The name of Jesus
10/09/2024
Satan´s defea
12/09/2024
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Prayer
- Procura lembrar-me
- Entremos em juízo juntamente
- Apresenta as tuas razões
- Para que te possas justificar
One day, Jesus’ disciples heard him pray and were amazed. One of them immediately asked Him to teach them how to pray, like John had taught his disciples.
Praying in the correct way is what makes your prayers victorious. Prayer in itself does not get you anywhere. You must pray only when you wish to obtain the answers to your prayers.
This lesson teaches the formula for prayer – prayer that brings solutions even in seemingly hopeless situations.
There must be a reason why some people pray and receive what they prayed for, and others pray and receive no answer at all. The answer is in the Word of God.
The heroes of faith knew the principles that made their prayers productive and powerful. By putting these principles into practice, they conquered kingdoms, practiced justice, obtained promises, closed the mouths of lions, put out fires, escaped from the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, overcame in battles and made armies flee.
May you never experiment defeat in battle after studying this lesson. May you pray and receive your answer. May the Lord continuously lead you in triumph.
In Christ,
R. R. Soares
Prayer is very important in our lives. We draw near to God through prayer, as we praise Him and thank Him for His benefits. It is also our best resource in difficult times, and all human beings use it at one time or another in their lives.
In spite of all that prayer represents to the believer, there are but a few who really know how to use it. When the disciples realized that Jesus obtained answers to all His prayers, they came to Him and asked Him to teach them how to pray. Because the heroes of faith knew how to pray, they conquered kingdoms, closed the mouths of lions, quenched fires, escaped from the sword, from weakness received strength, overcame in battles and made armies flee. Yes, all this and even more did they obtain, because they knew how to practice what the Lord considers true prayer.
Do you know how to pray in such a way that you move the hand of the Lord and cause the power of Heaven to operate in your behalf? There is so much in store for you. Learn to pray the prayer of faith and begin to enjoy the best of life.
We are not going to study all the different forms of prayer in this lesson, but concentrate on the formula for prayer that will make us overcome all evil. Does such a formula exist?
Yes. In Isaiah 43:26, it is written:
Put Me in remembrance; Let us contend together; State your [case], that you may be acquitted (Isaiah 43:26).
This declaration in Isaiah is the formula for victorious prayer.
Number one – put me in remembrance
When we come into the presence of the Lord, we must tell Him that we are there because we are His children, because His Word guarantees His blessings, and because we believe that He is able to pour out His grace upon us. If we want our request to be granted, then every time we enter into His presence we must remind Him of everything His Word declares to be our rightful possession.
Is God then forgetful? Isn’t He omniscient, knowing all things, with no need to be reminded of anything? Didn’t Jesus teach us that even before we ask, the Father knows what we need: Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him (Matthew 6:8b).
No, the Lord does not have any problem of forgetfulness, nor are there any contradictions in the Word of God. What the Lord means when He says remind me remind me is that remind me many times our minds are occupied with material things when we start praying. It is almost impossible to concentrate or enter into God’s presence. Our prayer is then empty and devoid of faith, power or authority, and will never be answered.
When you begin to pray and start reminding the Lord of His promises, you are actually doing it for your own good, and not really reminding Him. You are “brushing up” your spirit, “polishing” the inner man – the real you. When you remind the Lord of everything you believe and all that you have learned from His Word, you are actually giving ear once more, or perhaps for the first time, to the Word of God. We know that faith comes by hearing the Word of God. So when you do this, you are actually doing it for your own sake.
Those who use this method know that it is true, because God does not need anyone to remind Him of the blessings He has promised us.
Number two – let us argue the matter together
Prayer is a trial, a battle, a war. When we start praying, we must remember that our purpose is to solve the situation.
God tells us to argue the case. You do not go to court to argue a case without proper preparation. If you take someone to court, or someone takes you, you must be prepared to battle. Your adversary will definitely use all means possible to obtain victory over you. You do not have to be innocent to win; but you must prove that you are. Therefore, you need to prepare ourselves for a trial. This takes us back to the first step: bringing God to remembrance.
Once we have brought Him to remembrance, than we should argue the case together with Him. We should not go alone; neither should we ask Him to go for us. He says we must go together. The battle is ours, not the Lord’s; He will defend us and He will attack for us.
This is certain victory. Has anybody ever heard of God having lost a single battle? This is something that will simply never happen.
To argue a case together with the Lord is to find a promise or declaration He has made concerning our position in a certain situation and then boldly begin to pray, stating our need – using the Name of Jesus, of course – and launching ourselves against the enemy, commanding him to get out of our lives, our families, or our properties.
Number three – present your case
After we have reminded God of who we are, and what we know to be our right, after arguing the case together with Him, then we must present our reasons. This is what lawyers do when they are defending someone. We must know what our rights according to the Word of God are, and then lift our voice before the Supreme Court of the Universe, which is the Word itself, and declare that we will accept no verdict other than that which we determine. We must remain very watchful and alert at this moment, for the enemy will try everything within his power to deceive us. At times he will come very softly, as if he were the Lord. He will insinuate that we do not deserve the blessings, as if we could receive anything through our merits. If we do not know that the blessings of God are received by grace through faith, than he will succeed in convincing us that we really do not deserve anything, and we will lose everything.
The devil wants us to live in ignorance, to be sluggish in spiritual matters, and not learn how to receive what is already ours! Only then can he deceive us with his ragged excuses. Many times he will bring to our memory a sin we committed a long time ago, one that we have already repented of and therefore does not even exist any more in God’s sight. But, since we do not really understand the Word, we forget that a confessed sin is a nonexistent sin, and begin confessing it all over again, accepting responsibility for something that has ceased to exist.
You see how important it is to know your rights and not become an easy prey to the deceits of the enemy. You will not be able to present your case and will consequently lose the battle. Remember what we studied in Lesson 3: an unclaimed right is a non-existent right. You have a right to God’s blessings. The Lord Jesus has overcome the devil for you. He has borne your infirmities so that you would not have to bear them. The Bible states that you are more than a conqueror. When we know what the Bible declares about our position before God, and present ourselves in court based on this, then we can be sure of victory.
When we are conscious of our rights – not what we want them to be, but solely what the Word of God states them to be – then we can be sure that we will receive what the Bible declares to be ours. God did not place these declarations in the Bible just for embellishment. They were written so that we would have life, and life abundant.
Number four – to be justified
God makes it very clear here that He does not want us to play around with prayer, nor does He want us to be defeated when we pray. The purpose of prayer is justification, which in Biblical language means: victory in prayer.
Only if you are unaware of your position in Christ and your rights in the presence of God, will you be defeated in your spiritual battles, whether for spiritual, physical or material blessings.
Justification is a Justification legal term that means not only to acquit, but also to acquit declare just declare just, which is to say declare just the person has never done anything wrong in his entire life. Justification includes more than pardon from sin and freedom from condemnation. When God justifies, He makes the offender just. The president of the country can grant pardons to criminals on special occasions, such as Christmas or New Year’s, but he does not have the power to place that person in the position of one who has never disobeyed the law.
Without justification through faith, we will never have peace with God. If we do not have peace with Him, then we can forget ever being blessed by Him. But, thanks be to God, it is possible to achieve this. This is what He invites us to receive. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1).
Referências Bíblicas
Isaías 43.26
“Faz-me lembrar, entremos juntos com juízo; enumera tuas razões, para que te possas justificar”.
Mateus 6.8b
“… pois vosso Pai sabe das coisas que necessitais antes de lho pedirdes.”
Romanos 5.1
“Tendo sido, pois, justificados pela fé, temos paz com Deus, por nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo.”
