Week Thirteen of Our Journey To Freedom Defeating Satan and This World

As we come to week thirteen of our journey to freedom, I want to finish with the song "In Jesus Name (God of Possible)" by Katy Nichole. "In Jesus' Name" signifies the believers request or action is made with Jesus' authority, for His glory, and according to God's will, rather than being a magical phrase. It expresses a desire to align one's purpose and actions with Christ's character, acknowledging His role as mediator and the power of His atoning on the cross to give access to God.

Transcript

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Welcome to Walking in the Living Word Ministries, a weekly podcast with your host, Pastor Mike Futrol.

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Thank you for joining us this week with Walking in the Living Word Ministries. We're on week 13 of our journey to freedom, defeating Satan in this world. Our song this week is In Jesus' name by Katie Nicole. At the end of this video, there will be a link and a posting where you can find it, listen to it, and maybe even purchase it and add it to your library. You know, as we come to week 13 of our journey to freedom, I want to finish with this song in Jesus' name, God Apossible by Katie Nicole. And Jesus' name signifies a believer's request or action is made with Jesus' authority for his glory according to God's will. Rather than being a just a magic phrase, it expresses a desire to align one's purchase and action with Christ's character, acknowledging his role as a mediator and the power of his atoning work on the cross to give access to God. In Jesus' name, one of the verses is I speak the name of Jesus over you. In your hurting, in your sorrow, I will ask my God to move. I will speak the name because it's all that I can do in desperation. I seek heaven and pray this for you. You know, I hope we have learned through these 13 weeks that we've gone so far that we're not alone in this battle. And when we pray for Jesus to step in and fight our battles to lead us through the storms, that we need to be praying for others as well. We not only need to pray for our family, our friends, people we know, and those on the prayer list, but we need to be praying for the non-believers and for people we don't even know. So before we get started today, is it best to pray standing up, sitting down, kneeling, bowing down? Which is the best way? Should our hands be open, closed, lifted up to God? Do our eyes need to be closed when we pray? Is it better to pray in a church building or out in nature? Should we pray in the morning when we get up or at night before we go to bed? Are there certain words we need to say in our prayers? How do we begin our prayers? What is the proper way to close a prayer? These questions and others are common questions asked about prayer all the time. What is the proper way to pray? Do any of these things even matter? Far too often, prayer is viewed as a magical formula. Some believe that if we do not say exactly the right things the right way, or pray in the right position, God will not hear and answer our prayer. This is completely unbiblical. God does not answer our prayers based on when we pray, where we pray, how we pray, what position our bodies in, or in what order our words, our prayers come out. We're told in 1 John 5, 14 through 15 to have confidence when we come to God in prayer, knowing He hears us will grant whatever we ask as long as it is in His will. Similarly, John 14, 13 through 14 declares, and I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. According to these and many other scriptures, God answers prayers requested based on whether they are asked according to his will and in the name of Jesus, to bring glory to Jesus. So what is the proper way to pray? Philippians 4, 6 through 7 tells us to pray without being anxious, to pray about everything, to pray with thankful hearts. God will answer all such prayers with the gift of his peace in our hearts. The proper way to pray is to pour out our hearts to God, being honest and open with God, as he already knows us better than we know ourselves. We're to be uh we're to present our request to God, keeping in mind that God knows what is best and will not grant a request that is not his will for us. We are to express our love, gratitude, and worship to God in prayer without worrying about having just the right words, the right angle, the right position. God is more interested in the content of our prayers than the element of our words. The closest the Bible comes to giving a pattern for prayer is the Lord's Prayer, Matthew 6, 9 through 13. Please understand that the Lord's Prayer is not a prayer we're to memorize and recite to God. It is an example of the things that should go into a prayer: worship, trust in God, request, confession, submission. We're to pray for the things that the Lord's prayer talks about, using our own words and customizing it to our journey with God. The proper way to pray is to express our hearts to God, sitting, standing, or kneeling, hands open or closed, eyes open or closed, in a church, at home or outside, in the morning or at night. These are all side issues subject to personal preference, conviction, and a proxy. God's desire is for prayer to be real and a personal connection between Himself and us. So, with all that being said, I want us to realize that our prayers don't have to be fancy or certain big words. They just need to be from the heart. If you need some guidance, go back to week five of the podcast when I pray for help. Another way to make it simply in the beginning is just take the words to the song in Jesus' name. Repeat them day after day until God leads me to another prayer. Prayer in Jesus' name is taught in John 14, 13 through 14. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. So misapplying this verse, thinking that saying in Jesus' name at the end of the prayer results in God's always granting what is asked for. This is essentially treating the words in Jesus' name as a natural form of it. And this is absolutely unbiblical. I have come to learn and understand through classes and studies that praying in Jesus' name means praying with his authority and asking God the Father to act upon my prayers because I come in the name of his son Jesus. Praying in Jesus' name means the same thing as praying according to the will of God. This is the confidence we have approaching God. That if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. If we know that he hears us, whether we ask, we know what we have, what we have asked of him. Read John 1 5, 14 through 15. Praying in Jesus' name is praying for things that will honor and glorify Jesus. Saying in Jesus' name at the end of prayer is not a magical formula. If we ask for or say in a prayer is not for God's glory according to his will, saying in Jesus' name is meaningless. Genuinely praying in Jesus' name and for his glory is what is important. Not attaching certain words to the end of the prayer. It's not the words in the prayer that matter, but the purpose behind the prayer. Praying for things that are in agreement with God's will is the sentence of praying in Jesus' name. Jesus teaches us and teaches his disciples to pray in his name in the gospel of John as part of his farewell disclosure. In a series of teachings given to his disciples the night before his crucifixion, Jesus' teaching to pray in his name represents a significant shift from the Old Testament practices, reflected in that deeper and more personal relationship with God. In the Old Testament, prayer was often characterized by formal petitions and were facilitated through priests or prophets. The Israelites approached God with a sense of reverence and distance, often offering sacrifices and following specific rituals to communicate with him. For instance, in Levitiaus, the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies once a year on the day of anointment to make anointment for the sins of the people. Look at Leviticus 16. This practice highlighted the separation between a holy God and a sinful humanity. In contrast, Jesus introduced a new model of prayer that emphasizes direct and personal communication with God. He teaches, underscores the authority given to believers to approach God directly through Jesus, bypassing the need for earthly mediators. Furthermore, Jesus' teaching on addressing God as Father represents a radical shift from the Old Testament perspective. In the Old Testament, God is often referred to with titles that emphasize his majesty and sovereign, such as Yahweh, Lord, and Elma, God, where there are instances of God being described as a father to Israel in Deuteronomy 32, 6 and Isaiah 63, 16, the personal and intimate use of father in prayer was not prevalent in the Old Testament. Jesus changes that approach in the New Testament. In the Lord's Prayer, he instructs his disciples to pray, our Father in heaven. Hallowed be your name. Matthew 6, 9. This statement of God is followed, reflects a close family relationship, which is uncommon in Jewish prayers of the time. It signifies an intimate connection with God similar to a child's relationship with a loving parent. This approach encourages believers to come before God with confidence and trust, knowing they are approaching a compassive and caring father. Jesus reinforces the idea of God's fatherly love responses in passages such as Matthew 7, 9 through 11. Which of you, if your son asked for bread, would give him a stone? Or if he asked for fish, would give him a snake? If you then, through you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him? This teaching highlights God's willingness to provide for his children and underscores the personal and relational aspect of the prayer. In the cultural content of Jesus' time, doing something in someone's name meant acting with their authority and on their behalf. This concept is seen in legal and official capacities where representatives or messengers carried out actions in the name of a higher authority. For instance, when a Roman uh centurion sent messages in his name, they acted with his full authority. These messengers would have a will of their own, but understood their master's desire and purpose and acting within those. Simply praying in Jesus' name means approaching God with full authority and endorsement of Jesus, representing his will and his purposes. To pray in Jesus' name means to approach God the Father with the authority and righteousness of Jesus Himself. The Father will be glorified to the Son. Jesus addresses this relationship to praying in his name. This instruction highlights that praying in the name of Jesus involves his authority and aligns our request with his will and character. The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit within believers also plays a crucial role. The Holy Spirit helps believers pray according to God's will, even as seen in Romans 8, 26 through 27. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God. See, the Spirit's presence in our life ensures that prayers offered in Jesus' name are aligned with God's purposes or are empowered by divine guidance. Through the Spirit, our lives exist within Christ at the right hand of God. The New Testament mentions how we are in Christ more than 75 times. We identify with the Son in nature and purpose in our prayers. First, praying in Jesus' name teaches us to pray with confidence. Jesus encourages us to approach God boldly, trusting that our prayers are heard and we will be answered according to his will. Because of the Father's love for us and knowing the finished work of Christ, we come before God under the authority and righteousness of Jesus. Second, praying in Jesus' name emphasizes the importance of aligning our prayers with God's will. This connection between abiding in Christ and effective prayer highlights the necessity of aligning our desires and requests with his teachings and purposes. When we pray in Jesus' name, we're not merely adding a set of phrases to our prayer, but seeking to pray in harmony with his character and his will. This assurance comes from God's absolute ability to fulfill his own will, a finished work in Jesus. We know his will through studying the scripture and listening to his voice. Third, praying in Jesus' name underscores our reverence in his authority and in our actions. As high priests, Jesus meditates between us and God. The teaching highlights the shift from the old covenant where priests interceded on behalf of the people to the new covenant where Jesus Himself intercedes for us. Understanding Jesus' role as our mediator encourages us to rely on his authority and ongoing intercession in our prayers. Not only do we reply upon his intercession as his followers, we learn that we have the same role. The New Testament calls us a kingdom heir and priest, Revelation 1, 5 through 6. As Jesus intercedes for us, we intercede for others in this world. Father, praying in Jesus' name fosters a deeper relationship with God, characterized by intimacy and trust. Coming for the Father teaches us what it means to be sons and daughters of the King. Jesus teaches the disciples to address God as Father, emphasizing the personal family nature of our relationship with Him. This approach encourages us to come before God with confidence of children, approaching a loving parent, trusting in his care and provision. By praying in Jesus' name, we recognize our dependence on him and seek to align our lives and desires with his purposes. Confidence that our prayers are heard and will be answered according to his perfect and complete will. I want to close with this. I take all the weeks of this study important, but I think today's the 13th is probably the most important because not only am I praying Jesus' name over me, but over everyone I'm praying for. My friends, I'm taking this very seriously. I understand it's not a joking matter. I will pray for Jesus to work in your life in every way that you need to be changed. And I pray that you will pray the same thing for me. You know, I think we need to truly understand that we need to approach prayer with uh reverence. You know, we need to start our prayer off acknowledging God. It may be uh, you know, we approach him as a healing provider, a great uh trust in him. We could name the different names that he has in the Bible, or we could just call him Father, but we acknowledge that he is the one we're talking to. Then we then we uh confess if there's anything in our lives that is hindering us from having a relationship with him, we confess those things. Then we're thankful. We thank him for all the things that he's done for us, and finally, we intercede for others. I think it's important that we learn that in a way that when we pray, we we pray in Jesus' name for whatever it may be that we're asking for, because we're asking God not only to do it in his will, but to do it in a way that will glorify not only Jesus, but we're glorifying God Himself. So I want to close this today. I will pray in Jesus' name. I will look at things differently and pray in a different way. I will approach God in prayer, and I will ask that Jesus do the things that he needs to do, not only in my life, but in everyone else's life. So we'll close today in Jesus' name. Thank you again for joining us this week, Walking in the Living Word Ministries. We look forward to seeing you next week as we continue our journey.

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Thanks for joining us today on this edition of Walking in the Living Word with Pastor Mike Butal. We pray that you can inspire and equipped to fulfill the plan that God has in your life. Subscribe to this podcast, friend, and let's work together.