Ladies and Gents Today will be a short word; it will be a word that is short but appropriate. Several people asked me about the subject of prayer and as a result we will talk about that. When you pray to the Lord go before Him as if He is your Father because He is your Heavenly Father; this is why the Holy Bible calls God Abba Father. You should be able to tell the Lord anything that is on your mind; you should be able to tell God anything that is on your mind. Whatever you can’t tell your mother or father; your husband or wife; whatever you can’t tell your boys; your best friends or your therapist; you can tell the Lord. A lot of times religions there are a set of rules when it comes to prayer but when in comes to Christianity it is a faith and a relationship and as a result when you pray you are simply communicating with someone you have a relationship to. When you pray however there are answers that the Lord may give; He may say yes to your request when you bring it before Him or He may say no; and at times the Lord may also say wait and this then He will give you what you ask for when He knows you are able to handle it. However there is a way that can bring a certainty to your heart when you pray and it requires a few steps: First, when you pray to the Lord one thing you must know is that you have to have faith in God; faith that He will do what you are about to ask Him; in fact you should be so sure that God will do what you ask Him that you thank Him even before you offer the Lord the request you have. This is why the Paternoster or Lord’s Pray starts by saying, “Our Father who art in Heaven, Hollow be thy name, thy kingdom come and thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Forgive us our Debts and we forgive our Debtors. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.” What you are saying is this; God, as a Christian I have a personal relationship with you and I am your child; your child that you redeemed by the blood you shed on Calvary; therefore I call you and I see you not as a judge who has no mercy but as a father who loves me despite my flaws. Lord, my Heavenly Father your name is holy because even though you are as a Heavenly Father to me you are still God and I come to you respecting who you are; I can’t just talk to you any old way I have to respect who you are. I’m going to say this right now; there are some who say they go boldly before the throne of grace and they say they when and told God things; no you don’t talk to the Lord any old way; would you talk to your boss any old way? No, you wouldn’t; those who say that are rebellious and defiant and risk things they don’t know; you have to respect the position of God while understanding you can tell him anything because he is a person who has a personal relationship with you and I. However let me be clear on this; at the end of that prayer you are saying…thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever.” What you are doing is that you are recognizing that God is able to do what you are asking Him to do before you even get done praying; that is faith that He can do it. Enoch, who walked so close with God that He never experienced death but instead God took Him from life into life being the first person who was raptured said this about God and prayer. Hebrews 11:5-6 “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please Him; for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” Listen; if you don’t believe that God is real then you have no reason to pray; who would you be talking to or asking for help from. Listen to me very carefully; Sept 11 is coming up and a lot of people on Sept 11, 2001 said after the terrorist attack, “How could God let this happen? Many of those who said it didn’t believe that God even existed. Many who said it never prayed to God in months or years; they ignored Him. Many of those who said that were not in the position to ask Him anything as a result. However many who asked Him that very same question with a genuine heart found a remarkable answer; if the World Trade Centers were packed that day as many as 50000 to 100000 people could have died; sadly 3000 died; but many forget that God spared 47000 to 97000 that day. So next time you ask God why; try see what was not allowed. When you come to God you must know that He exists and that He hears your prayer; but you must also know that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. If you don’t think God will do what you ask of Him them you don’t trust Him or have faith in Him and as a result you don’t have a reason to pray. Faith in God is essential to prayer; not faith in prayer or in some process; no faith that God is able to do what you ask; faith is God is essential to pray therefore pray expecting Him to do something mighty Second, you have to know the circumstance that you are praying for and you have to be honest with yourself enough with yourself to know what the circumstances are because this way when you come to God you can ask Him to help you in the circumstances; not in what you perceive them to be. IF you look at the gospels and look at Jesus healing people or doing miracles He often asked those who were asking them questions about the circumstance so they could be honest. Let me give you an example; John 5:6. There was a man who was lame and laying by a pool for in that day it was believed that whoever got in the pool first would be healed. Jesus says something interesting to the lame man; Jesus says, “Wilt thou be made whole,” or in our English Jesus is saying to the lame man; do you want me to heal you? The statement seems rather obvious because the man was lame but the man answers that every time he tries to get to the pool for his healing he can’t make it because someone gets there first. The man is being honest to Jesus by saying this; he is being honest about his circumstances and he is saying that he was willing to help himself which indicates that he wasn’t lame because he wanted to be nor did he show a lack of initiative; this is key because something we can fix matters ourselves and God gives us the wisdom to do it but we just don’t do it but in this case the problem was beyond this man’s capability and therefore because he was honest about the circumstance and had faith in Jesus to heal him the Lord healed Him. We have to be honest about what we face and bring it to Jesus. The third sensation about prayer is that we should read the Holy Bible and know the promises of God that are in His word. Some things God has already promised us as our Heavenly Father and when we know what He said we can take the promises that God has said and God who can not deny Himself will keep His word to us. God is not a parent who breaks the promises He makes to His children. Let me give you an example. Psalms 33:10 “The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: He maketh the devices of the people of none effect.” That’s a promise to those who are children of the Lord; those who have put there trust in Him that is a promise of security; sometimes evil rages; something evil people get together; conduct meetings and device wicked ideas; and God has made a promise that when you see these things take place a God has already ended their ambitions literally before their ideas have left their minds; the wicked don’t know it but he has. God literally places a limit on how far their ideas will go while it is still an idea. If you doubt this look at history; history is full of wicked people who had ideas and plans; even had billions of dollars and mighty armies and we can see they had a limit and God used various ways to end there wickedness; Hitler is just one example. When you are honest with your circumstances and when you have faith that God can change it then go before Him honestly and also mention to him that He made certain promises pertaining to what you are going through. Fourthly and lastly it helps to know that God has certain attributes; He has specific Hebrew names that describe what He does for His children so and as you pray you can also use them to be very personal to the Lord. Let me give you an example in closing. If you are economically troubled; then you could pray this way if you are a man. Dear Heavenly Father; I’m your child; I placed my faith in you by the blood of Jesus Christ; I know you are able to do exceeding and abundantly; even more than I can ask or think because you said it and there is nothing Lord you can’t do. Therefore Father I thank you for hearing my request even before I ask it. Father I am in need; you said by your prophet David that I have never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread so Lord I need you to help me because you can see I am trying to do all I can and I’m at the end of myself. I’m asking you to sustain me because God you are my Elohim; you are the God who sustains me; you are also my Jehovah Jireh because you promised that you would provide all of my needs therefore Heavenly Father I pray you will do that. I thank you for doing that because there is nothing you can’t do and when you do provide help me to be responsible and to do what you want me to do with what you give me so that you get the glory for what you do. In Jesus name Amen. People go to God in prayer based on what you need; God hears you and there is nothing to small or to great; and thank Him for what He will do in advance.
Posted on: Sun, 18 Aug 2013 07:09:32 +0000
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