Hallowed Be Thy Name, Part 3

God is JEHOVAH JIREH, THE LORD WILL PROVIDE.

Genesis 22:13,14

And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns:  and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-Jireh:  as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen or it will be provided.

The story which prompted Abraham’s calling God Jehovah-Jireh is Genesis 22, the story of Abraham and his son Isaac.  At the point where Abraham is going to offer Isaac as a sacrifice on the altar, God supplied a ram in the thicket for the sacrifice.  It is here that Abraham called God, Jehovah Jireh, the Lord our Provider.  Abraham’s willingness to offer his only son was the opening for Jesus to come into this earth.  Since a man was willing to offer his only son, the way was now prepared for God to offer His only Son Jesus many years later.

A little side note:  It is also here that God said that He would bless Abraham and multiply his seed as the stars of heaven (spiritual seed in Jesus as stated in Galatians 3:16,29) and as the sand which is upon the seashore (physical seed, the Jewish nation of Israel).  God said of this seed that they shall possess the gate of their enemies.  Jesus said in Matthew 16:18 that the gates of hell shall not prevail against you this seed.

The Lord has already provided everything you and I will ever need before we ever need it.  That is so awesome that our human mind cannot “take it in.”  Yes, actually before you were ever placed in your mother’s womb, God had made provision for all your needs while you are here on this earth on His assignment.

Someone needs to hear this.  Every person who is born here has a purpose and a reason for living.  If you think that you don’t have a reason for living, you are wrong.  You were not a mistake.  You were born on purpose for a purpose with a purpose.  God needs you.  He has a place for you in His overall divine plan here.  Without you, it is incomplete, while He raises up someone else whom He has to develop and train

God sees our needs ahead of time and provides for them.  He is not only willing but also standing ready with His ability to meet our every need.  God has promised us success and victory.  As we pray in the spirit, our spiritual eyes become the eyes of the Lord, and we see His specific provision for our specific need.

ROMANS 8:32 tells us that with His Son Jesus Christ God has freely given us all things.  PHILIPPIANS 4:19 tells us that our God liberally supplies our every need according to His riches in glory.  He fills us up to the full.  JOSHUA 1:8 tells us that God wants us to be prosperous and have good success and do wisely.  1 CORINTHINANS 1:15 tells us:  Thanks be to God Who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  2 CORINTHIANS 2:14 tells us:  Now thanks be unto God, Who always causes us to triumph in Christ.

God sees into the future, sees the need, and moves to supply the need before we ever get there.  If you have been praying for your need, move into praise, which is believing and thanking God for the need being met.  Our words loose the blessings of God and can stop the works of the devil.  Every time we praise God for His names, we are loosing the blessings of God on our lives and binding the devil.  You are binding and loosing in the act of worship.  You are binding the wicked spirits and loosing the blessing of the Lord.  God’s provision shall be seen

Hallowed Be Thy Name, Part 2

God is ADONAI.

He is the Lord my Master.

He is the Lord my Ruler.

A master is one who rules, governs, or directs.  He is the one who has supreme dominion or supreme authority to exercise as he determines is best for those whom he governs.  He is the one in charge.  As we know or should know, God does not rule with an iron fist.  He directs us with love and compassion and mercy and grace.  He never pushes.  He waits to help us.  We only have to call on Him and He is right there, available.  He is in us and with us and for us and around us.

God is with us in the person of the Holy Spirit, Whom Jesus said the Father would send to us in Jesus’ name.  The Holy Spirit is sent to be our Teacher, Comforter, Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby (John 16:7 and John 14:26 Amplified Bible).  This description of the Holy Spirit is a description of the kind of governing and ruling we have.  He is gentle and kind, directing with firmness but never harshness.

One always governs by what is inside them.  Galatians 3:22,23 is a description of what the Holy Spirit is.  He is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness or kindness, goodness, faith or faithfulness, meekness or gentleness and humility, and self-control.  This is what the Holy Spirit is.

The best description of God’s rulership or governing for us as His children is illustrated in Psalm 23.  He is our SHEPHERD to lead us and guide us and feed us and protect us.  He refreshes us and restores our life.

God is EL SHADDAI, THE ALMIGHTY GOD!

El is singular for Elohim.

Shaddai:  Sufficient or self-sufficient, Almighty, the One Who is mighty to nourish, satisfy and supply.

El Shaddai:  The God Who is all sufficient.  The God Who is more than enough.  The God of plenty.  The abundant God.  The bread provider.

Genesis 17:1

And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before Me, and be though perfect.

The name El Shaddai carries with it the understanding that God can handle any situation that confronts you.  He has everything that is needed to overcome the circumstance in which you find yourself.  Is it healing you need?  He is the Healer.  Is it a bill that needs paid?  He is the Provider.  Is it a child that is wayward?  He is the Savior.  He is all and He has all.  There is nothing He doesn’t have.  He has got you covered.

God is in control.  He is all-powerful.  He is all sufficient.  He is the Sufficient One.  He doesn’t see obstacles or problems because He is the answer to those problems and the One Who has the power to remove obstacles.  He is in control.  His promises, His Word is bigger than any problem you will ever face.  He is bigger!

John 10:10b and Ephesians 3:20, KJV and Amplified Bible

…I am come that they (you) might have and enjoy life and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).  God is able to do superabundantly above all that we dare ask or think, infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes or dreams.

Hallowed Be Thy Name, Part 1

We will spend quite a bit of time on God’s names, because they reveal His nature, the essence of His being.  As we study each name, pray and receive the benefits of that name for yourself.

Hallowed means honored, consecrated or set apart as holy.  It is interesting to note that in other languages the same words for hallowed are the words for sound, safe, whole, safety, happiness, entire, heal.  I notice also that the root words for holy are heal and whole.  Don’t these English words describe our Lord and what He makes available for us as His very own children!

God is EL ELYON or JEHOVAH ELYON, LORD GOD MOST HIGH.

El, strength, is singular for Elohim.  Elohim:  Creator, Sustainer, Mighty object of worship.  Eloheenu:  Our God.  Eloheka :  Thy God.  Elohay: My God.  Elyon: Supreme God or most loved God.

Genesis 14:19,20

…Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand….

We serve a God Who is Ruler over everything.  There is no one above Him.  He is the supreme God, God above all rule and authority and principality and power and every name that can be named.  He is the ultimate One to go to.  There is none above Him.

Ephesians 1:21, Amplified Bible

(He is) Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named [above every title that can be conferred], not only in this age and in this world, but also in the age and the world which are to come.

No wonder He can deliver us from our enemies.  They are under His authority.  Now here is something for you to chew on for a while.  So, also, are our enemies under our feet as the Body of Christ.  Jesus gave us all authority when He left this earth.  He told us that all authority was given unto Him, both in heaven and on earth; go ye therefore (Matthew 28:18,19).  That indicates to me that the implied understanding is that we can go in His authority.  He even told His disciples while He was here on this earth that He had given them the power or authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy (satan).  And nothing shall by any means harm or hurt you. (Luke 10:19).

God owns it all.  He is the Creator of heaven and earth and all that is in it.  God is great.  And yet, in all His greatness, He never imposes Himself or His power on anyone.  He waits to be invited to exercise His might on our behalf.  The Great Creator of you and me and everything we have and are waits on us to initiate the actions required to release His greatness on our behalf.

The Psalms say it all when the author, whether it be David or Asaph or another author of the Psalms praises the Mighty God.

Psalms 19:1; 24:1,2; 21:13;145:8,9

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows and proclaims His handiwork.

The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness of it, the world and they who dwell in it.  For He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the currents and the rivers.

Be exalted, LORD, in Your strength; we will sing and praise Your power.

The LORD is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and abounding in mercy and loving-kindness.  The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works [the entirety of things created].

Our Father Who Art In Heaven.

Over the next several months we are going to talk about the Lord’s prayer and look at each part of it.

When we pray, generally we begin with a time of fellowship with the Lord, honoring Him and adoring Him and worshipping Him because we love Him so much and we are resting in His love for us.  It is a time of coming away from the many demands of the world and spending time in peace and tranquility.  It is a time to enjoy the Lord God’s Presence.

When we are born again, we are born from the sperm of God the Father’s Word, just as surely as Jesus the Word of God was placed in the womb of Mary and became flesh and dwelt among us.

1 Peter 1:23

Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives and abides forever.

James 1:17,18, KJV and Amplified Bible

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with Whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

Of His own will He gave us birth as sons by [His] Word of Truth, so that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures [a sample of what He created to be consecrated to Himself].

Luke 1:35,37,38, KJV and Amplified Bible

…The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you:  therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God.

For with God nothing is ever impossible and no word from God shall be without power or impossible of fulfillment.

Then Mary said, Behold, I am the handmaiden of the Lord; let it be done to me according to what you have said….

We are born of God.  That is why we use the phrase, “born again.”  We are literally being born again, not of fleshly birth which gave us a human body to live on this earth.  We are being born of the spirit of God, with His Spirit and ours joining together as one.  We are one.  His spiritual DNA is inside us.  His nature is inside us.

Just as we have an earthly father, we also have a spiritual father, Father God, the Great Almighty God.  Wow!  Have you ever really thought about that?  He is our Father.  He chose us to be His own.  We didn’t choose Him originally.  Of course, we make a choice for Him when we accept Jesus as our Savior and receive what He has done for us to become children of God.  But the initiation of our being God’s children was exercised first on His part.  We were in His heart before the foundation of the earth.  What a God!

Ephesians 1:4, KJV and Amplified Bible

God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy or consecrated and set apart for Him and without blame before Him in love.  He planned in love for us to be adopted as His very own children through Jesus Christ in accordance with the purpose of His will….

He Is Risen!

March 31 is Easter Sunday.  HE IS RISEN!  HE IS RISEN INDEED!

My prayer for you today is that the resurrection power of God will raise you from the dead situations in which life has you bound.  This can be your prayer as well.  We are going to talk about resurrection power today and this week, an appropriate day to do so.

Jesus rose from the dead so that we could be free as we walk on this earth, walking with healthy bodies (even though satan sends sickness our way); living in prosperity (even though satan sends lack our way); living in the fullness of the Lord’s provision of life and peace and joy (even though earthly circumstances try to pull us down).  Our Lord’s greatest joy is to see His children walking in the whole, complete, sound life He purchased for them.

In Romans 8:11 we read that the same Holy Spirit that raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in us and quickens or makes alive or gives life to our mortal bodies (our bodies here on this earth).  I love this verse.  It is my promise that while I am here on this earth carrying out my assignment, the Holy Spirit will be giving life to my body.  He is breathing His life into every cell of my body 24/7.  I receive that life 24/7.  My cells are receptors of the life and light and love of God.  They love to give Him pleasure by being living, vibrant cells.  All other cells have to leave my body.  They are not welcome.  That is resurrection power.

Let’s look at a very powerful set of verses in Ephesians 1:17-23, 2:1-10.  Now this is a powerful prayer you can pray every day.  In fact, I and many others do just that.

I pray to the God of my Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that He may grant me a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, by having the eyes of my heart or understanding flooded with light so that I can know and understand the hope to which He has called me and how rich is my glorious inheritance and what is the immeasurable and unlimited greatness of His power (THIS IS RESURRECTION POWER!) in and for me who believes, as demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and dominion and every name that is named not only in this age and world but in the one to come.  He has put all things under the feet of Jesus Christ, made Him the supreme Head.  We are His body (PART OF HIS RESURRECTED BODY) the fullness of Him Who fills all in all and in that body lives the full measure of Him Who makes everything complete and fills everything everywhere with Himself.

In order to satisfy His great and wonderful and intense love, God has raised us up together with Jesus, made us sit down together with Him, and made us alive in Jesus so that He could demonstrate His kindness and goodness and the riches of His grace.  Because of His grace, we are His workmanship, recreated in Christ Jesus, that we may do those good works which God predestined or planned beforehand for us, taking paths which he prepared ahead of time, that we should walk in them, living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live.

Wow!  Jesus came that we may have and enjoy life, have it in abundance, to the full, until it overflows (John 10:10b).  If your life is not at this place, start speaking it into existence.  It is yours for the asking.  This life of Jesus’ fullness is only a prayer away from the heartbeat of God.  His heart beats with the joy of watching His children become the recipients of all that He has provided for them.

Ephesians 1:3,6; 2 Peter 1:3

You who are accepted in the Beloved, you are blessed by God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, for His divine power (His resurrection power demonstrated in us) has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness.

Prayer Moves God

My prayer for you during this time of Palm Sunday and Easter is that you will see the Christ of the Cross in a new, beautiful, loving way, that you see Jesus as your personal Savior, the One Who loves you so dearly that He delivers you from all the cares and woes this world would place on you.  He cares for you deeply.  His love for you is without measure.  I pray for a new picture of Jesus in your life.

Jesus said this to us in Mark 11:23,24:  “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.  Therefore I say unto you, What things soever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them.”

In these two verses Jesus told us that prayer does indeed move God, prayer in which you believe that God will move mountains for you.  But we see here that we have something to do with it also.  We are to SAY!  We are to say to the mountains of difficulty in our lives (a form of prayer):  Be removed and be gone!  Then we are to have confidence in our words producing results.  We are to believe God.  We are to trust Him to take care of what we said.  These are Jesus’ words.  He said that whatever we desire, when we pray, believe that we receive them and we SHALL HAVE them.  Does Jesus tell the truth?  Yes He does!  OK, then we can have what we pray or say.

In other words, God is saying:  When you ask Me to do something, you come into a legal covenant with me.  Believe that I will do it for you, that it will be done.  That is the kind of prayer that moves God.  You know your God.  He knows you.  You trust Him.  You commit it all to Him. You believe He takes care of it.  You go on your way and let Him handle it.  It is a carefree life.  All is well.

Since this is Easter week, let’s take a brief look at Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.  One of the things I want to point out to you is that people take this prayer and say:  Well, that is the way we have to pray:  Lord, if it be Thy will.  No, this was a specific prayer of commitment regarding God’s will for Jesus’ life, not a prayer for healing or salvation or a prayer of petition.

Luke 22:39-46

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives and His disciples followed Him.

When they came to the place, he said to them:  Pray that you enter not into temptation.

He withdrew from them and kneeled down and prayed:  Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me:  nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

And there appeared an angel to him from heaven, strengthening him.

And being in agony he prayed more earnestly and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow, and He said to them, Why sleep ye?  Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.

Even in the middle of His prayer to His Father that He stand firm and go the full course of the Father’s will and His will for the cross and all of its agony, He still prayed for His disciples that they enter not into temptation to deny their course.  His solution for them was that they pray.  What an admonition for all of us.  Pray, and you won’t submit to satan’s temptation to go in a different direction than God and His Word for you.

Prayer was designed by God to move Him in the direction of His Word that you have just prayed.  Pray His Word instead of your many fleshly words of the world.  He will answer His Word every time.

What Are You Considering?

And (Abraham) being not weak in faith, considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform (Romans 4:19-21).

Wherefore, Holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession (confession), Christ Jesus (Hebrews 3:1).

To consider is to fix our gaze upon, to pay close attention to.

Proverbs 4:20-22 tells us that we are to pay attention to God’s Word.  We are to hear His Word.  We are not to let His Word depart from our eyes.  We are to keep His Word in the middle of our heart or our spirit.  Why?  Because His Word is life, health, medicine to all our flesh.

God told Joshua when he was stepping into Moses’ place that he was not to let the Word depart out of His mouth, but he was to meditate on it day and night, the he may observe to do according to all that is written (the Word), for then he would make his way prosperous, and have good success or do wisely (Joshua1:8).

From these three scriptures (and there are many others for those who want to do some further study) we can draw some very decisive conclusions on what we are to consider.

First of all, we do not consider or take into account negative earthly, fleshly circumstances, which are trying to dictate to us what we are to gaze upon.  The flesh, the world’s system, circumstances scream at us:  Look at me.  Can’t you see you are going down the drain.  Take a good long look at me.  I want you to pay attention to me.

For many years Abraham did consider his physical body.  But then something changed him.  God changed his name from Abram to Abraham.  So Abraham had to change his confession to father of many nations.  That word that he heard constantly got into his heart (that’s called meditation), and he became fully persuaded that God’s Word was true for him.

So we see from Abraham and from the scripture in Hebrews 3:1 and Proverbs 4:20-22 and Joshua 1:8 that we are to speak of God’s Word day and night.  We are to think on what He says instead of what people say, what our body says, what our checkbook says.  Day and night, night and day, we are to consider Jesus and His Word.  We are to put aside negative considerations and negative possibilities.  We are to stop running the videos of “what if.”  There is only one “what if” with God.  It is His Word and His ability to perform His Word for you.

God told Joshua that meditating or thinking continually on His Word would make Joshua’s life prosperous, and that Joshua would have good success and deal wisely.  God is not a man that He can lie.  He is the same yesterday, today and forever.  He is no respecter of persons.  If that is what He told Joshua, that is what He is telling us.

Here is what God is saying:  CONSIDER ME!  CONSIDER MY WORD!  DON’T CONSIDSER ANYTHING ELSE!  LOOK AT ME!  SEE ME WORKING IN YOUR LIFE!  REFUSE TO SEE ANYTHING ELSE!  IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE HOW DIFFICULT THE CIRCUMSTANCE SEEMS OR HOW IMPOSSIBLE IT SEEMS TO ACHIEVE VICTORY, REFUSE TO LOOK AT ANYTHING ELSE BUT JESUS THE AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF YOUR FAITH!

Why Do You Pray?

Everyone who has ever taught on prayer gives us all the reasons to pray, and they give us all the different kinds of prayer.  They break prayer down into categories and teach us how to handle each area of prayer.  We have had teaching from every angle on kinds of prayer and types of prayer and ways to pray.  Yet many people are not seeing the results they desire.  What is the problem?

How can you talk to someone you don’t know very well?  How can you have communication with someone you don’t spend any time with?  How can you know whether that person even hears you, let alone does anything about what you request?  I believe the problem with unanswered prayer is a disconnect between the pray-er and the pray-ee.  We are ceremonially offering up words to a God we do not even take the time to know.  We want results and we want them now.

How would you feel if your friend or child or spouse treated you that way?  Maybe they do.  If they do, you know how you feel.  It goes like this.  They don’t even know me.  They don’t take the time to sit down and have a decent conversation with me, and when they do, it is because they want something.  Of course, we know that God does not act like we do, but He has set up certain principles and He does respond to those who love Him and care about Him.

Why do you pray?  When do you pray?  What do you say?  What are your motives?  What is your attitude?  What is the reason you are communicating with God?  Did you know that He has feelings.  Yes, He does.

Starting today, don’t be in such a hurry to bring the Lord your “honey do” list.  Go to a quiet place, shut yourself away with the Lord, sit still and tell Him how much you love Him, then be quiet, even if you only have 10 minutes that day.  Keep on doing it every day.  Be consistent.  Don’t give up.

Before long, you will be finding ways to carve out more time for this intimate fellowship.  You look forward to it.  It is your favorite time of day.  And then it comes to the point that there is actually a two-way conversation taking place.  You are talking to Him about your life and what you need and asking Him for His advice and His direction in taking care of the difficult situations in your life.  He will answer in various ways.  Don’t put Him in a box.  For example, the other day as I was sitting still with the Lord, I saw areas in my life that He wanted to cleanse of negative attitudes.  I yielded and He took care of them in a moment of time.  I felt such freedom when I left my place of prayer that day.

Take time every day for you and the Lord, just the two of you.  It may be while you are driving to work.  It may be when you first get up in the morning.  It may be on your lunch break.  It may be in the evening when all is quiet and everyone else is in bed.  Find that time and that place.  Make it a consistent time and place.  Jesus and the Father look forward to being with you.  They look forward to it as much as you do.

Remember that Jesus while He was on this earth set aside time to be alone with His Heavenly Father.  That is when He got His directions for His life.  That is when he spent intimate time with His Father and drew on His strength.  He fed on His Father’s love and goodness.  That is what sustained Him throughout His ministry life and throughout His personal time on the earth.

Jesus’ time that He had spent with His Father prepared Him for the cross and what He had to endure.  Even so, your personal time with the Lord prepares you for those times when the enemy is battling your soul and attempting to overcome you with his various lies and deception.  Because of Jesus, you overcome.

God’s Perfect Love

Before we can get results in prayer or results in the spiritual realm on anything, we must know that God loves us.  Far too many people are upset with God because “He let them down,” or “He doesn’t care.”  When we know that somebody loves us, we know that they are not going to allow us to be hurt or in any way ignore us and our needs. It’s been too long that we are trying to love God and trying to love others, especially those who persecute us and not getting anywhere.  We try and try and try but fail time and time again.  The reason for this failure is that we are coming from the wrong angle.  First, we must know that God loves us and then that perfect love in us will love others as God intended they be loved.

1 John 4:17-19, Amplified Bible tells us that in the union and communion with God, love is brought to completion and attains perfection with us, that we may have confidence, assurance, boldness in the day of judgment to face Him because as He is, so are we in this world.  There is no fear in love but perfect love casts out, turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror.  He who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love, is not yet grown into love’s complete perfection.

We love Him BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED US.

How is this perfect love developed?  It is developed by spending time with the Lord and getting to know Him.  Our focus must be on Him and how much He loves us, without regard to whether we are achieving the end result of knowing He loves us and we love Him.  When we spend too much time looking at ourselves and whether we are hitting the mark and whether we are loving as we should, all the focus and emphasis is on us, and we achieve nothing.  But when we start focusing on Jesus and looking at how much He loves us, it begins to happen.  Somewhere along the line, we realize that we do know how much He loves us.  Wow!  It is happening!  God really loves me!

Then His perfect love is stirring in me, is operating in me, is producing a place and a state of being where I know that nothing can hurt me because my dear Heavenly Father loves me.  Speak to yourself many times a day:  MY DEAR HEAVENLY FATHER LOVES ME.  HE REALLY LOVES ME.  HIS LOVE FOR ME IS UNCONDITIONAL, UNFAILING, UNENDING.  IT DOES NOT DEPEND ON MY GOODNESS OR BADNESS.  IT DEPENDS ON HIM.  HE LOVES ME WITHOUT ANY STRINGS ATTACHED.  HE SIMPLY LOVES ME.  I guarantee you that if you begin to focus on God’s love in that manner, you will come to know personally how much HE LOVES YOU!

When you reach that point where you know that God loves you, prayer is effortless because you are “talking it over” with the One Who loves you.  You know that He will take care of what you have discussed with Him.  You can leave it in His hands and He will take the responsibility for the results.  It is in His hands.  And you don’t worry and think, oh dear, what if???????  You know that you can trust Him with your petitions and desires and dreams.

Do you want further proof of God’s love?  Take a new look at the most familiar scripture verse in the Bible.  Take a totally new look at John 3:16.

For God

So LOVED

The world, YOU,

That He GAVE

HIS only begotten SON

That whosoever (that’s you) should BELIEVE in Him

Should not perish, but have everlasting LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Believe You Receive

In Mark 11 which we noted yesterday, Jesus made some very bold statements in verses 22-24 regarding prayer.  This passage is the golden passage for all people of faith and prayer.  Those who practice this passage, who are doers of this Word, get results in their lives.

Mark 11:22-24

And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

This is Jesus talking.  He is telling us what to do.  It is a command.

HAVE FAITH IN GOD!  If He tells me to have faith in God, my response should be:  Yes, I have faith in God.  I am going to add here that it does not make any difference whether you “feel” like you have faith in God or not.  He said it.  I believe it.  With this decision in mind, let’s go to the next verse, believing that we have faith in God.  Believe it for yourself right now.  Are you ready for the next verse?

Jesus says:  Speak to the mountain, be removed and be cast into the sea.  Don’t doubt in your heart.  Believe those things you say come to pass.  You shall have whatever you say.

Let’s break this down in terms of prayer.  Speak to the problem.  This is what you say:  “Be removed and be gone (something in the sea indicates gone, can’t be seen or detected anymore).  I have the ability to believe.  I have the ability not to doubt.  Therefore, these things I say come to pass.  I have what I say.”  Yes, this is direct and to the point.  You do what He says, and you have what He says.

Jesus caps this passage off in the next verse by saying:  Therefore, I am going to put into practice what I just told you and SAY to you:  “Whatever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive it and you will have it.”  Once again, He is very direct and to the point.  What do you desire?  Pray.  When you pray (right then), believe you receive it.  Then you will have it.

I can hear lots of you right now saying:  That’s easy for you to say.  It doesn’t work for me.  Well, it just did.  You said it doesn’t work, and it doesn’t.  I also have to practice this in the face of many contradictory circumstances.  Sometimes those circumstances seem overwhelming and the answers to prayer seem lost in the distance somewhere.  What both of us have to remember is that circumstances do not have the final word.  God does.  He says that we will receive what we believe and say when we pray.  Period!  End of paragraph!  End of discussion!  WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE?  Are you willing to stand for it, regardless of the time it takes for you to receive it?  I must remind you that God has already given it to you.  The time frame involves your believing and receiving it.  If you don’t back down, you will get it.  God is no respecter of persons.  If it worked for one person, it has to work for all people.

JUST HOW IMPORTANT IS PRAYER!  IT IS AS IMPORTANT AS THE AIR WE BREATHE.

STAY THE COURSE!  STAND STEADFAST WHEN TIMES ARE EASY OR TOUGH!  TRUST GOD!  HE IS YOUR SOURCE AND EVERLASTING PLACE OF REFUGE AND STRENGTH!