The Prayer of Casting Your Cares

THEME: Pray Ye the Lord of The Harvest; The Believers’ Life of Prayer

LESSON: Seven

TOPIC: The Prayer of Casting Your Cares

TEXT: James 5:16; Matt 18:18-20; Acts 4:24-31; 12:5

MEMORY TRACK:

By God’s grace, in the last lesson, we learned that the prayers of intercession are constructively made and framed prayers by a saint whose soul is established in a level of God’s word. And from that understanding and advantage, stand in the gap to plead the cause of another. Intercession is always made, not wished. It is not borne out of coincidences; rather, it is a deliberate ploy of the intercessor before God.

CASTING YOUR CARES (1 Pet 5: 7)

This kind of prayer involves laying down one’s burdens before the Lord. Here we take the weights and load of our hearts and cast them upon the Lord in prayer. Unlike the prayer of faith, where we lay hold upon direct promises to address specific issues. Here, we trust in the fatherly operations of God to handle knotty situations or cares that would have bothered our minds and stalled our progress in obedience to the Lord.

Elements of the Prayer of Casting Your Cares:

1. It is a prayer that is based on trust in the Lord (Ps 55:22; Prov 3:5)
2. The faith requirement for this kind of prayer is a higher kind of faith in the unseen hand of God and His supremacy over all that concerns you, rather than upon the known promises of God that address specific needs (Jer 29:11)
3. The predominant fruit of this form of prayer is PEACE in the heart and mind (Is 26:3; Phil 4:6-7). Examples of such prayers include praying about cares of this life, e.g., the future.

PRAYER OF AGREEMENT (Matt 18:18-20)

The prayer of agreement is one in which two or three saints raise a petition to heaven together over specific issues. While these petitions could also be prayed individually, the prayer of agreement activates a kind of upgrade or ramping up of the power brought to bear upon the issues being prayed about, to either make up for the deficiency of individual faith or to deal with the enormity of the issue (Lev 26:8; Deut 32:30). This is a loving provision made by God for us to help others and also to be helped in our faith journey.

Elements of the Prayer of Agreement:

1. The prayer of agreement can either be a supplication, an intercession, or even a prayer of faith AND must be in line with the revealed word of God to the parties in agreement. It begins with agreement with the will of Heaven. No amount of agreement will bring to fruition things outside the will of God (Matt 18:18).
2. As the name implies, all parties involved have to be in perfect agreement with one another on the specific prayer request they are putting forward to the Lord. This means that two (or three) people are now approaching the throne of God, and they are praying for the same thing (Matt 18:19). This must be clear.
3. There is enough faith potential in a single believer to lay hold on every one of God’s finished work promises. However, at the beginning of the faith walk, the saint will sometimes need assistance in holding on to faith in the place of prayer. This is one of the reasons for the prayer of agreement.
4. Some issues require the prayer of agreement, not because the individual saints cannot believe in God, but because:
   1. a season is upon such a saint so he/she can learn to discern spiritual relationships (e.g., in marriage) and discern the body; and
   2. The enormity of the issue requires more than one saint praying.

• The prayer of agreement is a PRAYER, not an agreement in wishing. There has to be a deliberate request vocalized in prayer for it to take effect (Matt 18:19).
• You cannot agree with anyone in prayer beyond your faith capacity.

NB: The prayer of agreement is not a substitute for believing God personally in the place of prayer.

UNITED/CORPORATE/CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER (Acts 4:24-31)

“United” or “corporate” prayer refers to prayers offered collectively as a church. It is one of the forms of prayer pointed out in the Scriptures for believers to engage in. If the effectual prayer of just one righteous man avails much, and the coming together of two or three brings Jesus into their midst. It is nigh unimaginable how much would be wrought by the coming together of the saints in united prayer. There, the Lord has commanded the blessing! The coming together of the saints of God in prayer is a powerful activity that brings to bear upon the earth the will of heaven.

Elements of United Prayer:

1. This prayer could also be a supplication (Acts 4:24-31), intercession, praise and worship (Acts 13:1-2), thanksgiving (Rev. 11:16-17), or even a prayer of faith.
2. Congregational prayer uniquely affords the saints’ access to pray from a pedestal in the Spirit from where the church of the living God wields tremendous authority—the place of unity of the Spirit (1 Kings 9:3)
3. When praying corporately, praying aloud is permitted so that we draw strength to engage our souls more when we hear the voices of our brethren raised in prayer (Acts 4:24).

Conclusion

Let us pray!