Ecclesiastes 4:12, “a three-chord strand is not easily broken.”
Matthew 6:1-19 (NIV), “Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
God declares that when we give, pray and fast He will reward us! “Reward” (Greek) means: deliver; give again; re-pay; payment be made; recompense; restore; give away; give back.
God gives us tools to win in life. They equip us for our Christian walk, to live victoriously through Christ Jesus. Praying, Fasting and Giving are each powerful tools God gives us. Together they are strengthened!
Hebrews 13:20-21 (NIV), “May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
Jesus said “when”, not “if” you pray, fast and give your Father will reward (or deliver) you.
PRAYER:
Matthew 6:9-10 (NIV), “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
“Will” (Greek) means: Determination, choice, purpose. “On earth” in the KJV “IN” (Greek) means: Superimposition of time, place, order, etc. “As it is” “in” heaven = (Greek): Denoting (fixed) position (in place, time or state).
In other words, the kingdom of God comes to earth where everything has forced compliance by the power of prayer to superimpose the determination, purpose, decision and choice of God.
What has been fixed in heaven, you are responsible to superimpose here in earth by prayer!
1 Peter 3:12 (NIV), “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
John 16:23,24, “And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say to you. Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you.”
God’s Word is His Will. As believers your prayer life must be built and based on His Word.
Isaiah 55:11 (KJV), “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”
The tool of prayer (2 Cor 10:4) Has Divine Power To Demolish Strongholds.
2 Corinthians 10:3-6 (NIV), “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”
FASTING:
A Benefit and Blessing (Reward) of Fasting: To loose the bands of wickedness (Isaiah 58:6); freeing ourselves and others from addictions to sin.
A significant reason to fast is it releases people from bondages of sin, strongholds.
Besetting sins are not common sins of neglect or rebellion, where God says: “Thou shalt not…” and person says: “I will”.
Any sin that can’t be broken with ordinary “willpower” can be termed a besetting sin.
Besetting sins are habitual sinful behaviors or attitudes that victimize and enslave people. It makes you a slave and takes away your will.
You love God, but are trapped. You Cry out, “I can’t help myself.”
- Sexual addictions/affair
- Overeating
- Drinking/Drugs
- Overspending/Debt; Shop-a-holic
- Depression, suicidal tendencies.
Apostles tried unsuccessfully to deal with such a sin in a demonized boy. Jesus taught them, Matthew 17:21, “This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.”
“Goeth out” means, you fast repeatedly until you get a breakthrough. The verb action in original language is “continuous.”
Jesus meant we should continually fast to get power over “besetting sins”.
Jesus taught: Yes, it takes faith, but complete deliverance from this type of stronghold is in faith and fasting.
GIVING:
Matthew 6:25-34, “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought (heb = Don’t be anxiously careful) for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Matthew 6:33, ”But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
Matt 6:31-34 (MESSAGE), “What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.”
“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. “
C.S. Lewis said, “When FIRST things are put FIRST, Second things are not suppressed but increased!”
God tells us in His Word to “seek”, which means by implication “To Worship.” Worship means: “To build a life that denotes His worth, honor and reverence.” “First” (Greek) here means: “Foremost or first in time, place and order of importance.”
“The Kingdom of god” means: “Who God is and His WAY of doing things.”
The more we know about God, the stronger our faith becomes. We MUST make HIS PRESENCE our PRIORITY!
God has a method of operation or Divine Patterns, “An accurate order & arrangement of things.” When something is arranged: It is put into a proper, systematic order.
That order for The Kingdom of God is and always will be: First Things First! “The Principle of First Fruits.” (the first fruits of the crop: hasty fruit. to give the birthright: THE BEST OR THE CHOICE PART.) The first in place, time, order or rank. It also means beginning, chief or principle thing, captain, forefront and fundamental.
It also means “a promise to come”. It shares the same root word “bekhor” as the word meaning firstborn. God declares that all FIRST things belong to Him in order to establish REDEEMING Covenant with everything that comes after.
Anytime something is a “First Thing”, a “First Fruit” (also called a devoted thing), GOD always lays claim to it..
Leviticus 27:25-33, ”’No one, however, may dedicate the firstborn of an animal, since the firstborn already belongs to the Lord; whether an ox or a sheep, it is the Lord’s. If it is one of the unclean animals, he may buy it back at its set value, adding a fifth of the value to it. If he does not redeem it, it is to be sold at its set value. “‘But nothing that a man owns and devotes to the Lord — whether man or animal or family land — may be sold or redeemed; everything so devoted is most holy to the Lord. “‘No person devoted to destruction may be ransomed; he must be put to death. “‘A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord. If a man redeems any of his tithe, he must add a fifth of the value to it. The entire tithe of the herd and flock — every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod — will be holy to the Lord.” (NIV)
Devoted things and FIRST things have the exact same meaning: The irrevocable giving over to the Lord. They are the things that belong to God and God alone.
Devotion is the highest expression of dedication to God. It CANNOT be done without giving (which is the law of loving). Devotion is Proof of God’s presence being priority.
So, all “first things” or “devoted things” belong to God.
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