Today we continue our series entitled “Destiny’s Child – You Are Not a Mistake!” I am showing you scripture after scripture that drive home the fact that God made plans for you before the world began. Let’s continue to flow in that same vein. Today I will talk about God’s grace and your faith.
So what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. Your prayer of faith must be in agreement and alignment with God’s plans for your life.
The Father wants us to pray, but He has not signed up to give us whatever we want, or whatever we come up with. The Father has signed up to give us whatever we ask for that lines up with His will. God’s grace is a key aspect of this.
The Amplified translation of Matthew 18:18 says: “Truly I tell you, whatever you forbid and declare to be improper and unlawful on earth must be what is already forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit and declare proper and lawful on earth must be what is already permitted in heaven.”
— Jesus was not putting pressure on heaven to respond to our will, but rather on us to learn what heaven’s will already is and to pray that!
— We can’t force God to do something against His will. As a matter of fact, we can’t force God to do anything!
— Prayer is not about you telling God what to do. You cannot command God. He is not your servant; it’s the other way around.
— Prayer is about submission and surrender, acknowledging that there is a God and you are not Him, and then coming to that God to access His grace.
2. The prayer of faith receives what God has already provided by grace.
Everything we do for God, we must do in faith. Everything God does for us, He does by grace. In this way, our faith must always be in response to His grace. Our faith receives what God has already provided.
(Romans 5:1,2 NIV)
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.
When God reveals something to you, in which He is basically saying, “Son/daughter, these are my plans for you. This is what I am giving you by grace,” it is then and only then that you are authorized to release your faith to receive what God has already provided.
— This series is about understanding the fact that you are not a mistake. This also means that God made plans for you before the world began. Therefore, your life cannot be about selfish desires. Your life must be about the plans God has for you!
3. Effective prayers are the ones that tap into what God has already provided for you.
When you understand the fact that God already made plans for you before the world began, and He made those plans completely by His grace, you then understand the importance of seeking God concerning what to pray for. John said, “We can come to God with no doubts. This means that when we ask God for things (and those things agree with what God wants for us), God cares about what we say. He listens to us every time we ask him. So we know that he gives us whatever we ask from him” (1 Jn 5:14,15 ERV). Did you catch that? We must ask for things that agree with what God wants for us!
When we don’t pray in agreement with God’s desires, and we pray for selfish desires, God does NOT answer our prayers. Because God never signed up to give us whatever we want. James said it this way: “… all the time you don’t obtain what you want because you won’t ask God for it! And if you ask, you won’t receive it for you’re asking with corrupt motives, seeking only to fulfill your own selfish desires” (James 4:2,3 TPT). God is not obligated to give you what you came up with. He obligates Himself to manifested what He already provided!
— While you are required to pray in faith, you must also pray from a position of GOd’s grace. Praying from a position of grace means you are praying from the position of God’s perspective and will.
— Grace-based prayers tap into supernatural power for God’s will to be done on earth, as it is in heaven, because you are acknowledging that you are not asking for something that you came up with within your heart. You are praying the heart of God.
— Heaven responds when believers on earth make valid requests. Stop accepting everything that happens and get heaven involved in your life today through grace-based prayer! These are prayers that are made in faith, and your will be faith strong and effective because you know you are praying in alignment with God’s grace. You are asking for something you believe God already provided!
4. “The Grace Life” is a life of freedom.
When you make your life all about God and the plans He made for you before the world began, you are free from the limitations of your humanity and the pressure to do everything right. Grace is liberating. Grace is empowering. Grace is amazing. This is one of the reasons why I hate religion. Religion puts the spotlight and emphasis on YOU. It is all about YOU doing things right. It is about YOU complying with this and YOU submitting to that. Religion puts so much pressure on YOU that you feel like you are the captain of your own ship. You think you are steering your own course and that you have to shape your own destiny with your decisions and actions. While your decisions and actions do matter (I teach that without question), you don’t feel the pressure to perform when you die to self and embrace the grace of God.
When you know God made plans for you before you were born, you know He is leading you by His Spirit, and you know He empowers you to do what you are called to do, you don’t take on any pressure. At that point, your life is NOT about YOU anymore. Your life is All About Him! Your life becomes a “Grace Life!” You are free to do whatever God leads you to do. You are free from the limits of your humanity. You are not bound to what you have in the bank or what you have on your resume. You know God can open doors that no man can close. You release yourself to become ALL God has destined you to be. Now, in the process, you may work harder than you ever have in your life (Isabella and I are witnesses of this). But it won’t be you doing it. It will be the grace of God through you (see 1 Corinthians 15:10).
Declaration of Faith:
Father, this is a season of LEVELING UP for me. I LEVEL UP by embracing Your plans for my life. I die to sin, self, and selfish desires. I even die to the limits of my humanity. If You say I can do it, then I can do it. I can do all things through You. Your grace empowers me to do what You have called me to do, even when it does not make human sense. You chose to use the unqualified for the extraordinary. So I give myself over to You. I pray in agreement and alignment with heaven. I believe and receive everything You reveal to me. I then launch out, in faith, to become what You planned. My life is ALL ABOUT YOU! This is why I can freely declare: GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
