AUTHORITY IN PRAYER

Authority is legal power or right delegated to you to command or to act.  A policeman has authority delegated to him to direct traffic.  It doesn’t mean he is more powerful than that car or truck he directs to stop.  He has the legal power to stop it.  Even so, we have been granted the legal spiritual authority from God to stop satan and his demonic forces.  It doesn’t mean that by ourselves we are more powerful than satan.  What it means is that we have been granted God’s power to stop him.  God’s power is ours as His children.  We have the rights of His Kingdom to rule and reign over the kingdom of darkness.

In Luke 10:19 Jesus told us to behold, look, see, observe, pay attention to the fact that He has given us the authority of His power over all the power of the enemy, all the power that the enemy possesses.  Nothing shall harm us.  You and I have been given that right.

The authority we have been given is there for us to use.  However, if we either don’t know about it or know about it and don’t use it, it does us no good.  Authority is delegated to be used.

For too long God’s people have been coming in prayer as defeated, weak, trembling little wimps, begging for a little relief.  Jesus did not die on the cross for us to be beggars.  He gave His life and fought the powers of hell so that we could be free.  He gave us His authority to do what we have to do.

When we come before the Lord in prayer, we are coming as His victorious children, thanking Him for what He has done for us.  In that prayer time, if we have to do so, we take our authority and use it against the enemy (who is satan) and his forces.  We do not lie down and whimper and let our enemy roll over us like a steam roller.  If he is allowed to do so, believe me, he will take full advantage of us.

In prayer know who you are and Who God is in you.  Without Him you can do nothing.  With Him you are powerful.  Know your power.  Know the power of Almighty God is in you.  Know the authority God has given you over your enemy.  Come boldly.  We are told to come boldly before God’s Throne of Grace.  Why boldly?  Because we are coming as His victorious children to talk over our situation with Him, to get our orders and to carry them out for victory in our personal lives

One thing we must know is that our enemy will contest our authority.  He will contest it “to the max.”  He does not give up easily.  If he can’t convince us we have no authority, he will try to wear us down so that we are too weak to use our authority.  We must stand our ground.  Paul tells us in Ephesians 6 that after we have put on God’s armor, we are to stand our ground, withstanding evil.  Don’t ever give up.  You are the one with the authority, given you by God, to overcome in this world.  Don’t you ever forget it!

WHAT PRAYER IS NOT

Prayer is not a project.  It is a partnership when I who know nothing connect with the One Who knows everything.  And what a partnership it is.  The Great God Who created the world and everything that is in it (including me) tells me to come before His Throne, which is called grace, to receive what He has for me.  I think that is a pretty big deal.  How about you?

God Who is this partner of mine has all the wisdom in the world to direct me in my prayer.  When I allow His wisdom to guide me, my prayers are ones coming from a position of trust.  I trust Him to do what only He can do.  He knows the end from the beginning and what is in the middle.  Therefore, He is the One Who should be allowed to take care of any situation in my life.  All I have to do is ask or pray.  Prayer is wonderful because it is all about “talking it over” with God.  He’ll take it from there.

Here is the way it works.  In this partnership with God I do the asking and He does the “doing.”  This is the place where the problems start for most of us.  We want to do both the asking and the directing of how to fulfill the asking.  Why?  Many times our prayers are prayers of desperation, crying out to God to “do something.”  We tell Him that if He doesn’t do something, we are going down for the third time with no lifeboat.  We are desperate.  Desperation produces frantic grasping for any solution we can find.  Then we try to fix the problem on our own and make a really big mess of everything.

In my life I have found that one of the greatest solutions to desperation prayers is a life of prayer.  In other words, talk often with God during the day about feelings, situations, relationships, challenges, concerns, disappointments, discouragements, joys, delights, beautiful and lovely moments.  He loves to hear our voices.  He loves to be with us.  He loves us.

Yes, the Great God Who created the universe is the same God Who loves us, Who is our Papa God.  He tells us to come before His Throne of Grace.  His Throne is His place of meeting with us.  It is not His office.  It is home to us.  It is a place of grace.  Grace—-so many people are now teaching on grace.  Thank God for grace, which is God’s ability given to us to succeed in living this life here on earth.  It is His love extended to us.  It is a love which we do not deserve, but which we get.  It is Love Who is God, Who is the greatest power in the universe.  Grace is God’s love, which is His power, which is His ability, freely given to us to live the abundant life now.

God’s abundant life is not reserved for us when we all get to heaven.  His abundant life (zoe) starts right here, in the world in which we live.  We as God’s children have everything that is His.  People of the world don’t have all this abundant life.  Oh, for a moment of time they may look like they do have everything, but it is temporary, subject to change at a moment’s notice.  The peace of God is not theirs.

Today, purpose to consistently talk with God about everything, the little, the big, the insignificant, the important.  Unlike people, God enjoys talking with you about all things.  Nothing is ever too insignificant for Him to listen.

The Name of The Father, The Name of Jesus

We are continuing on our teaching of the Lord’s prayer by an in-depth teaching on each of the names of Jehovah.

Let’s start with Elohim.  He is our Creator, our Sustainer, our mighty God that we worship.  He is the mighty One.

God created you in His image and likeness.  You are exactly like Him.  You are a duplicate of Him.  Originally, in the Garden of Eden, as we see in Genesis 1 though 3, God breathed Himself into Adam and Adam became a living being exactly like God.  Unfortunately, Adam and his wife Eve were tempted to do what God told them not to do and they lost their ability to be like God.  I think what is so awesome about God is that He had a plan for His beloved man to once again be like Him.  That plan provided His only Son to take our place and suffer for us and become like us in order that we may become like Him.  When Jesus went to the cross, died in our place, became sin and sickness for us and took it to hell and left it there and rose victorious, Jesus got our identity back.  Once again, we can be like God, His child, with His nature.  Isn’t that awesome!

Elohim created you and sustains you in His might and power.

He is El Shaddai, the God Who is all sufficient, the God who is more than enough, the God of plenty, the abundant God.  When Jesus came to this earth, he said that He had come that we might have life, have it in abundance, to the full until it overflows (John 10:10).  What a God we serve!  He does not know the word “lack.”  All He knows is abundance.

What is abundance?  It is having more than enough to meet your needs, so that you can give to others and make their lives ones of abundance.  God’s greatest pleasure is to see you walking in abundance so that you can bless others as He has blessed you.  He is not stingy and He is not poor.  He offers you the riches of heaven.  They are available for you any time you want them.  They are yours, not to consume on your own lusts, but to bless others.  The interesting part of this whole scene is that you cannot outgive God.  The more you give, the more He gives.  What a cycle of blessing.

He is Adonai, the Lord, your Master, your Bread Provider, the Lord your Ruler.

You know, it is one thing to accept Jesus as your Savior.  It is quite another thing to make Him Lord.  When He is Lord, He is in charge of your life.  When and where He says give, you obey.  Whatever He says to say and do, you say and do.  The most blessed life is one in which Jesus is Lord of your life.  It is a life free from fears and worries because you know He is in charge.  When something happens in your life, you give it all over to Him to handle because He has become the One in charge.

This week, as you pray, elevate the Father and Jesus as your Lord and Master of every situation, as the great and mighty God of abundance in every situation.  On purpose, make a decision to see Him that way.

Our Father Who Art In Heaven

When the disciples asked Jesus how to pray, even though it was in the Old Covenant before Jesus had gone to the cross, I believe He gave them an example or a beginning outline of how to pray.  Some people disagree with this teaching, but I do not believe anything is in the Bible by mistake.

He told them to begin by honoring the Father, His name.  “Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.”

He was saying:  Address the Father, speak to Him who is in heaven and honor His name, have respect for Who He is.  Pray with respect for all He is and represents.

In John 17:26 Jesus said that He had made known the Father’s name and revealed His character and His very Self to His disciples.  He said that He would continue to make the Father known.  He would make known the love which the Father bestowed upon Him and which may be in us and that Jesus may be in us.  Before that, in verse 23, Jesus made this statement:  He in us and the Father in Him, in order that we may become one with them, that the world may know and recognize that the Father sent Jesus and that the Father loves us even as He loves Jesus.

Look at the above paragraph and take all that into yourself.  Ponder it for yourself.  That applies to you as well as Jesus.

The Father has many names.  Every name indicates Who He is in us.  He is Jehovah, Yahweh, with all the facets of Jehovah.  He is Jehovah Rapha or Rophe, Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Tsidkenu, Jehovah Ra’ah, Jehovah M’Keddesh, Jehovah Shalom, Jehovah Shammah, Jehovah Rohi, Jehovah Hoseenu, Jehovah Sabbaoth.

He is the God of Wisdom and the God of Understanding, the God of Counsel and Might, the God of Knowledge (Isaiah 11:2).  He is Elohim, El  Shaddai, Adonai

There are many other names of God throughout the Bible.  These are a few that I am mentioning.  He is whatever you need.  He is whatever you want.  His names indicate Who He is, what His nature is.  That is Who He is.  He is everything.  When you say, “Our Father,” you are saying everything He is and He is making available to you that is in the name you are praying.  Our Beloved Father in Heaven provides for all our needs on earth.  He has thought of everything.  He gave Jesus His name, so that when you say Jesus, you say it all.  You say:  Healer, Provider, Shepherd, Prince of Peace, Righteous One, Strengthener, LORD!  Speak His name!

Isaiah 12:4, Amplified Bible

And in that day you will say, Give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name and by means of His name [in solemn entreaty]; declare and make known His deeds among the peoples of the earth, proclaim that His name is exalted!

Speak His name this week.  JESUS!  The name above all names, the name above sickness, lack, depression, divorce, death, poverty, fear, dread, anger, worry.  JESUS!

Thanksgiving To God

It seems that the Lord is not finished teaching us about praising Him and thanking Him for all He has done, as we enter into prayer.  I am learning as much as you are.  Once again, I am reminded of the importance of thanksgiving.

Psalm 100

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all you lands!  Serve the Lord with gladness!  Come before His presence with singing!  Know (perceive, recognize, and understand with approval) that the Lord is God!  It is He Who has made us, not we ourselves [and we are His]!  We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.  Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and a thank offering and into His courts with praise!  Be thankful and say so to Him, bless and affectionately praise His name!  For the Lord is good; His mercy and loving-kindness are everlasting, His faithfulness and truth endure to all generations.

Look at those verses.  Come, come, come, come before Him with singing.  Know that He is God.  He is the one Who made us.  We are His.  Come on, come on, come on and enter His gates with thanksgiving and enter His courts with praise.  Be thankful.  Praise His name!  Why?  He is good and His mercy endures forever.

Now look at the New Testament in Philippians 4:6, Amplified Bible.

Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.

Even when we make petitions before God for our needs, we are to do it with thanksgiving.  Why thanksgiving?  Thanksgiving precedes the receipt of a gift given.  Thanksgiving is saying to God:  I know that You are taking care of me, and I don’t have to worry about it.  Then God’s peace is ours.  This peace builds a wall of protection around our heart and mind to guard us when thoughts come to us that are contrary to results—thoughts like:  You’re not going to make it.  You don’t really think you are going to get results. Look at all the times you didn’t receive anything.  You might as well give up.  It will be the same this time.

Thanksgiving overrides negative thoughts because you can’t think on two things at the same time, especially if you voice thanksgiving.  Try it.  Give voice to thanksgiving for everything you can think of and notice where your thoughts go.  Your thoughts go in the direction of your mouth.  What are we saying here?  When negative thoughts bombard your mind, start speaking and singing thanksgiving to God.  It works.  Ask me how I know!

The greatest words expressing faith are two little words:  THANK YOU!  Thank you means that I take it.  It is mine now.  Thank you for it.  I am grateful.

Give Thanks To The Lord

Psalm 136 tells us why we are to give thanks to the Lord.  I truly believe that this is to be our place of standing when we come before the Lord in prayer, before we do anything else.

Psalm 136:1

O give thanks to the Lord; for He is good; for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever.

Then the rest of Psalm 136 tells us the many reasons we can thank the Lord.  He’s the One Who made the earth.  He is the One Who made us.  He is the One Who brings us out from the oppression of the enemy, satan.  The Lord is the One Who has redeemed us, delivered us from trouble.  He Who made the earth and the heavens, sees our lowly estate and brings His mercy on the scene to help us.  What an awesome God He is!

God has given us a rich inheritance to enjoy.  He not only has given us a rich inheritance; He is our inheritance.  Glory to God!  Everything He is and has is ours.  What a cause to rejoice and give thanks to the Lord.  He is good.  He is a good God.  O Lord, cause us to know Your goodness in the land of the living.

Psalm 145 tells us we must speak of the glory of God’s Kingdom and talk of His power.  This is what we are to do in prayer.  We are to magnify Him!  We are to glorify Him!  Unfortunately, many times what we do is magnify our problems and hardships, which is just what the devil wants because he knows that is not praying as God desires.  That is focusing on the problem instead of the answer.  Oh, I have done this so many times.  We all have done it.  You see, when we magnify God, we magnify the answer and give God the open pathway to bring the answer.  But when we magnify the problem (because we really are hurting) we magnify the one who caused the problem in the first place, the devil himself.  Oh, God, help us all!  Yes, He is!

Also in Psalm 145 we read that the Lord is gracious and full of compassion.  He is slow to anger.  He abounds in mercy and loving-kindness.  He opens His hand and satisfies every living thing with favor or His love and power extended toward us.  He preserves all those who love Him.  This is only the beginning of the reasons to praise our Lord.

Psalm 146 tells us to praise the Lord while we live.  Sing praises to our God while we have our being.  Put our trust in Him.  Happy are those who trust Him.  The Lord reigns forever.

Of course, we end the Psalms with Psalm 150 which exhorts us to praise the Lord everywhere, all the time, with everything we have, our lips, our hands, our instruments, our dance.  Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

You have breath—-PRAISE THE LORD! 

Communion With God

What is prayer?  We could give many answers for this question, but to me all answers are summed up in this phrase—-communication with God.

When we pray, what we are doing is talking with God.  It is not just about petitioning God with our requests.  Prayer is about a relationship with the one to whom you are talking.  Prayer begins with relationship.  How can I fellowship with someone I don’t know?  All my communication with Him then becomes a matter of cold, legalistic involvement because I need something.  Prayer is so much more than asking for supply of our needs

Prayer is intimacy with my Father Who is my best friend, my papa, my daddy.  Yes, He is mighty God, magnificent in power, full of splendor and majesty., to be greatly honored and respected and held in the highest esteem, but He is also my friend.  I can come to Him in times of rejoicing and in times of sorrow, in times of questioning and in times of understanding.  He is everything I ever need.  I love to talk with Him.

If you pray long enough in your life, there is a point where prayer moves from desire to discipline to delight.  Your greatest pleasure is to spend time with the God of the universe Who is right there with His loving arms and loving lap to listen to you and also to talk with you.

Here is another point we need to cover.  Prayer is not a one-way avenue.  It is a two-way communication between two people who love one another.  God loves you and you loves Him.

Yes, there are times when we have needs and we come before His Throne of Grace to find help in time of need, but then there are times of pure pleasure when we spend the entire time worshipping and praising Him.  There are times when we are quiet and He talks.  There are times of visions and supernatural encounters.  There are times of intercession, standing in the gap for someone else or a family or a church or a nation.  All of it is prayer.

Let’s remember that prayer is intimate fellowship with God, being led by the Holy Spirit for that time of fellowship.  It really is all about being led by the Holy Spirit.  Prayer is never dull with Him.  If prayer is dull, then it has become a program, with the emphasis being on doing what I have to do, not because I want to do it.  When that becomes my emphasis, I stop right where I am in my prayer attempt for that day and say:  OK, Holy Spirit, come and help me here today.  I want communion, not a legal relationship.

Purpose this week to spend time getting to know the One with Whom you communicate in prayer.

PRAYER FOR OTHERS

PRAYER SCRIPTURE

Philippians 1:3,4, The Message 

Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God.  Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer.  I find myself praying for you with a glad heart.

PRAYER TEACHING

Prayers that are made with thanksgiving and joy are a delight to God’s heart.  We are told in Psalms to enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.

When we come to our place of prayer every day, let’s start with the right attitude of thanksgiving and a grateful heart.  Before we start our list of petitions, let’s focus on how good God is and what He has done for us.  Let’s take some time to thank Him and let Him know how grateful we are to Him for His goodness.  I know, there are times when we are sort of “down in the dumps” about life in general and we certainly don’t feel very joyful.  You’re breathing, aren’t you.  You have breath in your body, don’t you.  Even if you are hooked up to oxygen, thank God for the availability of oxygen. There are always things we can find for which to be grateful.

I am reminded right now that when I pray for people that I am not too pleased with at the moment, I am to break out in exclamations of thanks to God, and pray for them with a glad heart.  Are you thinking right now—-yuk, yuk and double yuk?  Hold on a moment.  God could think the same thing about you and worse.  He is perfect and you are definitely imperfect without Him.  So there you go—you are already ahead of the game.  That person is not nearly as bad as you thought.  Pray for them.  Before you know it, you will find yourself praying with a glad heart.

Pray and rejoice!  Have a grateful heart!  Let joy be your trigger to pray!

PRAYER CONFESSION

I PRAY FOR OTHERS WITH JOY IN MY HEART!

FORGIVE!

PRAYER SCRIPTURE

Mark 11:25, New Living Translation  But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.

PRAYER TEACHING

One of the major hindrances to answered prayer is unforgiveness.  All of us have had plenty of occasions to hold a grudge and not forgive someone.  There are numerous times when we have the “right” not to forgive.  We have been wronged.  But in God’s Kingdom, we are to forgive people when they do wrong to us.  I don’t know about you, but there have been times in my life when that has been tough.  I want to get even with them for the hurt they have inflicted on me.

When someone takes something from you (It can be money, or your inheritance or your dignity or your reputation or your spouse or your promotion or any number of things.), you are to forgive them.  It doesn’t mean that there won’t be residue of hurt in you.  You forgive by faith.  Then allow God to take care of your feelings that appear to be contrary to forgiveness.

I think the greatest example I can think of is the story of Corrie Ten Boom.  Most of you know her story, but in case you don’t:  She had to forgive the Nazi prison guard who was responsible for her sister’s death and the brutality enforced on her and her family.  She lost everything because of her family being caught hiding Jews during the war.  Without family, without home, without anything but her faith in God, she survived and started the process of forgiveness.  As I remember, she personally forgave that prison guard in person.  Whether she forgave in person or not, she did forgive him.  I have also heard of people who forgave someone who murdered a member of their family.

Forgiveness is very big in God’s eyes.  He is the greatest Forgiver.  He forgave you and me for all that we would do wrong toward him and others before we even did the wrong.  He sent His only Son at that time to take our place and our punishment just so we could be free.  Now that is forgiveness.  How many of us would be willing to go to prison for someone else or even more intense, to die for someone else?  But that is exactly what Jesus did.  That is pretty awesome to me when I sit and ponder it for any length of time.

Forgive and experience the freedom of nothing holding your prayers back.

PRAYER CONFESSION

I FORGIVE OR RELEASE OTHERS, REGARDLESS OF WHAT THEY HAVE DONE TO ME!

ASK! BELIEVE! RECEIVE!

PRAYER SCRIPTURE

Mark 11:24, New King James Version
Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

PRAYER TEACHING

Jesus is talking here. He says to you and me: Whatever things you desire, whatever things you ask, when you pray — Believe. Receive. Have. Does this just mean anything at all? It has to be something in line with God’s Word. For example, it is God’s Word
that you be healed and be healthy. It is God’s Word that you cast all your worries and cares on Him and prosper or succeed in life. You can pray and receive that. It is not God’s word that you pray and receive another person’s spouse. They are already married. It is not God’s Word that you get wealthy by stealing from people. I could go on, but you get the idea.

What is believing? It is trusting someone or something. It is accepting something as true and knowing that it is true for you. If I believe your word, I know that you will do what you say. We have to treat God’s Word the same way. If He said it, then it is true for me. It is mine. It doesn’t make any difference what contrary circumstances or situations say, it is true for me. It doesn’t make any difference what someone may say, which may be a contradiction to God’s Word, I believe Him.

Here is an example in real life. If my husband tells me he will meet me at a certain place at a certain time, I know he will. If for some reason he is late, I still know that he will meet me or he would have told me otherwise. I don’t start saying he isn’t coming. That is foolish. Even so, if God says something in His word, such as, You are healed, it is true, regardless of what it looks like to the contrary direction. I am healed. That’s it. No more discussion about it.  I believe.

Believe! You receive when you believe! You have it! That’s the way it is. There is noother option. Jesus said it. He never lies.

PRAYER QUOTE

I PRAY! I BELIEVE! I HAVE IT!