Birth of a Prayer

Dr. Paul L. Cox

Birth of a Prayer
Where did the Prayer of Release from Chronic Physical,
Mental, and Spiritual Disorders come from?

The ministry school had started like any other. I was in Sugar Hill, Georgia and a little over 50 of us had assembled to see what the Lord would do. The group included two medical doctors and several that were familiar with medical issues. We had no idea what the Lord was about to do!

One lady had asked for prayer for a personal complex set of medical issues including sugar diabetes, breathing problems, and fibromyalgia. I then remembered that I had previously discerned a spiritual spider on a person who had sugar diabetes. I approached the woman and placed my hand over the Isle of Langerhans which is located on the top portion of the pancreas. As I suspected, I could feel the spider with its fangs inserted into the Isle of Langerhans. We agreed to pray against the spider. Others began to raise their hands for prayer and we found ourselves ministering to one another for healing. The journey had begun!

The students then started bombarding me with questions: Why was there a spider in that particular place in the body? Why does the spider have fangs? What does this have to do with diabetes? The Lord had revealed the answer to these questions to me several years ago. The key text is in Isaiah 59:4-5 –

No one calls for justice, nor does any plead for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies; they conceive evil and bring forth iniquity. They hatch vipers’ eggs and weave the spider’s web; he who eats of their eggs dies, and from that which is crushed, a viper breaks out.

After reviewing these verses, a consensus started forming that there may be some keys implanted in Isaiah 59 for aspects of physical, emotional and spiritual healing. The framework for a new prayer had begun. It would take several hours of revelation and unity before the document was finished.

Isaiah 59
Isaiah 59 has to do with the negative words of our mouth. The writer begins by declaring that the Lord does have the ability to save and to hear our prayers. The problem is that we, as His people, do not know how to control our mouths. These sins are generational. The Hebrew word iniquity in Isaiah 59:2-4 is rendered “twisted” and would indicate a twisting in the generational line. The sin has not just been a current difficulty. It has happened repeatedly in the past. “Your lips have spoken lies, your tongues have muttered perversity.” The issue is that the tongue is lying. The Hebrew word is best translated lie, deception, falsehood, and deceit. This negative evaluation of others has no basis in fact. The words have no support from truth. There is also a passive agreement in one’s failure to call for justice and to plead for the truth. These verbal acts are so violent that these spoken assaults “shed” innocent blood. Individuals are literally destroyed by these false statements.

The individual’s sins appear to combine together with other’s sins so that a deterioration of society is empowered. This downward spiral of injustice and falsehood collaborates together, working itself out into injustice and unrighteousness.

What are the results? A spiritual hybrid spider is released. This spider hatches viper eggs. The snake that is released from the egg leads to death with the implication that this death is a premature death. The evil words that are released from one’s mouth have a cascade affect that leads to the destruction of one’s life and other’s lives. Until the point of death, there are physical, mental and spiritual consequences that unravel a healthy life into a life of disorder, pain, and suffering. The roots of all of this can be generational. This evil permeates society. Deception is provoked to such an extent that those who are convicted of their sin and want to turn towards righteousness, become a victim to the verbal attacks of others.

James 3
It is not necessary to simply base our premise of the consequences of oral falsehood on the Old Testament. The New Testament also speaks to us of the dangers of not controlling our tongue. James 3:5-18 indicates that the dire result of an uncontrolled tongue is a defiled body. James then says an amazing thing! The tongue is an unruly evil that is full of deadly poison. Here again we can see the affects of the tongue on the physical body. An evil tongue is a poison to the body. When I examined the word poison in the Greek, I was stunned. The word literally means venom as “venom of an asp.” The tie to Isaiah 59 is complete. The evil words of our mouths are not an innocent release of sounds. We and others are literally damaged by these words. Instead of enjoying and savoring the delicacies of “hateful” words, we will suffer from disease, mental illness, spiritual disorder and finally death. These words have opened us up to “every evil thing.”

Unity
In 2008, I was invited to do prayer ministry and training at a Roman Catholic church in Ottawa, Canada. This was the first time I had done ministry in a Catholic environment and was wondering how I would adjust to the theological differences. Before I went I kept hearing, “What are you for, not what are you against.” I pondered these words, but it was not until I arrived in Ottawa, that I realized they’re significant. While attending a Sunday night introductory dinner, the Lord clearly spoke to me. This priest is your brother. I realized that I must put aside our differences to focus on what we were “for.” Mutually we wanted to see the Lord bring freedom and healing to His Church.

The Lord wants unity in His church. I do understand that unity does not mean “compromise” but rather that we work together for the sake of the Kingdom of God. This also means that we do not talk “against” each other. Our words have power and we must be careful not to give the enemy any ground. Such ground given away to the enemy entitles the enemy to cause physical, mental and spiritual destruction. Gossip, envy, and jealousy have no place in the Body of Christ! All these words corrupt unity and lead to a fragmented church. Psalm 133 is clear. When brothers dwell together in unity, then the anointing flows! This anointing is like the “dew of Mount Hermon.” While in Jerusalem I experienced this dew. Early in the morning as we were leaving for the airport in Tel Aviv, I saw water running down the streets. Inquiring of our tour guide, I found out that this was the dew that falls nightly on the city of God. What a thought! When we dwell in unity, then the anointing of the Lord falls in such abundance. It is like water flowing on the streets of Mt. Zion!

The Prayer
I have a couple of favorite statements. One is “Nothing is as simple as it seems,” and the other is “Nothing is everything.” These phrases have an important meaning to me. I am very cautions not to convey the idea that if one prayers a certain prayer that some type of healing will automatically take place. Life is far too complex for this na? concept. However, saying that does not mean that some type of healing will “not” take place. I praise God that throughout the years we have seen the Lord heal many times. This is what happened in Sugar Hill, Georgia.

After we had worked on the prayer for many agonizing hours, we prayed the prayer together as a group. The one woman who had initiated this whole process by asking for prayer for sugar diabetes reported later that her sugar levels had significantly improved, her breathing problem was better and there had been wonderful improvement in the level of pain. Another also rejoiced in improvement with diabetes. Since the conception of the prayer, we have had many wonderful testimonies. I should also note that others have not seen improvement – “Nothing is as simple as it seems.”

So what happens as a result of this prayer? First, we are asking the Lord to remove the inequity from our family line that has been empowered by the evils associated with our ancestors tongue. Second, by doing this we are declaring that we will no longer be a “prey” of the enemy. Personally, I am tired of being plundered by the enemy. How do we stop this! We must, through the Lord’s direction, find ourselves in a position of being invulnerable to the enemy’s attack. This is where Abraham found himself. In Genesis 15, after Abraham saw the Lord passing through the cut sacrifices, we are told that the “vultures” came but Abraham was able to drive them away. Why did this happen? I believe it was because the enemy could find no ground for an attack. This is what we want. I want to be in such a position that the enemy has no ground for an attack. Third, I am declaring that I will now constantly guard my tongue not to speak against others. In this prayer, I have renounced and repented for the sins of my past generation, and my personal sins. I have asked that the generational blessings in my line come down to me and because there is now no ground for the enemy for these issues. I know that the enemy’s attack (vultures) can be driven away.