Prayer Still Changes Things

Prayer Still Changes Things

The earth is groaning for change from heaven. Conditions often appear overwhelming and even dangerous, but that doesn’t change the fact that prayer changes things. You and I have authority from above to take our stand and bring change to this earth!

One type of prayer that does this is called the prayer of binding and loosing. We find it in Matthew chapter 18.

Verily I say unto you whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. … For where two or three are gathered together in my name there I am in the midst of them. (verses 18, 20)

I want to call your attention to that phrase “in my name.” Jesus is talking about His name. Instead of using the authority in the name of Jesus, many born-again, Spirit-filled Christians have let the enemy bind them—but we’re supposed to be binding the devil.

Take a look at Jesus’ words in Mark chapter 16:

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. … And these signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. (verses 15, 17–18)

These signs shall follow them when they operate “in my name.” We have been given the authority in the name of Jesus to take care of the devil and all of his cohorts. Every evil foe that would come against us must bow to the authority of the name of Jesus.Continue reading

Angels All Around, Part 5

Angels All Around, Part 5

Before we bought our current church building, we were bursting at the seams, very ready for a bigger place to meet. The building we wanted was about three blocks to the west, but it was quite sought after by developers.

The ownership of this building was going to the highest bidder. Because it was such a desired property, many developers were bidding. No one knew anybody else’s bids, so it was up to each person to determine what they should bid on the building. That was an intimidating prospect for my husband and me, so we prayed about it at great length.

The week the bids were due, my husband was walking with an usher down the back stairway at church. Normally people weren’t there, but this Sunday morning, a man stepped out from beside the wall. My husband had never seen him before. He said, “Pastor Mac, I just want to tell you that you have an amount in your heart that you should pay for that building. The amount you have in your heart is the correct amount.”Continue reading

Angels All Around, Part 4

Angels All Around, Part 4

Acts chapter 8 shares with us another angelic account. A revival had broken out in Jerusalem and they were proclaiming the Gospel through the villages. An angel came to Phillip and told him to go a specific route to Jerusalem. He did and on the way, he met a man in a chariot. The man in the chariot was an Ethiopian government official in charge of the treasury. When Philip saw him in the chariot, he heard him reading from the book of Isaiah.

Philip asked the eunuch, “Do you know what you’re reading?”Continue reading

Angels All Around, Part 3

Angels All Around, Part 3

A couple years ago, a national publication told this story of an angelic encounter. Two construction divers were working on a bridge. It was cold outside so they were wearing their cold-water gear and cold-water suits. At the end of the day, they were driving home and noticed a bunch of rescue vehicles pulled off the side of the road by a pond. A young seven-year-old boy had been playing on the ice and had fallen through.

Rescue efforts were hindered because a creek ran through the pond. The creek made the ice unstable and had swept the little boy downstream under the ice. Because of that, the little boy was no longer directly under the hole in the ice and they couldn’t find him.

One of the construction divers put on his suit and gear and dived down through the hole in the ice. When he came up, he said the water was very murky and a very strong current was coming from the creek. It could have swept the boy anywhere so the search was hopeless.Continue reading