Confidence In Prayer

Ephesians 6:18 (NLT)
Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all Christians everywhere.

It is not often that I receive an email from a friend on the subject of prayer. This one however, got my attention for recent happenings in my life shows the importance of hearing from the Lord.  It also reminded me of Ephesians 6:10-20 (NLT) - "The Whole Armour of God". Most who are familiar with this passage of scripture will easily recall the six pieces of the armour a soldier puts on.

14 Stand your ground, putting on the sturdy belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness.
15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News, so that you will be fully prepared [or For shoes, put on the readiness to preach the good News of peace with God].
16 In every battle you will need faith as your shield to stop the fiery arrows aimed at you by Satan.
17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

There is a seventh piece to the whole armour of God. However, the seventh piece of the armour is often not recognised as a piece of the armour as it is not something a soldier wears. It is Pray.

18 Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all Christians everywhere.

Pray is the line of communication the soldier has with his Commander, so as to be at a place where his general need him to be, to do what needs to be done, to be effective and to know where and how to support his fellow soldiers (all Christians) at the front-line.

Without pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, is liken to the soldier not hearing from his Commander. He is then left to act (or not act) on his own accord and runs the risk of acting in a manner that goes against the master plan of his Commander at the battlefield, which can and most likely will, cost lives.

The following is a daily devotional that was passed to me by a friend, which I thought is worth placing here for your good reading.


Confidence in Prayer

Too often Christians try to handle their situations without asking the Lord for direction or help. Perhaps they think the situation is not big enough to bother God. Or maybe they think because they are responsible for causing the mess in the first place, they should be responsible for fixing it. That, however, is not true. The Lord wants to help us, no matter how small or who is responsible for causing it. He delights in meeting our need!

Wouldn’t it be better to spend time with the Lord before each day’s responsibilities and demands begin to pull on us? Through our fellowship with the One Who has a plan for our lives, and knows what we should do in every situation, we prepare ourselves for His direction throughout the day.

Each day, usually early in the morning, Jesus spent time in communion with His Heavenly Father. Not only did He listen for direction and instruction but He claimed to be unable to do anything without it.

"I am able to do nothing from Myself [independently, of My own accord—but only as I am taught by God and as I get His orders]. Even as I hear, I judge [I decide as I am bidden to decide. As the voice comes to Me, so I give a decision], and My judgment is right (just, righteous), because I do not seek or consult My own will [I have no desire to do what is pleasing to Myself, My own aim, My own purpose] but only the will and pleasure of the Father Who sent Me” (John 5:30, AMP).

Jesus didn’t make His own decisions; He acted only after receiving instructions to act! That’s why He always experienced the right results—100% of the time. Now that’s success!

If we want to experience success in our daily lives, then we must make decisions only after we hear God’s direction. We can’t look to our own plans; instead, we must ask the Lord to show us His plan, and then we can be sure of success.

Some Christians don’t ask the Lord for direction because they don’t have the confidence in either what they pray or their ability to hear. However, 1 John 5:14-15 assures us how to have confidence in prayer.

“And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him: we are sure that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan), He listens to and hears us. And if (since) we positively know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know with settled and absolute knowledge that we have granted us as our present possessions the requests made of Him” (AMP).

What’s important is that we ask according to God’s will. I’ve known people who hear specific instructions from God, but before long they begin to add to God’s instructions. I often wonder if they feel that what God told them doesn’t sound spectacular enough.

Our lives become hard when we do things God does not initiate. But what He initiates, He supplies the strength, grace, and power to accomplish.

Dennis Burke Ministries
Daily Devotional - Sat 11th Sept 2010.