Posted on October 30, 2016 by Stephen Nielsen
Since I define prayer as communication with God, I think we should regard prayer as something we will do forever. And since believers will always be together, communicating with God together, I think we will always be involved in united prayer.
1. Jesus Christ, the one who makes united prayer possible, will always be our Savior and our High Priest. He is now and forever our High Priest, and He forever opens the door of friendship to God (Heb. 7:24-25). He will constantly, forever testify to the Father that He died for our sins and saved us. Therefore, His blood works continually to keep us saved and to keep us reconciled to God.
Since all believers are forever saved, we are forever united to Christ and to each other. We are His body and He is the head. We will never be separated from Him.
One of the duties of a priest is to intercede for his people. Christ is our High Priest and He continues to intercede for us. And we are also priests. From the moment God saved us and brought us into His family He made us priests like His Son (1 Pt. 2:9; Rev. 5:10). We who are in His family and who are part of Christ’s body are a kingdom of priests. He is the High Priest over us and we are His little priests; we all take on the ministry of intersession and we all pray together as prayer partners in God’s kingdom.
As believers in Christ and as His partners in prayer we share all things with Him. We are now sharing His sufferings, and to some extent we are also sharing His new resurrected life. Soon, in heaven, we will leave all our suffering behind. We will then experience the new life with Him in a much fuller way, which will also include the exalted life where we will reign with Him forever (Rev. 5:10).
2. The Holy Spirit will always be with us as our comforter and intercessor. He now and forever exists as our intercessor, guiding us in our life and in our prayers. He will always be with us to show us how to live and how to pray. He is the one who will forever keep us united to the Father and the Son and to each other. Likewise, He keeps our prayers united so that we are all praying the will of God (Rom. 8:27) and according to what Jesus Himself is praying.
3. Believers that are united in prayer abide in Christ. United prayer exists because believers are united. And believers are united because they abide in Christ as a branch abides in a vine (Jn. 15). This is true now and it will always be true. There will never be an occurrence when we decide not to abide in Him and yet still be able to pray in unity. United prayer will always require our full obedience and dependence on God—an obedience that is of a right heart, out of love. Be assured that this in fact is how it will be. Never will there be a moment in heaven when we do not obey God from a loving heart, and therefore that we will not be united with Him. The absence of sin and the promises of God guarantee it.
God has promised us through His servant Paul (in 1 Corinthians 15:51-54) that when Jesus comes to get us “we shall all be changed” and “death is swallowed up in victory.” Likewise, in Revelation 21:4, God promised us through His servant John, “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Likewise, since there will be no more pain, there will be no more sin; for pain and death comes as the result of sin (Rom. 6:23).
We also read in 1 John 3:2 that when Christ is revealed to us (when we see Him) we shall be like Him. If this doesn’t indicate our unity with God I don’t know what does. The prayer of Jesus for us, in John 17:21, will finely be fully and completely answered—“that they may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us…”
What a great testimony this will be to the angels and also to those on the earth during the millennium: to see us in such grand unity; to see all of us, thousands of us looking like Christ. Yes, we will be like Him. What a marvelous thing that will be!
Posted on October 22, 2016 by Stephen Nielsen
By purpose I mean the direction that prayer should take; that is, what things God has designed for us to pray about. The purposes of prayer has been set forth for us in the Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6:9-13). Some of the purposes will endure forever, but some will be discontinued after we are glorified—because they have to do with our present condition; namely prayer for forgiveness of sin, and for protection and deliverance from evil.
As for the purposes of prayer that will remain the same in heaven, the obvious purpose of prayer is for our daily needs. We will always be dependent on God for everything, and so we will need to pray about everything—with rejoicing and thanksgiving (1 Thess. 5:16). We will not have the same needs in heaven as we do now, but we will still have desires. We will not have trouble and pain and sorrow to pray about as we do now. And we will not have to pray for our protection and deliverance from evil, and to be forgiven of sins as we do now (Matt. 6:12-13). All these things will be over and done with. But there still will be much to pray about. Everything we do we will talk to God about. Every decision will be prayed about—where to go, what to do, who to talk to. Every desire I have for something I will ask Him about and He will immediately give those things to me (Jn. 16:24; Is. 65:24)—things I want to see, things I want to taste and eat, things I want to experience and explore, places I want to travel to. Of course God always wants us to be involved in His work and His kingdom. He will talk to me about that, and I will talk to Him and ask Him many things about what He wants me to do and what His will is. (Read how Moses and Elijah, who were in heaven at the time, discussed with Jesus His departure, Luke 9:30-31.)
The purpose of prayer is not just for daily needs and desires. It is also for the praise and worship of God; it is for His glory and kingdom and will. This higher purpose is designed to take precedence over and to influence all our daily needs and desires so that all we pray about (every desire, every decision) is for His glory and according to His will. There are three different points of prayer that Jesus has already outlined for us (in Matthew 6:9-10) that falls under this higher purpose of prayer: (1) “Hallowed be Your name;” (2) “Your kingdom come;” and (3) “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
In the first point of prayer, “Hallowed be Your name,” we are asking God to show Himself to us so that we may lift Him up and glorify Him. For example, we may pray, “Lord, let me see who You are and what You have done so that I can tell You how great You are and how awesome You are. Lord, You are so very holy. I desire that all people treat You as You are—holy. I desire that all people would praise You. Help me treat You holy. Show me how to see You and treat You as holy and perfect. Lord I worship You.”
Corresponding to the second point, “Your kingdom come,” we should and will pray something like this: “Lord, because You are so holy and so great, we desire to be part of Your kingdom and to experience all the great plans You have for us. Lord, we commit ourselves to You. We want You to reign and rule over us as King. Guide us and rule over us so that we may see Your holiness and be holy as You are. We are Your willing servants.”
That is the spiritual part of prayer. As for the physical meaning, we now pray that Jesus will come soon bodily to rule and reign on this earth, to make all things right. Of course in heaven our prayers will be a bit different. We will pray, “Thank You for coming to us and for making all things new and better.”
Corresponding to the third point, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” now we pray for our salvation and sanctification and for everything to be done on earth according to His will, as it is being done in heaven. When we get to heaven, of course, all things will be done and will be going according to His will; and so we won’t need to pray about it, but I can imagine we will be thanking Him for eternity—for saving us and for making us holy, without sin. But I suppose there is one thing we will pray about—that we will come to know Him better and better, that we will learn more and more of His will every day for eternity. This will be our growing desire, and of course it is exactly what will happen.
Posted on October 11, 2016 by Stephen Nielsen
By means I mean the instrument, or the way, by which prayer comes to us. The means of prayer is the Holy Spirit; and that will never change. The Holy Spirit will always be the means (the instrument) of our prayers. He will forever give us access to God’s throne; He will forever give us confidence to approach Him; and He will forever make our prayers acceptable to Him.
At this present time, because of our sinful condition, we are weak in prayer, and so we especially need the Holy Spirit to help us pray. He gives us access to God by reason of Christ’s shed blood for us. That is, if we have received Him and His blood has been applied to our heart, the Spirit will lead us to God’s throne (Rom. 5:2; Heb. 4:16).
If for some reason we think that God may not accept us, that we are not worthy and don’t feel confident to approach Him, the Spirit is always with us to intercede for us and give us confidence. Romans 8:16-17 tells us that “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ…”
As we begin to pray, if we think that we may not have all the right words, He helps us with that too. Romans 8:26 says, “…The Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”
In heaven, the Holy Spirit will still be our means of prayer. We will always be fully dependent on Him for our strength in prayer. He will forever give us access to God based on Christ’s shed blood for us; He will forever give us confidence to approach Him as He perpetually bears witness to us that we are His children; and He will forever make our prayers acceptable to God—not only because He will have taken away our sins, but also because He will remain our help in pray. That is, He will forever be praying in us and through us.
But how does all this work? How does the Holy Spirit now help us, and how will He continue in heaven to help us pray so that our prayers are answered? Here are two related ideas:
1. He helps us pray in Jesus name (according to God’s will) by uniting us to the Spirit of the Father and the Son. Here the idea is that the Holy Spirit unites our spirit with the Spirit of the Father and the Son so that we become one with Them and get to know Them just as They (the Father and the Son) are one with each other and know each other. Hence, when we receive the Spirit of the Father we will get to know the Father’s heart and all the plans He has for us. And when we become one with the Son we will experience His great love for us and for the Father. And we will learn how to pray as He prayed—to have that humble, perfect attitude in prayer that He has toward His Father. Moreover, when we become one in spirit with the Father and Son we will take on God’s identity; we will therefore pray in His name, and receive from Him whatever we desire. That is because our desires will be the same as His desires (Jn. 14:10-14 and 17:20-23).
2. He brings us to God’s Word and He helps us abide in Him through His Word. Our abiding in Him is how the Spirit gets us involved in the process of prayer, and the way He helps us to pray in unity with the Father and the Son. It is the way we get to know God and the way we are able to pray according to His will and in Jesus name.
Here is the process: first the Spirit gets our attention by creating a desire in our heart for God and His Word. He will then point out to us something in the Word that He wants us to ponder and think about. As we meditate on that passage He will open it up to us and help us to understand it. Through it all, He will help us to know God and what His will is for us.
The more we meditate on His Word and come to understand it and obey it, the more the Holy Spirit renews our mind so that our whole person and behavior is transformed into a new person—like Christ (Rom. 12:1-2). When we are being transformed (or made to be more like Christ) this is when the Holy Spirit unifies us with the Father and the Son and when we come to know God’s will (Rom. 12:2).
The apostle John has described (in John 15) the result of our transformation as bearing fruit. And the fruit that we bear is the answers to our prayers (Jn. 15:16). In John 15:7-8 it says, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit…” Here, in John 15, John understands that when we abide in God’s Word we are also in a sense praying. And the result of this abiding prayer is that prayers are answered—which is the fruit.
Posted on September 30, 2016 by Stephen Nielsen
I suppose the greatest difference in our prayers will be the absence of confession of sins, and the absence of praying for deliverance and forgiveness. None of those prayers will any longer be necessary. Revelation 21:4 says, “‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.’”
Randy Alcorn explains: “Since ‘the wages of sin is death’ (Romans 6:23), the promise of no more death is a promise of no more sin. Those who will never die can never sin, since sinners always die. Sin causes mourning, crying, and pain. If those will never occur again, then sin can never occur again.”
In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul explains that because of Christ’s death for us on the cross, when our sinful body dies and we are resurrected to a new life, “death is swallowed up in victory.” In verses 56 and 57 he says, “The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Yes, Jesus died for our sins, and when we received Him He made us righteous in Him. Now when I say that we are righteous in Him, I don’t mean that there is any part of us now that is righteous—without sin. What I mean is that we are now, as Christians, able to carry within us Christ’s righteousness—and so we say that we are righteous in Christ. Also, being in Christ, our inner self (our soul) is being renewed day by day; we are becoming more like Him. And when we see Him, when we look into His face, He will wipe all our sins away from us, and we will be righteous through and through (2 Cor. 4:16-5:8). And because of our righteousness in Christ we will be just like God, not able to sin.
Alcorn states, “We’ll have the very righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21). We won’t sin in Heaven for the same reason God doesn’t. He cannot sin. Our eternal inability to sin has been purchased by Christ’s blood.”
Likewise, 1 Corinthians 15:52 tells us that we will be incorruptible—immune to corruption. There won’t be the slightest possibility of being corrupted by sin or even tempted by sin. In fact, God has prepared a place for all sinners, a place outside the gates of heaven, a place called the lake of fire. All sinners and all sin and death will be cast into this place and will exist there forever. Sin and death will never be allowed to enter heaven (Rev. 21:8, 27; 22:15). Hence, we will never have to confess a single sin in prayer.
But I can’t say that we won’t have any memory of our sins. God may preserve the memory of our sins so that we can better praise Him for saving us. Since we will be completely righteous like God, we won’t ever be tempted to sin. We need not worry about that. But I think God may allow us to forever remember the ugliness of our sins and the trouble and pain it has caused us so that we will always have a fresh memory of His grace, of the great sacrifice of His love. Thus whenever we recall the pain of sin, the memory of His sacrificial death will rush in to overwhelm our minds with gratefulness. And so we will over and over again praise Jesus for dying for us and for delivering us from hell.
The nature of praise and thanksgiving won’t ever change; however, the frequency of our praise will greatly change. Our thoughts and conversational prayers will be full of praise and gratitude. In everything we do—in our work and play—we will worship Him. And everything on the new earth and in the universe will prompt us to praise Him.
We will not only praise Him individually as we go about our daily activities (and as we enjoy our daily adventures), we will also have special times when hundreds and thousands of us gather together to sing and praise Him. Scripture indicates that both during the millennial reign of Christ and in heaven, great multitudes will be gathered together for the single purpose of singing to Him and praising Him. What a wonderful time that will be! (Praise in the millennium: Is. 2:3; 66:23; Zech. 8:21, 22; 14:16-19; Ps. 86:9; 22:27. Praise in heaven: Rev. 5:13-14; 7:9-12)
The main thing about our prayers of petition that will change is that we will no longer need to pray with persistence and earnestness. In fact, in heaven prayers will be answered immediately, even before we ask. In Isaiah 65:24 it says, “‘It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.’”
This will be true of course because we will be righteous and without sin. We will be perfectly abiding in Christ. Hence, the promise in John 15:7 will have its ultimate fulfillment—“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”
Now when we pray, prayers take time to be answered, because Satan is so entrenched in this world, and our faith is so weak. It takes time to build up our prayers and our faith.
But in heaven our hearts will always be soft toward God, our faith will always be strong, and Satan will nowhere be found. Therefore, time will never be a factor. Our desires will always be instantly met. Whenever we have a desire for anything, God will instantly, gladly provide it for us. We won’t ever have to verbally ask for it. As soon as we have the thought (with the desire) that we want something, it will be ours.
Posted on September 17, 2016 by Stephen Nielsen
Praise will always be part of our prayers—as we express our love, honor, and reverence for God. Praise begins from the Holy Spirit. He causes us to praise Him. This is true for us now and it will be true for eternity. Now of course our praise is limited because we don’t always allow God to fill us and control us. But in heaven we will always be full of His Spirit, and therefore full of praise to God.
When the Spirit moves us to praise Him, I believe He most often works in conjunction with the Word. That is, He will move us to meditate on His Word; and then, as we see wonderful things in His Word He will cause us to praise Him. This phenomenon occurs of course in a limited way now, but in heaven the Word will be unrestricted and will flow freely through our mind and heart, causing us to perpetually see His glory and praise Him.
Thanksgiving is slightly different than praise. Praise is always directed to God and is intended to give honor to God for who He is and for all His works. Thanksgiving is also intended to give honor to God but is more personal. When we thank Him in prayer we usually thank Him for what He has done for us personally and for our friends. It is expressing our gratefulness to Him.
And there is a great benefit to this part of prayer; for when we express our thanksgiving to God it produces in us evidence (confirmation) that we are filled with His Spirit. And by that evidence we are made confident in Him—so that we are always ready and prepared to worship Him.
Now, in this earthly body, our thankfulness is sadly lacking. But when we receive our glorified bodies, instantly our spirit will change. Our attitude will be full of gratitude. Yes, this will be our wonderful demeanor forever; we will take great joy and pleasure in thanking Him for everything. There will never again be a selfish, ungrateful moment. We will forever be overwhelmed with gratefulness for His wonderful love and care for us.
The asking part of prayer is very different than praise and thanksgiving in that it does not seek to give anything to God, but rather seeks to receive from God. This does not suggest, however, that our petitions are disconnected from the other parts of prayer. In fact, all three parts of prayer are vitally connected. True prayers of petition are always made and supported “with thanksgiving” (Phil. 4:6) and have the flavor of praise. When we ask for anything it will (or should) always be with the attitude of gratitude and “to the praise of His glory” (Eph. 1:12, 14).
Asking God for things (with thanksgiving and praise) will always be a part of prayer, for it is the nature of petition to express our dependence on Him—as we will always be dependent on Him for everything, as a branch that grows from a vine. Moreover our eternal existence depends on Him; our lives will always flow from His life. Therefore, the principle of asking and abiding will never ever go away. It is a kingdom principle that is eternal (Jn. 15:5-7).
But our asking, our being dependent on Him will never be a drudgery; we will never be bitter against Him or wish we were autonomous (a god). Some may think, as I once did, that we will be as gods, with no needs and no dependence on anyone—that God will make us just like Him. But that will not be the case. Though we will always have His nature and character, we will never be divine; we will never be without dependence. And that I’m sure will suit us fine. I’m sure we will always be pleased with our dependence on God and with our connectedness to Him; for that is the beauty of our relationship with Him. We will never want it any other way.
Now, as to what things we will ask for, I believe we can divide them into three groups: (1) for things pertaining to God’s will and kingdom, (2) for personal needs, and (3) for others.
The first group or the first level of asking is the first priority of our asking. Things pertaining to His will and kingdom are and will always be the most important part of prayer. In heaven I suppose we will always be talking to God about the kingdom and about what His desires are. And we will of course always be seeking a more intimate knowledge of Him, desiring from Him that He would reveal more of Himself to us.
Personal desires will never be considered as important to us, because we know that God will always supply all our needs. But we still will ask Him for what we desire and need because we are and will always be in a dependent relationship with Him. Hence, for whatever we desire, if it is good for us and in the Father’s will for us to have it, then we may ask Him for it and He will give it to us. Therefore the principle of asking and receiving, even for personal things is an eternal principle (Jn. 15:7; 15:16; 16:24).
The third part of asking is for others and is most often called intercession. This part of prayer will most definitely last for eternity because it is something we do when we are most godly. It is the most unselfish part of prayer and the part of prayer that God Himself is engaged in.
Though we usually separate intercession from personal prayers, intercession in a sense includes them. That is, if we are praying correctly (in the Spirit), even when we pray about our own needs, we also, at the same time, are praying for other believers because of our connectedness in the body; for all believers are connected and part of the body of Christ, and when we pray for personal needs, we are also praying for others as a family, saying “our Father” rather than “my Father” (Matt. 6:9).
We don’t feel this communion with each other so much now, because of our selfish tendencies, but when we are glorified it will be different. In heaven, though we will have separate identities and separate thoughts, we will always be thinking of others and care for others. I think to some extent we will also know the thoughts and feelings of others. I can’t wait to experience it. Being united with others in this way, of always thinking of others, will radically change prayer from what it is now. Prayer will be so very glorious, so very comforting. When we pray, when we talk to God about anything, we will feel and experience the thoughts and emotions of every other believer; we will be touched by their love and compassion for each other like we have never experienced before.
Posted on August 29, 2016 by Stephen Nielsen
Some would say that there will not be prayer in heaven because we will always be with God and we can just talk to Him person to person. Well, yes, I agree that we will always be with God; however, if we define prayer as communication, as soul to soul communication between two people who love each other, then there definitely will be prayer in heaven. We will communicate with God soul to soul just as we do now. Many things about our communication with God will be different—and better—in heaven; but there are some basic things that will remain the same.
If you break down what it means to communicate soul to soul you will find that this aspect of prayer is eternal. The soul is made up of the mind, the affections, and the will. With the mind, when we pray, we think about God and He thinks about us. Our thoughts about God now mainly come from the study of His Word. And in heaven for eternity our thoughts toward God will also come from the Word; for the Word of God is eternal, and our thoughts on His Word are exhaustless. We will never run out of things from His Word to think about toward Him. Matthew 24:35 says, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” Also in Isaiah 40:8 it says, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.”
Our thoughts about God also come from our ponderings of nature, as we think about all the beautiful things in nature and the vastness of the universe. In heaven of course our thoughts about God will be much more wonderful. Heaven and earth will be new, and we will have a new, glorified mind. The wonders we will behold and think about will be awesome!
God also thinks, and will always think many thoughts toward us. In Jeremiah 29:11 God says to us, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” In Psalms 40:5 David said,
Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works
Which You have done;
And Your thoughts toward us
Cannot be recounted to You in order;
If I would declare and speak of them,
They are more than can be numbered.
Also in Psalms 139:17-18 David said,
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand…
With our heart (or with our emotions) we have feelings toward God; and with His heart He has feelings toward us. Our emotions toward God are stirred up by our thoughts of Him. So, as we meditate on the Word and ponder the beauty of God in nature, our heart is stirred in us to love Him and commune with Him. And of course, as 1 John 4:19 says, “We love Him because He first loved us.”
God’s love toward us doesn’t have to be stirred up. It has always been there. His love and all His wonderful thoughts and plans for us are eternal. That is, His love for us is from eternity past to eternity future. God’s very nature is love. He loves all people whether they choose to accept Him or not. And he demonstrated His love for us by sending His only Son to earth to die on a cross for us (Rom. 5:8). But His love doesn’t touch all of us. Only those who choose to accept Him and obey Him will experience His love; and happily, they will experience His love forever. Psalm 103:17 says, “But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him…”
The third part of the soul is the will. With the will we choose to listen to God and obey Him. This part of prayer is vitally important. It is the part that keeps communication with God alive, because if we don’t choose to listen to Him, speak to Him, and obey Him, and if He doesn’t listen to us and speak to us, then prayer is over; it is dead.
So what we are saying is that this soul to soul communication is the basis of prayer. We commune with God and He communes with us—through the mind, the affections, and the will. And we also communicate with Him verbally by words of our mouth. And whether we pray just in the mind (with the heart and the will), or also with words, we do it in conversational style, just as we are speaking to a friend. This is the nature of prayer now, and I believe it will continue this way for eternity; for God will always be our friend and lover, and He will always want to be near us and converse with us. Jeremiah 31:3 says, “The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: ‘Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you…’”
Prayer A to Z 