How to Claim a Promise - Part 2

Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Friday, May 20th. While some of God's promises are unconditional, others are only in effect if you complete certain requirements. Here's more on the basics of how to claim a promise. If I should ask you what is your favorite promise in the Word of God, many of you could tell me immediately. Many of you could not because somehow you've just sort of neglected the idea that a promise in the Scripture also applies to you. So, I want to clarify some things in order to help you to understand why the promises are so very important in your life and how you personally would be able to choose for yourself to believe what He said and claim that promise. Now, how can we be sure that God will keep His promise? Because, listen, He says He will. And God, the Bible says, cannot lie.

It's against His nature to lie. So therefore, by His very character, God will not and cannot because He doesn't change. If God is perfect, He's always perfect. If He's truthful, He's always truthful. If He's powerful, He's always powerful. If He's holy, He's always holy.

He doesn't change. Therefore, when it comes to the promises of God and the things that He has promised us in His Word, can we be sure? Yes, we can be sure. I love this verse in First Kings chapter eight, verse fifty-six. Because it's true, it was true then, and it's true even today. I want you to look at this statement.

I love this statement. Solomon's benediction. When Solomon had finished praying this entire prayer and supplication of the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread out toward heaven. Now, once in a while somebody says, Well, you don't have to kneel.

No, you don't. But the holier God is to your mind and heart, the more desire you're going to want to kneel. So, kneeling on his knees with his hands spread toward heaven. And he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying, Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised.

Watch this. Not one word has failed of all His good promise, which He promised through Moses His servant. Not one word.

None of those fail. The heaven failed unto this day. Listen, the reason God's promises cannot fail because it is His nature, God cannot fail. We have this treasure. Do you understand that? That you have this awesome treasure. Well, it's deposited in the Word of God. And we claim it out of the book.

And as we said before, if you don't apply it, it's meaningless. Now, he says not one has failed. And so, the Scripture says he cannot lie. And therefore, why should I believe in the promises of God? Because of the character of God that He's absolutely truthful and all-powerful. Because of His ability, He can do anything, all things, at any time and all times. There's not a single situation that you can even begin to think about that God doesn't have a solution for. Or any question that He doesn't have an answer for. Any situation He can help you in and through no matter what.

Now, think about this. We should train our children very early in life to trust God and to read His Word. And to build the foundation of their life upon the Word of God. And not only that, no matter what our age may be, we should continually be meditating upon the Word of God. This is our sense of direction.

This is our compass. This is how we're to live. When people say, Well, I wish things were better in my life. I can tell you how to get better. Well, how's that?

Get in the Word of God, start meditating upon the Word of God and obeying Him and things have to get better. That's who He is. That's what He's provided for us. So, how can we be sure? Because of what He's promised and because of His power.

Then, here is the big question, and this is where I want us to spend a little time. When does a biblical promise become mine to claim? When does a biblical promise become mine to claim? There are all kind of promises in the Word of God.

But when can I personally claim it? You hear people talk about, I'm standing on the Word. The Word of God is the foundation of your life.

Tell me something more important in your life than the Word of God. Where is wisdom? Where is knowledge? Where is understanding?

Where is power? Where is the awesome presence of God? Where do we discover that is in His Word? And so, the question comes is this, when can you and I, when can we claim a promise and say, God, here's what You said.

I'm claiming that and I'm going to watch and see what happens. So, there are a number of points under this one and I want you to jot them down because remember, I've said it three times already. Listen, believing a promise and not applying the promise is meaningless. Let me ask you a question. To whom do the promises of God belong? The promises of God belong to the people of God.

So, let me ask you a question. Are you a child of God? Say, Amen. So, that means the promises of God belong to you. Amen? Do you realize how rich you are? Five of you do.

We take it for granted. You know, you can, I won't name these people. Who are multi-billionaires and this and that. They boasted their riches.

You know what? I do the boast of Jesus for the simple reason He will never end. He will never disappoint me. I'll never have a need He doesn't supply. And they can lose all of that quickly. There's something awesome about the promises of God. That's why you can't neglect them. So, we're talking about these promises.

How do we claim them? So, are you listening? When the promise fits a personal need, God has promised to fulfill. He's promised to give you direction.

For example, looking back in Psalm thirty-two, verse eight. Listen to this. All of us need this. I will instruct you and teach you in the way in which you should go. I will counsel you with My eye upon you. Nobody can promise you that but God.

So, here's the issue. When can I claim a promise? I can claim a promise when a personal need that I have is promised me in the Word of God. And He says, if I have this need for instruction and guidance and direction and making a decision, I have the promise. Can I claim God's promise to me to give me direction?

Yes. Because it is a specific promise given to us in the Word of God, specific promise by Him to meet a personal need in our life. And all of us have those personal needs. And secondly, when the context of the Scripture allows it. That is, you can't just pluck a Scripture out of the Bible and say, oh, I'm going to claim this.

But what's the context of it? Well, let's take one, a good example of that would be First John chapter five, verse fourteen, fifteen. Look at that for a moment.

You probably, I'm trying to pick out these that you're most familiar with. He says in verse fourteen, this is the confidence. Watch this. This is a promise from God. This is the confidence which we have in Him. That if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, we know that we have the petition that we desire. Well, listen, that is a promise of God that in its context, the context is what? That I come to Him and I have a petition.

And so, I'm asking for direction about this. And He says, if it's His will. Now, the Bible is full of those kind of promises. You could go through the Psalms especially and go back to Psalm thirty-seven for a moment.

And this is also familiar to you, one. And look at the promises here. He says in verse four, delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. You say, well, can you just pluck that out?

You don't have to pluck it out. Listen to what He says. If you delight yourself in the eyes of the Lord, which means that He's first in your life. That He's the most important one in your life. That the desire of your heart is to please Him, to live obediently before Him, to walk before Him in a godly fashion. When you do that, He says He'll give you the desires of your heart. You say, well, but suppose I ask something that's not of Him. If you're delighting in the Lord, you're not going to do that.

So, you can say, well, that's certainly in context. And then we could just go through passage after passage after passage in the Psalms, for example. Listen to this, He says, the righteous cry and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, saves those who are crushed in spirit, many of the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of all of them.

Can I claim that? Yes. Why? Because that's the love of God in expression. That's the promise of God that whatever situation, circumstance you're now in, when we get in those difficult times in life, He's simply saying, I'm going to help you through them. Look at the twenty-third Psalm, the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. Is that a promise? Absolutely. So, when the promise is so crystal clear, as it is in these, and when the Scriptures are there that allow it, I can claim that.

There's something else that's very important, that's this. When fulfilling His promise honors Him. If I ask God for something that is not right for me, I'm going to ask Him for something that is not right for me. First of all, He's not going to do it. And I'm asking for something selfishly. It doesn't honor Him.

I can't claim that. And so, if it's something that honors God, we have a right to believe that He's going to fulfill that promise. So, let me ask you this.

What do you find yourself asking for most in life? And when you come to those times when you're really in need and you're asking God to provide that need. And go to the Word and ask Him to speak to your heart in His Word.

Because here's what happens. There's something about reading the Word of God, feasting your eyes upon the truth itself, and letting your eyes take it into your mind, into your heart, into your spirit. And it's one thing just to hear it. And this is why I say to you, don't come to church with no Bible and no notepad.

Come to church with the Word of God. There's something about you reading it, you seeing it for yourself. When I read it, if I have something on my heart I'm troubled about and I'm asking God to give me some direction, I'm going to the Word and I want to read it for myself.

God, here's what you said. And if it fits who I am in Christ, if it fits, for example, what His Word says, and if it fits His will, if it honors Him, and listen, if it's consistent with His immediate will for my life, which is one of those conditions. If it's consistent with His immediate will, I have a right to ask Him for it.

If you said, for example, let's say that you have a real need financially. Do you have a right as a child of God to claim a promise from God that He will meet your need at that point? Yes, you do.

Yes, you do. Watch this carefully now. But suppose God doesn't give you what you asked for for that house at that moment. You say, God didn't answer my prayer.

Mark this down. I've had this to happen to me many times in life. When I didn't get what I thought I wanted, God always has given me something better than I asked for.

That's who He is. So, somebody says, well, well, He didn't answer my petition. Would you rather have what He gave you or what you were asking for?

He always fulfills His promise. So, let me ask this. Do you want something that's not His will? Raise your hand. Right. But remember this, if you ask Him for something that's not His will for your life, you're asking for something that He is not going to contribute to.

Now watch this. You can weasel your way around and manipulate the circumstances and do things that probably are not right or are not legal or whatever it might be and get it, only to realize that you've built your own trap. You're drinking your own poison that you devised. But when you and I are walking in the will of God, we have the right to claim the promises of God. Because we don't want what's not His will. It's obedience to Him that makes it work. And so, if I'm asking for something that fits His will for my life, and for example, all of us have prayed for things we thought, oh Lord, you know, I know better than that. Or, after you've prayed for a couple of weeks or so, God shows you, that's not my will. Then the next question is, God, what is Your will? Will He show you?

Yes. Did He not say, ask and it shall be given you? You're seeking knowledge and wisdom. In other words, you're looking for direction in order to obey Him.

Right? Therefore, He's obligated to a child of God to answer that petition. He's a promise in God.

Now, watch this next one. I have a right to claim a promise when I'm walking in the will of God. When I'm walking in the will of God. When somebody says, well, I don't know whether I am or not.

Well, yes you do. In other words, if you get real honest, you know whether you're being disobedient to God or not. You know whether you're in His will or not. You know what's over here in your life that's covered up and camouflaged and you've got a little bit of this over here and you're obedient to God where it's convenient and over where you've got something that you want that God doesn't want. You know whether you are or not.

You can't cover that up. Watch this. When you are walking in obedience to the will of God, you have the right, the privilege to claim the promises of God in your life. Because if you're walking in His will, you don't want something that's not His will. So, I repeat that for the simple reason that people come up and say, well, I asked God for so-and-so and He didn't do it.

What did you ask for? Most of the time, not all the time, when they tell me what they're asking for that He didn't answer, I can tell them why. Because if you'd have gotten that, look what would have happened. If you're walking in His will, think about this, how foolish is it to get out of the will of God? Because here's what you do.

Watch this. Here's God reaching down to answer your petition. And when you get out of God's will, here's what happens. God's willing, but you're not in a position to receive it. Or I could put it this way. When you say, God, here's what I want, He can't give you something that's not His will.

I say it again and again and again. The will of God is the plan of God. But in this particular situation, listen, there's not a situation in your life that God isn't interested in, not a single one.

There's not a need He's not interested in. There's nothing He cannot provide for your life. But we have to decide, am I willing to do it God's way in God's timing? And if I am, God has made me a promise He cannot fail to keep. When do I have a right?

I have a right to claim it. When, listen, the Spirit of God within me confirms that. Now watch this. When I'm asking God about something and I don't have His will, for me it's like static. You know, you cut in the radio and you got static. Well, there's nothing good about static.

There's nothing good about that. I know in my spirit when I'm getting static, and the truth is you do too. When the Spirit of God within you gives you that sense of quietness and you sense and He will help you to sense this is the Father's will, I'm going to do that. Listen, that's the reason you and I can make requests and walk away confident.

And I would say one last thing. Not only does the Holy Spirit do that, but He gives us a sense of peace. I know that I have a right to stand on this request when there is peace in my heart about what I'm asking for.

And how do I know whether it's right or not? Well, is it what the Word of God supplies? Is it what the Word of God allows?

Does it fit, watch this, does it fit who you are as a child of God? Now, when claiming a promise, what's expected of us? We expect God to do all these things.

There are three very brief answers. Now watch this. When I'm claiming a promise from God that's crystal clear, got a Scripture for it, I have three responsibilities. Number one, obedience. Number one, secondly, faith. That is, I must believe Him.

And thirdly, patience. I must wait for Him. You know that He's going to do what He promised.

You've got to believe that He will. You must be patient to wait for it. And oftentimes, people pray, they're praying in the will of God. They're praying the right thing. God's hearing their prayers.

Then they make the terrible mistake, I've got to have it now or I've got to have it by next week. And you see, watch this, He who created time is in control of time. And He who created time created His will and purpose and plan for your life. God knows future, past, present, and everything in between.

He knows exactly when this ought to happen in your life and He knows exactly how it's going to happen and listen, and He oftentimes tests us with time that we will trust Him. And watch this, if I step ahead of Him, it says, I don't trust you. Oh, yes, I do trust you.

No, no, no, no. If I trust Him, I will trust His timing better than my timing because His timing, like everything else about Almighty God, is perfect. Thank you for listening to part two of How to Claim a Promise. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.