Awaken To His Purpose

To live an overcoming and victorious life is to live a Spirit-led life. A Spirit-led life follows the Spirit of God much like the Israelites followed the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.

And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou Lord art among this people, that thou Lord art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night.

numbers 14:14

Jesus told His disciples that He must leave them so that the Holy Spirit could come:

¹⁶ And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

¹⁷ Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

john 14:16-17;26

As believers, we are taught of the Lord, and His Spirit leads and guides us in the way we should go.

As we come to the close of another year, may we reflect on our spiritual walk and how we have grown in grace to reflect the nature of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, in our lives.

We (the Holy Spirit and me) are starting a series entitled “How To Live A Spirit-led life” in the next four weeks of this year. We will explore how to make a more in-depth connection to our faith using the acrostic P.R.A.Y.E.R.

Prayer is essential to living a Spirit-led life. To commune with our Heavenly Father is the key to living an overcoming, victorious life as a believer.

Let’s take our prayer life to the next level so that we crush our goals in the New Year for His Glory! Amen?!

We begin with the first letter – P.

Purpose – What is the purpose of prayer? In what we call the Lord’s Prayer, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ gave us a model for prayer. In it, we can find the purpose of prayer: our relationship with Him and others, His will for our lives and this planet, faith in His ability to provide for us, and to deliver us from our enemies because He is the supreme ruler over all.

Some argue that others use prayer so that they can ask God for things, make Him do what they want Him to do, and manipulate His word for their own personal gain.

Do you find yourself only praying to God when you are in trouble? Or you figure that if you put in your time with God, He will give you a blessing? Or perhaps you need God to do something for you that you cannot do for yourself and you utter something like “God if you get me out of this…” but you don’t keep your end of the “deal”?

Well, let me tell you, my friend, that the Lord truly is so much than a “present help in the time of trouble.” He truly wants to have a loving relationship with you where the two of you commune together about anything and everything that concerns you physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, financially, in your relationships, and more.

If you are having difficulty in this area of seeing God as your Heavenly Father, I suggest that you simply ask Him to reveal Himself to you in this way.

Examine Your Own Heart

At the heart of one’s prayer life should be that all-important relationship in our lives. Not of course just asking God for things, (and, yet of course, He does invite us to ask Him for things. For He tells us to “acknowledge Him in all of our ways.” If we are not asking for permission, asking for direction and instruction, asking for things believing that if He gives us the green light to get that thing, it won’t harm or kill us or someone else in the future, we should consistently ask God for things because the Alpha and Omega knows whether or not we should have that thing, and when we go to Him in prayer, we can be assured that He will lead us to do what is best for us).

I am not talking about religion as some parts of the body of Christ seem to speak about when they say that you are trying to manipulate God when you utilize His Word and His Power in the earth. (I am completely baffled as to how one can manipulate God?)

No. What I am referring to is relationship. When you are in a relationship with your Heavenly Father, He invites you to ask what you will. But as I read the post of another Christian blog, where the writer talked about using God for one’s personal gain (this is known as transactional religion where we say since/if God does something for us, we do something for Him or vice versa), I believe I began to see what the problem is concerning the differences of opinion in this matter.

Making repentance a daily part of your prayer-life as well as committing to making God’s Word your final authority in your life will help you to continually to examine your own heart, and clear up any confusion about whether or not you are participating in transactional religion.

We love him, because he first loved us.

I john 4:19

Examine your own heart. Do you reciprocate God’s love? He said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” To love the Lord is to walk in obedience to Him, but it is also to walk in fellowship with Him by acknowledging Him in all of our ways.

“What Should I Pray About?”

The most important thing about learning to pray is establishing a time of prayer. After you establish a routine (preferably in the mornings because this causes you to prosper in your day exponentially), coming up with topics to pray about will not be a problem.

The Holy Spirit will begin to instruct you about things that you need to pray about. He will talk to you about your spiritual walk, your family, someone else. Just make sure to take notes and do what He is telling you to do. (He especially loves to speak into your spirit as soon as you awake).

Your first prayer could be to ask the Lord to help you establish a morning routine that creates an atmosphere for you to meet with Him.

Hindrances To Prayer

Realizing that believers do not always receive answers to prayer and the frustration that can occur as a result of unanswered prayer, I wanted to list these possible reasons for unanswered prayer:

Major hindrances to prayer are—

Sin: If we humble ourselves, seek God, and turn from sin,God will forgive us and hear our prayers (2 Chron. 7:14).

Fear: Fear blocks our prayers by undermining our faith.We must accept God’s forgiveness and the new spirit He has given us—one of power, love, and a sound mind.

Guilt: To be free from feelings of condemnation, we must realize that God not only has forgiven us, but has also forgotten our sins; therefore, we can pray with a clean conscience and with assurance.

Feelings of Inferiority: As God’s beloved children, we are not beggars in prayer. We can pray confidently based on God’s Word, Jesus’ testimony, and the Spirit’s advocacy.

Doubt: Doubt hinders our prayers because we don’t truly believe what we are saying. We show our trust in God by making arrangements for the fulfillment of our requests.

Wrong Motives: When we have our priorities right—putting God’s kingdom and honor above all else—He will hear our prayers and meet our daily needs.

Bitterness: God will not hear our prayers if we are holding onto iniquity in our hearts, such as jealousy. We need to maintain transparent, pure hearts before God and man.

Unforgiveness: Unforgiveness hinders our prayers by blocking our relationships with God and others. Ephesians 4:26–27 says, “Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.”

Broken Family Relationships: God will not answer our prayers if we violate His purposes by failing to demonstrate His love and grace to our family members. We must reconcile broken relationships as soon as we can.

Idols: We need to examine our priorities. Anything we value more than God is an idol and will hinder our prayers. God deserves our highest love and respect.

Stinginess: Proverbs 21:13 says,“If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.” If we are stingy, we won’t be heard, but if we are compassionate and generous, our prayers will be answered.

understanding the purpose and power of prayer/christiandiet.com – by myles monroe

These are real issues (translate evil spirits) that can block God’s blessings in our lives. We must renounce these evil spirits in our lives so that we can live the overcoming, victorious life that Jesus came to give us.

Let’s pray: Father, in the name of Jesus, as Your Word says, we do not battle against flesh and blood, but spiritual wickedness, I ask You to help me to renounce every spirit that exalts itself against the knowledge of God in my life. I realize that these sin issues prevent me from experiencing your best for me in every area of my life, and I want to be free! Amen.

The Purpose of Prayer – Conclusion

The purpose of prayer is to commune with our Heavenly Father. It involves us listening as well as speaking so that we will know the will of God for our lives and God’s will on the earth.

Every action taken by God in the earth realm required the involvement of a human being. To rescue humanity in the Flood, He needed Noah. For the creation of a nation, He needed Abraham. To lead the nation of Israel, He needed Moses. To bring back Israel from captivity, He needed Daniel. To defeat Jericho, He needed Joshua. For the preservation of the Hebrews, He needed Esther. For the salvation of mankind, He needed to become a man.

As John Wesley once said, “God does nothing but in answer to prayer.”1*

Prayer is therefore not an option for mankind but a necessity. If we don’t pray, heaven cannot interfere in earth’s affairs. It is imperative that we take responsibility for the earth and determine what happens here by our prayer lives.

I invite you to discover your power, authority, and rights in the earth and to position yourself to become a faith channel for heavenly influence in earth’s affairs. Heaven depends on you, and earth needs you. Without you, heaven will not—and without heaven, earth cannot.

understanding the purpose and power of prayer/christiandiet.com-by myles monroe

Grace and Peace

Silvana