WHY GOD REQUIRES PRAYER

Chapter 1

The Mystery Of Lease And Alliance:

Genesis 3: 1-5 (NLT)

1 The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”

2“Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. 3“It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”

4“You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5“God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.

When God created man in the garden, He didn’t require much from man. All He required from man was obedience; to abstain from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. However, man decided to join forces with the devil in calling God a liar, believing that God’s purpose for asking them not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was because God didn’t want him to be wise.

I once met a man whilst travelling in Cambodia. He was a foreigner in Cambodia walking barefoot, and clothed in Buddhist attire. Since I was about to have my breakfast in a restaurant, I invited him in and asked the waiters to serve him. He was very glad for the meal, and soon after that, we struck up a conversation. He told me that he used to be a Christian, and was in the ministry in some capacity before denouncing the faith to become a Buddhist .

While we were talking, he said something that shook me. He said that if Adam and Eve hadn't eaten of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, men wouldn't have had the knowledge to invent things. According to him, God was evil and didn’t want men to be wise, thereby wanting Adam and Eve to remain in the state of stupidity by forbidding them from eating of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil.

How foolish could one be to think that by eating of that fruit, man gained wisdom? Adam and Eve were like children. They didn't know evil and didn't practice evil. By eating of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, they took part in the diabolism of the fallen angels—the hatred, killing, and all sorts of evil.

The knowledge that came as a result of eating of that tree wasn't the knowledge that advanced man. Rather, it was the exposure to darkness and to know evil. Thus, they were robbed of their childlike purity and holiness because their hearts became corrupt.

That knowledge is the same knowledge the Lord talked about in the book of Revelation. It's the knowledge that told Cain to kill Abel because Abel's sacrifice was accepted and his was rejected. It's the knowledge that tells us to have it all to ourselves and deprive others of their rights. It's the knowledge that seeks to use witchcraft rather than seek what is right to attain greatness.

But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden. -Revelation 2:24

It's the knowledge that exposes one to filth. That was why God forbade them from eating of the fruit.

Man decided to believe that God was as a liar and unjust, thus man decided to make his own life’s choices and be equal to God in wisdom. He rebelled against the one who truly cared for him and loved him so much that He (God didn’t want him (man) to have to walk the path of having to figure out how to escape calamity and the consequences that would come from him (Adam) having to make wrong choices in life.

From that day onwards, God has required that man make his own choices. The choice of whom to believe and whose side to be on. Either believe God and be on God’s side by keeping God’s commandments, or side with the snake and wallow in the devil’s pleasures and doubt towards God’s power.

Hence, whenever man says that he believes God, he has to put his words into action. Now, faith becomes a requirement, for one has to justify God in his words, heart, and through man’s actions by having full faith in God’s plans and purposes for man or having his belief in the snake by disbelieving God’s love for his/her life.

Luke 18:1Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart.

Why is prayer not optional?

1. Man sold his right to the devil and now lives under the devil’s rule, for the devil is the god of this world and not God.

2. Man has to pledge allegiance. When we pray to the Father through Jesus Christ His Son, we pledge allegiance to God.

3. Denunciation of a path and acceptance of another path and purpose.

4. Enforcement of the redemptive plan of God.

Matthew 4:8-9

8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;

9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

Did you see that the Lord Jesus Christ didn’t argue that? He didn’t argue Satan being the owner of the kingdoms of this world!

Jesus is the Lord of the whole universe and the whole earth, but Jesus is currently not the god of this world because Adam’s lease hasn’t run out.

2 Corinthians 4:4 Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

The word “world” in that scripture means ““age”;that’s the age of man (from the day Adam was created to the day Jesus Christ returns).

As long as this world exists with its governments and human leaderships in various nations and countries, it is “this world”. This world will be done away with when Christ returns.

We do understand how contracts work. Let’s say, for instance, your grandfather built a great mansion and handed it to your father and his children for an “x” amount of years to use as they see fit. The contract is binding and cannot be broken, and the same contract gave your father the right to use that estate as a means of income and to do as he is pleased.

Now, consider your father, who is now the lawful resident of that house and, having the right to use the property as he wishes, decided to lease the entire building to a nightclub owner. The contract stating that the new tenant has the right to trade and do all his heart desires in and with that building for the same “x” amount of years, only leaving out a few rooms for his children to live in.

Think of your grandfather as God, and your father as Adam, and the club’s owner, whom the mansion is leased to, is Satan. He, Satan, becomes the rightful lord of that house as long as your father’s right to that house exists.

This is the situation between man and Satan. God made man the lord of this earth, but man sold his right to the devil. Hence, man became a servant and a slave. For any child born in slavery, he automatically becomes a slave and the property of his parent's owner.

Hence, man has to continuously contend with the habits and evil practices that go on in the club, as long as he lives in that mansion. This is because he has been born again and now hates the world of darkness. Meanwhile, darkness strives and fights against man because it (darkness) has a legal right to exist within that domain.

Ephesians 5:8-12

For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! 9 For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true. 10 Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. 11 Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. 12 It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret.

… Stay tuned for Chapter 2: Why Men Ought to Pray...