Praying In The Name Of Jesus

(John 14:12-14) “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.”

The last few days the subject of prayer has been on my heart. We have heard so many different “formulas” for prayer; we can hear them daily on “Christian” TV. They have formulas for getting out of debt, formulas for healing, formulas for everything. A popular one is trying to convince people to give to certain ministries (sow your seed) so God will reward them with answered prayers. This sounds like trying to buy favors from the Lord.

It grieves my heart and I am sure the Lord’s heart as well that his people are being so deceived. But this only happens when they do not have a real love for the truth. The scriptures say they perish: “…because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” (2 Thessalonians 2:10) They are drawn away by their own desires. James 1:14 says: “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust (desire), and enticed.”

I’m not here to dispel all theological error that man has come up with in these last two thousand years in attempts to get God to do man’s bidding. I just want to share a simple truth of God’s word; it is all about HIM and not about US or our desires.

The above verses in John 14:12-14 taken out of context is just one example. People believe that all they need to do is make out a wish list or a prayer list as they call it, present it to the Lord and finish the prayer with “In Jesus’ name”. They believe this is praying in his name, but saying it that does not make it so. This is not what it means to pray in his name. In fact, doing this is more like taking the Lord’s name in vain. Putting the Lord’s name to something that he has not said, is taking His name in vain.

James 4:3 says: "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” The word "lust" here means “pleasure”. Things that seem good or right in our own eyes without inquiring of the Lord is praying amiss.

If we read the earlier verses in John chapter 14 Jesus was responding to a request of Philip. Jesus had said: “If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.”

“Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.” (John 14:8-10)

Jesus said that when they saw him, they saw his father. Philip didn’t understand this. Jesus was the complete representation and the very imagine of the Father. Jesus did not come in his own authority, wants or desires. He only came to do the will of his father. (see Heb 10:7,9) He is talking about an intimate relationship between himself and the father, they are one. He has prepared a way for us to grow into this same union with him and the father and even to walk as he walked.

(1 John 2:5-6) “But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.”

Continuing on in the 14th chapter he gives us a promise…if we do the same thing and have this same mind, he will send the Spirit of Truth to us; if we live in obedience to him.

(John 14:15-21) “If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.”

Without the Spirit of Truth we cannot know him nor have the mind of Christ for it is spiritually discerned. How then can we pray according to his will as Christ did accord to the will of his father? “For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:16)

“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:26-27)

Prayer should become more about learning from our father and listening to him rather than just giving him a list of request. We would do much better if we were to wait on the Lord, listen for his mind and ask him to place his desires in our hearts. As we yield to him, he places in our hearts the things he would have us pray. Then we can pray with confidence that he hears us. “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” (1 John 5:14-15)

Amen!

THE REVELATION OF THE SONS OF GOD

The Call to Sonship

There are many in the church who aspire to mature sonship, but there are many less who have learnt the secrets of walking in it. All who enter the Kingdom are called as sons of God, but few are willing to meet the cost of becoming MANIFESTED sons. For those who object: "but sonship belongs to ALL believers at the new birth", I would agree and disagree. It is one thing to enjoy the TITLE of son and heir and the privileges that come with that position. It is quite another thing to submit oneself to the school of obedience and unjust suffering that produces within us the character of the Firstborn Son, to whose image all other sons are to be conformed. (Rom. 8:29) A wise father recognizes all his sons as his sons, but also marks and celebrates the day of maturity when a son can be trusted with the responsibilities of a functioning heir. It is at that time that the Father's endowment of authority in that son becomes apparent to the world.

So we are talking here not simply about the inheritance of sonship through faith, but more specifically about the unmistakable MANIFESTATION of that sonship, here on this earth and in this mortal life, that must be witnessed by creation. Those who, in the coming days, will be revealed to all creation as "manifested sons" of God will be those who have yielded to the Spirit's training in ALL aspects of sonship, which includes the Father's discipline (Heb. 12:6-8), and the embracing of the Cross.

There is no mysterious exclusion zone surrounding this event the scriptures refer to as "the manifestation of the sons of God" (KJV). We should not be deceived into believing this company of sons who will be revealed are an elite group of super-saints, endowed with a level of holiness not available to the average believer. On the contrary, the invitation to walk as one of these manifested sons, whom the scriptures say the whole of creation is longing to see, is an open one, available to all born-again children of God. The scriptures also make abundantly clear, however, that attaining this measure of mature sonship will involve significant cost to the flesh for those who sincerely seek to respond to it.

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by

Cheryl McGrath

Cheryl McGrath, Great South Land Ministries

In My Father's House

"Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?" (John 14:22)

It is evident from the answer Christ gave to Judas that there will be a personal appearing of the Father and Christ to each saint who keeps the words of Christ. This is not a manifestation to the world but to the believer who shows his love for Jesus by keeping His commandments.
Jesus' answer to Judas is the fulfillment in the new covenant of the old-covenant feast of Tabernacles.

The three great annual gatherings of Israel were Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles.

"Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:" (Deuteronomy 16:16)

First we are delivered from wrath and commence our Christian discipleship—Passover.
Then we learn to serve Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and to walk in righteousness and holiness in the Spirit—Pentecost.

Finally we are ready for the Father and the Son to come into us in a far greater way than we have known and to make us an abode in the Father's House—Tabernacles.

"Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." (John 14:23)

John 14:23 describes the new covenant fulfillment of the Jewish feast of Tabernacles, of Leviticus 23:33-43. Note (above): "If a man love me; will love him ; come to him ; make our abode with him."

"Tabernacles" always is an individual experience because it is an exchange and expression of love between Christ and the believer.

Jesus does not come to them but to him. When each of the believers has been prepared as the dwelling place of the Father it will be time for them, as we read in John 17:21-23. As was true of Solomon's Temple, the living stones will be fashioned precisely and completely "at the quarry."

When the appointed hour has arrived for the stones to come together to form the Father's House, it will not be necessary to do any trimming or adjusting. The Body of Christ will flow together by the power of the Spirit at one sovereign Word from the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Bride of the Lamb will be completely mature, in perfect unity, without wrinkle, spot, or any blemish of any kind whatever.

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman." (John 15:1)
The Father does not want any more vines. He does not want any more christs.
There is one Lord Jesus Christ. He is the true Vine, and the only Vine God will bless. He is the eternal House of God, the perfect and complete expression of God's Person, love, and will.

R. Thompson

Not Fear, But Truth For Those That Are Hid In Christ

“Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of Jehovah come upon you, before the day of Jehovah's anger come upon you. Seek ye Jehovah, all ye meek of the earth, that have kept his ordinances; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye will be hid in the day of Jehovah's anger.” (Zephaniah 2:2-3)

I can not keep silent any longer....I will have to let the chips fall where they do. Look what has already started, undermining Biblical warnings of the last days, and shaming any that would speak of such things. I was sent this email "forward" today, it was sent out to encourage Christians the day after the elections. Here is the opening quote from the email:

“Dear Friends,

For months now my email Inbox has been besieged by nearly hysterical warnings about what will happen if Barack Obama becomes President. I have been encouraged to be worried, afraid, concerned, prepared for disaster, and a whole host of other maladies if this happens. I do not deny the importance of this election, but it seems to me that we need a dose of perspective. So here, on the day after the election, I would like to start my own email concerning this election. It's a "True/False" test. I'd like for all of us to take it. Feel free to email it on to whomever:”

Then it precedes with a dozen or so questions asking was God still in control...were we still to be good Christian...saving the lost..and so on...And I believe his conclusion was....don't worry any more we may not like it, but we will be ok because God is still in control.

It is not for fear that we warn, it is the pure word of God going forth to prepare his people for what is coming.

Was Jesus spreading fear when he told the disciples the truth? He told them they would be hated...they would be persecuted....they would be killed....there would be earthquakes...there would be famine…..there would be a false Christ arise to the most powerful position in the world and the whole world would wonder after him....he would come to fix (or should I say "heal") the problems of the world. Jesus said not to be deceived by him....Jesus warned us to watch and pray...to be ready to "flee to the mountains" when we saw these things BEGIN to happen! He said you know the seasons, when the weather was changing by watching for the signs, he said in the same way you should know when the time of the end was at hand. How dare us if we do not warn others!

When Jesus warned of these things, was he afraid God would not be in control? Does God still love us and is he still in control while many are being killed for being obedient to him and for following him? Let me tell you folks! God is not so interested in our comfy little lives we have here on this earth, he is far more concerned with our spiritual life and where we will spend eternity. All else pales in comparison. As long as we know that we are in God's will and are obedient to him....we can have the faith to go through anything!!! There is no hopeless fear in this...if we KNOW our God.....We don't have to put our head in the sand and ignore the truth of God's word....or try to twist it around to fit our own idea of what is right, just to make us feel better!

God is God! He told us these things so we would not be fooled into following the anti-Christ! He told us these things so we would not doubt his hand is still on us even in the worst of times. He told us these things so we would not be caught up in the things of this world. He told us these things so we would not trust in ANY man to SAVE us. He told us these things so that we would have only ONE KING, the Lord Jesus Christ. We do not have duel citizenships; our citizenship is in the Kingdom of God alone!

I am not saying Obama is the man of sin spoken of in scripture, but I would not be foolish enough to say that he is not. He is the most obvious candidate for that position this world has ever seen to date. I believe it is God’s mercy that he is so obvious to those that know scripture to wake them up and drop the “I’ll fly away before it gets bad” deception. And drop to their knees and seek God for some REAL answers.

OH People I would that I could shake you out of your slumber!

And I heard the Lord say: "Alas there is a shaking coming…and for mercy I will do this thing. Tribulation will come to my house first. Through the fire you will be purified. It is coming and not many days off, I tell you these things so you will know and not be deceived. You must learn to lean on me and no one else, for there is no other way for my people to enter in except through me."

Articles

Can You Handle the Truth?

The Sovereignty of God in Our Lives

Let Us Go Up To The Mountain Of The Lord

The Glory

Learning To Be Taught of the Lord

Alien and A Peculiar People

Praying In The Name Of Jesus

Not Fear, But Truth For Those That Are Hid In Christ

Keeping Your Eye Single

Stand before the Lord

The Glory

Deceiving....and Being Deceived

Eye On The Prize

His Voice and Not Another

"Come to the Mountain"...Hid In Christ

We Shall See Him As He Is

The Mystery That Was Hid in God

Members in Particular

An Urgent Word to Prepare

Was It Really God that Got Saved?

He that restraineth......restraineth no more!

The Mystery that was hid in God

The First Principles of Christ

Keeping Your Eye Single

Reading in Mathew the 6th chapter….

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”
(Matthew 6:19-24, 31-34)

These are the words of our Lord. It is his instructions on how we are to live our lives if we are to follow him. It should be obvious to us that the Lord did not want us to be wrapped up in the things of the world. John 17:16 he says, “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” Whether we are willing to live this way or not tells us a lot about our commitment to the Lord and the attitudes of our hearts. Are we willing to follow hard after our Lord at the cost of everything?

We don’t hear the song “I surrender all” sang much any more. Just like the rich young ruler, there is far too much to surrender. Many would much rather hear that God has blessed them with everything they have and therefore he would never ask them to give anything up or trust that when we might lose some of the comforts of this world, it is still God that is in control and directing our lives. Paul warned about our time in 2 Timothy 4:3-4: “For the time will come when they will not endure the sound doctrine; but, having itching ears, will heap to themselves teachers after their own lusts; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside unto fables.” These are the teachers who are “…..destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.” (1 Timothy 6:5)

The true message of the Gospel is preached very little today. People don’t want to hear about dying to self and picking up our cross to follow the Lord. They don’t want to hear that those who truly follow the Lord will care very little for the things of this world. Preachers who are after large crowds can not afford to preach the truth. And by now most don’t even remember what the true Gospel of the Kingdom is. These words of Jesus’ are foreign to most who would call themselves Christians.

But the truth is, if we are to be true followers of Christ, our lives are no longer our own, we have been bought with a price and we are his to do with according to HIS purposes, not ours. (1Cr 6:20, Rom 8:28, Eph 1:5, Eph 1:11)

If the truth be known….most do not trust God to provide for them as he said in Mathew chapter 6. And in the same way they do not trust Him with their spiritual life either.

If we cannot grasp these things now, how will we be able to suffer for the Lord? “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” (2 Timothy 3:12). “Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” (Revelation 2:10) How will we be able to trust our lifes to him, even if it means death?

Let us look at the parallel between taking care of our physical needs and our spiritual needs.

Jesus said not to worry about money, what we would eat or what we have to wear. He said that was His responsibility. He is able to give to us what is needed according to his purposes, whether it is a job to help support our needs or a raven dropping food to us as He did for Elijah (1Kings 17:4). Our eye….our focus, is to be on the Lord and not on the needs of this world.

In the same way, our “self” righteousness is of no value either. It is not about what we do in our own strength. It is the power of the Holy Spirit that conforms us in to the image of Christ. (Romans 8:29) “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” This is why it can be said in 1 John 4:17 “…. we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.” It is impossible for us to do this in our own strength, but the “Just shall live by faith” and “all things are possible with God”

The Kingdom of God is not what “we” can do for the Lord….it is all about HIM. If he so chooses to take these vessels of clay and use them for his glory, they belong to him to do the works as he pleases…..it is only at his choosing and it will be him that performs the works in us….so no flesh can glory! In the mean time…..we are only to follow hard after him…spending time with him…learning about him…..knowing him…..hearing his voice…..and loving him with everything in us! This is striving to enter into the Sabbath rest of the Lord. Ceasing from our own works and allowing Him to take the reins of our life, bringing us into the very imagine of Christ.

Hebrews the 4th chapter tells us about this rest.
"There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.

Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." (Hebrews 4:9-11) This is the only “labor” that is required of us!

When Christ was on the cross, paying the price for our sins, He said, “It is finished”….no other sin offering would ever be needed….no other ritual….no other tradition of men and no other works of our flesh would be needed because.….IT IS FINISHED!

The only thing required is our eye is to be single and fixed on him……to fellowship with him….to be in his will…In no other place is there freedom. Complete trust in him as we give him our all. Whether we live…we live unto him….whether we die….we die in him.


Our eye is to be single…..as He brings us to the place where we have but one true desire…and that is to follow hard after thee, O Lord…in Him we have fullness of life…He will complete the work He began in us…..as we seek Him with our whole heart. Our true desire is to be conformed into his very image. Only he can perform this work in us…so no man can boast. It is not our good works, trying to “put off” sins in our own strength. These works done in our flesh is only wood hay and stubble and will be burned up in the fire of God…..for there is NONE good but the father! But if we walk in the spirit as he is in the spirit….seated in Heavenly places with him…..we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

Amen! Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus!