Making Big Requests of God

Making Big Requests of God

John 14:9-14

Jesus often spoke about the role of prayer for the believer and the church. He guaranteed His presence when two or more gather in unity to pray. He also promised to act whenever believers speak to God in the authority of Christ’s name. Jesus taught that God is to be the focus of our petitions, and He showed by example that the basis for ministry is communion with the Father.

If we want God to release His power into a situation, it’s important that we do two things:

First, we must depend solely on Jesus’ merits and mediation. Our new life as children of God began when we acknowledged our helplessness and accepted Christ’s substitutionary death on our behalf (Rom. 5:6). He acted as our mediator and reconciled us to the Father (1 Tim. 2:5). If we want God to do mighty works in and through us, we must continue in that same spirit of dependence on Christ (Gal. 2:20).

Second, we must separate from all known sin. At the cross, when the Savior paid our penalty for transgression, sin’s controlling power over us was broken. However, its presence remains in this world and also lingers in us. Gossip, laziness, gluttony, and selfishness are commonplace occurrences. The remedy for every sin is to confess it to God, turn away from that attitude or behavior, and receive God’s forgiveness and cleansing (1 John 1:9). He uses cleansed vessels.

If we are going to make big requests of God, we must come to Him with clean hearts and hands—that is, solely on the merits of His Son Jesus.

Tell Me Who Your God is and I will Tell You, Who You Are

The Lord wants to spend time with us not all for His glory, but also for our best benefit. As we worship Him, He rests in our praises, so joy is released thus showering us His glory; sharing with us His divine holiness, healing and wisdom, for in His presence darkness cannot prevail. As Moses' face shone when the Lord spoke with him, that same glory was communed to us as we come in His presence.

Holiness is a Lifestyle

Progressive holiness is an evidence of Christian growth; and it is possible to happen because God will complete His work in us.

The Passion for Joy

“God’s purpose for my life was that I have a passion

 for God’s glory and that I have a passion for my joy in

 that glory, and that these two are one passion.” 

― Jonathan Edwards

Confess In Prayer What We Need

Even when it is the Lord Himself initiating something, earnestly desiring to do it, He still needs us to ask. Andrew Murray succinctly speaks of our need to ask: "God's giving is inseparably connected with our asking... Only by intercession can that power be brought down from heaven which will enable the church to conquer the world."

Dutch Sheets

Our Actions have to Sync with Our Words

One element of Christianity is not religious ceremonies; not even righteous acts we put up, but our off guarded words. 

Better to Give, Than to Receive

Giving should not be hard for Christians, for once we expected to receive favor from God, and even so now that we continue on it. Helping then becomes our vocation, not to receive immediate rewards but to show how the grace of God works in our lives.

God's Persistent Love

There is no depth, deep enough, nor width, wide enough,to keep us from the love of God....
His faithfulness transcended time just to keep His promise of salvation;
and so does  power has lost its meaning compared to His stubborn love toward us....

His Love Causes the Goodness in Us

Not by our might, neither by our own nature that we do good but by God's love in our heart, which He allows to overflow.


“The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.” 
― C.S. Lewis

God's Multiplication Table- Faiths Checkbook by C.H. Spurgeon

Faiths Checkbook by C.H. Spurgeon

Works for the LORD often begin on a small scale, and they are none the worse for this. Feebleness educates faith, brings God near, and wins glory for His name. Prize promises of increase! Mustard seed is the smallest among seeds, and yet it becomes a treelike plant, with branches which lodge the birds of heaven. We may begin with one, and that "a little one," and yet it will "become a thousand." The LORD is great at the multiplication table. How often did He say to His lone servant, "I will multiply thee!" Trust in the LORD, ye ones and twos; for He will be in the midst of you if you are gathered in His name. "A small one." What can be more despicable in the eyes of those who count heads and weigh forces! Yet this is the nucleus of a great nation. Only one star shines out at first in the evening, but soon the sky is crowded with countless lights. Nor need we think the prospect of increase to be remote, for the promise is, "I Jehovah will hasten it in his time." There will be no premature haste, like that which we see at excited meetings; it will be all in due time, but yet there will be no delay. When the LORD hastens, His speed is glorious.

Undealt sins block our prayers to reach the Doors of Heaven...

To pray with bitterness toward fellow men nullifies hours on our knees.

Dick Eastman

Faith is the foundation of our relationship with the Lord...

The unbelieving mind would not be convinced by any proof, and the worshipping heart needs none.

A. W. Tozer

When we endure in faith, we become more Christ like...

When we have done all we can, we must still wait for God to accomplish His purposes. As we wait, we can fix our eyes on Jesus as a companion who empathizes with our suffering and a Savior who is working behind the scenes. Difficult circumstances seem to increase our ability to experience intimacy with Christ.

Ruthann Ridley

Praying is not a task, to get tired of, but an attitude to enjoy and love doing....

It is always too soon to quit praying, even when praying is the last
thing we seem able to do.

Harold Lindsell

We are sealed with Jesus, and that is final...

The moment we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, our salvation is sealed for eternity. In Him, we are hidden, we may still falter as we walk through life, but our sonship will remain as God intended to be. His mercy blots out our name from eternal damnation. His grace will always cleanse us white as snow.

True essence of success is the sole goal of God for us...

He will be with you every step of the way. And though it may take time, He has a celebration planned for when you cross over the Red Seas of your life.

Charles Stanley

Our minds may be wild and wide, but still not enough to contain the greatness of God's love bestowed upon us...

Our little things are all big to God's love; our big things are all small to His power.

Billy Graham

Our wisdom, unless Christ inspired is just a blow in the wind....

Teaching unsupported by grace may enter our ears, but it never reaches the heart. When God's grace does touch our innermost minds to bring understanding, then his word, which is received by the ear, can sink deep into the heart.

Isidore of Seville

Preparation for Spiritual Warfare

Preparation for Spiritual Warfare

Ephesians 6:10-13

Believers are caught in a battle between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness, but the Lord has provided everything we need to stand firm against the forces of evil. Why, then, do Christians fail so often and give in to temptation and sin? I think there are a number of reasons.

• We are unaware of the battle. Even if we know about spiritual warfare, during everyday life, it’s easy to forget an invisible war is raging around us. Our inattention makes us prime candidates for an attack.

• We are ignorant about the Enemy. Satan will hit us with one scheme after another when we don’t recognize his tactics or understand his goals.

• We are untrained for battle. Believers are soldiers whether they want to be or not. God’s Word is the training manual that gives instruction for discerning deception, resisting temptation, standing firm in faith, and walking in integrity.

• We allow Satan a foothold. The primary battleground for Christians is the mind. If we begin to listen to the Tempter and consider the benefits of his suggestions, he will gain a foothold into our thoughts, feelings, and desires. Left unchecked, the foothold will become a stronghold, and we’ll soon find ourselves mired in sin.

The time to prepare for warfare is now. You cannot be complacent and unaware of your Enemy, or you will become his victim. Begin filling your mind with God’s Word, and obediently listen to the Spirit’s inner warnings. That’s the way to experience the joy of victory in Christ.

As God is eternal, so is His love and mercy toward us...

"Our Lord Jesus is ever giving, and does not for a solitary instant withdraw his hand. As long as there is a vessel of grace not yet full to the brim, the oil shall not be stayed. He is a sun ever-shining; he is manna always falling round the camp; he is a rock in the desert, ever sending out streams of life from his smitten side; the rain of his grace is always dropping; the river of his bounty is ever-flowing, and the well-spring of his love is constantly overflowing. As the King can never die, so his grace can never fail. Daily we pluck his fruit, and daily his branches bend down to our hand with a fresh store of mercy. There are seven feast-days in his weeks, and as many as are the days, so many are the banquets in his years. Who has ever returned from his door unblessed? Who has ever risen from his table unsatisfied, or from his bosom un-emparadised? His mercies are new every morning and fresh every evening."

 - Charles Spurgeon

http://www.biblegateway.com/devotionals/morning-and-evening

We are free from sin, not to sin...

Do not let us mistake necessary evils for good.

C. S. Lewis

Christianity is indeed a privilege but with it goes a responsibility...

Christianity is not just a church activity but a lifelong testimony of grace and mercy. It doesn't end at saying I am saved, but a beginning of commitment to good works, sincerity and a lifestyle of selflessness.

We die to ourselves to live for Christ....

If there be any reserve in my giving to Him who so loved that He gave His Dearest for me; if there be a secret "but" in my prayer, "Anything but *that*, Lord," then I know nothing of Calvary love.
Amy Carmichael

The evidence of our faith in the Lord is our obedience to His will...

“[To have Faith in Christ] means, of course, trying to do all that He says. There would be no sense in saying you trusted a person if you would not take his advice. Thus if you have really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him. But trying in a new way, a less worried way. Not doing these things in order to be saved, but because He has begun to save you already. Not hoping to get to Heaven as a reward for your actions, but inevitably wanting to act in a certain way because a first faint gleam of Heaven is already inside you.”

C.S. Lewis
Read more: http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/22-awesome-c-s-lewis-quotes/#ixzz2h50tDu5q

So hard to let go of our pride... But Christ let go of His blood...

Though justification costs us nothing but the sacrifice of our pride, 
it has cost Christ His blood.

Frederick Brotherton ( F. B. ) Meyer

The security of our faith lies on Truth...

The truth-seeking spirit and the spirit of faith, instead of being opposed, are in the deepest harmony. The man whose faith is most genuine is most willing to have its assertions tested by the severest scrutiny. 
And the passion for truth has underlying it a profound conviction that what is real is best; that when we get to the heart of things we shall find there what we most need. Faith is false to itself when it dreads truth, and the desire for truth is prompted by an inner voice of faith.

George Springs Merriam

His strength is our comfort zone...

The word "comforter" as applied to the Holy Spirit needs to be translated by some vigorous term. Literally it means "with strength."
Jesus promised his followers "The Strengthener" would be with them forever.

Paul Hovey

In our loss in Christ, we gain more....

Let no one imagine that he will lose anything of human dignity by...voluntary sell-out of his all to his God. He does not by this degrade himself as a man; rather he finds his right place of high honour as one made in the image of his Creator. His deep disgrace lay in his moral derangement, his unnatural usurpation of the place of God. His honour will be proved by restoring again that stolen throne. In exalting God over all, he finds his own highest honour upheld.

A. W. Tozer

God never stops talking to us, we just have to listen...

God never ceases to speak to us, but the noise of the world without and the tumult of our passions within bewilder us and prevent us from 

listening to him.

Francois Fenelon