Study in Prayer

One of the most important things you need to remember about receiving your prayers as answered is to FORGIVE OTHERS first. Prayer will not work if you have an unforgiving heart.  You know that one of my favorite scriptures of faith is Mark 11:23-24.  But it is useless if you do not tie – and fulfill – verse 25 at the same time.

Nobody can have an effective prayer life if they are still holding unforgiveness in their heart. This may sound mean and cruel, I don’t mean it to be, so don’t write me any nasty letters, but I’m using this as an example, ok?

If someone was raped or a loved one murdered, you still have to forgive the person who did it. It may be hard, I’m not saying it won’t be. But there will come a point in time when your unforgiveness of that person will affect your life. Your prayer life. Your faith life.

Remember what Jesus did on the cross. He had been beaten so badly he did not even look like a human being anymore. As they nailed him to that cross, He prayed, “Father, forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing.” 

Now, in the natural, they knew exactly what they were doing. Just like the person who did you wrong knew exactly what they were doing. They knew IN THE NATURAL what they were doing. But they probably did not know in the spirit, what they were doing.

It is the spirit that matters the most. Every person will die at some point in time. Some sooner than others, I’m not arguing that point. But every person’s spirit WILL NEVER DIE. That is the important part to remember. EVERY PERSON actually lives forever.

Those who do evil and never repent and ask Jesus to forgive them, they live forever just like the most faithful Christian that every lived. The only difference is WHERE they spend eternity.

Now, you may feel they deserve to spend eternity in hell…and they do. But guess what – SO DO YOU! So do I. WE ALL deserve…get that word… DESERVE to spend eternity in hell. But that is why Jesus came, lived and died and rose again – so WE don’t have to.

But, if YOU deserve hell, but Jesus finally found a way to reveal Himself to you and you accepted his offer of salvation and the forgiveness of YOUR sins, He also did the same thing for those that sinned against you, however that may have happened. As tragic as it was…Jesus still died for them, just like He did you.

Unforgiveness in your heart is not affecting that person at all. It IS affecting you. It IS affecting your prayer life. It IS affecting the answers to your needs being met. So, as difficult as it may be, you MUST forgive that person. 

It may not be easy. It may be day by day or even minute by minute. You may have to say it over and over. “Lord, I forgive so and so for what they did to me (or my loved one, etc.). I make the decision to forgive them according to your word. Help me Lord, to maintain that forgiveness in my heart and in my mind. Send your laborers to witness to this person so they will repent of their sins and receive you as their Savior, just as you did me, in Jesus Name, Amen.”

Then, the next time you think of that person again, you may have to pray the same prayer – again. That is a devil trying to bring it to your remembrance and causing you to carry unforgiveness in your heart. Just say the same thing and maybe add, “NO Mr. Devil. I’ve already forgiven that person. I’ve rolled the care of it over on Jesus. I do not carry unforgiveness in my heart.” Then you may have to even repeat the prayer again.

Eventually, over time, you won’t even think about it anymore. And when you do – you will remember you’ve already forgiven them and you will thank Jesus for the Peace of God that reigns in your heart.

Like I said, it probably will not be easy, at least not at first. But it IS needful for your spiritual well being. 

Let’s Pray!

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You can also WATCH these session on our Facebook Playlist at this link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtKWeKtmv-BwgkquBTsSh-GznbmuUp_R2

If you are going to say things like “your faith isn’t working” or “your faith isn’t strong enough” and things like that, you are taking sides with the devil against the Word of God. You are not walking by faith at all. You are not “believing you receive when you pray.” What you are really doing is “believing you do not receive, even when you pray.” And you are getting the answer, as Jesus used to say, “according to your faith.”

You need to hold fast to your confession of faith and say that you HAVE received the answer to your petitions, according to the Word of God. Then, never back down. Never!

Someone could ask you, “I thought you prayed for such and such?” You just need to reply, “I did. And God has answered my prayer! Thank you, Jesus!” 

When they ask you, “Then how come you still haven’t gotten it?” Or “Why are you still sick?” or whatever the case may be…you need to respond with, “I have gotten it! I am healed, etc.” 

When they ask, “What do you mean? You’re still sick!”  They may think you’re a little crazy even…

But it is important for you to stand on your faith and believe you received WHEN YOU PRAYED. You need to thank God for hearing and providing the answer to your prayers, despite whatever the natural circumstances are. The answer has been provided…it is just you have not received it in the natural yet. 

It’s like mailing a check in the mail. You were told the check has been mailed out. You requested payment. The person agreed and mailed the check. Do you need to keep calling them every two or three hours every day for four or five days until the check arrives in your mail box? NO!

Think of your prayers the same way. There are times when the answer will be immediate. There are other times when you will need to stand by faith – but KNOWING the answer has been provided.

Your next door neighbor could keep asking you every hour, “Did that check come yet that you’ve been waiting for?”  And your answer would be, “It’s in the mail. I’ve already got it. It’s mine!” 

Then, one day, you will see it and say, “There it is!” Amen!

Remember we talked the other day that true Faith is what takes place between the “AMEN” and the “THERE IT IS.”  That’s what I’m talking about. Amen!

When you pray and lay claim to things like that, some will say, “Don’t pray out loud like that, the devil may hear you and fight against it.”  My response is, “I pray out loud so the devil CAN hear me! I want him to know what God is about to do!” amen!

I want the devil to know that I’m believing the Word of God over the devil’s lies all of the time. Glory to God! I want the devil to know that I’m not going to shake in my boots every time he comes around. Jesus already defeated Him and has given me the authority to run him off every time he comes around. And I’m not going to be nice in doing it either. 

It amazes me how much authority believers will give to the devil, just in simple things they say and do. They are always saying things like “Oh, I can’t believe like that.” Then I respond with, “That’s why you are like you are…you are believing the wrong person and saying the wrong things.” 

Let’s Pray!

Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com. And while you are at the website, download the free resource I have for you… it is free and is called, “How to Start a Christian Podcast.” It will bless you – go and download it today.

You can also WATCH these session on our Facebook Playlist at this link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtKWeKtmv-BwgkquBTsSh-GznbmuUp_R2

I heard a preacher say one time that he had someone ask him to pray that the devil would stop bothering him. So the preacher prayed that the man would die and go on to Heaven… that got the man’s attention!  Glory to God!

But folks, that is the ONLY way you will get the devil to stop bothering you. That is the only you can get away from the presence of the enemy in this earth. So, unless you are prepared to die and move on to Heaven, you need to learn how to deal with the enemy HERE. Amen!

The world IS the enemy and the devil is the enemy because he is the god of this world. That is in 2 Corinthians 4:4. The flesh or carnal nature of man is also the enemy. And, since we are living in the flesh, there is a war within our members. We have to learn to contend with the flesh and all these other things while living here on the earth. Amen!

If there was a way to pray that we would have no more troubles with the devil while in this life, don’t you think I would have prayed it already? But that is not how it works. Amen!

It is not scriptural for you to pray that you will never  have any more problems from the devil. BUT – you can learn how to take authority over the devil and over circumstances and things like that – in the earth! Praise God!

James 4:7 says, “resist the devil and he will flee from you.”  That word flee just does not mean leave you alone. The actual translation means to “run from you in terror.” Think about that!  When you learn to stand in your spiritual authority the way Jesus meant for you to stand – you can make any demon from hell to “run from you in terror!”

Think of the worst horror film you can think of, but turn the tables on the imagery. Instead of evil causing good people to flee, picture good people causing the evil forces to flee and run for their lives! Amen! That is how we are supposed to pray and cause the devils to flee from our presence. Amen!

So, we have these enemies here, in the rotten here and now. The devil, the flesh and the world at large. BUT, Jesus has already defeated them all and then He has told us to walk out the victory that HE has already obtained for us. Amen! He has prepared a table for us, where????

IN THE PRESENCE OF OUR ENEMIES!  Glory to God! Don’t shout me down when I’m preaching good!

There is one more thing I want to remind you here. Jesus said, “When you pray, believe YOU receive them (the answer to your prayer) and you shall have them.” Amen! Right there, IN THE PRESENCE OF THE ENEMY that is bothering you.

That little devil is doing his best to knock you off of your game and then you stop, bind him in Jesus name, then pray for what you need and start thanking God that you already have the answer…it drives that little devil even crazier than he already is! Praise God!  And off he goes – fleeing in terror! Glory to God!

Let’s Pray!

Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com. And while you are at the website, download the free resource I have for you… it is free and is called, “How to Start a Christian Podcast.” It will bless you – go and download it today.

You can also WATCH these session on our Facebook Playlist at this link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtKWeKtmv-BwgkquBTsSh-GznbmuUp_R2

We have expressions we use about praying that are not really in the Bible. These are expressions man has made up along the way. For example, we don’t have to “fight” our way through to the answer. We don’t have to “bombard the gates of Heaven” with prayer.

We BELIEVE our way through. Amen! Prayer IS NOT the struggle that many people would  have you believe it is. Prayer is a matter of simply acting on God’s Word. It is a matter of choice to simply believe God’s Word.

Certainly, we need to stand our ground against the devil. No doubt about it. But we call this the “good fight of faith.” It is not a fleshly battle. It is a “good fight” because, if we are standing on the Word of God in Faith and in God’s Word – we WIN! Amen!

Sometimes, when I’m ministering and I have people come forward for prayer, as I am walking the line, laying hands on folks and praying for them, people will be praying while waiting for me to make my away to them. Every now and then, I will ask someone what they are praying about.

I’ve had more people than I can count look at me with a quizzical look and say something like, “nothing in particular” or something like that. My response is always the same, “That is exactly what you will receive, nothing in particular.”  It sounds harsh, but folks, the devil has had people deceived for so long, many people don’t know right from wrong in praying anymore.

That is the purpose of this year long study in all things about prayer! Amen! Don’t shout me down when I’m preaching good!  You know it, too. You may have even done these things…just going into your prayer time to pray, “nothing in particular.” You’re just checking the block so you can feel good about praying. You may as well have gone fishing, in fact, at least if you would have gone fishing you may have caught something to eat! Because your prayers were meaningless.

We’ve covered before that you can receive your prayers as answered as soon as you pray them. The caveat in that is you have to have prayed for something specific. Amen.  Jesus said you can have the answer as soon as you pray, if you believe what you have prayed for. 

He did not say you had to pray all night long. He did not say you had to bombard the gates of Heaven until you have a breakthrough. Think about it like this…The bible says the New Heaven and New Earth and New Jerusalem is what, about 1000 miles square, actually a cube, right? 

So, if you are standing outside and praying and praying and bombarding the gates of heaven with your prayers, you are 500 miles away from the Throne room.  Think about this now…

Where is Jesus seated at? The right hand of God, right? 500 miles away from where you are standing,  praying and throwing spiritual bombs at a gate that is already open. How dumb does that sound?  And it gets even better…

Where are WE supposed to be seated at? Right next to Jesus, right?  Don’t we have permission to approach God’s Throne of Grace and Mercy at anytime? In Jesus Name?  Why are you standing 500 miles away, lobbing bombs at gates that are already open (and your bombs are causing all of the angels to laugh at you for your spiritual foolishness). When you could walk through the gate at anytime…walk into the Throne Room at anytime…sit next to Jesus at anytime and PRAY directly to the Father, in the Name of Jesus, at anytime and receive your prayers as answered – get this – AT ANY TIME!

Let’s Pray!

Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com. And while you are at the website, download the free resource I have for you… it is free and is called, “How to Start a Christian Podcast.” It will bless you – go and download it today.

You can also WATCH these session on our Facebook Playlist at this link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtKWeKtmv-BwgkquBTsSh-GznbmuUp_R2

I know from experience that you need to be continually reminded and stirred up along the lines of believing you receive when you pray. I do too. Amen.

As I said before, everything in this world is trying to drag you back into believing only what you sense in the natural. We need to be stirred up and stand in the things that are of God. We need to stir ourselves up constantly. As we stir ourselves up, we will then find ourselves in a position to stir others up from time to time as well. Amen!

Sometimes, we let life get in the way of our faith. Sometimes, we start to go through the motions of faith, but not really paying attention to our faith. 

We get up, study the Word and pray. Almost the same prayer, word for word, day by day. Until it is just repetition. We are thinking of all the stuff we have to do that – even when the repetitious words of prayer are coming off our lips. 

We can even get so busy with church or ministry work – we lose the grip we had on our faith. Amen. Don’t shout me down when I’m preaching good. You know exactly what I’m talking about here… amen.

If we are not careful, we can get to the point where we are praying and believing but not really receiving and claiming the answer that God had promised us. Even though we know better. If you believe you receive, then CLAIM that you receive it. You SAY that you receive the answer. YOU RECEIVE your answer by FAITH.

Be careful allowing church work, good works, etc. into your prayer time. Be careful to not allow the devil to so overburden you with “good works” attitude, serving the church type of attitude, that you stop allowing God’s Word to work inside of you.

That is one of the primary things I disagree with the conventional church model in America right now. There is something going on almost every single night at church. Think about it. 

Sunday morning service. Sunday evening service. Tuesday night mens meeting. Wednesday night service. Thursday night womens’ meeting. Friday night teen meeting. Saturday work day to clean everything up for Sunday morning.

We complain that we have not family time anymore. Kids have sports and things like that after school. But the church has fallen right into the business trap as well. 

Anyway… my point is this. Be careful about how much time you are spending at church doing church stuff. You need family time. You need alone time. You need time away with friends. And you need time with church family. The only constant you should have each and every day is time with God. Alone time with God. And, of course, there needs to be time with your family everyday…that goes without saying. But be careful of allowing friends, church or work to encroach on your time more and more. The devil will use that as a distraction to try and get you off of the time you spend with and serving God in your daily life. Amen.

Let’s Pray!

Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com. And while you are at the website, download the free resource I have for you… it is free and is called, “How to Start a Christian Podcast.” It will bless you – go and download it today.

You can also WATCH these session on our Facebook Playlist at this link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtKWeKtmv-BwgkquBTsSh-GznbmuUp_R2