One of the established truths in my life is that God is in control of everything, everywhere, all the time. Another is that He establishes the end of something before He begins it. Taken together, they give us a picture of the Sovereignty of God, The Creator and that everything is being worked out according to His plan. The question this raised in my soul is that since He is in control and has already established the end result, what good do my prayers do?

When I was a young christian, many of my prayers were based on my need or the needs of those around me. “God please heal my sister, etc.” As I began to learn more about the things of God and the “authority of a believer,” my prayers changed to something like, “Satan I command you to take your hands off my sister in Jesus Name!” Both were valid prayers, offered from my heart and desiring to see God move on my sister’s behalf.

Today I have a deeper relationship with God as I recognize that He is alive in me and I am alive in Him. The more I hear His words and understand the desires of His heart, the better I can align my prayers with His desires. I hear The Holy Spirit whisper to my spirit – “I want to encourage that man.” Then I pray for God to please give me words of encouragement for that man and speak them out believing they will be what that man needs to hear. Can you see how my prayers have changed as I have grown to know the Lord better?

So back to the balance between God’s Sovereignty and my prayers. I want to share something that God told me in my journal time because it answers this perfectly.

Yes, I Am in control and the end has been established from the beginning, but you are not yet at the place of the end and where you are walking, your Father requires your participation.

Can you see that because we exist in a thing called time, a place has been made for us to be part of what The Father is doing? We have a role to play as we discern the Father’s desires and step into that place as His echo, expecting to see spiritual decrees established in the natural world we live in. This is a place of great blessing for us. It’s kind of like a mentorship where you practice skills needed for a new job. This on-site training is part of our maturation process as we learn how to administer the Kingdom of God in the Earth.

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. James 5:16

In Christ, we have the ability to do whatever he directs us to do. That may seem obvious, but when he presents something that seems too big for us to do, our soul often shrinks from the attempt. “I can’t do that!” Actually, you aren’t meant to by yourself. There is a way for your soul to be open to your spirit’s input so that God’s grace flows through you to accomplish what He asks you to do. When you pray from that place, great things happen because you are no longer relying on your own ability to accomplish anything.

This is what we are learning to walk in and it is transforming our relationships with each other and with God as we learn to walk with Him. It’s part of becoming a mature child of God but it takes practice because we are used to approaching life from our soulish perspective. We have to realize that we are spirit people and that changes how we walk with God and what He will do through us. This is the start of a whole new dimension of prayer because it releases spiritual abilities as we access the mind of Christ within us. Jesus said “The Father and I are One” and that they (we) may be one in them (John 17:21). This is how we learn to pray in accordance with God’s Sovereignty for effective results.