Prepare the Net…
Good morning, good morning!
I hope this week is starting off extra sweet for you.
Well, here in Georgia, the winter weather has returned…but not for long!
By this weekend, we will be back to sunny skies and hot temps. Yippee!
Do you remember way back in January, I told you that I really wanted us to focus on prayer this year?
Prayer is powerful.
Prayer unleashes God’s will here on earth.
Prayer is the conduit for His will to be done.
But, do we really believe this?
Are we living in hope and expectation of those answers to prayer?
Many times we will say…”Well, I don’t know what God’s will is, so I do not know how to pray.”
Friend!
God answers us in specifics..so we need to ask Him in specifics!
I want you to read this passage below. Pray before you read it…
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! Matthew 7:7-11
I honestly think that we don’t ask for specific requests because deep down, we are afraid of being disappointed.
What if He doesn’t answer?
What if I feel like a fool for asking something so audacious?
Friend!
We must increase our faith by increasing our prayers.
Jesus would not have taught us so much about prayer if it wasn’t vital to our lives here on Earth.
Jesus spent so much time praying….and look what God was able to accomplish.
Miracle after miracle.
The enemy tries really hard to convince us that prayer is silly. That prayer is pointless. That prayer is a waste of time.
Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith. Matthew 21:21-22
Could we be missing out on daily miracles because we are not believing He will answer our prayers?
When my daughter was injured this Summer, daily, we saw miracles.
Our eyes were opened to His working and His wonder.
I had to start taking notes on my phone because He was doing so many miracles.
Often, I have wondered how I saw so many miracles during that time…
I believe it is because of prayer! We were praying unceasingly…we believed with all our hearts that He heard us and that He would answer.
There was no room for skepticism and doubt.
I did not google anything during that time.
When the doctors told me the extent of her injuries…I did not one time look those things up.
I also did not seek advice or answers from others…I just prayed and asked others to pray.
I knew the enemy would have a field day with my mind if I relied on the world or the internet for answers.
We have so many things around us pulling us away from faith, belief, and prayer.
We must fall to our knees and spend more time in prayer than in any other worldly pursuit.
Miracles are just waiting on those prayers.
God answers in specifics.
Why does He answer in specifics?
Because it brings Glory to HIM!!
When others see the answers come…those specific answers to specific prayers…it creates awe and wander!
The focus is on HIM!!
When the sick came to Jesus, He healed their very specific need.
When his friend Lazarus died…he raised him from the dead!
When the 5,000 people were hungry….He fed them!
God answers in specifics!
God is not some mystical and hocus pocus God.
HE IS THE ONE TRUE GOD!
He is the Creator of all!
Nothing is impossible through Him!
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26
What are you in need of today?
Friend, drop to your knees.
Pray and keep on praying.
The next thing…
Prepare for that answer to prayer.
Preparation develops expectation.
When the disciples were told by Jesus to go back out and throw their net…after they had already been fishing all night long….
They did.
They prepared their net.
When it seemed hopeless and pointless to try again….they did it anyway.
He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. John 21:6
Prepare your net.
Expect He will answer.
Speak HOPE, FAITH, and BELIEF.
This is not some kind of wishful, positive thinking kind of faith.
This is the faith that Jesus taught us to have.
“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8
When God answers…
Tell others.
Keep telling them.
Again and again.
After Jesus healed and restored a demon possessed man, He told him this…
Return home and tell how much God has done for you. Luke 8:39
Sweet friend, if we don’t have time to pray, then we won’t have time for all those answers when they come.
Whatever you do today….PRAY.
Driving, working, talking to friends, doing the dishes, scrubbing the floors…pray pray pray pray.
preparing the net.
jill
