Keys To The Kingdom: Unlocking the Mystery of Prayer

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank everyone involved throughout the publication process of this book. 

A special thank you goes out to my teacher and friend, the Holy Spirit.  This book would not have been possible without Him. 

Lord, I thank you for all the lessons that you have taught me using the precious gift of life; also for the many hurdles and challenges that come along with it.  You have taught me well and for that, I am forever grateful.  May this book be a tool to impact, influence and produce change, in the lives of those who desire you, for the sake of your Kingdom.

A special thank you goes out to my husband Danever Scott and my mother, Aneita Brown.  Thank you for lending me your ears to listen and also for giving input regarding the material shared. 

I express gratitude also to my readers in taking the time to genuinely read and digest the material presented in this book.  Please read slowly and do meditate on the scriptures shared.

May God bless you all and may you experience the Kingdom of God in your lives.

… it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given ~Matthew 13:11.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1

Key 1: Understanding

Spiritual laws and boundaries

The beginning explained

The law of attraction

Curses

Chapter 2

Key 2: Revelatory Knowledge

What is a principle?

What is the Kingdom of God?

More on understanding

Chapter 3

Key 3: Effectual Prayer

What is Prayer?

The Purpose of Prayer

Who is Prayer Designed for?

Blockages to Unanswered Prayer

How to get your Prayers Answered

Types of Prayer and Fasting

Prayer Model

Chapter 4

Key 4: Firm Faith

What is faith?

Growing faith

Understanding how faith works

Chapter 5

Key 5: Suitable Action

Chapter 6

Key 6: Patient Expectation

Waiting with action

Waiting with knowledge

Waiting with expectation

Chapter 7

Key 7: Spiritual Discernment

Your spirit versus God’s Spirit

Sound judgment

Chapter 8

Kingdom Power

The price to pay

Chapter 9

The Power of Choice

Chapter 10

The Armor of God

The Ultimate Key

About the Author

Freebies

Introduction

I was at a point in my life where I began to question God, my existence, His ability to hear and answer prayers -- though I already knew and had proven that He was more than able to answer -- and I questioned also my effectiveness as a Christian, among other things.

Let’s just face it.  When you are at a point in your life where you need God to show up, or when you decide to go all out for God without the awareness of what you are getting into, your enthusiasm will easily collide with your confusion, doubts, and fears. This is what happened to me -- well sort of (smiles).

I decided to go all out for God by doing everything I discovered in the bible that I should.  I quickly made changes that I could and what I found difficult to do, I asked the Lord for His grace and His strength to take me through.  Things were going pretty well until the Lord decided to lead me into deeper waters.  God became more silent, the answers to my prayers delayed and the testing and trials of life became more difficult and burdensome to bear.  The more I called on God, the more sorrow increased and the more silent God seemed.

Deep within, I knew that God was trying to wean me as a child in His Kingdom. I knew He was gently releasing me into managing greater things in Him, but I was not ready.  I wanted Him to remain by my side holding my hands always, and to speak in ways that were clear to me. I wanted God to tell me what to do all the time, when to do it and even how to do it.  I was not ready to make my own decisions as a mature Believer in Christ.  Being a babe in Christ was fun and I did not want to grow up, but God had other plans.  It was time for me to be released slowly into His fullness as a mature Believer. 

This was a challenging time in my life because the devil took advantage of the situation and rushed right in. Where is your God? he would ask.  Your prayers are not necessary because they are not being answered.  Give up and quit praying. The thoughts continued.  My faith in God was not the only thing being tested, but my hope was also under massive attack.  I have learned in life that if you lose everything and still have hope, you will have a chance of bouncing back, but if your hope is lost, the chance of restoration becomes dim and I could even say impossible.  You can’t kill the spirit of a person who has hope, but if hope is killed in an individual, that person will remain lost except God intervenes.  Hope is necessary for restoration and revival.

So, I was at a point in my life where my hope was under attack and this was when I began to question if there were hidden sins in my life.  I usually hate these trying periods because the pressure is often intense, but I must confess also that I always end up loving the results. I often discover more of God and grow closer to Him through trying times and this experience was what led me to write this book. 

I know that God’s Word is true and I know that God is real. I also know for a fact that prayer works and my experience caused me to take a closer look at the principles of God and how His Kingdom operates. I figured that if God’s Word is true and if I am following His Word as His book describes, then there must be a valid explanation for every delay, holdup, set back or unanswered prayer and this provoked my interest in discovering more about how God works.

Before we take a closer look at the principles of the Kingdom and how the Kingdom of God operates, allow me to set a basic foundation in the next section for a better understanding of what we will discuss in later chapters.

One

Key 1

Understanding

"Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding" ~Proverbs 4:7.

Spiritual Laws and Boundaries

When it comes to the Kingdom of God, there is much we can learn from creation and nature, as this earthly realm reflects that which is in the spiritual and eternal. Animals are born with instincts that improve with time and they learn how to hunt, protect and survive.  Nature teaches us that there are times and seasons for everything.  A time to blossom, a time to bear fruit and before new fruit can bear again, the old has to give way to the new. 

The sea was created with boundaries, the stars and the moon were made to hang in midair, the fishes were created to thrive and survive in water (and the list goes on), and this was all done through the spoken Word of our Lord.  I have never seen an apple tree bear mango, or a pear tree, pineapple.  God’s creation obeys His laws.  They know their times and seasons that are established for them.  There is a principle that governs creation and in order to survive and to be successful in anything, we must abide by God’s laws and principles as established.  A fish cannot survive outside of water because no law governs this, and this principle remains true for the rest of creation. 

The moon and stars to rule by night: for his mercy endureth forever

~Psalm 136:9.

"All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again" ~Ecclesiastics 1:7.

Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter ~Psalm 74:17.

He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing ~Job 26:7.

Isn’t this beautiful? Have you thought about this before? All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full because God has established boundaries.  The moon and the stars rule by night, the earth is hung on nothing, my God.  Creation obeys God, but what about humankind?

Man was made to thrive and be at his best by obeying the laws of God.  Disobedience will lead to chaos.  We are at our best only when we practice obedience to God’s Words.  Everything that exists was created by the spoken Word.  God said, Let there be and there was, but not so with man.  God used His hands to form man Himself from the dust of the ground, in His image and the likeness of God.  God then blew His breath into man and man became a living soul. This is powerful right there, but I do not intend to stray from the foundation I’m setting.

Besides being made special, God gave man a free will, something the rest of creation was not given.  This shows the uniqueness of an intimate relationship that God desires to establish with man.  Creation obeys God, but because humans were given free will, it becomes our duty to make responsible decisions by obeying God through the choices we make.  God does not desire robots without a heart who do everything they are told, or without bringing meaning to things.  So God formed man, gave us a heart and the power of choice, so that meaning or value can be added to the relationship. 

Think about this for a while.  If your spouse loves you only for what he or she can get from you, would that be fulfilling? Would it satisfy you to hear the words ‘I love you’ when pumped out of your spouse or when your spouse tells you freely?  I’m certain the answer is obvious.

The bible declares that all things were made by God and are created for His pleasure and this includes good and evil.  God is not evil and evil is not found in Him. It is separate and apart from God, but evil is used as a form of punishment when we disobey the laws of God.  Do you remember the story of King Saul? Saul failed his first assignment miserably as king by disobeying the commands of God and what did God do? He sent an evil spirit to plague Saul and he ultimately lost his throne to David. 

The tree of knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life was created by God and placed in the Garden of Eden.  Adam and Eve failed by choosing to disobey God’s command and this changed everything as man was now introduced to good and evil.  God drove them out of the Garden and placed an angel to guard the tree of life employing protection. 

God is the creator of all and whatever God does, the devil imitates and perverts. The devil is not to be seen as a creator of anything, he is only a copycat that corrupts and contaminates what already exists.

 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things ~Isaiah 45:7.

"For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

And he is before all things, and by him all things consist" ~Colossians 1:16-17.

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created ~Revelation 4:11.

There are many people right now who cannot fathom how God allows inhumane violence, brutal murders and sufferings among other things to happen, but the truth to this is, man is responsible for giving the devil legal rights through choice and God has to respect His laws and His Words including free will which He gave to mankind.  A time is coming when God will put an end to all evil, but until that time comes, God’s Words will rule accordingly.

God has established boundaries and parameters within the earthly sphere that He cannot move beyond, except through the invitation of men.  Satan was cast out of heaven and the bible tells us that he is the prince of this world. The devil has legal rights and access to the earth, but God has given man legal rights to rule and have dominion in the earth.  This was established at the beginning of creation and spiritual order was reestablished after the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, due to the fall of mankind.  This is why God is depending on us His children because we in return through free will can give God legal access to move outside of His boundary (Kingdom of Heaven) and operate freely in the earth realm.  Our prayers give God that access. 

Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me ~John 14:30.

Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out ~John 12:31. 

I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting ~1 Timothy 2:8.

God needs us in order to operate legally within this realm.  He has established His laws and boundaries, therefore His Words will not return to Him void; it must accomplish that which it was sent to do. If God does not abide by His own laws, how could He expect us to abide by them? God honors His Word above His name; that is the bible.  His laws are already set, so He honors them.

Man has the power to activate God’s laws, and what takes place around us today is a direct result of the choices of mankind, due to free will.  For every action, there is a reaction and every action carries a consequence.  God tells us what is at stake and He went as far as to tell us what to choose, but the decision is left to us. 

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and they seed may live ~Deuteronomy 30:19.

Did you see that? Heaven and earth are taking a record of us.  I wonder what laws are set in motion against us. What is heaven’s reaction towards us? God’s laws are active.  We will be rewarded for