SPEAK LIFE: LESSON 8 - PRAY IN JESUS' NAME. Part 3

Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full. (John 16:24)

We have heard the following many times, and have even said or thought the same ourselves that "God does not hear me, care about me or answer my prayers". This statement is not true at all, in light of Scripture and the protocols of Abba Father, Who hears all His Children and processes in His own time and according to His own holy Will!. 

CONDITIONAL:
It is understood that we are positioned to be praying to the Father, in Jesus' Name through our adoption as His sons and daughters (based on John 1:12). Therefore, we are authorized to approach the Throne of Grace for His Grace, Favor and Mercy in all things, according to His purposes. This key verse in our journey to understanding the "Power Prayer Life" from John 16:24, gives us the condition. This condition is similar to a math equation: if you add one plus one, you will get two!

It is this simple, ask IN FAITH (knowing that God only hears the prayers of the righteous, and those asking for His forgiveness and salvation) and thou shalt receive. Therefore, this equals peace, joy, contentment and victory in Jesus! To fully grasp this what this joy really is, please understand that praying in the Name of Jesus is not a chant, mantra or formula for yours or mine own selfish pursuits, but a powerful and humbling realization and acknowledgement that we are nothing, can do nothing and deserve nothing UNLESS we are in the Presence of the Name above All Names! This is the true conditional status of the intercessors, prayer warriors and just plain old Christian like you or I who pray daily (or several times per day) to the Father!

In My name - means just that! It means we are praying as directly commissioned by Him, to seek His presence and intervention for our prayer requests. Please do not neglect or misunderstand what this truly is. This is the Creator of ALL things, paying direct and close attention to seemingly insignificant people like us! Who am I that the King would bleed and die for (as they song says) and then when He returns to His throne after the Ascension, send His Spirit to live in those He saves.....THEN LISTENS TO OUR PRAYERS??!! Who are we indeed? Blessed and more fortunate than we can ever imagine is the response!

Your joy may be made full - This is truly an amazing statement by God the Son! He simply says "ask in My Name....and your joy will be complete"! The true meaning of this is both amazing and even unfathomable. The original word "Joy" here is "chara" or "xara" and means, in essence, that the awareness of the Heavenly Favor of God will be so present in your own spirit that the resulting joy and exuberance in your spirit will want to cause you to leap, jump and dance for joy in your heart. It exemplifies the presence of God's goodness in the life of the Christian which, if the Christian is properly submitted and committed to the Will of Christ, will burst forth and show all over his/her countenance.  This, my friends, is the condition we find ourselves if we are prayerful obedient servants who seek the very Face and Presence of the Master, as much as we can, during each day!

GOD'S RESPONSE:
Does God owe us a response? In general, God owes us nothing, but because of Jesus' Sacrifice on the Cross, He has given us everything and that includes access to the Throne through prayer! He has promised us, when we pray like this, in the Name of His Son? Yes He does and those promises can ALL be found in His literal, inerrant and Holy Word. 

He says in John 15:16 "You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you." Regardless of anything else, that very fact - that GOD HIMSELF CHOSE US. This means everything and like any good parent, the Father listens to and responds to us!

The Bible also says in 1 John 5:14 "This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us." After knowing that our Father has chosen us, how can we help NOT having confidence? The wonderful thing about being saved and called a child of Christ is we inherit eternity. An upcoming post will discuss what eternity really means - past, present and future. 

This inheritance is more than just the blessed hope of living in anticipation of a future heaven. It is about living in the NOW, with confidence (as the verse tells us), that we can appropriate every aspect of our lives to His safe keeping as no one cares for as God does! Praying in the Name of Jesus is not just a stock ending to a prayer we are supposed to "say" or "mumble" like some pagan mantra. It is the sole and exclusive privilege of the blood-bought son or daughter of Christ, and thus God the Father, who knows the Heart of the Father and how He loves us. It is therefore, this love, which compels us to boldly approach the Throne of Grace, in Jesus' Strong and Powerful Almighty Name, in humility and but with confident hope - that He would do what He said He would. Amen. 

A FORTNIGHT OF PRAYER

DAY 12 

OUR HOPE

Everywhere we turn, we see despair and pain, for more than a few families. Economically, it is hopeless in some regions of the country as college graduates come out of school with worthless degrees and $100,000 debts put upon them by a liberal college system. The parasitic education class sips their chablis and eat cheese, while their graduate interns do all the work, and blame capitalism/free enterprise for everything. I hope someday soon, that a reputable investigation is done into why not just the average US college education costs so much, but what is the cost/benefit analysis of this outrage.


The biggest further outrage to this is the general feeling of hopelessness among the populace as we look out over the landscape, into the future. Not only do we not see a way for our children to succeed and find their niche in life, but we see the crooked politicians, academic and media types usurping parental and religious rights to empower themselves. We then see them on a vile and profane campaign to redefine the world, which God gave us, albeit temporarily, to be stewards. We have gone through days of prayer now, on how we pray for those people...and why. 


Therefore, what we will be doing here for the final three days of the Fortnight of Freedom, through Prayer and Intercession, is concentrating on showing the TRUE hope that is out there for our people. The amazing thing about this Hope is that it is for ALL people, including those who serve themselves and not God....but there is a catch - they must surrender their lives to Christ, and it must be known. 
This Hope cannot be found in the political and judicial class, who are part of the end times strategy of the serpent of old. 
This Hope is ONLY found in God, from Whom ONLY, we derive our personal freedom and liberty - which NO government can take. 
Our Hope in the Cross is foolishness to those who will not stand a chance before Holy God on Judgment Day, because our Hope in the Cross is the Power for Eternal Life for all who have repented and put their trust in the Savior. 
Our Hope is not to those who find a liberal "church" at election time to spew socialism and personal animus at their political opponents, but our Hope is found in the One Whose feet will land on Mt. Zion in days to come and Who will finally make things as they are supposed to be.
Our Hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus' Blood and Righteousness.


So here is what God says about your hope and my hope:
Psalm 30 (ESV)

PRAISE HIM FIRST:

I will extol you, O LORD, for you have drawn me up

and have not let my foes rejoice over me.

O LORD my God, I cried to you for help,

and you have healed me.

O LORD, you have brought up my soul from Sheol;

you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.

Sing praises to the LORD, O you his saints,

and give thanks to his holy name.

GOD'S ATTRIBUTES:

For his anger is but for a moment,

and his favor is for a lifetime.

Weeping may tarry for the night,

but joy comes with the morning.

As for me, I said in my prosperity,

“I shall never be moved.”

By your favor, O LORD,

you made my mountain stand strong;

CRY OUT TO HIM IN PETITION:

you hid your face;

I was dismayed.

To you, O LORD, I cry,

and to the Lord I plead for mercy:

“What profit is there in my death,

if I go down to the pit?

Will the dust praise you?

Will it tell of your faithfulness?

Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me!

O LORD, be my helper!”

PRAISE HIM AGAIN FOR HIS MERCY TOWARDS US:

You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;

you have loosed my sackcloth

and clothed me with gladness,

that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.

O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever!

Please focus your mind on the Words of God here, through His servant King David (the human author of this psalm). Notice how David begins by praising and "extolling" God. We know David wrote under the inspiration and power of the Holy Spirit because he said so, several times. For you and I, as far as the Bible is concerned, if God said it, I believe it.

So King David praises the Heavenly Father - Abba, Daddy - for the first quarter of the psalm. Then he explains how God thinks and His merciful attributes..re: "His anger is but for a moment..." Then David shows us God's promise and His favor....the promise is "weeping and hopelessness and despair is but for a short time"....but let not your hearts be troubled, my friends "JOY COMES IN THE MORNING"..... And a Joy is coming on resurrection morning, when we see Jesus Face to face!! 


In the third quarter of the psalm above, David cries out his petition and this is how you and I should be as we place our prayer requests, no matter what they are (God can sort out the ones He doesn't think apply to us). So use the words of this portion and press into the Throne of Grace with petitions and a heart broken for His Healing.

Finally, please note that God answered David's prayer here....and He will do so for you too!! He may not give us the material things we want, but we will have what we need. Do NOT believe the lies of certain people preaching in your town or on TV who sell a "name it and claim it" false gospel because this will increase your hopelessness when the thing you "claim" does not materialize! But claim the Word and promises of God and the PRAISES of God in your heart...store it and hide it there....and the peace that passes ALL understanding will be yours - even as we see the world fall apart ALL around us! We will not be shaken!
Amen

(image by google)