The Seven Most Important Things in Prayer Part 1
Chapter 12
John 16:23-24 (AMP) 23 And when that time comes, you will ask nothing of Me [you will need to ask Me no questions]. I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, that My Father will grant you whatever you ask in My Name [as presenting all that I AM]. 24 Up to this time you have not asked a [single] thing in My Name [as presenting all that I AM]; but now ask and keep on asking and you will receive, so that your joy (gladness, delight) may be full and complete.
John 16:24 (KJV) 24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
New Covenant Prayer
When we keep this in context it is part of Jesus’ speech to the disciples right before He goes into the “Priestly Prayer” to the Father on all our behalves. I pulled the AMP because I love the wording, except v24, where it translates “and keep on asking”, remember He instructs us against vain repetitions, so I believe this translation means that He was saying keep on praying about everything, everyday. Remember in Phillipians 4:6 we are exhorted to take everything (all our cares) to the Lord in prayer. We never exhaust our “amount” of prayers that He will answer. . . He will never say to us “Oh, I’ve already given you ten blessings this month. You can’t have another for 13 more days.” It’ll always be, “look at how my child is believing, look at their faith.”
For a few minutes, I want to talk about “The Lord’s Prayer.”
The Lord’s Prayer is Not New Covenant Prayer
Many commentator’s say that Jesus gave the disciples “The Lord’s Prayer” to pray for that period of time when He was on earth, most commentator’s at least agree that it is not a New Covenant Prayer. My belief is that the principles Jesus spoke of in “The Lord’s Prayer” from the very time He gave it, were to be a format for praying, “when you pray, pray in this way.” In verse 7 He had just instructed them not to make vain repetitions.
Let’s look at it, and break it down, as the lesson that I believe it was meant to be:
“Our Father which art in heaven. . .” is a manner of glorifying God, we should start our prayers by glorifying our Father.
“Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done. . .” The New Covenant teachings tell us that we are the kingdom of God. So, we should ask the Father to guide us and give us boldness to spread the news of His goodness, His gospel, His glory for that is His will, that all should come to know of the Savior, and we are to be His light shining in the darkness.
Luke 17:21 (KJV) 21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
“Give us this day, our daily bread. . .” Bless us this day with Your daily word/manna/revelation to us, because we have daily relationship with You.
Matthew 4:4 (KJV) 4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
“And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. . .” If the Spirit reveals specifics about how we may be “off track” we should get specific about our “forgive us” and be specific about “our forgiving others.” To repent in the Word means to turn from, to redirect. Turn from what we had been doing/had been thinking. . .
Mark 11:25 (AMP) 25 And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him and let it drop (leave it, let it go), in order that your Father Who is in heaven may also forgive you your [own] failings and shortcomings and let them drop.
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. . .”
James 1:13 (KJV) 13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
God will never tempt us, the world, the flesh will, not God (James 1:13). I believe the “deliver us from evil” is an expounding of the first part, and Praise God we will never know exactly what all evil the Lord keeps us from or delivers us from as He leads us throughout each day (but remember we must choose to obey and follow where He leads).
“For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen”
And then it ends as it began with praising and glorifying God. The whole thing is a teaching from Christ, pray in this way, pray in this manner, but do not make it vain repetition, make it mean something in your personal walk with the Lord.
Matthew 6:7 (NLT2) 7 “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again.
The Lord’s Prayer was also a teaching for His disciples early in His ministry, but in the days just before the crucifixion He told them after “it is finished” to pray to the Father in My Name.
Number One: Pray to The Father in Jesus’ Name
Prior to the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus, Old Testament saints didn’t have a Savior. They, in a sense, were asking in their own names. They appealed to the mercy of God as demonstrated in the sacrifices that covered their sins, but there was no real atonement. When Jesus died, He made the real atonement that all the OT sacrifices illustrated (Hebrews 10:1-2). He became our Savior, and now we can do much more than approach God in our names or in our performance. We can ask and receive from the Lord in Jesus’s name or based on His performance. Praise the Lord!
This is the difference between approaching the Lord in the flesh and approaching Him in the Spirit. Using the name of Jesus means we are claiming the righteousness of Jesus as the thing that makes us worthy to receive. It means we are depending on the grace of God and not our performance. Those who ask but believe it is dependent on how well they perform are actually taking the name of the Lord in vain. It doesn’t matter if they end every prayer with “In Jesus’s name.” If they aren’t standing in the grace of God, then they aren’t using the name of Jesus correctly.
Andrew Wommack's Living Commentary.
We are either under the law, or we are under grace. . .
Whatsoever We Ask
John 16:23-24 (KJV) 23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. 24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
Focus on the word, “whatsoever” in verse 23. Then in the very next verse, Jesus says, “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ASK . . .” (John 16:24). Jesus is talking in John 16:23 about our asking for whatsoever we would, according to God’s Word — in the Name of Jesus. For a moment, put the word “whatsoever” after the word “ask” in John 16:24. Therefore, we could read verse 24: “Hitherto have you asked nothing in My Name: ask whatsoever in My Name, and you shall receive.” We read this verse, but sometimes we let the full significance of what Jesus is saying slip by us. So many times when we read the Bible, we read things into it that are not there. For example, notice in John 16:23 and 24 that there is no “if” in those verses. Jesus didn’t say to pray, “If it be Thy will.” He used the word, “whatsoever.” And He said, “. . . WHATSOEVER ye shall ask the Father in my name, HE WILL give IT YOU” (John 16:23). Of course, what you ask must be in line with God’s Word. God cannot violate His own Word. But the point I am making is that if you are praying scripturally based on God’s Word, don’t ask, “If it be Thy will.” You can just ask “whatsoever” you would that is in line with God’s Word, and it shall be granted to you!
Hagin, Kenneth E. Bible Prayer Study Course . Faith Library Publications. Kindle Edition.
Mark 11:23-24 (KJV) 23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. 24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
Number Two: Believe You Receive When You Pray
2 Corinthians 1:20 (AMP) 20 For as many as are the promises of God, they all find their Yes [answer] in Him [Christ]. For this reason we also utter the Amen (so be it) to God through Him [in His Person and by His agency] to the glory of God.
Hebrews 11:6 (KJV) 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Matthew 6:33 (KJV) 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
You must believe you receive before you see the answer.
If what you’ve prayed for lines up with promises made in the scriptures. Once you’ve prayed for it, start believing it, start thanking Him for it, continue thanking Him for it.
Hebrews 6:17-18 (KJV) 17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: 18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
Hebrews 6:17-18 (AMP) 17 Accordingly God also, in His desire to show more convincingly and beyond doubt to those who were to inherit the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose and plan, intervened (mediated) with an oath. 18 This was so that, by two unchangeable things [His promise and His oath] in which it is impossible for God ever to prove false or deceive us, we who have fled [to Him] for refuge might have mighty indwelling strength and strong encouragement to grasp and hold fast the hope appointed for us and set before [us].
There are SO MANY things I LOVE about those verses. . . “shew unto the ‘heirs of promise’” the AMP says “those who were to inherit the promise”, GOD CANNOT LIE, what are our promises!!!! (They are all through the Bible but Deut 28 is a great starting point.) This is some more of that “NEWS THAT IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!” Aka “The Gospel.”
Psalm 112:1-10 (KJV) 1 Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. 2 His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed. 3 Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever. 4 Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous. 5 A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion. 6 Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. 7 He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD. 8 His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies. 9 He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honour. 10 The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; he shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away: the desire of the wicked shall perish.
If we were to turn to this Psalm in our Bibles we find it sandwiched amazingly between Psalm 111 and Psalm 113, both of which exhort the reader to praise the Lord! Sounds a lot like The Lord’s Prayer doesn’t it.
Tell me: Do you love the Lord with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul? Do you love your neighbor, as you love yourself? Do you give God credit and praise to other people, do you seek first the kingdom of God, do you testify? Then chances are, you are following after God, because God is Love. Love is God.
If we begin to grow from babes in Christ into His sons and daughters as we ought, then His Spirit will chasten you to grow in Christ, His Spirit guiding you, through the renewing of your mind, will let you know what way you may need to repent and change direction. However from the beginning of our salvation, we are either living by faith in grace through the Lord Jesus, or we are living by legalism, by the law (we can’t just keep one or some, if that’s how you want to live there are 613 laws, you must keep them all), trying to be good enough, our good enough will never be good enough. Thank you, Jesus for covering me with Your righteousness! Thank you Lord that because of Jesus’ righteousness all of Your promises are “yes and amen” to us who believe.
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