A further thought for us today, coming from the whole understanding of our being seated with Christ in the heavenly realm, is about the effect this can have on how we pray. If we are seated with Him and know that He has all authority and is interceding for His people, then we too can pray with Him from the throne, with the authority He confers onto us as ‘the royal priesthood’ that we now are 1 Peter 2:9.
When Jesus spoke with His disciples about the mystical connection they had with Him He used the picture of the vine and the branches. He spoke of the need to ‘abide’ or ‘remain’ in Him, John 15:5 and, in the course of that dialogue He included the astonishing promise, ‘the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name’ John 15:16.
We all know from experience that this is not about tacking the words ‘in Jesus name’ on the end of our prayers, but what if ‘in the name of Jesus’ is more about praying as Jesus would, or as He is in fact praying for us and others now, in heaven and seated at the Fathers right hand, in His place of victory?
If we are seated with Christ, and are praying as He is praying, I am certain that the Father will indeed give us what we ask ‘in His name’. In other words instead of praying, as it were, like beggars outside the castle gates, hoping for an audience with the King, we pray as children of that same king, seeing ourselves as joint heirs with Christ with access to the Father, because he sees us as His children ‘in Christ’.
This still leaves us with a challenge. How do we know how and what Jesus is praying so that we can pray as He is praying. Well, in this respect, we have a beautiful friend and helper in the Holy Spirit, who Jesus said will ‘ bring glory to me by taking what is mine and making it known to you’ John 16:14. This then is another reason to worship and give thanks as we come to pray so that we will be ‘full of the Spirit’, Ephesians 5:18-20 and led by Him in our praying. (see Romans 8;26,27)
If we take a look at the Lords’ prayer, with these thoughts in mind, the words ‘Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven’ Matthew 6:10, takes on new meaning. Even if we can’t really discern what the Lord is wanting us to pray for in a situation, we can still pray in agreement with Him that He will do what will advance His Kingdom on the earth in that situation, for then we can also say for Yours is the Kingdom and the power and the Glory, Amen.
We can also begin to understand the words Jesus spoke to Peter after His statement about the building of His church. He said, “whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven”. Matthew 16:19. When we pray for something to happen on earth and it is what Jesus is praying and ordaining in heaven, then it will be done.
Today as and when we pray, let us begin by thanking God for seating us with Him in His heavenly realm. Let us then pray from the throne with that perspective, thanking Him that He has won the victory and that we, with Him, can release that victory over situations and people as we pray in faith, helped by the Holy Spirit, confident that we are partnering with the King of Kings who has won the victory, for all time.
