Praying By The Rules! Part 1 : By James Lantz
God wants us to ask Him for His help so He can release the blessing on those who have set their love on Him. Ps. 91:14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. God greatly desires that each person experience His goodness as Adam and Eve did before their fall. The psalmist writes, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want! The prophet Jeremiah speaks for God to those in captivity. Jer. 33:3 NLT Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come. Jesus said, “if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!” Jesus also said, “when you pray and ask God for something, believe that you have received it, and you will be given whatever you ask for.” Paul tells us, whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. James says, you have not because you have not asked God for it. 1 John 5:14 NLT And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. God’s word to man has always been, come to Me, believe Me, trust Me, ask Me, allow Me to do you good. It is a precious privilege to have been made righteous through Christ Jesus with access to the throne of grace!
The Almighty, the owner of heaven and earth, had to gain access back into His earth through covenant with Abraham who believed Him. Satan is the god of this world and he is working through the first Adam’s authority. The good news is that Jesus Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law and that we can rule and reign in this earth right now, even before Adam’s lease is up. Romans 5:17 GNT It is true that through the sin of one man death began to rule because of that one man. But how
The righteous rule and reign now in this life!
much greater is the result of what was done by the one man, Jesus Christ! All who receive God’s abundant grace and are freely put right with him will rule in life through Christ. Satan gained access into the earth illegally by borrowing the body of the serpent first and then the man through Adam’s treason. Jesus entered the earth legally by being born into the earth and He restored mans authority legally by bearing his punishment and raising us from the dead with Him. John 10:1&2 NLT I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The Almighty does not break His own rules! God has never required anyone to do anything that He would not do Himself. Parents and leaders, never require those under your rule to do things that you are unwilling to do. Be noble like Nehemiah and sensitive to what your people are experiencing. Neh. 5:18 NLT . . . I refused to claim the governor’s food allowance because the people already carried a heavy burden. There are rules that must be followed in order to access God’s power and grace.
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The righteous get God’s ear!
We receive the gift of righteousness when we believe God! Rom. 4:3 NLT For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith. God counts all those who believe in His Son Jesus and walk in obedience before Him to be righteous. God made Jesus, who knew no sin, to be made sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God. No person is righteous before God on their own merits. Isaiah 64:6 GNT All of us have been sinful; even our best actions are filthy through and through. Because of our sins we are like leaves that wither and are blown away by the wind Rom. 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: Gal. 2:16 NLT Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law. God’s kingdom is a kingdom of righteousness! The legal side of righteousness is what God has done for us through Christ Jesus and the vital side of righteousness is our responding to His love in faith and obedience. We are responsible to maintain our fellowship with our heavenly Father through faith and obedience. John the apostle reminds us of what the Master spoke to them personally about keeping in fellowship with the Father. 1 John 1:5 WEY This is the Message which we have heard from the Lord Jesus and now deliver to you—God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness. 1 John 1:6 WEY If, while we are living in darkness, we profess to have fellowship with Him, we speak falsely and are not adhering to the truth. Jesus made it real plain about who is right with God and who isn’t. 1 John 1:7 WEY But if we live in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. Obviously, when reading verse seven in context with this passage, we can clearly see that the fellowship with one another is referring to the fellowship between us and our Father. The believer who has broken fellowship with the Father by walking in darkness is then invited to repent and be restored back into fellowship as per verse nine. 1 John 1:9 WEY If we confess our sins, He is so faithful and just that He forgives us our sins and cleanses us from all unrighteousness.
Jesus is currently ruling at His Father’s right hand until all of His enemies are put under His feet and Jesus will continue to reign throughout eternity, ruling with a sceptre of righteousness. Heb. 1:9 GWT You have loved what is right and hated what is wrong. That is why God, your God, anointed you, rather than your companions, with the oil of joy. All of God’s promises in Christ are yes and amen to the glory of God! Pro. 28:9 He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination. Oh, how proud we have been, yielding to our own human reasoning and the lust of our flesh instead of what God’s word says. God has more grace for those of us who will humble ourselves and do what His word says! John 9:31 NLT We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but he is ready to hear those who worship him and do his will. Pro. 15:29 NLT The LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayers of the righteous. Jesus taught in parables, uttering things that had been kept secret from the foundation of the world and yet many did not understand. Jesus revealed through the parable of the sower that the supernatural, incorruptible, everliving, all powerful seed is the word of God. This seed will transform the unrighteous into righteousness, the sick into one who is strong and well, the poor beggar into a rich prince, the fatherless and the lonely into one who is loved and cared for by the Father of spirits. This Seed is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, the Lamb of God, the First and the Last, the King of Glory! All things were made by Him, all things were made for Him, and by Him all things consist and yet God has authorized man to determine his own harvest. The hardest of hearts has trodden down the word of God. Many who are quick to say yes to God wilt when trouble and persecution come. Others do very well for a time but then allow themselves to become distracted by the cares of this life and the deceitfulness of riches. Then there are those who live honestly before God, maintaining their right standing with Him and persisting in doing the work of the kingdom, bearing much fruit. The revelation is this, everyone can bear much fruit if they will respect the word of God and continue with Him.
1 Tim. 2:1&2 YLT I exhort, then, first of all, there be made supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings, for all men: for kings, and all who are in authority, that a quiet and peaceable life we may lead in all piety and gravity
