PRAY FOR IT BELIEVE IT AND RECEIVE IT

PROCLAMATION

“ ‘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 will receive it, and it will be yours.’ ”  Mark 11:22-24 (NIV)

EXPLANATION

These words are from the gospel, the good news regarding Jesus, The Christ, which were spoken by Christ according to Mark, a companion Simon Peter.  As Jesus and His disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives.  Jesus sent two of His disciples into town to get Him a colt that had never been ridden. (Mark 11:1-3)  When they returned with the colt, they threw their cloaks over it and Jesus sat on it.  Some of them spread their cloaks on the ground in front of Jesus while other spread palm branches in front of Him as He rode into town.  Some went ahead of Him and shouted, “Hosanna!” (Mark 11:4-10)  When He reached Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out those who were buying and selling.  He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.  He said, “Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer?  But ye have made it a den of thieves.” (Mark 11:15-17)  The next morning, as they saw the withered fig tree which He had cursed on the day before, Jesus said to His disciples, “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” (Mark 11:20-24)

APPLICATION
Jesus, The Christ, cursed a fig tree which did not produce any fruit (Mark 11:13-14) and it withered and died. (Mark 11:20-21)  If we are not going to produce any fruit for The Lord God, then what good are we to Him?  We are known by the fruit which we produce. (Matthew 7:20)  We should have faith in God.  This is not so that He would grant us our selfish desires, but that His will might be done in our lives.  If we pray for something, and believe that we will receive it, then we shall receive it; that is, if it brings glory to God.  For whatever we do, we should do it all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31)

DO YOUR BEST AS IF YOU WERE WORKING FOR THE LORD

Proclamation:

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for The Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from The Lord as a reward.  It is The Lord Christ you are serving.”  Colossians 3:23-24 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written by the apostle Paul, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God, to the believers in the church at Colossae.  Paul began this third chapter by telling them to set their minds and hearts on things above and not on earthly things. (Colossians 3:1-4)  He encouraged them to “put to death” their earthly nature.  They were not to lie to each other. (Colossians 3:5-10)  He told them that they were God’s chosen people and that they should exhibit the fruit of The Holy Spirit. (Colossians 3:12)  They should let the peace of Christ rule their hearts, and let the message of Christ live within them as they go about helping one another. (Colossians 3:15-16)  Paul told them that whatever they do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of The Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God, The Father, through Him. (Colossians 3:17)  He repeated this thought and added to it that they should do their best at whatever they do, as if they were working for The Lord because it is Christ they are serving. (Colossians 3:23-24)

Application:

We are encouraged to do our very best at whatever it is that we do. (Ecclesiastes 9:10 and Colossians 3:23)  We are to work as if we were working for The Lord God for ultimately it is Christ that we are serving.  This is the standard by which we should judge all that we say and do.  In all things give God glory.  If what we are doing in not for The Lord, then there is a good chance that we should not be doing it.

ASK FOR IT BELIEVE IT AND RECEIVE IT IF

Proclamation:

“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; and the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”  Luke 11:9-10 (NIV)

Explanation:

These are the words of Jesus, The Christ, as recorded by Luke, the physician, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  Luke begins this chapter with the response of Jesus to a request by one of His disciples to teach them how to pray. (Luke 11:1)  After He taught them the words to the model prayer He began to teach them other things.  He told them that they would be given that which they ask for; they will find what they are looking for; and any door they knock on will be opened for them. Then Jesus responded to those in the crowd who thought that He was able to cast out demons by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of the demons.  He told them “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall.” (Luke 11:17-20)  A woman in the crowd yelled out “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.”  But Jesus replied to her, “Blessed rather are those who hear The Word of God and obey it.” (Luke 27-28)  Jesus told the crowd that they were a wicked generation which always asked for a sign and He would not give them one. (Luke 11:29)  He then pronounced woes (great sorrows or distress) on the Pharisees and the experts of the law. (Luke 11:37-53)

Application:

Jesus was talking to His disciples, His students, when He said ask and you will receive.  The same applies to us today.  However, we need to be careful regarding what we pray for.  We will be given what we ask for if what we ask for is in keeping with His will and if it will give God glory.  We must have faith in God and believe that we will receive what we ask for, then we will receive it. (Mark 11:22-24)  The sincere prayers of the righteous are productive. (James 5:16)

OH LORD HOW EXCELLENT IS YOUR NAME

Proclamation:

“Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!  You have set Your glory in the heavens.”  Psalm 8:1 (NIV)  The King James version of The Bible for this verse reads: “O Lord our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth!  Who hast set Thy glory above the heavens.”

Explanation:

These words were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by King David.  In this psalm David reflects upon the greatness of God and puts his thoughts into a song.  He considers the things which God has made, the heavens, the moon, and the stars, and then he wonders why God even gives a thought to man. (Psalm 8:3-4)  God created man and gave him the honor of having dominion over the things which He created and placed on earth. (Psalm 8:5-8)  As he continues to reflect on the awesomeness of God, David ends this psalm the way that he began it, “O Lord our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth.” (Psalm 8:9)

Application:

Man has struggled for a long time trying to “figure out” how the earth, and life upon the earth, came to exist.  Man cannot explain the stars in this galaxy or the other galaxies which he can see.  The problem is that man refuses to believe in God.  As logical as he is about most things, in this regard he is totally illogical.  Patterns do not just randomly repeat themselves, where there is a design, there must have been a designer.  The pattern of our solar system and others, with planets revolving around a sun, is repeated on a grander scale with galaxies.  It is also repeated on a microscopic scale with atoms having electrons revolving around a nucleus.  As David pondered the planets and the stars, he reflected on the awesomeness of God.  If we think about these things, we should also be impressed with the awesomeness of our God.  The fact that we began our life as one cell, a zygote, which was formed by the union of two cells, a sperm and an ovum which is a miracle in itself, which then grew into a mass of cells with differentiation and specialization that made us a functioning human being.  We should all praise God for our very existence, and for giving us the capacity to even think about the planets and the stars.  Without the breath of life that we received from Him we would be nothing but the dust of the earth with dominion over nothing. (Genesis 2:7 and Ecclesiastes 3:20)  Our God is an awesome God, praise His holy and righteous name.  Oh Lord, how excellent is Thy name!

WHAT WILL BE SAID ABOUT OUR LIFE AFTER WE DIE

Proclamation:

“The Lord said, ‘What have you done?  Listen!  Your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground.’”  Genesis 4:1-10 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written by Moses and were recorded under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel.  Abel gave God his best, while Cain just offered God some of his increase.  God accepted Abel's offering but he rejected Cain's offering. (Genesis 4:4-5)  Cain got angry and killed his brother Abel, and God punished him for that.

Application:
Abel’s blood spoke to God after his death.  What will our “blood” say about us when we are dead?  The word “blood” here is a figure of speech, it is something that will be left behind after our soul leaves our body.  What will be remembered about us and said about us after we die?  Some of the people that we encountered during our walk on earth will remember the good or bad that we did to them or to others.  However, it is much more important to know what will the life that we have lived say to God about us after our death?  God knows whether we have truly given Him our best, when we have been wronged by others, and when we have done wrong unto others.  We will have to give an account for our actions, as well as for our words and thoughts.  When we stand before Jesus in judgement, we won't have to say a word, our lives will speak for us.  The most important question that we can ask ourselves now is, “What will our life say about us and what we did, or did not do, to give God glory?”  While we are still living, we have a chance to positively affect the answer to that question.  Let’s make sure that when we stand before Jesus that He says to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”