Success Comes through God's Provision in Prayer
【Successful Heavenly Enterprise】Series 9
Translated by Lin Yu
▲Prayer opens the floodgates of God’s blessings, allowing heaven’s grace and resources to be released.
Therefore, you should pray like this:
⋯⋯May your kingdom come; may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (Refer to Matthew 6:9-10)
the power of prayer
How can you bring the Kingdom of Heaven into your corporate mission? In previous articles in this series, we examined the need for a paradigm shift; discussed the need to live out divine love, obedience, and honor to God and man in order to be in a successful position; and examined how to carry out Kingdom missions in God's way. In this article, we will focus on how to use the power of prayer to release the grace and resources of heaven to help you complete your heavenly mission on earth.
Face it calmly! If you don’t spend more time in prayer, you are simply failing to see the success you expect. It is like many people praying, but only seeing some answers. It seems that prayer is unpredictable and there are no rules to follow. What you are looking for is a prayer life that is both predictable and powerful, like the prophet Elijah:
“Elijah was a man of the same nature as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not fall on the earth for three years and six months. He prayed again, and it rained from heaven, and the earth produced its crops.” ( James 5:17-18)
After reading the above verses, you will say to yourself, “Hire this man!” Who wouldn’t want Elijah working for them? No matter how much you pay him it's worth it. But where to find Elijah? To be honest, you don’t have to look too hard. As Christians, we are called to walk in the power of Elijah. The promise in the gospel is: if you abide in the Lord, you can draw on this power. What we need is to be in Him and learn how to apply the power of Christ to our daily situations. After all, this is the calling of Christians - to be little Christs.
There have been many books written about prayer. This article is to summarize this multi-faceted topic from the perspective of bringing the Kingdom of Heaven into the enterprise. Let’s talk about the different forms of prayer and why we pray, who prays, what we pray for, and even why we need to pray. Prayer is not optional.We are warriors in the battle of the kingdom of heaven. Prayer is the best weapon to face the enemy. It is the way to use the resources of the kingdom of heaven to accomplish the tasks of the kingdom of heaven and expand the kingdom of heaven on earth. Make up your mind today to be a precise sniper and make prayer a weapon in your personal life and your mission in heaven.
Jesus said:"It is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life." (John 6:63)The words of Jesus are spirit and life, which means that the words we speak are also spirit. Since words carry the power of life and death and also have spiritual power to bring abundant life from God into any situation, when we pray, we release spiritual energy into the kingdom of heaven to make things happen.
RA Torrey, the famous evangelist, pastor, and former superintendent of Moody Bible Institute, wrote this definition of prayer:
Prayer is the key to God’s storehouse of infinite grace and power. Everything God is and has can be used in prayer. We must use this key. Prayer can do everything God can do; with God all things are possible, and so does prayer. No one can compete with a man who knows how to pray, who truly prays, and who meets all the requirements of victorious prayer. Almighty God acts for him and through him.("The Power of Prayer", Chinese temporary translation)
Everything we need to fulfill our mission in heaven is already there. Prayer is the mechanism that releases supply at the right time.
▲We are warriors in spiritual warfare, and prayer is the best weapon to face the enemy.
different forms of prayer
Prayer comes in many forms, and here are a few that Christian entrepreneurs should be familiar with and use.
The prayer of supplication——
This is the most common prayer and is also the most commonly mentioned prayer in the Bible, such as the Lord's Prayer for daily bread supply. Philippians 4:6 reminds:“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”
The prayer of supplication is like a husband and wife asking each other for help; or two workers working together to help each other. Whatever you need, just ask and trust that Heavenly Father will provide it because He loves you.
Declared Prayer—
The most common part of Jesus' ministry was proclaimed prayer, especially when performing miracles. The words Jesus spoke when he raised people from the dead three times were all commands with authority, including "Young man, I say to you, stand up" in Luke 7; "Daughter, I say to you, I say to you, stand up" in Mark 5. Arise"; "Lazarus came out" in John 11. Even though the Lord Jesus prayed in supplication before resurrecting Lazarus, please note: when he resurrected people, Jesus was not supplicating—what came out of His mouth was a declaration.
I like to combine petition with declaration; ask the Lord for what I need first, and then declare the Kingdom provision into my life. I have found that praying like this is very effective whether it is for healing or finances.
Praying with one accord——
Matthew 18:19, 20 teaches this:“Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For wherever two or three come together in my name, there I am among them."
Prayer for unity between husband and wife is very powerful.If your spouse is a business owner, I encourage you to pray together every day for each other, your marriage, your health, your family, your finances, and your business. It only takes 15 minutes to see results quickly. Later, we will mention working with corporate intercessors, which is another form of united prayer.
Prophetic Prayer—
The Holy Spirit will reveal to us how to pray for a particular situation.This revelation may come in the form of a vision, a dream, a prophetic word, a personal conscience, or His still small voice, etc. A prophetic act is a prophetic prayer; the battle of Jericho recorded in Joshua 6 is a good example. Jehovah God instructed Israel to quietly march around the city for six days, and then circle the city seven times on the seventh day, and then let out a cry of victory. God told them that this prophetic act would bring down the walls of their enemies.
Prayer in the Holy Spirit—
Since the Holy Spirit is indwelling, He knows our needs; there is no better Comforter to pray for us. Having the Holy Spirit praying before God the Father and having Jesus interceding gives us an absolute advantage.
There are different theological views on the baptism of the Holy Spirit and praying in tongues. If you have not yet received the heavenly prayer language, I would suggest seeking a pastor who is particularly gifted in this area, who can help people receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and release the heavenly prayer language.
Fasting prayer -
When all else fails, fasting can bring breakthroughs. In Mark 9, the disciples asked why they could not drive out the demons. Jesus’ answer was, “Such demons cannot come out except by fasting and praying.” Someone once said that fasting does not change God; It's about changing us. Fasting strengthens our spirit and crucifies our flesh. Fasting reduces doubt and unbelief while greatly increasing faith. Fasting allows us to hear the voice of the Lord more clearly and opens up more spiritual dreams and visions.
▲When two or three people gather together in one accord, with the Lord Jesus among them, Heavenly Father also fulfills their prayers.
answered prayer
Gary and Shuxi are a young couple. The husband is successful in real estate investing and the wife runs her own graphic design company. They wanted children, but God never gave them. Shuxi had several miscarriages, and she received prayers for healing from miscarriages from an internationally renowned pastor. But experienced loss again.
God then spoke to a corporate intercessor who was familiar with Gary and Shuxi, and gave clear instructions on how to pray for her. He also announced that Shuxi was destined to be a spiritual mother to everyone and to have children of her own. The intercessor also announced that this time next year, her first child would be born.
The couple accepted and believed this prophetic prayer, and 11 months later, her first child was born. After that, she had two more children and became a spiritual mother to many people. Through this experience of faith, she became a personal and business coach and helped many people. This is an example of prophetic prayer. Unless inspired by the Holy Spirit, we generally cannot copy or borrow the prophetic prayers of others.
Joel and Ellie own a small company with 30 employees. They had a lot of debt and employee problems. To make matters worse, they are using their homes as collateral for business loans.
One day they received a revelation: they were no longer controlled by debt; they had to crush it under their feet. As children of God, Jesus' death freed them from the curse of debt. Of course, there are still bills and invoices piled on the table, but they know: Don’t go by sight when it comes to finances, but walk by faith.
Joel and Ellie decided to pray about their debt through prophetic action: they laid the bills on the floor of their office and sang and danced about overcoming the debt. They declare that they will be freed from the bondage of debt; they give thanks and praise: the turnover will increase and the financial situation will improve, so that all debts can be paid off. Their corporate intercessors also joined in prayer.
Within a year, they saw sales and profits increase, and their existing employee problems disappeared. Not only that, they can gradually repay their debts and no longer need to use their houses as collateral. Within two years, financial conditions continued to improve enough to purchase the building used by the company. New clients kept coming, and the Lord brought in key people to help them get to the next level. Over the next six years, the company's turnover tripled. As the couple continued to walk with the Lord and pray with intercessors, the business continued to grow.
It's easy to give thanks and praise after you start seeing success in your business; it doesn't take faith. And without faith one cannot please God.Faith enables us to speak the words of life to the company under the pressure of debt, and to thank and praise God, as if the company has come back to life.
Crowe and Barty owned a construction company and hired corporate intercessors to pray for the company. They bid on a construction project and got the contract, only the price of the rebar soared between bidding and signing. The gap between the bid price and the market price means that not only is the project unprofitable, it may also lose money before construction even starts.
Corporate intercessors began to pray for this project and sought the Lord’s wisdom on how to deal with it: Should we fulfill the contract even if we lose money? Give up this project? Or are there other possible solutions? God gave this revelation—declaring that the price of steel bars would fall below the contract price. The Crows and the company's management began to pray for the price of steel bars to fall to the contract price. Within two weeks, they found another steel bar supplier with a price below the market price, which was very close to the contract price. In the end, the project is completed and even profitable.
Another example of a business working with intercessors is a client of Business His Way Consulting. The company is about to graduate from the U.S. Small Business Association (SBA) 8(a)Notes The project is completed. If you fail to get responses from three contracts before the project is completed, you will lose your qualification to sign the project.
While waiting anxiously, I reminded the client: We have prayed to get the contract before closing, but the more important thing is to continue to focus on the Lord Jesus rather than relying on SBA's supply. Whether we get an 8(a) contract or not, we must believe that the Lord alone is our provider; He will provide in His way and time.
Together we fast in the Holy Spirit and pray in petitions, proclamations, and prophecies. In the end, prayer and faith are rewarded. Customer in 8(a)Notes The day before graduation, I got all three contracts.
God answers prayer in His way and timing, exceeding what we ask or imagine.
Exceeds all expectations and expectations
I have been blessed to witness many answers to prayers over the years. Some results are seen immediately, while others take years to achieve. Some are mundane, such as being cured of a headache or a cold, hiring the right staff, or receiving payment for goods so that wages can be paid. Some are almost miraculous, Like businesses being turned around, relationships being repaired, and infertile couples getting children.
God will definitely answer our prayers, but not necessarily in the way or at the time we want. We may even miss God’s response because what we get is different from what we expect. He will not always give us what we want, but He will certainly provide what we need.This is my own experience.
When I was in my thirties, I received the call to focus my ministry in the corporate world. The prayer at that time was to run 15 companies and then serve the kingdom of God with generous giving. I will operate with the mentality of Christ and let the world know that following the Lord closely can lead to success.
Thirty years later, I don’t even have a company. But what God gave me was another idea: to set up a Christian management consulting company to teach how to use biblical principles, powerful prayer, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit to make businesses successful. I don't have my own company, but I can combine the power of heavenly prayer with worldly business knowledge and influence 15 business leaders around the world.
This was not what I wanted, but it was far better than what I asked for. If God gave me what I asked for in prayer, I would only see myself and the company, but not help others. When He gives me the opportunity to help others, I find the passion that comes from my heart—God’s response is beyond what I asked for or imagined.
When the answer God gives is different from what you expected, please believe that the answer He gives will be the best. Only He knows what is best for us; His best is better than anything we ask or think.
In fact, the most precious answer to prayer is to gain more of the Lord Himself. He gave himself up for us, which is the best thing. Wouldn’t he be more willing to reward us with everything related to goodness and righteousness? He will give us everything we need to fulfill our mission in heaven; He will provide. Are you willing to invite Him in prayer?
Oswald Chambers, author of My Utmost for His Highest, once said:
We tend to think of prayer as a last resort, but God wants prayer to be our first line of defense. We pray when we can’t do anything, but God wants us to pray before we do anything. Most of us would rather spend our time doing things that will bring immediate results than waiting for God to work things out in His good timing, because God’s “good timing” rarely coincides with ours.
In the next article, let us take a look at how to receive wisdom, understanding, and insight from the Lord Jesus so that we can know what to do, when to do it, and how to do it in the Kingdom of Heaven.
What is your own prayer experience? Want to know more about how to help your business run through prayer? Welcome to contact me: Jeff@BusinessHisWay.biz.
Note:The Minority Small Business and Capital Ownership Development Program, commonly known as the 8(a) program, is a training, technical assistance, and specific contract opportunity provided by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Eligibility for the 8(a) program is generally limited to small business owners who are socioeconomically disadvantaged, U.S. citizens or residents of good character, and who demonstrate potential for success. (source:https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R44844.pdf)
Jeff Ahern, a former naval officer, has provided consulting services on management and business process improvement for Fortune 500 companies and government departments for more than 20 years; he is the author of "Kingdom Business Success" (Chinese temporary translation). Co-founder of Sozo Services, a spiritual consulting firm that assists corporate leaders in achieving personal and corporate goals using Bible-based, Holy Spirit-guided solutions.