Lesson 08 — The Power of Strategic-Level Praying

Cultivating Prayer that Counts!

Foundational Scripture:
And the gospel must first be preached to all nations [ethnos]. — Mark 13:10 (NIV)

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world [oikoumene] as a testimony to all nations [ethnos], and then the end will come. — Matthew 24:14 (NIV)

It is true that I am an ordinary, weak human being, but I don’t use human plans and methods to win my battles. I use God’s mighty weapons, not those made by men, to knock down the devil’s strongholds. These weapons can break down every proud argument against God and every wall that can be built to keep men from finding him. With these weapons I can capture rebels and bring them back to God and change them into men whose hearts’ desire is obedience to Christ. — 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (TLB)

Definitions:

“Stronghold” (Ochuroma): “To fortify through holding”
Strong: _________
Hold: _______

A Stronghold is a “power grip!” 

Foundational Scripture:
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. — 2 Corinthians 4:3-6 (NIV)

No one can enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up [NKJV: “binds”] the strong man. — Mark 3:27 (NIV)

The Why of Our Warfare:
In a Word: ________
Only Two Things Are Eternal: God’s Word and Man’s Soul

Three Unalterable Convictions (The “Why” of the EHC Ministry!)

1. The Great Commission must be taken ___________.

Scripture:
He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” — Mark 16:15 (NIV)

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. — Matthew 28:19 (NIV)

Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ. — Acts 5:42 (NIV) 

2. Without _________ the task is ___________________

Scripture:
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” — John 17:20-23 (NIV)

3. Prayer will ___________ every ______________ that stands in the way!

Scripture:
And Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.” — Mark 11:22-23 (NKJV)

And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. — Acts 4:31 (NKJV) 

“Strategic-Level” Defined:
“Strategic”: That which counts the most.
“Level”: The place or position of a person, object or concept in relation to another.

1. Prayer that ___________ the most!
2. Prayer that takes us to another __________!
3. Prayer that confronts the __________________!
4. Prayer that concerns the _____________!
5. Prayer that is ________________ in nature!

Note: The Reason Joshua Set up 12 Stones after Crossing the Jordan…

Scripture:
He did this so all the nations of the earth might know that the LORD’s hand is powerful, and so you might fear the LORD your God forever. — Joshua 4:24 (NLT)

Joshua Was a Strategic Thinker!

Seven Characteristics of Strategic-Level Prayer

1. Strategic-level prayer is _______________ prayer.
Keyword: _______________
A Spirit of _______________

Scripture:
I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. — Luke 10:19 (NIV)

When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases… — Luke 9:1 (NIV)

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. — Hebrews 4:16 (NIV)

2. Strategic-level prayer is ________________ prayer.
Keyword: __________________
A Spirit of _______________

Scripture:
The Lord is a man of war. — Exodus 15:3 (KJV)

NIV: The LORD is a warrior; the Lord is his name.

Scripture:
I urge you brothers by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. — Romans 15:30 (NIV)

The Message: …Pray strenuously with and for me… that I will be delivered…

Scripture:
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. — James 4:7-8 (NIV)

3. Strategic-level prayer is _______________ prayer.
Keyword: __________
A Spirit of ___________________

Scripture:
The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. — James 5:16 (KJV)

Amplified Version: [The fervent prayer of a righteous person is] dynamic in its working.

Scripture:
Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day… And He [the Man] said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he [Jacob] said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” — Genesis 32:24, 26 (NKJV)

4. Strategic-level prayer is __________________ prayer.
Keyword: ________________
A Spirit of ________________

Scripture:
“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.” — Mark 11:22-23 (NIV)

Elijah’s Prayer at Mt. Carmel:
Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to you again. Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. — 1 Kings 18:37-38 (NKJV)

5. Strategic-level prayer is ___________________ prayer.
Key Word: _____________
A Spirit of _____________

Scripture:
And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive. — Matthew 21:22 (KJV)

NIV: If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.

6. Strategic-level prayer is _______________ prayer.
Keyword: __________
A Spirit of ___________

Voices from the Past:
“Vision is the art of seeing things invisible.” — Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels

Scripture:
Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “Now, I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.” — Jeremiah 1:9-10 (NIV)

NKJV: “…to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.”

Scripture:
As it is written: “I have made you [Abraham] a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were. — Romans 4:17 (NIV)

KJV: “God… quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.”

Scripture:
By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. — Hebrews 11:3 (NKJV)

Someone has wisely said… “Faith is reaching into nowhere, grabbing hold of nothing, and hanging on until it becomes something!”

7. Strategic-level prayer is _______________ prayer.
Keyword: ________________
A Spirit of ______________

Scripture:
And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him… “salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” — Revelation 12:7-12 (NIV)

Note: “…in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.” — Revelation 10:7 (NIV)

Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” — Revelation 11:15 (NKJV)

Case Studies:
The Case of Cam!
The Fall of the Wall!
The Supernatural Stone!