Category: Dr. John La Noue

Prevailing Prayer

In Matthew 6: 9-15, He gave us the example. He said, “This is how you should pray,” and gave us an outline for prevailing prayer.

Beginning with verse 9 He has us acknowledge our relationship to God with “Our Father in Heaven”, and moving us to worship with, “Hallowed be your name.” This acknowledging His holiness and our deep reverence for Him that moves us to worship Him.

When He prays, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven,” in verse 10, He is speaking of our surrender to the will of God, as obedient citizens in His kingdom. When we are living in obedience, we have the privilege of requesting His provision for our needs, as in verse 11. He enables us to have the supply we need in order to accomplish our assignment.

In verse 12, we come to a very difficult, but essential part of the prayer, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” If we desire forgiveness, we must give forgiveness! This so important that He refers to this with a further explanation in verses 14 and 15.

His requests in verse in verse 13 are for God to lead him His way and protect him as he serves in obedience. All of this tells us to prevail in prayer, we must be seeking God’s will, not ours. We are to pray for direction as we obey His will. We are to follow His plan, not just ask him to bless our plan!

Now we come to, what may be the most difficult part for some to accomplish: Forgiveness. In verses 14-15, Jesus explains that we are forgiven our sins, if we forgive others who have sinned against us. He is saying we are to give to others what He has given us.

For your prayer life to be that which prevails victoriously with Father, the kind that moves mountains of doubt and blockages to God’s will being accomplished in our lives and in the world, you must pray, and internalize these truths.

Living the Intended Life

I was speaking to a group of university students this week about what it means to live a life of mission service. They were curious about the sacrifices I had to make to follow God’s will, or plan, for my life.

Sacrifices? God made a change in my life’s direction, but that was not a sacrifice. Getting your life in coordination with God’s plan is not a sacrifice, doing what you were born to do is the ultimate freedom!

I own and fly an antique airplane, a 1948 Luscombe.   It has a tailwheel and is called a “taildragger”. Landing and maneuvering it on the ground is difficult because you steer it with your feet, using the rudder pedals, throttle, and heel brakes. It is “squirrely” on the ground!

However, once it is airborne, it is aerial poetry! You have freedom that you could never experience on the ground. It was made to fly! Not be ground transportation.

In a similar fashion, you were created by God for a purpose. You will never find the fullness and joy of life God intended for you to experience if you are living outside of the will of God.

That does not mean a life without stress, difficulties, danger, and many testing times; but it means a life that is filled with purpose, productivity for God’s kingdom, and the pleasure of walking with the Father!

“My book, “Walking With God in Broken Places”, tells of the ways God has led me for over fifty years in ministry in places like North Korea, Iran, Russia, Bosnia Serbia, Peru, Honduras and many other places. The key to my life of service has been and is, “And then I prayed.”