Jesus was baptised in water, and in Marks
account of the occurrence... it emphasises something that is really important for us
to catch. He says... "When Jesus was baptised in water, the heavens
opened... the father spoke.... and He said... This is my beloved son...in whom I am well
pleased." We pray a prayer often... and its a good prayer...
We pray for open heavens... We pray for God to tear the heavens open...
the Isaiah 64 passage... Where we pray for the Lord to rip open the
heavens and come down because we are so desperate and hungry for more.... Its an important prayer because we are praying
for the heavens to open over cities and nations.... but sometimes we live in ignorance of what
we already possess. When you pray for what you already have....
you never have the joy of seeing it answered... because you are not aware that you already
have the answer. Prayer is designed to be one of the priority
realms.... Obtaining answers and getting breakthroughs
is supposed to be the ongoing source of joy for the believer. Jesus said... In that day you will ask the
father in my name... and He will do whatever you ask.... THAT YOUR
JOY MAY BE FULL. Now listen carefully. If we do not get our joy from kingdom breakthroughs...
then we have to get our joy from the discipline of prayer. And when our joy come from the discipline
of prayer, then we begin to celebrate form, rather than breakthrough. We celebrate form rather than substance. Its the beginning of the formation of religion...
religion being: "Form without power". And it starts by becoming a people that have
to derive our satisfaction... with the fact that we put in x amount of hours... we did this many fasts... we did all these kinds of things... therefore
we are devoted to the Lord. And when Jesus designed this thing... He said
you will ask the father in my name... He will do whatever you ask... but He is going
to do it... that your joy may be full. Now joy is such a priceless heavenly commodity.
I don't know that we have begun to understand the value of joy in heaven. It is such a priceless commodity in heaven
that the father reserved that as the reward for Jesus... in enduring the cross. It says.... And He endured the cross for the
reward set before Him. Joy was the reward for the suffering. It was what the father gave Him to honour
Him for His obedience. Joy is that valuable! And the scripture says that your breakthrough
is supposed to be that resource that brings continuous, ongoing, fullness of joy. Our problem is that we continue to pray for
what we possess and if I pray for what I possess... but if I live in ignorance for what I possess...
then I never have the experience of the breakthrough that brings exhilaration and joy. Does this make any sense? Its a big deal... because we pray for many
things... How many times have we prayed... "Lord be
with us today?" He said I will never forsake you... I will
never leave you. Its not a prayer He can answer! And what we do... is we actually pray things
that war against what He has promised. Its not okay! Its not okay... Because we fill our hearts and mind with things
that actually war with what God has declared. When He says... "I will never forsake you"... Let there never be words that come out of
my mouth that contradict that. ... And especially words that we put in the
category of prayer. You guys doing alright? You are going to have to smile now and then...
or you will scare me :-) I am going to be as nice as I can be tonight...
and have a lot of fun with you... but I want to... throw a few punches first :-) When He said "Jesus was baptised in water
and the heavens parted..." The original language there is... that the father "tore open the heavens. He
tore open the heavens and the Spirit came down." What was the prayer of Isaiah 64?
