By Joseph T Lee & Pastor John Baldwin
Over the last two years, we have been dealing with a global pandemic. Our ministry started a prayer group mainly among my sisters and wife. Then we expanded it to others. We have seen prayers answered over the last two years. Many of these answered prayers were truly miracles of people coming to Christ, financial blessings, and healings. Living a Christian walk is not easy, but to have a close and meaningful walk with Christ Jesus, you need to learn to put God first and pray.
The glue that holds our relationship together with our Heavenly Father is His Son Jesus. Jesus taught us how to pray when He taught us the Lord’s Prayer.
Are you praying in your walk with Christ Jesus? If you are not, then something is wrong with your relationship with the Father. You must learn to pray and take all of your petitions to our Heavenly Father.
Pastor John Baldwin preached on this today. I will be giving you a recap on this important topic. The following is an outline of how to pray with confidence.
1. You must pray to your Heavenly Father. Let’s look at Matthew 7:11, “If you then who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in Heaven give good things to those who ask Him.”
2. Pray in the Name of Jesus. Look at John 14:13-14, “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” Also, Hebrews 4:16, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
3. Pray with a forgiving spirit. Look at Mark 11:25, “And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”
4. Do you believe God will do it? Look at James 1:5-8, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
5. Pray according to God’s will. When we pray, we should be praying for others or our needs and not our wants. Sometimes our wants are not to God’s will. See 1 John 5:14, “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.”
If you want to see answers to prayer, you need to get serious and stay serious. We have many important decisions to make in our nation as well in our communities. Praying ALL Petitions to God, our Heavenly Father, is what we should be doing daily. And praying takes dedication. It takes a time commitment. Don’t allow your business, activities, or anything else to come before praying together and taking our petitions to our Heavenly Father.
Reference:Pastor John Baldwin, Message “Confident Prayer,” Berea Baptist Church; July 3, 2022.
Copyright July 22, 2022. Marketplace Evangelism Ministries, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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