Your Father's Business
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God wants to give us our desires, BUT more than anything, He wants us to love Him.
If He were to give us our desires, but we didn’t love Him, why would He do that?
7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”
7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
adoption n. — a legal proceeding that creates a parent-child relation between persons not related by blood; with the adopted child being entitled to all privileges belonging to a natural child (including the right to inherit).
15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”
16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
We are supposed to pray big prayers! We are supposed to BELIEVE God for BIG things!
BUT, when I say big prayers and big things, what do you think of?
If you love the kingdom of God, if you genuinely and seriously put the kingdom of God FIRST, how will you define BIG THINGS?
If you love yourself, and being better than other people, how will you define BIG THINGS?
First we take care of our love. Our heart. The easiest way to do that is to understand His grace!
How could you not love Him, when you understand He will never reject you or turn you away or hold your sins against you, ever?!
How could you not love Him when you realize He’ll jump up and down for joy, give you a robe, and kill the fatted calf when you come back AFTER SPENDING ALL OF HIS MONEY ON PROSTITUTES?!!!
Our heart will then determine our desires and priorities.
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
FIX YOUR LOVE FIRST! FIX YOUR LOVE!
If your love is broken, EVERYTHING FALLS APART! Forget about knowing how to pray, you have nothing with God!
37 Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
There are some rules to our prayers:
We put His kingdom first.
We CANNOT love money!
not even “more than God” we simply cannot love it.
10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
3. We can’t ask for sinful pleasure.
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.
4. BUT REALLY, all of these are about one thing: we must love Him.
6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.
as a LOVING SON to a LOVING FATHER, we WANT to be about His business! We don’t wanna leave! We don’t wanna go off on our own!
We don’t know what to pray for often, because we don’t even really care that much about His kingdom.
When I say to pray big prayers, some of you can’t even think of anything to pray for!
That’s shows how much you genuinely care about the kingdom!
Once you realize what He COULD do, and how He COULD work in your community, in your family, in this country, IN OTHER COUNTRIES, you realize your prayers could be being used for the kingdom!
You COULD pray for your community to experience repentance and the baptism of the Holy Spirit! You COULD pray for your church to grow in influence and favor with the community and to weekly see the manifest presence and power of God!
Your prayers say SO MUCH about where you are with God.
They show how you see yourself!
They show how you see God!
They show what’s important to you!
SONS OF GOD care about their father’s business! How much do you care about the business of your incredible, amazing, wonderful, loving, ONLY GOOD IN EVERY WAY Father?!!
Are you going to still have personal desires too? OF COURSE YOU ARE! The question isn’t do you have personal desires, it’s do you put the kingdom FIRST. Not, ONLY. First.
If God looks at your life and sees that you live to see people know Him, to see the enemy’s lies be defeated, to see people experience healing, repentance, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and on and on. OF COURSE HE WILL WANT TO BLESS YOU!
9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?
10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?
11 If you then, being 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!
Not only is it dishonoring to your Father to act like you can’t pray big prayers, or dream big goals, you are LIMITING what He will do in the World!
He didn’t give us the adoption as sons for us to continue thinking and believing like foreigners, outsiders, or slaves!
If we don’t take our position as sons, the position JESUS DIED for us to have, who will?!
While we’re wallowing in how we don’t deserve it, and limiting our father with small faith, small prayers, and small giving, the enemy is tearing it up! The people on the enemy’s side have NO PROBLEM living like they deserve all of it! They ask for it all, they seek it all, they take whatever they can.
Also, our inner mentality, and our view of ourselves, and our view of God, comes across whether we mean for it to or not. Our demeanor demonstrates our view of ourselves and our view of God. Talking to outsiders, it is GOING TO COME ACROSS! Stop thinking of yourself as a slave, hired servant, or foreigner!
You, at all times, are projecting your view of yourself and God. Think of it, how are you going to act if you feel like an unworthy outsider, who’s not able to receive BLESSINGS (not just need meeting). What is your demeanor going to be like?
Think of it, God doesn’t even need the resources you’re asking for! You’re not inconveniencing Him, stealing from Him, or taking something He was going to use for something else.
Do you understand, God sent His son SO THAT YOU COULD BE A SON! So that you could have access to all of His RICHES! Yet, we’re going to pray like an outsider? Like we’re asking a favor of a loose acquaintance?! He WANTS us to ask of Him! He’s not saving that stuff ’til later. What else is He going to do with all the resources He has available?!
If you’re not worthy of those kinds of prayers, who is? Whoever you’re thinking about, why do you think they’re worthy of those prayers? Did they earn it with their holiness? Did they earn it with their mighty deeds?
What else could God do to make us feel welcome in our own house?
What if you didn’t feel welcome in your house?
Your view of yourself and God will either propel you into your calling, or hold you back from it.