Steps For Praying About Your Problems

Introduction

Continue in series on Prayer Can Change Your Life

Purposes of Prayer

Five Conditions for Answered Prayer

Romans 10:17, “So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.”

Sometimes it's hard to have faith

So How Do You Have Faith In A Faithless Situation?

By listening to the Word (rhema- word, saying, or statement) of God

Fill your life with Bible

Keys to prayer is the promises of God

Get a promise to claim and grab on to it

The more promises you claim the powerful your prayer is

Why don't promises always work?

Man and diabetes, claim promise of healing, threw away insulin and died

Misconception: Cannot automatically claim promises given to others unless the Holy Spirit gives it to you also.

God speaks to us in 2 different ways

Universally - to everyone

Personally - specific message at a specific time for a specific situations

logos - Word to everyone

Rhema - Word to you personally

Only claim promise if it is a rhema to us

Sarah and having a baby at 90 - specific to her not others

Peter waling on water, to Peter, one time only. You don't do it because it was for Peter only.

Can't claim a rhema unless it is given to you by the Holy Spirit

People claim healing and not healed, disappointed, it wasn't a rhema for them

How does God speak to me personally

John 14:26, “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.”

Holy Spirit's duty is to take the Bible and apply it to us personally.

John 16:13, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. For he will not speak on his own, but he will speak whatever he hears. He will also declare to you what is to come.”

Holy Spirit does three things

Teach us

Remind us

Guide us

He takes logos and turns it into a rhema

This is called illumination

Reading and all of a sudden it's as if it was written for you

Or I preaching away and suddenly it seems as if I had been with you and knew what you needed

That's the Holy Spirit working in your life giving you a rhema

How Do You Know When It's God Speaking?

It will always agree with the Bible, never contradict what it says

You feel led to have an affair, not from God

You think God would have you lie and cheat to get ahead, not from God

Scripture becomes alive for you

I Love You to the church in general, no big deal

But to Raetta, close and lean, "I love you" different reaction, I hope!

Why? It got personal and had a new meaning

God loves you general, one became real when I accepted Christ

Builds faith in you

Steps In Praying About a Problem or Difficult Situation

Confess any know sin

1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Get all cleaned up

Commit decision to Christ

Prov. 3:5-6, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Become neutral about it

Say, God whatever you want I want

Keep praying that to get that way

Same attitude Jesus had in the Garden

Ask God to reveal His will by giving you a desire

Psalm 37:4, “Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart’s desires.”

James 1:5, “Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him.”

God give me the right kind of desire

Why? Phil 2:13, “For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose.”

How do know if the desire is from God?

Time.

Ask God to make it stronger

If not take it away

Compare your desire with the Scriptures

Read the Bible

Your desire shouldn't contradict them

Ask your pastor or trusted spiritual friend

James 3:17, “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without pretense.”

8 Tests to see if an idea is from God

Pure

Peace

Considerate

Submissive

Mercy

Good fruit

Impartial

Sincere

Listen for God to give you a personal Promise

Just don't randomly pick a promise

Illustration of opening Bible

Personal promises come in a variety of ways

Word

Church service

Bible study

Radio Program

TV show

Book

You must wait to hear and we're usually too busy to listen

After you get a verse, claim that promise with confidence

Start thanking Him

Math book with answers in back. Figure out equation then look and see if you were right. NO! Looked at answer and then worked problem. You knew where you started, where you were going to end up and figured out the middle

Wait for it all to be worked out

God often sends confirmations while you wait

Move to Seattle

Raetta Job

Every job she’s gotten

Do the same this time

Move into action when God says go

When God gives an idea He will say what He is going to do, how He is going to do it, and when to do it.

We often get the idea and forget the other two

We don't know God's timing by rushing things, God's timing is when things start falling into place

We have to take a step of Faith sometimes like Peter getting out of the boat

So I Need To Do What?

Some of you are facing big problems or decisions

Pray

Ask God to work in our lives - logos

Ask God to work in your life - rhema

God brought you here this morning to give you a rhema

Do you need to confess, ask for forgiveness

Put yourself in neutral, say I want what you want Father

Ask God to direct you in your desire

God help me screen that desire with Scripture

Give me assurance about this decision

Claim a promise that He has given you

Commit to going when He says move

Place to start is by asking Jesus to come into you life.