God hears us when we pray in genuine belief. This daily devotional looks at two types of people who pray to Him and begins looking at the essentials in prayer.
Nuggets
- In order to gain access to God’s throne room, we need to sincerely pray in belief.
- Regenerated children of God follow a different discipline of prayer.
- Child-like obedience helps us grow closer to God.
- Child-like reverence is the respect we would give a father.
Devotions in the Conditions of Power in Prayer series
This devotion is based on another sermon that popped out at me when we were looking at the verses for the year. Spurgeon told us that there were conditions that needed to be met in order to access God’s power when we pray.
Resource
Worldview people, especially — and sometimes disciples — believe that God should answer our prayers in the exact way that we pray them. Every. Time.
God doesn’t work that way. Let’s see how Spurgeon says he does work.
Note: This is not breaking well. So we will finish the essentials in the next devotion.
Glossary
Let's Put It into Context #1
Here is a running list of nuggets for the series.
Let's Put It into Context #2
Prayer is a two-way communication with God in which we pour out our soul to Him.
Prayers of Unsaved People
“Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom. 10: 9 ESV)
In order to gain access to God’s throne room, we need to sincerely pray in belief.
Spurgeon noted the difference between a disciple’s prayer and one of someone seeking salvation. The sinners coming to submit their lives to God are seeking mercy. God’s mercy is an act of sovereign will that produces an unexpected and undeserved response from God as He responds in love to our needs.
When we come to God for salvation, the only condition He puts on our prayers is that we be genuine in seeking Him.
- We have to genuinely admit that mankind was separated from God after the original sin, making us sinners.
- We have to truly believe Jesus paid the penalty for those sins to become our Savior and Redeemer.
- We have to humbly confess God as Sovereign God.
- We have to commit to demonstrate that we will submit to living our lives following His laws and commandments confessing God as Sovereign Lord.
Salvation is the gift of life through the deliverance from sin and condemnation to acceptance and holiness and changes us from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive.
- Sins are actions by humans that disobey God and break one of His reasonable, holy, and righteous laws and commandments, goes against a purpose He has for us, or follows Satan’s promptings.
- Holy means to be set apart — because of our devotion to God — to become perfect, and morally pure while possessing all virtues.
- Perfection means we reach a state of maturity because the combination of the spiritual graces form, when all are present, spiritual wholeness or completeness — holy, sanctified, and righteous.
- Spiritual graces are worldly morals that have been submitted to God to further His kingdom instead of enhancing this world.
- Sanctified means to be set free from sin.
- Pure means not being sinful or having the stain of sin.
- Perfection means we reach a state of maturity because the combination of the spiritual graces form, when all are present, spiritual wholeness or completeness — holy, sanctified, and righteous.
- Righteous means we are free from sin because we are following God’s moral laws.
- Holy means to be set apart — because of our devotion to God — to become perfect, and morally pure while possessing all virtues.
- Holiness is the transcendent excellence of His nature that includes elements of purity, dedication, and commitment that lead to being set apart. Purity means possessing God’s moral character, having eliminated the stain of sin.
- Spiritual death is the spiritual separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin.
- The spiritually alive are those who have ABCDed, so they are no longer separated from God.
Glossary
This doesn’t say we have to clean up our acts before salvation. It doesn’t say we have to have God’s perfect character before we come for salvation.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Prayers of Saved People
Regenerated children of God follow a different discipline of prayer.
Now, once we are saved, that is a totally different story. Regenerated children of God receive other mercies, blessings, and comforts beyond salvation.
Glossary
Children of God
Regeneration is being changed from spiritually dead to spiritually alive and the internal new birth and requickening that God brings about through the work of the Holy Spirit.
Glossary
The thing is that answer to prayer after salvation depends on our obedience. “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil” (I Pet. 3: 12 ESV).
God hears the prayers of His children. He answers our prayers — maybe not in the way we expect.
But God will answer us abundantly when we are obedient. This goes along with what John said. He wrote, “and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him” (I Jn. 3: 22 ESV).
What did Spurgeon list as the “… do what pleases him” (I Jn. 3: 22 ESV) parts?
Child-Like Obedience
“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance” (I Pet. 1: 14 ESV)
Child-like obedience helps us grow closer to God.
We keep saying that God is not a dictator. He isn’t, so how do we approach Him?
We approach God as an obedient child.
Bersier said that means we aren’t grumbling because of what we have to do. We don’t obey only in certain areas but keep our pet sins in tact. We don’t wait until the mood strikes us.
Resource
We’ve talked before that being obedient means we don’t run off and do our own ministry for God. It isn’t that we are doing God’s work. It is that we are working the way He tells us to work.
Obedience isn’t a negotiation with our sinful nature. We don’t come to an agreement, nor do we compromise. We obey regardless of the worldview take on the matter.
Instead, Liddon said that obedience is a spiritual grace or a virtue. Spiritual graces are worldly morals that have been submitted to God to further His kingdom instead of enhancing this world. Virtues are standards of moral excellence.
Resource
Unfortunately, many think that obedience should have a passive bent to it. No, obedience has to be an active pursuit.
Obedience coupled with godliness helps us grow our hope. When we are children of God, we strive to obey, which helps us to grow closer to Him, strengthening our hope.
Child-Like Reverence
“Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 18: 4 ESV)
Child-like reverence is the respect we would give a father.
We are told in several places that we are to humbly approach God. Christian humility is our yielding our dependence to Christ to serve Him and others.
Glossary
I know. A lot of times, our prayers run more along the line of give-me-what-I-want instead of thy-will-be-done.
Chapin wrote, “The humbler men are, the greater they are.” That goes opposite of the worldview!
Resource
Well, that makes sense. Worldview greatness is normally contingent on how we use our abilities.
With God, it isn’t, all the time, that we use them well. It is how we use them according to His ways.
It is only in childhood that we develop humility.
Making the Connections
It is the “and whatever we ask we receive from him” (I Jn. 3: 22 ESV) part that confuses many. Christ did not preach a prosperity gospel.
What we miss is the next part. “… because we keep his commandments …” (I Jn. 3: 22 ESV).
Receiving what we ask for is predicated on our obedience. If we aren’t obedient to His laws and commandments, we don’t get what we ask in prayer.
How Do We Apply This?
- Pray for God to bless His church.
- Evaluate our actions to ensure we are being obedient to Him.
- Walk with God.
- Live a life pleasing to God without bragging about it.
- Obey voluntarily and consistently.
Resources
Vaughan gave us a list of how we can foster humility.
- Seek love.
- Realize that we can be the recipients of mercy, too.
- Always show God reverence.
- Recapture our childhood feelings.
- Truthfully evaluate the times when we were humbled.
- Combat pride with inward discipline.
- Practice humility.
Resource
In the next devotion, we are going to discuss what John meant when he said “… and do what pleases him” (I Jn. 3: 22 ESV).
Father God. We want to please You. We want to keep Your laws and commandments. We want to ask things in Your Will. Help us to live for You. Amen.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
What do you think?
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