PURSUIT - Day 12 - Praying from the Platform of Victory

We've all fallen into the trap of praying weak prayers of desperation that lack faith and confidence that God will hear and do something in response.  We can easily get caught in a useless treadmill of prayer that does not produce results when we pray as if Jesus and Satan were battling over our future, and we are not convinced who will win.  The very foundation of effective prayer realizes who God is and that He always responds to faith-filled prayers.

"But without faith it is impossible to [walk with God and] please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him.  Hebrews 11:6 (AMP) 

Today I want us to seek God from a platform of faith and victory, knowing that Jesus has paid the full price to make us overcomers, knowing that He hears and responds to our prayer and confident that as we seek Him, during these days of PURSUIT, that an inevitable reward is on the way!  The word "reward" comes from a root Hebrew word that means "wages will be paid for work done."  The rewards and results of diligently seeking God are sure and inevitable.  The key is praying from a platform of faith and victory, being confident that He hears us, and will do whaat he has promised.

As Jesus hung on the cross, He uttered seven different statements or proclamations just before his death.  His final words were "Father into your hands, I commit my spirit," and just before  that moment, Jesus cried out, "IT IS FINISHED" (John 19:30).  This was a shout or a loud cry of victory, not a moan of defeat or exhaustion.  The phrase "it is finished" is one Greek word that is an accounting term as well as a proclamation of victory.  When Jesus proclaimed these words, he was saying "It is paid in full," "It has all been accomplished," "The victory has been secured!"

"These words are not the cry of a defeated man, but it is instead, the shout of a victor!  This is the exultant cry of one who has just won a great victory."  - Alan Carr 

"'It is finished' was a shout of triumph; the proclamation of a victor.  The work of redemption that the Father had given Him was accomplished:  sin was atoned for, Satan was defeated and rendered powerless, every requirement of God's righteous law had been satisfied and every prophecy had been fulfilled." - John MacArthur

 As the demons of hell celebrated the death of the Messiah, they must have shuddered in fear upon the realization that they were actually pawns in the hands of God accomplishing the very purpose of redemption!

Because of this ultimate victory, we not pray from a posture of pre-purchased victory!  When we understand and believe that "it is finished" it will change our outlook on spiritual warfare and the way we pray.

TAKE A MOMENT - Ask your heart where you stand today in light of what Jesus has accomplished.  Are you standing on a platform of accompished victory or are your spiritual feet standing on a footing of doubt, fear, and uncertainty?

Here are three things that Jesus paid in full that can place you on a prayer-platform of victory today:

1.  THE PRICE WAS PAID IN FULL TO RECONCILE US TO GOD.

For God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.  We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 2 Corinthians 5:19-20 (NIV)

The entirety of the gospel can be found in this one word: "reconcile."  This means that through the cross, we have been restored to favor with God.  Today we do not pray from a place of trying to earn favor or from a place of working our way into flavor.  The Cross has restored us to favor, and we pray as sons and daughters whose Father is longing to answer our request before we even ask.  This word reconcile also means, "to turn enemies into friends."  This is amazing!  We who were the enemies of God, because of the fallen planet and our sinful state, are now made the very friends of God!  Let's see the Father through that lens today.  He is our Friend who has given us his favor.

2.  THE PRICE WAS PAID IN FULL TO ENABLE US TO LIVE IN COMPLETE VICTORY

Far too many Christ-followers are living in partial victory or even worse, living most of their life in a place of fear, discouragement, and defeat.  "Believers" who experience only brief moments of victory, glimpses of what it's like to live as an overcomer, only to fall back into a posture of defeat and survival.  The victory that the cross has secured for us is so complete that nothing can separate us from God's love!  We are not only guaranteed victory but a continuous and undefeatable state of existence.  To be "more than a conqueror" means we not only win, but it wasn't even a fair fight!  It's an overwhelming victory, an irrevocable victory, a blowout, a beatdown of our enemies.

Today, are you living from a place of "it is finished," or are you living from a place of "I'm not sure I'll finish?"  Let this verse resonate in your heart today and realize that, in Christ, you have already won and now you are merely praying it out, walking it out, and moving forward to a life of a continued overcomer. 

3.  THE PRICE WAS PAID IN FULL TO GIVE US "FULL ACCESS" TO THE PRESENCE OF GOD

"Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit.  At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, and tombs opened."  Matthew 27:50-52 

Historians will tell you that the veil was a curtain of woven fabric 30 feet wide by 30 feet high and around 4 inches thick.  Josephus, a Biblical historian from the first century, reported that the veil was 4 inches thick and that horses tied to each side could not pull it apart.  Yet, when Jesus said, "IT IS FINISHED" the veil was ripped from top to bottom by the very hands of God, allowing all of us complete, total, and permanent access into the very presence of God.  The veil was not torn so that a few select people could get into the presence of Christ.  The veil was destroyed  so that the presence of God would be released into the world through His Church!  The work of the cross solidifies your standing invitation to meet God face-to-face, have full access to His heart and thoughts and live in a perpetual state of friendship with God and dominance over your adversaries.

". . .let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him."  Hebrews 10:22 (NLT2)

"So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most."  Hebrews 4:16 (NLT2) 

MEMORY VERSE - "In all things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."  Romans 8:37

PRAYER DIRECTIVE - Ask God for a revelation of what it means to be "more than a conqueror."  Ask Him to reveal the completeness and finality of His work on the Cross, then move into a time of prayer from a platform of victory and faith.  Regarding the particular battle you are fighting, do some research in the Word and discover what God's will and final outcome in the matter will be, then use those verses as prayer weapons to fight with today.  As you pray "your kingdom come, your will be done," you can be sure that it will happen.  There is nothing that the demons of hell or even Satan himself can do about it!  Your victory is secure!  It is overwhelming!  It is a blowout!  You win!  Everytime!  IT IS FINISHED!