True prayer can be made only by one who is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. There is no true prayer apart from the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit indwells only those who belong to Jesus Christ, and all who are currently called and belong to Jesus Christ KNOW they belong to Jesus Christ. There are no exceptions.
Moreover, EVERY person who is indwelt by the Holy Spirit can remember the MOMENT the Holy Spirit indwelt them, and can remember the EXPERIENCE of being indwelt, which is the EXPERIENCE of the RESURRECTION POWER of Jesus Christ. There are no exceptions. He who cannot remember the MOMENT and the EXPERIENCE of being indwelt by the Holy Spirit is deluding himself if he thinks he's born again.
He who cannot remember the MOMENT and the EXPERIENCE of the RESURRECTION POWER of Jesus Christ indwelling him by the Holy Spirit, is utterly deluding himself if he thinks he's born again, and unless that changes, he is going to be SHOCKED on the day of judgment, which is going to be the case with the VAST, VAST MAJORITY of those who profess to be Christians today, for this is the quintessential apostate generation of the world, and he who doesn't come to know that is he who has no portion in the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Not in this world, not in the world to come.
And thus, the following does not apply to any but those who can honestly and legitimately testify AMEN to having EXPERIENCED the RESURRECTION POWER of Jesus Christ in the SUPERNATURAL MIRACLE of the NEW BIRTH. All others are deluding themselves, ESPECIALLY those who PROFESS to be Christians while never having EXPERIENCED the POWER thereof, a POWER, which, as I said, is the very RESURRECTION POWER of Jesus Christ HIMSELF. If you cannot so testify, get born again, and do it fast, for your time is short. Give Jesus Christ no rest until he endues you with power from on high. Fair warning.
God can easily hear the prayers of all men, of whatever sort, for God knows every creature's innermost thoughts before they ever even occur, but TRUE prayer, which is the ONLY prayer God guarantees to hear, comes only from those who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit prompts prayer in no other name but the name of JESUS.
Any prayer that is not in the name of JESUS is an utter abomination in the eyes of God. There are no exceptions. And tacking on the word "Jesus" at the end of a prayer is not even REMOTELY what is meant by praying in the name of JESUS.
In fact, the only reason God sometimes entertains the prayers of those who do not belong to Jesus is because Jesus HIMSELF has become the surety of the world, and because that particular prayer happens to be in accord with God's eternal council, and because Jesus HIMSELF actually grants it out of his own empathetic compassion, for the Father grants no prayer not made in Jesus' name. None. They don't even enter his court.
Had Jesus not agreed to become INCARNATE, God would have immediately destroyed the entire creation upon Adam and Eve's rebellion. The ONLY reason this world still exists, the ONLY reason human beings are still allowed to breathe air, is because Jesus Christ agreed to become INCARNATE. Those rebellious souls who curse Jesus Christ do so with the very breath Jesus Christ provides them, and though they don't know it now, there will be a reckoning day, and then their rending wails and frantic apologies, which will rock the universe for passion, will be in vain. Utterly, totally, completely in vain. Too late by a lifetime. Same with those who PROFESS Jesus but who have never EXPERIENCED the RESURRECTION POWER of Jesus Christ in the SUPERNATURAL MIRACLE of the NEW BIRTH. Wait and see.
When strangers appear at the castle walls, it may be the king will grant that a few select individuals can come inside the gates to his court that day and be heard, while the multitude is still shut out, and it may be that the King grants one or two of the petitions made of him by those select few he allows to enter his formal chambers, yet the ONLY reason the King grants those requests, when he grants them at all, is because it happens to accord with his own desires, not because of any benefit to the petitioner.
Not so with the King's children, however. The King's children have the King's ear continually. There is never a time, day or night, when the King's children may not appear instantly before the King and make their petitions known, and not only in his formal chamber, but in his very bedroom. Moreover, unless their petition will do them harm, there is no petition made by the King's children that the King will not grant. Not one. In fact, in many cases -- belay that -- in MOST cases, the King will not only grant his children's petition, but will actually add to it, exceeding abundantly above all that his children could even ask or think. And the King's children, while mostly undervaluing the grants of the King now, because the King's grants are primarily spiritual, not material, for God gives material prosperity to his enemies, not his friends, so while the King's children mostly undervalue the grants of the King now, they will, as time goes by, increasingly come to realize the incalculable worth of the King's grants, and will see that the inestimable value of the King's grants become clearer and clearer as the eons roll by, so that even the smallest petition granted here and now will wax infinitely bright as the child's understanding grows, and will endure throughout all eternity. Not a single petition granted here will be forgotten in eternity. Not one, not even the smallest.
They will ALL only be magnified into an eternal weight of glory, and they will ALL be found to have been granted SOLELY BECAUSE of Jesus Christ and his VICTORY over sin, death, the world, the flesh, and the devil, and they will ALL be found to have likewise CULMINATED in Jesus Christ, for ALL the promises of God in him are YEA, and in him AMEN. Not one will fail, not one will be lost.
And all the PROMISES in Jesus Christ are found in the Holy Spirit in tandem with his written Word. Without the Holy Spirit, the written Word is powerless and will do you not one whit of good, for not one single promise in the written Word of God belongs to you until you appropriate it. Not one.
How do you appropriate the promise? By the Holy Spirit. Until the Holy Spirit tells you -- tells you PERSONALLY -- that the promise is yours, it isn't. If you think otherwise, you are deluded through and through. Just as it is in the NEW BIRTH, so it is with the promises. If you're genuinely born again, you began in the Spirit, and so you must continue in the Spirit. Until the Holy Spirit tells you in the SUPERNATURAL MIRACLE of the NEW BIRTH that Jesus died for you, you can't claim the death of Jesus as your own. If you think otherwise, you are deluded through and through.
It's the same with the promises.
Do you want the promise? Then get on your knees and fight it out in the Holy Spirit, assuming you're genuinely born again. It's there for the taking, but it will cost you.
Can you pay the price?
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"To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." Revelation 3:21 |