Foundation of Prayer
Prayer and the Word
INTRODUCTION
The Basics - Praying the Word
Part 1
1 Corinthians 6:11 …”But you are sanctified, you are justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus, and by the the Spirit of our God.”
THIS is how God sees you!
IMPERATIVE: Know “Who you are” in God’s sight because of the Blood of Jesus and the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God: If you don’t know this then you will have trouble coming to God in prayer - because you are basing it on your “worthiness”. None of us are worthy, and will never be - that’s why it took Jesus to take care of it all!
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You are sanctified, by the Name of Jesus and by the Holy Spirit.
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You are justified (made righteous, same word) by the Name of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
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Not by anything you did….It was all Jesus who has made you “right” with God. You are the righteousness of God IN Christ Jesus ( 2 Corinthians 5:21). Now we can come boldly to the Throne of grace to obtain mercy and grace to help in a time of need - Hebrews 4:16.
“Sanctified” means: Greek - hagiasmos - consecration, sanctification, the process of making or becoming holy; set apart; holiness. The process of advancing in holiness; use of the believer being progressively transformed by the Lord into His likeness (similarity of nature).
God is continually making us, progressively transforming us into His likeness, making us holy, while we are in sin-fallen flesh. The ultimate transformation will be at Jesus’ second coming with our new bodies (1 Corinthians 15:51-54). This is the ultimate transformation at the Rapture/Resurrection and what we are earnestly waiting for. This is why it’s a “rest.” We can’t make it happen. It’s all the Lord. We simply rest in Him, He’s got this. He has made us sanctified! Therefore, we enter prayer knowing it is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who has made us right with God and we can pray to the Father in Jesus’ Name.
“Justification” means: Greek - dikaiósis - the act of pronouncing righteous, acquittal, a process of absolution. Divine approval, emphasizing Christ's full payment of the debt for sin which liberates the believer from all divine condemnation.
Jesus has justified us! Hallelujah!
It doesn’t matter how you “feel”. Feelings lie. Once you ask for the Lord to come into your heart and receive the Lord Jesus into your heart, you received His sacrifice in your stead for your sins: you are saved, sanctified, justified and made brand new in the spirit - all by the Holy Spirit. You are a new creature, old things have gone away and all has become new (2 Corinthians 5:17-18). This is in your spirit by the Holy Spirit. Not in your soul. Not in your body. The carnal nature, or “sin consciousness” is what resides in the soul and body. Our soul can be renewed with the Word of God. This is an active choice to change how we think and what we do. This is also why sometimes you don’t “feel” holy. It’s the carnal nature, flesh, is always battling with your spirit. And your mind has to be renewed (Romans 12:2). BUT the more your keep your eyes on Jesus through the Word and in prayer, it’s not so much of a battle. Where are you “looking.” What are you focused on. That’s vital. What you focus on will overcome you. Either for good or the bad. Keep your focus on Jesus. Focus on the Word. Focus on speaking with Him all day long. That is prayer. Simple open communication with the Lord all day.
Part 2 - Knowing Where We Stand
John 4:23-24 - But the hour comes, and now is, when the the true worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and Truth; for the Father seeks such to worship Him. God is a Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.
We see from what John has said that we are to worship, spend time with the Father in Spirit and Truth. But “how” do we do that? Let’s see what the Bible says.
1 Corinthians 1:30 - But of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption;
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This means we are in Christ Jesus, we are one with Him. What is His is ours.
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He is our wisdom from God, we have the wisdom of God in us
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He is our righteousness, we have the righteousness of God within us
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He is our sanctification, we have the holiness of God within us
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He is our redeemer, we have His redemption within us!
That is shouting ground right there!!!! Now let’s add on:
2 Thessalonians 2:13 - But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the Truth.
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We were chosen by God from the beginning (Ephesians 1:3-4)
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We were chosen for salvation (sótéria) which means - deliverance, safety, welfare, prosperity, preservation, to save, to rescue, God's rescue which delivers believers out of destruction and into His safety.
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We were chosen for salvation THROUGH sanctification of/by the Spirit. Again, we had nothing to do with it. God chose us. He delivered us and rescued us out of destruction into His safety, and sanctified us - keeps us holy by His Spirit AND by our belief in the Truth, which is His word.
John 17:17 - Sanctify them though Your truth; Your Word is truth.
John 15:3 - NOW you are clean by the Word I have spoken to you.
John 14:16-17 - And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever; the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.
He is in you and never leaves you, He abides with your FOREVER. He is the One who seals you! (John 14:16; Ephesians 1:113-14).
John 15:26 - When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of Truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me,
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How does He, the Holy Spirit, testify about Jesus? - Through the Word. The Truth.
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Mark 16:20 says the Lord working with and confirming the Word with signs. The Holy Spirit is who moves on the Word bringing it to pass. Like Genesis 1:2 and the rest of chapter 1. The Holy Spirit moved on God speaking.
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Put this in context with prayer: The Holy Spirit moves on the Word that we pray!!!
Now for the basics of prayer!
Foundation of Prayer: The Basics
As John 14:13-14 - And whatever you shall ask in My Name that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the son. IF you shall ask anything in My Name, I will do it.
And
John 16:23-24 - And in that day you shall ask Me nothing. Truly I say unto you, whatever you shall the Father in My Name, He will give it you. Until now you have asked nothing in My Name: ask, and you shall receive, that your joy may be full.
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We are to pray to the Father in Jesus’ Name.
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Whatever we ask in Jesus’ Name it is given to us.
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We receive that our joy may be full.
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Jesus answers our prayer to glorify the Father though the Son.
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We also have to keep in mind James 4:3 - When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
When you read James 4 you can see it’s about the trivial machinations that can get people caught up. Wrong motives. Selfish motives. It is always important to keep a soft heart to the Lord for His promptings of “what” to pray for.
A good rule of thumb, when you don’t know exactly what to pray or how to pray are these two things:
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Remember prayer is about spending time with the Lord. It’s a means of building your relationship with God Almighty, learning to hear His voice, the promptings and leadings of the Holy Spirit, and follow His unction. There is a distinction between their voices and leading: God the Father; Jesus Christ; Holy Spirit. Like learning anyone’s voice…you have to learn how they “talk”. That’s part of why spending time in the Word is so important. Philippians 3:8 - I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
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A solid core foundation is to pray the Word!
How do you do that?
Praying the Word!!!!
*There are examples at the end.
Much of the Bible are promises for us. They are not only spoken by God to us. They are promises that God has made to HIMSELF for us and about us!! That’s powerful. Meditate on that.
Read Hebrews 6 - God made His promise to Abraham to Himself! Which is also a promise for us as Galatians 3:13-29 talks about. He has made these promises to us in the Word to Himself and He is not a man that He should lie (Numbers 23:19). God will never break His promise.
Look at it like this…these are guarantees.
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Any scripture can be prayed.
When you pray scripture back to the Father in Jesus Name, it comes from a place of faith. You believe that God will do what the Word says simply because He has said it. And you pray it when you don't see it happening yet (Hebrews 11:1-3). That is how prayers of faith operate. You pray them believing that you will see them come to pass.
2. Don’t be double minded.
Once you have prayed a scripture or scriptures for yourself, family members, or friends, don’t speak contrary to the prayer you prayed. Read James 1-2 to settle things in your heart about this.
If you find you have spoken words contrary to the prayer of faith you prayed, immediately repent and cancel those words out in the Name of Jesus, and speak again the scripture(s) that you are standing on from your original prayer.
3. Every time the situation comes up in your thought life, go into praise for it already being answered.
As Philippians 4:6-7 states - Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will. Guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
By going into praise when a thought that is contrary to the Word of God comes up in your mind, the peace of God will bubble up from within your spirit by the Holy Spirit, and guard your thoughts. But we have to go into praise first, as the scripture in Philippians says. It begins with faith, like all things with God. Faith pleases Him (Hebrews 11:6).
Once you see that manifestation to the prayer you have prayed, you have already been praising God for the answer before it “showed up”. When you see it, it is exciting! And it further builds your faith and makes your joy full as Jesus said in John 16. There’s nothing quite like it!
How do I exactly pray the Word?
One core way of praying the Word is to pray the Epistle prayers. Put yourself in the scripture: where it says "you", instead say "me, or my" for example. These are prayers Paul prayed for his churches. If they were good for believers then, they are good now. Plus, the Lord has made sure they are in the Bible. They are important.
Typically there is at least one prayer at the beginning chapter of each Epistle. There are some in the closing chapters and there are a few in between. I will list them below.
As I said earlier, these may be prayed for yourself, spouse, family member, friend, colleague. Speak them out loud - not in your mind. It makes a difference. You may even be getting the “hunch” to pray this for your church pastor(s), local city/state/federal government officials (yes, there is scripture for them too - 1 Timothy 2:1-4), military, police, etc. Whatever the Lord is leading you to do, do it. I will put an example at the end.
Epistle Prayers:
Romans 10:1
*Romans 15:5-6, 13, 30-33
*1 Corinthians 1:4-9
*2 Corinthians 1:3-7
*2 Corinthians 2:14-15
2 Corinthians 9:12-15
2 Corinthians 12:7-10
*2 Corinthians 13:7-9, 11, 14
Galatians 6:18
*Ephesians 1:3-6
*Ephesians 1:15-23
*Ephesians 3:14-21
Ephesians 6:19-20
*Philippians 1:3-6
*Philippians 1:9-11
Philippians 1:19
*Philippians 4:6-9
Philippians 4:23
*Colossians 1:(3-7) 9-14
Colossians 2:2-3, 6-10
Colossians 4:2-6
1 Thessalonians 1:2-3
*1 Thessalonians 3:12-13
*1 Thessalonians 5:14-24
*2 Thessalonians 1:3-4, 11-12
*2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
2 Thessalonians 3:1-5, 16*
1 Timothy 1:12, 17
1 Timothy 2:1-6
2 Timothy 1:3-7, 13-14
2 Timothy 4:22
Philemon 4-6
*Hebrews 13:20-21
(The ones with the stars are the ones I use every day. When I don’t have much prayer time I go to the Ephesians prayers in 1 and 3. Those two sections cover the basis of all.)
Here is an example: praying over a family member (spouse or kids):
Romans 8:26 - The Holy Spirit “takes hold together” with you on the Word in prayer, or any other time you are standing on the Word over a circumstance.
With Romans 8:26 in mind, pay attention to the Holy Spirit’s leading as you are praying. He may bring scriptures to your remembrance. Go to them and use them in addition to these in the example and 1 John 5:6 - This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.
I will use 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 and 1 Corinthians 1:4-9 for this prayer.
“Father God, in the mighty Name of Jesus, I bring before you _________ and as Your Word says in 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 I bless You Father God! The Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, You are the Father of mercies and God of ALL comfort. I thank You that You comfort _________ them in their time of trouble, that they may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with comfort that You have comforted me in my tough times. I thank You Father for being with them in their time of need and bringing hope to the hopeless (Jeremiah 29:11; Romans 15:13.) And as 1 Corinthians 1:4-9 I thank You Father God for Your grace which is given to ___________; that in every thing they are enriched by You, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; even as the testimony of Christ is confirmed in _________; so that they come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our lOrd Jesus Christ; who will confirm them to the end, that they may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. For God, You are faithful!!! By Whom you were called unto the fellowship of His son Jesus Christ our Lord. I thank You Father God for the victory in this situation, in Jesus Name!” (1 John 5:4-5.)
As you read through the Epistle prayers you will see ones that pertain to your given situation. I like to use the Ephesians prayers plus around 10 more of the others in my daily prayers when I pray for my family, loved ones, and work. I make the scriptures personal, like the above prayer. As you do this it stirs up your faith! Gives your joy a boost! Making a difference in your day.