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Vital
Basics of Answered Prayer
Use These. They'll Get the Job Done!
by Pastor John Hamel
God wants to answer prayer and meet every need of
humanity. This is why we have prepared these studies on prayer for
you. The principles we are outlining in these studies will put your right
over the top in prayer.
However, the application of these principles
is all up to you. Success in prayer depends on the implementation of
what you learn.
Let’s get right in to today’s study.
Pray
to the Father in Jesus' Name
This is a principle
that warrants seeing again. We covered it in the study entitled “Jesus’ All Powerful Name” and we will look
at it again quickly before moving on.
“And in that day ye shall ask me nothing.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father, IN MY
NAME, he will give it you.” (John 16:23)
Some have missed it here severely,
substituting human pride and human accomplishment as a basis for answered
prayer.
When
I was a younger Christian I had a friend who had been a Missionary in a
foreign nation for 40 years. My friend was at least thirty years my senior
when he and his wife returned home because he became ill. He knew nothing
about God’s Scriptural promise to heal him, because he simply had never
studied in this area. He was a good man and a Godly man who gave his entire
adult life to sharing Jesus Christ on the mission field.
Because
of his illness, my friend was unable to properly communicate. I would go
visit him, sharing from the Bible the Doctrine of Divine Healing. He
was very excited about what he was discovering from the Bible. His faith
level for healing was soaring and I knew if we could continue with our
studies together that he would indeed be healed.
Sadly,
his wife became offended
and very upset with me when she discovered what I had been sharing with her
husband. She told me, in essence, “God is not going to heal my
husband because of anything you are teaching him from the Bible. God will
heal my husband because he has been serving Him for 40 years on the mission
field. He doesn’t need a young whippersnapper like you to teach him
anything about the Bible.”
To
the despair of both myself and my sick friend, his wife literally threw me
out of their home. She informed me in no uncertain terms that I was to never
return again.
I
was dumbfounded.
One
evening soon thereafter, I was on my face in prayer. The Lord clearly spoke
to me in His
authoritative voice, “(Friend’s name) will be dead within six weeks
if they don’t get the unbelief out from under that roof. Call them and
tell them.”
I
was quite upset that the Lord was telling me to confront my friend's family,
but I knew beyond all doubt that I had heard His voice and that I had no
alternative but to obey.
I
do not mind saying that I did not enjoy the idea of having to tell my
friend's family what the Lord had told me. However, I did exactly as I
was instructed. I called them and told them exactly what the Lord had
said. His son became very angry with me, openly mocked me and flat out
rejected the Word of the Lord before hanging up on me.
Exactly
one
day short of six weeks later, my dear friend went to Heaven
prematurely, even as the Lord told me he would without repentance.
He
went exactly at the time the Lord told me he would and for the very reason
the Lord told me he would.
His
wife and son had rejected the written Word of God and implementation of
proper prayer principles on his behalf.
They
could have gotten into faith, turning his situation around as he was more
than willing for them to do so. However, they wrongly chose human
pride, human accomplishment and unbelief over the written Word of God.
Human
pride
and human accomplishment are never a basis for answered prayer.
Almighty
God was doing His best to get my friend's family out of pride and unbelief and into
humility and faith, in order to save his life.
The
Lord had given me a Word of
Wisdom concerning an avoidable tragedy that was coming in the immediate
future, but they simply would not listen.
They
cut him off from his source of faith and cut his very life short by doing
so.
The Bible way is always the best way to pray.
When praying, obediently address the Father in Jesus'
Name.
Do not address the Father based on accomplishment,
self-righteousness or pride.
God does not answer our prayers based
upon all the good things we may have done for Him.
God answers our
prayers based upon the humble use of
Jesus' Strong Name.
Discipline
Yourself to Forgive
“And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is
in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive,
neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.” (Mark
11:25-26)
Refusing to forgive others who offend us is
probably the greatest enemy of prayer. If you are having trouble
forgiving, go to God with it, ask Him to help you
in Jesus’ Name. He will. He is not angry
with your struggle. He wants to help.
I always say, "When
you're in trouble, run TO God. Don't run AWAY from Him. He's waiting to help you."
There are two kinds of forgiveness in the
Bible. When someone sins against us unconsciously, we are to forgive
him or her immediately. This is the kind of forgiveness that Jesus is
talking about in the above verse of Scripture. If someone did not
intend to harm us, yet somehow they managed to do exactly that, we must
forgive and release them immediately, without confrontation.
However, there is another kind of
forgiveness that Jesus referred to in the Bible. This is when people
deliberately bring harm to us. This situation is to be handled quite
differently indeed.
“Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother
trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And
if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day
turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt
forgive him.” (Luke 17:3-4)
Here Jesus refers to someone sinning
against another consciously and deliberately, with malice in mind. In
that situation we are to rebuke or to censure that individual,
letting them know that their behavior is unacceptable.
Jesus wants us
to let them know that they wrongly crossed boundaries. If they want
to continue the relationship, they're going to have to apologize and offer
some sort of assurance that it will not happen again.
If they repent
as a result of being lovingly rebuked, we are to restore them
immediately. If they make the same mistake again, realizing their
error and repenting, we are to forgive them again, no matter how frequently
we must do so.
On the other hand, if they refuse to
repent, then we must continue to walk in love toward them but avoid them
and censure them. This is so they will get the message that they’ve
violated our reasonable boundaries and will not be allowed to continue to
do so.
"Now I beseech you, brethren, mark
them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye
have learned; and avoid them." (Romans 16:17)
Someone whom I admire once said, “Sometimes
the best way you can walk in love towards someone is to avoid them
entirely.”
However, when the offending party finally
does repent, we must restore them immediately. Keep in mind that
their repentance and restoration was the whole idea behind rebuking and
censuring them.
"Now is the time to forgive this man
and help him back on his feet. If all you do is pour
on the guilt, you could very well drown him in it." (2Corinthians 2:7
Message Bible)
We're still talking about the vital basics
of prayer, remember?
So far we've covered the importance of praying
to the Father, in Jesus' Name, and disciplining yourself
to forgive. Let's move on.
Believe
You Receive When You Pray
“Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive
them, and ye shall have them.” (Mark 11:24)
This verse is not nearly as difficult as
some make it out to be. If God promises something in His written Word
and you ask Him for it in Jesus’ Name, He will give it to you. If you
know He will give it to you, then you know it is a done deal. Start thanking Him for it and it will manifest.
“Thank Him for it before I even see
it? What do I look like, a nut?” Yes. No, you don't look
like a nut. But, yes, you do thank the Father for what you've asked
before you even see it.
I walked into an auto parts store
recently. The part I needed was not in stock. I ordered it and
paid for it ahead of time. I then thanked the clerk, informing him
I’d be back tomorrow to pick it up. Was that nutty? No.
It was polite.
God has whatever you need in stock.
When you ask Him for it, you are ordering it. Jesus paid for it ahead of time. Thank God for it
now in Jesus’ Name the same as you would thank anyone else who gives you
their word to deliver. It is not nutty concerning natural things and
it is not nutty concerning spiritual things.
If you really believe God heard you when
you prayed and that He will answer you, you will do the polite thing and
continue to thank Him until that which you have requested arrives.
This is more “common decency” than it is “spirituality.” It works,
too. Besides, who in their right mind would not be polite to the God
they are petitioning? Now that would be nutty.
Stop
Praying the Same Prayer Over & Over
“Giving thanks always for all things unto
God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;” (Ephesians 5:20)
This is the Apostle Paul writing about prayer.
The actual Greek word for “things” means “benefits.” God wants us to
thank Him, in Jesus' Name, for all the benefits that He has provided for
us.
If you need healing, start thanking Him for
it according to First Peter 2:24.
If you need financial help, start thanking
Him for it in Jesus’ Name, according to Philippians 4:19.
The sooner you change petitioning God over
and over to praising God over and over, the sooner your answer will come.
It takes faith to do that, and faith is the
only thing that pleases God. (Hebrews 11:6)
People who praise always have more
effective prayer lives than people who petition God with the same prayer
over and over and over. (2Chronicles 20:1-25; Acts 16:16-31)
Pray to the Father in Jesus' Name.
Discipline yourself to walk in the two kinds of forgiveness that Jesus
taught.
Thank the Father for the answer before you see it, in place
of praying the same prayer over and over. That's what it means to
believe you receive when you pray. That's what the Bible means when
it tells us to walk by faith, not by sight. (2Corinthians 5:7)
These are the Vital Basics to Answered
Prayer.
Use them. They'll get the job done!
Be Blessed ... John
and Barbara Hamel
How
to Be Born Again (Receive Christ as Your Savior)
How
to Receive The Holy Spirit & Power
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