Rick Stedman - Praying the Promises of Jesus: Seeing His Word Come True for You and Those You Love

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE, OREGON

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PRAYING THE PROMISES OF JESUS

Copyright 2016 by Rick Stedman

Published by Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97402

www.harvesthousepublishers.com

ISBN 978-0-7369-6071-7 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-0-7369-6072-4 (eBook)

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To Dean and Marcia Holst:

In-laws by marriage,

friends by choice,

and exemplary promise-makers and promise-keepers.

Contents

The future is as bright as the promises of God.

A DONIRAM J UDSON

W hat if every promise of Jesus came true in your life?

Jesus was the ultimate promise-maker and promise-keeper, and among the many astonishing promises to his followers were these: to love us, to fill us with joy, to strengthen us, to give us peace and rest, and to prepare an eternal home for us.

Would you like your life to be molded and shaped by these promises of Jesus rather than by the broken promises of this world? Would you like to see Jesus promises come true for those you love? Our livesand the lives of our loved onescan be transformed as we learn to pray the promises of Jesus daily.

If you want your life to change, the power is in the promises.

I invite you to journey with me in the pages of this book as we learn to pray the promises of Jesus. The promises of Jesus are incredibly powerful, and praying his promises is an effective and enjoyable way to pray. After all, we have the perfect model for both prayer and promisesJesus himself.

JesusA Prolific Promise-Maker

Jesus was the greatest promise-maker and promise-keeper who ever lived. He made promises to his disciples, the crowds, and his opponents. He promised grieving sisters, a humble centurion, a penitent thief on an adjacent cross, and even those who called for his execution. Almost everywhere he went and to whomever he spoke, he made quite remarkable promises:

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away (Luke 21:33).

Dont be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed (Luke 8:50).

You will see heaven open (John 1:51).

Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person at the last day (John 6:54 NLT ).

In My Fathers house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you (John 14:2 NASB ).

And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven (Mark 14:62).

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:18,20).

Look, I am coming soon! (Revelation 22:7).

Jesus was not shy about making promises. Students of the Bible have compiled different lists of the promises of Jesus, some of which number in the hundreds. As these lists show, Jesus was a prodigious promise-maker.

Plus, Jesus was a promise-keeper. When he said he would do something, he did itno matter how impossible sounding or far-fetched.

Jesus used promises to shape the future of his followers lives. Through making and keeping promises, Jesus reached into their tomorrows and changed the course and content of their lives. The promises of Jesus were exceedingly powerful:

To several unknown fishermen, Jesus said, Come, follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people (Mark 1:17). As a result, these few men changed the world.

To a grief-stricken father whose daughter had died, Jesus said, Dont be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed (Luke 8:50). To everyones astonishment, Jesus kept that promise.

He asked two of his followers to walk into a city where they would find a colt, and he promised that the owner would allow them to borrow it. When this came to pass, the followers learned that Jesus promises even had power over future events (Matthew 21:1-6).

To his confused disciples, Jesus said he would be tortured, killed, and then on the third day he [would] rise again (Luke 18:33). What type of man makes promises about dying and coming back to life and keeps themon schedule? Yet Jesus did just that.

Jesus told his disciples, You will all fall away but after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee. An overconfident Peter promised, Even if all fall away, I will not. Jesus responded, Truly I tell you before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times (Mark 14:27-30). Peter broke his promise whereas Jesus kept his, which is a foreshadowing of how we may break our promises to the Lord, but he never will.

Before his ascension, Jesus told his followers to remain in Jerusalem and wait for the gift the Father had promised; they waited and were filled with the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 1:4-8; 2:1-4). They changed from confused followers to confident witnesses.

Through this process of promise-making and promise-keeping, Jesus influenced his followers. He transformed them into better people than they were before. He took the unfinished clay of their lives and, through the power of promises, moldedand fired!them into remarkable world-changers. He took weak, impulsive, fearful, doubtful people and, through the miracle of commitments, forged them into a confident force that altered history.

Would you like the promises of Jesus to come true in your life? To have your life molded and shaped by his promises rather than by the broken promises of this world? To experience the power of Jesus promises today? If so, lets pray together this prayer:

Lord,

You did an amazing thing in the lives of the apostles.

You took average, diverse, and unimpressive men and transformed them into some of the most influential people the world has ever known. Fearful, impulsive, and faithless men became towering figures of faith, peace, and courage. Angry, unhappy, and lonely individuals discovered love, friendships, and community.