Lord, Teach Us To Pray! Part 81

Answered Prayers continued...

Everything in our Christian walk leads back to Jesus. All that we do, all that we are, all that we hope to be, is tethered in Christ. The name of the Lord is our refuge, our strength, our banner, and our standard.

When David went to confront Goliath, the difference between these two individuals went far beyond size. While Goliath came fully arrayed in battle armor, David came with nothing more than a few stones in a satchel, and a slingshot in his hand.

When Goliath sees this child standing before him, the word tells us Goliath disdained him. Goliath began to curse David by his gods, and swore to give his flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the fields.

1 Samuel 17:45-47, “Then David said to the Philistine, ‘You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head form you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild bests of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hands.’”

Consider, that a young and ruddy boy was saying these things to the man who had caused the armies of Israel to be ‘dreadfully afraid’. David knew he did not stand in his own strength, he knew that five stones and a slingshot were not going to fell Goliath – he knew that if victory was to be had it would be the Lord’s doing.

How do you present yourself before your enemy? Is it in your own strength, or is it in the strength of the Lord? Do you attempt to overcome using your own ingenuity, your own prowess, your own abilities, or do you trust in the arm of the One who does not save with sword and spear?

We are not overcomers over sin or over the enemy in and of our own strength. We do not overcome the darkness, with the light we produce, but with the light of Christ that resides within us – a light not of our own making but one which was freely given us.

Before it’s too late, I pray we learn dependency upon Christ, I pray we know Him, and trust Him, and serve Him, as He rightfully deserves.

Praying in the name of Jesus, is praying for those things by which the heavenly Father will be glorified. When we pray in the name of Jesus, we never pray for something that will not glorify the Father, or for something that will mock or degrade Him. Our prayers must be in accordance with the will and purpose of God, and for the glory and honor of His wondrous name.

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

Why will Jesus do whatever we ask in His name? So that the Father may be glorified in the Son! Once we understand this great mystery of the faith, once we grasp the reality that Jesus doesn’t answer our prayers just to make us feel better about ourselves, or to make our lives here on earth easier, but that the Father may be glorified, not only will we understand why certain prayers are answered, but also why certain ones are not.

We pray to God the Father, in the name of Jesus His Son, that God the Father might be glorified by that for which we are praying.

The instant we understand this truth, the instant we perceive why we pray, we begin to censor our prayers, and fashion them in such a way that whatever it is we are praying for, will bring glory to God.

Because the answer to our prayers in the name of Jesus must glorify God, we will never pray and petition God in the name of Christ for selfish things, for things that will elevate the flesh, or cause our hearts to be divided.

When we seek after human glory, when seek after the accolades, the applause and approval of men rather than the glory of God, we must search our hearts, discover the pride that has settled there, and yank it from its roots. Pride compels men to seek after their own glory rather than the glory of God. Pride compels men to take upon themselves the honor rightly due the heavenly Father, and the word tells us that God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

When you pray, whatever it is you are praying for in the name of Jesus, also pray that it may glorify the Father. Such prayers are pleasing in the sight of God; they are as a symphony of praise to Him, and because we are faithful in our prayers, God will be faithful in His answers.

The saying is easy, the doing is hard. To consistently pray selfless prayers, to consistently pray that whatever the outcome, whatever answer we might receive, as long as it brings glory to the Father we will be at peace with it, is allot harder than it would seem at first glance.

Will what you are praying for bring glory to God if your prayer is answered? Will what you are petitioning God for in the name of Christ glorify the Father? These are questions we must ask, because they are of utmost importance, and once we discover the answer, either we alter our prayer, or continue to pray with greater fervor and boldness.

With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.