“Loving God, Learning His Word, Living for Christ, Leading Others to do Likewise”

Our Privileged Position in Prayer: A Bible Study

Dear Rehoboth Church Family and Friends,

Here are some addition thoughts regarding our Privileged Position in Prayer that were not included in the message this morning. 

child praying

Jesus Christ is the King of all Creation and unto Him is given all authority. Matthew 28:18:  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.”  The Greek word for power here is exousia which is the same word used in Matthew 7:29: For He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.  Almost all more modern English translations use “authority” to render the meaning of this word. And what a word it is.

The word authority as it was used here in Scripture has become questionable in our day and time.  We see bumper stickers that say things like “Question Authority” and I suppose there is some logic in that when considered from the standpoint of “who says so”.  We have to be careful who we listen to and what we believe don’t we?  Adam and Eve were confronted with this issue in the early pages of the Bible and made the wrong decision which had universal and eternal consequences.  Authority as we find it in the Bible means a legitimate or official right, and mankind was intended to have “authority” or dominion, rule, reign over all the earth.

Genesis 1:26:  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 

So it is only natural that we want to have our own way.  We were created to have it.  Adam was endowed and entrusted with the right and authority to exercise dominion over all of the earth.  It was graciously given to him by God but in that tragic moment when Adam chose his own will over God’s will regarding the one thing God told him he couldn’t do, he legally lost his authority and voluntarily handed it over to the devil.  We have been paying the penalty for that choice ever since

Romans 5:12 NKJV: Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned– 

(At the end of this post, you will see that I’m including the 5th chapter of Romans in a good modern translation and invite you to prayerfully take the time to understand every verse as it applies to what has been done for us through Jesus Christ.)

Now when Adam disobeyed God he obeyed Satan by default, and instead of (becoming like God and enthroning himself, as insinuated by the Serpent, he actually handed the reins as ruler of this earth over to Satan and became enslaved to his demonic/sinful influence and passed it along to us all. 

Romans 3:23:   for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 6:23:  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So we see how the authority over the Kingdom of the Earth was lost.  But through Jesus Christ is regained by all who place their faith and trust in Him.  

Romans 5:15 (NLT2):  But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ.

God still intends for us as His children to have Kingdom Authority, but once legally lost it has to be righteously regained.  God is holy and everything He does has to be right or righteous, above any possible reproach.  If authority is legally lost it must be legally, righteously, rightly regained and this was only possible by the sacrifice of the Lamb of God which was slain before the foundation of the world, Who we know as our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

What this means to us regarding how we should approach prayer is that through the blood of Jesus Christ we can come boldly… come boldly because we are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: (1 Peter 2:9).     I am, You are, all believers are… Children of The King and that comes with abundant privileges that we can’t afford to ignore.  

In 1989 Mary Ann and I moved to Memphis, TN when I worked for the Chesapeake Corporation.  We bought a home in the country outside of the city and needed to build a dog pen for our dog.  I was laying it out and a neighbor (older/retired) came over from across the field, introduced himself, and asked me if I needed any help.  Not knowing the man, and not wanting him to have to use posthole diggers, I thanked him and told him that I appreciated his offer but figured I could handle it myself.  After chatting a few minutes he left and I went back to work. 

The way I laid out the pen required digging 12 post holes 8 feet apart with an extra one for the gate.  What I didn’t know (but my neighbor did) was that the ground was mostly clay and hard as a rock in dry weather.  It took me about 3 hours to get the first 6 holes dug and I knocked off for the day.  The next day I went up to the local store and my new neighbor was there and asked me how I was getting along and I told him.   

When I got back home and started to work on the dog pen, here he came across the field on his tractor with an auger on the back of it and we dug all the rest of the holes in about 45 minutes.  If I had known what resources this man had at his disposal, ready, willing and able to commit on my behalf, I would have taken him up on his generous offer and accomplished that task more efficiently/effectively, and with a lot less toil and trouble.

Here’s the point:  Our heavenly Father graciously offers to help us and bless us with resources exceeding abundantly above all that we could ever ask or think, and yet we are reluctant to take Him up on His offer.  Offers like this one:

John 15:7-8:   7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

The more we exercise our Privileged Position in Prayer as disciples of Christ, children of God, joint-heirs with Christ, subjects of the Kingdom of His Light and Love… the more we receive, and the more glory we bring to God.  

Hebrews 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Prayer – Heavenly Father help us to remember who we are and what we have When We Pray… because of Who Jesus Is.  Amen. 

I hope you all have a great week, 

Pastor Steve,
John 2:5b

Additional Reading:

I think this is one of the most powerful and life-changing chapters in the New Testament. 

Romans 5:1-21 (NLT2) 1  Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2  Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. 3  We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4  And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5  And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. 6  When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7  Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8  But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9  And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10  For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. 11  So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. 12  When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. 13  Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. 14  Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come. 15  But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. 16  And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17  For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ. 18  Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. 19  Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous. 20  God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. 21  So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Posted in

Pastor Steve Via

Recent Posts

Categories

Subscribe!