The Power of Visionary Prayers

by Michael Reynolds

Habakkuk was a watchman on the walls. He was keeping guard over the people of God and watching for what God was going to do next. He was a man of prayer. But in the first chapter of Habakkuk, he spends 17 verses complaining to God about the disaster, injustice and iniquity that surround him in a society that appeared (in the natural) to be crumbling down forever. However, at the beginning of the second chapter, God changes Habakkuk’s perspective, by having him stand his guard post and keep watch “to see what” the Lord will speak to his people. Habakkuk is then given the perspective of the Lord. The vision received by Habakkuk begins the process of accelerating God’s will in accomplishing a crucial goal: the bringing forth of the knowledge of the glory of the Lord across the entire earth.

Revival is coming to our nation and the world. God wants all of us to be visionaries who do not look at the natural circumstances of our nation and/or of our lives, but look instead into the heavenly realm. God wants all of us to see, so we can write down the vision, and then pray into the vision to have it come to pass. God’s people must have a vision to see their “future” (i.e., their spiritual present reality), where all the purposes of God are fulfilled and accomplished. Habakkuk was frustrated by what he saw in the natural, but he then made an important decision: to stand watch and see what God’s outlook was on the current situation. God has everything under control and He has already brought to pass every single prophetic promise in His Word for His church and for every single person’s life. Once Habakkuk received God’s heavenly vision, he was able to decree into the earth that it “will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14). Seeing the vision strengthened Habakkuk and he ran with the vision.

Paul said that the invisible is eternal and the visible earthly realm is passing away (see 2 Corinthians 4:18). The Bible also declares that without a vision, the people perish, or cast off restraint (see Proverbs 29:18). In our prayer lives we must have the spiritual vision to look beyond the natural and look to the supernatural power of God. When we see all things from the perspective of the Almighty Creator of the universe, we realize how much God is in control. He is never surprised by failure, by sin, by economic difficulties or by Satan’s demonic resistance to the fulfillment of every scriptural promise. Once we determine to stand and see everything from God’s perspective, we obtain the vision that empowers our prayer lives and fulfills our destinies in God.

Notice that Habakkuk was looking for what God “will speak.” All of us can experience the power of supernatural heavenly visions that give us direction. All of us can also look to the Word of God (which is eternal and never passes away) for vision that sustains our prayers. As we look at the written promises of God for our lives, we take comfort in seeing the Word of God. We take out our spiritual map and it provides us with direction to run with God in the race (and not go the wrong direction).

The most awesome example of the power of vision mixed with prayer involves Cornelius and Peter. In Acts 10:1–19, God wanted to download a crucial revelation about His desire to see the Gentiles saved and brought the revelation of Jesus Christ. Because Cornelius was a person of prayer, God brought the vision to him. Because Peter was a person of prayer (and was willing to do what God asked of him), Peter was given the vision after spending time on his roof. The result: the Holy Spirit was poured out among the Gentiles. God’s powerful heavenly visions to Peter and Cornelius prepared both of them for what was to come. Both Peter and Cornelius had the vision to see the way to run with God. This began the fulfillment of God’s destiny for the Gentile nations. It is the same with all of us who want to see the knowledge of the glory of the Lord cover the earth.

Prayer Directives for November 2008:

1. Pray for vision to be given to those in media to birth visionary projects (in television, the Internet and every other visual media field) and for great grace and strength to be given to those who work in media to run with God to fulfill His purposes on the earth through media.
2. Pray for a supernatural impartation of faith for those who desire to see in the eternal realm and from an eternal perspective. This will give Christians the strength to know God has all things under the dominion of Jesus Christ. It will also inspire all of us to build the Kingdom of God on earth. 
3. Pray for more workers to come into the harvest field because, once the last great revival begins, none of us will have time to recruit more workers. Pray for grace, protection and strength to prepare us to be ready for the harvest which, according to God’s eternal Word, is now. Visions of the great revival (seen from heaven) have already come to pass. So pray for His will to be done and for His kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven (see Matthew 6:10). Our prayers will accelerate the vision into the natural realm.
4. Pray for our leaders in the body of Christ and in our nation to have a strong visionary spirit that keeps them seeing beyond all natural circumstances and gives them the insight to guide us all towards the goal and in the right direction. Pray for God’s perfect will to be done in our national, state and local elections on November 4th.
5. Pray for the unsaved around the world to have visionary encounters with Jesus Christ and be supernaturally saved, healed and delivered through the power of a vision of Jesus Christ.
6. Pray for a supernatural exponential increase in visionary encounters for all of God’s people. These visions, heavenly visitations, dreams and supernatural encounters will build faith and eradicate doubt among those who cannot yet see the great revival of every tribe and tongue, where all are radically transformed by God’s love and by His Spirit.
7. Pray for the watchmen and watchwomen who stand in intercessory guard for the body of Christ (see Isaiah 52:8). The Lord once said to me, “My intercessors are the backbone of My body. Without them, the back would be broken and My body would not be able to move forward into the purposes of God.” So, cover the backs of our intercessory warriors with prayer because they are birthing the purposes of God and preparing all of us for the awesome harvest.
8. Pray for protection against the enemy’s devices and strategies. Some visions give us warnings about the enemy’s next move. These visions are given to us to help us pray against the wiles of the devil (see Ephesians 6:11).
9. Pray for visions of the glory that will give us all a glimpse of the abundant provision that is in heaven just waiting to be poured out upon us by God (see Malachi 3:10). Visions of golden glory excite us about the prosperity of God that He gives to all His servants who generously sow into His body.
10. Pray for God’s people to see the fulfillment of their God-given destinies in Christ. All of our callings are awesome in Christ. Pray for the Father’s love to be seen by all.
11. Pray for entire nations, even the United States, to receive national visions that turn all people towards the face of God. Moses prayed to see the face of God. This prayer was fulfilled when he saw Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration (see Matthew 17:3). Pray that all our national leaders will turn towards Jesus and see His face.
12. Pray for visions to be made plain to every generation through every type of media form. Pray that media will bring heavenly visions to all people around the world in a way that is easy for the unsaved to access.
13. Pray for a supernatural increase in the visionary realm that will prepare us for the future, strengthen our faith, give us peace, and excite all of us to taste and see that the Lord is good.
14. Pray for all of us to be focused like a laser beam and detailed, not only in our sight and vision but also in accomplishing the Lord’s will.
15. Pray for strength for us to be able to run the race with excellence (see 1 Corinthians 9:24).
16. Pray for favor, anointing, love, unity and glory to be poured out on every apostolic and prophetic ministry.
17. Pray for us to all see our glorified bodies in Christ (without disease or illness) and to see the glory of Adam’s realm return to earth. Pray for the eyesight of Eden to return to us and to eradicate the “false sight” brought forth by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We shall keep the perspective of an innocent child, who will not walk in judgment of another child of God.
18. Pray for all of us to see each other through the eyes of Jesus Christ.