18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
The Apostle Paul emphasized the place of supplication for the believer. This is an aspect many believers, especially in the New Testament Church need to pay attention to, so as not to err. Some Christians do not ask God for things, they do not supplicate and make definite requests and ask God for things before they begin to make declarations. God is a God of order and He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He does not change standards. There is a protocol of prayer well laid out in the Word. Now, asking for things from God does not mean that those things are not already yours, but that’s the protocol. For example, Jesus our Master asked the Father for things before He declared them to be. When He was at the tomb of Lazarus, He prayed and said “Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.” John 11:41. For Jesus to have publicly declared that God had heard Him, that means He had prayed. When He had acknowledged that he had a receipt of his prayers and supplications, “…he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.” John 11:43. Jesus didn’t perform the miracle until He knew God had heard Him. That way, He did what God had already done.
If as a Christian you don’t supplicate, you need to repent, so you don’t shortchange yourself. Even our Lord Jesus supplicated when He was faced with challenges and He was before Pontus Pilate, He said, “I can even ask my Father to give me more than twelve legions of angels.” Jesus had the right to all the angels, but He still needed to ask. Asking does not mean that you don’t have access to all that God has provided for you, but you still need to ask, because that is God’s protocol in prayer. Jesus the Lord taught His disciples to pray in Matthew 6:9-11, He prayed, ‘let your kingdom come… give us this day, our daily bread…” Jesus asked things of the Father. Many people do not have because they do not ask. Jesus said in John 16:24 “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your forever joy may be full.” There’s nothing that God has that you don’t have a right to as a child of God, but you must learn to ask.
MY SOLID FRONT (YOUR CONFESSION):
In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I follow God’s protocol in prayer as I ask and receive from the Father. The Father always answers me when I pray in the Name of Jesus!
Further Meditation:
Matthew 7:7; 1 John 5:14-15.