Answered Prayers Guaranteed

SUNDAY 2ND SERVICE (Extract)

PREACHING: Dr. Abel Damina 

TOPIC: Answered Prayers Guaranteed

DATE: 4th June 2023

James 1:5,6

James wants you to know that God is a giving God, so ask in faith not wavering, because a double minded man will receive nothing from God…

We had established that prayer is establishing one's authority on earth…

Authority over what?

Gen 1:26-28

God gave man authority over things on the Earth….

Mark 16:17

God also gave man authority over evil spirits…

Luke 10:19

The believer has authority over sickness, diseases, demons and devils…

Luke 5:15

They came to hear and to be healed…so God's word is God's medicine for your body…

The word of God is life to those who find them and health to all their flesh…

Luke 5:24,25

He forgave him his sins and healed his body…so when we preach the Gospel we preach the forgiveness of sins and the healing of our bodies…

Mark 4:39

"Peace be still"...and there was great calm…so man has authority over situations and circumstances…

Notice God gave man authority over all listed above except over the will of another man…

Matt 20:20,25

In the secular people rule people, but it is not so in the Kingdom of God…

Whosoever will be great among you let him be your minister and whosoever will be chief among you let him be your servant…this is how the kingdom of God operates…

There is a clear distinction between how the kingdom of this world runs and how the kingdom of God operates…

The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost…The kingdom of God is in Christ…but the world system constitutes earthly authorities where men rule over men…

Eph 2:3

There is a spirit at work in the children of this world, and that spirit is the spirit of disobedience…

We said in the first service that Jesus and his disciples referred to earthly kings, rulers and governors as the princes of this world and to Satan as the prince of this world…

What therefore is the weapon of Satan? The will of man!

Satan works through the lusts, emotions and desires of man…

Romans 13:1-6

Paul's talks about exercising authority as it has to do with discharging civic responsibilities as a citizen…

God doesn't get involved in politics or choosing leaders…neither does he run earthly governments…

1 Sam 8:6,7

Samuel prayed unto the Lord, but God said hearken unto their voice and what they have said…they didn't want God to rule over them, so this was the beginning of human governments…

So man ruling over man is God permitting man's will or desires…

Matt 22:17,18,19,20,21

They asked God if it is lawful to pay tax…but God distinguishes his kingdom from that of men and says to them if the inscription on their note is Caesar's then they should give to Caesar what is Caesar's…

So when a government stands against the Gospel it is a clear example of the princes of this world, principalities and powers in operation…however note that there is a "Prince" behind all the princes of this world; the Devil…

Acts 5:18,19,20

The Angel brought them out of prison to go and preach…remember they were taken there in the first place for the sake of the Gospel, and that is what we call persecution…

But in the case of John the Baptist he was beheaded because of his foolish act and not because of persecution…

As Christians, we pay our taxes for the Government to make available certain basic amenities…A Christian who is arrested for not paying taxes is just being foolish…that is not persecution…

God exercises his rule through faith in your heart…so he does not force or compel but appeals to the heart of a man…

God's government or kingdom gives you the freedom to choose, but a secular government compels you by force if necessary to do what it wants…

In Prayer you do not have authority over another man's will…

God appeals to our hearts by wooing us with his goodness…so there is no amount of prayer you pray that can get someone Born Again…your prayer can only arrange circumstances or position things in order for someone to be reached with the Gospel so he can engage his will to either accept the Gospel or not…

So your prayer can not impose your will on another man…

In marriage you must submit your authority to your spouse in love and in the fear of God…you don't intimidate, manipulate or rule by force, that will be witchcraft…

God is not part of the government of this world…

Heb 13:17,18

Submit yourselves…not by force but willingly…that is how the kingdom of God functions…

When we pray for people, we either woo them in prayer or make circumstances available to them for them to make a decision…but note that despite the prayer they will ultimately still have to make a decision…

God can not stop sin but he had already judged it…also, God cannot stop unbelief…if a man must get rid of unbelief, that man must believe…

Why do we have so many unanswered prayers today? To have our answers guaranteed we must note:

That there is a difference between when I am praying for things and when I am praying for men…

That I can't pray for men the way I pray for things…

And I can't pray for circumstances within man's authority the way I pray for things…

So different rules for different prayers…

Note also that when you pray a prayer that involves the will of man, it may take time and it may not be automatic because it involves the will of man…

You can't be praying for a job the same way you would pray to cast out demons and evil spirits…because the will of man is involved…

You also can't be praying for a wife or husband the way you pray for things because it has to do with the will of a man…

When it has to do with money, it can either come by way of gifts, inheritance or via exchange of goods and services…therefore when praying for money you must note that people are involved…so you need to pray for opportunities while developing relevant skills or expertise in order to have what to give in exchange for money…

Poverty is man made…it is not caused by some demon from somewhere…some are poor because others have seized opportunities to amass wealth for themselves…

Life on earth is dynamic…you must develop, evolve and adapt…

So before you pray ensure you have done what you need to do…

Note that you also can not pray to stop fear, doubt, unbelief or sin…

2 Cor 4:3-6

If I am praying for people who have not believed, my prayer will be targeted at convincing them to believe; however, remember that before they believe the word will have to be preached unto them first…

Eph 6:18

The sword of the Spirit which is the word of God praying…with all prayer and supplication…

Before we speak words in prayer we must determine the following:

What are we praying about…

What are we to pray for concerning what we are praying about…

You can not influence men above what they believe…

Let's see how Jesus prayed for the Church?

Luke 22:31-32

Jesus saw that Satan desired to have him, but he prayed that his faith fail not…notice he didn't pray to rebuke Satan or to stop asatan…

So where was the faith of Peter? In his heart and in his mouth! So Peter had the key to stop Satan…

Jesus supplicated for him and told him when he is turned back he should strengthen his brethren…

Notice Jesus prayed for the leader who was Peter and told him to strengthen others…so we can be intelligent in praying…rather than pray for everyone, focus on the head and those in authority…focus on the shepherd, because once the shepherd is fine, the sheep will be fine…

Remember when you pray, you believe that you recieve, and you shall have what you speak…

Glory to God!!!