You already have it.  Whatever it is you are pressing for in prayer, you already have it available to you.  I’m sure there are a few voices shouting “Amen” to that statement. But unfortunately in the Christian community, experience tells me that there are many more voices sighing in despair that have tried to “believe enough” in the power of their prayers in the past only to be disappointed in the outcome.

So often, dare I say most of the time, people approach God in prayer hoping that if they pray “correctly” they will be successful in getting God to do something for them.  They go through all kinds of mental and emotional gymnastics to make sure that they are in the best position possible to get God on their side and to act according to their desires.

I can relate.  Been there, done that, just didn’t buy any t-shirts!

Wanna know the secret?

It, whatever “it” is, the need that you are wanting met through prayer, has already been met.  Ephesians 1:3 tells us that God has blessed, past tense,  us with every blessing possible.  2 Peter 1:3 says, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him”.

Paul, praying for the church in Ephesus in chapter one of Ephesians did not pray for their needs of health, finances, and the like.  His prayer here, as well as in chapter 3 and in chapter one of Colossians is for the eyes of their hearts to be open to see the immensity of the inheritance that they already have.  Provision for every need is already there.

Here is the key to seeing those blessings in effect in your life on a daily basis.  If you are trying to receive them based on your ability to pray “correctly”, or by making sure that you haven’t done anything wrong to get in the way, or any number of things that you do correctly in order to receive, then according to Paul in chapter 5:4 of Galatians you have essentially blocked your own path. There are two, and only two reasons that we receive blessings and provision from the Lord, and neither one of them has anything to do with your actions or abilities other than to be willing to receiv by faith – that, too, being a gift (Ephesians 2:8).

Number one – His gifts, His blessings, His provision are given solely out of His love for us – not our love for Him.  Have you ever started a prayer session trying to tell God how much you love Him in hopes that your love for Him will move Him to act?  That is not His motivation.  He moves out of His love for you.  Yes, the more you realize His love for you, the more you will love Him, but relax, His provision for you is not based on your love, that, truth be told, can be fickle at times.

Number two – Matthew 6:32 lets us know that He knows what we need to live successfully in this life.  But again, in verse 33 He says to take your eyes off of the need and and know and comprehend His righteousness and all these things will easily be added.  That righteousness is NOT you striving to be righteous by your actions, it is simply receiving, by faith, the gift of righteousness that Jesus earned for you (Romans 5:17).  Yes, it is a gift, not a paycheck.  You didn’t deserve it or earn it.

This is a relationship, so, yes, you do have a part to play.  “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ.  And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.” (2 Corinthians 1;20) (Emphasis mine) It is up to you to acknowledge by faith that He has already said “yes” to every promise and then to proclaim in response, “Amen”, meaning “let it be so.

Understanding Daddy-God’s view of you and what He has already done and given is the key to receiving all that is needed for this life.  It is all there for the receiving,  Instead of focusing your energy on trying to behave good enough or trying to construct the perfect prayer so that you can “get God to do something”, pray for yourself as Paul did in Ephesians 1:17-19, “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.  I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.”

Know that today you are blessed,  Linda