Praying About Personal Needs and Desires, Part 1

Hello and thanks for stopping by for this Friday edition of Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Shepherd, Senior Pastor at Destiny Christian Fellowship in Fremont, California. In just a few moments, Pastor Paul will share his message, praying about personal needs and desires. But first, he joins me now from his studio in California to share a special request with you.

I know you are as well. So let's encourage people to tell us some of those stories about how God is using this program. Yeah, I would love to hear from our listeners. You know, Destined for Victory exists to challenge and inspire people everywhere to know God's son, to apply God's word and to fulfill God's purpose. That's our mission statement.

We're serious about it. And I want to know that all three things are happening. So if you're a listener and as a result of listening to Destined for Victory, you have come to know Jesus for yourself or you're finding application of these messages in your everyday and you're finding your purpose in life, what God wants to do in and through you. I would love for you to drop us a line and share your testimony. It can be one or two paragraphs.

It can be a full length letter and then we'll just pare it down. But please share with us what God's done as a result of your being a listener and give us permission to share it, because we may find ways that we can share your story. We don't have to call your name if you don't want, but we can share your story and by doing so, others can be blessed as well. So please consider getting in touch with us, letting us know the difference that Destined for Victory is making in your life. You know, one of the best ways to bless the lives of others is by sharing with them what God has done in our life. If you've been blessed by the Destined for Victory broadcast, we'd love to hear from you.

Visit pastorpaul.net and use the contact us feature at the top of the homepage. We look forward to hearing what God has done. Jesus gave us the right to pray. He gave us the assurance that we can pray with power and effectiveness, meaning prayer is not a wasted exercise. When you learn how to pray and pray right, God answers prayer.

There are things that will happen if you pray that won't happen if you don't pray. It is going to accomplish great things, but we must understand how to function in prayer. Would you like to build a powerful and effective prayer life?

Find out how next on this Friday edition of Destined for Victory. For the past couple of weeks, Pastor Paul Shepherd has taken us straight to God's word to reveal the crucial role prayer should play in our walk with Christ. If you've missed any message along the way, please visit pastorpaul.net to listen on demand on your schedule.

That's pastorpaul.net. Today, Pastor Paul shares a few guiding principles to help you develop a prayer life filled with meaning and purpose. So let's join him now for his message, praying about personal needs and desires. In the last message, we talked about the second part of the agenda, which is petitions on behalf of others, petitions on behalf of others, where Jesus said your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We want to spend time in intercession.

You are a believer. You are an ambassador of Christ in this world. We represent our Savior in this world.

He left us. That's why we're called the body of Christ in the pages of Scripture. We are his body in the earth.

And so what Christ was about when he was on earth, he has given us the responsibility to carry on that work in his name. And so we must not only praise, but we come before him and we offer petitions first on behalf of others. We are intercessors and I want to encourage you stand in the gap, advance the cause of Christ, take on the authority he gave you and stand against those things which oppose the will of God. So in prayer, you're doing some warfare. You are coming against the works of the enemy. You're coming against everything that militates against the perfect plan and will of God here on earth. So we pray for the salvation of the lost. We pray not only for the lost, but we pray for those in the body of Christ that we know have various needs. Use your prayer power to help somebody else to unite your faith with theirs. Because the principle in Scripture is one can chase a thousand, but two can put 10,000 to flight.

You know what that is? That's what I call kingdom synergy. It's great that I have energy in Christ, I have power in Christ, but there's nothing like having kingdom synergy at work where your faith power and my faith power stand together. And I tell you, you can get a whole lot of things done when you learn to link up with other people in your faith walk.

This walk is not a personal walk. You are just me and Jesus. It's not supposed to be just you and Jesus.

It's supposed to be you and the other followers of Jesus linking our lives together. So you've got to make sure you are not one of these folks that's trying to be a kingdom Lone Ranger. They're not supposed to be any Lone Rangers in the kingdom. And even the Lone Ranger wasn't alone.

Come on old heads. We got to tell the young folk, some of them never saw Lone Ranger in their whole lives, unless they happen to look at some of those channels that specialize in that stuff we old heads grew up with. Lone Ranger and Roy Rogers. Some of them don't know what a Roy Rogers is, but that's all right.

We know. But the point is the Lone Ranger wasn't alone. He had somebody riding with him.

And you better have somebody riding with you. I'm not married yet. I'm not talking about married. I'm talking about a spiritual partner, a kingdom partner who walks with you in the things of God.

We're not talking about a romantic relationship. We're talking about a kingdom synergy relationship. When you're having a bad day, somebody in the kingdom ought to know about it so that they can help you through and walk you out of that bad place you're in. And so we must exercise our prayer agenda, which is petitions on behalf of others.

Make sure that you are seen to it that the will of God is done and the kingdom comes in the lives of others. And then we get to the third part of the agenda. That's where I want to pick it up with you. Give us this day our daily bread.

Pause there because that's where we're going to kind of park at this point in the series. Give us this day our daily bread. I'm calling this category of the prayer agenda, personal requests. So we start with praise, and we continue on with petitions on behalf of others.

Number three is personal requests. Now what I want to do is explain four principles of scriptural interpretation by which we must be guided as we learn how to pray with power and effectiveness. Jesus gave us the right to pray. He gave us the assurance that we can pray with power and effectiveness, meaning prayer is not a wasted exercise. When you learn how to pray and pray right, God answers prayer. There are things that will happen if you pray that won't happen if you don't pray.

It is going to accomplish great things, but we must understand how to function in prayer. So I want you to understand that these principles I'm going to share with you are principles that will guide you because if they don't guide you, what can happen is you reach false conclusions about what God has promised in response to our prayers. I want to make sure you understand how to pray and how to pray right. Not only as you give your personal requests, but these principles apply to every item on the kingdom agenda. I just thought now that we're getting ready to talk about personal requests.

I want you to stop and make sure you understand some very important principles because personal requests can get us in a lot of trouble. You will reach false conclusions and you'll pray wrong and when you don't get the answers, you'll blame God. So it's my job as a pastor in the body of Christ, I'm a pastor teacher, and my job is to guard and to guide. As a pastor, I got to guard the flock, but as a teacher, I'm a pastor teacher, I must guide you in the things of God. I got to make sure that you know how to pray and pray right. I don't want folk under my ministry, whether you listen to me here or not, my local church, or whether you are one of my radio, a lot of folk call me, that's my radio pastor. And so if I do that, I got to make sure to do permanent damage to your ignorance. That's my job in the body of Christ.

I don't want a bunch of folk sitting under me getting happy but don't know anything. Oh, I love my pastor. Can he preach? Oh, Lord, he's so pretty. And then you ask, well, what did he say?

I don't know, but it sure was good. Ah, no, no, no, no, I'm not doing my job if you skip out dancing and singing and don't know anything. And so I got to make sure you understand these four principles. Let me give these to you. And they apply to all the areas of this prayer agenda, but I especially want to focus them as we talk about our personal request. Here is guiding principle number one, be mindful of the name of Jesus. When we pray, be mindful of the name of Jesus. And make sure that you understand that the name of Jesus is what we're praying in. Do you know when we pray in the name of Jesus, that doesn't just mean say in Jesus name, I pray at the end. You may say that I often close my prayers by invoking the name of Jesus. But be clear to pray in the name of Jesus is not merely to end your prayer by saying in Jesus name, I pray.

It's not that. Okay, because if you say the wrong thing, whether you put that tag on the end, the prayer wasn't in his name. To pray in his name is to pray in his authority to pray in his stead.

I'm praying because I am on earth what Jesus was when he was here from heaven to save us. Everybody get that. So when I pray in Jesus name, it's because I'm praying with the authority Jesus gave me.

When I say in Jesus name, so and so I'm saying on the basis of the authority he gave me. I'm making this request. I'm making this announcement. I'm making this declaration.

So it's not merely a tag. I want you to understand be mindful number one in terms of these guiding principles be mindful of the name of Jesus. I am to pray in the name of Jesus. It doesn't just mean the tag I put on the end of a lot of my prayers. It means I have the authority from Jesus to ask this. I have the authority from Jesus to rebuke this. I have the authority from Jesus to declare this.

So if Jesus didn't give me authority that allows me to say what I just said, it's not a prayer in his name. John 14 verse 13 and whatever you ask in my name that I will do keep reading that the father may be glorified in the sun. We'll be right back with more of today's Destined for Victory message from Pastor Paul Shepherd. If you love listening to this program, we know you'll enjoy watching some of Pastor Paul's best video clips. Subscribe to Pastor Paul on YouTube or visit pastorpaul.net for all of his social media links.

That's pastorpaul.net where you'll also find a host of great resources at our online store. While God is not a genie to be summoned and prayer is not a series of wishes to be made, to have a meaningful, powerful, and effective prayer life, you've got to go about it the right way. Here's Pastor Paul with the rest of today's Destined for Victory message, praying about personal needs and desires. How do I know I prayed in his name? What I prayed for allows me to pray something that is consistent with his will. I know that because the goal, the end game of my prayer life is that the father may be glorified in the sun. If what you want to ask God for doesn't get God any glory, doesn't lift up the agenda in the name of Jesus, then it's not in his name.

And you don't have the authority to ask it or to declare it or whatever the case might be. The whole point is Jesus gave us this authority. He said, whatever you ask in my name, whatever you ask that I would ask if I were there physically, that I will do. Why? Because the whole point is that the father may be glorified in the sun.

Everybody with me? I need you to understand so that you can exercise full confidence in your prayer life. Now, this also implies something very important, especially in our day. And it is this, Jesus is not a genie in a bottle. Jesus is not a genie in a bottle. In the first century, the apostles, even then they talked about the importance of not praying amiss. James talks about don't pray amiss, you know, missing God's plan. Don't ask for any old crazy thing and expect God to do it.

And the fact of the matter is, if they had to say that in the first century of the church's existence, how much more in the 21st century do you and I have to make sure people understand Jesus is not a modern day genie? You know, you grew up and you saw those little, you know, stories of a genie coming. Y'all remember some fact with us all head, there was a TV show called I dream of genie.

Y'all try and look young, you know, you know what I just said. You know, you know what I say. See? An astronaut landed somewhere, saw a bottle at the seashore, picked it up, uncorked it, and out came this smoke that turned into genie.

Cute little thing. And she came out and so she would do whatever he wanted. That was the whole story. And they had various adventures and what have you.

We all here could tell you a whole bunch of things. Jesus is not that. He didn't come to be your genie in a bottle. He didn't lay down his life so you could say abracadabra. Give me a Maserati.

Need you to understand because there are brands of faith today that pretty much teach that. And for you singles abracadabra six foot one husband. Abracadabra finest man in the church. You're not authorized to ask for that. First of all, why you want somebody to find if you got him, you'd spend all your time worrying about who else is looking at him. Come on, some of y'all thank you for some witnesses.

You spend all your time trying to run down behind behind every tree. Give me your phone. Let me see who you've been texting. So why ask for a problem? Why ask for paranoia? Oh, I'm trying to help somebody.

You know good. Well, you don't need that. You got enough trouble living your life. You don't need to worry about who's running down trying to hit on my man. So what you don't ask him for six one and find pecs and cut. You need that for.

And let's be practical and he would want to be with you because. Just trying to bring you into reality. That's all I'm trying to do. All I'm trying to do. Bring you into reality. Don't shoot so high and so far. Get practical. Amen.

Some of y'all gonna be mad, but let it hurt good. That's not that the father would be glorified. That's so you can have a fantasy. God's not in the business of giving you a fantasy.

He's in the business of accomplishing his purpose through your living. But I know the scriptures. You get ready to quote.

I got him in my notes. Or I got enough of them to cover yours. I can't speak to all the issues, but I already know where your mind want to go. But God said he'll give me what I want. Well, kind of. By the time I get through with these four principles, you will understand it's not as cut and dried as you can get God to finance and to facilitate your fantasy. That's not what prayer is for. Come on.

Swallow hard. Because there's a whole lot of people, unfortunately, in a lot of our pulpits who think Jesus is about luxury cars and big houses. And Jesus is about a whole lot of money. God will bless you. God will prosper you. It's not that I am against the belief that God can and will prosper his people.

I know he will. But we in Western hemisphere society, already self-centered, self-focused. We now take our fantasies and put them to scripture. Oh, I'm glad that you give me a few amens. I was prepared for silence when I was preparing this message. I said, OK, this one, the ones I'm going to have to pull this train by myself because some folks are so steeped in that bad teaching. Just because it's on TV or radio don't mean it's true. And you need to thank God when you have a pastor teacher who loves you enough to tell you the truth. I'm not going to have a bunch of folks sitting under me.

Abracadabra Maserati. You want to see the glory of God come to pass in your life? Because the glory of God is what it's all about. At the end of the day, only what you do for Christ will last. At the end of the day, I want to hear, well done, good and faithful servant. I don't want to hear at the end of my life, nice car. I drive a nice car, not against nice cars, but you know why I can be blessed? Because I got it only when I had my finances under control and I had walked according to the word and God had blessed me.

I can enjoy riding and I let other folk drive and people like that that I know and who's driving record, I know. So you can't get God to facilitate and finance your fantasy. That's not why he gave you the power of prayer. Jesus said, whatever you ask in my name, I'll do it that the father may be glorified in the son.

There are many other ways I could make that point. In the interest of time, let me leave it there. But I got three more principles to focus on, so I'll make sure you get this real clear. Number one, be mindful of the name of Jesus as you pray in all the areas, especially when it comes to your personal request. Be mindful of the name of Jesus. Tell yourself it's not about you, boo.

Say that to yourself. It's not about you. It's about that the father may be glorified through the son. Not that God won't bless you in many outstanding ways.

He will. But you got to get the end game of your prayer power. It's really not about you. It's about his will.

All right. Now, let me give you the second of these guiding principles. The first is be mindful of the name of Jesus. The second is be mindful of corresponding passages.

Be mindful of corresponding passages. Years ago, I established a saying. I learned it somewhere when I was a young preacher. So I'm talking decades ago. I don't remember the context in which I learned it.

I heard it or read it somewhere. I haven't been able to locate it since. But somewhere along the line, I memorized this. So it's not I'm just giving credit to whoever would be entitled to the credit.

It wasn't original with me, but it locked in with me. Here's what it says. If among many true statements you select one and follow it blindly, it will become a falsehood and you a fanatic. Jot that down if you need to, if that'll be helpful to you.

If among many true statements you select one and follow it blindly, it will become a falsehood and you a fanatic. When you pray, always be mindful of the name of Jesus and always be mindful of what God's word has to say about prayer. Those are the first two guiding principles of a powerful, effective prayer life.

And we'll pick it up right here next time. Before you leave today, we want to remind you about a special gift for all those who request it when giving a generous gift today. It's Pastor Paul's new booklet, It Pays to Serve Jesus. In Mark Chapter 10, Jesus tells us that all those who follow him will receive 100 times more than they give up.

Yes, there will be tough times and sacrifices along the way. But as you'll discover in this outstanding resource from Pastor Paul, following Jesus is always worth it in this life as well as the one to come. That's Pastor Paul's booklet, It Pays to Serve Jesus, and it's our gift to you by request for your generous gift to Destined for Victory this month.

So call us at 855-339-5500 to give over the phone, or mail your gift to Destined for Victory, Post Office Box 1767, Fremont, CA 94538. You can also make a safe and secure donation from our website, pastorpaul.net. You've got to take the scriptures and let the scriptures interpret each other. If all I do is grab one scripture that says one thing, and I don't marry it to the other scriptures that speak to that issue, many of which will give clarity, will fill out what you learn in that one, you will end up believing something that's false. That's Monday when Pastor Paul shares his message, praying about personal needs and desires. Until then, enjoy your weekend and remember, He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are Destined for Victory.