Author Archives: Drew Haninger

Let Christ Be Our Life

John 17:3 “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
Coloss 3:3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Coloss 3:4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

Christ wants to be our Life.  We seem to want to let Christ be our life when we need help or we are in trouble.  But He (that is Christ) wants to be the “life” that lives in us.  So He initiates, He moves, and we just follow.

It seems we live most of our life independent from Him, and then use Him when we are in trouble or our emotions are low.   Let us let Him live and move in us.

Amen

Where is the God of Elijah?

In Hebrews it says: Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever.  Our God is everlasting, He does not change.  But people ask “Where is the God of Elijah?”.    He is still here, just waiting for His people to obey, believe and pray.  That’s all that Elijah did in 1 Kings 18, he just obeyed God, then he believed God, then he just prayed.  His prayer was based on what God said, that caused him to believe and have faith in God.

Hebrews 13:8 tells us, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

Psalms 24:7 Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.
Psalms 24:9 Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.
Psalms 41:13 Blessed be the LORD God of Israel From everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen.
Psalms 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
Psalms 93:2 Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting.

 

Someone Help Me Pray – the Spirit

Someone help me pray when I don’t know how to pray.  I need words, but I only have a few feelings.  What do I say, what do I pray.  Sometimes the best and most honest prayer is to put ourselves before God just as we are, just the way we feel. And then just count on the hidden Spirit of God to come to the rescue.  Let the Spirit figure out what to pray. He knows.  When words appear cold and feeble we need to just count on the hidden and quiet Spirit of God working in our human spirit.  He has words, He has accurate words.

Now that I have said all this, look at these two passages in the Bible.

Zechariah 12:10 “ And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for [his] only [son,] and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. He, that is the Spirit of God gives us a Spirit of grace and supplication, that is gives us “prayer”.

Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Amen

Why Pray when God Already Knows

In Matthew 6, Jesus teaches us to pray “Let Your will (God’s will) be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

A great mystery is right here, why should we pray when God already knows what we need?   God is ready to fulfill his will and purpose, but waits for His people to cooperate with Him in prayer.   God will not move until somebody prays.

With the example of Elijah in 1 Kings 18, God wanted someone to show to the unbelieving world that He, the Lord is God.  It took the obedience and prayers of Elijah to fulfill this.  God could easily have shown the world who He is, but He, that is God, waits for a man on the earth to cooperate with Him.  God loves to work with men in the fulfillment of his will and purpose.

Elijah’s Prayer in First Kings 18

First Kings 18:17 And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Now, art, thou, troubling Israel?   18 And he said–I have not troubled Israel, but, thou and the house of thy father,–in that ye have forsaken the commandments of Yahweh, and followed Baal.   19 Now, therefore, send, gather unto me all Israel, unto Mount Carmel,–and the prophets of Baal, four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the Sacred Stem, four hundred, who do eat at the table of Jezebel.   20 So Ahab sent among all the sons of Israel,–and gathered the prophets unto Mount Carmel.   21 And Elijah drew near unto all the people, and said–How long are ye limping on the two divided opinions? If, Yahweh, be GOD, follow, him, but, if, Baal, follow, him. But the people answered him, not a word.   22 Then said Elijah unto the people–I, am left, Yahweh’s, only, prophet,–but, the prophets of Baal, are four hundred and fifty men.   23 Let there be given us, therefore, two bullocks, and let them choose for themselves one bullock, and cut it in pieces, and lay it upon the wood, but, fire, shall they not put,–then, I, will make ready the other bullock, and place upon the wood, but, fire, will I not put.   24 Then shall ye call on the name of your god, and, I, will call on the name of Yahweh, and it shall be, the God that respondeth by fire, he, is GOD. And all the people responded–Well spoken!   25 Then said Elijah to the prophets of Baal–Choose for yourselves one bullock, and make ye ready, first, for, ye, are many,–and call ye on the name of your god, but, fire, shall ye not put.   26 So they took the bullock which was given them, and made ready, and called on the name of Baal–from the morning even until the noon, saying–O Baal! answer us. But them was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped about by the altar which had been made.  27 And it came to pass, at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said–Cry with a loud voice, for, a god, he is, either he hath, a meditation, or an occasion to retire, or he hath, a journey,–peradventure, he, sleepeth, and must be awaked.   28 And they cried, with a loud voice, and cut themselves, after their custom, with swords, and with lances,–until the blood gushed out upon them.   29And so it was, when noon was passed, that although they prophesied until the offering up of the evening gift, yet was there no voice nor any that answered, nor any that hearkened.   30 Then said Elijah unto all the people: Draw near unto, me. And all the people drew near unto, him. Then repaired he the broken-down altar of Yahweh; yea Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob,–   31 unto whom the word of Yahweh came, saying–Israel, shall be thy name;   32 and built, with the stones, an altar, in the name of Yahweh,–and he made a trench, as large as would contain two measures of seed, round about the altar;   33 and he put in order the wood,–and cut in pieces the bullock, and laid upon the wood. Then said he–Fill four pitchers with water, and pour out upon the ascending-sacrifice, and upon the wood. And they did so.   34 And he said–Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said–Do it the third time. And they did it the third time.   35 And the water ran round about the altar,–moreover also, the trench, filled he with water.   36 And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the gift, that Elijah the prophet drew near, and said, O Yahweh, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel! To-day, let it be known–That, thou, art God in Israel, and that, I, am thy servant,–and that, by thy word, have I done all these things.   37 Answer me, O Yahweh! answer me, That this people may know, that, thou–Yahweh, art GOD,–so shalt, thou thyself, have turned their heart back again. 38 Then fell fire from Yahweh, and consumed the ascending-sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust,–even the water that was in the trench, it licked up.   39 And, when all the people saw it, they fell upon their faces,–and said, Yahweh, he, is GOD, Yahweh, he, is GOD.

Pay close attention to all the portions of this passage on on Elijah’s prayer.

Thy Words Were Heard – Answered Prayer

Daniel 10:12 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel; for from the first day that thou didst set thy heart to understand, and to humble thyself before thy God, thy words were heard: and I am come for thy words’ sake. 13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days; but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me: and I remained there with the kings of Persia.

Look at answered prayer here, a humble prayer from Daniel yields results from God in spite of opposition from the enemy.   The enemy may slow prayer, but he cannot stop the answers.  God is God, He created the earth and the universe, eventually He will in every place in the universe be the LORD.  So don’t worry about a tiny little spot in the universe called earth where the enemy appears to have some temporary victory, eventually God will win.  At the end of the Bible God is on the throne and fully rulling in the universe and on this tiny earth.

Don’t ever forget in Psalms 24:1 The earth is Jehovah’s, and the fulness thereof; The world, and they that dwell therein.   2 For he hath founded it upon the seas, And established it upon the floods.

Prayer is blessing

The chief and most blessed part of my work is to ask and receive from my Father what I can bring to others.

A life abiding in Christ and filled with the Spirit, a life entirely given up as a branch for the work of the vine, has the power to claim these promises and to pray “effective prayer that availeth much”  Lord teach us to pray.

from The Ministry of Intercessory Prayer by Andrew Murray.

 

Prayer in Daniel, just the verses

Daniel 9:3 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
Daniel 9:13 “”As [it is] written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth
Daniel 9:17 “Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate.
Daniel 9:21 yes, while I [was] speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering.

Its great to just look at the verses related to prayer in the Old testament book of Daniel.