When was the last time you took God at his word?
Even though God has a perfect memory he likes us to remind him of his promises, writes Darren McClatchey, a member of the Serious4God leadership team in Northern Ireland
I don’t know if you’re like me, but if you are, you’ll have the worst memory ever. I can remember lots of useless things, like which footballers kick with which foot, what I had for dinner last week and, for some unknown reason, I’m quite good at remembering numbers.
But when it comes to important things like names, appointments and places, I am the WORST. It often feels like I spend my life with people repeating the following phrase to me: “Do you not remember?”
In the church I heard about people ‘praying the promises back to God’, and at first this really confused me. Does God forget too? If he does, then what does he remember? What doesn’t he remember? And, if he doesn’t forget, then aren’t I just being patronising and demanding?
We all know that the answers to the first of those questions is glaringly obvious; of course God doesn’t forget. So why do we need to pray the promises back to him?
When I pray the promises that God has given me, I can be assured that he hears and he answers. 1 John 5:14 tells us: “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.”
This is great in those moments when we maybe feel like God doesn’t hear us anymore; that maybe he doesn’t care; that maybe I’m just asking for all the wrong things; or maybe he just doesn’t answer my prayers any more. We can come before him and pray, claiming the promises that he has already given us, and we can be confident that he hears and he answers.
There is also something to be said for just hearing yourself repeating these promises. That in itself can change things in our own lives. Hearing ourselves say it can bring us to a place of remembrance, where we are standing before God again, talking about something he promised us previously. This builds my confidence in him, it stirs up hope within me.
The very simple act of repeating what God has already said he will do can change my perspective. The situation we are in may not change, but we can be guaranteed that we will change, and sometimes that’s all that is needed.
One of the most valuable reasons I find for praying the promises is that when I spend time with God reflecting on all he has promised me, I find that I am overwhelmed at his goodness. In those moments I find that somehow it goes from being something I know in my head that God said he would do to something I believe with all my heart that he will do.
The beautiful thing about a promise from God is that if he says he will do it, then he will do it. He doesn’t tease us with things he never intends to do; he doesn’t change his mind; he doesn’t just say what he thinks we want to hear and then run off and do something else. If he said he would do it, then he will. [quote_box_center]When I pray the promises that God has given me, I can be assured that he hears and he answers.[/quote_box_center]
Deuteronomy 7:9 says: “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments.”
So when was the last time you took God at his word? When was the last time you prayed asking him to do the things he said he will do? Instead of praying, hoping that one day if you pray long enough, hard enough and twist God’s arm up his back far enough, he might just do this thing you’re asking for.
An example might be when we want a real move of God and we want to see him pour out his Spirit, we can take hold of promises like Joel 2: “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.”
In light of this we can pray, “God, we really want to see you pour out your Spirit, and you said in your Word that you would pour out your Spirit on all flesh, and so Lord we are asking that you would do what you promised.”
Let’s be intentional about what we ask for. Get into the Bible, see what he has promised to do, talk to God about it, and let’s start praying some ‘God will you do what you promised’ prayers. I guarantee it will change not only your prayer life, but all aspects of your life.