God's Promise: Answer Prayer

 

"I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you've received it, it will be yours".  NLT

"Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them" NKJV

"Therefor I tell you, everything you pray and ask for-believe that you have received it and it will be yours."

Mark 11:24

    This promise from God is to pray in faith without doubt and you will receive what you ask for.  It is about trusting Him with your heart desires, fears, anxiety, and everything else. He wants you to see how He is there for you.  He can and will provide even if you do not ask, but when you ask it makes you aware of His presence and what He is doing.  It is for your benefit not His to pray.

    The promises of God are ways to build your trust in Him.  The purpose is for your faith to grow, so you can have a stronger and more real relationship with God.  He can be trusted and He makes you more trustworthy in your journey throughout life with Him.  Faith is the key to prayer and your future.

    Prayer makes you more confident in approaching God, living life faithfully, and speak against evil boldly.  It changes every aspect of life.  It helps you work through things.  It purifies your inner thoughts.  It makes your faith active as you align with God's will for your life.  Your prayer life changes as you mature to become more like Jesus.  It is okay to pray for the impossible.  You get to watch what God does with that and how He makes it possible.  However, doubt destroys any benefits of prayer that you could receive.  

    Your heart transforms and you are able to start loving people that you found unforgiveable.  You can't help it.  When you pray for your enemy your heart softens.  It does not mean that you give them free access to hurt you, but you start understanding that God loves them as much as He loves you.  You want them to have a relationship with God that can remove all the evil in their heart.  Prayer enables forgiveness over time.  Unforgiveness puts barriers between you and God, so forgiveness is more about your relationship with God than the offender(s).

    This promise to answer prayers builds trust and wisdom.  You have to have faith for it to really work.  It builds wisdom because God rarely answers in the way you have in mind.  He normally will change your perspective and allow you to see things better or in a new way.  He changes your heart.  The miracles are more subtle because they are meant for you and sometimes only you.  It works because your prayer life is aligning with God's path for your life.  It works because you are confident and persistent.  It works because God is who He is.

Matthew 7:7, Mark 11:24, Luke 14:13, 15:7, 16:24, & James 1:5-6

God's Promise: Always with You

 

"Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.  And be sure of this: Yahweh Shammah is with you always, even to the end of the age."  Matthew 28:20

    This promise is for all followers of faith, the people that walk like with Jesus.  It is it the last verse in Matthew given after the instructions of the Great Commission that Jesus gave his apostles before he ascended to Heaven still alive.  It is about how faith and obedience make you a true Christian.  A true Christian is in the family of God.  If you are in the family of God, then you can walk through life in confidence in all of God's promises, especially that He will never leave you.

    If you love God, then you are obedient.  That means you will spend time with God to know what His boundaries and expectations are.  Then you go and apply that to your life trying to do good in the world that hates what you have to offer.  You would never succeed if you don't have the Holy Spirit in you giving you wise counsel and comfort throughout the journey.  You are a student to build your relationship, then you become go out into the world with God to make disciples to be baptized, taught, and strengthened to carry on the good work.  Through this journey, Jesus never leaves you.

    Do not focus on just the reassuring part of the verse.  Look at the entire section.  Seek to become a Christian that works with Jesus the rest of your life instead of sliding by doing status quo or doubt.  Be confident in what you do and say.  Do not allow people to place doubt in your mind or have you second guessing what God has sent you to do.  It only reveals their lack of faith.  Become a teacher by how you live your life more than the words that come out of your mouth. Devote yourself to God's Word, fellowship with mature Christians, living faithfully in your community, and prayer.  You can do this because Jesus is with you. 

Matthew 28:16-20 & Acts 2:42

God's Promise: Find Rest

 "Jesus said, Come to me all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you.  Let me teach you, because I am bumble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light." NLT

Matthew 11:28-30

    This promise is a promise of communication and God being the problem solver.  Go to God in prayer about every aspect of your life and trust Him to take care of it.  You can live life doing good and watch as He does all the big impossible things.  You can't do things as good as Him, so relax and let Him do His thing.  It takes a lot of stress out of your life and brings joy to watch Him work in your life.

    This promise is an invitation to have a real relationship with God.  Nothing is too heavy for Him.  There is no aspect about yourself that will scare Him away.  He loves you and wants the best for you, but you do have to admit that sin is sin.  You do have to repent and start walking with Jesus to have a real relationship.  He will heal what the world has broken and what sin has corrupted.

    The yoke is burdens, heaviness, and hardship in life.  It can be oppression, dealing with hard hearts, selfishness, trials, tribulations, or hurdles in life.  When you feel like you are buckling under the pressure of life, go to God.  Give Him everything you know you are carrying and pray that what is hidden is revealed.  He will take it gladly so you can keep going and doing good in the world.  

    This is a gentle love promise because He wants you to be able to keep going and facing life with Him.  He give you the Holy Spirit to direct you and lead you through the hard parts in life.  Don't give up on yourself and God.  Give up on what is holding you back.  Jesus is the way to living a triumphant life.  He is the source of energy to keep you going without growing faint.  He is your role model that was an open book to show you how to obey God and be strong.  Follow His steps into eternity of peace, harmony, and burden free.

Jeremiah 6:16, Zechariah 9:9, Matthew 11:28-30, John 13:15, Philippians 2:5-7, 1 Peter 2:21, & 1 John 2:6, 5:3

God's Promise: Tithing

 

"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it." NIV 

"Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my temple.  If you do, says the Lord of Heaven's Armies, I will open the windows of heaven for you.  I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in!  Try it!  Put me to the test!" NLT

"Bring the full 10th into the storehouse so that there may be food in my house.  Test me in this way, says the Lord of Armies. See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure."  CSB

Malachi 3:10

    This promise is reward for being obedient.  Tithing is hard for some people.  God wants you to be able to give everything you have back to Him in your heart, but He provides generously because He knows what you need and want to bless you.  All He ask is that you give 10 percent of what you have.  If you do, then the church would never need to ask for money, service, food, or anything else.  It is the responsibility of the entire church, not a select few.

    You are never to test God, but here God gives you permission to test what He can do.  He knows that security is hard to let go of.  Many people find security in money.  If you are willing to give a portion of what you make willingly, then He will bless you in ways you can't imagine.  You test God by doing it and waiting to see what He does.

    The promise of tithing is a command and promise.  The purpose is to act on faith.  This is how you start working out your faith and making it stronger.  It also helps the church: building, pastors, missionaries, people in need, and more.  You being faithful helps you, but also serves your community.  

    You being faithful and giving even when there is no guarantee that the people you give to will be honest, is rewarded with blessings.  You are called to give no matter what other people do.  God will deal with them.  Jesus had Judas in charge of their money.  You can see what happened to him for his evil heart.  You have to face God one day.  Isn't it better to do so with a clear conscience rather than trying to explain what He already knows?  

    Whenever you choose to trust God there are only benefits. He will provide for your needs, but He will also bless you beyond your imagination.  You are blessed with good character, wisdom, understanding, love, discernment, financially, health, youthfulness, and more.  You can be blessed financially without ever being rich.  You can see God provide the exact amount of money you need to get you through.  That is a blessing that removed stress and enables you to relax for a minute.  Do not overlook the blessings God provides.  Give Him praise and worship for all the blessings He has given.

Genesis 7:11, 2 kings 7:2, 1 Chronicles 26:20, 2 Chronicles 31:10-11, Nehemiah 10:38, 13:12, Proverbs 3:9, & Malachi 3:10

God's Promise: Hope

 

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (NIV)

"For I know the plans I have for you , Says the Lord;  They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." (NLT)

Jeremiah 29:11

    The promise of hope and future are not a promise of an easy life.  You have to face consequences for the decisions you make in life.  This promise was that God was going to allow His people to face the consequences for 70 years in excile, but He would not forget about them. When the time was up, He would return them to the promised land.  The promise went a lot further than that though.  This promise was that God would send Jesus to be the eternal hope for every generation and all people.  God's character revealed here is his unchanging nature, sovereignty, compassion, and love.

    This hope is reassurance that things will not always be status quo or bad.  You will have good in life and perfection in eternal life if you choose to walk your life in faith with Jesus.  God's punishment is for direction and clarification when you go off path.  It is an act of love, not hate or display of power.  It is for your good.  It always benefits you in the long run.  

    While you wait on your promised land, do not sit around and literally wait.  Go out and live your life.  It is a gift, but live it righteously.  Walk with Jesus and tell the world about the most important relationship you have without shame.  Live life like you are already in the promised land because you have confidence that God will keep his word and provide it for you.  It will make the bad days a little more bearable.  

    Following Jesus is not always easy.  Having your eyes opened to the truth adds layers to your life, but it can be hard when not everyone see what God is offering like you do.  Being a Christians will not get you out of financial dept.  It frees you from the dept of sin, but you still live in this world and have to deal with the choices you make.  Following Jesus does not always heal you physically on Earth, but it will in Heaven.  

    Embrace where you are at and look for ways that God can use it now.  Life is hard, but it is also beautiful.  Don't focus on the hard, focus on all the things God is doing in your life and the direction He is leading.  Trust that Jesus will restore you when the time is right.  His plan it to bring you peace, not evil, but sometimes you have to go through some stuff to get there. When it is hard hold onto your hope for the future.  Hold onto that hope and allow the Holy Spirit fill you with joy and peace of your salvation.

Isaiah 40:31, Jeremiah 29:10-14, Romans 15:13, Hebrews 6:9

God's Promise: Holy Spirit

 

"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners." Isaiah 61:1 NIV

    The Promise of the Holy Spirit is a promise to have an eternal connection with God.  The Holy Spirit is not only a gift, but an anointing to go out and tell the world the gift that God has given you.  The gift of salvation is called the "Good News".  No matter what God's path is for you, it always is leading you to share the "Good News" and headed toward eternity with Him.  All you have to do is accept His gift and allow the Holy Spirit to live in you.  The Holy Spirit is your seal of salvation that can never be removed.

    In Isaiah 61:1 the Greek references healing the blind.  It is talking about the spiritually blind.  In English we reference it as the Holy Spirit providing comfort when your heart is broken, release from bondage or being captive to sin, and being a freed prisoner.  It was talking about God's people being captivity.  It would not last forever, but it is also talking to you today.  Whatever sin has put you in bondage, you can get free.  You do not have to live your life pushing God away.  You can have eternity in His presence.  You can be close to Him now and for eternity.

    The Holy Spirit anoints you when He moves in and joins your soul.  He is healing your from the inside while you work in actions.  This is His anointing placed upon your life.  God help the people you can help.  Work to be kind and tell people the truth in love instead of being nice.  Do things to make people's lives better, but not so you will benefit.  Do it out of love that the Holy Spirit pours into you, so you can pour it out onto other people to ease their pain or bring them comfort.  

    Live out your freedom showing people how to become free.  Show people how to break their bondage.  Show them how to have joy in their lives.  Be a person that helps people find healing instead of causing more wounds and scars.  The truth can hurt when you first receive it, but if you accept it, then it brings healing and can even remove scars.  It just has to clean out what is causing the infection that is slowly killing you first.  

    The Holy Spirit will give you comfort, so you can comfort.  He will give you rest, so you can show others how to rest.  He will give you wisdom and understanding to handle situations.  Allow Him to counsel you so you can counsel other people.  He will give you the strength to follow through on your calling.  He will give you the knowledge you need to combat fear.  Trust God and the Holy Spirit will lead you to victory.  

Psalm 45:7, 147:3, Isaiah 11:2, 42:7, 57:15, 61:1, Jeremiah 34:8,  Luke 4:18, & John 1:32, 3:34

God's Promise: Freedom

 

"this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you.  Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people."  Isaiah 58:6

    This is a promise of freedom, but it is conditional.  It requires faith, prayer, and fasting.  God provided the ritual of denying yourself to focus on prayer so that people could pursue Him in times of need, difficulty, or growth.  It was never meant to become a ritual to show how good you are as a "Christian".  

    The point of fasting is to get closer to God, but it also comes with many different types of perks.  The problem is that some people remove God from the process in hopes to just have the perks.  You focus on your relationship with God and who you are with Him.  Your prayers will be answered, but there are other benefits too.  You may look younger, become healthier, get more energy, and find wisdom that leads to freedom.

    The promise is conditional because you have to do your part to discover the freedom that comes with salvation.  As your eyes open to the truth you have to make changes in your life to maintain your freedom.  It does not mean you will be free from every type of oppression or discomfort.  It is a spiritual and sometimes healing kind of freedom.  It is freedom from the constraints of the world that say you have to be a certain way or live a certain way to be worthy, happy, or a person that matters.  

    Fasting looses the hold that evil has in your life.  It leads to a closer relationship with God.  You become more self-disciplined, so you are able to focus on your relationship with God as a decision.  It leads to patience and enables you to endure in life because you know what you have no one can take from you.  It build stronger character because you discover the value of it. The burdens of wickedness are removed as you desire to live your life with God.  Once you obtain this freedom, then you should want to help other people discover it.

    The promise of freedom comes with a command and laying out His expectations, so that when you worship Him you discover freedom.  Freedom always cost something.  Jesus paid that cost, so you can be a Christian and inherit a level of freedom.  The freedom become powerful when you learn to fast, pray, and dig into His Word.  The freedom helps you uphold justice, remove burdens yourself enabling you to identify them, and withstand being broken by oppression.  God's light lives in His people, so you can find the way through, find healing, and protect righteousness.  Freedom exist in faith.

Nehemiah 5:10-12, Isaiah 58:5-8, Jeremiah 22:3, 34:9, Micah 6:8, Zechariah 7:9-10, Luke 4:18, James 2:15-16, & 1 John 3:17-18