Prayer of Prosperity and Protection

Prayer of Prosperity and Protection

Genesis 24: ⁵⁹ So they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant and his men. ⁶⁰ And they blessed Rebekah and said to her:

 

“Our sister, may you become
The mother of thousands of ten thousands;
And may your descendants possess
The gates of those who hate them.”

 

⁶¹ Then Rebekah and her maids arose, and they rode on the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed.

 

============

 

Nervous and saddened to see Rebekah leave, Laban and his mother wished her farewell. Her departure plans came up quickly and they had no time to prepare. They offered up a prayer of prosperity and protection.

 

My Observations:

• Laban and his mother placed Rebekah in GOD’s hands by saying a prayer over her.
• Laban and his mother agreed with Abraham’s prophecy and prayed that she fulfills it.
• Laban and his mother may have followed GOD all their lives, so they gave Rebekah their best, namely prayer.

 

Speaking prosperity and protection over someone is not a bad thing, but the enemy tries to mix in greed and lust for power into it, confusing followers of CHRIST. Laban and his mother simply agreed with the prophecy of Abraham as told by GOD. Rebekah would become the mother of many nations, just like Sarah.

 

I believe it was JESUS who told Abraham this prophecy and in it, HE promised blessings. But Laban and his mother knew the enemy would attack. They prayed for protection against those who hate people who follow CHRIST, not in a political way, but in a relationship way.

 

Challenge

• Why does GOD tell Moses about this prayer?
• Has GOD promised you something that has not come to fruition yet?
• Instead of giving up, will you look at the situation differently, renewing your trust that GOD keeps HIS promises?

 

Prayer

Dear LORD, please bless this reader with the plan you have for him or her. Plans to “prosper” and not to harm. Plans to give a “Hope” and a “future.” Pleas protect this reader from themselves and those who a purposefully trying to cause harm. amen

Odor Removed

Odor Removed

Revelation 8: ³ Another angel, who had a gold incense container, came and stood at the altar. He was given a lot of incense to add to the prayers of all God's people and to offer it on the gold altar that stands before the throne. ⁴ The smoke of the burning incense went up with the prayers of God's people from the hands of the angel standing before God. ⁵ Then the angel took the incense container, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it on the earth. There were rumblings and peals of thunder, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

 

============

 

Enraged at a neighbor, a sibling and I went close to the kid’s house. He wore a brace to straighten his legs and was limited to his yard. He kept saying the most irritating things. We caved in to his taunts and decided to threaten him, from across the fence between us. Later in life, I talked to him and realized he was a great person.

 

• I was mad at him and did not want the best for him.
• I heard hurtful things, and wanted him hurt.
• I did not have the right words to pray, or the right attitude.

 

John, the disciple JESUS loved, saw another angel who received a gold incense container. The angel mixed the incense with the prayers of GOD’s people, probably to make the ugliest prayers into something fragrant to GOD. Both the incense and the prayers were added to the altar and offered to GOD as a burnt offering, similar to the sacrifice of an old testament  lamb to cleanse sin.

 

My Observations:

• GOD knows when I pray with the wrong motive.
• GOD knows when I pray selfish prayers.
• GOD loves when my prayers are purified by HIS SON’s forgiveness.

 

Even my prayers can stink! I mean, in the moment of hurt or anger, I may not be willing or able to be as forgiving as GOD. I may want my enemies hurt or at least, taught a lesson. I may put some things before GOD that truly stinks and needs cleansing. GOD accounted for that.

 

HE takes the prayers I pray with the right motive and mixed it in with my prayers that may have a selfish motive and cleanses them to be acceptable to HIM. HE knows the root of the prayer and also knows that HE wants all people saved. HE sees those who have tried to harm other people on purpose and has a plan for that. My job is to align my prayers to GOD’s desires.

 

Challenge

• Do you think the prayers of GOD’s people that the writer mentions, contain words of hurt from people who do not know GOD and caused harm on purpose?
• What result do you notice?
• Will you align your prayers to the example of JESUS, who cared for HIS enemies and said “FATHER, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing?”

Available Power

Available Power

James 5: ¹⁶ So then, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you will be healed. The prayer of a good person has a powerful effect. ¹⁷ Elijah was the same kind of person as we are. He prayed earnestly that there would be no rain, and no rain fell on the land for three and a half years. ¹⁸ Once again he prayed, and the sky poured out its rain and the earth produced its crops.

 

============

 

Thinking I was by myself, I came up with plans to address my problems. Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my chest. I couldn’t even breathe deeply. I called a coworker over to my apartment. He asked questions that showed he was nervous about the situation too. I began to pray because I did not know what to do. Suddenly I felt better. I went to the doctor and they could not find out what was wrong.

 

• I was scared.
• I was in pain.
• I did not know how to “fix” this.

 

James says some difficult words to hear. “Confess your sins to one another.” He implies that some, not all, ailments could be manifested by sin. He provides a remedy, namely prayer.

 

My Observations:

• Confession of my sins relieves me of guilt that could cause me to lose sleep.
• Turning away from my sins enables me to rest better because my conscience is clear.
• Asking GOD to intervene when someone tells me about his or her sins, is more powerful than gossip.

 

Praying seems weak but is extremely powerful. I mean, when I humble myself before GOD, HE is willing to listen. HE knows when I am too proud or too hateful to place things before HIM correctly. HE also knows when I am forcing HIS hand to get “my” way. BUT GOD is merciful.

 

HE brings to mind the things I need to confess and gives me an opportunity to say, “I need help with this.” HE is willing to help me when I ask for help. HE is delighted when I tell others I need help in an area of my life. HE then surrounds me with the right people to guide me back to HIM. I am glad HE is willing to heal me and put me back on the right path.

 

Challenge

• Why does the writer mention confession when he later talks about being healed?
• Do you believe in the power of prayer?
• Why don’t you get your way all the time?
• Wil you tap into the power of prayer by confessing and talking to GOD on someone else’s behalf today?

Pray, pray, pray, pray, pray!

Ephesians 6: ¹⁸ Do all this in prayer, asking for God's help. Pray on every occasion, as the Spirit leads. For this reason keep alert and never give up; pray always for all God's people. ¹⁹ And pray also for me, that God will give me a message when I am ready to speak, so that I may speak boldly and make known the gospel's secret. ²⁰ For the sake of this gospel I am an ambassador, though now I am in prison. Pray that I may be bold in speaking about the gospel as I should.

 

============

 

Being on my own, I chose to stop praying. “What good is saying the LORD’s prayer anyway?” I said to myself. I wanted to just have “fun.” As things got worse and worse, I revisited prayer.

 

• I only prayed when I wanted something.
• I had stopped believing in prayer, because things were not going “my” way.
• I did not feel the need for prayer when I was in the middle of doing what “I” wanted to do.

 

Paul gives everyone several reasons to pray. He ties prayer to “building up your strength” and “Standing ready” as he mentioned earlier while urging us to put on the whole armor of GOD. Do all this in prayer.

 

My Observations

• Prayer helps me communicate with GOD to place my desires before HIM.
• Prayer guides me to a better place when led by the HOLY SPIRIT.
• Prayer gets other people involved to ask GOD to reveal HIS mighty power.

 

Usually prayer is the last resort when it should be the first. I mean, asking GOD for permission, direction and success seems like the right thing to do. Unfortunately, I have the tendency to start doing what “I” want to do and when it is a mess, ask GOD to fix it.

 

Prayer is a time to change “my” mind versus trying to get GOD to do something HE does not want to do. HE gracefully reveals the “gospel’s secret” and enables anyone who asks to become an ambassador for HIM. HIS SPIRIT shows me that HE can never be constrained. I am thankful GOD wants to communicate with me all day every day.

 

Challenge

• What different ways to pray do you see in the writers words?
• How is the SPIRIT leading you?
• Have you validated your desires by asking GOD “Is this what YOU want me to do?”
• Will you place every situation, thing and person, including yourself, before GOD in prayer today?

Assigning Fragrance

Assigning Fragrance

2 Corinthians 2: ¹⁴ But thanks be to God! For in union with Christ we are always led by God as prisoners in Christ's victory procession. God uses us to make the knowledge about Christ spread everywhere like a sweet fragrance. ¹⁵ For we are like a sweet-smelling incense offered by Christ to God, which spreads among those who are being saved and those who are being lost. ¹⁶ For those who are being lost, it is a deadly stench that kills; but for those who are being saved, it is a fragrance that brings life. Who, then, is capable for such a task? ¹⁷ We are not like so many others, who handle God's message as if it were cheap merchandise; but because God has sent us, we speak with sincerity in his presence, as servants of Christ.

 

============

 

“This stinks!” was my exclamation as I took out the garbage as a teen. On my trek to the garbage cans, the heavy bag broke, leaving a wake of rotting eggshells, festering meat and putrid vegetables. My exclamation was not a description, rather it was a cry of frustration. It was freezing cold, dark and I wanted to be in bed. Instead, now I had to shovel up filth on a task I didn’t want to do in the first place!

 

• I have said “This stinks” when I felt something was not fair.
• I have said “This stinks” when I did not like what was going on around me.
• I have said “This stinks” when I thought someone was trying to dupe me or make me do something they should be doing!

 

Paul exclaims “Thanks be to GOD!” as he describes his “prisoner” relationship with JESUS. He knew the world would not choose a lifestyle that would follow JESUS, rather it seeks to indulge in its pleasures as a prize. He gives two fragrances; one that is sweet smelling and one that stinks. Both smells are assigned to what JESUS did.

 

My Observations

• GOD wants me to view what HE did for me as a gift to be thankful for.
• GOD wants me to see opportunity in being in union with JESUS.
• GOD wants me to treat HIS message as precious versus a set of rules that seem to be a barrier to my “fun.”

 

Assigning a fragrance to JESUS is done daily. I mean, when I choose to blatantly sin, I am saying “YOUR rule stinks” to GOD. Fortunately, GOD overlooks my sins when I recognize I need JESUS in my life to forgive me of all my sins. What JESUS did for me is amazing!

 

This is a “sweet-smelling incense” to me because I am truly forgiven. I place my life as a “prisoner” to JESUS, looking away from a life of indulgence to that of handling GOD’s message as precious. I am grateful it is not “my” message that saves people, rather the message of JESUS being raised from the dead that should be a sweet-smell to people.

 

Challenge

• Have you ever assigned a smell to a task or action of a person?
• What smell did the writer assign to JESUS?
• Do you find yourself in a battle to “live for CHRIST?”
• Will you become a sweet-smelling fragrance to GOD by spreading the life-bringing message of JESUS to anyone who will hear you today?