When you Pray Where should You look?
Brendan Mc Crossan
When you pray, where should you look to?
Most Christians look up at the sky or ceiling if praying inside when they pray. They are looking up to God in the sky or beyond, yet the word of God tells us that the kingdom of God is within. Is within where? It is within you and me the Christian born again believer, yet we focus on looking up at the sky, if outside and the ceiling if were inside.
Luke -17-21- “For the kingdom of God is within you.”
Why do we look upwards? Because that is traditionally where we believe God is, and my own personal belief is that this is deception by the devil to get us focused upwards all the time because he does not want us finding out the truth. Satan uses the truth to blind us. Heaven for most people is just beyond reach way up there in the sky. Yes God’s kingdom is beyond the stars in the sky it is past the galaxies and quantum space, but here a secrete is revealed by Jesus and the Holy Spirit, the kingdom of God is also in you, simultaneously. Scripture tells us that the God head live within us, Father, Son and Holy Spirit;
Colossians-2-10-you are in him, made full, and have come to fullness of life in Christ; you too are filled with the Godhead, the father, Son and Holy Spirit.
If you are filled with the Father, who is almighty God, and filled with Jesus who is the Son of God, and you are also filled with the Spirit of God who is God’s own spirit, then where is the kingdom if they all live inside of you.
You see we think from a human standpoint not from God’s viewpoint, we cannot see how heaven can be above the stars yet be in us at the same time. And Satan the devil does not want us realizing that the kingdom of God is actually a part of us or to put it another way; we are a part of the kingdom of God, we are actually a spiritual part of God’s kingdom. God’s kingdom is spiritual, this world is earth, we are spiritual beings connected to a spiritual God through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Satan the devil is terrified of us ever finding out this truth, because Jesus said, “you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” We think of this scripture is one context and the scripture is actually multi context, there is more to truth than you first imagined; for example, you are saved, but you are more than saved, you are born again; and you are born of the sperm of God, you are a spiritual being with a soul living in a body. Those are all truths stemming from one truth, “you’re saved.” The truth sets you free in this area of salvation, because you know your sins are forgiven and that you are going to heaven when you die, or to be more accurate you are already seated in the heavenly places through Christ Jesus; that is another truth, which stems from “you’re saved.” Do you see it the truth is extending more and more as you get revelation in God’s word; now another further example of “you’re saved.” You are an over comer against Satan and evil spirits, you have authority over all the power of the enemy, and this all stems from this one truth, “you’re saved.” So you see the truth of God’s word keeps extending further and further, deeper and deeper. I could go on and on showing you areas of truth that you have heard about, but you should already know these basic truths as a born again Christian, and these are only basic truths, truths nevertheless but basic
Christian truths, but there is even more truths in God’s word. The word of God says you do not belong to the kingdom of darkness but of the kingdom of light.
The truth I am trying to get you to focus on in this little book is the truth that the kingdom of God is within, and when you pray that is where you should concentrate on, Jesus and the Father and the Holy Spirit within you. Heaven is within you, not beyond reach out there above the sky and stars. Satan tries to get us focused of the heaven out there beyond our reach and not on the heaven within; because if we become fully aware of the heaven within, then he is serious trouble, he knows we have discovered the truth and is terrified that we unleash that truth towards him when he comes around or when his evil spirits come visiting; he knows they will all get a thrashing, because we are heaven conscious and Christ conscious and Holy Spirit conscious and Father God conscious as dwelling within us in our frail bodies which house our spirit and the spirit of heaven, God’s kingdom, who wouldn’t be afraid of us when we have the revelation of who we are and where heaven is.
When you pray, pray inwards not selfishly looking down at your belly button but to the kingdom of God within. It’s in your heart you should look there and no further down, because scripture says the life is in the blood, and the blood is pumped out through the body via the heart.
Romans-8-9 for if you tell others with your mouth and believe in your heart. {Shortened}
Change your thinking, think as Jesus thinks, and think as the Holy Spirit thinks, and think as God thinks!
Pray with hands lifted up to heaven, in surrender, and focus on Jesus within you talk, to him there because that is where he chose to dwell. Heaven is inside you and me.
Why is it so important to be aware that the kingdom of God is within me? Because when you are aware of Jesus inside you and you begin to pray inwards to him, your eyes are focused on the truth who is Jesus himself and you begin thinking how he would think, you are aware of who is within you, and you are aware that you don’t wish to offend he who dwells within you, you have become “Jesus” conscious not “me” conscious, and that is the beginning of power within, the realization that you have God inside you, and that you have the Spirit of God within you and you have your savior within you also, you have the Holy Trinity dwelling within you, so you are less willing to sin, you are more willing to try and please the Trinity who came and dwelt inside of you a weak human being, weak in the flesh but created in God’s image in the spirit.
Please be aware that I am not telling you not to pray looking up to heaven, because I still do, but I am now more conscious where the kingdom of God, is and I personally wish to grow in wisdom, knowledge and discernment; I want to be aware of the power of God within me, that he, not I, chose to put inside me, what an honor!
Until Jesus came everyone prayed looking up to heaven, when Jesus came he brought heaven down to us, because he himself is heaven, he the Father and the Holy Spirit are heaven, heaven is not just a place, heaven is where God is. Because God is everything, nothing exists that he did not make so heaven is God it exists in him because he said so; heaven is not an actual place
separate from God, heaven is in God, all things are in him. Scripture says we are in him being built up into a spiritual place, spiritual building blocks, we are the kingdom of Heaven of God! All being built up in Christ Jesus, each and every one of us who accept Jesus as lord and savior. There are many mansions in my Fathers house Jesus himself said, and revelation says about the new heaven and earth coming when the world ends but it is already in existence in God, he is the light the air the breath, the latter rain, he is everything, and he dwells in us, and that is why we need to become spiritually aware and focus on Jesus inside of us.
We dwell in only one place that we have been aware of, until now, here on earth; yet scripture says we are already seated with him in the heavenly realms, in heaven! And were not dead yet. Yet scripture also says heaven is within; sounding like two separate places but they are actually only one.
When we focus on the kingdom of God within us and pray to the Father or Jesus or the Holy Spirit we should pray inwards, we have to become spiritually aware that heaven is actually inside of us. That Jesus is inside of me, that the Father is inside of me, that His Holy Spirit is inside me, and I can talk to them looking inwards, into my own spirit and pray. I have become aware that I have God’s kingdom within, I have all the power I ever need inside me to resist the devil when he attacks, that I just need to turn to Jesus inside of me and react as Jesus reacts to every situation. I am less willing to sin when I am aware that Jesus is inside of me and this is real. Instead of becoming sin conscious I am becoming Jesus conscious, I am focusing within me where in lies the truth and he is Jesus, because he said, out of his own mouth, “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” and that life is within me inside me. This is where I should be focusing every day, spending time to look inside at Jesus within, and at the Father within, and to the Holy Spirit within, to the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God who is everything.
When I am spending time focusing on Jesus within, I am spending less time focusing of me, spending less time focusing on negative things. When we pray, we as Christians should focus inward to Jesus inside us, and to the Father and Spirit, and converse with them our needs, and when you realize who is within this frail human being then you will become acutely aware that, if the Godhead is within and this is his doing because he loves me, then surely he will take care of my needs whatever they are. If I am important enough to come and dwell inside then I am important enough to supply my needs to also; if his great love fills me with his eternal being, then that love is great enough to supply my every need.
I know who is within me and I know where heaven is, let me focus on heaven within not on sin or sinful things. When I focus on the sinful side of me I take my eyes off of Jesus inside me, when I focus on Jesus and the life with in me then I am less likely to sin, because I am God conscious not sin conscious.
Did you know that if you focus on the sins you committed then you are keeping them alive within you, if you focus of the forgiveness of God and of the mercy of God towards you then sin becomes less and less until we have been perfected into his image. When you sin and ask for forgiveness as a Christian does, that sin is taken away and washed in theheavenly washing machinewherethewashing powder, theblood ofJesuscleansesevery stain. But when you stay focused on the sin you committed then you dwell on that sin, its in
your mind constantly, even though you say sorry, for you keep the sin in a prominent place and so in truth you see the same sin being committed again and again in your mind and the next thing is your doing it again. It has never left your mind because you subconsciously keep itthereconcentratingonthesinandhowsorryyouareaboutit,thatyoukeepseeingthepicture of that sin in your mind, and that gives lust or whatever sin you committed another chance to get you to sin again. I use lust as an example; if you had sex with a person, you seen that person probably naked, or you seen their body and felt their body, and when you repent and say sorry to God, you get forgiveness, but Satan tries to get you to focus on how sorry you are and how bad that sin was, he plays that picture over and over again in your mind, telling you your sorry for this sin but he still plays his video recording of your sin and the picture quality is very good as he shows it over and over again, but with the emphasis on your sorrow. He still gets you to think continually about that sin, and when you think in sorrow about that sin it replays once again in your mind and the next thing is your sexual desires rise up again, and then you’re off sinning again.
Whereas you should have confessed that sin to Jesus inside you and then focus on him inside you and talk to him about you’re weakness, you focus on him inside you, you focus on the kingdom of God inside you thanking him that he came into your life and tell him all the things your grateful for.
In this way you focus on Jesus not your sin, and God is glorified in you.
When you think of Jesus in side of you and spend time in this you spend less time thinking of ways to sin, you’re thinking of ways you could please Jesus. Your attention is on the kingdom of heaven within you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
1-Timothy-2-8 I want men everywhere to pray with holy hands lifted up to God, free from sin and resentment. And the women should be the same way.
You see this scripture says lift up holy hands not sinful hands; your hands are holy because Jesus lives in you. He makes your hands Holy through his indwelling in you. What an amazing God we have to have thought of such a thing, to make me a part of his kingdom and to dwell in this kingdom within me, wow! God is awesome!
There is a scripture that says “go into your closet and close the door behind you and your father who knows what is said in secret will reward you.”
Matthew -6-6- but when you pray, go away all by yourself, all alone, and shut the door behind you and pray to your Father secretly, and your Father, who knows your secrets will reward you.
These days and times there are more coming out of the closet than they are going into one. If you’re inside a closet {a press} and the door is shut behind you, you are alone with God. What do we normally do in privacy with God? We bow low before him we bow our heads and look downward humbling ourselves before him, but we are usually looking at the ground or carpet, not looking for God downward and inward.
What do we normally do when we seek forgiveness from God? We bow the head and look downward; we should always look downward to the kingdom of God within, never as far as the carpet or ground, but as far as our heart where the kingdom is within.
Isn’t it strange that we bow our head and look downward when we sin and do wrong and come again before God; strange because it is a natural thing to do and we do this subconsciously, we bow the head and look down, and we talk to god from that position, because of sin, it’s instinctive? And when we earnestly desire to seek God, we again bow our heads humbly and speak to him from that position also. Yet we don’t understand that the kingdom is within, but our spirit does and that is why we bow the knee and head.
When God’s word talks about the heart it is referring to the spirit of a man not to the actual physical flesh heart, as I said previously, the life is in the blood according to scripture, that is why Jesus shed every single drop of precious blood out of his body, there wasn’t a single drop left in him when he died on the cross on Calvary. And the heart is the centre of the blood supply it is where the blood is made and sent out through the body to every part of the human being. And the life of man is in the blood, take the blood out and the body is dead. And it is the heart area, in the supernatural, spiritual side of it that the trinity dwells somehow or other, supernaturally in the blood that flows through you arteries and veins, throughout your whole being.
That is why scripture says examine your heart; examine your life, because the blood is your life.
When you pray, pray with awareness of who is inside you, learn to pray with understanding that the greater ones are in you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When this understanding reaches down into our spirit then we will walk and talk and act just like Jesus; we will display his power and love and healing to his broken people. You will need to keep going back again and again to this, reminding yourself who it is that dwells inside you, and then you and I can say just like Saint Paul said, “it is not I who live but Christ Jesus who lives in me.
Satan will always try and get you to disbelieve this, and he will cause you to fall often by piling on unbelievable pressure on you, trying to get you to think and feel you are such a bad Christian that Jesus and the Father God and the Holy Spirit couldn’t possibly be in you in such an extent; he will tell you its all imagination; he will try and deceive you at every turn. You and I on the other hand have God’s written word telling us that all this is true and we have to fight for dominance, we have to fight the spiritual battles he wages with our mind, and we have to declare that the victory has already been won through Jesus inside of you and me.
In the healing ministry, how much more healings will you see when you are spiritually aware that you have the Holy Trinity within you, that you have the Godhead, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit the source of the power, and Jesus the name above all names and the creator God whogaveyou thegiftofcreativemiracles,throughtheirpowerinsideofyouahumblebeliever.
Sickness and disease and deformity will have to flee from you when you lay hands on the sick because you have the hands of Jesus in your hands, you have the power of the Holy Spirit and you have the awesome creator of all things living inside of you therefore you will be able to
call forth creative miracles, like raising the dead, curing the impossible, growing new limbs, on people just like Jesus done when he walked on the earth, and now he still walks on the earth through and in you and me. That is why we can go into the entire world and preach the gospel with power and authority, we have the awareness of the power and authority within you, and you have the kingdom of heaven within. I have the peace of Christ within me, I have the strength of Jesus inside me and I have all power of heaven inside of me, I live in the kingdom of heaven within me.
I have a portion of the mind of Jesus in me; I have holy boldness in me! I have confidence in the Father in me through the mind of Jesus. I have the attitude of Jesus in me, his heavenly attitude, and his way of thinking feeling and acting, setting aside my human thinking, feelings, and acting. I have the Holy Blessed Trinity inside of me in their kingdom and the kingdom of Almighty God is within me. This is astounding to understand, that the kingdom of heaven is in little old me, the born again believer. I don’t have to work hard or do something to deserve it, it was given to me at my rebirth; I was re-birthed into the kingdom of Heaven inside me when I accepted Jesus as my Lord and savior.
I have to become heaven conscious within, I have to become Jesus centered, I have to learn to turn inwards in every situation, and seek the kingdom of heaven within.
When I have become aware of the awesomeness of this then I can bring God glory and honor and praise as he manifests his power through me for his own glory, and scripture says he even shares his own glory and his own goodness with me, the believer; and I believe him, not the devil, God is awesome, for his plans for me are known to him. And are plans for good to give me a future and a hope.
Jeremiah-23- 23 am I a God who is in only one place and cannot see what they are doing? Can anyone hide from me? Am I not everywhere in all of heaven and earth?
Jeremiah-29-11-for I know the plans I have for you, says the lord. They are plans for good, and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. God’s plans for us are amazing beyond anything our tiny minds can cope with or understand, but they are true, because God says it. “Am I not everywhere in all of heaven and earth?” He is all of heaven and earth, and the galaxies and chose to live in you and me, wow! He is creation, nothing exists apart from him, and he is in you and me. When you pray, pray inward to the kingdom of God inside and to Jesus and the Holy Spirit who all dwell in us, reach into that power to help you in every circumstance. Pray inward, seeking the kingdom of God within, and you will walk in miracle working power and authority.
Amen