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WHEN YOU PRAY FOR OTHERS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY OCTOBER 16, 2022.

SUBJECT: WHEN YOU PRAY FOR OTHERS!

Memory verse: "So I sought for a man among them, who should make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.”  (Ezekiel 22 vs 30.)

READ: Psalm 106 vs 23:

Therefore He said that He would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before Him in the breach, to turn away His wrath, lest He destroy them. 

INTIMATION: 

Intercessory prayer is a never-ending opportunity to join God in His work, while at the same time, you have a chance to be transformed both in heart and circumstance. Not just a few are called to pray for others; we are all called to pray unceasingly for all of God's people. Are you wondering if praying for others makes a difference? Here are eight amazing things that happen when you pray for others: 

1. When we pray, we participate in God's work.

There are many people in our lives who need prayer. At times their needs are clear. Other times we may not know what to pray. Either way, when we pray for others, we join God in His work in their lives. 

If you are not sure what to pray, follow the exhortation of Apostle Paul to Timothy in First Timothy 2 vs 1 - 4: “Therefore I exhort first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercession and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Being obedient in praying for others clears the way for God's work and will to be done.

2. When we pray for others we emulate Jesus.

In the book of Luke, we find Jesus praying often. He goes to His Father in prayer as His ministry begins. As we can see in Scripture, Jesus prayed His disciples and about everything. By bringing petitions of prayer on behalf of others, we imitate our Savior. Jesus said to Peter, “And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail, and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” (Luke 22 vs 31 - 32.)

3. When we pray for others, we share in their  burdens. In Philippians 2 vs 3 - 4, the apostle Paul reminds us to put others above self, and to consider the needs of others more important than our own. Our nature is to do the opposite. Our first thought is to pray that our burdens be lifted or erased altogether. It is humility that allows us to pray for others earnestly. And by offering prayers for the relief of others and sharing their burdens, our burdens seem lighter. 

4. By praying for others, we join the ministry of reconciliation. The apostle Paul said that God reconciled the believers with Himself through Jesus Christ, and has gives them the ministry of reconciliation, or working to help others know Jesus, embrace salvation, and God's love. (First Corinthians 5 vs 18). Our first tool is prayer. Praying for others puts us in the middle of God's work to bring everyone to Himself. By praying for others, we are ministers in the work of salvation, opening the gospel to those in our prayers. God wants everyone to be saved, and we are invited to be part of the work. (First Timothy 2 vs 3 - 4.)

5. When we pray for others, we learn to trust God. If we depend on our strength and abilities, we cannot accomplish God's will. Only through surrendering to God is He able to work through us to accomplish His desires in our prayers for others. When we offer intercessory prayers, pleading with God on behalf of loved ones and friends, we are trusting in His ability to answer, and He does. We are giving up our capabilities to answer and depending on God to keep His promise to answer our prayers.

6. When we pray for others, we are also changed. Prayer is not a matter of changing things externally, but one of working miracles in a person's inner nature. While we pray for others, we plead with God to intercede in their lives, perhaps to bring healing or strength in difficult times. But we are also opening our hearts for change. When we pray for others, we connect to the One who has the power to transform the hearts of others and bring change to their circumstances. At the same time, it amends our hearts.

7. Praying for others glorifies God. When we practice intercessory prayer, we glorify the only One who can answer prayers. Our prayers display trust in God, our belief in Christ, and when prayers are answered, we praise Him for his faithfulness. Our prayers glorify God. Praying is not just a conversation. Prayer is praise for the work God will do through our prayers.

8. God answers when we pray for others.

As Christians, our prayers do not bounce off the ceiling or dissipate like fog. God hears when we pray for others, and He answers. The answer may not come quickly, nor may the reply be what we expected. Or, because God is gracious, we receive much more than we asked. Either way, God answers our prayers when we pray for others. Our prayers are powerful, and our loving God wants us to know through His answer to our plea that He has the power and authority to answer whatever we ask in accordance with His Will.

Prayer should not be regarded as a duty which must be performed, but rather as a privilege to be enjoyed, a rare delight that is always revealing some new beauty.

Prayer: Abba Father, endue me with the excellent spirit of prayer and supplication with thanksgiving in all things, and giving myself to praying for others, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Fear and Hope in God’s Jealousy

 

The Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” (Exodus 34:14)

God is infinitely jealous for the honor of his name, and responds with terrible wrath against those whose hearts should belong to him but go after other things, like a spouse running after another lover.

For example, in Ezekiel 16:38–40 he says to faithless Israel,

“I will judge you as women who commit adultery and shed blood are judged, and bring upon you the blood of wrath and jealousy. And I will give you into their hands, and they shall throw down your vaulted chamber. . . . They shall strip you of your clothes and take your beautiful jewels and leave you naked and bare. They shall bring up a crowd against you, and they shall stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords.”

I urge you to listen to this warning. The jealousy of God for your undivided love and devotion will always have the last say. Whatever lures your affections away from God with deceptive attraction will come back to strip you bare and cut you in pieces.

It is a horrifying thing to use your God-given life to commit adultery against the Almighty.

But for those of you who have been truly united to Christ and who keep your vows to forsake all others and cleave only to him and live for his honor — for you the jealousy of God is a great comfort and a great hope.

Since God is infinitely jealous for the honor of his name, anything and anybody who threatens the good of his faithful wife will be opposed with divine omnipotence. That’s good news for the faithful wife — the faithful people of God.

God’s jealousy is a great threat to those who play the harlot and sell their heart to the world and make a cuckold out of God (James 4:3–4). But his jealousy is a great comfort to those who keep their covenant vows and become strangers and exiles in the world.

WORD-FIRED PRAYER!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY OCTOBER 15, 2022.

SUBJECT : WORD-FIRED PRAYER!

Memory verse: "Is not my word like a fire?” says the LORD; “And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?" (Jeremiah 23 vs 29.)

READ: First Kings 18 vs 32 - 38:

18:32: Then with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD: and he made a trench around the altar large enough as would contain two seahs of seed.

18:33: And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, “Fill four waterpots with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood.

18:34: Then he said, “Do it the second time,” and they did it the second time; and he said, “Do it the third time,” and they did it the third time.

18:35: So the water ran all around the altar; and he filled the trench with water.

18:36: And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that You are Lord God in Israel, and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word.

18:37: Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD God, and that You have turned their heart back to You again.”

18:38: Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

INTIMATION:

There is what is called Word-fired prayer. That is, prayer born out of the fire of the Word. It is the Word of God that ignites a fire in your heart and pushes you into fervent and effectual prayers. That is why you find that after hearing a powerful, Word-packed message, people are fired up to pray heaven-touching prayers.

In the passage we read today, the prophet Elijah knew whom he believed; that His Word is a consuming fire. He challenged 850 pagan prophets brought by King Ahab to Mount Carmel to match wits and power with Elijah. He challenged the people to take a stand; “And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him, but if Baal, follow him.” (First Kings 18 vs 21.) Although the prophets of Baal prepared their burnt offering, and called their god, raved all afternoon, but no one answered them. Their god was silent because it was not real. 

Then Elijah prepared his burnt offering on the altar he built according to the passage we read, and called on the True God of the whole heaven and earth—the Consuming Fire: “And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that You are Lord God in Israel, and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. (First King 18 vs 36.) God answered him: "Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench." (First Kings 18 vs 38.)

So, it takes fire on the altar of your heart to draw down fire from heaven. The story is told of John G. Lake, a great man of God in his days. Almost half of his family members had died of one plague or another and on April 28, 1898, his wife lay dying of the same plague. A fellow minister who was with him encouraged him to accept her death as God's will, and in utter hopelessness, Lake threw his Bible against the wall. It fell to the floor and opened to Acts 10. As he walked over to pick it up, his eyes fell on verse 38, "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power; who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him."

Those powerful words were fired into his soul and it dawned on him that God was not the author of sickness; the devil was responsible for his wife's condition and since he was a son of God by faith in Jesus Christ, then God was with Him, just as He was with Jesus. He turned to Luke 13 vs 16,  "And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?" That ignited another fire in his soul, because he realized that God could use him to heal his wife. So, with all boldness, he entered her room and declared with a loud voice that his wife would be healed at exactly 9.30 a.m. 

And at that hour, he knelt down by her side, laid hands on her head and prayed. The power of God came upon her and in a few seconds, she shouted, "Praise God, I am healed!" She was immediately healed of the paralysis and all the other ailments that had drawn her so close to the brink of death.

When you pray Word-fired prayers, you can't miss drawing fire from heaven. Meditation is one of the ways of fanning up the fire in your heart. As you spend time brooding over the Word, the Holy Spirit sparks off a fire in your soul, which enhances a hotline communication with heaven, to ensure your victory.

God's Word ratified by the Blood of Jesus, is His Will. It is unchangeable, irrevocable and endures forever. If you go with a will to a court of law, that court is under obligation to honor it. It doesn't matter if the deceased made a mistake in it or not, as long as it is his will, the court is mandated to enforce it. So, when you approach the throne of grace on the basis of the will of God, you are justified, and God is obliged to step into your case. That is why every ‘word-weak’ Christian is a prayer failure. The strength of the Word is what determines the strength of the response from heaven.

Prayer: Abba Father, let Your words be the constant meditation of my heart, and let my prayers be fired by Your words coming from my heart packed full of Your words at all times, that I may lead a triumphant life in You and Your Word, in Jesus’ mighty Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Plan for Prayer

 

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. . . . These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:7–8, 11)

Prayer pursues joy in fruitful fellowship with Jesus, knowing that God is glorified when we bear fruit in answer to prayer. Why do God’s children so often fail to have consistent habits of happy, fruitful prayer?

Unless I’m badly mistaken, one of the reasons is not so much that we don’t want to, but that we don’t plan to.

If you want to take a four-week vacation, you don’t just get up one summer morning and say, “Hey, let’s go today!” You won’t have anything ready. You won’t know where to go. Nothing has been planned.

But that is how many of us treat prayer. We get up day after day and realize that significant times of prayer should be a part of our life, but nothing is ready.

We don’t know where to go. Nothing has been planned. No time. No place. No procedure. And we all know that the opposite of planning is not a wonderful flow of deep, spontaneous experiences in prayer. The opposite of planning is the same old rut.

If you don’t plan a vacation, you will probably stay home and watch TV. The natural, unplanned flow of spiritual life sinks to the lowest ebb of vitality. There is a race to be run and a fight to be fought. If you want renewal in your life of prayer, you must plan to see it.

Therefore, my simple exhortation is this: Let us take time this very day to rethink our priorities and how prayer fits in. Make some new resolve. Try some new venture with God. Set a time. Set a place. Choose a portion of Scripture to guide you.

Don’t be tyrannized by the press of busy days. We all need midcourse corrections. Make this a day of turning to prayer — for the glory of God and for the fullness of your joy.

PRAY IN THE NAME OF JESUS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY OCTOBER 14, 2022.

SUBJECT: PRAY IN THE NAME OF JESUS! 

Memory verse: "And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” (John 14 vs 13.)

READ: John 14 vs 12 - 14; 15 vs 16; 16 vs 23:

14:12: Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes In Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to My Father.

14:13: And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

14:14: If you will ask any thing in My name, I will do it.

15:16: You did not chose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever you ask the Father in My name, He may give you.

16:23: And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever ye will ask the Father in My name, He will give you.

INTIMATION:

Praying in the name of Jesus is handing over our prayers to Him, He takes over! This is awesome! All you have asked in prayer is then in His care. It is no longer your burden as long as you do not repudiate it by a wrong confession. He is our standby. When Jesus says we can ask anything in His name, our asking must be according to God’s character and will. 

Jesus is the will of the Father revealed to mankind. And because He is the will of God, whatever we ask in His name in consonance with God’s will and it will be granted us. God will not grant requests contrary to His nature or His will, and we cannot use His name as a magic formula to fulfill our selfish desires. If we are sincerely following God and seeking to do His will, then our requests will be in line with what He wants, and He will grant them. 

Jesus and His name is One. The right to pray in His name means that we represent Him, and are acting in His stead. When you pray in the name of Jesus, it is as though Jesus Himself is praying. Therefore, the believer praying is partnering with Jesus, and agreeing with Him. The agreement of you two make things come into being, or come to pass in line with His promise of the agreement of two: “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.” (Matthew 18 vs 19.)

One may say, "Jesus is not here physically." But let us look at the conversation between the Pharisees and Jesus when they accused Him of being a witness of Himself; “Jesus answered and said to them, Even If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I came from and where I am going....It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true....I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.” (John 8 vs 14, 17 & 18.) The Father, who is not present in the physical, bears witness with Him. Jesus, though not present in the physical, but is in you through the Holy Spirit and bears witness with you when you pray in His name.

Now look at this, Jesus is the Word, He has been there from the beginning, He has been with God, all things were made through Him and for Him. Jesus and the Father is One. Jesus said, "I am in the Father and the Father is in Me." (John 14 vs 11.) Jesus is the express image of the person of God (Hebrews 1 vs 3), "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2 vs 9). When you have held up Himself (the Word) to Him in prayer, "He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself" (Second Timothy 2 vs 13). 

When you pray in His name, you are taking Jesus place. You are acting as Jesus would have acted. You are doing the Father's own Will just as Jesus did it in His earth walk. You and Jesus are one. You act for Him. Your will and His Will are harnessed. They make a very beautiful and wonderful unit. 

The Scripture says in First John 4 vs 4, "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." Satan is in the world and the ruler of it. Jesus said, "I have come into the world." We are in the world, and Jesus is in us through His Spirit—the Holy Spirit, and He is greater than Satan, the ruler of the world. And "as He is so we are in this world" (First John 4 vs 17). It is for this reason that "You are of God." It goes to say that we are greater than the ruler of the world. That is the reason we are overcomers, and are of God because He lives in us. 

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for what You wrought for us in redemption through our Messiah Jesus Christ. Thank You for given us a blank cheque to ack in His name that our request will be granted to us, in Jesus’ Name I have given thanks. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

God Heals by Humbling

 

I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners, creating the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,” says the Lord, “and I will heal him.” (Isaiah 57:18–19)

In spite of the severity of man’s disease of rebellion and willfulness, God will heal. How will he heal? Isaiah 57:15 says that God dwells with the crushed and humble. Yet the people of Isaiah 57:17 are not humble. They are brazenly pursuing their own proud way. So, what will a healing be?

It can only be one thing. God will heal them by humbling them. He will cure the patient by crushing his pride. If only the crushed and humble enjoy God’s fellowship (Isaiah 57:15), and if Israel’s sickness is a proud and willful rebellion (Isaiah 57:17), and if God promises to heal them (Isaiah 57:18), then his healing must be humbling and his cure must be a crushed spirit.

Isn’t this Isaiah’s way of prophesying what Jeremiah called the new covenant and the gift of a new heart? He said, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel. . . . I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jeremiah 31:31, 33).

Isaiah and Jeremiah both see a time coming when a sick, disobedient, hard-hearted people will be supernaturally changed. Isaiah speaks of healing. Jeremiah speaks of writing the law on their hearts. And Ezekiel puts it like this: “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26)

So the healing of Isaiah 57:18 is a major heart transplant — the old hardened, proud, willful heart of stone is taken out, and a new soft, tender heart is put in, which is easily humbled and crushed by the memory of sin and the sin that remains.

This is a heart that the lofty One whose name is Holy will dwell with forever.