Prayer of Petition

Prayer of Petition

Today we will be discussing the second type of prayer which is the prayer of petition.

The prayer of petition must be a prayer of faith.  The prayer of petition is for an individual and their desires, needs and problems. It is you praying for yourself not someone else praying for you or agreeing with you in prayer.

The following scripture gives us examples of the prayer of petition.

Daniel 9:3

So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.

Philippians 4:6

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

1 Timothy 2:1
I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people.


Luke 18:1
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.

When you pray the prayer of petition, believe that you receive.  If you will do that, you will have
what you ask.  God is concerned about your needs and He wants to meet them for us.  We need to claim God's promise for our petition and believe that we will receive it.

If you have any needs whether it is physical, financial, and spiritual pray and the Lord will hear your prayer.  He already knows your needs, wants and desires.  The Lord wants to hear from you.  He waits to hear your prayers.

Psalms 145:18

The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.

Proverbs 15:29

The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.

 Matthew 7:11

 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him

 Matthew 21:22

And all things, whatsoever shall ask in prayer, believing, shall receive.

Mark 11:24

Therefore I say unto you, what things so ever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

Seek the Lord and know that He longs to hear from you.  He loves you and wants to meet all of your needs.  Just take a leap of faith and talk to him and watch what He does in your life.

 May the Lord keep you and bless you

Kim

Prayer of Agreement

Prayer of Agreement

For the past several days I have been speaking about hope and faith.  We need to have hope and faith to pray to God.

My next series I will be discussing the types of prayers there are.  Today we will be speaking about the prayer of agreement.

The prayer of agreement is found in Matthew 18:19-20

Matthew 18:19-20

Again I say unto you that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.  For where two or three are gathered together in my name there I am in the midst of them.

 

We have proof of this scripture in Acts 4:31 that God will honor the prayer of agreement.

Acts 4:31

And when they had prayed the place was shaken where they were assembled together and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they spoke the Word of God in boldness.

2 Chron. 5:13

It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sounds to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music and praised the Lord, saying, for he is good for his mercy endureth forever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord.

As we read above one thing stands out is that they gathered together.  They also came together agreeing and praying about the same thing.  You must be in line with what others are praying.

The power of unity is a universal principle, not just a church-principle.  People working together toward an agreed upon goal are unstoppable.

So when you are in need of prayer, call on someone to pray with you.  Remember when two or more gather together He is in your midst.

Have faith and know that He longs to hear from you.  As you are His beloved.

God Bless
Kim

Prayer of Jabez part 2

I hope you are having a blessed and wonderful day.

We previously discussed in the last teaching about the Prayer of Jabez.   I just spoke on the basic knowledge of  Jabez.  We learned that he was a mighty man of faith.  We learned that he had enough to know that the God of his forefathers who was faithful, and he would  be just as faithful to him.  Again his faith gave him the strength to pray this prayer.

Today I would like to discuss the structure of the prayer he prayed.

1 Chronicles 4:10

Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my territory!  Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain."  And God granted his request.

So let us analyze this prayer that Jabez prayed.   This prayer is broken into 5 parts.  I want to go over each part so you can get a greater understanding of this small but mighty prayer

Part 1

Oh, that you would bless me indeed
Jabez asked the Lord to bless him.  He was asking the Lord to bless him greatly.  To bless his health, finances, job, family, all that Jabez had in his life he was asking the Lord to bless it completely. 

Part 2

Enlarge my territory
Jabez was asking that God would enlarge his territory by enlarging his influence and opportunities.  We think he just meant the space he dwelled in but that is not true.  I believe Jabez was asking the Lord to give him great paths to walk in the Lord. He could have been requesting more wisdom, understanding, patience, love or joy.  Maybe he was asking the Lord give him a great territory to reach people for His name.

Part 3

Oh that you would be with me
Jabez asked the Lord's hand to be with him, to lead him, protect him, and strengthen him.  His prayer was requesting a lot and he wanted to make sure that if the Lord granted it he wanted to be sure the Lord would be with him through it all.

Part 4

Keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain
Jabez  prayed that in receiving God's blessing that he would not fall into any temptation and that no evil person could harm him.   He did not want to be lead down the wrong path.

Part 5

God granted his request.
God granted what he had requested.  Jabez was not a great man in the bible, he did not have a major role in the bible.  But he was great in the Lord's eye and the Lord loved him and rewarded his great prayer of faith.

Jabez prayed for four things.  Some people won't even ask God for one thing even though they may have many needs. Jabez prayed for four things and the Lord granted all four.

I am using Jabez as someone you can refer too when you are in need and need to pray.  Have faith that God hears you.

Faith is believing wholeheartedly with confidence of the existence of God and His ability to hear and answer your prayers.  Faith says without any visible proof you still have confidence in the one who created you.
Stir up your faith and know  He is with you.


God bless
Kim

Prayer of Jabez

The prayer of Jabez is found in 1 Chronicles 4:10.  This scripture is found in between a huge section of the list of David's lineage.

During an uneventful time in Israel's history a faithful man of God named Jabez prayed a prayer, a straightforward prayer, a prayer of faith, and with this  prayer He gained favor from God.

1 Chronicles 4:10
And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldst bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldst keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.

To the seeing eye you would think that this is a simple prayer, however this prayer has more faith, and wisdom then you can think.  This prayer was a specific and pointed prayer.

We do get some understanding of who Jabez is; he is a man who has faith in the Lord.  He understood the importance of prayer.  What is very interesting is as I looked into this scripture it is said that he called upon the Lord out loud, he prayed to the lord out loud.  He called on God.  He was not afraid to call upon the Lord, he was not afraid to show how much faith he had in the Lord by speaking out loud.

We also know that Jabez was a descendant of David.  I am pretty sure he knew about the faith of David.  I am sure he heard of how David defeated Goliath, how David was a man after God's own heart.  He knew how God had blessed David.  Jabez knew how God showed His amazing power for David.  How God provided for David.

Jabez had faith enough to know that the God of his forefathers who was faithful to them would be just as faithful to him.

Again his faith gave him the strength to pray this prayer.

In my next post I will break down this mighty prayer that Jabez prayed.

God Bless
Kim

Walking by Faith part 2

As we previously discussed in our last teaching, we discussed about looking back in your life where you knew that an event changed you and raised your faith.

Walking by faith takes courage, patience and most importantly trusting the person you are trying to have faith in.  To have faith in someone, you first want to know that person who they are, what they are made of, and where they stand as a person.  That is where are faith starts when it  comes to people.

When it comes to having faith in God, you may think well it is totally different then having faith in a person.  I beg to differ it is exactly the same but much greater than you can even imagine.

First thing I mentioned about having faith in a person is you want to who they are.  So how can we learn who God is. We first need to know who He is  and what is He made of  and where He stands.  We can learn in the bible, the below scriptures just touch on explaining who God is.

1 John  4:7-10
Dear friends, lest us love one another, for love comes from God.  Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.   Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.  This is how God showed his love among us; He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.  This is love; not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

1 Corinthians 1:9
God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalms 46:1
God is our refuge and strength an ever-present help in trouble

Zephaniah 3:17
The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.

Psalms  73:1
Surely God is good to Israel, to hose who are pure in heart.

Psalms 84:11
For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor, no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

2 Samuel 22:3
The God of my rock; in him will I trust; he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my savior, thou saves me from violence.

So if we read the above scriptures it gives us detailed information about who God is.  We see that God is love, God is faithful, God is with you, God is a mighty warrior, God is good, God is a sun and shield. God is your rock and you can trust him, He is your shield and high tower. He is your refuge.

If you only knew that much about the Lord.  I think that is more than enough to start a basis of faith in God.

I want you to know that you can trust in the Lord and have faith in him.

God Bless
Kim

Walk in Faith

We have learned that we need to grown in faith by reading the Word of God and putting what we learn into action.  If  you continue to read the Word and grow in faith you are now considered to be waking in faith.

1 Kings 9:4
As for you, if you walk before me faithfully with integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decree's and law.

Walking in faith is completely trusting the Lord that He will take care of you and all that surrounds you, the good, bad and the ugly.

Walking in faith is a daily chose.  I can tell you that over the years my faith has grown because I have seen the Lord's mighty hand in my life.  That has made me grow in faith.  I would like to give you an example.  To start I gave my life to the Lord when I was 18 years old and started my walk in the Lord at that time.  When I was in my early 20's doctors told me that I had a brain tumor, they told me that I probably had a few months to live.  They were completely convinced that I had a brain tumor. Needless to say I fell on my knees and prayed to the Lord and asked him to heal my body and to do a great miracle in me. When they sent me to get a detailed brain scan, the most amazing thing had happened, there was no brain tumor.  The doctors could not understand how that could be when all arrows where pointing to brain tumor.  As I look back and remember the stumped look on the doctors face I can recall telling them that the Lord healed me and started praising him right in the room in front of the doctors.  I can tell you when you have doctors telling you that your time is up and should settle your affairs and we give you maybe 3 months to live a lot of things go through your mind, but I knew I would not go unless it was His will.  That moment boosted my faith so greatly and I have many, many more amazing things the Lord has done in my life that I could share that has made me who I am in the Lord today and has made my faith and trust in Him so great.

Can you recall a time in your life that you know the Lord heard your prayer, or rescued you from some great disaster, or just showed you how much you are loved by Him.  These great moments and even little moments are the building blocks of your faith.  Take a moment to look back on your life and remember the moments where you know the Lord had a divine appointment with you.  Let that make your faith soar in Him.

God Bless
Kim

Grow in Faith part 2

We will continue discussing about how to grow in faith.   We previously discussed that to grow in faith you must feed your faith through reading the Word of God.  Faith beings where the will of God is known.  How we can learn about the will of God is by reading the Word.  We must read the bible and you will begin doing what it says and you will have a growth spurt in faith.

We should exercise your faith by your actions.  What you do in your life and how you live life will reflect what you have learned. 

John 8:38 states
I tell the things which I have seen and learned at my Fathers side, and your actions also reflect what you have heard and learned from your father.

Our faith should be an active act and full of action in our life, our actions should reflect the Word of God.

Psalms 119:5
Oh, that my actions would consistently reflect your decrees

James 2:22
You see, his faith and his actions worked together.  His actions made his faith complete.

Take a leap of faith and trust the Lord to show you the way to grown in faith.  

Read the Word of God and then act on what the Word says.  Faith is an action that you must activate every day.  From the moment you wake up in the morning until you go to bed at night your faith is waiting to be activated and ready to grow.

For faith to grow you must have deep roots in faith

Col 2:6-7

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Growing in Faith

Growing in faith is an ongoing endeavor.  When we walk each day in the Lord there are many times that the Lord does something amazing which raises our faith.  Also when the Lord answers a prayer that also increases are faith.

Faith is like a seed it needs to be watered and fertilized and also needs the sun to help it grow.   The seed of faith lives in your heart.

Col. 2:7
Let your roots grown down into him, and let your lives be built in him.  Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught and you will overflow with thankfulness.

How do we grow in faith?

First thing you need to do is feed on the Word of God.  By reading the Word you can learn more about who the Father is, who the Son is and who the Holy Spirit is.  Also by reading the Word you also learn about how faithful the Lord was and has been to people in the Old and New Testament.

The Word of God is alive it is like food that nourishes our soul and spirit.   Our faith activates the Word.

In John 14:26
But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the father will send  in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I have said to you.

So reading the Word of God allows the Holy Spirit to bring to our remembrance exactly what we need to apply to our daily situations.

So dive into the Word of God and learn about who the Lord is, what He has done for people in the bible and now He will do greater things for you

God Bless

Unity and Maturity in the Body of Christ

Ephesians 4(NIV)

Unity and Maturity in the Body of Christ

4 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.8 This is why it[a] says:

“When he ascended on high,
    he took many captives
    and gave gifts to his people.”[b]

9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions[c]? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves,and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Instructions for Christian Living

17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longerlive as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of Godbecause of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

20 That, however, is not the way of life you learned 21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 “In your anger do not sin”[d]: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands,that they may have something to share with those in need.

29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Spiritual Maturity

"Be slow to speak, and quick to serve.  What ever good thing your hand finds to do. Do It!  Build another mans vision, and your dreams will come to pass."

This is a quote take from "Spiritual Maturity & Me A Commission Training Manual" written by C.E. Turchik

Prayers of the Heart

Prayers of the Heart

Prayers of the heart is learning to pray with a sincere heart.

Praying the Word of God is awesome.  It has such great power.  I have prayed this prayer many times and I pray as you spend time in the Lord that He would answer this prayer for you.  That your eyes may be enlightened so you have know the hope of your calling.

Ephesians 1:15-23 [NAS]

15 For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and [u]your love for all the[v]saints, 16 do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the [w]knowledge of Him. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart[x]may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the [y]saints, 19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might 20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

A Living Hope

A LIVING HOPE

We have been given hope from our Lord Jesus Christ, who died and rose again for our sins that we may know the love of the Father through Jesus.

Peter tells us in 1 Peter 1:3-4 (KJV)

     Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  To an inheritance incorrutable and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for you.

But NIV states it a little different

1 Peter 1:3-4 (NIV)

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you

God has caused us to be born again to a living hope. The new birth has gives us a living hope. This living hope is based on the living resurrected Christ. The Living Christ is the source of our new birth and of our living hope.

1 Peter 1:21 (NIV)
Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

The definition of hope:
Hope as a noun means: the feeling of waiting for something to happen, thinking that it could happen.

Hope as a verb means: desire, anticipate, to trust, have expectation with confidence.

The definition of living:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Living is an adjective its is an action.  Living means: full of energy, activity, full of movement, alert, resilient, full of life.

So if you put these 2 words together look what we find.

We should be in a active state of movement having energy being alert with resilience and desire and having anticipation and expectation that God will do what he has promised.

We are to walk in living hope, Hopefully means to intensely desire and to be fully confident.

Hebrews 6:11 (KJV)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:

Full assurance means strong confidence that God is going to do good to us in the future.  A living hope should be fertile, fruitful, productive. Hope, a living hope means it is alive it has power to produce change in us.

What is a living hope? What is the hope we now have, that only the resurrection of Jesus Christ can give us? A living hope is a hope that never dies. This hope is like living waters flowing from a spring which never runs dry. Such hope springs from the very fountain of God Himself.

Our hope is built on Christ and it is on this truth that Christ is alive! Here “living” means that the believer’s hope is sure, certain, and real.  We have a living hope because Jesus is alive. Our hope is based Jesus resurrection from death. We who have been born again have a living hope through our new life in Christ. This constant thought of a living hope is that death is not the end.  Death is certain, but so is our hope of eternal life. Our hope in Christ is as certain and sure as the fact that Christ is alive!

Because Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected from the grave on the third day proves that death is not the end. With this fact it gives us assuratiy that we know God the father loves us and forgives us and His blood that has been shed for us cleanses and protects us from every evil. We know new life is an option. We know a better tomorrow is coming and it is rooted in Jesus Christ our Savior and our living hope.

Because of Jesus’ resurrection we have a promise of a living hope that even if we die, one day we will live again. Not only do we have a Living Hope, we have a future hope.

Our hope includes the promise of a better tomorrow – 1 Peter 1:4 states that we have an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away,
We have been given a indestructible hope so that we may have for the future and also that we may not be broken down by present troubles, but patiently endure them, being satisfied with eternal happiness.” 

Our living hope makes us able to stand firm in the midst of trouble, knowing that our ultimate reward is not found in this world. But is rooted and grounded in our Lord Jesus Christ and our future is complete in Him.

May God Bless you and assure you that have a living hope in Him.