Study in Prayer

We’ve been studying from Mathew 18 these past few days. I want to remind you what Jesus said in Matthew 18:18-20, “Verily I say unto you, whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven. And whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven.” Verse 19, “Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in Heaven.”  Verse 20, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

There are times when you will achieve great prayer victories when you are alone in your prayer closet praying things out in the Holy Spirit. There are times when you will need to get alone in prayer to do these things.

There will be times when you need to jump into immediate prayer and take authority over a situation right then and there, in the Name of Jesus, and bring immediate results on the scene.

Think of it like a military commander who sees an enemy tank driving down the road towards his position. Does he ignore it? Does he tell himself, “Well, maybe they are coming down here to talk.” Or “Maybe they got lost and are coming to ask for directions?”

No, of course not! What is that commander going to do? He will bring immediate and direct fire on that tank and is not going to “talk” to the tank commander at all! Amen!

Either that tank will be destroyed or it will turn around and high tail it out of the area, if he knows what’s good for him! Amen!

Well, the devil is the same way. You may be faced with a life and death situation that is immediate and life threatening. You don’t have time nor an opportunity to say, “Mr. Devil, can you hold up for just a minute, I need to get my pastor on the phone really quick. Is that ok?”

NO!

You have to take immediate action and put a stop to that threat! NOW!

There is no time to call anyone…

There is no time to try and find your Bible…

There is not time to pull up the app on your phone and find a relevant scripture…

As a police officer, we were taught to try and deescalate potentially bad situations to avoid injury to ourselves, others and the suspect. But, if that suspect acted in any threatening way, to us or someone else…

If for example, we are trying to deescalate an argument we are observing on the street and make sure it doesn’t blow up into something more…

And in the process of doing so, one of the people involved gets angry and pulls out a gun and points it in my direction…

I do not have time to say, “Oh, I see you are angry. Let’s talk about this. In fact, let me get on my radio and call someone else who can talk to you, too…”

No. That does not work. It will only result in me getting shot or someone else getting shot.

In a situation like that, immediate action is required. What is that immediate action? My gun comes out and I bring fire to bear on the target, eliminating the threat. No discussion.

But those actions do not come naturally. They are only developed over the course of time by practice. By handling other calls and facing similar situations. In most cases, an officer never had to discharge his or her weapon. 98% of police officers can go their entire career without ever having to discharge their firearm in the line of duty. But, if the situation ever presented itself, it would be an automatic response to eliminate a deadly threat. No hesitation or second guessing.

That is how YOU need to be in those immediate, threatening situations concerning your prayer life and facing down the devil…

You need to know that you know that you know what to do…

In order to do that, you need to know the scriptures that will apply to that situation…

And you only do that by KNOWING the Word of God.

In those life and death situations, your prayer partner is Jesus Himself. You are using scriptures to take immediate authority over the devil and his minions and invoking the Word of God to come immediately onto this scene and rectify whatever the emergency is. That is putting yourself in agreement with JESUS and His Word. Amen!

This may never happen to you, just like a police officer may never discharge their weapon in their entire career. But they are always ready to do so if required. You need to be the same way. Always ready. Always prepared.

Amen.

Let’s pray!

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We’ve been studying from Mathew 18 these past few days. I want to remind you what Jesus said in Matthew 18:19, “Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in Heaven.”

Jesus did not say that there would be a “possibility” that your prayers would be answered. He did not say there could be a possibility that what you asked for would be done. He said, “IT WILL BE DONE.” 

The requirements, again, TWO or more must be in agreement. What you are asking for MUST be according the Word of God and God’s Will.

Jesus is the one who made that promise, not Brother Bob or any other preacher! JESUS! Amen!

But, there is one more element that must take place, binding the devil and his influence in the situation. ALL THREE of these elements must be present.

“Well, brother Bob, why can’t we just pray in agreement and not alert the devil to what’s going on? I mean, why advertise the fact that we are praying for something if he doesn’t know?”

The problem is – HE DOES KNOW!  He has his little minions all around you all of the time. They tempt you with that little piece of chocolate cake. Now, there is nothing wrong with chocolate cake, don’t get me wrong. Go ahead and have piece. But after you eat that one piece, you know that little voice that says, “Go ahead and take one more piece..” You know that voice? That is the devil’s little minion. Amen!

So, when you and another believer come alongside each other in prayer and pray in agreement with each other and according to the Word of God about something to come to pass, there is an alarm bell that little minion starts to ring that reverberates all the way down into hell itself.

Reinforcements are sent out to help that little minion continue to influence your life and stop you from believing and receiving God’s promises in your life from coming to pass.  Remember how Daniel was hindered in his prayers for 28 days because of a demon fighting his angel?

Anyway, that is why Jesus tied together the prayer of agreement with the prayer of binding and loosing. 

Let’s look at all three verses again from Mathew 18:18-20, “Verily I say unto you, whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven. And whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven.” Verse 19, “Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in Heaven.”  Verse 20, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

When you are praying in agreement, you also need to BIND the devil and LOOSE your angels, amen! This stops the reinforcements from hell from interfering with your angels on assignment from Heaven to move in your behalf and bring to pass what you are praying in agreement for! Praise God! And with Jesus right there in midst of you – you can’t help but win! Amen!

Let’s Pray!

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 It’s amazing how we can just go along and leave some scriptures alone as if they have no meaning in our life whatsoever. The last couple of days, I was sharing with you some spiritual insights from Mathew chapter 18, verses 18-20, concerning the prayer of agreement and binding and loosing. 

But, as we discovered, your prayers must be in accordance with the Word of God and the Will of God. The only way you will know if your prayers are like that is IF YOU know the Word of God and the Will of God. And the only way you will do that is if YOU get into the Word of God on your own and start to study it out for yourself instead of relying on someone else to do the studying for you!

Don’t shout me down when I’m preaching good and stepping all over your toes! Praise God!

That is one of the big problems today in churches. Most people do not even bring their own Bible to church anymore! They rely on the church to put the scriptures up on the big screen for them! They rely on the pastor or preacher to do all of the studying for them and just tell them a few neat tidbits of information – just like I’m doing here for you! 

If this is the extent of your Bible study – you are in a heap more trouble than Brother Bob can ever teach you to get out of in 10 minutes per day, that’s for sure! You need to get into the Word of God on your own. You need to get into the Word on a daily basis. You need to go before the Lord in prayer on a daily basis. YOU NEED TO DO IT!  Amen!

You see, we all have a part to play in getting our prayers answered. When we make our move by declaring what God’s Word says in our situation, THEN and ONLY THEN will God move on our behalf. Now, there will be times when He moves simply out of His Grace and Mercy – but I’m talking about the prayer of agreement and binding and loosing. WE have a part to play in this!

So, let’s recap how far we have come in the last few days. Let’s start by reading Mathew 18:18-20 again…

“Verily I say unto you, whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven. And whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven.” Verse 19, “Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in Heaven.”  Verse 20, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

Jesus is teaching us the WE have the spiritual authority to bind and loose things on this earth that we desire. To bring this power to pass in our prayer lives, it behooves us to find another believer that will pray in agreement with us. BUT – our prayers MUST line up with God’s Word and God’s Will. When we do that, we KNOW what the Word of God says about our situation, we have another believer who also knows what the Word of God says (and believes it) concerning the situation we are praying about – AND we know Jesus is right there in our midst AS WE PRAY…

You can’t help but WIN!  Jesus said so! He promised us it would work! Amen!

Look at the last part of verse 19 again, “…it SHALL be done for them of my Father who is in Heaven.”

AMEN! And AMEN!

I want to pray with you right now that you are understanding this. I know for many of you, this may be the first time you are hearing these scriptures taught in this light. But it is high time you started to believe them. Amen!

Let’s Pray!

Until next time, this is Pastor Bob Thibodeau reminding you from 1 Thessalonians 5:17 in the Living Bible to “Always Keep on Praying!”  Be blessed in all that you do!

Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com. And while you are at the website, download the free resource I have for you… it is free and is called, “How to Start a Christian Podcast.” It will bless you – go and download it today.

You can also WATCH these session on our Facebook Playlist at this link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtKWeKtmv-BwgkquBTsSh-GznbmuUp_R2

Yesterday, I shared with you the three requirements for the “Prayer of Agreement.” Just to refresh your memory, we referenced Mathew 18:19, “Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in Heaven.”

The three requirements were, two people had to be in agreement concerning something. That was requirement number one. Number two was they both had to be alive and on planet earth and number three was that whatever they were agreeing and asking for had to agree with the Word of God and God’s Will. Amen?

Now, I want to share with you what Mathew 18 says is the pre-requisite for the prayer of agreement to even work. That is concerning “binding and loosing.”

Let’s take Mathew 18 but start in verse 18, just preceding verse 19. “Verily I say unto you, whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven. And whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven.” Now, that says a lot right there…but I want us to take this verse and tie it to the next two, because Jesus is teaching on a complete subject here.  Let me start again…

“Verily I say unto you, whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven. And whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven.” Verse 19, “Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in Heaven.”  Now, verse 20, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

We usually take verse 20 and apply  it just gathering together in Jesus Name during a church service. Yes, you can do that. But that is not the intent, nor the purpose, that Jesus was teaching on. When you take all three verses together, it is as plain as the nose on your face! Amen!

Jesus is saying that wherever there are two people who are agreeing in prayer, HE is right there to make it good. Amen! Jesus is bringing out the fact that whatever we bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven and whatever we loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven. Heaven will back us up in whatever it is we are praying for on the earth, in the prayer of agreement – as long as it is in line with God’s Word. Amen! We have the authority to loose and to bind. 

Instead of using that authority, it seems many people just let the devil bind them up and then we ask God to bind the devil. That is not what Jesus taught here. He put it over on us. But some people think they can’t do anything about the devil’s attacks. The Truth is (and God’s Word is Truth, remember?), the devil is a liar and Jesus, right here in these scriptures we just read, says it is OUR RESPONSIBILITY to bind and loose on earth through the prayer of agreement!

Praise God! Do you see it?

If you don’t know how to use your God given authority over the devil yourself, then find someone who does and get them to pray in agreement WITH YOU and BIND THE DEVIL that has been harassing you! 

THAT is what Jesus is teaching us here! Praise the Lord! Do you see it now?

The prayer of agreement IS for us today! What is Mathew 18:19 doing in the Bible anyway if it is not for us today? If it is not put there, by Jesus, to help us get our needs met? If it is not put right there in black and white, by Jesus Himself, to help us bind any demon or the devil himself that is trying to hinder us in our walk with the Lord.

Is there just to look pretty? Then we can say, “Oh, that is a good scripture, but it’s not for us today?” NO!  It is there FOR US to use – TODAY and EVERYDAY!

Amen!

I want to pray with your right now that your eyes, your spiritual eyes, are able to see how these scriptures all tie together. Amen!

Let’s Pray!

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You can also WATCH these session on our Facebook Playlist at this link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtKWeKtmv-BwgkquBTsSh-GznbmuUp_R2

 We have been studying Intercessory Prayer for the last several days. Now I want to take up the topic of the “Prayer of Agreement.” This is a very special type of prayer that can also assist you in praying for others, as well as yourself.

Let’s look at Matthew 18:19, “Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in Heaven.”

Don’t put any limitations on that scripture. James didn’t. Let’s just take Jesus at His Word. Amen! If Jesus said it, would He lie? NO! Of course not. So, if Jesus would not lie, would He only speak the Truth? YES! Of course!

Well, why don’t you believe what Jesus said here, then?

In order for this scripture to work, there has to be three things present. If one of the three is not present, then it will not work. Do you want to know what they are? 

There MUST be two people in agreement.  Let’s just say that is YOU and ME – that the first requirement. Then, BOTH of us must be on earth.  That is the second requirement!  Pretty simple, right?  It will only work when BOTH of us are alive on this earth. It does not say you can pray to saints in Heaven and ask them to intercede for you or agree with you, etc. Jesus did not say that, did He?

Stop putting words into Jesus mouth. He was very specific every single time He taught on anything. And He was here. There MUST BE TWO PEOPLE – in agreement concerning something AND they had to be alive and still on the earth. PERIOD! Amen!

So this verse fits us exactly, doesn’t it?

“But wait a minute brother Bob, you said there was a third requirement. What is that?”

Oh, I’m so glad you asked!  This is probably THE MOST IMPORTANT requirement of all. We must be agreeing on something that is in accordance with God’s Will and His Word. That is the third requirement. We must ASK according to His Will and His Word.

If you pray with your friend to receive a million dollars and the two of you agree you will receive it by robbing a bank, does that line up with God’s Will and His Word? Of course not. But wait, did two people while they were both alive and on this earth? Yes. Did they put themselves in agreement and expect it to come to pass? Yes. 

But why wouldn’t God allow that to take place as answered prayer since both of you fulfilled the first two requirements? Because it violates His Word…you remember, those pesky things called the Ten Commandments? “Thou shalt not steal…?”

Whatever we ask for, whatever we come alongside and pray in agreement with someone else for, it must line up with the Word of God. Amen. That is the primary requirement to receive answers to your prayers, in any situation.

Tomorrow, we are going to look a little deeper into Mathew 18, as there is a pre-requisite that must be met even prior to what we studied today. But I wanted to capture your attention with the prayer of agreement because there is a lot of misunderstanding with this scripture. So I hope that cleared up what it means for the “Prayer of Agreement” to actually work.

I want to pray, in agreement, for you right now! Amen!

Let’s pray!

Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com. And while you are at the website, download the free resource I have for you… it is free and is called, “How to Start a Christian Podcast.” It will bless you – go and download it today.