Trust and Obey

2 Timothy 1:7 (ESV)

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Do you need strength to walk through God’s open door for your life? Here are some powerful prayer approaches to take when opposition arises!

First, in prayer, rely on God for your future. This will increase your faith in God and circumvent the words and attitudes of opposition that come your way.

Second, in prayer, accept God’s word by faith, and walk in His direction with confidence and courage. There is nothing like the Word of God to overcome all doubt and opposition.

Third, in prayer, do not be intimidated with fear when inundated with difficulties. He will bring you through every opposition by His wisdom and power.

Finally, in prayer, allow the Holy Spirit’s voice to be heard over the voice of failure. In God’s economy setbacks are springboards and stepping-stones to take you to the other side of the storm. The devil uses failure to condemn, but when you hear God speaking to your heart, you will overcome the devil’s opposition.

Keep it simple. Pray, believe, and obey. How much theology do you need to give half your sandwich to a hungry man? How much Hebrew do you need to be able to read the Word of God? Yet to bestow grace and mercy to a brother or sister in need is to obey the supernatural order of God. There is nothing mysterious about the supernatural; it simply allows people to do things they would not be able to do in their own strength. This is an invitation to the supernatural life that only God can provide.

Dear Lord, thank You for the strength that You give to us. Help us to go our and do the things You want us to do. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

What Door Do You Need to Go Through?

Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV)

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

    and do not lean on your own understanding.

6 In all your ways acknowledge him,

    and he will make straight your paths.

What door are you facing right now? What has God called you to do that you have been afraid to do? The open doors God sets before us oftentimes lead to places where we don’t want to go!

Maybe that’s what you are facing right now. The Lord has shown you a door that He has opened and that He wants you to walk through—yet you really don’t want to. I’ve been there, and I can honestly tell you that as you step out in prayer and in faith, the Lord will bring you to the other side, and it will become a blessing to you.

The Lord doesn’t set out the whole plan for us at one time. He has us step out in faith and only gives us what is needed to take the next step. That’s how the Lord works. It really comes down to prayer and faith. Prayer is vital—you need to be in constant communication with the Lord to know where He is leading you and what He is saying to you! You need to be in His Word as well.

Finally you need to trust God. As much as we think we know what is best for our lives, the truth is that we don’t! Left to our natural selves, we have no clue what is best for ourselves, let alone anyone else. However, God knows you intimately. He made you. He knows how you are wired. In fact, God knows you better than you know yourself. He loves you, and He died for you. His plan for your life is good. The Lord is worthy of your trust!

Will you trust Him as you walk through your open door?

Dear Lord, we pray for the strength and courage to walk through the open door You have place before us. Prepare us now for what You have for us. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

See What God Can Do

Isaiah 40:29 (ESV)

He gives power to the faint,

    and to him who has no might he increases strength.

Can God use our weakened condition? Yes! That is one of the main points in my book It’s Time to Pray. God does not require a huge amount of strength, nor does He shun our human weakness! We are His instruments—it is God who sculpts a masterpiece from our human fragility.

Hudson Taylor was a missionary and wonderful man of God. Prayer was the foundation of his life and his ministry. He once said, “God chose me because I was weak enough. God does not do his great works by large committees. He trains somebody to be quiet enough, and little enough, and then he uses him.”

Ray Buker, an Olympic runner, began his junior year at Bates in the fall of 1920. For the first time since the war the college entered a team into the New England cross-country event held in Boston at the Franklin Park course.

Ray was a member of that team. It was a strange course, and although it had some gentle slopes, it had none of the steep hills that were characteristic of all his cross-country races in Maine. At about a mile from the finish Ray was so far behind the leaders that he was convinced that humanly speaking he could never place, even if he used his sprint for the last part of the race.

He prayed, telling the Lord that perhaps it was not His will that he should win and that he didn’t know how he could. The Lord answered, “Start to sprint.” Ray replied, “Lord, You know that one can’t sprint for a mile!” He felt that God’s answer entered his soul: “You obey Me, and you will see what I can do.” Ray began to sprint. He soon drew even with the leaders—and finished first.

Its amazing to see what God can do when we let Him. Will you let Him today?

Dear Lord, we want to be used by You today. Help us to put our complete trust in You and then to not forget to thank You for the answer. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Courtroom of prayer to God's throne

Hebrews 4:16 (ESV)

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Every time we pray, we invoke the courts of Heaven. How do we enter the courtroom of God? When we enter the courts of Heaven for prayer, we don’t go in scared like when we enter the courts of our country. We enter the courts of Heaven as a Child of God because the One seated on the throne is our Heavenly Father. We go in boldly by the Blood of Jesus.

Daniel 7: 9-10 describes his vision of the throne room of Heaven. He saw innumerable angels ministering unto Him. When God’s Presence entered the courtrooms, demonic powers of hell, the dead spirits stood up and trembled. God sat down and books were opened.

What were these books? Even before you were born, God had a plan for you. He has written and planned things for you. The Bible says, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has felt what God has planned for those who love Him”. Those who have the Holy Spirit through Christ, to them God reveals His plans. So if you seek God, He will reveal His plan. And according to His plans, He will pass judgments on your behalf.

When we go into the throne room of Grace, that room becomes the throne room of Judgement for our enemies. Your victory in the battleground is dictated by your victory in the courthouse. Your battleground will become your playground if you handle your courtroom in prayer. Get your orders from God Almighty and don’t get up till you sense in your Spirit the victory that comes from God. Hallelujah! Amen!

Dear Lord, what a privilege we have to enter Your throne room of grace that we might obtain mercy and grace in any time of trouble. We thank You that we serve a great and mighty God. Let Your plans be revealed over our lives. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Liberation from curses

Proverbs 26:2 (ESV)

Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying,

    a curse that is causeless does not alight.

Sparrows and swallows are birds that don’t descend until they find a place or a reason to land. Similarly, a curse will not come without a cause.

What is a curse? A curse is like a supernatural shadow that follows us and limits us from our full potential. It can affect people, families, physical locations, business, etc. and can’t be solved using medical sciences or technology.

A curse can come for many reasons – by demonic powers, from poor choices, due to handling God’s work carelessly, by being a Believer yet insulting the work of the Holy Spirit, from being disrespectful to God, etc. In spite of having all kinds of worldly pleasures, Peace, Joy, and Happiness would seem like a far cry. Why? Because of a looming curse.

Still, there is the Blood of Jesus that breaks every curse. Sometimes ancestral curses may lay claim on our lives but at the Cross of Jesus, all curses become null and void. The Psalmist David sang – “As the deer panteth for the waters, so my soul longs for you”. What was he singing? In the waters, the deer become untraceable as the predator loses its smell. In the same way, our enemies cannot sniff us out when we are immersed in the Holy Spirit. The moment we repent and give our life to God, His Blood takes over and then every curse has to flee from us as we have the anointing to enter God’s Presence. Hallelujah! What a Savior!

God neither answers our prayers based on the virtue of our merit, nor does He answer us based on our sinful lives. He answers us on the merit of His own character because He is a merciful God!

Dear Lord, we thank You that no curse can come into the dwelling place of Your children. We thank You for the Blood of Jesus that makes all our curses null and void. We thank You for Your power that is over all sin and darkness. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Efficient prayer

Luke 18:11 (ESV)

The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

There are three characters in the parable narrated by Jesus in Luke 18 – a poor, justice-pleading widow, an uncaring judge, and an accuser. The helpless widow sought justice. She needed to clear a blame inflicted on her by the accuser. It seemed that she looked to restore that which was taken away from her. But the judge paid no heed to her plea.

There are two unique aspects to this parable:

1. This is the only mention where God compares prayer time to a judicial-court situation.

2. This is the only place where God talks of getting quick answers.

Like the widow, how many times have we prayed passionately and got no answers? In the parable, the widow didn’t give up. Day and night she kept pleading her case for justice against her adversary. The Bible says that though the judge didn’t care about the widow, her relentless behavior gave him quite a haunting headache. Finally, the judge gave in and granted her justice.

Jesus goes on to tell us that if the widow got her speedy response from an earthly judge, how much quicker will Our Heavenly Father answer those who cry out to Him day and night.

In verse 8, Jesus wondered if He’d find this quality of faith when He returns to earth. There are three things to learn from the widow’s ‘never-give-up’ faith: She was consistent before the judge, she was persistent in the presence of her adversary, and she was insistent by nature.

Jesus said this quality of faith in prayer will get us speedy answers.

Dear Lord, today we look to You for speedy answers in Jesus name! Nothing is too hard for You Lord and we declare Your word upon our situation. We thank You for holding our lives in Your hands. We declare You are in control of our world and You are the right Judge over all. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Father and child relationship

Luke 11:11-13 (ESV)

11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Is a father-child relationship built on mutual interest? No, that’s between friends. Is a father-child relationship built on commercial value? No! Then, what is this relationship based on? Blood covenant! It is the father’s blood that flows through the veins of his children. They belong to him. When we pray, we enter the throne room of God with boldness by the Blood of Jesus. Nothing can keep us apart.

There are three allegories that Jesus cites:

1. Jesus is the Bread of Life. If we desire Him, He will come to us. With Jesus, we won’t end up with a stone that doesn’t edify or build.

2. God alone is the source of all good things. When we pray to the powers of the world, they swallow our time, good works, and relationships like serpents. Our Heavenly Father is the source of all goodness and when we pray to Him, He will only multiply our fish.

3. He provides without adding any sorrow to it. In the Middle-East, scorpions (white variety ones) can be mistaken for eggs when they cuddle up. They are a good example of baits in the world like drugs, alcohol, etc. that look attractive and promising but once they catch us, they switch. With their tail, they give us a poisonous sting.

Dear Lord, we are thankful that we are Your children and You are the source of all good things in our lives. We are nothing without You. In the Name of Jesus,  Amen.