21 Days of Prayer - Day #16 August 23, 2021 Focus - The Prayer of Jabez

21 Days of Prayer - Day #16 August 23, 2021 Focus - The Prayer of Jabez

Prayer of Jabez - 1 Chronicles 4:10 (NIV)

 Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request.

Jabez’ name means “pain”.

He prayed for those 4 things so that he would be free from pain.

There’s another solution to pain and that is something bigger than your pain.

If you  get that singing in your heart, you will be surprised at how small the pain becomes.

1. Pray for Blessing.

Selah. To push you further than you  could normally go. God will take you further when you can’t go any further.  

Genesis 12:2 (NLT)

“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great,  and you will be a blessing.[a]

So we pray “God, give me more than I need.”  Not just for my needs, but pray for more. You cannot give that which you do not have. More love, more faith, more encouragement, more materialism so I can bless people in that way.

2. Enlarge my influence.  This is what you do with your blessing.

WE pray for influence. Let the borders of my personal life be bigger than my personal life. We are to impact the world around us. 

Isaiah 54:1-3 (NIV)

“Sing, barren woman,     you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor;  because more are the children of the desolate woman  than of her who has a husband,” says the Lord. 2  “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords,  strengthen your stakes.3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations

Even though you don’t think you can influence people, pray to God that He will enlarge your influence so much, you will bless others, many, and nations. 

3. Pray for presence.

I need God’s hand upon me because of the great influence He has given us. We need His hand upon us.

Acts 11:21 (NIV)

21 The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

4. Pray for protection.

We will need protection from the evil one who will not want us to have all of this.

And if we have all of these things, our pain will be minimal compared to the vastness and greatness of what God has in store for us.

21 Days of Prayer - Day #13 August 20, 2021 Focus - Warfare prayers

21 Days of Prayer - Day #13 August 20, 2021 Focus - Warfare prayers 

Today we are focusing on interceding for people. We need to learn how to battle and fight for people in prayer. Warfare prayers.

Prayer is communion with God and confrontation with the devil.

You’re confronting the things that need to change. We are in a battle against those in spiritual high places.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NIV)

3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Strongholds literally means a prisoner locked by deception by something is not true.

We need to break the power of the enemy.

Many of us live our lives based upon lies from the enemy. 

We need to then reverse the lie and back to the truth. Two ways:

1. Bind the lies of the enemy.

John 8:44 (NIV)

44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

He’s the accuser of Christians.  So today we demolish arguments and every 

pretentious that sets itself up against the kingdom of God. 2 Cor. 10:5 (NIV)

When we expose the lie, we defeat the liar.

2. Loose the truth of God’s Word.

We go on the offense and attack. We take the lie prisoner by proclaiming the truth.

The Devil is afraid of the Word of God (Matthew 4).

Isaiah 54:17 (NIV)

    no weapon forged against you will prevail,  and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,  and this is their vindication from me,” declares the Lord.

Ephesians 6:10-18 (NIV)

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

You know the Truth and the Truth will set you free. - Jesus

So today we will break the chains of the lies of the enemy and find true freedom in Jesus.

21 Days of Prayer - Day #12 - Thursday - August 19, 2021 Focus - God’s Anointing

21 Days of Prayer - Day #12 August 19, 2021 Focus - God’s Anointing 

We often develop a prayer list of what we are asking God for.  

Today I want to add that we  pray for His anointing, that is His power and the fire of God to fall upon us.

If we could get a grasp on what the anointing of God is. It is not just for preachers. It’s for every believer in every aspect of our lives.

1 John 2:20 (NIV)  

20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.[a]

To pour oil on or to cover with oil. It would represent the power of God through the Holy Spirit in our life. 

The anointing makes the difference.  The Holy Spirit filling and guiding us makes the difference.

Why should we pray for the anointing today?   Three great benefits.

God’s anointing Gives Strength To Stand

2 Cor. 1:21 (NIV)

21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us,

It will give us courage to stand or not to bow.  His stamp of approval is upon me. We are owned by God. We do not need to bow to social or spiritual pressures. 

God’s Anointing Brings life to dead things.

Romans 8:11 (NIV) 

11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of[a] his Spirit who lives in you.

We have the resurrection power in our hearts and lives. 

Where the anointing exists, dead things come to life.

This can be in the area of relationships, marriages, our homes, … we need life again. We need the anointing.

The power that raised Jesus back to life is in us.

God’s Anointing Breaks the Yoke.

Isaiah 10:27 (NIV)

In that day their burden will be lifted from your shoulders,  their yoke from your neck;

the yoke will be broken because you have grown so fat.[a]

The yoke was an instrument to keep oxen together. It’s a sign of burden and oppression or enslavement.

Maybe you’re feeling like that. Perhaps you’re feeling the confinement of a yoke of oppression or budden in your life, your marriage, with other relationships or in your own spiritual growth. You feel this heaviness or weight.

The anointing will set us free, open our eyes and bring life back to us.

The anointing will increase in our life as we grow in the presence of God. As we grow in the anointing (keep praying, keep pursuing the presence of God), that yoke is broken and we truly experience the freedom in Christ.

So today, let’s pray for God’s anointing of the Holy Spirit in our lives and enjoy the freedom and empowerment that comes.