Never Take No For An Answer

We Are To Shamelessly Bug Our Father

And He said to them, Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and will say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves [of bread], For a friend of mine who is on a journey has just come, and I have nothing to put before him; And he from within will answer, Do not disturb me; the door is now closed, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and supply you [with anything]? I tell you, although he will not get up and supply him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his shameless persistence and insistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs. Luke 11:5-8

Jesus tells us in this parable to be shameless in our pursuit of asking our Father for what we need to serve the Kingdom. So basically Jesus is telling us to bug the daylights out of our Father until we receive what we need to help others. Notice that the man in this illustration did not just have a need for himself, but for those who came to him.

Jesus told this parable right after He taught the Disciples how to pray. In the Lord’s Prayer we are told to pray for things like: give us this day our daily bread and lead us not into temptation. We were not shown to pray for our own needs alone, but to pray for the needs of the body as a whole. Then after Jesus teaches us to pray for everyone, He tells us to shamelessly ask our Father to give us the things that we do not have to help others.

The Truth is that we are to continuously bug our Father to empower us to serve others. We should shamelessly ask our Father to use us to prophesy, 1 Corinthians 14:5. We should ask repeatedly and vigorously to be used to do the works that Jesus did and even greater ones, John 14:12. We should hound our Father repeatedly to send us into all of the world to preach the Truth that will set the captives free. We should bug Him to empower us to lay hands on the sick and they recover. We should repeatedly ask to be empowered to cast out demons, to freely receive and freely give. 1 John 4:17 tells us that as Jesus is, so are we in this world. We should seek, knock, and repeatedly ask our Father to make it so. The laborers are few and the need is great. It is time that we as a body expect and demand that our Father begin to work through us, as He works through Jesus. Even if it looks like our Father first says no, as the man in the parable, keep on shamelessly demanding of God that He do it!

A Prayer For Power And Strength

“I do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers. [For I always pray to] the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that He may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation [of insight into mysteries and secrets] in the [deep and intimate] knowledge of Him, By having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you, and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints (His set-apart ones), And [so that you can know and understand] what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe, as demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength,” Ephesians 1:16-19 Amplified Bible

Father I ask in You in Jesus’ Name that: "You Father, the God of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto all of us a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of You. I ask that the eyes of our understanding are enlightened; that we know what is the hope of Your calling, and what the riches of the glory of Your inheritance is in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of Your power to usward who believe, according to the working of Your mighty power."

As Paul prayed in Ephesians 1:16-19, I pray and believe for you, and I ask that you pray and believe it for me. I believe in Jesus’ Name that all of the scriptures that we study together will be fulfilled in each and every person's life who reads these studies. Through Christ we serve a Big God and He rewards those who diligently seek Him. So together, together with each other and together with our Father, let’s diligently seek Him and His Truth. Together lets abide in the quick and powerful Word of God!!!!

God's Word Empowers Us

Our Father's Word is so empowering that Jesus proclaimed: "If ye abide in Me, and My Words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." John 15:7

Jesus never hesitated in speaking this Truth. He never qualified it, Jesus just flat out said, "Ask what ye will, and it will be done unto you!" There were never any doubts with Jesus. There were no problems or concerns, and no hesitation whatsoever, in His bold proclamation. This verse shows us clearly the power of our Father's Word working within us. It shows us all of the Word's power and glory. Jehovah's, our Father's, Word is absolute and it is defining. God’s Word is sharper than the sharpest sword. It is eternal, it is quick, and if you abide in it, and it abides in you, there is an answer to every situation that will ever come your way! Our Father's Word gives freedom that the world can never provide. No bank, no doctor, no consultant, can even begin to touch the power and abilities of a person who has become one with God’s Word. Our Father is not a respecter of persons, this power is available to all who have been born again!

As we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to study to show ourselves approved unto God, workmen who are not ashamed, I want you to consider the clarity of what we read in the Bible. Look at how our Father so freely uses words like all, every, whatever, whosoever, perfect, holy, powerful, quick, and now. When you read these bold and powerful statements never qualify them with human abilities. If our Father intended for a but, or a maybe, or a word such as sometimes, to be included in the scripture, He would have included them. Man and satan want such words to be added to the Living Word, but not our Father.

Man will say that we are to look at our flesh, our circumstances, others in the church, and only then will we will see what God truly means. Absolutely not, through the power of Christ we look at the Word. The Word of our Father is quick, sharp, powerful, and the Word is complete. We do not add to God’s Word and we do not take away from what it says. We come to our Father's Word as little children.

"Truly I say to you, whoever does not accept and receive and welcome the kingdom of God like a little child [does] shall not in any way enter in it [at all]." Luke 18:17 Amplified Bible.

If our Father said all, He meant all. If our Father said whatsoever we ask, He meant whatsoever we ask!

Through Christ We Receive All Things Of God

“And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” Matthew 21:22

With man it is impossible to ask for all things whatsoever, but with our Father nothing is impossible! We now have our Father's Holy Spirit dwelling within us. It is His Spirit that gives us the ability utter God’s Words in prayer so that we will never ask amiss! That is peace that passes all understanding and that is full joy! And praise God, we now have our Father pruning out anything and everything from within us that would hinder the production of His righteous fruit through us. Our Father does this for us so that we can ask for all things whatsoever!

We now have the mind of Christ, so we have the capacity to ask for all things just as Jesus asks for all things! Our Father isn’t offended at whatsoever. He rejoices in the Truth that He is the power within us that allows us to boldly come to Him and ask for whatsoever, and to ask for all things! All things, no matter how large or how small, through the power of Christ we ask our Father for all things! All things are possible for us and nothing is withheld from us. We are fully provided for by God just as Jesus is provided for!

Our Father is not limited by our ability to believe, if we can’t believe as we should, that doesn’t even hinder our Father. He will just have His Spirit pray for us, with words that we cannot even begin to utter!

“ Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” Romans 8:26

Our Father will cause us to grow, so that through each and every victory we will become stronger in the power of His might! Our Father's love for us will not be hindered by our own level of maturity. He is able to do above all that we can ask or think, and He does it by the power of His Spirit that is now within us. So whether we are praying or whether the Spirit is praying for us, we receive all things from our Father! All things are possible for God, and He is for us, so who or what can be against us!

All Things Are Possible For Us

"Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." Mark 9:23

The Truth is that all things are possible for us, if we can believe. A-men, there is so much power in this one little verse, all things are possible for those who believe! It is possible for us to be used by our Father to raise the dead, heal those infected with cancer, and preach the Gospel to the world. Our Father can use us to abundantly sow His Word, stop wars, and if we believe, it is possible for our Father to use us to do even greater works than He did through Jesus!

The yoke here for us is believing and this yoke of believing for all that our Father has for us is light and it is easy to be born. It's easy because we don’t look to ourselves for the needed faith; we look to Jesus, we look for His faith to work through us.

“Looking unto Jesus the Authorer and Finisher of our faith; Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the Cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the Throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2

Jesus is One with God. Jesus is God, He sees as God sees, He hears as God hears, He thinks as God thinks, and He loves as God loves! Jesus has all of God’s wisdom and all of His knowledge. There is nothing that God is; that Jesus isn’t, and Jesus is the One Who establishes our faith that allows us to believe and accept all of the Truths of God! Through the strength of Christ our capacity to believe is limitless! Through the strengthening of Christ, we can believe for all that our Father has! Since we now have Christ, all things are possible for us, because all things are possible for God to perform through us!

We are never alone, we are the body of Christ, and Jesus is every bit as much involved in our faith as He is in our salvation. Greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world. Through Christ we are more than conquerors! We are blessed in the power of His might!

Even Though We Are Dead, We Live

"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, Who loved me, and gave Himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain" Galatians 2:20-21 (Notice all of the present tense words that God uses here!)

This is not just a godly saying; some nice little thing that we say to each other on Sundays, it’s the Truth! It is the Truth of God that has set us free! When we were chosen by our Father and born again of His Incorruptible Seed, our old man was crucified with Christ and our body of sin was destroyed! “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” Romans 6:6 Our sinful nature, with all of its corruption, was crucified by the Anointing of God and our bodies of sin were destroyed, and our relationship with sin and our old self was permanently broken. Christ came immediately to dwell within us and we were raised from the dead by the very power of God that raised Jesus from the dead, and we now live by the very power that Jesus lives by; God within us! And the life we now live in this world is lived by the exact same power that Jesus lives in Heaven with, the Anointing of God! Greater is He that is now within us, than he that is in the world! “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.” 1 John 4:4

"And I have declared unto them Thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them." John 17:26

"That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me. And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one. I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me." John 17:21-23

"And all Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine; and I am glorified in them." John 17:10

"If ye abide in me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." John 15:7

"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can you, except ye abide in Me. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in Me, and I in Him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing." John 15:4-5

The life we now live in the flesh is lived by the faith of Jesus Christ. “Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2 It is now the love of Christ that lives within us, we are in this world, but we are no longer of this world! Jesus is now glorified within us and we now have the glory of Christ within us, so that the world will believe and be saved! The Anointing of God has made us one with Him, so that the world will know that God loves us just as He loves Jesus! The Words of Christ are now abiding within us and the Word of God is what is in abundance in our hearts! It is now Christ Who produces much Godly fruit through us! We now have all of these things and so much more, more than we can think of and more than we can pray for, because it is now Christ within us Who is alive. We are dead, the Glory of God has killed us, and yet we live, because the Glory of God lives within us! We can’t help but to live by Jesus’ faith, dead men don’t have faith! “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:3

Ask yourself this question honestly; do you believe all of these verses? If you don’t, here is what you do: First of all remember this Godly Truth, there is now no condemnation for us, none! Say that out loud, there is now no condemnation for me! Jesus has set us free from condemnation by sending the Holy Spirit to dwell within us. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 8:1 Our Father is not out to condemn us, thank You Lord for Your grace. Our Father doesn't want us condemning ourselves either, once again thank You Lord! But what our Father does want for us is to live in the fullness of His Truth and to be set free by it! Our Father wants to live within us. He wants to cause us to walk in His Truth, and it's not a burden, it’s pleasant, it’s life and peace that passes all understanding. Our Father's Truth is easy to be borne and it will set us free!

If you are struggling with accepting who you are in Christ Jesus now, look to the Spirit of Truth that is within you to call out for our Father to help. It’s really just that simple, all we have to do is ask! We don’t have to get all caught up in how we ask, our Father knows our hearts! “Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him.” Matthew 6:8 You may start to believe immediately, it may take some time, but ask and you shall receive! “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.” John 16:24

Is it our Father's will for us to live as He is in this world, and He empowers us to do so by Anointing us to be one with Him in this world? “In this [union and communion with Him] love is brought to completion and attains perfection with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment [with assurance and boldness to face Him], because as He is, so are we in this world.” 1 John 4:17 Amplified Bible We are able to have confidence and boldness because of our union and communion that we now have with God! “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” 2 Corinthians 6:14 We are now one with God and we now have union and communion with Him and God’s Light has driven out the darkness that was in us by crucifying us with His Anointing!

Look at all of the scriptures that we have studied together in these postings. If we lack anything, we now have the Spirit within us that leads us to just ask our Father for it. Our Father is the supplier of all of our needs and our needs are met according to His riches and glory. “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19 There is no ten step program here; the answer for us is to simply ask and it is Jesus within us Who is directing us to ask. Jesus knows where the answers come from and He is leading us in the paths of righteousness! We now have His Anointed mind and that mind knows fully that God is willing and able to do all that He has spoken! The mind that we have been given has been to the Cross and has been raised from the dead! The Anointed mind that we now have walked through the Red Sea with the children of Israel, it saw David triumph over Goliath, it saw Elijah call fire down from Heaven, it told the storm to cease, it walked on the water, it was with God from the very beginning and it is seated with Him right now! Our mind knows the Truth and it knows that we now have the petitions that are required to receive from God! “And if we know that He hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him.” 1 John 5:15

Jesus, I pray in Your Name, the Name that has been placed above every other name, that all You have chosen and all who have accepted You as Lord, and all that we come into contact with will live and walk in the full and complete knowledge and faith of the Truth that You are now within us. That You never leave us or forsake us. I pray that we truly accept and walk in the fact that Your love now abides within us, and that we love as You love, that we forgive as You forgive, and that we serve as You serve! I pray that it is Your glory that we walk in, and that we experience a glorious life of Jesus producing much fruit through us. I pray that we are Your vessels of honor and virtue, and that Your virtue flows from us as rivers of living water! I thank You Lord that we are one, even as You and the Father are One! Thank You Jesus that we are healthy, that we are prosperous, that we are victorious, that we are honorable, that we see as You see, have faith as You have faith, hear as You hear, live as You live, and love as You love! I pray these things Father and I ask that they are truly lived in and walked in by us this day, thank You, and A-men!

A Benefit of Salvation: Asking & Receiving

"If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." John 15:7

Hallelujah, there are so many different areas that we can praise our Father concerning this Truth! As I was praying about what He wanted us to study, He told me that the real power of this verse is with our relationship with Him. More specifically, the fact that we have direct access and ability through Jesus to go to our Father with anything and everything! "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in Me. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing." John 15:4-5

Our Father is the Creator of everything, there is no power that is greater than He is, and He has allowed us to have direct access to Him. OUr Father has given us the ability through faith Authored by Jesus to ask Him for whatever we will! Our Father the Creator of it all has said that He will give us whatever we ask for, and all we have to do is to abide in Him and have His Word abide in us. This isn’t a benefit of salvation that is reserved for just a select few of us either; it’s for each and every believer, because every believer has the Word abiding within Him. This isn’t a hard Truth to live either, “For My yoke is easy, and My burden light.” Matthew 11:30 Jesus is the Word, John 1:14, and every one of us been called and chosen has Jesus abiding within him. “And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, as we are One: I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfect in one, and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me.” John 17:22-23 It is impossible for us to accept Jesus and make Him the Lord of our lives, and then choose to not have Him abiding within us. If we choose to live apart from Christ then we aren’t saved! The two go hand in hand! Salvation is unity and oneness with God through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior!

The Bible teaches us that Jesus is the firstborn among many brethren. “For those whom He foreknew [of whom He was aware and loved beforehand], He also destined from the beginning [foreordained them] to be molded into the image of His Son [and share inwardly His likeness], that He might become the firstborn among many brethren.” Romans 8:9 (Amplified Bible) The reason that our Father sent Jesus was not just to save us, but so that we could be made like Him, that’s the fullness of His salvation! Our Father just didn’t provide a way for us to escape an eternity in Hell, an eternity separated from Him; He provided a way through the power of His Anointing, which is Christ, for us to actually be like Him! That’s what our Father has always wanted and desired for us to be. God created us in His image, and Jesus came so that we might be! Jesus is the greatest, there is none greater, He is the Alpha and the Omega, He is our Head, He is our Savior, and these Truths of Who He is, does not for one second limit us from being like Him!

It does not demean Jesus for us to live in the fullness and completeness of His salvation! Jesus came so that we could be like Him. Jesus came so that we could have direct access to God, as He has direct access to God. Jesus came so that our Father would be able to do the works through us, that He did through Him, and yes even greater ones! The power of God within man has been perfected by the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior! John 14:12. Jesus came so that we could ask of our Father for everything and receive, as He asked everything of God and received! Too many of us try to elevate Jesus by degrading ourselves. That is basically just placing the focus on us and not on God. That’s not how Jesus says we are to elevate and praise God. Jesus said that we elevate our Father and bring praise to Him by being used to produce much fruit. “Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be My disciples.” John 15:8 Man apart from God can do nothing, however man with God can do everything, Mark 10:27.

One of the best examples that I have ever found in the Bible of how our Father is concerning us asking Him for things can be found when Jesus began His ministry. “And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto Him, they have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever He saith unto you do it.” John 2:3-5 Jesus proclaimed that He only spoke what He was commanded of God to speak, John 12:49. So what He said to Mary was of God, and Jesus said that it wasn’t yet His time! So what did Mary do? She went right ahead and persisted. And Jesus without rebuking her, began His public ministry. How great is that? Mary asked our Father what she willed and God did it, even though He had at first said no! For those of us that have kids, we know exactly why God did what He did for her.

I hope you see this Truth that our Father is not inaccessible. God’s provided a way for us to be one with Him, exactly like Jesus is one with Him. Jesus asked our Father for everything. He spoke only what God had told Him to speak and Jesus gave God the glory and honor for everything that happened. Jesus had a 100% success ratio with God! He did because He was one with God, and because of Jesus, we too can have a 100% success ratio, because through Jesus, we too are one with God. Our strength does not lie within our own abilities to serve our Father; they lie within Jesus’ ability to serve God by serving us. He ever lives to intercede for us and that is why we are saved to the uttermost! We are not alone, Jesus is our Head, He is the Vine and we are the branches, and He is our Shepherd, leading us in the paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake!

What’s really powerful about asking and receiving is our will, “ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you.” I mean think about it, Jesus said this, so it’s an absolute Truth, but is it an attainable Truth for us? Most of the Christians I talk with question whether their will and God’s will are actually the same? They believe that we may get it right once in a while, but how can we be sure? I hear it said all of the time that God will not take our free will from us, but is that Truth? Ask yourself these two questions, can we have God’s will 100% of the time, and if we are saved, are we permitted to retain our own will that is contrary to His? Let’s turn to the Word and see the Truth, and the Truth will set us free!

“Not with eye service, as men pleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.” Ephesians 6:6 Doing the will of God comes from the heart! So it’s with our hearts that we do the will of God! That’s cool! What does God say about our hearts? “A new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them.” Ezekiel 36:26-27 Wow!

Our Father takes care of our will. He does it by giving us a new heart and He gives us a new spirit, and He places His Spirit within us, so that we can do what? So that we can do His will! A-men, we are not alone! Our Father is right here in us, with us, leading us, providing the necessary components, and strengthening us to do His will in everything. We can ask and receive because our Father has given us a heart and a spirit that can ask His will, and He doesn’t stop there, He put Himself within us to finish the job completely! God never says that there is a benefit or a requirement that is from Him, that He doesn’t fully empower us with Himself to obtain or to fulfill!

I have heard people say that our Father will not take away our free will; He does to! God takes away, yes and A-men, He takes away our sinful free will. Look at Ezekiel 36:26. Our Father said that He would take away our stony hearts, our hearts of dead works, dead wills, and dead desires, and we thank you Father that You do! Our Father said that He would cause us to walk in what is right and righteous, and we praise You Father that You do! If it were up to us, we would keep it, and then we would not be able to ask and receive. But God loves us so much that He put a new heart and a new spirit within us that only wants His will and we can ask away; because we have Him within us a 100% of the time and with God there is a 100% success ratio!

Now don’t get me wrong, can we ask amiss, yes, James 4:3. But hear me out; faith comes from hearing and hearing by the Word of God. The reality of so many believers is this: that we are just humans, bound to mess up, we have this free will which is contrary to God’s will and that’s just the way it is. So even though Jesus said ask what ye will, the chances of us living that way are slim to none! They believe that with a lot of hard work and self-determination that maybe once and a while we can get it right, but never all of the time like Jesus did. But the Bible says that our Father's yoke is easy, and the Bible says that God gave us a spirit and a heart that can. The Bible says that our Father did take away our will that was contrary to His, and Jesus said ask and receive! This is the great victory of our salvation, nothing is ever left to chance, and everything is left up to God!

We have studied that our Father wants us prosperous with abundance, having all of our desires and all of our needs fulfilled through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Through His Love, by His presence, and with His Word, God has provided a way for us to be as Jesus is. We now have seen that God has faith and boldness in us, because He knows absolutely that Christ dwells within us, and He knows far better than you and I the power of our unity with Him. Our Father knows the heart and the spirit that He gave us; He knows their power that allows us to walk in His will. Our Father can say that we can have whatsoever we ask, because He has given our will to us, and it’s no longer our will but His will. Old things have passed away for us and all things have become new, including our will! And our Father's will for us is an abundant life. His will is Health, His will is Peace, His will is Joy, His will is Wisdom, Miraculous, Forgiving, Kind, Gentle, and Powerful! These are the attributes of the heart we have been given by God and out of the abundance of our hearts, our mouths will ask!

Do not shy away from this power or be intimidated by it. It’s God, it’s all Him, we only can because of Him! We have been born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible. We have been given the Holy Ghost to teach us all things. Our Father has faith in His salvation and in our unity with Christ, and so should we. Its God Who said these things are true, so walk in boldness and have faith in the power of our salvation, God does!