Quick Testimony: Last night a Sister in Christ and her beautiful daughter visited our church. After Bible Study she came up to me and told me that she was there because of me, that she had been receiving Today’s Word for about a year, that the Word changed her life and she is now much closer to God. 2015 marks 18 years of Today’s Word! I don’t do what I do for any other reason than to please God, but on nights like last night, all I can say is “Thank you Lord.” I am extremely humbled that God chooses to use me for His glory.
This morning we continue our series, “Maximizing 2015 by God’s GREAT GRACE” by continuing to teach on prayer. Yesterday we looked at a prayer Paul prayed for the believers in Ephesus. I pointed out that his prayer was a lot different than many of the prayers you might here today. Why? Because Paul was praying from a position of God’s grace. Paul was praying from the position of Jesus’ finished work.
In the prayer the Apostle Paul taught us that God’s power is very great for us who believe. We actually have access to the same mighty power that raised Jesus from the dead. After explaining this Paul said, “God put Christ over all rulers, authorities, powers, and kings. He gave him authority over everything that has power in this world or in the next world. God put everything under Christ’s power and made him head over everything for the church. The church is Christ’s body. It is filled with him. He makes everything complete in every way.” (Ephesians 1:20-23 ERV).
So what does this mean to you today? Let’s seek to glean a few golden nuggets from what Paul said.
1. Paul made it clear that God the Father put Jesus in charge of everything in this world.
a) Paul said, “God put Christ over all rulers, authorities, powers, and kings.”
b) Paul said, “He gave him authority over everything that has power in this world or in the next world.”
c) Paul said, “God put everything under Christ’s power and made him head over everything for the church.”
d) Paul said, “The church is Christ’s body. It is filled with him. He makes everything complete in every way.”
e) Can it be any clearer? Without question, JESUS IS LORD!
f) Our Heavenly Father placed His Son Jesus over everything in this world and the next. Furthermore, Jesus restored our access to the Holy Spirit. Now the Holy Spirit leads us to use our faith to access Jesus’ finished work.
2. Everything we need to succeed in life was attained by Jesus and we simply access Jesus’ finished work with our faith.
a) Jesus purchased our redemption with His blood.
b) On the cross Jesus said, “It is finished”, because His earthly assignment was over.
c) Jesus sat down on the right hand of God the Father, not because He was tired, but because He was done.
d) Today we are not praying to try to get God to do something. In eternity, God has done all He was going to do and it is only a matter of time before it manifests in the earth.
e) Our job now is to pray agreement/alignment with what God has already done – what Jesus did for us 2,000 years ago.
3. Pray from a position of grace.
a) Everything you would ever pray about, you must believe you already have, that God already provided it for you, and that is is already His will for you to have it.
b) If you start your prayer praying that you don’t have it, and that you want God to give it to you, then you are praying from a position of need (not grace) and doubt (not faith).
c) God deposited IN YOU everything you would ever need in this life. He did this by His grace, so you could accomplish His Kingdom plans and purposes.
d) Prayer is your consent/agreement with heaven, so God can do through you what He planned to do from the foundations of the world. This is how God’s will is done on earth, as it is in heaven.
e) God will never withhold anything from you that He planned for you to have. Frustration sets in when you make a demand on God for something that’s not yours!
*** Jesus paid it all for you. The work has been done. JESUS IS LORD! Your prayer should now access Jesus’ finished work.
We will talk more about this tomorrow.
Closing Confession: Father, I thank You for Your Great Grace towards me. I also thank You for teaching me to pray and to pray from a position of grace. The day I was Born-Again I became a member of the Body of Christ and I came in alignment with what You planned for me to have from the foundations of the world. I am in the Body and Jesus is the head of the Body. You placed Jesus over rulers, authorities, power and kings. You gave Jesus authority over everything in this world and the next. You put everything under Christ’s power and control. I am in Christ, Christ is in me, and He makes everything complete. Jesus redeemed with me with His own blood. Jesus gave me access to the life You always wanted me to have. Everything I will ever need has now been placed IN me, IN my Born-Again Spirit. This happened because of what Jesus did 2,000 years ago. I live my life today with the understanding that Jesus PAID IT ALL for me. I now use my faith to access Your grace, which was made available to me because of Jesus’ finished work. So when I pray, I don’t pray from a position of need or doubt. I pray from a position of grace and faith. I am led of Your Spirit concerning what to pray for and when I pray, with the confidence that I am asking for something that is already mine, I pray IN FAITH, not wavering, without a doubt, with full confidence that You will manifest everything You already planned for me to have and to do. My prayer lines up with Jesus’ finished work. My prayer is always… on earth, as it is in heaven! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper!
