Wide Open
Opening the Door to the Supernatural
2/16/05
I. Introduction
As a father and his five-year-old son were headed to McDonald’s one day, they passed a car accident. Usually when they see something terrible like
that, they would say a prayer for those who might be hurt, so the father pointed out the accident and said to his son, "We should pray." Then, from the back seat, he heard this earnest request, "Please, God, don’t let those cars block the entrance to McDonald’s."
Last week we talked about prayer and how to tap into the supernatural and I believe we had an eye opening experience about the power of prayer in our lives. Tonight, I feel impressed to expound on that a little more, so tonight’s message is “Wide Open: Opening the Door to the Supernatural.” I think we’re going to go a little bit deeper into this subject of Spirit-led prayer and the supernatural power that’s available to us.
II. Prayer Opens The Door
Let’s begin with a Scripture we read together last week.
Jeremiah 33:3 MSG 3"Call to me and I will answer you. I’ll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.’
When you call to God, He could tell you those marvelous and wondrous things at the moment you pray. Or He could tell you those things later as a result of you praying.
I love this passage. We would all do well to memorize this one and meditate on it every time we pray. Are there things in your life that you “could never figure out on your own”? I encounter things like that every day and every time it happens, I’m reminded of this Scripture and so I get to praying and sometimes the answer comes at that moment and sometimes it comes later.
You know, when God reveals something to you, that’s supernatural. It’s not like you just remembered something or read something in a book. If it’s a revelation, something coming up from the inside, that’s supernatural.
Let’s talk just a minute about some benefits of Spirit-led prayer.
Praying in the Spirit and the manifestation of God’s power go together.
Bro. Kenneth Hagin said that the quickest way into the supernatural is to pray in tongues.
If you want to see supernatural things happen in your life, pray in tongues and pray being led by the Spirit.
Praying in the Spirit opens the door to the supernatural.
2 Corinthians 6:11-13 MSG I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. 12We didn’t fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way. 13I’m speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!
Praying in the Spirit allows us to pray in line with God’s will.
The Spirit gives us utterance that enables us to pray for what we ought.
Praying in the Spirit enables us to pray for what we don’t know.
Romans 8:26 26In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.
Praying in an unknown tongue is my spirit (by the Holy Spirit) praying.
I Corinthians 14:14-15 AMP 14For if I pray in an [unknown] tongue, my spirit [by the Holy Spirit within me] prays, but my mind is unproductive [it bears no fruit and helps nobody].
15Then what am I to do? I will pray with my spirit [by the Holy Spirit that is within me], but I will also pray [intelligently] with my mind and understanding; I will sing with my spirit [by the Holy Spirit that is within me], but I will sing [intelligently] with my mind and understanding also.
Praying led by the Spirit helps you to prophesy. That’s what Paul was talking about there in verse 15 – praying led by the Spirit. Praying in tongues AND in a known language.
1 Corinthians 14:3 NIV 3But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort.
1 Corinthians 14:31 NIV 31For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged.
Prophecy is supernatural utterance in a known tongue. Prophecy is usually considered to be speaking by inspiration in one’s own thoughts. However, when you speak by inspiration, the Holy Spirit will give you some new thoughts that you’ve never thought of. Sometimes it is a special utterance.
Paul gave us the reason for prophecy – that is to strengthen, encourage and comfort. And then he said, “For you can all prophesy.” And when you’re praying led by the Spirit, that’s exactly what you’ll do. You may be praying all alone or in a group, it doesn’t matter, you can prophesy. You can speak something out of your mouth in English, inspired by the Holy Spirit and it will be something that will strengthen, encourage and comfort you. You may be praying with a group of other people and that same thing happens. Maybe you’re going along praying in the Spirit and then you just hear a word on the inside. Instead of thinking, “what’s that mean?” Go ahead and say it out loud. And then maybe you’ll get another word or a phrase will come together. If no other word comes, go back to praying in the Spirit, then maybe something else will come out.
1 Corinthians 14:12-13 AMP 12So it is with yourselves; since you are so eager and ambitious to possess spiritual endowments and manifestations of the [Holy] Spirit, [concentrate on] striving to excel and to abound [in them] in ways that will build up the church.
13Therefore, the person who speaks in an [unknown] tongue should pray [for the power] to interpret and explain what he says.
Even when you’re praying in tongues in private or in a church setting, ask God to give you the interpretation of what you’re praying. It’s not a literal translation of what you’re praying out in tongues, but an interpretation or a paraphrase of what you’re praying out in the Spirit. Tongues and Interpretation together have the same effect as prophecy.
Here’s another thing about prayer, praying in the Spirit, and praying in English - you have to open your mouth and say the words. Nothing’s going to come on you and make your tongue move and form words. The Holy Spirit’s on you and in you, but you’re the one that has to open your mouth. This is where faith comes in.
Jude 1:20 NIV 20But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.
When you’re praying led by the Spirit, you’re building your faith. It takes faith to open your mouth and speak and expect something to come out. It takes faith to say a word out of your mouth that comes up in your Spirit and expect something else to follow. So your faith will grow as a result of Spirit-led prayer.
You have to learn how to move in these things and open the door to these things before they’ll ever happen for you. And it takes time and practice. At the moment I was baptized in the Holy Spirit in 2000, I wasn’t immediately a professional prayer. I was inexperienced and new at it, but I knew that I had something and I knew I wanted to grow in it. So I soaked up books on the Holy Spirit and prayed in the Spirit every night. But even when I came here to be the Youth Pastor in 2002, I didn’t really know how to pray being led by the Spirit, but as I’ve prayed week in and week out, I’ve grown in it. I remember the first time the Pastors asked me to lead Noon Prayer on a Tuesday back at the old building. I was horrified. I knew how to pray in the Spirit and pray in English, but I wasn’t comfortable really putting the two together and being able to lead others, but I was willing to step out there and do it, and as I stepped out there, God increased my faith and I grew spiritually. I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve led prayer since then, but I can tell you that each time it gets better and I’ve learned how to flow and just move in the things of the Spirit. And you can, too. Praying led by the Spirit is something all Spirit-filled Christians should know how to do and should do on a regular basis.
It’s something that doesn’t just happen to you. It’s something you grow in. It’s something that you get better at with time. But if you don’t do it, you won’t grow in it. The Lord was saying last week that He won’t force you into the supernatural. He won’t push you. You have to step into it. And I promise that when you step into it, you’ll want to keep going further, keep getting more and more revelation from God.
1 Corinthians 14:39 AMP 39So [to conclude], my brethren, earnestly desire and set your hearts on prophesying (on being inspired to preach and teach and to interpret God’s will and purpose), and do not forbid or hinder speaking in [unknown] tongues.
