PRAYERS AND PROMISES

PRAYERS AND PROMISES

Many promises are found in the Bible, but we should always search for what action must first be taken in order to receive those promises. We will find some fantastic promises from the word of God. Take some time to consider them.

God says we are to trust in Him in all areas of our life and not to put our dependency on our own comprehension of a situation. He then promises that he will guide us to the correct path to take. "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6)

The short and to the point promise that Jesus made in Mark 9:23 is hard for most of us to conceive. If we believe, anything is possible to us. "Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." We need to grasp and hang on to those words. Do we believe him?

Abraham was one who believed. God was so pleased that Abraham believed and obeyed him that He made several promises to Abraham. God promised he would multiply Abraham’s seed and that his descendents would be a blessing to the entire earth. "And he brought him forth abroad, and said, look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness." (Genesis 15:5-6)

Following the flood, after Noah was out of the ark and had offered a burnt offering in prayer to the Lord, God made an inimitable promise to himself. "And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." (Genesis 8:21-22) He made that promise to himself and to mankind. There will be spring and fall, summer and winter and daytime and nighttime. He acknowledged the fact that man's mind is tended toward evil. That is a sad, sobering thought for us to hear and to face.

In the book of Leviticus, a promise is given to the country, or nation, that keeps and does his statues and commandments. It is a promise of prosperity, safety, peace, and protection from evil, plus victory over their enemies. "If ye walk in my statues, and keep my commandments and do them; Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land. And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. For I will have respect unto you and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you." (Leviticus 26: 3-8) What a blessing to the country, if we keep His commandments and do them.

We learn from the scriptures to pray and repent if wickedness begins to take over a nation. We find these words concerning a nation in Jeremiah. "At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them." (Jeremiah 18:7-10) Remember what happened in the book of Jonah when the people of Nineveh prayed and repented? The city was spared.

The scriptures confirm that we do have angels that watch over us. To the man that reveres him, God makes this promise concerning an angel. "The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them." (Psalms 34:7) Angels to watch over us are also promised in Psalms 91, but the entire chapter needs to be included when speaking of promises. All of these promises are made to those who set their love upon God and in prayer call upon him. "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou have made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation." (Psalms 91:1-16)

To those who wait upon the Lord, we find two beautiful promises in the Psalms and in the book of Isaiah: to inherit the earth and soar as the eagle. In certain circumstances we need to pray, put our trust in him and then wait. Just wait, and watch. "Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth." (Psalms 37:7-9) And in Isaiah, "He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." (Isaiah 40:29-31)

To he who puts his trust in God, there is this promise spoken also from the book of Isaiah. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusted in thee”. (Isaiah 26:3)

God instructed the children of Israel, who would be taken into captivity in Babylon, that they would be there for seventy years, but he told them to pray and they would have peace even while in a foreign land. “And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.” (Jeremiah 29:7)

God also made a promise to the children of Israel that he would hear their prayers and bring them back out of their captivity in Babylon."For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive" (Jeremiah 29:10-14)

A promise is given in the book of Proverbs concerning the righteous man's prayer. In addition, it says that what the evil man fears most will happen to him. "The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him: but the desire of the righteous shall be granted." (Proverbs 10:24)

Paul tells us in the book of Romans that The Holy Spirit, also called the Comforter, and the Spirit of Truth, prays for us when we're uncertain about how to pray concerning a particular situation. What a blessing! "Likewise the Spirit helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." (Romans 8:26)

The Bible says we have these promising words if our delight is in God. Remember these words when in prayer: "Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." (Psalms 34:4) What is our heart's desire? Again, written in the book of Psalms, are these words, "He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them." (Psalms 145:19) "Thou hast given him his heart’s desire, and hast not witholden the request of his lips. Selah "(Psalms 21:2)