HOW TO PRAY EFFECTIVE PRAYERS. 006

Now I want to start this post off by saying the first and most important thing in praying is understand the role of an intercessor, and what it means to pray -in the name- of Jesus. Let's take a look at the experience of Esther and the Jews.

Esther 8:7-10 "Then King Xerxes said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew...Now go ahead and send a message to the Jews in the king’s name, telling them whatever you want, and seal it with the king’s signet ring. But remember that whatever has already been written in the king’s name and sealed with his signet ring can never be revoked. So on June 25 the king’s secretaries were summoned, and a decree was written exactly as Mordecai dictated. It was sent to the Jews and to the highest officers, the governors, and the nobles of all the 127 provinces stretching from India to Ethiopia. The decree was written in the scripts and languages of all the peoples of the empire, including that of the Jews. The decree was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king’s signet ring."

Notice how the specific requests and wishes came from whatever Esther and Mordecai had wanted. Now Esther and Mordecai do not have the same authority as the king, therefore their request alone may not hold significant weight. However when their requests are written in the king's name it now becomes as if the King himself is making the request.

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE PRAY IN THE NAME OF JESUS! Jesus takes our requests and presents them before the Father as if they were His very own requests. The message behind this is not that the Father loves Jesus more than us and therefore will listen to Him and not to us, but rather because Jesus is perfect and sinless, the enemy's accusations and attempts to block Jesus' request are futile. Also, I imagine one child asking a parent for something vs. all the children asking for that very same thing... it's just a different vibe.

Now because Jesus is perfect and we can pray in His name, does that mean that I can just ruthless sin and just expect that God will do what I say? Notice these two verses

Psalm 66:18 "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me"

What is iniquity? Well in simple straightforward sense iniquity is simply sin, and sin is the breaking of God's ten commandment law

1 John 3:4 "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law."

This is why Proverbs says..

Proverbs 28:9 "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination."

When we willfully neglect God's law, when we turn our ear from hearing it, when we cherish sin in our heart, our prayers become abominations and the Lord does not hear. BUT THANK GOD, that coming to Jesus also involves the forgiveness of sin.

1 John 2:1 "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous"

Dear God, please forgive me of my sins, please forgive me for the fact that I sometimes want to hold on and cherish those sins, God take my heart, please, it's so messed up, if its up to me I won't even give it, but I surrender, take it God, take the sin from my heart and put your law in my heart as your new covenant promises. Lord, this is my only hope. Thank you for making this possible by the way, especially after the fact that sometimes I try everything before coming to You, especially because of the fact that sometimes I come to You, then run away. Thank you for chasing me, thank you for not giving up on me. Thank you for victory, I no longer am a slave to those sins, in Christ I am free, a new person! Thank you God. Lord as I work on this paper, please help me to get an A+, give me the energy and wisdom to put in that A+ work, however don't allow me to worship my studies, even though I have to grind and show myself competent, allow me not to work so hard and sacrifice myself. In the end God, I trust You, whatever I get, I do my best, I lay it all on the line and just trust the rest with you. I love you. IJN - In Jesus' name - I pray,

Amen

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