THE PURPOSE OF PRAYER
Greetings in the name of Jesus:
It is absolutely necessary for us to keep picking away at the things that easily fall into a category which is easily forgotten about in our daily growth in Christ. Prayer, of course, is one of those things taken for granted that will be a part of our daily lives, and yet we so often fail at prayer. most certainly on a day to day basis, but more importantly on a moment to moment basis when we struggle with life.
I think it is very important that we discuss the importance and the purpose of prayer in our lives.
1 John 5:14-15 makes one of the greatest statements used today with people who want to feel they can somehow control their physical situation in this life through prayer. In truth, we need to go back and read this whole thing in its context to understand it. This passage has screwed with the minds of many Christians who conclude because of the words used here that they can no longer sin
1 John 5:18 but that can be very twisted. In order to understand this, we really need to go back to the beginning of this chapter. When we became Christians we become a part of God's family with fellow believers and our brothers and sisters. It is God who determines who the other family members are, not us. by God to simply love and accept them; nothing more. The word tells us that whoever believes in Jesus as God's Son has eternal life. What the passage of 1 John 5:18 really means is that when we come to Christ that family status cannot be taken away from us from any outside source for it was given to us by God Himself. You see eternal life is not based upon feelings but upon facts. You can know that you have eternal life if you believe in God's truth. If you are not sure if you are a Christian simply ask yourself " Have you committed yourself to Christ as your savior and Lord? If so you can know for sure that you are a child of God. Thay does not mean that you will never sin again, but it does mean whenever you do you have a direct source of forgiveness when you come to Him and ask forgiveness.
When we pray we must pray within the will of God for our lives. God has a specific purpose for each one of us. In Acts 3:4: we find a situation where God did literal miracles. We see here that once again each of these miracles was done to glorify God and His purpose in the Apostles. The miracle did not save them from the job that God had for them to do but to show His truth through the power of healing a crippled beggar at the Gate called beautiful where all who lived in Jerusalem would see and believe was impossible for the Sanhedrin to deal with. We need to remember that the beggar had nothing to do with this; it was God's way of calling attention to the message that He had given to Peter and John to deliver to the Sanhedrin council. The beggar was simply seeking money, but God had much greater plans. In Acts 4:23-31 the believers prayed for the power to proclaim the word boldly and with power because they had been doing from the beginning what God had given them the power to do and what He had decided beforehand that should happen. When we come to a place in our lives where our prayers reflect God's will in our lives we will begin to see the reality of His spiritual power within us. Prayer connects us with the power of God in a way that cannot be denied by this world. Prayer can be the link that gives us complete victory in the most impossible of situations through praying in a way that directly leads to God's desires for us. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
It is absolutely necessary for us to keep picking away at the things that easily fall into a category which is easily forgotten about in our daily growth in Christ. Prayer, of course, is one of those things taken for granted that will be a part of our daily lives, and yet we so often fail at prayer. most certainly on a day to day basis, but more importantly on a moment to moment basis when we struggle with life.
I think it is very important that we discuss the importance and the purpose of prayer in our lives.
1 John 5:14-15 makes one of the greatest statements used today with people who want to feel they can somehow control their physical situation in this life through prayer. In truth, we need to go back and read this whole thing in its context to understand it. This passage has screwed with the minds of many Christians who conclude because of the words used here that they can no longer sin
1 John 5:18 but that can be very twisted. In order to understand this, we really need to go back to the beginning of this chapter. When we became Christians we become a part of God's family with fellow believers and our brothers and sisters. It is God who determines who the other family members are, not us. by God to simply love and accept them; nothing more. The word tells us that whoever believes in Jesus as God's Son has eternal life. What the passage of 1 John 5:18 really means is that when we come to Christ that family status cannot be taken away from us from any outside source for it was given to us by God Himself. You see eternal life is not based upon feelings but upon facts. You can know that you have eternal life if you believe in God's truth. If you are not sure if you are a Christian simply ask yourself " Have you committed yourself to Christ as your savior and Lord? If so you can know for sure that you are a child of God. Thay does not mean that you will never sin again, but it does mean whenever you do you have a direct source of forgiveness when you come to Him and ask forgiveness.
When we pray we must pray within the will of God for our lives. God has a specific purpose for each one of us. In Acts 3:4: we find a situation where God did literal miracles. We see here that once again each of these miracles was done to glorify God and His purpose in the Apostles. The miracle did not save them from the job that God had for them to do but to show His truth through the power of healing a crippled beggar at the Gate called beautiful where all who lived in Jerusalem would see and believe was impossible for the Sanhedrin to deal with. We need to remember that the beggar had nothing to do with this; it was God's way of calling attention to the message that He had given to Peter and John to deliver to the Sanhedrin council. The beggar was simply seeking money, but God had much greater plans. In Acts 4:23-31 the believers prayed for the power to proclaim the word boldly and with power because they had been doing from the beginning what God had given them the power to do and what He had decided beforehand that should happen. When we come to a place in our lives where our prayers reflect God's will in our lives we will begin to see the reality of His spiritual power within us. Prayer connects us with the power of God in a way that cannot be denied by this world. Prayer can be the link that gives us complete victory in the most impossible of situations through praying in a way that directly leads to God's desires for us. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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