Claiming Promises

In prayer we ask for what we need. But prayer is more than asking for things. “God made great and marvelous promises, so that his nature would become part of us. Then we could escape our evil desires and the corrupt influences of this world.” (2 Peter 1:4, CEV) True prayer brings us into relationship with God. In that relationship we become more like Him and less like anything destructive around us.

I am sure you know how to look for some of those “great and marvelous promises,” those treasures of

the Bible. You know how to look up a certain thing you need, such as faith, or patience, or healing, and find promises of those things. You probably know how to claim those promises for yourself, too. One of the most popular ways is the Ask, Believe, Claim method. You find the promise, hold it up to God, even put your finger on it if you wish, and ask Him for it. You believe that He promises it to you, and you claim it as your own. No doubt you remember to lean as hard as you can on Thy will be done, not mine! Remember, some things are fulfilled later than we wish, maybe not even on this earth.

But have you ever looked for those promises in the light of this passage? Have you ever looked for a promise of healing or protection and then asked God how the fulfillment of that promise would make you partake of the divine nature, or, as the Contemporary English Version has it, make God’s nature become a part of you? It’s a whole different thought, isn’t it? “He shall give His angels charge concerning you, and they will bear you up in their hands lest you dash your foot against a stone.” Why? So you don’t hurt your

foot? Or so you will be more like Jesus? “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins.” Why? So we won’t feel bad anymore? Or so we’ll be more like Jesus?

Let’s look at a specific promise in the context of prayer as evangelism. It’s found in 1 John 5: 16-17. Here it is in New American Stand Bible: “If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not [leading] to death, he shall ask and [God] will for him give life to those who commit sin not [leading] to death. There is a sin [leading] to death; I do not say that he should make request for this. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not [leading] to death.”

What do you suppose this means? Is it talking about the unforgiveable sin, the one where someone has thrown up so many brick walls against the voice of God that he can’t hear it anymore, won’t ask for forgiveness, and cannot be reached, even by the Spirit of God? If so, how could we know that? Only God knows that. I believe this verse means that we can always ask God for forgiveness and life for those around us, and trust that God will always give life where He can, and only He knows that.

We can walk through our lives on this earth, praying constantly for literally everyone who crosses our paths, praying for God’s blessing on them, praying the covering of Jesus’ blood over them, praying that if there’s anything we can do for them, God will show us. This is the kind of open communication He needs, the kind of prayer with which He can change the world.

But we pray and pray, and nothing seems to be happening. How long? How many times?