Teach Us to Pray: Prayer That Accesses Heaven and Changes Earth

by Corey Russell

We need a new breed of people, who like Mary, refuse to worship the god of busyness. They refuse to worship the god of distraction. These people are courageous in that they refuse to miss the moment, so they choose to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen.

God wants to train us in this hour to learn how to take advantage of the moment. He wants to teach us that doing something is not what releases an eruption in the Church. It’s not necessarily what releases Heaven on Earth. Waiting before Jesus, sitting at His feet, listening to Him—these are the agents that draw the power and glory of God earthward!

When you sit at His feet, you become filled with the dreams of His heart, and that puts you to work to manifest His dreams in the earth. But it’s absolutely critical to find yourself at His feet, prioritizing Him over the stuff and needs around Him.

She was too busy, too worried, too troubled, too caught up in doing, and her eyes had fixed on what someone else wasn’t doing. While not seeing the priority or value that Jesus was highlighting, she was seeing something. She was seeing her sister, Mary, and noticing that Mary was sitting at Jesus’ feet, not helping her at all.

You know you are serving in a wrong spirit when you become aware of what other people are not doing. This kind of serving will ultimately lead to accusation against Jesus concerning His empathy and fairness.

we’ve lost the power of His Word in our mouths because we’ve lost the power of His Word in our ears. There is a direct connection between the priority you give to hearing Him speak and the authority of your speaking for Him.

God honors the words of His servants to the same degree that His servants honor His words.

A life at Jesus’ feet looks like sitting long enough until all the other voices, inside and out, are drowned out. As soon as you get serious about this, every distraction under the sun will surface in your mind and emotions. Fantasies, seductions, and lusts of being richer, more successful, or more connected will emerge. Fears, insecurities, and lies will manifest. Just stay at His feet.

Other voices will condemn you because you’re not doing enough in regard to prayer. They will say you need to be more radical and more disciplined. Just take a deep breath and receive the Father’s full pleasure right now. There is nothing more you need to do. You are freely and fully loved, right now.

One of the greatest reasons, however, that many do not persist for decades in prayer is because of our disdain for weakness. And yet, it’s in our weakness that His strength is made perfect. Prayer will inevitably bring you into your need for God, and this is absolutely beautiful. This is what Jesus called blessed, and yet we live in a culture that does everything in its power to insulate us from dependence.

Jesus takes us to the wilderness. This is where God brings His favorite ones because He longs for greater intimacy and union with us.

if you are going to persist in a life of prayer, you will come face to face with all the illusions within, the imposters within, and you will come into an earth-shattering revelation of God and yourself, thereby delivering you from the voices in and out of the Church that say, “Bigger, better, more is best.” This message is so hollow and doesn’t have the power truly to deliver people from the spirit of this age.