Praying and Standing as Prisoners of Hope!
More than likely, anyone standing for marriage restoration has been told at least once (and probably a lot more than that!) that we need to face reality; that we’re living in a dream world and we need to get a grip! While it’s always difficult to be told we’re out of touch with reality and that we need to move on, it’s even more difficult when those words come from our Christian friends and family, and even worse yet, our pastors! But thanks to a Bible reference in Joyce Meyer’s TV broadcast message yesterday, Instead of trying to explain or defend our stand, we can just agree with them and say “Yeah, the Bible says I’m a prisoner of hope!” That’s based on Zechariah 9:11-12, which says As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit. Return to your fortress, O prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.
So the hope we have for marriage restoration is in Jesus, because His blood is the new covenant, as we see in Luke 22:20, which says In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. And now Jesus sits at the right hand of God, interceding for us, as we see in Romans 8:34, which says Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. And it’s very important to remember that when we consider Jesus’ awesome promise in Matthew 16:19, where He said I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then in John 14:12-14, Jesus even said I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. And when we pray according to the scriptures, we are praying in the name of Jesus, because Jesus is the Word, as we learn in John 1:1-5.
So we can’t afford to ever forget that according to Matthew 4:4, when Jesus was being tempted by the devil, in the midst of His spiritual battle, He told the devil …”It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ “ That’s why it is so VITALLY important for us to know ALL of His Word, and why I strongly recommend reading the whole Bible all the way through, and in order, starting with the New Testament, instead of jumping around from here to there. We sure can’t stand on God’s awesome promise in Isaiah 55:10-11 very effectively if we don’t even know what He says! But we often forget that it applies to EVERY word (just as Jesus told the devil) that comes from the mouth of God and that it WILL come to pass exactly as He promised, because He said As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
One of the FAM Fellowship members shared the two following posts on the private website yesterday and today, and they really express the importance and power of knowing and remembering to “redeem” and pray the Word of God. So I appreciate Dan’s permission to share them here. And don’t miss Joyce Meyer’s TV message, The Hope Of Seeing Change – Part I, either – it’s awesome! These are very important messages for all of us as we stand for the restoration of our marriages, because when we understand the power and effectiveness of praying and standing as prisoners of hope, we will certainly be blessed and encouraged!
Yesterday, as I was going through the Sunday paper, I was cutting out coupons. I don’t know about you, but I have a tendency to clip the coupons, put them in the basket on the counter, and then throw them away when they have expired. I have good intentions of using them to save me some money, but I just ignore them and they become of no use to me.
As I was reading my Bible this morning, I was hit with the realization that sometimes I treat the scripture as I do those coupons. I know the words are for my good, and if I use them, they would be of great benefit to me. How often do I write them down on paper or in my head, only to not use them when I could? They are sitting in the basket, and God wants me to use them; just like the corporations want me to use their coupons to buy their product, but I let them become useless.
How great is our God that He does not put an expiration date on His Word!! Even though I may not use what He is sending me that particular moment, He does not take it away from me if I don’t use it – or use it to the fullest. Unlike coupons, the Word of God is always worth something, and there is always redeemable value in God’s Word, no matter when we get around to using it!
Be blessed in using the Word of God.
This past weekend, I heard two messages on prayer and received a newsletter on prayer as well. Think God was trying to tell me something? I think that message was ”KEEP PRAYING; IT IS ALWAYS AVAILABLE AND POWERFUL!”
The first message came from Bayless Conley; if we want to see changes in our lives and circumstances and the lives and circumstances of those around us, we must do our part by believing and praying. He reminds us that God moves in response to people praying and seeking His face. If we don’t do our part by bringing things to Him in prayer and believing that He will listen and answer, we probably won’t see much happening in our circumstances. We have all been given the same amount of faith (Romans 12:3). But some of us use that faith to the fullest and some of us tend not to take full advantage of all God gives us. Confidently going to Him in prayer is certainly an act of faith, putting our trust in His Word, and being obedient.
So we must keep fresh in our minds the ways in which God has worked for us in the past. Just going back and reading posts from last week, it is easy to see that God has indeed answered prayers. We get into a difficult situation and we freak out, forgetting that God delivered us from difficulty just last week. That may be the reason we need to keep a prayer notebook. I, for one, am guilty of not recording all the answers to prayer that God has given me. The big draw back to that is not always remembering to praise God for His answers, the big ones and the little ones. Unfortunately, it is too easy to forget how often God comes through for us.
God gives us His promise. We take those promises and we pray them back to Him in prayer. We return His Word to Him. Then it prospers in the thing for which it is sent. It can’t prosper until it returns. In other words, if prayer isn’t offered it can’t be answered! One of the messages at one of my churches this weekend was on using the Psalms to pray. These are prayers, poems and songs that were lifted to God by ordinary people doing ordinary things, just like us. As I began reading and rereading the Psalms, I realized that almost every circumstance we would ever be faced with is covered in this book. There is content for prayer about everything you would ever need and it is God’s Word ready to be prayed back to Him.
The last message on prayer was from my other minister. He is doing a series on Colossians and the sermon was based on Colossians 4:2. We need to go to God in prayer with an alert mind and thankful heart. He reminded us that we should be in prayer mode constantly; ready to take everything to the Lord when it happens, and not go elsewhere first. I think it is important to ask the Holy Spirit to guide us anytime we go before God, whether reading scripture, praying, worshipping or whatever the situation may be. We need to make sure that we stay in prayer mode; conversing with God regularly about everything in our lives, and not just the big stuff. We know the blood of Jesus will never lose its power and through our persistence in prayer, we are showing an expression of our faith that God does answer our prayers. We must not grow weary and give up, for God is always available to us; we can run into His presence at any time (Hebrews 10:19).
Hebrews 10:19 (NLT)
And so, dear brothers and sisters,[a] we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus.
Isaiah 55:11 (NLT)
It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.
2 Corinthians 1:11 (NLT)
as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our[a] behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
Luke 18:1 (NLT)
One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.
Romans 12:12 (NLT)
Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.
Ephesians 6:18 (NLT)
Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.[a]
1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NLT)
Never stop praying.
Matthew 6:6 (NLT)
But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
Romans 12:3 (NLT)
Because of the privilege and authority[a] God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.