January 12, 2023
Effective Praying Requires Claiming The Promises of God
Nehemiah - “Please remember what You told your servant Moses: ‘If you are unfaithful to Me, I will scatter you among the nations. But if you return to Me and obey My commands and live by them, then even if you are exiled to the ends of the earth, I will bring you back to the place I have chosen for My name to be honored.’”
(Nehemiah 1:8-9)
DAILY DEVOTION
In today’s scripture, Nehemiah is praying to the Lord and saying, "I want You to remember what You told your servant Moses." Can you imagine saying "remember" to God? That’s exactly what Nehemiah is doing. It’s like he’s saying: “God, You warned us through Moses that if we were unfaithful we would lose the land of Israel. But You also promised that if we repent, You'd give it back to us.” Throughout the Bible you find God's people reminding God about what He said He wants to do. David did it. Abraham did it. Moses did it. All the prophets did it. "God, I want to remind You of one of Your promises..." then they'd share it.
Does God have to be reminded? No.
Does He forget what He's promised? No.
Then why do we do this?
God doesn’t have to be “reminded” about the promises He’s made to His people, but reminding Him helps us “remember” His promises. Nothing pleases God more than when we remind Him of one of His promises. Do kids ever forget a promise? Never. So, if you’re a parent you have to be very careful about making them. The Bible says we're imperfect fathers and if we imperfect fathers know that we need to fulfill our promises to our kids, how much more does a perfect Father, a Heavenly Father, intend to keep the promises He's made in His word. Prayer transforms God's promises into performance. Prayer is taking God at His word. It's holding God to His promises. It's asking God to do what He's already promised He wants to do. Nehemiah says "God, I'm basing my prayer on who You are. I'm admitting to You about who I am. Then I'm reminding You of what You've said." There are over 7000 promises in the Bible waiting to be claimed. God never shuts His storehouse until we shut our mouths. God wants to bless us more than we want to be blessed. But we must claim the promises of God. Nehemiah could claim these promises because he knew them.
Prayer transforms God’s specific promises into supernatural performances.
The strength of our prayer lives will be enhanced when we know God’s promises.
The secret of successful praying is pleading the promises of God. "God, You said it and because of what You said and who You are, I thank You that the answer is on its way. I'm expecting You to meet my needs."
FOLLOW UP ACTIVITY
Do a Google search for “God’s Promises in the Bible.” Select an answer with multiple scriptures and read through a few promises straight from scripture. Say a prayer to the Lord sharing any of these promises that relate to you. If you’re leading your family through this time of prayer and fasting, lead them through the same exercise above, only look for God’s promises that relate to your entire family.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
Lord, You are the great Promise Keeper! Help me to learn Your promises and then claim Your promises.