PRAYER EXTINGUISHERS II
Memorise:
Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. .. James 4:3
Read:
James 4:1-6
Message
Yesterday, I discussed how sin can extinguish our prayers. Another prayer extinguisher is-not praying according to God's will. You must understand that God has a plan for your life and wants to bring you to an expected end (Jeremiah 29:11). This means that God already has an expectation about you before you were born. Thus, everything He does, including the prayers He answers, is to bring you to that expected end. You cannot pray for God to do something against His will and expect Him to do it.
Many people have said, "I have been asking God for a particular thing for so long without an answer." Where they are probably getting it wrong is that they are not checking if what they are asking for aligns with God's will or if it's just for their selfish lusts (James 4:3). Asking for something outside God's will is asking amiss; such prayers are extinguished, and God will not grant such requests. This is why you must be intimate with the Holy Spirit Romans 8:26 says that we do not know how to pray because, many-a-times, we don't know the will of the Father. However, the Holy Spirit can help you to pray exactly what the will of the Father is, and then your prayers will be attended to.
When you pray in tongues, you are praying very accurate prayers because the Holy Spirit is praying the will of the Father through you. Imagine that you are friends with the son of the chairman of a company, and you apply for a job in that company, using an application letter that was written by a director in the company, and having the chairman's son, who is also a director, as your referee. When your application gets to the chairman's table, he will not be able to ignore it because it will contain the exact things that relate to the organisation and the role you are applying for, and also because his son is your referee You will surely have the job because your application will contain exactly what is on the chairman's mind, and you have a good relationship with his son.
If you don't want your prayers extinguished, let the Holy Spirit pray through you as you maintain an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ in whose name you are praying. The best prayer points are the ones generated for you by the Holy Spirit.
Bible In One Year:
Jeremiah 40-43
Hymn:
Sweet Hour Of Prayer
Prayer Point:
Holy Spirit, please teach me to pray according to the will of the Father at all times.
Sweet hour of prayer!