The Power of Possibility in an Impossible Place

“All thoughts of holiness are God’s; all manner of loving-kindness and tender mercies are His. All weaknesses are made for us so that we might be in a place of absolute helplessness, for when we are weak, than we are strong (2 Cor. 12:10). All divine acquaintances with Him today will put us in the place where we may be the broken, empty vessel ready for Christ’s use.” Smith Wigglesworth

Have you ever felt like you were in an impossible place? Have you ever felt like you were praying for the impossible? There is a power of God that is released in the impossible place. God is looking for faith, and real faith has to do with the impossible. I encourage you to pray impossible prayers – to launch out into the deep and pray God-sized prayers. God loves it when we pray for the impossible, when we believe Him for things that are beyond our abilities. He is looking for those with faith who will still press through in prayer when the going seems absolutely impossible. He is the God of the impossible. Smith Wigglesworth, a well-known man of faith who saw many healed by the power of God, said:

“Get ready, so that you may be touched by His inward earnestness, so that you may see the power of possibility in an impossible place, until you see that God can change you until you will change other things, until you see today that your song will remain in flight.”

For many years we have been involved in training cross-cultural workers to go to the nations. My husband and I lived for years on a ship that was built in 1914 with over 300 young people from 40 different nations. We traveled on that ship all over the world and from nation to nation. We saw God break through impossibilities on a regular basis. We saw stormy seas cease, closed nations open their doors to our visit, critical financial breakthroughs, and multitudes of salvations of people of every language, background, and color. Even though at times we were trembling in our boots, we learned about the God of the impossible and how He requires our faith to step out and believe. We were small, but He was great!

One thing that I always stress with individuals regarding their personal destiny, is to believe God for something that is bigger than what they can personally accomplish. We each must learn to pray for the impossible on a regular basis. We must learn to believe God for something that is greater than anything we can ever humanly achieve. We must let our faith be tested to the very core and pray for something that is bigger than ourselves.

We are earthen vessels but God is mighty and great. We need to raise our view of Him and realize that He is able to do the impossible. It is right in the midst of the impossibility that God will be highly exalted. He loves the impossible place in our lives, because it is here that He will show His supreme greatness.

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us” (2 Corinthians 4:7).
What Happens in the Impossible Place?

“The possibilities of prayer are the possibilities of faith. Prayer and faith are twins. One heart animates them both. Faith is always praying. Prayer is always believing. Faith must have a tongue by which it can speak. Prayer is the tongue of faith. Faith must receive. Prayer must rise and soar. Faith must give prayer the wings to fly and ascend. Prayer must have an audience with God. Faith opens the door, and access and audience are given. Prayer asks. Faith lays its hand on the thing asked for.” E. M. Bounds

Several things happen in our lives when we face the impossible place. We often do not like to be challenged in this way, but God does a deep work within us when we face the impossible with persevering faith. The Apostle Paul learned to delight in the impossible place because he realized that it was there that he experienced the true power of God. This is what happens:

• We lose control – We are divinely sustained by a power greater than ourselves. When we lose our own control then we experience the power of Christ’s control.

  “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me” (2 Corinthians 12:10).

• We become absolutely dependent – We are weak, and He is strong. We become broken vessels, empty and ready for Christ to use.

  “That is why for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:10).

• We are changed – We move into the place where God is on the throne, and it changes us. When we are changed, we can change other things. We lose our identity in Christ, and it is He that is living through us.

  “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

• We cease from our own works – We give place to God’s ways and His work. We become an instrument of noble purposes.

  “In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work” (2 Timothy 2:20-21).

• We rest in faith – God is teaching us to rest in faith and we learn to enter His rest. This means that we cease from our own fleshly works.

  “There remains, then a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from His” (Heb. 4:10).

Do you think it was easy for the Apostle Paul to live in the impossible place? Was it comfortable for him to become weak and lose control? Was it easy for a face-paced and successful apostle to cease from his own works and learn to rest in faith? No! He had to learn to live in this way. In the natural, Paul was strong and very competent. He was a high achiever, a very gifted and capable man. He was intelligent and able to do great things. But God touched him deeply, and he learned to live a crucified life. He counted everything as rubbish that He might gain Christ and be found in Him. He lost control and became absolutely dependent so that God could be in control and do the impossible through Paul.

Perhaps you are like most of us. There are situations in your life that call for the power of God. You are in an impossible place. You may have an impossible, God-sized dream. You can’t do it or see it happen in your own strength. There is the need to pray for something that is absolutely impossible in the natural realm. Don’t give up. God loves the impossible place. Keep on praying for in due season He will show Himself strong on your behalf. He loves to answer impossible prayers of faith. With God all things are possible.

“And Jesus, replying, said to them, ‘Have faith in God constantly. Truly I tell you, whoever says to this mountain, be lifted up and thrown into the sea and does not doubt at all in his heart but believes that what he says will take place, it will be done for him” (Mark 11:22-23, Amplified).

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
International House of Prayer Kansas City (IHOP-KC)
deb@intercessorsarise.org

Praying in the Powerful Name of Jesus

“In that day you will say: ‘Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted’” (Isaiah 12:4).

Praying in the name of Jesus is powerful because when we pray in His name, we pray with His authority. God promises to answer whatever we ask in His name according to His will. This is why we must know the will of God in order to pray with the authority of Jesus. This truth is wonderful because we have the assurance that He hears our prayers. Through prayer in His name we shall make known among the nations what He has done. Have you taken advantage of this glorious promise in your own life circumstances? John 16:23-24 says:

“In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.”

A few years ago my husband, Norm, had an opportunity to test this promise at a movie theater with his nephews. Lord of the Rings was an exciting movie, but right in the middle of it, a teenage boy stopped breathing. Those in the theater could hear the agonizing cry of a father pleading for his son to start breathing. He cried out with all his heart, “David, breathe! David, breathe!” But David just lay there without moving, without breathing.

The movie stopped abruptly, and people in the theater began to fear and panic. The atmosphere was extremely tense. Not knowing exactly what to do, Norm walked right over to where the boy was lying motionless. He then stooped down, and with an act of faith, he laid his hands on David and quietly said, “In the name of Jesus, breathe.” Suddenly David came to life and began to breathe! God had answered believing prayer.

There is power in the name of Jesus when we link our faith with heaven.

On a more humorous note, the news reporter, Paul Harvey, told the story of a three-year-old boy at the grocery store with his mother. She sternly told him before entering the store, “No chocolate chip cookies, so don’t even ask!” In the store she put him in the little child’s seat in the cart, and they wheeled down the aisles. He was quiet until he got to the cookie aisle. He saw those delicious chocolate chip cookies, stood up and said, “Mom, can I have the chocolate chip cookies?” With a strong voice she said to him, “I told you not to even ask. No!”

He sat down. They went down the aisles but later had to come back to the cookie aisle again. He asked for them again. She told him, “Sit down and be quiet. I said no.” Finally arriving at the checkout lane, the little boy knew it was his last chance. He had to do something quick. So he stood up in his seat and shouted as loud as he could, “In the name of Jesus, may I have some chocolate chip cookies?”

Everyone around him began to laugh and applaud that little boy. And because of the generosity of the other shoppers, the little boy and his mother left the grocery store with twenty-three boxes of chocolate chip cookies! He was very happy. God loves to answer persistent prayers that are prayed in the name of Jesus. This may be a funny story but let’s not forget the message. There is an authority attached to using the name of Jesus.

What does it mean to have the authority of Jesus?

Isn’t this something that can revolutionize our faith and give us great boldness and confidence in our prayers? Too often we pray very weak prayers because our eyes are on the impossibilities. In reality the God of the universe, the victorious Savior of man, is standing with us in strength and power. His name is a strong tower and a fortress that all the forces of darkness cannot withstand nor overcome. He can do anything!

“The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe” (Proverbs 18:10).

Let this verse stimulate your faith to believe in the greatness and power of the name of Jesus in your own prayer life. You will touch heaven and change earth with your prayers when you pray in the name of Jesus.

What It Means to Pray in Jesus’ Name

“The name of Jesus is the gateway through which true prayers must enter heaven. His name is the ‘pass key’ that opens heaven’s account.” Eddie and Alice Smith

• We pray with Jesus’ authority – We acknowledge His divinity and Calvary’s victory when we pray with His authority. We draw from His heavenly bank account when we pray in His name.

  “You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it” (John 14:14).

• We pray in His place and for His glory – We pray in accordance with all that He is, and according to His Word and character.

  “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father” (John 14:13).

• We live out our lives and bring forth our requests in His name – He will answer prayer when we live for Him and pray in His name.

  “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17).

• We pray in the power of His name – We pray with faith because we pray in the power of His name. We know and experience in increasing measure the reality of answered prayers prayed in His name.

  “By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong” (Acts 3:16).

• We get His assistance by using His name – Jesus comes to our aid when we call upon His name. He brings salvation and delivers. He sets free through the use of His name.

  “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13).

• We remind ourselves of what His name represents – We claim God’s promises in Scripture and understand the authority inherent in His name.

  “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens” (Psalm 8:1).

• We pray in relationship with Jesus – Our relationship with Jesus grows in strength as we experience His love and faithfulness in prayer. We pray on the basis of our relationship with Him when we pray in His name.

  “Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness” (Psalm 115:1).

Several years ago I spent ten long days at the hospital while my father had open-heart surgery. Four days after heart surgery, he began to bleed internally and had to quickly go in for another operation. In the waiting room I prayed in the name of Jesus that the bleeding would stop, and it did. The operation was successful, and my father just had his 91st birthday!

Does God answer prayers in the name of Jesus? Yes. God had saved my father’s life. The name of Jesus is all-powerful. Let me assure you that the power of the name of Jesus meant much to us at that critical time.

Let us never forget that the name of Jesus is the key that opens heaven’s account. It brings forth His mighty power in our daily lives. As we pray in the coming weeks, let’s remember what it means to pray in His name and realize the authority we have in prayer. We are touching heaven with our prayers.

“And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well” (Mark 16:17-18).

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
International House of Prayer (IHOPKC)
deb@intercessorsarise.org
http://www.intercessorsarise.org