Steps to Prayer that Changes Outcomes

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. It makes me think about Jesus’ love that changes our outcomes. Prayer is also about loving and helping others just as Jesus loves us. I don’t know about you, but I want some changes in my life and in others, too. We’re all familiar with 2 Chronicles 7:14  “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” Then the Lord told me “There are nine commandments or steps in this verse and shouldn’t be taken very lightly. It’s a verse that was intended to have power and authority to make a change, but not everyone wants to fulfill all the steps. They only work part of the scripture and that’s what pleases their flesh. I told the Lord, please don’t let me skip any steps, because I know I probably have without thinking about it. I want my prayers to work and make changes. Teach me these steps and I will share with others.”  When the Lord was done it showed me how powerful scriptures like: Mark 11:23 “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.”  Matthew 7:7-8 “7) Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:  8) For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” and many more that come to life.

Let’s look at these steps.

2 Chronicles 7:14 
1)  If my people, - This opens up like asking ourselves a question. Are we one of God’s people?  Most of us know this answer when we accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. Here is what Jesus is like. John 8:12 “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” Jesus came to be the light,for us. Jesus didn’t abide with darkness; neither should we. Here’s a scripture to check ourselves out, if we’re one of his. Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Why this scripture?  Because Jesus is aware of how the flesh can sometimes step in the way and light won’t be shining too well. Now it’s time to be the light of Jesus to others.

2) which are called by my name, - How do we know that we’re called by his name? John 15:16 “Ye have not     chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.” What I like about this scripture is that he ordained all of us to at least share the Gospel with someone.  I am not saying we’re all leaders of a church or any part of the five-fold ministry, but as someone who is to spread the light of Jesus among others. Mark 16:15 “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Let’s     parallel this to Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” We may not be a prophet, but we are on a mission to spread the Gospel far and wide.

3) shall humble themselves, - It takes a humble person to make prayer effective. This is a tough one. Humble isn’t about putting our self first, but it’s about helping others even those who hurt us. Philippians 2:3 “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.” It’s a place to lay all fleshly mindsets aside about a person or a group of people aside and still pray for them. I said this is a tough one Right?  Here’s where it gets tough. Matthew 5:44 “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;” OUCH!
I know that verse hurts, but our goal is to be angry at the sin and not the person. Now a scripture close to what I just said is Ezekiel 33:11 “Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? ” Like I usually say, “This can be easier said than done.” We have to be in that humble state to represent Jesus to others. Let’s look at a position of humbleness by Jesus himself. Luke 23:34 “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.” Don’t forget his experience at the whipping post either. See, I believe this tells us, that Jesus loves his children and overlooked the sin. Meaning Jesus doesn’t like sin, but he does love his people.

4) and pray, - Praying is what this is really all about right? It’s also a place of getting in tune with God.  Matthew 6:6 “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” This will help you prepare for step 5. How can we get our heart in that right place?  By following what Matthew 5:44 tells us to begin with. This doesn’t mean pray a quick prayer and walk away all the time. Prayer here is also about unity in prayer. Why? Go back to step one “If my people,” it doesn’t totally mean just you. Esther is a good example of unity. Esther, not only prayed for her life, but also her servants along with Mordecai and the rest of the Jews in the area prayed for her situation at hand. Esther 4:16 “Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.”  We can see a picture of the first 3 steps in this case.  I know we don’t see praying for our enemies here, but keep this in mind she didn’t ask to destroy all the worldly people either, but she did want the evil one with an agenda to be removed though. Esther 7:6 “And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.” The point I am trying to make is not all worldly people want to be evil and actually want to do harmful actions towards people, but many need a change, for some don’t belong to the Lord just yet, so don’t become a stumbling block or make full judgment right away about a person. Romans 14:13 “Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.” It’s time to put the love of Jesus into action.

5) and seek my face, - What so important about this step? Prayer is about seeking and waiting for an answer for our prayers; not leaving right away. Jeremiah 29:12-13 “12) Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 13) And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. ” 
I use this next scripture a lot. I know it’s the place to go and I use it in my own personal prayer life. Hebrews 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”  It’s a place of humbleness in finding those answers for our self and others. This is the Father’s love for us. Go to that place and get answers. I also call this corporate prayer because we are before the Father in Jesus name waiting upon the Holy Spirit to reveal the answer to our prayers.

6) and turn from their wicked ways; - Remember, what I said in step 3 on how that step was tough? Here’s why, when we do the opposite of Matthew 5:44 it’s like being in wicked ways. Many may disagree. We’re also not forgiving towards others like Jesus was in Luke 23:34 either. This goes deeper than forgiveness. It’s about repenting.  Repent means you have confessed and turned from the wicked way as you learned about some truths. This scripture doesn’t exactly spell it out that way, but it will apply to steps 7- 9 later on, 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Don’t fall in a trap. 1 John 1:8 tells us “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” God knows. Galatians 6:7 “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” It’s that important to change and be like Christ. I’m not saying we’re perfect but we should be striding towards that direction.

7) then will I hear from heaven, - I don’t know about you, but if we’re not fulfilling the first six steps I believe it can make it very hard for God to hear us. Proverbs 15:29 “The LORD is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.” John 9:31 “Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.” Jeremiah 29:12-13 can fit in this place, too. Again, we’re not perfect and that’s why we see his grace and mercy abound, but keep our self clean as possible and in an humble state. We have to remember Jesus is reaching out to the sinners too.

8) and will forgive their sin, - It’s important to have that forgiving heart. Mark 11:25 “And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” Why is this important? Let’s look at Mark 11:26 “But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.”  Now you can’t tell me forgiveness isn’t important. This is the time where we can’t have unforgiveness in our hearts. We’re wanting a change to happen in our circumstances especially in our Nation. I didn’t say it would be easy. It doesn’t mean we won’t forget either. Don’t forget how Jesus responded while on the cross.

9) and will heal their land. - Now, I truly believe when we work all 8 steps as we’re commanded to do we will see step 9 take place in our life and across this nation. Psalms 34:4 “I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.” God doesn’t want us to stay in bondage or in sin, but he doesn’t want us to keep playing with sin either. Let’s look at Job for a healing through prayer. Job 42:10 “And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends:  also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.” Now if job can be restored so can this nation.  Deuteronomy 30:5 “And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.”

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