By Pastor Mitch Horton | April 2005 | Posted in • Archives | (1) Comments

I want to continue this month discussing the different kinds of prayer for the different needs we have in life. Ephesians 6:18 reads, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.”

Notice that this verse mentions supplication for all saints. There is a type of prayer called the prayer of supplication. To supplicate means to ask a favor of someone. Usually the prayer of supplication is prayed for someone else. You’re asking God on their behalf for their needs to be met. We need the prayer of supplication when praying for others because the prayer of faith (see last month’s issue) may not work when prayed for another. I can always pray the prayer of faith for myself, but I can’t always pray it for others. For the prayer of faith to work for someone else, he or she must agree with what you’re praying, or at least remain neutral about the problem you’re praying about. If a person is believing that they are going to die, and are talking like they are going to die, and you are praying the prayer of faith that they will live and not die, then their unbelieving words and actions will short-circuit your faith, and believing and will keep the prayer from being answered. The prayer of faith is primarily prayed for you yourself, and the prayer of supplication is primarily prayed for others.

  The prayer of supplication is a prayer that is prayed over and over again for others.

The prayer of supplication is a prayer that is prayed over and over again for others. Yes, faith must be exercised, but it’s a different application of your faith than the prayer of faith that is prayed only once. Many people get confused with what they read in scripture about prayer because they don’t understand the different ways to apply faith when they pray. For instance, Jesus said in Luke 11: 9-10, “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” The verbs ask, seek, and knock in this scripture are in the imperative present tense, which means there is a continuation of the present action. So these verses could be correctly translated “ask, and keep on asking, and it will be given you; seek, and keep on seeking and you will find; knock, and keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks and keeps on asking receives, and he who seeks and keeps on seeking finds, and to him who knocks and keeps on knocking it will be opened.”

I’ve had people ask me why Jesus said in the above verses to ask and keep on asking, etc., and then told us to “believe that you receive, and you will have” in Mark 11:24. The reason He said seemingly two different things is because there is a difference in the way you manifest your faith when praying for yourself and when praying for others. The “ask and keep on asking” in Luke 11 is what you do when praying the prayer of supplication for someone else and their needs.

It is often necessary to pray over and over again a similar prayer when praying for others. And there are two main reasons we need to supplicate for others by “going over the same ground” so to speak in prayer. First of all when praying for another person, we many times have to deal with an obstinate, stubborn will. And when praying the prayer of supplication we are allowing the Holy Spirit to bring conviction that will remain at the “door” of a person’s will until they make the decision to yield to God. Supplication keeps pressure on the will to bend to God’s will. Understand that God will not violate or force a person’s will. He will woo and deal with a person and allow them to make a decision themselves. And the prayer of supplication allows conviction to stand at the “door” of the will until a person yields.

  A person’s deliverance and victory in some area of life may hinge on your obedience to God in praying the prayer of supplication for them regularly.

The second reason we need to pray the prayer of supplication over and over again for others is because through this type of prayer, we can stop the hindrances of Satan in a person’s life. Ephesians 6 tells us that we don’t wrestle against human beings only, but against principalities, powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenlies. And as we pray the prayer of supplication for another we can command the forces of Satan to stop hindering a person from receiving from the Lord. Jesus has given us the ability to “bind” and “loose” in prayer (see Matthew 18:18). Satan and his emissaries blind the minds of those who do not believe (2 Corinthians 4:4). We have the authority as we pray in the name of Jesus to bind these satanic forces and command them to stop their harassment of an individual. And we often must do this on a regular basis for those we are praying for to come to the Lord and to obey Him in various areas of life. The forces of darkness often work un ceasingly in seeking to hinder a person’s life. Because of this, we must be persistent in prayer!

Many times through the years I have prayed this prayer of supplication over and over for a person, reminded the Lord of what I have asked, thanked Him for hearing and answering; and also reminded Satan and his demonic cronies that they are bound from hindering this person. I have seen amazing answers to prayer for others as I have persisted in supplication for them.

The Lord wants to use you to pray the prayer of supplication for others. I want to encourage you to begin to pray for others and expect God to answer. Be persistent. Remind the Lord and your enemy that you are standing your ground in prayer and in faith for the person you’re praying for to be delivered. As you persist in prayer, you’ll be amazed at how the Lord is able to work in another’s life. That person’s deliverance and victory in some area of life may hinge on your obedience to God in praying the prayer of supplication for them regularly. I’ll continue this subject of supplication next month.