Jesus made prayer a priority for his life. We read that Jesus spoke to things such as the fig tree (Matt. 21:19), the little girl, saying, “Arise” (Mark 5:41), and He said to the storm, “Peace be still” (Mark 4:39, MEV).
When Jesus spoke, people, sickness and disease, nature, and the demonic responded in obedience. Storms ceased; trees withered; and sickness, disease and demons left.
Are we praying as Jesus did? Why are we as Christians not seeing our prayers answered?
Jesus has given us that same authority (Luke 10:19). Power went forth as Jesus spoke. When He died and was resurrected, He transferred that power and authority to us. It is similar to having power of attorney over someone. You have authority over their life and situations. Jesus died and gave us His power of authority. As believers, we need to know that we have the authority to speak to our situations.
Proverbs 18:21 (MEV) reads, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue … ” And in Matthew, Jesus further talks about faith and speaking out: “So Jesus said to them, ‘Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you'” (Matt. 17:20, MEV). Jesus continually modeled the example of the power of our belief, authority and the words spoken out of our mouth.
Why are most of our prayers in our minds and not speaking out loud as Jesus did? There is a time to pray in our mind and connect spirit to Spirit with the Father. However, there are times when we need to speak out loud and command the spiritual atmosphere to activate on our words. We need to take authority over the spiritual realm, and that is done by speaking out loud so that the spirit realm can hear what we are commanding it to do, just like Jesus did.
If the answers to some of our prayers are not manifesting, what will it hurt to try and pray differently and speak out loud to things as Jesus did?
Kathy DeGraw is the founder of DeGraw Ministries, a prophetic ministry releasing the love and power of God, igniting people in the prophetic and releasing people from emotional bondage. She’s passionate about teaching people the power of prayer through declaring. She speaks at conferences and travels hosting evangelistic love tours. She is the founder of Change into Colorless, an anti-racism corporation and co-pastors a church. Kathy is the author of Spiritual Warfare Declarations, A Worship Woven Life, Time to Set the Captives Free, and Flesh, Satan or God. Connect with Kathy at www.degrawministries.org.
