Positioned to Soar VI: Focusing Your
Appeal to God
Isaiah
40:31; Isaiah 38:2
This
message is about prayer as an appeal worth directing only to God. Because you have a right of appeal no matter the
badness of the situation, it is not the end of story. The Bible promises that they that wait upon
the Lord shall soar like eagles (Isaiah 40:31). To wait upon is to bind
together, to expect from, to look to, to call on and to wait patiently for
(Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary).
The
previous message on focusing your anchor was about your faith in God. This
message on focusing your appeal is about your prayer to God. Prayer is an expression of faith. You pray to the one who holds and provides
your anchor. Anchors whose chains, pulleys etc are badly serviced and applied
fail to hold. Prayer services and activates your faith.
Lessons
from court cases include that both the accuser and the accused have opportunity
to give evidence. As a believer, you have an accuser and the evidence you give
is the word of God that spells out your rights and privileges. Faced with hard
times, do not just cry to God give reasons/evidence to support your case. A
case can be lost on grounds of poor evidence. Another lesson is not to
contradict your advocate/lawyer (your Baxter). The Lord Jesus is your advocate interceding
for you. In your evidence, do not contradict the grace he has provided in his
death and resurrection. As your
advocate, Jesus interrogates the accusers and their witnesses on your behalf
concerning your past sins and brings in the witness of his blood shed at
Calvary. Another lesson is that you
respond to the judge not to the accuser. They always refer to ‘My Lady’ or ‘My
Lord’. Another lesson is that your whole life is brought to testify – even your
private SMSes going back for years. How you conduct our overall lives matters
in our presentation of our case before God.
Something also interesting is that at the end of a trial the accused has
the right to appeal to a higher authority if they are unhappy with the judgement
in a court. To appeal is placing trust in the higher authority to be competent
and fair to help. The person appeals to a higher authority when unable to undo
a prevailing situation on his/her own.
To appeal is an acknowledgement of need for help.
Whom
do you appeal to when unhappy with something/unfairly treated by people or
circumstances? Is it your mother, your totem, legendary big aunt, ancestors,
yourself or its God? Life does not always give opportunity to appeal if you are
unhappy with the way things are. The good news is that if you are unhappy and
contesting the verdict on your wellbeing or other life issues by your
background, or some people, you can escalate the case to the most high court.
Making appeals is a large part of what prayer is about. To appeal is to
formally request for someone better able to intervene in your adverse
situation. Prayer is making an appeal to God, the highest authority.
In
making an appeal, you provide reasons for the appeal and evidence that the
court can use as a basis to review the previous ruling. As a believer, you also
provide God with material of prayer and his word for him to use in your
situation just as a person who makes an appeal provides evidence the higher
authority uses to review their case. A friend told the story of a sculptor who
carried a large stone. When asked what he was carrying the sculptor responded
that he was carrying an eagle. People
could not understand him. Some even thought he had lost his mind. He however
insisted that he was carrying an eagle. In due course, he took his chisel and
began to work on the stone and before long; everyone could see the eagle take
shape. They then understood what he meant. They could now see what he was
seeing in the stone before it came to being. Your life is a stone in the hands
of God. He sees an eagle in you and he is bringing it out. All he needs is the
chisel of prayer from you and his word in you.
When you wait on God through praying and storing his word in your heart,
you provide him with the material he needs to transform your stony rugged life
into a soaring eagle. With each prayer,
the Sculptor applies the chisel on your life to bring out the eagle he alone
was seeing so all can also see.
Remember
the following:
1) You are not alone. God is with you
(Hebrews 13:5). Therefore, make use of help that is available. Know what you want
(Luke 18:41; Nehemiah 1). When you know what you want you will know when it is
done. What is the appeal? If you do not
have a clarity, the judge will not take your case in. Then do something. The
barest you can always do which, thank God, and no one can take from you, is to
pray. Do not be silent. God knows what you need. God knows what you are passing
through, and will not ignore your prayer (Jeremiah 33:3).
You
have access to the highest port of appeal that is why you should just focus on
exercising your privilege. Prayer is often the most underutilised resource at
the disposal of believers. God knows what you need. God will not come late into
your situation. He will come through. Make up your mind not to be
discouraged. Calling on God and
trusting him can become something you do not have to work out. You do not need
a checklist of steps to live out. It can become your first response that just
happens because it is so entrenched in your way of life.
>>Pray apostolically. Apostolic
prayers establish believers in faith and fruitfulness. They lay a
biblical/spiritual foundation, produced transformation, imparted strength, and
sought clarity of purpose. They answer questions such as; would you reveal who you
are, would you show me who I am, please evaluate how I am doing, let me see
what you are doing and what do you want me to do. They are ‘show me’ and ‘make
me’ kind of prayers. Paul’s prayers are a good example (Ephesians 1:15-20;
Colossians 1:9-15). His prayers sought to establish believers in understanding
God’s provisions and their identity in him.
>>Pray prophetically. Prophetic
prayers are spirit led and word rich.
The prayers are declarations of faith that involves pronouncing things
that are a reality in the Spirit and God’s word as though they are. Pronouncing
what God is saying or has said. The prayers speak spiritual realities into
natural manifestation. Know when to stop asking and start receiving by faith.
Know when to stop confessing sin and start confessing faith and hope. Know when
to stop mourning and start rejoicing in praise. Let thanksgiving dominate (Philippians
4:6-8). Prophetic prayers focus on Jesus and his redemptive work. They say how
much you thank him and love him. God’s heart is good ground. He sows seed of
his word in our hearts that may be rocky, thorny and wayside (Mathew 13). We
sow seed of prayer in his heart that is good soil and guarantees God fold
result.
>>Pray developmentally. Developmental prayers
show a learning progression where you deliberately employ all kinds of prayer
and deepen the quality of your prayer so that you are constantly getting better
and growing in the area of prayer. Seek
to improve all the time. Developmental prayers are unceasing (1 Thessalonians
5:17). Pray more and richer because you convinced your answer is only a prayer
away.
2) Its not the end of story. Whatever your
situation God alone has the final say. Understand that its not over until God
says so, until the process is over. If
episode one ends with you down and under, wait for the next
episode. Through prayer you can
reassess, review or reverse any verdict and label you got. He reassesses and
overrides every other decision. You can cry to the Lord with your voice and he
will hear you from his holy throne. Hannah appealed for a child and God granted
her request (1 Samuel 1). Jabez was born in pain and disadvantaged but he
appealed to God. He called on the Lord and his request to be blessed, for
enlarged territory, for anointing and for protection was granted (1 Chronicles
4:10). Esther and Mordecai appealed to God and in a dramatic turn of events
God’s people were spared from the gallows and extinction (Esther).
The
daughters of Zelophahad were able to get their portion against the odds (Joshua
17:3-4). According to Jewish culture,
the inheritance went to the sons. But since their father did not have sons they
had appealed to Moses and to God and were promised their father’s inheritance
(Numbers 27:1-7). Therefore, they refused to be left out. Instead, they
remembered the word of God and demanded to be counted in. They remembered that
God kept his promise. He watched over his word to fulfil it. They went to Joshua,
claimed their inheritance, and received their portion. Jesus has died for you
to eliminate all the conditions that would disqualify you. God’s word is able
to give you the inheritance. Rise up and make your claim.
3) You will be/are amazed. In his time, God comes through and you will
be amazed at his speed, provision and power. He will reverse, restore or resurrect in your favor as necessary. He will not be late. When it seemed impossible and far fetched
suddenly he comes, for he is a God of suddenlies.. You are marked for God’s
suddenlies. The effective prayer of the righteous produces power (James
5:16-18). Prayer has to make things happen otherwise its empty religion. It
transforms, anoints, and reveals something of God. Cultivate the power of prayer by cultivating
your relationship with God – learning to listen, obey and follow closely. Practical righteousness gives power to
prayer. Jesus prayed a short prayer to raise Lazarus from the dead. Elijah
prayed a short prayer to bring down fire that consumed the sacrifice soaked in
water.
When
Hezekiah was on his deathbed sick as is written, ‘In those days was Hezekiah
sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said
unto him, Thus saith the LORD , Set thine house in order : for thou shalt die ,
and not live.’ Instead of polishing up his will and preparing for his funeral
he turned his face toward the wall , and prayed unto the LORD and God reviewed the earlier word and added
fifteen years to his life (Isaiah 38) .
When
Peter was in prison the saints gathered and appealed to God (Acts 12:1-16).
Suddenly God visited Peter who was next on the death row and set him free from
prison. When you appeal to God, he will shake your prison as well as your
jailor. Also Paul and Silas (Acts 16)
God will also hear your appeals. Prayer
is giving up self-effort. Instead of relying on self-effort, you concentrate on
relaying faith, praise and dominion to God.
Jesus appealed to God in the garden of Gesthemene and was raised from
the dead. The disciples slept in the garden when Jesus was praying. They chose
sleep over vigilance. It is no wonder
that within a few hours Peter betrayed his Lord and the rest of them deserted
their Lord. If you have you been
sleeping in the garden. It is time to rise up. Let your voice of appeal be
heard in heaven. Rebuild the altars that
are broken down. Reignite altars that
now only have ashes and no fire. .
Message by Dr. Kurai Chitima.
South Africa
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