An item you requested is on backorder

Backorder: a customer order that cannot be filled when presented, and for which the customer is prepared to wait for some time.

 

I have experienced this myself.  I remember ordering a few books from an online site and getting an email letting me know that one of the books  was not in stock and had been placed on “backorder.”  I was given the  option to cancel the backordered item, but I wasn’t in a rush, and more importantly I wasn’t able to get it anywhere else so… I waited.  It eventually came in the mail.

 

The rest of my order had already arrived.  And had I not known about the backorder I could have said, “I can’t believe they forgot one book!”  I might have gotten mad or frustrated and started complaining about the company.

 

Even though the item wasn’t readily available it was allocated to my order.  As soon as it became available, it would be forwarded to me.  It was definitely mine, even though I hadn’t received it yet.

 

Can you see where I am going with this?

It's all just a chocolate chip cookie

I was standing in line at the coffee bar.  It was on “Deck 5 – Mid.”  For you cruise type people you will know what I am talking about.

There I was just enjoying a cruise that had been a gift from God.  It was day 6 of the 8 day cruise.  I had been to the coffee bar at least twice a day for the six days.  Three drinks each time.  One for my wife, one for our daughter, and one for me.

I had gotten the drink order and left our stateroom, made my way to the coffee bar and now, because the line was pretty long, and the service very relaxed… I waited.

And as I waited I noticed that the young man in front of me was ordering a chocolate chip cookie.  I didn’t even know they had them.  It looked pretty good.  It was a pretty big cookie.

I thought about getting one, but then I realized that me, sugar, and a cup of coffee first thing in the morning… not such a good idea.

“Ah,” I thought, “I’ll bring one back for Rachel… our daughter.

Got my drinks, and the cookie, and headed back to the room.

Coming boldly to the throne of Grace – Hebrews 4:16

“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16

To me boldness is a word that brings together three things: obedience, honesty, confidence.

Obedience is giving ear to; listening to; (where listening is an active verb that means to act on what you have heard).

Honesty is adherence to the facts.

Confidence is knowing what has been given to you.  As in when someone confides in you.

Prayer to me is a conversation with God.  And I believe that it is a conversation that He starts.  Whenever I get the urge to pray I take that as Him gently tapping me on the shoulder saying, "I would like to spend some personal time with you."  So prayer is a response to God speaking to us.  Just as we can love Him because He first loved us... we can talk with Him (not just to) because He first talked with us.

Just as every conversation we have with other people is different because every person is different, I believe that our conversation with the Lord is going to demonstrate who we are and reflect where we are with Him.

So "boldness" in prayer, to me,

Are you going to fight with me?…(Ephesians 6)

Or for me? 

Because I am fighting for you…

In the war between the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light we are either on the devil’s side, or the Lord’s side.

When we fight with each other… we have chosen the side of the devil.  Because the devil seeks to divide.

But when we realize the reality of the spiritual war we are engaged in… when we realize that we indeed do wrestle with principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, and spiritual wickedness (Ephesians 6:12)…

Three times in not always a charm. 2 Corinthians 12:8

“For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.” 2 Corinthians 12:8

Paul was a great ambassador for Christ.  He preached the truth, was used by God in amazing ways through demonstrations of power in the Spirit… healings… miracles… and yet, he prayed three times and received the following answer,...

What it means to receive.

When we talked about the key to unanswered prayer, we said that it was believing or acting according to your confession.  That hope was the active part of faith.

When we believe… we do.  When we hope… we do.

And when we believe there is a promise…

“And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” Matt 21:22

What does it mean to receive?

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.