Plead The Promises Sylvia Gunter Save
Good morning. Welcome to the Midweek Oasis Bible Study. My prayer for each of us, is that we will be able to draw apart from life and all that is going on and simply “BE” with our Abba God who loves us. We all NEED times to simply “be” with Him. For now we are using devotionals by Syliva Gunter. They are always full of Word and truth.
Format:
Welcome
Song
Prayer
Sharing
Closing
Let’s listen to the opening song. It is one that I dearly love and is kind of a prayer and a praise at the same time.
Song OnMy Knees https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5BnVuEl1jY
When I don't know what I need
I need to get on my knees
When waves of doubt crash over me
I need to get on my knees
On my knees I find refuge
On my knees I find grace
On my knees I can feel You
Like we're meeting face to face
When I don't know what I need
I need to get on my knees
When I don't have strength to stand
I need to reach for Your hand
When life feels like sinking sand
I need to reach for Your hand
In Your hand I find refuge
In Your hand I find grace
In Your hand I can feel You
Like we're meeting face to face
When I don't have strength to stand
I need to reach for Your hand
When life leaves me with no choice
I must listen for Your voice
When lies confuse me with their noise
I must listen for Your voice
In Your voice I find refuge
In Your voice I find grace
In Your voice I can feel You
Like we're meeting face to face
When life leaves me with no choice
I will listen for Your voice
On my knees I find refuge
On my knees I find grace
On my knees I can feel You
Like we're meeting face to face
When I don't know what I need
I need to get on my knees
Dear God help us to remember that when we have a need, we have YOU the One who desires to meet our every need. Lord would you touch every heart here today in the just perfect for them way? Would you help us to pause and simply “be” with you? We thank you for loving us, in Jesus name amen.
Do you have a need that is bigger than you can solve? Are you needing more Peace, Joy, Hope, Healing, Restoration? I bet we ALL are. I know I am. Today Sylvia address prayer. But this is a specific sort of prayer. Let’s join Sylvia…..
Prayer is like picking peas. You just get on your knees and do it. With an open Bible, praise the praises and plead the promises. Pleading the promises is a powerful form of prayer. God is a covenant-keeping God. He is faithful to His promises. I am an imperfect earthly parent, but as far as possible, I honor my promises to my children. How much more does our heavenly Father who is perfect and loves us perfectly!
For every problem, burden, need, and circumstance, God has made you promises of His faithfulness. "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are 'Yes' in Christ. And so through him the 'Amen' is spoken by us to the glory of God," according to 2 Corinthians 1:20. Can you trust your heavenly Father? Absolutely.
Use your Bible as your promise book. Ask God where to read daily. I always "pray the Bible" as I read it devotionally. I ask Him how to pray from each passage. Do Scripture searches on topics when you have a need.
Plead the promises until you learn that everything is by prayer (Phil 4:6). God delights to fulfill His Word. Gaze at your Father through His promises and glance at your problems. When you gaze at the problem and glance at God, the problem looks bigger than God. When you focus your gaze on omnipotent God and glance at the problem, your faith increases as you see that God is more than able to abundantly meet your needs. In this way, you exalt the One who is the answer.
Here are a few of my favorite promises. Use these to start your own promise list.
2 Peter 1:3-4 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
Dodi note: First what I am modeling here is personalizing the Word/Promise. We read it, we meditate on it, then we personalize and/or pray it back to God.
Sometimes I do not feel like I can “do this” whatever the “this” is at any given moment. But 2 Peter says that his divine POWER has GIVEN me ALL I need for life. I get that by knowing Who He is…if you have been to any of my bible studies on a regular basis, you will quickly see that is the bedrock of all of them. Knowing Who God is and who God says we are in Him.
2 Peter goes on to say, HE has given us this very great promise… that of having everything we need, so that we can escape the CORRUPTION in the world which is caused by evil desires. There is a verse which says…James 1:1-4 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
Those are in part what he means by corruptions of the world. The part I hold as a promise or reminder is “you do not have because you do not ask”. I had to learn to be willing to ask God for what i needed. Not things so much but I needed God to help me KNOW I really was loved. That it REALLY is OK, even GOOD to simply “be” who He created me to be.
2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.
Dodi note: This is an awesome promise. I/you/we are NEVER outside God’s awareness…His eyes range throughout ALL the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. And if our heart is NOT fully committed to Him yet, we can ask him :)
Jeremiah 29:11-14a For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. When you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD.
Dodi note: another favorite one to cling to. It is a promise with a stipulation which requires an intentional choice and action on our parts. To CALL upon Him and COME to Him and pray/TALK to Him. We do this knowing and expecting that He WILL LISTEN to us. We are promised also that we will FIND Him, when we SEEK Him with all our heart. And you know what else? He also promised us a new heart in Eze that is able to seek him. Eze 36:26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. NLT says it this way: And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.
I rather like that. A tender responsive heart. You know why? Why He does that? So we can know and obey Him. Which in turn makes life much easier and better. v 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. 28b you will be my people, and I will be your God.
Jeremiah 33:3 Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.
Dodi note: See the theme? We call to Him, He hears and responds.
Isaiah 40:31 But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Dodi note: Again we place our hope in HIM, he renews our strength, which is in part our ability to live the life we have been given. And He does this just cuz He loves us and we are asking Him.
Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Dodi note: HE WILL UPHOLD YOU AND ME WITH HIS RIGHTEOUS RIGHT HAND. Wow. Do you need to be held up?
Habakkuk 3:18-19 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.
1 Corinthians 9:8 God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
Dodi note: GOD is able to make ALL grace ABOUND to us..so that we will at ALL TIMES and in ALL THINGS, have ALL WE NEED and again,so we can abound in every good work.
Do you remember the work God has given us to do verse? John 6:29 AMP Jesus answered, “This is the work of God: that you believe [adhere to, trust in, rely on, and have faith] in the One whom He has sent.”
I still vividly remember the day God highlighted this verse for me. It was such a relief and joy to realize I didn’t have to go to Africa or save the world, all I had to do was learn to TRUST HIM. And that was work at that time too. Hard. But God has done it for me. And when I forget for a bit, which I do he reminds me of His love and care and His presence with me ALL the days of my life.
2 Timothy 1:12 I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him.
Dodi note: Lord we/I do know Whom we have believed but sometimes I forget that you really are able to guard what ever I entrust to me. Would you show me/us any area, thing, habit, person, or circumstance we have forgotten to entrust to you? And then enable us to give it to you?
Ephesians 3:20 Now [he] is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.
Dodi note: Another “keeper”. God is ABLE to do IMMEASURABLY MORE than we can ask or imagine. How? By HIS power which is at work within us.
Philippians 1:6 I am confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
Mine right now is Isa 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.
I believe that it is important memorize at least the text of verses that remind us what our hearts need to know/remember. Then if we awake at night, or an unexpected moment arrives when we are awake we have a promise to fall back into. Another one I use is found in Psalm 56:3-4 It says when I am afraid, I will trust in you Oh God. There is a cute children song about that. I will show you after. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwEXKPaG9Vg
Song Down In the River To Pray https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Eu85pZNoWY
As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good ol' way
And who shall wear the starry crown?
Good Lord show me the way!
O sisters let's go down
Let's go down, come on down
O sisters let's go down
Down in the river to pray
As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good ol' way
And who shall wear the robe & crown?
Good Lord show me the way
O brothers let's go down
Let's go down, come on down
Come on brothers, let's go down
Down in the river to pray
As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good ol' way
And who shall wear the starry crown?
Good Lord show me the way
O fathers let's go down
Let's go down, come on down
O fathers let's go down
Down in the river to pray
As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good ol' way
And who shall wear the robe and crown?
Good Lord show me the way
O mothers let's go down
Come on down, don't you wanna go down?
Come on mothers, let's go down
Down in the river to pray
As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good ol' way
And who shall wear the starry crown?
Good Lord show me the way
O sinners, let's go down
Let's go down, come on down
O sinners, let's go down
Down in the river to pray
As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good ol' way
And who shall wear the robe and crown?
Good Lord show me the way
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