Today we continue our new series, “NEW LEVELS IN 2021!” If we are going to make progress in 2021, we must be intentional. I am calling this “Progress on purpose.” God is saying, “New Levels” are available for us. But if we don’t pursue divine progress ON PURPOSE, we can surely miss out on what God is declaring for this season.
With that in mind, I told you that I would discuss “Leveling Up” in five areas:
1. Spiritually
2. Financially
3. Physically
4. Internally
5. Externally
I told you that for area #1, we would take about recommitting ourselves spiritually in three areas:
1. The Word of God
2. The Holy Spirit (hearing from God)
3. Prayer
We covered the first two last week. I introduced you to the topic of prayer a few days ago. Today we will continue to flow in the same vein.
So what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. One of the key revelations of prayer is understanding how God’s will, for Him, is ALREADY DONE!
God speaks to us from the position of what I call the “Eternal Now.”
a) When God speaks to us, He benefits from knowing everything we will do before we do it and everything He will do before He does it. So when He speaks, He does so from the position and perspective of eternity.
b) When Abraham was 75 years old, and God told him that He would bless him, make his name great and make of him a great nation, I am sure Abraham did not think it would take 25 years for the promised baby to be born. 25 years is nothing to God. 1,000 years are like one day to Him (Ps 90:4). So 25 years was like a blink of an eye. But to Abraham and Sarah, 25 years was a long time.
c) God will speak to you like it’s already done. For Him, in eternity, it actually is because He has already seen it happen. For you, however, attempting to live out what God said or what He allowed you to see, it is most certainly a matter of time.
d) Every promise from God shall come to pass in the earth, in your life. They just may not happen on your schedule. Living by faith means you set your watch of expectation to God’s clock of manifestation.
e) God reveals glimpses of eternity to us in time so that we live our lives out (in time) with a focus on the eternal. This is a key aspect of understanding prayer.
2. God has (past tense) already given you every spiritual blessing, in Christ, in heavenly places.
In the opening comments of his letter to the church Ephesus, the Apostle Paul wrote, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ, God has given us every spiritual blessing in heaven. In Christ, he chose us before the world was made. He chose us in love to be his holy people—people who could stand before him without any fault. And before the world was made, God decided to make us his own children through Jesus Christ. This was what God wanted, and it pleased him to do it. And this brings praise to God because of his wonderful grace. God gave that grace to us freely. He gave us that grace in Christ, the one he loves.” (Ephesians 1:3-6 ERV).
a) Praying from a position of grace means you believe God has already given you (in eternity) everything you need to accomplish His will, and He has deposited inside of what you need to become the man/woman you are called to be. When you pray from this perspective, it is a much different prayer than praying from a position of need, where you are asking God to give you something you believe you don’t have.
b) Praying from a position of grace means you are not praying to try to get God to do it. You pray from the position (or mindset) that it’s already done in heaven (in eternity), and it is only a matter of time before it happens on earth (in time).
c) When you pray from a position of grace, you are not praying FOR the victory. You are praying FROM a position of victory!
3. When you pray from the position of grace, you are praying from God’s perspective of you.
a) Don’t pray as if God doesn’t already know what you are facing. It’s not news to God.
b) Don’t pray as if God hasn’t already equipped you to face and overcome every challenge. He has already given you the grace for it.
c) Don’t pray as if God is not in the fight with you. Don’t ask Him to come. His Word promises that He is already there. You are never in a fight that God is not in with you.
d) Don’t pray as if what you are facing is going to destroy you. When you do this, you show God you have no faith, no trust, and no confidence in Him or the plans He made for you before the world began.
e) When you pray from a position of grace, you are praying from God’s perspective. When you pray this way, your prayers are full of faith, hope, confidence, and peace, regardless of the situation you are facing.
4. Don’t pray from a position of NEED!
a) 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).
b) God deposited IN YOU everything you would ever need in this life. He did this by His grace so that you could accomplish His Kingdom plans and purposes.
c) 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.
d) God will never withhold anything from you that He planned for you to have. However, this is why discerning God’s will for your life is so important. Frustration sets in when you make a demand on God for something that’s not yours!
5. You must understand who is responding to whom.
a) Don’t think that God is at your beck-and-call, responding to what you do in faith, serving you, and giving you everything that comes out of your mouth.
b) When you understand God’s grace and the plans He made for you before the world began, you then realize that you are the one responding to God, not the other way around.
c) I will use the day you were Born-Again as an example. When you exercised faith for salvation, God did NOT respond by sending Jesus to die for your sins. No. God had already done His part, by grace, before you were born. Your sins were already paid for you. Salvation was already available for you. All you did the day you were Born-Again was 1) realize what God already provided by His amazing grace, and 2) exercise your faith to receive what God already provided. This is how prayer works. You are coming in agreement with the will of God and then receiving (in time) what He already provided (in eternity).
*** Your faith comes in response to God’s grace. God’s grace DOES NOT come in response to your faith. You must understand who is responding to whom!
6. Effective prayers are prayed in faith, from a position of God’s grace.
a) Just like with salvation, you use your faith to access God’s grace to do everything He planned for you to do.
b) God has already set up your success. Everything you need to succeed in life has been set aside for you by God’s grace. Therefore, your faith-life and your prayer-life cannot be about your selfish desires. They have to be about God and what He already planned for you.
c) Revelation, or discernment, is a crucial aspect of prayer. You must see be able to see who you are and what you already have in the spirit realm by faith in order to pray prayers that align with what God already provided.
d) When you pray and use your faith to access the things God has already planned for you to have (or to do), then your faith will access His grace, and you will experience His best. Please make this a priority in 2021!
*** God’s GRACE Has Declared: 2021 is a YEAR OF NEW LEVELS!
*** But now you must have the FAITH to access and experience what God has already provided!
*** Remember, you have not, because you ask not!
Declaration of Faith:
Father, this is a year of NEW LEVELS for me. You have revealed to me WHO I AM. And I am walking out Your reality for my life in times and seasons, levels and stages. In this season of NEW LEVELS, I am ready to do what You have called me to do. As I launch out in faith, I don’t “DO” to get You to move. I don’t “DO” to attempt to force Your hand. I don’t command You. You command me! I move because You revealed to me that You already moved. I “DO” because, for You, it’s already done! I provide the faith in the earth because You have already provided the grace from heaven. This is how I lay hold of what You already planned. This is so important that I am committed to LEVELING UP my commitment to prayer in this season. GREATER IS COMING for me! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
