Art by Pete Garcia of rev310.net – Jesus is coming back
…a few words about prayer with God
Yes – God is this close
Indeed, Scripture teaches that God is not distant. God is there for us, well, actually – here for us (inside our insides). Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to be right here. The Holy Spirit resides inside the true believer!
He hears our prayer. He answers prayer. He wants us to approach Him in prayer. God is easy -and so is prayer.
God speaks to us through His written Word. So when we read what He has told us, our response to Him should be an emphatic “I believe what God asks of us in the Bible”.
Scripture exhorts us to search the Scriptures for ourself. Be a Berean Christian! See: Search Results for: Berean
Test the spirits, we are told. Don’t believe everything you hear!
Those who say “God told me…” most likely made it up, have seen nothing, and are caught-up in a practice God has condemned, making God speak, and misrepresenting God. Careful with who you believe.
Know what the Bible really says. Many are led astray by just accepting as Truth what a mere human says. As if he’s infallible! Only God is infallible. The Word is infallible because God put it together by His Spirit. I would sure hate to bet my eternity on what some of those teacher-preacher-prophet-apostles say out there.
It’s a privilege…to pray to God
What a privilege God gives us – to pray directly to God Almighty, with no mediator except Jesus the Messiah. God is not so big to be unapproachable. He listens to you.
God listens to us sinners. Imagine that. I am constantly amazed that He loves us and He cares about us. Even while mankind was against Him, “lost sinners”, He died for us Romans 5:8. And He still accepts us, keeps on forgiving us, His children.
What mercy. What grace. What a huge loving God is here for us.
Repentant sinners are encouraged to approach God in prayer with faith in Him. Believers are encouraged to come on in, enter into His Courts with confidence. We are at His doorstep!
Therefore let us [with privilege] approach the throne of grace [that is, the throne of God’s gracious favor] with confidence and without fear, so that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find [His amazing] grace to help in time of need [an appropriate blessing, coming just at the right moment].…
– Hebrews 4:16
Any sinner, any believer… is able to approach God in prayer. The repentant sinner: for salvation. The born again? The kicker for the born again believer is: this privilege of prayer is a privilege we have as His followers, by a God who understands our weaknesses. Hebrews 4:14 tells us:
14 Inasmuch then as we [believers] have a great High Priest who has [already ascended and] passed through the heavens….
IF we are His “born again” children, then He hears and answers our prayer. In fact He says, since we are His children…
Verse 16 Therefore let’s approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help at the time of our need.
Approach God with a true and sincere heart
Active sin blocks prayer
God warns that if I have active sin in my life unconfessed sin, in my thoughts… He will not answer my prayers Psalm 66:18 KJV. Sin breaks daily relationship with God. But of course, sin does not break our salvation, because Christ secured our salvation on the cross. God is bigger than our sin and the Devil.
If I regard sin and baseness in my heart [that is, if I know it is there and do nothing about it],
The Lord will not hear [me] “harbored sin in my heart” in the NET version
– Psalm 66:18 AMP
Our heart needs cleansing – when we sin. Cleansing is needed again and again – not to save us, but to repair a damaged relationship with God. When He saves the sinner – He secures it. There is no losing what God Himself secures!
A good Psalm for a good prayer is Psalm 51. This is a key verse of repentance before God.
Those who repent:
1- The unbelievers in unbeliefism who then turn from there sin and turn to Jesus in prayer to get saved.
2- The Already born again, freed from condemnation, children of God repent daily from sins in their daily life, to regain close fellowship.
______
* Those who turn to Jesus for salvation – repent to start their new life in Christ.
* Those who already have that new life — repent to renew relationship daily. We are wise to return to God in daily prayer, refreshing our relationship with Him, to be effective, fresh and vibrant.
I pray this often when I pray:
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a right and steadfast spirit within me.
See: | To reach God, first repent |
| Psalm 51. Wash me. Cleanse me. |
| Psalm 51 type repentance and salvation |
| Prayer of Repentance | Turn shame into repentance |
| Growing into our natural new life in Christ |
Accepting His Salvation
At whatever age, anywhere, anytime, God will respond to any seeker — if he/she comes before God in a prayer of repentance — with sincerity and honesty.
However, if we come before God in prayer for salvation with a cracked heart, with something not yielded to Him, with unrepentant sin, with an unrepentant heart… does God answer your prayer and save your soul?
I’m afraid not. The question becomes: Were you fully yielded when you prayed for Him to save you? (Not sinless, but yeilding sincerely and in truth.)
There are conditions to have your prayer answered. Scripture is definite: “God hears us” and “God wants us to come to Him”. But our heart must be open, honest and sincere. The believer is told:
John 15:7
“…if we are vitally united
and My message
lives in your heart],
ask whatever….”
7 If you remain in Me and My words remain in you [that is, if we are vitally united and My message lives in your heart], ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. – John 15:7
Approach God
with sincerity and honesty
At whatever age,
anywhere, anytime,
God will respond
to any seeker
His presence in anyone
The presence of God in you is not a given. There are parameters to His presence in anyone. We cannot assume that “He is with me”. We are taught about this in Scripture. That is how we know the mind of God – through His Words written in Scripture.
God is loving and gentle, kind (Matthew 11:29-30) – and sacrificially died for us to be with Him. True acceptance of Him saves us and establishes His divine presence inside our soul – with His Holy Spirit (who came down to abide in us when Jesus physically left earth). This salvation and receiving the Gift of the Holy Spirit, starts a completely new life: we are born again in that moment – on the spot.
The reality of “new birth”
We begin to see the fruit of the Vine in us: when we truly become one of His branches, when the Holy Spirit seals us as His own. Not before that.
2 By this faith you are saved [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose],
if you hold firmly to the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain [just superficially and without complete commitment].
– 1 Corinthians 15:2
See: Romans 6:4-7 and Colossians 3:1-4.
His fruit from the Vine
You can “believe in vain” and thus God rejects your confession. But when we truly “get born again” (John 3) we immediately begin to see His fruit in us — fruit from the Vine in which we have now been grafted into.
“Things are different now, I’ve been changed it must be” (song lyric)
No fruit?
His good fruit in us shows us we have been truly grafted into the Vine. No fruit? Well then – no new birth! We can see nothing happened because we can see that no new life started producing His fruit. No fruit showed up in our living, thus revealing the reality: God did not save you yet. He is waiting for you to get real with Him.
Good fruit from The Vine
As John teaches, what we see in our living, is, we “bear fruit, producing evidence of your faith”.
“Remain in Me, and I [will remain] in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself without remaining in the vine, neither can you [bear fruit, producing evidence of your faith] unless you remain in Me.”
John 15:4 AMP
God “furnished proof”
There is no excuse for “having rejected Christ”. We will be brought-up before Him about this. Believe it.
God has “furnished proof to all people [c]by raising Him from the dead.” This Truth alone, the verified fact that Jesus arose from the dead — is sufficient proof for us all to believe in the name of Jesus. And there are many many more proofs, clear evidences.
Quick Quiz – What is the “credible proof” God provided to everyone?
In the New Testament, available to us to learn about Him, “God is now proclaiming to mankind that all people everywhere are to repent“. We are warned: “He has set a day on which He will judge [a]the world in righteousness”. Will you heed that warning?
Don’t delay. Accept Jesus as Lord and Savior — before That Day, as in “now”. Tomorrow may never dawn for you.
This is taught in Acts 17:30-31:
“30 So having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now proclaiming to mankind that all people everywhere are to repent,
31 because He has set a day on which He will judge [a]the world in righteousness [b]through a Man whom He has appointed,
having furnished proof to all people [c]by raising Him from the dead.”
– Acts 17:30-31
One day this will be the reality we experience:
for the great day of their wrath and vengeance and retribution has come, and who is able to [face God and] stand [before the wrath of the Lamb]?” – Revelation 6:17
God is saying: Do not wait. Do not stay just on the verge of accepting Him. Just do it. “Do it and live”, Jesus said.
“All your life – an unattainable ecstasy has hovered just beyond the grasp of your consciousness. The day is coming when you will wake to find, beyond all hope, that you have attained it, or else, that it was within your reach and you have lost it forever.”
– Source: C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain (New York: Macmillan, 1962, pg 147). Quoted here: My Favorite Quotes
FOR MORE:
God can hear us. But have you drawn near to Him? He wants us all to approach Him in prayer. Have you received His invitation?
__________
The Holy Spirit resides inside the true believer
Salvation and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit
Is your life fruit – Agape Love?…the fruit of the Vine
Rely on the Spirit of God in you
Are you being warned by the Holy Spirit about being “out“?
Being faithful little by little…Cleansing is needed again and again
Half a Day without the Holy Spirit
Ephesians 5:15-21. The Holy Spirit’s Filling Bible study with Dr. Peter Larson
Available: Printable PDF download
God speaking…speaks to us through His written Word. Excerpt: Hey! I Am speaking here. See: Search Results for: 7 I Am statements You may know me simply as “God”. From the Old Testament, my name is, Jehovah, or Yahweh (pronounced ˈyäˌwā), or Lord, I Am – the One that made all there is. I have been calling you to come to Me. I tell you the truth
What God asks of us in the Bible…believe what God asks of us in the Bible. So when we read what He has told us, our response to Him should be to believe Him.
Why might many Charismatics not be saved: because…
This is God speaking…A satire where God says, “Oh, I misspoke, folks.”
“I am against you”, God says Ezekiel 13:8 Excerpt: Do you think anyone will be in Heaven to whom God said, “I am against you”? If God is against you, why would He bring you to His Home Heaven? Will never happen, of course.
That puts the NAR type church folk at risk – the worst type of risk. I’d get out of Dodgemeaning. Time to skedaddle, real quick. See: Will you be turned away by Jesus?
REFERENCES for
“I am against you”:
See in one link, or: Deuteronomy 6:15, Deuteronomy 31:27, Matthew 22:29, Ezekiel 13:8, Ezekiel 13:9, Ezekiel 13:20, Ezekiel 14:9-11.
Will you be turned away by Jesus?
Why God is against me IF I claim my words are God’s own
Misrepresenting God…Careful with who you believe.
Caught-up with a practice God has said not to practice?…He has condemned doing that
The Controversy of God speaking to you directly
Ghosts, Spirits and Demons…Test the spirits
God is there… for us, well, actually – here inside for us. Excerpt:
Every waking moment
every day anywhere
my mind is on
my heart stays open
my soul is listening
my inner voice speaks
and God is there and speaks to me
every day anywhere I go….
Oh the wonderful love of our blessed redeemer John 3:16…inside my insides – down in my heart
See YouTube: Cedarmont Kids – Down in My Heart
God takes care of sinners…He cares about us.
John 3:16…What love.
God is easy, light-handed, gentle…What mercy.
Oh How Marvelous…What grace. What a huge loving God is here for us.
God’s wonderful blend of dynamic power, immense love, divine forces, and human transcendence
How prayer works…prayer is easy
Approach God with a true and sincere heart…you come as you are with all your sinfulness
Sincerity and truth…yeilding sincerely and in truth
God is easy, light-handed, gentle…He is gentle and kind. – Matthew 11:29-30
_________
Enter His gates
with a song of thanksgiving
And His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him,
bless and praise His name.
– Psalm 100:4
_________
“30 So having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now proclaiming to mankind that all people everywhere are to repent,
31 because He has set a day on which He will judge [a]the world in righteousness [b]through a Man whom He has appointed,
having furnished proof to all people [c]by raising Him from the dead.”
– Acts 17:30-31
Psalm 51. Wash me. Cleanse me.
Psalm 51 type repentance and salvation
Growing into our natural new life in Christ
Approach God with a true and sincere heart
Jesus can save your soul for all eternity
Getting saved is fast. Be saved in one minute
Salvation and receiving the Gift of the Holy Spirit
What was it like – your confession to Jesus?
Was your confession accepted by God?…when you prayed for Him to save you
How you can know you are a Christian
What was it like – your confession to Jesus?
Why might many Charismatics not be saved?
Caught-up in a practice God said not to practice?
Keeping sin…something not yielded to Him
Refuse to admit your sin…unrepentant sin
Sincerity and Truth…with sincerity and honesty
What you think and practice as compared with what Jesus thinks
Being tested to know for sure your faithfulness to God Excerpt: Our faithfulness to Jesus is being tested by Him. What is His testing showing you about your practices and faith? Our worldview can show us that (1) we are in agreement with Jesus, or it can, tragically, (2) reveal we are on a different faith-track than what Jesus taught us. If we are off His faith-track, then we are off His Salvation-track. What track are you on?
Acting with your heart, soul, strength, and with your mind
God forgives all wrongdoings of all repentant sinners, no exception
_____________
2 By this faith you are saved [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose], if you hold firmly to the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain [just superficially and without complete commitment].
– 1 Corinthians 15:2. Also see: Romans 6:4-7 and Colossians 3:1-4.
Jesus warned us not to be dishonest with Him
We know what Jesus believes. Do you agree with Him?
The great water down of Jesus’ message to us all
Virgins, Talents, and Judgement
Every believer’s new life in Christ: Ephesians 1
This is a three part series on the new life:
NOTE: The new believer’s “new life” begins by getting born again, saved. And then we continue that life, living a forever life now, growing and maturing. Every believer has “new life”, not merely a “make-over”, but brand new.
Living a forever life now Excerpt: What God does to you
Do you know what God does to you when you genuinely accept His forgiveness with sincerity and truth? He saves you. He changes you to an immortal soul homeward bound for His Home Heaven (1 Corinthians 15).
Genuine or false…genuinely
What we will be like in God’s Home Heaven
42 So it is with the resurrection of the dead. The [human] body that is sown is perishable and mortal, it is raised imperishable and immortal. 43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in strength; 44 it is sown a natural body [mortal, suited to earth], it is raised a spiritual body [immortal, suited to heaven]. As surely as there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. – 1 Corinthians 15:42-44
So, God sent His Son into the world. Do you know why?
About evidences for faith in Jesus
Evidences showing us that Jesus is Messiah…more proofs, clear evidences
Scientific visualization proofs for an Intelligent Designer God
What God asks of us in the Bible
What knowing the Bible does for you
What happens when you do not know what the Bible says on a matter?
The Bible is the standard for Christian thought and practice. Not me. Not you.
The Bible is able to “give you the wisdom that leads to salvation”
Betting your eternity on your thinking
When you are wrong and just don’t know it
Does God give new revelations – or is the Bible enough? Excerpt: New Revelations are mere man’s words. Does God give new revelations? No. According to the Bible God does not give new revelations today. He does not need to. Why? Is the Bible enough? Absolutely. Totally.
“for His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness”
– 2 Peter 1:1-12 NASB
Read this again in the Amplified version: 2 Peter 1:1-12
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
– 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
Why believe such stupididiotic things
What a Crock – Having No Religious Affiliation
Still sneering? “Who’s sneering now?” (See: Jude 1:10; Acts 17:30-31)
_____________
“They went out from us
[seeming at first to be Christians],
but they were not really of us…”
– 1 John 2:19
About being apostate – following another gospel…Go warns us about being apostate
“You are not of God”, Jesus said
Christ secured our salvation on the cross
You cannot lose what God keeps secured for us…God is bigger than sin and the Devil
What God secures – you cannot lose…There is no losing what God Himself secures!
Why we never lose our salvation in Christ…you cannot lose what you never had!
We are pressured in every way, but not crushed
What a wild and woolly rollercoaster ride we are on
Leave a Reply