Servias Ministries Blog

What is the purpose of prayer?

It is to release FATHER’S Hands into the broken situation we face.  Let us be refreshed in the purpose of prayer.

Jesus gave us the model prayer to follow in Matthew chapter 6:

5 “Whenever you pray, be sincere and not like the pretenders who love the attention they receive while praying before others in the meetings and on street corners. Believe me, they’ve already received their reward.

6 But whenever you pray, go into your innermost chamber and be alone with Father God, praying to Him in secret. And Your Father, Who sees all you do, will reward you openly.

There is a reward associated with prayer.  The reward will either come from men, or it will come from FATHER.  We don’t try to manipulate FATHER for personal gain.  However, HE knows not only your needs but also your righteous desires.  HE looks for opportunities to give rewards.  That is what Love does.

7 When you pray, there is no need to repeat empty phrases, praying like the Gentiles do, for they expect God to hear them because of their many words.

Repeated prayers for what we have need of is not necessary.  HE is not reluctant to meet our needs.

8 There is no need to imitate them, since Your Father already knows what you need before you ask Him.

David wrote by The Holy Spirit in Psalm chapter 139:

1 Lord, You know everything there is to know about me.

2 You perceive every movement of my heart and soul, and you understand my every thought before it even enters my mind.

9 Pray like this: ‘Our Beloved Father, dwelling in the Heavenly realms, may the glory of Your Name be the Center on which our lives turn.

When we fully surrender to HIM, HE becomes the Center of our lives.  Jesus identifies HIM as Our Father thus we have a relationship with HIM.  As we grow closer to HIM, HIS righteousness invades our soul.  The two fundamental temptations by the adversary are to question what GOD said, and to question who you are.  Both Adam and Eve, and Jesus while in the wilderness, were tempted in the same way.  What GOD says over your life is the target of the enemy.

10 Manifest Your Kingdom realm, and cause Your every purpose to be fulfilled on earth, just as it is in Heaven.

GOD gave us the earth to dwell in and have authority over it.  To be just, HE must be invited to co-labor with us on the earth.  This prayer is the invitation.

11 We acknowledge You as our Provider of all we need each day.

We live in a true household of unlimited resources.  Our mindset must be changed so that our expectations will change.  Our faith and trust will increase.

12 Forgive us the wrongs we have done as we ourselves release forgiveness to those who have wronged us.

13 Rescue us every time we face tribulation and set us free from evil. For You are the King Who rules with power and glory forever. Amen.’

The revelation in a person’s life, helps to establish identity, purpose, destiny, and an awareness of unlimited resources.  This is what Jesus is teaching us in this prayer.

Have you lost your first Love?

We must never forget the simplicity in focusing on our first Love for Christ.  What are you focusing on in your daily walk?

Chaff is lifeless, only a shell without the kernel.  Chaff depicts a life without the Truth of Christ.  The kernel represents true fruitfulness based on Love’s motivation.

It is written by The Holy Spirit in Psalm chapter 1:

1 What delight comes to the one who follows God’s ways! He won’t walk in step with the wicked, nor share the sinner’s way, nor be found sitting in the scorner’s seat.

2 His passion is to remain true to the Word of “I AM,” meditating day and night on the true revelation of light.

3 He will be standing firm like a flourishing tree planted by God’s design, deeply rooted by the brooks of bliss, bearing fruit in every season of life. He is never dry, never fainting, ever blessed, ever prosperous.

4 But how different are the wicked. They are like chaff blown away by the wind.

Chaff also represents things within a person that GOD wants removed such as pride, hypocrisy, self-reliance, sin, and superficial faith.

Luke recorded by The Holy Spirit in Luke chapter 3:

15 During those days, everyone was gripped with messianic expectations, believing the Messiah could come at any moment, and many began to wonder if John might be the Christ.

16 But John made it clear by telling them, “There is One coming Who is mightier than I. He is supreme. In fact, I’m not worthy of even being His slave. I can only baptize you in this river, but He will baptize you into the Spirit of Holiness and into His raging fire.

17 He has in His Hands a winnowing fork to clean up His threshing floor! He will separate the wheat from the chaff. The wheat He will gather into His barn, but He will burn the chaff in a fire that no one can ever put out!”

The threshing process becomes a picture of purification — separating what is Eternal from what is merely outward.  We can connect this to trials and refinement, where GOD removes “chaff” from a person’s life to produce genuine character and faith.  It is all based on Agape Love.

All success and progress in our lives carries “chaff”—unnecessary baggage that God wants to prune away to keep our hearts fresh.  Often, as we achieve notable success, we will develop pride and self-reliance.  We must guard against such tendencies by focusing on our full surrender to Christ.

God’s discipline is not meant to be punishment, but a form of pruning that prepares believers for greater fruitfulness.  For those who are “listening” to the Word, this process happens through intimacy and obedience rather than just hard circumstances 

Jesus spoke in Matthew chapter 6:

33 “So above all, constantly seek God’s Kingdom and His righteousness, then all these less important things will be given to you abundantly.”

We are to move beyond being mere consumers of ministry and instead adopt a lifestyle of total surrender, seeking God’s Presence above all else.  What is your priority, to acquire stuff or come into FATHER’S Presence?  As we surrender ourselves to HIM, our first Love will reignite, HIS Holy Fire will manifest in our lives, and the chaff will be burned away.  It’s that simple!

What is God doing when things don’t work out like you planned?

We are to shift from merely knowing about God to truly knowing Him.  We should expect detours and crises which are often part of a Divine plan for protection, provision, and destiny.

Wisdom wrote in Proverbs chapter 3:

5 Trust in the Lord completely, and do not rely on your own opinions. With all your heart rely on Him to guide you, and He will lead you in every decision you make.

In order to fully trust HIM, you must fully surrender to HIM.  My opinion has only limited value because I inherently have limited understanding, knowledge, and skill.

Great leaders, like Moses, struggled with the distinction of knowing GOD versus knowing about GOD.

Moses recorded by The Holy Spirit in Exodus chapter 33:

12 Then Moses said to the LORD, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people.’ But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My Sight.’

13 Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.”

14 And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

15 Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.

Moses fully acknowledged his own limitations thus he needed supernatural direction and participation to carry out his calling.  FATHER was more than willing to oblige his request.

David wrote by The Holy Spirit in Psalm chapter 103:

7 He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.

We need to prioritize learning God’s “ways” to avoid being misled and to gain Wisdom for our life’s decisions.  I learned this necessity the hard way at certain times in my life.  I am sure that I am not alone in life’s challenges.

David faced repeated trials—running from Saul, living in the wilderness, and finding himself at a low point in Ziklag.  When David returned to Ziklag to find it destroyed and his family taken, his men threatened to stone him.

David responded by “strengthening himself in the Lord”—a pivotal moment where he remembered God’s faithfulness and promises before seeking Him for guidance.

It is recorded by The Holy Spirit in 1^st Samuel chapter 30:

6 Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.

There were six ways God was at work in David’s apparent defeat.

First, THE LORD protected him from being forced to kill Saul by having the Philistine lords reject David and his men before the battle began.

Second, THE LORD provided for him through the plunder of the Amalekites.

17 Then David attacked them from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled.

18 So David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away, and David rescued his two wives.

19 And nothing of theirs was lacking, either small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything which they had taken from them; David recovered all.

20 Then David took all the flocks and herds they had driven before those other livestock, and said, “This is David’s spoil.”

Thirdly, THE LORD propelled him toward his destiny by leading him to Ziklag.

1 Now it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire,

2 and had taken captive the women and those who were there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went their way.

Fourth, this produced a crisis that (fifth) rallied men to his leadership which

resulted in David being promoted through his handling of the crisis.

Finally, the prophet led by THE SPIRIT, pronounced his David’s kingship by granting him favor with the people.

I can’t stress enough the importance of renewing the mind through Scripture.  I would encourage you to study the Bible with the question “Why did You do it that way and not another way?” to uncover the nature and ways of God.  FATHER will disclose HIS Ways to those who ask.