Prayer Tools | Heart Confidence

Heart Confidence:

The way we approach God makes all the difference in what we walk away with. When we approach reluctantly, distracted or fearful we will leave His presence carrying all the same baggage we went in with. Most of the time we won’t even make it to the throne room in that condition because we don’t have faith that grace is what awaits us.

But when we approach God with confidence not in who we are (or in who we are NOT) but in confidence in who GOD SAYS we are, we will enter His presence ready to receive.

Not only is it important to have faith in who God says you are when approaching Him, we must also have faith in who God says HE IS.

Many of us have a warped view of God because of how we have been treated by other people. We believe the ugly things that people have said about us. And we believe that God will show us the same impartiality, rejection, or cruelty that we have experienced from others.

Some ways to combat this poisonous way of thinking and responding to God is to learn and believe truth. We have to change our minds.

1. Put truth in (read the Bible)
2. Ask God to change our minds to conform to His way of thinking
3. Speak and act upon the truth

When I began this process in my own prayer life I remember coming across a 1Corinthians 14:1. Here was God’s word telling me that I should eagerly desire the special abilities that the Spirit gives ESPECIALLY the ability to prophecy!

Now I had 2 choices I could make: I could read over that passage just as I had 100 times before and continue to believe that this was meant for someone better than me. I wasn’t worthy to ask God for this gift, and it would be prideful to even consider it.

OR I could read it the way God intended, like these words were instructions from my Father. And so I prayed the scripture back to the Lord, “ Father, it’s hard for me to believe but it seems that you are asking me to pray that I would prophecy, I don’t want to be presumptuous I just want to be obedient, so Father do this in me.”

Not exactly your model prayer of faith, but it was my mustard seed.

By the way, do you know it took more humility to ask God for the gifts of the Holy Spirit that His word was promising to me than it did to scroll right past it continuing to believe that what Jesus did on the cross was not powerful enough to make me good enough.

This is how the word of God changes us; when we take it and make it our own!

From that moment the way I approach God changed. I saw God answer that prayer right away. What do you think that did for my little mustard see of faith?

I began reading ALL of scripture looking for everything God had for me and then believing Him for it.

1. Read it
2. Ask for it (pray scripture back)
3. Believe for it
4. Receive it and act upon it

Acting upon His Word and promises are a HUGE part of receiving them. When I first started getting prophetic, encouraging words I had to first of all trust that I was hearing the whispers of God. Then I had to step out and take a chance that maybe I was wrong, or would be rejected. But as I acted upon the words I received and saw the fruit it produced, my faith was strengthened in the gifts God gave me.  Next week we will talk about some safe guards in prayer, which will also help you to know when you are hearing God.

God really is a good God not just to everyone else, but to YOU. He is a loving, merciful and generous Father to YOU. His favor rests upon you and follows you all of the days of your life.

Have ever given someone a sincere compliment, fully expecting that the hearer would receive it and be encouraged-even blessed by your words only to be disappointed when he/she shrugs it off like you were wrong in what you had said? If you know what it’s like to feel like you are left extending your heart to a friend expecting to be a blessing and walking away with that warm feeling of having encouraged another person only to be left hangin’, then you can kind of understand how God feels when He extends so much to us only to be rejected because of our own fear and insecurity.

God has given us His word, promises. It’s like a will filled with everything He has left for us until He returns. But unless we open our hearts to receive, we just leave Him standing there with His arms stretched out in the offering position. It’s all there for us but we must reach back. That’s faith.

Don’t leave Him hangin’. Reach back in faith.