Prayer
September 2013
"I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you've received it, it will be yours” Mark 11:24 NLT
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:6 NIV
“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” 1 John 5:14-15 NIV
Recently I’ve been studying about prayer. I believe that prayer is a very important thing when it comes to the life of a blood bought believer. I also believe that effective prayer will destroy the devil's kingdom of darkness and release the ability of God in the earth! I also believe that prayer is a key to heaven's storehouse, but FAITH unlocks the door. What I have learned is that a prayer without faith is like a key without a hand to turn it! Hebrews 11:6 tells us what pleases God.......and that is FAITH! And then we read 1 John 5:14-15, and we find some great truths about prayer. “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” Then we read James 1:6-8, "……let him ask in FAITH, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways!" Now for another witness let's go to Mark 11:23-24, "I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, 'May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you've received it, it will be yours." Now, let me be honest, since I've been studying about prayer and allowing the Lord to pour into me, I have noticed some things about myself. Often times, I have prayed in fear and not in faith. How do I know that I prayed in fear and not in faith? By my actions. I was still fearful, still worrying, still losing sleep some nights…..basically I was a double minded woman (James 1:6-8). Friend, today we are going to discuss prayer….the power of it….and the results that come from it when mixed with faith (confidence) in God and His Word!
First of all, we need to determine what is the will of God. I have heard many pastors (Pastor Creflo Dollar, Pastor Kenneth Hagin, and Pastor Bill Winston) that I listen to say this and I completely agree: "Faith begins where the will of God is known." The will of God is the Word of God. The bible says, "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." (Romans 10:17) Many times we are not confident about what we are praying for because we don't know if it is in the Word of God. The bottom line is that if you don't have the Word of God on the subject you won't be confident and have faith when you pray. This is why we must not just merely get into God's word---but we need to allow His word to get into us. Remember: the Word of God in YOU makes you armed and dangerous! The more Word.....the more FAITH. Less Word.......less faith. Prayer gets its power from faith, and faith works by love. Faith makes prayer work. This is why James 5:15 says, "And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up." The prayer of faith shall.....not of fear, doubt, and unbelief. This is why we must pray in faith and then rest in the Lord.. This is why when we pray, we must believe that we receive right then and right there. If we believe that we receive when we pray....the manifestation WILL COME! Many of us say that we believe that we received already what we have prayed for, but our daily conversations and actions do not back up what we believed we received. The key to answered prayer is to speak and act in agreement with your prayers daily. We must control the words that come out of our mouths and we must be doers of the Word and not just hearers! When you believe that you received it....you are going to act as though you already have it. Maybe, like me you're believing God for a particular degree (or many lol).....say it is to be a nurse, a lawyer, a teacher, or a doctor....you should act as though you already are one. Faith is acting like something is so even when it is not so in order that it might be so simply because God said so! It's just like when God changed Abram's name to Abraham. Abraham means a father of many nations. Had it manifested yet? Nope. But was he the father of many nations? You betcha! How? Because God said so! Every time someone called him by his named they were speaking in agreement with what God had already said. And get this, every time Abraham answered when someone called his name.......he was acting in agreement with what God had said. What are you answering to? What are you responding to? Is your conversation in line with what you have prayed and believed for? It is imperative for you to believe God, and then ACT like you believe!
Second, we must learn to be specific and accurate in prayer. Pray what you desire (Mark 11:24). Don't pray the problem! Pray and speak the answer; cast the problem over to God! Many times I would find myself praying the problem over and over again. Also, I would find myself asking God over and over again to do "it".........INSTEAD of believing that I received..........I would keep on asking as if I did not receive it! I did not have persistent faith; persistent faith means faith that asks God once, and then stands it's ground until it is manifested. It is not moved by what's going on or by overwhelming emotions and feelings. True faith asks and receives....because it is FAITH that receives from God! The truth is, if you want to change your circumstances or if you desire something, you must have faith in two places: in your heart and in your mouth!
"But Raven, what happens when I think about the need or the desire again....don't I pray about it again?"
This is when your confession of faith comes in! Hebrews 10:23 says, "Let us hold fast the profession (confession) of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) Faith-filled words release God and bring Him on the scene on your behalf. Pastor Kenneth Copeland said, "If you got the guts to say it, God's got the power to do it!" Friend, faith speaks! (2 Cor. 4:13) When you mix faith with your words It is as though God said it, for you breathe spirit life into the words that you speak! You are born again to live a life of bold, fearless, and unwavering faith! Proverbs. 28:1 says, "The righteous are bold as a lion!" When Satan starts to roar at you......(What if God doesn't come through? What if you lose? What if you fail? What if, what if, what if.....etc.) turn around and ROAR BACK AT HIM with faith-filled words! Be like Jesus and say...."IT IS WRITTEN...." He will run off like a whipped kitten because you are the one with the authority. The Word says in Matthew 16:19 that God has given you the keys of the kingdom and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven! Friend, you are a joint heir with the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Satan is not the lion----YOU ARE! When you pray, speak, and act like the Word is true, alive and active.....and able to do what God says it can do.....all of heaven backs you up! So today, lets not only just pray, but let's pray in faith....believe that we receive right here, right now what we prayed for and then let's speak and act like we have it!!
And friend, I am here for YOU! If you have a prayer request. Click here and I will stand in faith with you! IT'S MANIFESTATION TIME!
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:6 NIV
“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” 1 John 5:14-15 NIV
Recently I’ve been studying about prayer. I believe that prayer is a very important thing when it comes to the life of a blood bought believer. I also believe that effective prayer will destroy the devil's kingdom of darkness and release the ability of God in the earth! I also believe that prayer is a key to heaven's storehouse, but FAITH unlocks the door. What I have learned is that a prayer without faith is like a key without a hand to turn it! Hebrews 11:6 tells us what pleases God.......and that is FAITH! And then we read 1 John 5:14-15, and we find some great truths about prayer. “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” Then we read James 1:6-8, "……let him ask in FAITH, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways!" Now for another witness let's go to Mark 11:23-24, "I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, 'May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you've received it, it will be yours." Now, let me be honest, since I've been studying about prayer and allowing the Lord to pour into me, I have noticed some things about myself. Often times, I have prayed in fear and not in faith. How do I know that I prayed in fear and not in faith? By my actions. I was still fearful, still worrying, still losing sleep some nights…..basically I was a double minded woman (James 1:6-8). Friend, today we are going to discuss prayer….the power of it….and the results that come from it when mixed with faith (confidence) in God and His Word!
First of all, we need to determine what is the will of God. I have heard many pastors (Pastor Creflo Dollar, Pastor Kenneth Hagin, and Pastor Bill Winston) that I listen to say this and I completely agree: "Faith begins where the will of God is known." The will of God is the Word of God. The bible says, "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." (Romans 10:17) Many times we are not confident about what we are praying for because we don't know if it is in the Word of God. The bottom line is that if you don't have the Word of God on the subject you won't be confident and have faith when you pray. This is why we must not just merely get into God's word---but we need to allow His word to get into us. Remember: the Word of God in YOU makes you armed and dangerous! The more Word.....the more FAITH. Less Word.......less faith. Prayer gets its power from faith, and faith works by love. Faith makes prayer work. This is why James 5:15 says, "And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up." The prayer of faith shall.....not of fear, doubt, and unbelief. This is why we must pray in faith and then rest in the Lord.. This is why when we pray, we must believe that we receive right then and right there. If we believe that we receive when we pray....the manifestation WILL COME! Many of us say that we believe that we received already what we have prayed for, but our daily conversations and actions do not back up what we believed we received. The key to answered prayer is to speak and act in agreement with your prayers daily. We must control the words that come out of our mouths and we must be doers of the Word and not just hearers! When you believe that you received it....you are going to act as though you already have it. Maybe, like me you're believing God for a particular degree (or many lol).....say it is to be a nurse, a lawyer, a teacher, or a doctor....you should act as though you already are one. Faith is acting like something is so even when it is not so in order that it might be so simply because God said so! It's just like when God changed Abram's name to Abraham. Abraham means a father of many nations. Had it manifested yet? Nope. But was he the father of many nations? You betcha! How? Because God said so! Every time someone called him by his named they were speaking in agreement with what God had already said. And get this, every time Abraham answered when someone called his name.......he was acting in agreement with what God had said. What are you answering to? What are you responding to? Is your conversation in line with what you have prayed and believed for? It is imperative for you to believe God, and then ACT like you believe!
Second, we must learn to be specific and accurate in prayer. Pray what you desire (Mark 11:24). Don't pray the problem! Pray and speak the answer; cast the problem over to God! Many times I would find myself praying the problem over and over again. Also, I would find myself asking God over and over again to do "it".........INSTEAD of believing that I received..........I would keep on asking as if I did not receive it! I did not have persistent faith; persistent faith means faith that asks God once, and then stands it's ground until it is manifested. It is not moved by what's going on or by overwhelming emotions and feelings. True faith asks and receives....because it is FAITH that receives from God! The truth is, if you want to change your circumstances or if you desire something, you must have faith in two places: in your heart and in your mouth!
"But Raven, what happens when I think about the need or the desire again....don't I pray about it again?"
This is when your confession of faith comes in! Hebrews 10:23 says, "Let us hold fast the profession (confession) of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) Faith-filled words release God and bring Him on the scene on your behalf. Pastor Kenneth Copeland said, "If you got the guts to say it, God's got the power to do it!" Friend, faith speaks! (2 Cor. 4:13) When you mix faith with your words It is as though God said it, for you breathe spirit life into the words that you speak! You are born again to live a life of bold, fearless, and unwavering faith! Proverbs. 28:1 says, "The righteous are bold as a lion!" When Satan starts to roar at you......(What if God doesn't come through? What if you lose? What if you fail? What if, what if, what if.....etc.) turn around and ROAR BACK AT HIM with faith-filled words! Be like Jesus and say...."IT IS WRITTEN...." He will run off like a whipped kitten because you are the one with the authority. The Word says in Matthew 16:19 that God has given you the keys of the kingdom and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven! Friend, you are a joint heir with the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Satan is not the lion----YOU ARE! When you pray, speak, and act like the Word is true, alive and active.....and able to do what God says it can do.....all of heaven backs you up! So today, lets not only just pray, but let's pray in faith....believe that we receive right here, right now what we prayed for and then let's speak and act like we have it!!
And friend, I am here for YOU! If you have a prayer request. Click here and I will stand in faith with you! IT'S MANIFESTATION TIME!