TBW National Prayer Call Newsletter by Jennifer Keitt

TBW National Prayer Call Newsletter 14‐Weeks Of Powerful Praying JUNE—SEPTEMBER 2010, Volume 4

TBW PRAYER TEAM Minister KATHY PAIGE SANDY HARTGENS DEBORAH MYLES MELINDA DYKSTRA

PRAYING GOD’S PROMISES BY JENNIFER KENNEDY‐DEAN, www.prayinglife.org A PROMISE is only as good as the person who makes it. The character of the promiser is what gives the promise its value. As we learn to pray God’s promises, the starting point is the nature of God. The essence of God’s character is in itself a promise. Who He is determines what He will do and how He will act. Through the Scripture, each time God reveals something of His nature, He is promising us that He will be true to that nature in any circumstance. Sometimes the promises of God don’t come packaged in declarative statements, but instead are implied in the revelation of His being.

IRISH TUCKER VICTORIA JACKSON SUZETTE ELEAM

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PRAYING GOD’S PROMISES (continued) “There’s a difference between believing in an outcome and hav‐ ing faith in God” God has always dealt with His people by communicating promises to them.

His promises act to bind our hearts to His. His promises turn our eyes toward Him.

By promising first, then performing what He has promised, He awakens in us the desire and expectation that find their outlet in the prayer of faith. His promises prompt prayer.

Many people have been disappointed when they have prayed God’s promises and then did not experience what they believed God had promised. Maybe you have had that experience. If so, you are not alone.

I might illustrate that process like this. Recently, I saw an ad in a magazine for noise-cancelling headphones. Until seeing that ad, I had no desire for noise-cancelling headphones. I did not experience the lack of noise-cancelling headphones in my life. But once I knew they were available, I began to desire them. I began to notice how loud the world was and to imagine how it might be if only I had noisecancelling headphones. Knowing they were available awakened in me the desire to possess them. Knowing where to find them motivated me to seek them out. God makes promises to us for much the same reason. He is letting us know what He has available if only we will ask. His promises are meant to ignite faith and expectation and desire, and then to point us to Him.

PRAYING TO OVERCOME DEPRESSION God is the answer to a life in despair. Psalm 43:5, Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Let me suggest some things for you to consider.

Psalm 46:1, God is our refuge and strength, an ever‐present help in trouble.

First, remember that there is a difference between believing in an outcome and having faith in God.

2 Corinthians 4:16, Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

I have discovered in myself the tendency to decide what God should do, then construe a promise so that it matches my expectation. I might pray that promise, with the subtext being my definition of how that promise should impact my situation. Over all the years that the Lord has had me in His school of prayer, a lesson that I have to keep learning at deeper levels is how to let the Word of God speak to me without my preconceived expectations being imposed on it.

God understands despair. Psalm 18:28, You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. Psalm 38:9, All my longings lie open before you, O Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you. Job 23:10, But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. There is hope in God. Psalm 16:8, I have set the Lord al‐ ways before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Hebrews 12:2, Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

SELF‐EXAMINATION & PRAYER! BY IRISH TUCKER We should pray for God to search us and try us.

PRAYING THE PROMISES OF GOD (con’t) For example, suppose that someone felt a strong desire to be married. Certainly there is nothing wrong with that. But let’s imagine that person picks out a promise like “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Ps. 37:4). The person says, “The desire of my heart is a spouse. If the Lord is true to His promises, then He will give me a spouse.” Here I believe is the misunderstanding: we tend to mistake the desire of the moment for the desire of the heart. God created the desire of our hearts and He knows it better than we do. In this case, the desire of the heart is for companionship and intimacy. Often, God fills part of that desire with a spouse. However, all married people will agree, if they are honest, that a spouse does not fill that need fully. A spouse is not the desire of that person’s heart. Rather, a spouse is one means for fulfilling that desire. God wants to fulfill the desire of

your heart. A person who is seasoned in praying the promises knows to let God fulfill the desire of your heart in His way at His time. If prayer is focused on the subtext we have imposed on the promise, then we might experience disappointment. If, instead, we are focused on God, then we will never be disappointed.

Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me, Cross‐ examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I'm about; See for Yourself whether I've done any‐ thing wrong‐then guide me on the road to eternal life. Psalm 139:23‐ 24 (MSG) We should pray for cleansing from sin. Soak me in your laundry and I'll come out clean, scrub me and I'll have a snow‐white life. Psalm 51:7 (MSG) Clean the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh! Keep me from stupids sins, from thinking I take over Your work; Then I can start this day sun‐washed, scrubbed clean of the grime of sin. These are the words in my mouth; these are what I chew on and pray. Ac‐ cept them when I place them on the morning alter, O God my Al‐ tar Rock, God, Priest‐of‐ my Al‐ tar. Psalm 19:12‐14 (MSG)

We should pray for God's Spirit to create in us a pure heart. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10 (KJV) We should pray that God will keep us from desiring, speaking, or do‐ ing any evil: Don't let me so much as dream of evil or thoughtlessly fall into bad company. And these people who only do wrong‐don't let them lure me with their sweet talk! Psalm 141:4 (MSG) We should pray for God to guard our mouth. Take control of what I say, O lord, and guard my lips. Psalm 141:3 (NLT) We should pray to hate what God hates and to rid ourselves of those things He hates. These are six things the Lord hates‐ no, seven things he detests: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, a heart that plots evil, feet that races to do wrong, a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family. Proverbs 6:17‐19 (NLT)

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Deuteronomy 6:6‐7, These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. (NIV)

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TBW Prayer Newsletter VOLUME 4

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Jennifer Keitt, Teaching Pastor TBW National Prayer Call Newsletter P.O. BOX 440981 KENNESAW, GA 30160 770‐966‐5225 ph www.jenniferkeitt.com