God expects his people to make requests of him in prayer.
Matthew 7:7–11 “Ask, and you will receive. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened for you. Everyone who asks will receive. The one who searches will find, and for the one who knocks, the door will be opened. “If your child asks you for bread, would any of you give him a stone? Or if your child asks for a fish, would you give him a snake? Even though you’re evil, you know how to give good gifts to your children. So how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him? Luke 11:9–13 “So I tell you to ask, and you will receive. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened for you. Everyone who asks will receive. The one who searches will find, and for the person who knocks, the door will be opened. “If your child asks you, his father, for a fish, would you give him a snake instead? Or if your child asks you for an egg, would you give him a scorpion? Even though you’re evil, you know how to give good gifts to your children. So how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” Matthew 21:22 Have faith that you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” John 15:7 If you live in me and what I say lives in you, then ask for anything you want, and it will be yours.
OUR GOD EXPECTS US TO BRING OUR CONCERNS TO HIM IN PRAYER. WE SERVE A PRAYER HEARING, AND A PRAYER ANSWERING GOD. OBEY, TRUST, BELEIVE, AND RECEIVE.
God has promised to answer prayer for personal or corporate needs and for the needs of others.
God answers Moses’ prayers Exodus 15:23–25 When they came to Marah, they couldn’t drink the water because it tasted bitter. That’s why the place was called Marah [Bitter Place]. The people complained about Moses by asking, “What are we supposed to drink?” Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the LORD set down laws and rules for them to live by, and there he tested them. God answers Hannah’s prayer for a son 1 Samuel 1:27 I prayed for this child, and the LORD granted my request. Psalm 34:17 ⸤Righteous people⸥ cry out. The LORD hears and rescues them from all their troubles. Psalm 50:15 Call on me in times of trouble. I will rescue you, and you will honor me.” Matthew 6:6 When you pray, go to your room and close the door. Pray privately to your Father who is with you. Your Father sees what you do in private. He will reward you. James 5:15 (Prayers offered in faith will save those who are sick, and the Lord will cure them.) If you have sinned, you will be forgiven. So admit your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you will be healed. Prayers offered by those who have God’s approval are effective.
OUR GOD IS THE SAME TODAY AS HE WAS YESTERDAY. YES, OUR GOD IS STILL A PRAYER ANSWERING GOD. OUR GOD IS STILL OUR MIRACLE WORKER, AND OUR HEALER. NOTHING IS TOO HARD FOR OUR GOD. LET US TAKE OUR CONCERNS TO GOD. OUR GOD WILL ANSWER OUR PRAYERS.
Matthew 8:2–3 A man with a serious skin disease came and bowed down in front of him. The man said to Jesus, “Sir, if you’re willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out, touched him, and said, “I’m willing. So be clean!” Immediately, his skin disease went away, and he was clean. Matthew 9:27-30 When Jesus left that place, two blind men followed him. They shouted, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.” Jesus went into a house, and the blind men followed him. He said to them, “Do you believe that I can do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they answered. He touched their eyes and said, “What you have believed will be done for you!” Then they could see. He warned them, “Don’t let anyone know about this!” Mark 1:32–34 In the evening, when the sun had set, people brought to him everyone who was sick and those possessed by demons. The whole city had gathered at his door. He cured many who were sick with various diseases and forced many demons out of people. However, he would not allow the demons to speak. After all, they knew who he was. Luke 4:40 When the sun was setting, everyone who had friends suffering from various diseases brought them to him. He placed his hands on each of them and cured them. Luke 6:17–19 Jesus came down from the mountain with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples and many other people were there. They had come from all over Judea, Jerusalem, and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon. They wanted to hear him and be cured of their diseases. Those who were tormented by evil spirits were cured. The entire crowd was trying to touch him because power was coming from him and curing all of them.
TOO MANY PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR HELP IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES. LET US REMEMBER, OUR HELP COMES FROM THE LORD. WHEN WE NEED HELP, WE NEED TO RUN THE GOD, THERE ARE TIMES WHEN WE NEED TO HAVE A TOUCH FROM GOD. TRUST, BELEIVE, AND RECEIVE, GLOOORRRY!!! HALLELUJAH!!!
Did Jesus pray? Yes, often. It’s in the Bible, Luke 5:16, NKJV. “So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.” There is no limit to God’s ability to help! It’s in the Bible, Ephesians 3:20, NKJV. “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us”
JESUS FOUND IT IMPORTANT TO PRAY, AND WE SHOULD FIND IT IMPORTANT TO PRAY. NO PRAYER IS TOO HARD FOR GOD TO ANSWER.
If anyone tries to tell you that Jesus is not God in the flesh close your ears because anyone who believes that blasphemy will not enter into Heaven. John 10:30 “The Father and I are one.” John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.“ John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.“ John 1:18 “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.“ John 10:33 “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.“
I HOPE YOU RECEIVED AND ENJOYED THIS QUICK REFRESHER.
HOW ARE YOU LIVING? Christians should live completely for God, not patterning their lives after the world. Romans 12:1-2 says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” SELF-CHECK: WHO DOES PEOPLE SEE WHEN THEY SEE YOU? DO THEY SEE GOD OR DO THEY SEE THE WORLD? THINK ABOUT IT. PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM
God is able and ready to meet our desperate needs, no matter how crushed and down we may be. No matter how exhausted we may be from suffering and from failing, God will have mercy upon us. He will deliver us if we will only cry out to Him. “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all. He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken” (Psalm 34:19-20). “And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me” (Psalm 50:15). “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me” (Psalm 138:7). PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM PayPal.me/donatetochurch
Paul’s Message Acts 19 and 20 Paul had a message from his Master and was faithful in giving it. His message was sixfold in its substance. 1. “The Kingdom of God” (19:8). The laws of the realm of grace are “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost” (Rom. 14:17), and this realm is entered by the new birth—John 3:5, 8. Life to live is obtained by receiving Christ. “Righteousness” is doing right because it is the right thing to do. “Peace” is the calm of God which comes as the result of obedience, and “joy” is the plant that grows in the soil of holiness. 2. “That Way” (19:9, 23) indicates God’s method of doing things. His way is away from sin, according to His Word, personal faith in Christ, obeying His commands, following Christ, ceasing from self, and consecration to God. 3. “The Word of the Lord Jesus” (19:10). This is a concrete sentence denoting the sum total of His teaching. Ponder seven of those words: the “come” of invitation (Matt. 11:28), the “take” of identification (Matt. 11:29), the “ministered” of substitution (Matt. 20:28), the “love” of compassion (John 15:9), the “whatsoever” of prayer (John 14:13), the “peace” of bestowment (John 14:27), the promise of “power” (Acts 1:8), and the “again” of return (John 14:3). 4. “Repentance towards God” (20:21). Repentance is a change of mind wrought by the Holy Spirit and shown in the action. The Prodigal not only said “I will arise,” but he did it. We may be sorry because we suffer the consequence of sin, and not be sorry for the sin which brought the consequences. 5. “Faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (20:21). Faith is the act of the will in receiving Christ—John 1:12, the attitude of the life in resting in Christ—Rom. 1:5, R.V., and the response of the heart to the commands of the Lord. The trend of the will leads to the track in which we walk. 6. “The Gospel of the Grace of God” (20:24). A preacher once defined grace as “Receiving everything for nothing when we don’t deserve anything.” This is good news. See what a beautiful illustration is found in the parable of the prodigal son. THIS IS A VERY POWERFUL QUICK STUDY. IT IS FILLED WITH LIFE CHANGING INFORMATION. PLEASE RECEIVE GREATLY. PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM PayPal.me/donatetochurch
There are three things to remember about “our sins” 1. We Have Sinned. There are sins called “transgressions,” which are goings beyond God’s law—Num. 14:41; there are sins of trespass, which mean unfaithfulness to a trust, and slipping away from God’s requirement—Matt. 6:14; there arc sins of iniquity, which denote the perversion of that which is good, and making it bad; hence, being unrighteous—Rom. 6:13; there are sins of rebellion, which signify the act of self-will and the clenched fists of opposition—Job 34:37; there are are sins of treachery, which signify an under-current of hypocrisy—Hosea 6:7, R.V.; there are sins of omission, that is, neglecting to do what we ought to do, and very often through ignorance—Lev. 4:13; there are sins of debt, failing to do our duty, and paying what we owe—Matt. 6:12; there are sins of disobedience, failing to respond to God’s word of direction, and generally through unbelief—Col. 3:6; and there are sins of failure, that is, missing the mark of God’s Word; hence, “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). 2. We Deserve to be Punished Because of our Sins—Lev. 26:18, 21, 24, 28. Anyone who breaks the law has to bear the consequence. Frequently we are reminded that the one who sins has to “bear his sin” (Lev. 20:20; 24:15; Num. 9:13; 18:22). 3. All Sin is Against God. David’s confession—Psa. 51:4; the publican’s cry—Luke 18:13; the prodigal’s lament—Luke 15:18; and Saul’s exclamation, all recognize sin is against God—1 Sam. 15:24. There are several passages in the New Testament where the words “our sins” occur. I HOPE YOU RECEIVED GREATLY FROM THIS QUICK STUDY. PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM PayPal.me/donatetochurch
