5 Reasons Why You Need To Put To Death The Deeds Of The Flesh & Live By The Spirit!

The Bible admonishes us in Romans 8:13 to put to death the deeds of the sinful flesh by the Holy Spirit so that we might truly live. In other words, true life in the Spirit can only happen when true death happens to the lifestyle of the sinful flesh. Before one can live the other must die.

Jesus put it this way in Luke 9:23,24:

“And he was saying to them all, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.” NASB

Again we see this dying in order to live. Life in Christ and life in the Spirit cannot fully happen until their is a death to self and to the sinful deeds of the flesh. And according to Jesus this dying must be a daily activity. It is not something a Christian does once and he’s all good to go. No! On the contrary. Death to the sinful deeds of the flesh is something that needs to happen on a day by day basis and sometimes on a moment by moment basis.

Today we are going to look at a story of Peter and Jesus that will give us 5 reasons why this daily dying is so very important. This story is found in Matthew 16:13-23. It says,

“When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. ‘But what about you?” he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 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 he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ‘Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!’. Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” (NIV)

From this story we can learn 5 important things about why a Christian should daily put to death the deeds of the sinful flesh and begin to walk in the Spirit of God. Because:

1. A Christian Can Transition From Walking In The Spirit To Living By The Deeds Of The Sinful Flesh Very Quickly And Without Noticing It.

   Did you notice how this story started off? It started off with Jesus asking a couple of questions about who do people says that Jesus is. Then Jesus got very specific and personal with a second question. He ask: “Who do you say I am?”

   In that moment Peter filled with the Holy Spirit answered the question, “You are the Christ the Son of the living God.” And it was the corrected answer! And Jesus explained how it was that Peter was able to come up with the right answer. Jesus said it was because God had revealed the answer to Him and that Peter hadn’t learned it from any man.

   You see God the Father through the working of the Holy Spirit made known to Peter who Jesus really was. At that very moment Peter was in the Spirit, filled with the Spirit or understanding the identity of Jesus because of the Spirit.

   But then Jesus begins to explain all that was going to happen once they get into Jerusalem. He shared that he was necessary for Him (Jesus) to suffer many things, be killed and then be raise back to life again on the third day.

   Why was Jesus telling his disciple these things? Maybe it was to prepare them for what was about to happen; maybe Jesus felt that since Peter had to nicely answered the question about His identity that the disciples were ready to hear more or maybe it was a combination of both of these things and others all combined. But is note worthy is how Peter responded to this disturbing news.

   Peter takes Jesus aside and begins to rebuke Jesus! Really? Did Peter really feel that he had the right or maybe status to rebuke Jesus? Who knows but that’s what Peter did and Jesus quickly and powerfully corrects Peter for doing it.

   Here’s the point I’m trying to make. One moment Peter is walking in the Spirit and then minutes later Peter is now walking in the deeds of the sinful flesh. It happened that quick! In just minutes.

   The need for being vigilant in daily crucifying the deeds of the flesh because we can move very quickly from walking in the Spirit to walking in the flesh and not even know we made the transition.

2. Walking In The Deeds Of The Sinful Flesh Can Cause You To Start Rebuking Christ.

   Did you noticed that once Peter moved from walking in the Spirit to walking in the deeds of the flesh the first thing he did was to pull Jesus off to the side and “rebuke” Jesus. That’s right the Bible said Peter rebuked Jesus!

   Now before you get to far onto you holy horse and proudly declare that you would never do anything like that let me ask you some self examining questions:

   A: Have you ever complained to God about the some disappointing experience in your life?

   B: Have you ever argued with God about some ministry assignment that He was giving you?

   C: Have you ever avoided reading the Bible because you really didn’t want to hear what God had to say?

   If you answered “Yes” to any of those questions then you have been guilty of rebuking God. Why? Because, just like Peter, you are telling God that you know better than Him and that God should listen to you.

   Instead of rebuking Christ Peter should have taken this disturbing news to Christ and ask him to explain further and to give him more understanding about what He is hearing. Likewise, we too, should go to God is prayer when we hear or sense God telling us something that we really don’t want to hear. Not to argue or rebuke God but to ask for wisdom and understanding.

3. Walking In The Deeds Of The Sinful Will Make You Into A Tool Of Satan.

   When Jesus hears Peter’s rebuke Jesus quickly identify’s what is going on and who is behind all this stuff coming out of Peter’s mouth. Jesus cry’s out, “Get behind me Satan …”

   Jesus was making it perfectly clear that he knew exactly who was behind all this and that in a quick moment Peter had, at best, become a tool for Satan. Satan was using Peter to get Jesus off his path of obedience to the Father.

   Here we can clearly see why is it of the utmost importance that we daily killed the deeds of the sinful flesh and walk in the Spirit. Because if we fail to do so we can quickly become a tool of Satan to try to obstruct God’s plan and mission.

   Now I don’t think that it was Peter’s intention or desire to be a tool of Satan and I don’t think he even knew he was until Jesus identified it. And likewise, I don’t think any of God’s people desire to be used by Satan but that’s exactly what can and will happen if we are not vigilant in putting to death the deeds of the sinful flesh.

4. Walking In The Deeds of The Sinful Flesh Will Make You Into A Roadblock To God’s Work.

   If calling Peter a tool of Satan wasn’t enough Jesus then tells Peter that he had now become a hinderance to Him. He was holding Jesus back, Peter had become a roadblock to Jesus from doing what He was sent to do.

   What exactly was Peter hindering Jesus from doing? Well, Jesus had just been explaining that it was “Necessary” for him to go to Jerusalem, suffer many things, die and then be resurrected, so it is only reasonable that Jesus was telling Peter that you are trying to keep me from becoming the sacrificial lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. Unknowingly, Peter was being an obstacle that if successful would prevent Jesus from taking the punishment of God for our sins. This was the reason for Jesus’ birth - it was to die on the cross and Peter was being a hinderance to Jesus fulfilling that purpose.

   Did you know that your failure to put to death the deeds of the sinful flesh can actually be used as a hinderance to God in fulfilling His redemptive purposes? Now can you see why it is so imperative for us to daily kill that sinful flesh.

5. Walking In The Deeds Of The Sinful Flesh Blinds Us To What Concerns God Because We Are To Fixated On Our Concerns.

   Read what that last line of verse 23 says,

   “because you’re not thinking of God’s concerns but on human concerns.”

   I guess that’s what’s been true about all of human history. For the most part mankind, including us, have been fixated upon what is important to us and not really caring about what is important to God.

   That was true for the Prophet Jonah. He didn’t want the people of Nineveh to experience God’s forgiveness - Jonah wanted them to experience God’s wrath and judgment. That’s why he didn’t go the first time God called him and even after he went Jonah whined and complained that God did forgive them. You see Jonah knew that it was in God’s nature to forgive those who sincerely repents but Jonah didn’t want them to repent. As a result, Jonah found to joy or happiness in seeing an entire city repent from their sins and experience God’s forgiveness.

   Why did Jonah have this negative attitude? Because he was walking in the deeds of the sinful flesh.

   To walking in the deeds of the sinful flesh is to be hard hearted to what is important to God and it is to be self-centered instead of God-centered. As Christians we find our true and lasting joy by joining God to accomplish what God’s heart desires. To walk in the deeds of the sinful flesh is to lose all that joy that could and should be our.

There is only one solution and that is to mortify, kill, destroy the works of the sinful flesh from our lives on a day by day basis and sometimes that is on a moment by moment basis during a particular day.

Now that you know 5 reasons why it is so important to do, what are you going to do about it? Are you going to allow the deeds of the sinful flesh live on in your life or are you going to kill them? Do you even know how to kill them?

Let me close with his quick little Bible verse to help you understand how to accomplish that killing? In Galatians 5:16 it says,

“I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will certainly not carry out the desires of the flesh.”

This is a promise! If you learn to live by the Holy Spirit and His control over your life you will naturally not carry out the desire of the sinful flesh. You can’t kill the flesh with flesh. You kill the flesh by the Holy Spirit living in and through you.

After reading this post please “LIKE IT” & leave a “Comment” about your thoughts. If you know of others who would benefit from this post please share it with them.

Also, I’d love for you to subscribe to The Ordinary Christian’s email updates. I send out about 3 emails a week designed to encourage, empower and equip Christians to live powerful missional lives. Just give us your email in the form below to subscribe.

Finally, We’d love for you to follow up on our social media outlets. Just hit the links below to follow us:

Facebook

Fully Devoted Follower Facebook Group

Twitter

Biblical Principle #1 For Shining The Light Of Christ

Photo by Mercedes Bosquet on Unsplash

Biblical Principle #1 For Shining The Light Of Christ Brightly In Your Part Of This Dark World!

Watch this video and receive empowerment from God’s Word to go live a life that reflects the glory of Christ back into the lives of those still trapped in darkness.

ROMANS 8: THE MOST IMPORTANT CHAPTER IN THE NEW TESTAMENT: Part 2

Now that we know how chapter seven of Romans ended, which reveals the most powerful dilemma that all Christians have to face, we can now move onto chapter eight which gives us God’s way to deal with that dilemma once and for all.

But before we do that we should remind ourselves exactly what hat dilemma is. It’s the dilemma of wanting to live for Christ but unable to do so because of the power of sin still has control over us. We want to do what God wants but we find ourselves doing sinful things. We hate the sinful things that we do but still we are attracted to it and fall prey to their temptation.

But chapter eight is all about good news, hope and faith that God is not only able to deliver us but has already established the way to that victory over sin.

And in doing so Romans 8 starts off with one major liberating declaration. Let’s read for ourselves what that liberating declaration is.

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1

I love the way the Apostle Paul put it, “… now no condemnation…”. The truth is that we all live in the here and now but before we can get to the “NOW” we first had to go through the “BEFORE”.

The life we now have in Christ does not consist of any condemnation from God. For God’s people we now live a condemnation free life. But the life we had before was filled with God’s condemnation. All of us, right down to last one of us, was a condemned sinner to hell.

But we really need understand how condemned we truly were? By developing a thorough understanding of the depths of our former condemnation we will gain a greater appreciation for the amazing declaration we now have of:

NO CONDEMNATION!

THREE LEVELS OF CONDEMNATION:

Level 1: We are condemned because we are part of Adam’s seed.

“So then, as through one trespass there is condemnation for everyone, so also through one righteious act there is justification leading to life for everyone. For just as through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” Romans 5:18,19

We are condemned because the human race (Adam’s seed) has been condemned. Adam and Eve is the beginning point of the entire human race and through Adam’s sin everyone is condemned.

Now I know what some of you are thinking! You’re thinking, “That Doesn’t Sound Fair”. You’re thinking that it isn’t fair that you should suffer because of something your relative did way back before you were ever born. Now that would be a great subject to study but not now because there isn’t enough time. But for now let me say that our condemnation isn’t just because Adam was our relative. We are also condemned:

Level 2: Because we too are sinners.

“For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

To an even greater degree condemnation has come to all of us because each of us joined in on the sinning. I can’t blame my parents, my siblings or my friends. I am a sinner because I chose to sin. I chose to hate, I chose to lie, I chose to lust. These are my sins and no one else is to blame for them.

But then there’s a third level of condemnation that only some will experience. But it is a condemnation that is of an even greater intensity than either level one or level two combined. But is that level?

Level 3: Because you have rejected the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.” John 3:17-18

Here’s the point to get from this passage. Those people who have had the privilege of hearing the wonderful and amazing gospel message and rejected are also condemned. However, in the book of Hebrews there is some indication that their condemnation might be more severe than others who have never heard the gospel.

Here’s the truth about your life before you knew Jesus as your Lord and savior:

YOU WERE CONDEMNED TO HELL!

But now that you know Jesus God the Father has a new pronouncement:

NO CONDEMNATION - NOT EVEN A LITTLE BIT!

God is no longer condemning you and he is not even look for a reason to condemn you. In the eyes of the Heavenly Court with God the Father as the Righteous Judge you have been declared free!

ISN’T THAT AMAZING!

Before you came to Christ you were sinking and drowning in a sea of sin and you were helpless and hopeless to do anything about it. You had been condemned to hell and you were just waiting for the Last Day, the Day of Judgement when that sentence of condemnation would be executed. But then something amazing happened. God the Father stood up in the Heavenly courtroom and declared:

NOT CONDEMNED BUT JUSTIFIED.

The Why? and How? We will learn as we go through this chapter. But for now just marvel in amazement that God has declared you no longer condemned.

Click Here To Check Out Part 1 Of This Blog Series:

SUITING UP FOR SPIRITUAL WARFARE Part 5: Knowing Your Enemy

In the last post of this series SUITING UP FOR SPIRITUAL WARFARE I wrote about Knowing Who’s Not Your Enemy. The reason for that post is because to often we think that people are our enemy and the cause for such terrible difficulties that we experience during spiritual warfare. But people are not our enemy. As we found out that those same people we used to believe were our enemy were in fact the ones we came to liberate. All people before they come to faith in Christ, according to the Bible, are lost, slaves to sin and blinded by Satan. And they are the reason why we are still in this world. Every time we share the Gospel with these people they have an opportunity to experience freedom in Christ. THEY’RE NOT OUR ENEMY - THEY ARE THE ONES WE’VE COME TO RESCUE!

However, we do have a very real and dangerous enemy and we should not take the threat lightly. We need to know of him and about him. The one we know about our enemy the better we can anticipate his what to expect from him, specially during spiritual warfare. Take a look at who the Bible describes is our enemy.

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:12 (NIV)

According to William Barclay, the great New Testament theologian, this verse indicates that the Apostle Paul view our enemy as a very sophisticated and organized system of evil that Satan has constructed to rule this world. There are rulers, there are authorities, there are powers of darkness and there are spiritual forces from the heavenly realms. In verse 11 we read that our enemy is the devil who likes to scheme against us. In verse 16 we read that our enemy is the evil one who is shooting flaming arrows at us.

So who is our enemy? It is none other than Satan and his demonic forces that rule this world on a temporary basis. Satan and his forces are powerful and organized and they certainly do not like those who follow and obey Christ.

The Apostle Peter also identifies Satan as our enemy,

“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

In this verse Peter emphasis that we should view Satan as a real and dangerous threat by admonishing us to stay alert and sober minded. And why? Because our enemy is always looking for an opportunity to catch us with our guard down so he may attack.

Peter describes the devil as that of a roaring lion seeking to devour his prey. There are two things I want you to mediate on about the devil.

• First, Satan is a powerful foe. The reason why we call lions the king of the jungle! And that’s because they are strong and able to over power most other animals. They are very high up on the food chain and don’t really cower from their opponents. Satan is the same! He is powerful and if not taken seriously can quick overpower us.

• Second, Satan is a predator. Lions prey on others animals. They don’t grow crops or produce their own food. They feed off of less powerful animals. Satan too is like a predator just waiting to ponce on an unsuspecting person and destroy them. Satan

Satan is not our friend. He is our enemy and he hates us. He does not have our best interest at heart. He will lie, cheat, and steal all to get you in a position where he can ponce on you.

Does the thought of Satan being your enemy cause you to worry at some level? Do you know of other brothers or sisters in Christ who seem to struggle with worry? Then check out this great new book on how you can join Christ on His mission without worry. Hit the link below to get more information:

CLICK HERE

Do You Have The Credibility For Sharing Jesus?

Photo by Frans Hulet on Unsplash

When it comes to sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those we know who are far from God having a credible life is everything! Would you agree with that statement?

It isn't which Gospel presentation you are using! I And, it isn't even  how good of speaker you are! 

When it come to effectively sharing Jesus with others it's all about whether or not you're believable or not.  It's all about your credibility!

If you're not credible, if people don't believe you, it doesn't matter how true your message is, people won't trust what you are sharing with them about Jesus.  CREDIBILITY IS EVERYTHING!

So, in today's message/video I want to share with you how to become a credible witness for Christ! How to build that credibility so others will trust in what you are sharing.  

If it is your sincerest desire to live a powerful missional life that brightly shines the Light of Christ in your part of this dark world, then being credible is absolutely crucial!

Take a few moments and check out the following video on developing the credibility necessary for sharing Christ effectively with others!

If you haven’t already signed up to receive our powerful encouragement, equipping and empowerment for living a powerful missional life then just give us your email address in the box below. As part of signing up for the regular updates I will also send you our three part video training on sharing the Gospel with others.

Praying For God To Send More Harvest Laborers Into The Fields

In Luke 10:2 Jesus tells us that the spiritual harvest fields are ready to be harvested but there's one big problem to accomplishing that task!  That problem is that there's just not enough workers to go out and harvest the fields.  But then Jesus gives us the solution to our problem 

Watch this video of how some Followers of Christ in Tucson, Arizona are implementing Christ's solution.  

Are you ready to go start a monthly LUKE 10:2 PRAYER MEETING in your community?  Can you pray for God to raise up, train up and unleash more laborers into the harvest fields?

If so then leave a comment saying, 

"I Will"

Share This Post With Your Christian Family and Friends On Facebook & Twitter!

Failure: A Tombstone Or A Stepping Stone?

How you deal with failure will have a lot to do with how well you join Christ on His mission!  Watch this video and be encouraged! 

The #1 Factor That Determines How You Portray Christ To The World!

While there are other things that will determine how you portray Christ to others, I believe this video will share with you one of, if not the most, factor in how people see Christ in you.  To learn more about how to shine the Light of Christ brightly in your part of this dark world, check out this powerful book on living a powerful missional life: 

THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE: A Journey Into Missional Living.

Leave A Comment About Your Thoughts On This Subject!

Being Successful As A Follower Of Christ

Recently I read this quote by Rick Warren the Pastor of Saddleback Church and I thought it had a lot to say to us who claim to be Christ's followers and what it means to be successful.  Here's what it says:

“Being successful and fulfilling your life's purpose are not at all the same thing; You can reach all your personal goals, become a raving success by the worlds standard and still miss your purpose in this life.” ― Rick Warren

As I read this I started asking myself some questions:

• Is it possible to be successful but be successful at the wrong things?
• Can I be successful and still not fulfill my God given purpose?
• What are God's standards for success for His people?

As I pondered these questions 2 thoughts came to mind that I believe are so very important to remember:

THOUGHT #1:

How horrible it would be to stand before God on the Last Day (Judgement Day) and begin to share with Christ how I had accomplished so many great and different goals only to hear Jesus reply with, "But that's not what I had ask you to do or accomplish!"  Wouldn't it be terrible to have placed your ladder of success and ascended it - only to have realized once you got to the top that you had place it on the wrong wall!  I want to hear the words of my Lord say to me, "Well done good and faithful servant."

God's plan and ministry for us is to be His ambassador to this spiritually dark world by making God's appeal for people to be reconciled to Him as if it was God Himself  making the appeal through us. Therefore, we are to be His ambassadors that intentionally engages in the ministry of reconciliation.  That is accomplished through disciple making.  So, the question bids an answer: How successful are we at making disciples for Christ?

THOUGHT #2:

Success from God's perspective is very different from success in the world's perspective!  The world says you are successful if you accomplish great results but the Bible says we are successful when we are obedient to what He has commanded of us.

Over and over again we hear the Bible teach that obedience is better than sacrifice; or for us to be doers of the word and not hearers only, and to teach new believers to obey all that Christ commanded. Jesus even shared that being obedient to Him is an expression of our love for Him.  

We work and train to do our best at what Christ commanded but in the end success isn't defined by the results but by our willingness and faithfulness to do what He said.  The results are in God's hands but our obedience is in our hands.  

So, in the final analysis as Followers of Christ we need to intentionally pursue the role of being Christ Ambassadors, to sharing the Gospel to those still lost in spiritual darkness and to obeying all that Christ has commanded.  If we can do that then we are successful!

Evaluating Your Perception Of Church

How do people outside the church view the church?  How do people inside the church view the church? Does our perception of the church have an effect on the relevance we give to the church? And is our perception of the church Biblical and accurate?  These are some of the question we are going to look at in this post.  I pray it gives you something to chew on and help you become a better Light of Christ in your part of this dark world! 

Please Share This Post On Your Facebook & Twitter!

Do You Feel Inadequate Making Disciples For Christ?

Many of God's people feel inadequate in the obedience to Christ in the making of disciples of all peoples!  Why? A lack of competence and confidence!  Watch this video to learn the solution to this problem.  

Please share this video to your friends of Facebook and Twitter!

How To Be Credible In Living A Powerful Missional Life!

In today's post I want to share with you about our credibility for living a missional life.  How will people know that what we are sharing about Jesus, about the Gospel or the forgiveness of sin is accurate and true?  The answer comes back to our credibility!  Are we credible? Can people believe us?  Watch this video and see what God is telling you!

Take A Few Moments & Share This Post With Your Facebook & Twitter Connections & Then A Comment Below About Your Thoughts On The Post!

3 Indispensable Biblical Parts To Answered Prayers

Confidence In Offering A Prayer Of Faith

When it comes to living a powerful missional life that brightly shines the Light of Christ in our part of this dark world prayer is essential.  But not just any kind of prayer but prayers where there is confidence that God will hear and answer it. 

So much of our prayers is what I like to call, "I hope God will answer my prayers!" but there's no confidence that God will actually do it.  We are praying with uncertainty that God will actually do what we are asking Him to do.  On top of this lack of confidence there is just a lot of "BAD" teaching going on in the name of "PRAYING IN FAITH".  To many people out there like to take just one passage of scripture and emphasis it to the exclusion of other essential and indispensable verses on topic.  This is a very bad practice to develop!  In learning to praying in faith we need to understand the full council of God.  Failure to do so can lead a person into a practice that's not only unbiblical but potentially destructive to their faith. 

There are 3 Indispensable Biblical parts for having confidence that God will answer your prayers the way you have asked him to.  

Let me emphasis that they are essential and indispensable!

Why?  Because they are like 3 legs on a stool!  If you remove any of legs from the stool, leaving only 2 legs, the stool will fall down!  ALL THREE LEGS ARE INDISPENSABLE!  The ability to pray and know that your  prayers will be answered requires us to have all three of these indispensable parts in place. Remove one of the parts and you no longer can have confidence and certainty that your prayers will be answered the way you are asking!   But if you have all three parts in place you can pray with confidence and know you have what you ask for.  So, what are they?

PART #1:  Hearts That Don't Condemn Us

"Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight." 1 John 3:21,22

This is the part that makes sure that you the one praying is in a proper spiritual condition to come before God and ask Him to do something.   Knowing that we are in a spiritual condition that allows us to come into God's presence and be accepted is a vital part to knowing that your prayers will be answered.  

In order to know if we are in a proper spiritual condition to come before God with our petitions we need to do a spiritual inventory of our life. We need to see if there are any unconfessed sins that still need God's forgiveness.  If their is sin then the activity that is needed is a prayer of honest confession from true repentance.  In 1 John 1:9 God gives us assurance that our sins can be forgiven with this simple act.  Read what it says, 

"If we confess our sin that God is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Why should we think that we can receive anything from the Lord if our hearts are not right with the Lord.  To have confidence that our prayers will be heard by God depends first and foremost if we are prepared to even ask for it.

Question To Ask Yourself:  

Is There Any Unconfessed Sin In Your Life That Needs To Be Dealt With And Made Right With God?

PART #2:  Knowing & Praying According To God's Will

"This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him." 1 John 5:14,15

This part deals with the actual request being made.  Is what we are asking for according to God's will or not.  This passage of scripture makes it perfectly clear that when our requests are inline with God's will we know God hears us and we know He will give us what we ask for.  

If you are asking for something that is not according to God's will it doesn't matter how much, how often or even how passionately you ask God for it, it you will not receive it.  Why?  Because it wasn't part of God's will.  In order to pray in faith with confidence you must know what God's will is! If you are uncertain what God's will is on a particular matter then before you can pray in faith about it you must first pray for God to reveal His will to you about it. Listen to what James 1:5 says,

 "If anyone lacks wisdom you should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault and it will be given to him."

What a wonderful assurance this verse provides us. If we ask God to reveal His will to us by giving us wisdom He promises to do it.  NOW THAT'S POWERFUL!  Once God reveals to you His will concerning the matter then you can begin to pray in accordance to God's will with confidence that God will answer it.

Question To Ask Yourself:

Do You Know What God's Will Is Concerning The Matter You're Praying About?

PART #3:  Praying In Faith With No Doubt 

Once you know that you are able to go into God's presence to make your request and once you know what God's will is concerning the issue you are praying about, then you can make your request to God but you have to make it in faith and without any doubt that God will do exactly what you are asking Him to do.  NO DOUBT!

"Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. 'Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." Mark 11:22-23

Praying in faith and without doubt is essential to answered prayers. However, this kind of faith that I am talking about is not a faith that controls God and makes Him do whatever we want.  That kind of faith reduces God to be like genie in a bottle. Our God is not a genie that has to give us our three wishes.  No! Our God is the Sovereign Lord of all creation.  God doesn't do our will - we are to do His will!  Biblical faith is not some kind of force that makes God do what we want.  

Biblical faith is surrender to God's will and joining God in accomplishing His will!  This prayer of faith is because you already know what God is going to accomplish, you have discovered His will on the matter, and through faith you are surrendering your will over to God's will and fully trusting that God will, not maybe, accomplish exactly what He said He would do.   In other words when you pray a prayer of faith you have no doubt that what you are asking is going to happen because you know that God already has willed it to happen!  

Question To Ask Yourself:

Once God Has Revealed To You What His Will Is Do You Have The Faith To Pray That It Will Happen Without Doubt?

When you are certain that all three of this parts are in place then you can have confidence that God not only hears your prayers but that you will also receive for what you have asked.  Remove one of these three part or legs and the stool will fall.  All three are essential and indispensable if you are to receive in prayer what you have asked God to do. 

Please share this important post on prayer to your friends and connections on Facebook & Twitter!  And then take a few moments and leave a comment sharing your thoughts about this topic!  Thanks! 

Powerful Missional Living Requires Confidence In Our Personal Prayer Life

If you are going to have a powerful missional life that brightly shines the Light of Christ in your part of this dark world then you will need to have confidence in your prayer life!  You will need to have confidence that God hears and will answer your prayers!

In this video I am going to share with you one Biblical way you can have that confidence.

PLEASE SHARE THIS POST WITH YOUR CONNECTS ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER!

Please Share Your Thoughts & Insights As A Comment Below!