Praying as a prince not a pauper
In the past. I was often tempted to pray for things that I actually already have;
'Father please bless me today’… but God says He HAS already blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. (Eph 1:3)
‘Holy Spirit come…’ … but Jesus said that God would give us the Holy Spirit, who would be with us forever. (John 14:16, 1 Cor 6:19, Titus 3:4-6)
‘Jesus please heal this person’.. but God says, by His stripes we WERE healed. (Isa 53:5)
This said, a lot of my recent journey with prayer, has been about learning to receive and believe what God has already given me, in order to triumph in every situation that I face. This often looks like starting prayer from a posture of hope and gratitude, realigning my heart and mind to all that God has made available through Jesus.
This positive attitude to prayer is made all the more powerful by accepting that I am not the mere 'pauper without inheritance', that the enemy would like me to believe I am. I am and always will be, the daughter of the King of Kings, a princess in the heavenly realms and through Jesus’ sacrifice, I have already been given the greatest inheritance anyone could wish for, I am a coheir with Christ. So instead of praying out of lack and fear, I can confidently pray out of abundant provision and hope.
I find that by acknowledging the protection and inheritance that I have already received and declaring God’s truth over all these areas, worries, concerns and little lies are nipped in the bud, before they grow bigger and rob my time and thought space. I come away stronger in the Lord and ever more convinced of His goodness and presence in my life.
If I don’t intentionally fill my thought space with truth, I can be buffeted by the cares and distractions of the world. Did you know that on average we have 30,000 thoughts a day and most of these are negative, self defeating ones!. Hence the need to constantly remind myself who God is and how He sees me in every situation.
In fact, as many of you already know I Am So Many Things, is all about our identity in Christ. Through simple, biblical declarations, God has been transforming me bit by bit, through the renewal of my mind. Old thought patterns, lies and wrong beliefs are deconstructed one by one in the light of God’s unchanging word.
So, I’d like to encourage you today, to embrace the knowledge that you are way more powerful, blessed and equipped than you realise and that Jesus longs for you to grasp the fullness of what He paid for you to have, when He died for you on the cross.
It's not easy I know! So, here are some life affirming, inheritance based prayers to get you started, dig deep and pray like the prince or princess you are: