Alignment and Authority

God rules over everything and we are under His Authority which means we can move with authority. It all starts with coming into alignment with Him.

Prayer is the process where we get on God's page; not the process where we try to get God on our page. Prayer is being in awe of God, worshiping God, falling in love with God, and submitting our lives to the will and ways of God.

When God doesn't do something exactly how and when we need Him to do it, we get frustrated and lose heart, which is exactly where the enemy wants us.

1 John 5:14-15

God wants us to have the confidence to come before the Throne of God. We can come near the Creator of the universe and not die! Hebrews 4:16 tells us we can come boldly. So often we don't take advantage of our access.

Prayer is not our last resort, but we treat it like it is. James 4:2-3 says we have not because we ask not, but we have to ask with the right motives. Our motives have to come into alignment with Christ. He hears what we ask. It reaches the heart of God and things change when we pray according to His will. We may not get to see all of it, but things shift. If we could see what happens when we pray, we would never cease to pray.

How do we call on Heaven?

By aligning with God. Prayer is aligning with God, so be available to Him. A simple morning prayer: "God, I love You and I worship You, I want to be available to You today. I want to be useful to You today. I want to be in step with You today."

"Your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven."

What is the master plan that God wants on Earth? We want to lean into that. We have to be careful not to create a theology out of perfect, no sorrow, no pain, no disease, no death on Earth right now. It's saying, that whatever He wants to do on Earth is what I want to do on Earth. Jesus isn't saying that on Earth we are going to turn it into heaven. He's saying that God's will can be done on Earth and that's what we lean into. Align ourselves with His will.

What is God's will?

Get into His Word. He tells us what He wants, what He has said, and what He has already promised.

In Acts 4:25-26 they are praying God's Word back to God. When we start praying God's Word, our prayers are going to a whole new level because we're not informing God based on our viewpoint, we are praying in agreement with God based on what God has already said. We're not telling God what we need to happen on our limited understanding of the situation, we're agreeing with what God has already said is going to happen and we are in alignment with Him. This is what allows us to look at Acts 4:27 and understand that while Herod, Pilate, the Gentiles, and the mob all had decisions to make: God is over it all. Verse 28 says they did what God's will and power decided beforehand should happen.

When the believers in Acts 4: 29-31 prayed "enable us", they were praying God's Word back to Him. They knew what He said in Acts 1:8. Do you see how they are putting themselves under the Authority of the mandate of God to spread the Gospel to the world knowing that it might cost them everything, but how it ultimately would gain them more? When they moved into that position, God moved! He literally shook the room and answered their prayer. A bold prayer got a bold answer.

Aligning with God gave them authority in the name of God. In every circumstance, they had authority because they had submitted themselves to Him.

Every time we pray for His will to be done, we get what we ask for. Sometimes things work out like we prayed, and sometimes they don't. But just like that moment when Herod, Pilate, the Gentiles, and the Mob killed His Son, somehow, God was still on His Throne. That's enough to keep coming with confidence, knowing that if we ask in His Name, according to His Will, He's going to move and we are going to see what God has done.