BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

head and His hair were white like white wool, [as white] as snow, and His eyes [flashed] like a flame of fire. His feet glowed like burnished (bright) bronze as it is refined in a furnace.... And from His mouth there came forth a sharp two-edged sword, and His face was like the sun shining in full power at midday (Revelation 1:13-16, Amplified Bible, Classic Edition). That's right. It's Jesus. And He's standing right in the middle of your prayer closet. Is it a dream? Maybe a vision? Not quite. Read Revelation 4. It's simply a "day in the life" of the throne room of God. Take Your Place of Authority Imagine having an experience as dynamic as this every time you open the door to your prayer closet. Think of how it would revolutionize not only your prayer time, but especially the results that would follow! Knowing your place of authority, and taking it, makes a world of di"erence when it comes to praying. Ephesians 2:6 explains that place of authority like this: "And [God] raised us up together with [Jesus] and made us sit down together [giving us joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One)." God has given us a real seat, or place of authority, in Him. And it's not just a place for us to sit so we don't have to stand. No, it is a position of authority and dominion from which we are to rule. We often hear about someone having a "seat" on a board of directors. We say that person sits on the board. It could be for a school, a corporation or maybe a church. The same applies to state and federal legislators. In the United States we say they have a seat in the House or a seat in the Senate. It is a position or place of authority from which those elected o¥cials exercise their authority. It's no di"erent for us, as believers. In fact, we hold a seat of even greater authority because Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father, which is the seat of all authority, and we are seated with Him. Before He left this earth, Jesus told His disciples, "All authority (all power of rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go then and make disciples of all the nations" (Matthew 28:18-19). In other words, all that authority and power to rule was invested in Jesus. Then He turned around and handed it over to us, which was God's plan from the very beginning. What's more, when Adam walked this earth, his God-given authority only covered this earthly realm. And he only exercised very little of that, because it wasn't long before he relinquished his authority to the devil by disobeying, thus rebelling against God. But when Jesus came on the scene, and paid the price to take back that authority, He not only recovered Adam's authority over the earth realm—He also went into the pit of hell and seized authority over that realm, as well. Before He was through, Jesus regained authority over the heavens, the earth and hell itself. Then He empowered us with that same authority, which we are to exercise under His direction. Squeezing Out the Fear So, how do we exercise this awesome authority to rule in heaven and on earth— especially in prayer? Like everything else in the kingdom of God, we do it by faith. Some believers think they take their highest place of authority in prayer when they march around in their prayer closets, stomp the floor and yell at the devil, "I take authority over you, i 1 0 : B V O V Some believers think they take their highest place of authority in prayer when they march around in their prayer closets, stomp the floor and yell at the devil. Terri Copeland Pearsons, the eldest daughter of Kenneth Copeland, is chief visionary ofcer of Kenneth Copeland Ministries and president of Kenneth Copeland Bible College ® . Along with her husband, George Pearsons, she is also senior pastor of Eagle Mountain International Church at KCM in Fort Worth.

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