A Supernatural Prayer Life
Opening Thoughts
Each of us are on a specific journey with the Lord. We each are searching for a deeper connection with Him in prayer. Some of you may be seeking out the supernatural; while others may lack a biblical context for operating within the supernatural aspects of the Lord. First and foremost, wherever you may find yourself, remember this… God is ever-present and with us in the midst of our navigation of the prayer life we are living with. Know this, as we explore one of my personal favorite passages in Scripture, you have the ability to operate supernaturally, not by your own power or abilities, but only through Christ, who strengthens you. This is never a work that is of your own volition, it will far surpass any understanding that you may have, but it is truly an incredible life to be lived, when we acknowledge our weakness and rely on Christ to stand firm in our faith in Him by means of the Holy Spirit within us; ultimately, leading into the supernatural experiences that result.
“This boasting will do no good, but I must go on. I will reluctantly tell about visions and revelations from the Lord. I was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether I was in my body or out of my body, I don’t know—only God knows. Yes, only God knows whether I was in my body or outside my body. But I do know that I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell.
That experience is worth boasting about, but I’m not going to do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses. If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message, even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.
Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
The Supernatural Experience of Paul the Apostle
Having a context for this passage of Scripture is important. Paul was not a new member of the faith when he is sharing this story with the church of Corinth. He was experienced, matured, and tested. He had been through the fire numerous times, removed forcefully from city officials, whipped, beaten, thrown into prison, and ridiculed verbally for years at this point. In fact, many scholars believe that in this story that he is sharing, he found himself on the verge of death, experiencing the middle-ground between the spiritual and the natural, catching a glimpse of paradise and experiencing relational interaction with the divine (whether angels or Jesus himself we do not know). Regardless, Paul is boasting on Jesus hear and the only reason he can boast about heaven is because he was willing to be beaten to death for his faith. Could we say the same thing? Would we be willing to go to such lengths as to die a horribly painful, extended, and torturous death for the sake of Christ and His Kingdom? There are three main areas I want to focus on in this passage:
We are to be reluctant to talk about the visions and the revelations that the Lord has given us.
We should be careful and patient to share only what the Lord tells us to share. Sharing to quickly about the supernatural and the divine can become a stumbling block to some that are around you. This takes the activation of the fruit of self-control, which many express struggles with. Maturity in Christ is shown through our ability to be self-controlled in everything, which requires the Spirit.
We boast ONLY about our weaknesses.
Paul is sharing about a moment in his life that is extremely personal, intimate, and supernatural that he experienced spiritually with the Lord. He actually has every right to brag and to boast about this amazing experience, but he refrains. Instead, he focuses on how weak he is and how in his flesh, he finds it hard to explain anything to its fullest extent. Therefore, we follow in his footsteps… We only boast about our limitations and our inadequacy to explain the glory of God in His splendor. We can have experiences, we can be deeply impacted by these experiences with the Lord, but we must never boast in ourselves, we have no right to do so; so we only boast in the Lord and His greatness to carry out the supernatural in and through the weaknesses of us.
The supernatural occurs in our life here on earth.
If anyone looks at this Scripture and responds by saying, “the supernatural only occured for a time, but no longer is needed…” I’m sorry to be blunt, but you are being deceived and are believing a lie of the enemy. The fact that we have a relationship with Jesus 2,000 years after His death and resurrection is supernatural. The fact that we can pray and the sick are healed, is supernatural. The fact that we can pray for salvation, and God honors and hears those prayers by responding swiftly, is supernatural. The supernatural exists in many different ways through Jesus still today. This occurs through prayer in the form of healing, deliverance, salvation, dreams, interpretation of dreams, visions, spiritual world encounters, near-death experiences, tongues, interpretation of tongues, signs and wonders, words of knowledge, the list goes on and on. For goodness sake, we cannot even open God’s Word, the Bible, and understand it without something supernatural occuring. The point is clear and vivid: God is supernatural, he interacts with us in supernatural ways, and His will is accomplished through us, in power, by means of the supernatural.
How to Experience the Supernatural in Prayer
Experiencing the supernatural in prayer is able to be accomplished. It takes time, practice, patience, and an awareness that only comes with a genuine reliance on the Holy Spirit. Heavenly visions occur, because God wants us to know Him deeply and intimately. We have the Spirit, who accessing the knowledge and wisdom of Jesus Christ and the Father living within us, so we should desire to experience the deeper things of Him and His Kingdom. Here are a couple of tips that you can apply today in your prayer life that can begin establishing a supernatural relationship with the Lord:
Pray intentionally for God to open your eyes, ears, and heart to be receptive and accepting towards the supernatural ways by which He works. It takes intentionality on our end to experience the supernatural. Ask God to strengthen your faith, to give you spiritual eyes to see, spiritual ears to hear, and a spiritual heart to be formed and impacted supernaturally.
Sit with the Lord. If you are anything like me, you will find this to be extremely difficult to do in the beginning. But, when you feel like getting up or removing yourself from your prayerful state, tell yourself to sit for 10-15 more minutes. Time is on your side, so take advantage of it.
Write down one supernatural thing that you experience every day. We can explore the things of God personally. The supernatural opportunities in our life are limitless as long as we partner with the Holy Spirit in becoming aware of it being all around us all the time. God works in supernatural ways endlessly, but we must be aware. Writing down things you see, read, hear, or experience with the Lord are going to strengthen your ability to become aware. The Holy Spirit wants a heart that is searching, a heart that is opened, and a heart that is aware; with that individual, He will do great things.
Closing Thoughts
The reality is this: you can do what you want. Just understand, that a deeper walk with the Lord requires time and requires a willing heart. We are weak beings, in our flesh. We are strong beings, through Christ. Therefore, be strong and courageous in Him who gives you strength. Be opened to the supernatural aspects of our Lord and our Savior. He operated in the supernatural as a human being here on this earth and we have well-documented evidence of this truth. He wants us to operate in the supernatural through the power of the Holy Spirit, but it will not be possible, if we are not willing to step out in faith, relying on the Spirit. All of which, begins and ends in prayer. So, pray!