The Prayer of Dedication (and other devotionals)

The Prayer of Dedication

Yesterday we began a journey to understand the different kinds of prayer for the different circumstances we face in life.  The first kind of prayer I want to point you to is the prayer of dedication.   

Mark 14:32, 35-36 helps us understand this type of prayer,

Then they came to a place which was named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, "Sit here while I pray."…He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him.  And He said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for You.  Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will."

Here we find Jesus dedicating and consecrating Himself to the will of the Father.  He is in agony; He is in distress.  This is the eve of His crucifixion.  And Jesus is saying, "Lord, if we can redeem humanity some other way, God, please!  But Your will is what is important.  So I am consecrating Myself to Your will, Father."

This prayer of dedication and consecration is one that believers should pray.  In fact, I believe every Christian should pray this prayer in a general sense after they get saved.  Just like the apostle Paul on the road to Damascus, "Lord, what would You have me to do?"

Also, when you come to specific crossroads as you follow God, if you are unsure of God's will, or you feel He may be leading you into a specific area that will require sacrifice, reestablish that consecration and dedication to God through this kind of prayer.

Christ was dedicated to do the will of the Father, and yet He reaffirmed that dedication as He prayed, "I am willing to submit Myself to You." 

Pray it.  Vocalize it.  Submit yourself to His will as He reveals it.

~Bayless Conley~

______________________

Shut up to faith (Gal. 3:23).

God, in olden time suffered man to be kept in ward by the law that he might learn the more excellent way of faith. For by the law he would see God's holy standard and by the law he would see his own utter helplessness; then he would be glad to learn God's way of faith.

God still shuts us up to faith. Our natures, our circumstances, trials, disappointments, all serve to shut us up and keep us in ward till we see that the only way out is God's way of faith. Moses tried by self-effort, by personal influence, even by violence, to bring about the deliverance of his people. God had to shut him up forty years in the wilderness before he was prepared for God's work.

Paul and Silas were bidden of God to preach the Gospel in Europe. They landed and proceeded to Philippi. They were flogged, they were shut up in prison, their feet were put fast in the stocks. They were shut up to faith. They trusted God. They sang praises to Him in the darkest hour, and God wrought deliverance and salvation.

John was banished to the Isle of Patmos. He was shut up to faith. Had he not been so shut up, he would never have seen such glorious visions of God.

Dear reader, are you in some great trouble? Have you had some great disappointment, have you met some sorrow, some unspeakable loss? Are you in a hard place? Cheer up! You are shut up to faith. Take your trouble the right way.

Commit it to God. Praise Him that He maketh "all things work together for good," and that "God worketh for him that waiteth for him." There will be blessings, help and revelations of God that will come to you that never could otherwise have come; and many besides yourself will receive great light and blessing because you were shut up to faith.
--C. H. P

Great things are done when men and mountains meet,
These are not done by jostling in the street.

~L. B. Cowman~

________________________________

God Sees Both the End and the Beginning

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”Romans 8:29 

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

God’s wisdom is supreme. Now, we know after the fact, but God knows before the fact. The word “foreknow” is from the Greek word proginosko. God’s foreknowledge can best be illustrated like the viewing of a parade.

If you watch a parade from the ground level, you will see the floats as they come past one at a time. But suppose you could go up in a 30-story building and look down upon the parade? Then, you would not only see the float directly in front, but quite possibly the first and last float. You now have a different vantage point.

ACTION POINT:

We live in history. We see events as they come by one at a time. But God dwells in eternity. And He sees the beginning, the end, and everything in between. And God knows everything.

~Adrian Rogers~

________________________________

The Prayer of Faith

Yesterday we learned about the prayer of dedication.  Today I want to help you understand the prayer of faith.  This kind of prayer is found in Mark 11:22-24,

So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God.  For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.  Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them."

With the prayer of faith, at the moment you pray you are to believe that you receive what you pray for.  Not when the circumstances look different, not at some point in the future, but when you pray.  The Amplified Bible says, Believe that it is granted to you.

When you pray, believe that God hears you and that He has sent the answer, whether you feel differently or not.  Before you ever get up off your knees, believe that heaven has sent the answer.

1 John 5:14-15 says it this way,

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.  And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

The prayer of faith is prayed when you know and understand God's will.  Friend, the Bible is a revelation of the will of God.  Prayer will not reach beyond the will of God, and God's Word reveals His will to us.

So pray the prayer of faith according to His will, and you can be assured He hears you and heaven has sent the answer to your prayer.

~Bayless Conley~