Promises of God - Day 10

The Promises of God: Devotional 10
We Can Praying God’s Promises back to Him with Confidence

Hebrews 4:16: Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
2 Samuel 7:25: And now, O LORD God, keep forever the promise you have made concerning your servant and his house, and do as you have spoken.

Praying God’s words back to Him in prayer is not an explicit command in scripture.  In fact, there is no promise from God even connected to praying His words back to Him.  Yet, during times of struggle or need we see people with deep and unwavering faith claim the promises of God in their prayers. Today’s scriptures are not so much promises from God, but principles that we can apply to make our prayer lives more powerful.

• If God has already promised believers something, is it necessary to ask Him for it in prayer?

Consider this: there are things we purchase that commonly come with warranties.  Cars, electronics, tools, and even some sunglasses have warranties that cover the cost of repair if the product is damaged.  These warranties are promises to fix what is gets broken in the future.  However, damaged products remain just as broken until the warranty is claimed by the owner. The promises God makes in scripture are like His warranties for our lives, and prayer is how we claim them. Prayer is how our voices are heard and how God’s promises are delivered. Prayer stands in the gap between what God says and what we experience. Prayer opens our lives up and invites God in to do all that He has promised He will. Prayer connects God’s promises to our personal lives.  When we pray God’s words back to Him and claim the promises He has made to us in scripture, it’s like taking a car under warranty in for repair.  The warranty gives us the confidence to take the car in to be fixed and the assurance that it will be repaired.  Church family, it’s time we start treating God’s promises in scripture like warranties for our spiritual lives.

• Hebrews 4:16 tells us to approach God’s throne of grace with confidence.  How would approaching God confidently asking Him to fulfill His promises in your life change your prayer life?
• What is the difference between approaching God confidently and approaching God arrogantly or with a demand?  Read 1 John 5:14 for clarity.

King David understood this principle and in 2 Samuel, David asks God to fulfill the promise He had made. David faced circumstances in his life that caused fear and frustration, but he never saw his circumstances as something the power of God could not overcome. Even in the face of fear, David believed God would be faithful to His promises. God has made promises to us.  Do we believe as David did that God will fulfill His promises? God cannot lie and has promised to be faithful. For those areas of your life that you need to claim one of God’s promises, pray as David did, “do as you have spoken.”

STEPS TO PRAY GOD’S PROMISES

• Begin by believing the promises God makes in scripture.  Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s ultimate promise of salvation, and our faith in Him gives us access to every other promise God makes.  God proved faithful in sending a Messiah as He promised.  Jesus proved faithful in His obedience to the cross.  God proved faithful in raising Jesus from the grave. God will prove faithful in His promises to us through Jesus.  
• 2 Corinthians 1:20: For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.
• Thank God for his promises. When we approach God in prayer to claim one of His promises, and we approach him BELIEVING His promises, we can pray with thanksgiving because we have the confidence that God will be faithful to fulfill His promises.  This is the confident assurance the Hebrew writer wrote 4:16. We can be thankful for what we haven’t yet seen because God is faithful.  
• Psalm 119:62: At midnight I rise to give you thanks for your righteous laws.
• Philippians 4:6: Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
• Meditate on the promises of God. To meditate means to think deeply and carefully about something for a period of time. Focus your mind on the promise that you are trusting God for.  Ask God for wisdom to discern His promises’ fulfilment in your life. Keeping God’s promise present in your mind through meditation will help you recognize God’s grace in fulfilling it.
• Joshua 1:8: Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. 
• Psalm 119:18: Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law. 
• Personalize the promises of God. Personalizing God’s promises simply means to believe that when God makes a promise in scripture, He is making it to you, personally, for the circumstances in your life today.
• Deuteronomy 29:29: The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.
• For example, if you are struggling with a decision, ask God for wisdom. Believe that James1:5: If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously without finding fault, and it will be given to him, means that God will supply you with the wisdom and guidance to make the decision you are trying to make.
• Approach God with confidence in prayer.  Believe that God will answer your prayer.  Believe that God will answer your prayer within the bounds of His plan, for the glory of the Kingdom, and for your good. Reject the voice that tells you if you don’t get what you “want,” God hasn’t answered your prayer. 
• James 1:6: But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 
•  Exercise patience. Why do we need to have patience? Because it might take some time for these promises to be accomplished. In fact, some of them might only be fully answered in eternity. Regardless of what your situation looks like today, remember that God is faithful, and He has promised to never leave or forsake us. Our response to His promise is to be faithful to Him regardless of our circumstances.
• Hebrews 10:35-36: So do not throw away your confidence.  It will be richly rewarded.  You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.