INVESTED POWER

Prayer is a powerful, and sometimes, dangerous exercise to engage in. Many of you have attended a Freedom Immersion and can attest to the transforming reality of your prayer time.

Consider a few questions that I have had to tangle with over the years as it pertains to prayer. Why keep praying when we don’t see results? Does God have all power? Think about this, for Him to release that power, do we need to pray? Have you ever contemplated questions like this as it pertains to prayer? Here are three things we need to understand about prayer that breaks through. If we understand these three points, we will become a person of deep heart-felt prayer.

The Word of God tells us that the Lord has deposited His power in us. This point cannot be overstated. If you are in Christ Jesus, He has invested His power in you. Consider what Luke tells us:

Luke 24:49, "And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

Acts 1:8, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

If the Lord is able to do exceedingly abundantly more than we can ask or imagine, then why don’t we see more of it? The answer to that lies with the key word “according”. According to the power at work within us. This word in the Greek means measurement…to measure out or distribute. It is a picture of a debit card that is attached to an account of immeasurable value. The cards true value is only seen when it is activated and the funds are distributed.

Luke 6:38 says, “Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” The context of this passage is forgiveness. The Lord has forgiven you so now measure out and distribute this forgiveness to others. The same good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be used toward you that you use toward others.

This boils down to a stewardship issue. Stewards realize that they have been given something to manage and give away to the same degree they have received. So we are to give forgiveness as freely as we have received it. It is the same with our finances. We have been given the finances by God to manage and give God’s way. He gives us the finances to steward. He has also invested His spiritual gifts in us to minister to others. “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all…(1 Cor 12:7).”

ON THE COUCH WITH GOD

Take time to seek the Lord and consider how you are being a good stewards when it comes to prayer.