The move of the Spirit – Prayer (1)
Matthew 28:18;
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
By saying ‘all power’, Jesus refers to the power to get men saved, which is the power of the kingdom – of salvation. Thus, he says you’ll go and teach all nations, to get men saved. We have the responsibility of making people students of the word. We’ll make disciples of all men after getting them saved. In fulfilling the Great Commission, the content of our message is specific.
Matthew 28:20;
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Jesus explains to us what the content of our teaching is, “I am with you even unto the end of the world”. Wherever believers are gathered, nothing must take our attention off the presence of Christ – He is within. The indwelling is the teaching of the Great Commission. In discipleship, we must keep observing that very fact lest it gets lost on us.
Again, we have seen that the teaching of Christ is in a specific way – putting our attention on the fact that Jesus is with us unto the end of the world.
Where then is he if he’s with us always?
We will find this in ‘…all things whatsoever I have commanded you…’. However, it is important to categorically state that Jesus is neither in oil nor in a candle.
We find the narrative of where Jesus commanded them in John 14-16.
To reiterate, the church is the teaching centre of Jesus, it’s where we go to be educated – what we can do and what we should do in Christ – it is a school for the teaching of the word of God. We cannot have experiences of the spirit outside the word of God. The activities of the spirit must be taught in God’s word. The motions of the spirit are actually the acts of the word of God.
In Matthew 28:20, Jesus says we teach them to observe that he is with us and this is our focus. In discipleship, our focus is to be on Christ.
John 14:20
At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
The phrase ‘at that day’ refers to the resurrection, when he’ll be in the believer. Thus, his disciples understood that his ‘being with them’ is actually that ‘he’ll be in them’ because he had taught them in John 14. Jesus expresses his oneness with the Father (identification) in verse 11 and then in verses 12-23. Jesus helps us to see that the same Father will indwell us upon the resurrection.
The believer is ONE with the Father.
John 14:13-15;
13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Jesus said one of the things we’ll be able to do is commune with the Father without an intermediary, he says we’ll be able to ask the Father i.e. we will be able to place a demand. This is prayer and shows the vitality of prayer. Jesus emphasized prayer (John 15:7, 16:22-26). Therefore, prayer is one of the things we will put our eyes on, so we don’t lose it. Prayer is the move of the spirit – it is an act of the supernatural. Whatever counts as the supernatural should not be counted as common. A Christian that is full of the word and the spirit must be a praying Christian, the immediate response to God’s word being taught is prayer. A believer who truly knows the word will pray.
Daily Bible Reading Plan:
Bible Reading – Proverbs 20-22
TEACHING OF THE DAY
Two Kinds of Wisdom (5)