Praying in Jesus’ Name

“And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give [it] you.” John 16:23   

Pretty bold promise.  Whatsoever covers a whole lot.  And thank God that it does!

But why is it that praying in the Name of Jesus is so powerful?

Intercessory Prayer

“For [there is] one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;” 1 Tim 2:5

“Who [is] he that condemneth? [It is] Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” Romans 8:34

There are three levels of intercessory prayer.   And each requires a different level of qualification.  And those levels of qualification are a reflection of levels of authority. 

Why? 

Because we are at war… and we are in training… and we are trained to be specialists.  What are the levels and how do we get qualified?

Corporate Prayer

The word “corporate” means united in one body comes from the root “corpus” which means body. When a business in incorporated it brings all of the parts together to form one entity.  And that is what the Body of Christ was meant to be: One Entity. 

There is amazing power when the Body of Christ comes together in unity, as one entity to pray.  It disrupts the kingdom of darkness, thwarts the plans of the enemy, and releases the power of God in an amazing way.

Consider the following.  Peter was captured and locked up.  The church had no means of fighting for him until they realize that the fight was not one in the flesh, but in the spirit.  So they took the fight where it belonged.

Sermon delivered on Prayer, 10/16/11

The following sermon was delivered on 10/16/2011.  After the service people were asked to come forward for prayer if they needed healing for their backs, arms, or legs.  At least three people saw their arms or legs grow to equal lengths.

After listening to this myself... it is obvious that it not what was said, or who said it, but WHO it honored.

I pray that anyone who hears it will be encouraged... In Jesus' Name.

SDG

Prayer as a weapon in spiritual warfare

“Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” Matt 17:21

Jesus had just come down from the mountain with Pete, Jim, and John where He was busy being transfigured.  Here is the scene He comes upon.

“And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a [certain] man, kneeling down to him, and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour. Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief:… Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” Matthew 17:14-21

First we have to look at something here.  No one acknowledges that they are dealing with the devil until Jesus shows up.

Prayer is the grammar of heaven.

“Grammar” is the body of rules, expectations, and principles used to determine a language so that it can be understood.  In short, it is what makes communication possible.  Without grammar, you could say whatever you wanted… and no one could understand.

Prayer is the grammar of heaven.

 It contains inflections, tone, position…

Suffering IS Prayer

“God is love.” (1 John 4:8,16) “Love is longsuffering.” (1 Corinthians 13:4) Therefore, God suffers long.

And in the conversation that is prayer, when He is long suffering, we too suffer long.

We go through hard times.  Hard times that others would say we brought on.  Hard times that are brought on by our weaknesses, our mistakes, our own flesh and desires. 

But God is not outside of those hard times. 

When we make the wrong choices, when we slip… we change the conversation.

Enduring IS prayer.

Think of Noah, Daniel, and Job… who God calls righteous (Eze 14:14).  I like to call it the “Noah Principle” since it happened to him first.

You see God told Noah His plan.  And the plan included Noah.  So Noah was certain of God’s will and purpose for his life.

But it would be 120 years later that Noah saw that purpose.  And for 120 years he dealt, I’m sure, with the jeers of the people.  In the conversation that is prayer God spoke… and Noah listened.

And listening is part of prayer.  Often the hardest part.

Does prayer go unanswered? Day 4...

When we started the discussion about prayer going unanswered I said that the simple answer to the question was, “Yes” prayer goes unanswered.

In fact it goes unanswered every day.  So the question isn’t does it go unanswered.

The question is, “Who doesn’t answer prayer?”

Does prayer go unanswered? Day 3…

““And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” 1 John 5:14-15

Remember that the Word of God is good for three things, “edification, and exhortation, and comfort.” 1 Corinthians 14:3. 

Another way to say that is that God’s Word is always shows us His “direction, correction, and affection!” NEVER… I repeat, NEVER… rejection.  Because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross we are accepted.

According to His will. 

Sounds almost like an escape clause for God. “Well, that wasn’t according to My will. Sorry.  Your bad.”

Christ does not condemn us.  And He doesn’t leave us without guidance, for the Comforter guides us in all things.

What is the will of God?  We need to know this if we are to ask according to His will.

Does prayer go unanswered? Day 2…

“And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.” Isaiah 1:15

In this verse the word for “hear” is shama`.  It is not merely a passive verb, it not only means to hear… but to listen… to act on what was heard.

God says that when we make many prayers… He will not act on them, why? Because our hands are full of blood. 

The Word of God is true.  If we pray… even many prayers… that God seems to have not acted on we must ask ourselves, “Are my hands full of blood?”

But what does that mean?

Does prayer go unanswered? Day 1…

Theological debates have gone on about this since the beginning… and they will continue.

Before I give my answer to the question you need to promise to finish reading the whole thing.  If you leave before the end, if you decide that you disagree before hearing the whole thing… your faith might get hurt, you might get offended… it wouldn’t be good.  I am going to take a few days on this topic… so try to come back.

Does prayer go unanswered?...

Are ears enough…

“He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Matthew 11:15

Prayer is a dialogue.  It is a conversation.  It is a communion with God.  And if we are to be part of that conversation… we must hear God.

And so, we need ears to hear. 

Ears that only He can give.  But are ears enough… if we are to follow?

The purposes of prayer.

Why pray?

Some people honestly ask this question.  They see prayers seemingly go unanswered, they wonder if there is any reason to pray.

They look for a purpose in prayer.

I want to name a few purposes that prayer serves.

My house shall be called a house of prayer.

“for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.” Isaiah 56:7

 “And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer?” Matt 11:17

Our home says a lot about us.  When people come to our house they expect to eat well.  That is because if they haven’t had my wife’s cooking already… they have heard about it.  I remember when there was an announcement made before church began one Sunday about a talk I would be giving as a requirement for school.  I had told the man making the announcement, “You might want to mention that Donna is preparing food.”  When he mentioned my talk… there was some applause.  When he mentioned that Donna would be bringing food… the whole church erupted with applause, shouting… even some whistling.

Our house is known for her cooking.

But God’s house…

The basket must have gotten passed…

Many of us are familiar with the miracles of the multiplications of the loaves.  When the young boy offered the little he had… the Lord made it work.

Jesus offered this tithe to the Father… blessing it…

Let’s break there for a second.  Jesus blessed the food. 

He blessed it.  What does that mean?

The pillar is moving.

Don’t you wish it was as easy for us as it was for the Israelites?  Not all the junk they went through… the slavery… the rebellion… the captivity… that whole cycle repeating itself… but the actual time in the desert when they didn’t have to wonder where God wanted them because the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night guided them.

“And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night: He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, [from] before the people.” Exodus 13:21-22

Whenever the pillar moved… the people moved.  When it stopped… the people stopped.

If God never changes… where is the cloud today? 

Sound like harsh question?  Maybe.  But it is valid.  So why avoid it.

Where is the pillar today?  I would gladly follow it.

Wait a second…

My intent was not to offend...

“And blessed is [he], whosoever shall not be offended in me.” Luke 7:23

To offend is to cause to fall away.  It is to place a stumbling block before.  And it follows a natural course that none of us would choose to go down.

“And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.” Matthew 24:10

Do not be deceived… if we take offense, whether we like it or not… we have started down the path toward betrayal and hatred.  And all three are deliberate acts.

But we must not take the role of a victim.  For Christ became a victim for us, so that we might be victors.

When you find yourself in a situation where you are offended, have you ever thought to ask yourself, “Is their intent to offend?...

Or is mine to be offended?”

Take up your cross…

We all have a burden.  We all have troubles.  Christ tells us to deny ourselves daily and take up our cross. 

“And he said to [them] all, If any [man] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” Luke 9:23

But what is this “cross” that we need to take up?

Could Christ have been telling us to suffer each day?  Maybe.

To face each day triumphant…? To accept punishment?

Not sure.

 But what I am sure of is this…

It is foolish to pray for revival…

I say this tongue in cheek as I pray for revival constantly.  I want to see it… I want to be in it… I want it to happen… NOW!!!

I firmly believe that revival is God’s desire.  That He wants to see His people coming awake… coming alive.

I was in prayer, crying out to God for revival… desperately asking Him for it.

And His answer cut me to the quick…

Being a part of something bigger…

There is a theory that says that man has an innate need or desire for significance.  There is a hierarchy of needs… and one of those things is that you need to know that you matter, and that you made a difference.

To fill that void or need, people will either try to achieve something big… or become a part of something bigger than they are themselves.  I am sure that you can think of examples… even in your own life.  From being on a sports team, to protesting some social wrong… to putting a decal on your car showing your support. 

We want to be counted.  We need to know that we matter, that because we exist, something is better.

If you want to be a part of something big…

Being a glider in tow…

I was driving down the road the other day when I saw an interesting sight that reminded me of how we are to be in Christ.

There was a single engine Cessna plane that had a glider in tow.  And I thought, “That’s it!  That is a great picture of a Christian!”…

Get out your shovel…

I have been convicted time and time again (unfortunately that means that I don’t learn the first time!) by the Holy Spirit that if I want a deeper relationship with my wife… my children… my Savior…

I have to get my shovel out.

Why?

Because I have a lot of dirt to get through.  Not in them… but in me.  The dust of the world builds up on us.  And if we aren’t careful we bring it home.  And it begins to become a landfill.

A charge to disciple….

“Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers; Which have borne witness of thy charity before the church: whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well:” 3 John 1:5-6

To the brethren and to strangers… hmmm.

Anyone who you are charitable toward… who then bear witness of your charity before the church… you have an obligation to.?.

It sounds that way.  It sounds like the Word is saying hear that we ought to disciple (bring forward on their journey after a godly sort) those people who acknowledge our charity… which is to say the brotherly love we demonstrate in Christ.

Though these three men…

In the book of Ezekiel, chapter 14, we hear of a judgment Go would pour out.  And then He says this…

“Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver [but] their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD…Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, [were] in it, [as] I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall [but] deliver their own souls by their righteousness.” Ezekiel 14:14,20

I wonder why.  I wonder what was so special about Noah, Daniel, and Job that God used them as examples.  Why not  Joseph, or Moses, or David?

Maybe the answer lies within their stories.

The effect of a compliment

Many of us have heard about the parable of the talents.  We all become determined not to bury ours in a napkin… but to put them to use.

But how do we deal with blessings?  When God gives us something do we ever ask ourselves,

Persisted in unfaithfulness

“'Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have persisted in unfaithfulness,' says the Lord GOD." Ezekiel 15:8 (NKJV)

Persistence is a decision.  It takes all you have.  It is like persevering.  You have to be determined in order to persist.

What this verse is suggesting is that Israel, whom God was talking about… but is just as easily applied to any one of us… was actually fighting against any desire to follow the Lord.  They were choosing not to be faithful.

Re-gifts…

We all have had them.  Maybe we have even given them.  There is nothing wrong with them.  Especially when we know that the gift was given to us with sincerity and we sincerely know of someone else who it was better suited for…

The “re-gift.”

Hopefully you go through the trouble of re-wrapping the re-gift to make it less obvious.

But we need to challenge ourselves to “Re-gift” more…

Tremble thou earth…

“Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob;” Psalm 114:7

The Bible teaches that we are all “of the dust” and all “turn to dust again.” (Ecc 3:20)

We are earth… made from clay.  Man was formed from what God had created.  He became a living soul when God breathed the breath of life into him.

And as “earth” the appropriate response to being in the presence of the Lord is to tremble.  But not a trembling that denotes fear…

Denominational bickering

I see denominations in Christianity as representing siblings in a family.  They all think they have it right.  They all think the other is wrong.  They’ll admit that they are family if they have to.  But they are all trying to prove who will get the biggest inheritance after their father passes away.

But think about it… we fail to realize…

How long are you willing to hang in there?

If you are like me you get all fired up when God puts in on your heart that He is going to give you something.  And then… when some time passes… you are faced with a decision…

Will you be like the Israelites as they wandered in the desert… complaining… or…