As we understand this new life, as a born-again believer, we've got to understand that religion, which I hate, says you're forgiven. And now you must work at getting better. Now you must work so you can please God. Now you must work so your prayers are answered.
And there is this subtle, horrible disintegration of who you are, and your position as a believer. So whenever you try to pray, He will always have something you haven't done enough of, or you've done bad with, or you haven't done something, and He will cause you to waver. Wavering is always spoken about at the heart level. A good man from the good deposits in his heart brings forth good things. An evil man from evil deposits in his heart, brings forth evil things. A world-changing man or woman, with world-changing deposits in their heart, brings forth world-changing things. This prayer has to come from the heart. Your vain repetition of prayer, your begging, bugging, pleading at God, screaming at demons, binding and loosing. All this stuff, that does not come from and understanding from the heart, is meaningless. And not only is it meaningless, it destroys faith. Faith must come from this new covenant, from the Word of God, and we must understand it. It's not too hard to understand. Holy Spirit is always here, showing you and I how to be who we are.
Now, the thing to understand is that Jesus Christ, is the high priest of our confession. It doesn't say He's the high priest of your faith. It doesn't say He's the high priest of your actions. It doesn't say He's the high priest of what you're thinking. It doesn't say that He, it says that He's the high priest of your confession. Now hang in with me and just let go all your preconceived ideas about teaching from one end to the other. Jesus is not the high priest of your confession over me. Your confession has nothing to do with me. Isn't that beautiful? Doesn't matter what they say about you. Doesn't matter what they lie, what they do about you. He's not the high priest of their confession over you, He's the high priest of your confession over you. so get up and speak. Because if you don't, then you're going to discover that there's a earthly impact that takes place.
We need to recognize that Jesus is the high priest of our confession. And when you understand this word 'confession' let's look at the high priest. In the Old Testament, they would kill an animal so that when there was sin, the penalty of sin which was death would go on an animal. It would divert from you to an animal. And, the high priest would take the blood that was shed by an animal to keep you alive. And it would be presented to God. Look, a life was taken for this sin. And God's favour and blessing and wealth and healing and prosperity and protection from enemies, and then would all flow in their life because a high priest brought this on behalf of the people to God. But, Jesus is no longer standing before God with some blood of some animal. He has already won and declared who He is, and so He is now the high priest of, our confession. Woah, what you say is powerful. Woah, what comes out of your mouth. The angels, the Bible says, are listening to. Jesus is listening to. The enemy is listening to. People are listening to. Your body is listening to. Your family is listening to. Your kids are listening to. When you understand the power of a spoken word, and that Jesus is the high priest of your speaking, well Leon.
Now, now it's also talking about prayer. Because prayer is confessing the finished Word of God. The promises that are ours. Now when you go in the book of Hebrews. For those who love going through the Word and studying it on your own, and you should be. Hebrews 3:1 says that. Hebrews 4:14 says that. Hebrews 10:19-23 says that. He is the high priest of what you're saying. What are you praying? What are you speaking? And it teaches us there to be faithful, keep saying, be persistent, and declaring the promises of God over your personal life, over your marriage, over your kids, over your grandkids. You can even pray for people who don't exist yet. You can pray for your great-grandkids, and declare that generations of your family will serve God, be taught of the Lord, and as you pray, as you speak these words. Jesus is the high priest. Jesus is the intercessor. Jesus is your lawyer, standing at the right hand of God. And every time a born-again believer from the heart declares the Word of God, He is there.
Can I ask you a question? So much about what goes on in our world, the enemy just tries to creep into our lives and discourage. And, just destroy your ability to have faith, to believe in the Word of God. Because your five senses, are continually streaming into your mind. And so your mind, if it is not continually renewed, it's not been, it's not well I've got it renewed, now I'm done, no. It's an ongoing renewing of your mind, because your mind has five senses ongoingly bringing in physical things that aren't going the way you want. So you're not to look at what you see, but at the things that are not seen, because the things that are seen are temporary, but the things that are not seen are eternal. Meaning, if you live your life by your five senses, you'll give up. You'll get discouraged, you'll give in. You'll just say well this is the way things are. This is reality, unaware that a spirit world overrides a physical world.
And so we must learn that we are spirit beings in physical bodies, and that as we are here, we have an ability to pray. We have the honour, the opportunity to use the name of Jesus. That power of attorney, that is given to you and I to use His name. And when you have the power of attorney over someone, you have access to all their buildings, all their finances. Everything that their name would sign on any dotted line and give them, you have access to. And so, lawyers who read the Word of God and understand the New Covenant, they see this name Jesus. But, let me ask you a question. Before Jesus came on the scene, what did name did they use to swear with? Because today we hear His name all the time. And it doesn't release any power at all, it just releases a little frustration for most people. Little ticked off feeling and they use the name Jesus. Somehow, the enemy got it into everyday vocabulary, as a meaningless word. But just a word to use to spit dispertuberation over someone.
My mom always said, swearing is a small mind trying to express itself forcefully. Why? Why take this name of Jesus, and diminish it? Now, when you read about the wonderful, beautiful name of Jesus in the scripture, when the disciples used it in the first generation church. When they used the name, demon, oppressed people, would be completely set free. When they used the name, a crippled man would walk in front of a crowd. When they used the name, they went in and took out cities. Not by sitting in a room, praying and praying and praying. Oh, they prayed. But by getting up and sharing this name from the streets and the marketplaces, and the, everywhere they went. And it just totally transformed cities. It transformed everything. But today, the name of Jesus is kind of just a swear word. Just, it's kind of the way you end your letter. Sincerely, Leon. In Jesus' name. No. It's not. Like the person swearing, so is a born-again believer using the name of Jesus with no belief or understanding of the scriptures attached to it.
And so we've got to understand that Jesus is the high priest over our confession. And when we begin to declare promises from God's Word, and then we say in the name of Jesus. That all of heaven stands behind that name. That all of the power and the force and the authority and, the resources that are in the name of Jesus. You see, this New Covenant is not between you and God. Or we would have destroyed it the first day of being saved. This covenant is between Jesus and God, and I'm in Him. And He's in me. Therefore when I speak in faith, which simply listen, needs to be from the heart. Just learn the Word of God. Get it into your heart, stop bring well do I have enough faith, this much faith, this much faith, enough faith, too low faith, no, no. Just get into the Word, learn the Word, and you'll understand that prayer is a completely legal issue. The greatest miracle that you've ever seen have not been emotions, and I get emotional quick. I find that when I pray for others, often I'll sense this incredible compassion and love, and I'll start to try. But prayer, is a legal thing.
And you can cry and sob and get before God, but Leon the Bible says He keeps our tears in a vial. Oh, I agree with that. I totally agree with that. But He's not saying that's how prayer gets answered. In the New Covenant, we must understand the legality of prayer. Which is why Jesus, the Word is at the right hand of the Father. He ever liveth to make intercession. That word 'intercession' is the word used for lawyers in a court of law, upholding your rights. When you pray, Jesus at the right hand of the Father, is standing there. And you say well is He begging or bugging God? No. God can't wait to give you the kingdom. All He's got to do is turn and see the nail holes in His hand. All He's got to do is see the scars all down from the thorns. When He died in our place, that Jesus stands there and establishes this new covenant, and when you get up and pray, you pray with authority. When we pray, effectively, in the name of Jesus.
It's not some pathetic, little, you know, just going to keep myself sane while I go through all of this. Are you kidding me? The Bible talks about using the name of Jesus at the very core of the dark world trembles. That the dark side does not even want to hear that name Jesus, spoken from the heart. Leon, what do you mean by heart? Well the Bible teaches, you can speak to mountains but if you doubt in your heart, the mind and the heart are different. The mind is your conscious mind, the heart, and it's not the same as subconscious, but it's very similar. It's below your conscious thinking. It's where who you are, your deepest beliefs, are in the heart level. Let me give you something that just puzzled me about this.
I found, that when you pray, a dynamic joy is maintained. And, as you pray, there's a power source that is always there, so that when you do pray, it's like lightning. Just shoo! Bam. Ever been in a lightning storm, and it's, blows your mind. It's just, you're sitting there and then all of a sudden which tree did it hit? You can't make rhyme nor reason out of it. And I want to just challenge you today. Yes, we need earthly strategies. We need to train people. We need to find their right places, their giftedness. We need to put together management and administration and find leaders. And yes, in our churches and our businesses and our governments, we want the gifted people in the right places. That's the earthly realm. But in the spirit realm, we need to pray in the name of Jesus. Because of all the attacks that come, it's always going to have the dark kingdom behind it. So we don't fight against people unless we have to, we pray against the forces that are behind it. And this name of Jesus, is the power of attorney to you and I.
The more you learn from the new covenant about what it means to die on the cross, His burial, He went to hell in our place. Hell's not going to be in my future. He went to hell in my place. When He died for my sins, He died for both my past sins, and my future sins. And so I'm in the family. Period. I'm qualified. Period. Should I live right? Absolutely. Because the people around me appreciate that. I'm not mad, angry, killing, stealing, lying, cheating. We all appreciate that in our marriages and business dealings and families, of course we are. But to understand the authority that goes with the born-again believer with the name of Jesus, has been established before you. And it is here, and it is yours. When you begin to understand who you are, and whose you are, and that Jesus is at the right hand of the Father. And that human body, all banged up and bashed up, is the only body in heaven that will have scars.
There are people who have died in traffic accidents and fires, there will be no scars in heaven. They will look beautiful and amazing, except for Jesus. He's at the right hand of the Father, scars intact, because they create this eternal picture that you and I are forever given. That you and I have access forever to the name of Jesus. To not get His Word, and deepen it into our heart. Because we renew our minds, I went through a time in my life as a young man, 19 and 20, where I knew so much of the Word, and I'd renewed my mind, that I couldn't see the results in a physical way. And I begin to study the heart. I begin to recognize that my heart needs to experience Jesus. It needs to allow the dreams and the visions of God's Word that Holy Spirit brings, to impact my heart in my meditation time with Him.
And as I begin to do that, I begin to lay my hands on the sick. I begin to speak and declare over things. And I begin to see the miraculous take place. And, I've learned, and I've failed, and I've made mistakes, and I've won, and I'm at a place where I begin to recognize why do I only pray when I've got problems? Why don't I just keep praying when things are going good so that they can become great? And why don't I just keep praying so that when they're not just great, they're incredible? And why don't I just keep praying so they move from incredible to supernatural? Because I'm going to keep speaking the Word of God and not just wait until a problem comes. When you speak the Word of God, Jesus is the high priest of your confession. Keep getting up in the morning, and declare His promises. You want to pray over yourself, your family, your nation, leaders, get up and simply declare and it gives God the right. It allows the name of Jesus, man, it accesses all the power of God. In the name of Jesus, I declare and start speaking what your city will look like, what your business will look like. What your leaders will look like, what your nation will look like.
And if the church of Jesus Christ would get up, know who they are, and what prayer is, all of a sudden, we're going to find a massive change. Someone said to me well this is the end times we expected this. Really? So He's coming back for a defeated church? No. He's coming back for a glorious church. When the word 'glory' is used, and you see God's glory, you see His power on display. You see lightning on display. You see victories on display. You see families and homes and countries. Just succeed and rise up. It's the glory of God. Man, we're the church. We're the only hope this world has. It's for us to get up and pray, find our place, get out and speak, share the Gospel everywhere we go, so we've got people who will even vote right because they know Christ. And they're not deceived. You can deceive your heart, James says, or you can begin to feed your heart the Word of God. And a good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things. He doesn't sit around waiting for God to do it.
A world-changing man or woman brings forth world-changing things. This Jesus on the inside of you, use the name of Jesus. Learn to know who you are, and keep speaking the Word. Be persistent. You know, Jeremiah was promised as a prophet, God said I'll make your forehead harder than your forehead. I'll make your face harder than your face. Do you know what he's talking about? Persistence. He's talking about a devil like behind Goliath saying I'm going to kill you. I'm going to feed your body to the birds. There will always over, everything's an exaggerator. He's so far off that, you don't know what to do with them. David just said I'm going to take your head off in just a minute. Grab the stone, took him out. Why did we listen to wrong news, stupid news, arrogant news, demonic news? Get up and declare what God says, against what the news says. Against even what your doctor says.
I love my doctor friends and I get checkups all the time. And when they say Leon you've got this. Alright, give me a few weeks here I'm going to begin to speak to it and pray. I like it. But I don't take their word as a final say. I don't take an investor's word as the final say. I get up and declare what God's Word says, and I work with all those expertise people, you bet. I pray that you would make a decision. You want a different country, you want a different town, you want a different family, you want a different you, get up and speak the Word. Pray the Word as done. Because Jesus has already won the victory. He needs you and I to declare that, and out of that the name of Jesus releases all the favour and power and authority of God into the situations around you.