HOW TO ASK AND RECEIVE

GOD ANSWERS PRAYERS

And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”- Matt 21:22

We believe with the heart, for it is believing with the heart we are made right with God( Rom 10:10) The same way we believe in Jesus with our heart without seeing him, so also we believe that our prayers are answered without seeing it.

We have in mind that we are here on earth to fulfill God's purpose and not ours. The bible says "He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them - 2 Cor 5:15

Salvation is God's idea and not ours. HE CAME TO SAVE US NOT TO CONDEMN US [ JN 3:17] WE KNOW HE COMPLETED HIS WORK ON EARTH. So every prayer we make according to his will is already answered in the Spirit before we even prayed, unless we are fulfilling our own purposes.

Let's learn how to trust God with our prayers for He really cares. He is a cheerful giver, He delights in giving us our heart desires. " He delights in the prosperity of his children " [Ps 35:27]

We pray for the grace to believe in God's strength to answer prayers and not in our strength. In Jesus name Amen!

Thank You Jesus!

COMPASSIONATE FATHER II

“And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him - Luke 15:20

Ephesians 1:11 states "Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan"

Do you think the Lord will ever reject us our own share of our inheritance? Our blessings are in Jesus name and in the Spirit while we are still on earth. That is why we ask in Jesus name, for that is the key that unlocks our inheritance.

Time in the spirit is not the same as time in the physical, we are in a different time zone. Just as it takes time for our money to come out of an ATM machine, though it is ours, it also takes time in the Spirit for us to receive most of our prayer requests.

So, let's learn to be patient. In our opening verse, we can see that the father was the one who ran with so much compassion to receive his prodigal son. This shows how eager our heavenly Father is to receive our prayers. He is ever compassionate and it pleases him to grant our request. As the scripture says "Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? - Rom 8:32

We pray for the grace to ask with faith and wait patiently in joyful hope for our answers in Jesus name Amen!

Thank You Jesus!

GOD ANSWERS PRAYERS II

And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”- Matt 21:22

In the parable of the prodigal son [Lk 15:11-31], he came back to the father because he believed that the father will receive him, he had faith in the father's compassionate heart. He trusts the father's ability to forgive and receive him. This is in line with our opening verse, he came back to the father believing the father will receive him and he was received.

The Gospel of Jesus is based on faith, we believe before seeing and not the other way round. We believe in God's ability in answering prayers and not in us. We go beyond our physical senses. Things like " it is impossible with man, but with God all things are possible" 2 Cor 5 :7 states "For we live by faith, not by sight"

God is Spirit and has to be worshipped in Spirit and truth.That explains why the Lord said in John 14:17 "the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. The world lives by sight and not faith. Most of our prayers are answered in a silent manner but we are too busy to notice.

Remember when God appeared to Elijah, it was in a silent manner that Elijah never expected. The scripture tells us that " after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.

I Kings 19:12

Isaiah spoke about this when he said

"Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Isaiah 53:1

We pray for the grace to believe in God's strength to answer prayers and not in our strength. In Jesus name Amen!

Thank You Jesus!

GOD ANSWERS PRAYERS III

And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”- Matt 21:22

If we watch closely we will notice that God answers all prayers, however, most answers come in silent manners. We have to know that God is Spirit, and we are Spirit beings, we ask him in Spirit and we receive it in Spirit before it manifests in the physical. All we have to do is to WAIT for it to manifest in the physical.

Let's learn how to WAIT patiently for the Lord. Remember, God does not go by this world time system for "a thousand years is like a day in the eyes of the Lord. To the Lord, "A 4 day old decaying dead person is just sleeping" " the bush we see engulfed in flames is never burned" " 5000 men can be fed with 5loaves of bread and two fish" He engineered a virgin birth and gave barren women that are past child bearing age, babies.

When we pray, we are not forcing God to go against his wish, for He had already blessed us with every Spiritual blessing in the heavenly places ( Eph 1:3) Salvation was his idea in the first place not ours, and it gave him pleasure to adopt us into his family. When we pray we are commanding our blessing to manifest in the physical, which goes by Spiritual timing because it is of the Spirit. So let's learn to be patient.

Let's learn how to wait on the Lord, remember He is God and it is a blessing waiting on him for He knows we are waiting for him. As the scripture says "those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint - Isaiah 40:31

We pray for the grace to wait patiently for the Lord in Jesus name Amen!

Thank You Jesus!

THE GOD CLOSEBY

For what great nation has a god as near to them as the Lord our God is near to us whenever we call on him?

Deuteronomy 4:7

These words in our verse were the words of Moses addressing the people of Israel. You noticed that those words were said during the old covenant which the Israelites couldn't keep. How about now we have a new covenant as his children, an agreement sealed by God's blood.

Psalm 145:18 says "The Lord is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth. Psalm 34:17 tells us that "The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles"

A father never hides from his children, rather children hide from their father when they do bad things. The bible says "The Lord ’s arm is not too weak to save you, nor is his ear too deaf to hear you call. It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore - Isaiah 59:1‭-‬2

Now that we are cleansed from our sins, why can't we come to our heavenly Father and enjoy the Fatherhood of God. We know from the parable of the prodigal son that God the Father has opened his hands to welcome us back into his beloved.

Let's use this Period of grace to grow in our relationship with our heavenly Father, He doesn't bite if we ask him for anything, He wants us to ask as many things as we want for all things are ours (1 Cor 3:21)

We pray for the grace to grow in our relationship with God the Father in Jesus name Amen!

Thank You Jesus!

COMPASSIONATE FATHER

“And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him - Luke 15:20

Our verse is taken from the parable of the prodigal son, here, Jesus revealed to us the true things we don't know about our heavenly Father; FULL OF COMPASSION AND ALWAYS READY TO ANSWER OUR PRAYERS.

He created us in love, the bible tells us He adopted us to be his children in love [Eph 1:4-5] We are the firstfruits of his creation, it pleases him to answer us whenever we call him.

The problem is that we think God is not happy with us and we are sinners, or He is far away from us. However, this parable expresses the true nature of God we don't know " EVER COMPASSIONATE

The bible says "The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him"

[Psalms 103:8‭-‬9‭, ‬11‭-‬13]

When Jesus was on earth, He never refused any request from people ranging from feeding, healing, even when He was so tired. Matthew 14:14

States "And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick"

If Jesus can do all these while we were sinners, how much more now that He has cleansed us with his own blood.

We pray for the grace to always ask and receive in Jesus name Amen!

Thank You Jesus!

COMPASSIONATE FATHER III

“And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him - Luke 15:20

We are still on the parable of the prodigal son. We can notice here that the son has faith in the Father, he trusted that the father will forgive him.

We can see that before the son apologized the father already had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. That is why the scripture says "Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear - Isaiah 65:24

God loves it when we trust him with all our hearts, especially trusting him that he can forgive sins. Psalm 100:3 says "Acknowledge that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his" The Lord, once before healing 3 blind men asked them "Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” [Matt 9:28]. They believe in the ability of God to heal the sick.

No wonder St Paul said Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, [Eph 3:20.] Our trust in him, activates the power of God at work within us. Remember what Jesus told Mary “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”-Jn 11:40

We pray for the grace to trust in the compassionate power of God, in Jesus name Amen!

Thank You Jesus!

DO YOU BELIEVE?

And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” - Matt 9:28

We sleep and hope that we will wake up in the morning, some of us even set alarms, that means we have faith that we will wake up and also we have faith that the alarm will wake us up. Yet we struggle with faith in things of God, who watches over us when we sleep and wakes us up. If God does not wake us up, alarm rings in vain!

Hebrew 11:6 tells us we can't please God without faith. God hates it when we cannot live a glorious life which He paid for with his own blood, because of our unbelief, lack of trust in him. Imagine using all your life savings to buy a home for your children and they couldn't live in it. The Lord even rebuked his own apostles for this, He said "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? ”Matt 17:17

Imagine God trusting us to parent him right from childbirth until when He is ready for his mission. Yet we cannot trust God to parent us. In Our opening verse, the Lord simplified it for us: " DO YOU BELIEVE THAT I AM ABLE TO DO THIS?

REMEMBER, WHEN WE BELIEVE, WE ARE NOT BELIEVING THAT WE ARE ABLE TO DO THIS, RATHER WE BELIEVE IN GOD'S ABILITY TO DO THIS WE ASK, EVEN IF WE DON'T HAVE OUR ANSWERS RIGHT AWAY, WE WAIT PATIENTLY FOR HIM.

ALWAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM AS GOD AND FATHER.

We pray for the grace to believe in God's ability to answer us as our Father and God in Jesus name Amen!

Thank You Jesus!

NEVER GIVE UP!

When you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure -Jas.4.3

Sometimes, we might ask out of our own pleasure and do not receive at the moment, let's not give up. God is not strict on us that if we ask amiss He kicks us out, NO. Rather, He will teach us how to ask and train us on how to receive, then still give us what we want.

The scripture says "the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father.

[Gal 4:1‭-‬2]

Remember He made us joint heirs with Christ, we are asking what belongs to us but out of flesh desires. We didn't do anything to merit it, so God does not set criteria for us to qualify, rather He qualifies us so we can receive our request.

Our duty is to wait on him patiently, study the scripture, keeping our eyes and ears open for inspiration from the Holy Spirit. He will help you to build our trust in him.

God never turns us down completely, instead He comforts us in another way that benefits us until we become of age then He will give us what we ask for.That's why He gave us the Holy Spirit as our Helper. We have listen to him, He will guide us to our inheritance.

We pray for the grace to wait patiently for the Lord in Jesus name Amen!

Thank You Jesus!

BENEFITS OF WAITING ON THE LORD

I wait for the Lord , my soul waits, And in His word I do hope - Ps 130:5

Sometimes we pray to God and it appears there's no answer, the truth is that in most cases, God has answered it in the spiritual, but we have to wait for the Lord to fulfill it in the physical. The good thing is that the Lord knows we are waiting for him. DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT MEANS TO WAIT FOR THE LORD? AND THE LORD KNOWS YOU ARE WAITING FOR HIM?

While we wait, we sing songs of thanksgiving, melodies and silent joyful prayers. God allows those Periods of waiting so as to teach us especially when we ask out of our own pleasures.

Remember the words of the Lord " ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ [Matt 4:4 ]

Waiting increases our endurance which is a virtue needed to build our hope. According to the scripture "tribulation produces endurance and endurance character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, Rom 5:4‭-‬5

Also, we build new strength while waiting for the Lord, the scripture says

" Those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint Isaiah 40:31

Finally, we build trust, while waiting on the Lord, trust makes us God's best friends. The scripture says "Those who trust in the Lord Are like Mount Zion, Which cannot be moved, but abides forever.- Psalms 125:1

We pray for the grace to wait patiently for the Lord in Jesus name Amen!

Thank You Jesus!

BENEFITS OF WAITING ON THE LORD II

My eyes are straining to see your promises come true. When will you comfort me? - Psalms 119:82

While we wait on the Lord, we are waiting in the spirit as well. We keep our Spiritual eyes and ears open. Remember God is Spirit and some of our answers come silently just as when God appeared to Elijah. If we are not spiritually alert, we might miss it thinking that God didn't hear us. So waiting on the Lord helps us grow spiritually.

Also as we wait patiently for the Lord, there's no room for sin, because your mind is focused on him. Of course you don't want to offend him that you are asking a favor from. Psalms 119:1 states "Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord".

Brothers and sisters, the Lord encourages us to ask and we shall receive, we have nothing to lose in either asking or waiting on the Lord for our answers. If we receive immediately, it is good, if we have a wait time, it is a gain.

We pray for the grace to wait patiently for the Lord in Jesus name Amen!

Thank You Jesus!

STATE YOUR CASE

Put Me in remembrance; Let us contend together; State your case, that you may be acquitted - Isaiah 43:26

The Lord taught us to pray "let thy will be done". He gave us a skeletal frame on which we have to fill in the flesh. We have to know that the will of God has been done in our lives already, it is fulfilled in our Lord Jesus. Everything we are and will be is in him [2 Cor1:20) It is our own part to enforce it in our lives by stating our case, putting him into remembrance, what He wrote concerning us.

Acts 3:15 calls Jesus the "Author of our lives". He has written concerning each one of us in the scripture [Ps 40:7, Ps 139:16 ] Remember, He predicts the end from the beginning. So let's state our case then allow his will to be done.

Amos 3:3 says "Can two people walk together without agreeing". We have to present to God what his will is concerning us as is written in the scripture, making sure our request is in agreement with what the scripture says.

We have lost faith thinking our prayers are not answered because we asked for his will to be done without stating our case. If God does all his will upon us we might not contain it. During the council of the elders in Jerusalem, Peter stated his case concerning the gentiles, they agreed because his words were in agreement to God's will for the gentiles. ( Acts 15:15)

God confirmed it because it was in agreement with his will, but it wasn't until Peter stated his case.

We pray for the grace to always state our case in Jesus name Amen!

Thank You Jesus!

STATE YOUR CASE II

Put Me in remembrance; Let us contend together; State your case, that you may be acquitted - Isaiah 43:26

REMEMBER IN CHRIST, ALL GOD'S PROMISES ARE MADE YES FOR US. THERE'S NO YES AND NO IN CHRIST, RATHER ONLY YES. [2 COR 1:19-20] THAT YES IS OUR VICTORY, THE EVIDENCE UPON WE STATE OUR CASE.

Blind Bartimeus when the Lord asked him what do you want me to do for you ? he stated his case " that I may receive my sight" [ Mk 10:51] This is in agreement with what was written in the scripture concerning the coming of the Messiah "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened…(Isaiah 35:5 )

Even in our marriages, during conflicts, instead of folding our hands saying " Let thy will be done " and accepting divorce as outcome, we can state our case " The man who finds a wife finds a treasure, and he receives favor from the Lord [Prov 18:22 ] We can claim our spouses as blessings for it is written "The blessing of the Lord makes a person rich, and he adds no sorrow with it. [Prov 10:22]

Holy Communion is another way of stating our case to God, putting him in remembrance as He directed. When we receive communion we are in agreement that Christ has died for us and our sins are forgiven [1Cor 11:26] We are in agreement that whatever we suffer for our sins we have defeated by his death.

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, WE ARE SALTS OF THE EARTH, SALTS DON'T FOLD HANDS AND WATCH THINGS GO WRONG, THEY ARE ACTIVE AND STAYS ACTIVE AFTER IT'S USE.

We pray for the grace to always state our case to our Heavenly Father in Jesus name Amen!

Thank You Jesus!

STATE YOUR CASE III

“Present your case,” says the Lord . “Set forth your arguments,” says Jacob’s King - Isaiah 41:21

We need to state our case before our heavenly Father. Just as we argue case with our earthly fathers, let's be real before him, avoid being vague, tell him our heart, for He knows already, then He will walk us through to the right path.

Abraham argued Lot, his nephew out of destruction in sodom. The Bible says Abraham approached the Lord and said, “Will you sweep away both the righteous and the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? [Gen 18:23- 24] And the plea went on and on

Hezekiah, when the Lord told him to prepare to die, he didn't ask for God's will to be done, he stated his case. In Isaiah 38:3 he prayed “Remember, O Lord , how I have always been faithful to you and have served you single-mindedly, always doing what pleases you.” Then he broke down and wept bitterly. Then the Lord added 15 more years to him.

We pray for the grace to always present our case before God in Jesus name Amen!!

Thank You Jesus!

STATE YOUR CASE IV

“Come now, and let us reason together,” -Isaiah 1:18

Children of God should never be passive in life, it defies the name and image of our heavenly Father. Remember, we are the salt of the earth, more is expected of us. If the enemy, the accuser is out there arguing his own case against us and causing sickness, untimely deaths, marital and financial crisis, why can't children of God state their case so as to preserve what their Father gave them.

Remember "God confirms the word of his prophets, the word of His servant, And performs the counsel of His messengers [Isaiah 44:26] We all are his royal prophets and priests by baptism.

As his prophets and priests, God has made known his ways to us through the Holy Spirit in us, for the scripture says "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God" - I Cor 2:12

Since we have the Spirit of wisdom, understanding and counsel, God wants us to put them into use, reason with him, as our opening verse says,

argue our case with him and put him in remembrance. Have you ever come to your earthly father and ask him, let your will be done ? Ofcourse not, the same way, God our spiritual Father who Grant's all wills, wants us to state our case, then He will grant it according to his will.

We pray for the grace to always present our case before our Heavenly Father in Jesus name Amen!

Thank You Jesus!

STATE YOUR CASE V

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

I John 5:14‭-‬15

Psalm 103:7 tells us that God made known his ways to Moses. Moses was a great intercessor, like Abraham, He argued his case before God anytime God wanted to wipe out the Israelites.

On one of those moses plead was as follows:

"But Moses tried to pacify the Lord his God. “O Lord !” he said. “Why are you so angry with your own people whom you brought from the land of Egypt with such great power and such a strong hand? …..."Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You bound yourself with an oath to them, saying, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. And I will give them all of this land that I have promised to your descendants, and they will possess it forever.’” So the Lord changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had threatened to bring on his people [Ex 32:11‭-‬14 ]

Brothers and sisters, God has made us kings and priests, as kings and priests, we must learn how to present our case before God for our good and the good of others and our community.

We don't see things going wrong in our lives or with others or in our communities and fold hands saying " let thy will be done"

I Timothy 2:1-2 says "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence"

We pray for the grace to always state our case before God for our good, and for those of others and our community, in Jesus name Amen!

Thank You Jesus!