Yielded prayer

YIELDED PRAYER

Our acceptance and patience and trust in God as our Father in times of adversity is the measure of our growth in faith. We do not grow in faith if we think faith is getting what we want simply because we pray for it and think it should happen. 

God allows contrary and painful circumstances to confront us. These things challenge our trust and faith in him as a good and loving Father who wants the best for us. 
Our response needs to be to believe that his motive is to do us good and bring us closer to his heart. 

The examples of faith in the lives of the gallery of heroes from chapter 11 such as Noah and Abraham and Sarah and Moses reveal how they accepted and embraced the circumstances of their lives, believing that God was at work in the unseen world, doing his will through them, and they left the results to God.

Hebrews 11:39 And all of these, though they won divine approval by means of their faith, did not receive the fulfillment of what was promised,
Hebrews 12:1. The faith lives of this gallery of heroes are set before us as a witness of what is meant by yielded faith. We can now throw off the attitude of being weighed down by our problems, and the individual failures and flaws of our human nature. Let us now run the race set before us with a well-timed and measured pace 

Paul writes to the Hebrew Christians who are going through times of affliction and persecution because of their faith and he encourages them to not give up. 

Even when our circumstances are adverse and difficult, our inner life of faith can fill our hearts with hope because it is surrendered to God’s will and is not fixed on demanding a self-determined desire of the soul. Our hope is in the fact that God is working out his perfect plan. He doesn’t need a perfect prayer, just a yielded prayer and a joyful expectation. We always end up enjoying his answers to our prayers rather than our own idea of what we wanted.

Hebrews 12:2. We can keep Jesus in our sights, the one who initiates and completes our faith life. He kept in his sights the joy and happiness that awaited him as he set himself to persevere the ordeal of the cross. He shrugged off the scorn that people threw at him, and finally took his place at the right hand of the throne of God
3. Just think of that barrage of self-centered and evil attitudes that he had opposing him. Compare this to what you are going through before you decide to give up because it is all too hard.
4. You have not yet had to battle against evil to the extent that your life-blood is drained out of your body.
11. This kind of faith challenge does not seems like fun and games at the time; it is painful. But when you go through the pain of it you do end up with the gain of it. You end up experiencing a peaceful harmony with God and with your own soul.

Even when the circumstances are favourable, we can let our faith life down because we can negatively perceive them as not favourable enough. That kind of ungrateful mindset can be destructive and disappointing to our soul and foster a negative perception of God, which is a wrong realty that says that God doesn’t really love me, that I’m a victim, or life is unfair. The Bible tells us to give God thanks in ALL things because that brings us into alignment with his true heart of goodness toward us. We then experience a release of his transforming power toward us, and as we change, our world changes around us, because God is at work releasing his supernatural power that reorders everything in our world into a better place.

So is there a model of the perfectly yielded prayer in the scriptures that can guide us in this? 
YES!

Romans 8:25 …The Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought (which is a necessary thing), but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He (Jesus) who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He (Jesus, see vs.30) makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
And we know that all things work together, (fitting in to a plan) for good to those who love God, to those who are the called (invited) to be aligned with His plan and purpose

This verse tells us that we don’t know what we should pray for. It does not say we don’t know how  to pray – we know that – it is praying to the Father through Jesus (in his name). It is the what that counts as that is necessary for the prayer to be perfect as being in God’s will. We may hardly ever know in our own mind and soul what God’s will truly is, except we sincerely know what we would like it to be.

So the Holy Spirit helps us in this weakness and limitation of ours and he makes intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered. Why would Holy Spirt be groaning? Is he struggling about something going on within us?
Yes he is. This very chapter eight in Romans has a great deal to say about the inner struggle of God’s Spirit within each of us as to what is of the soul and what is of the Spirit.
Romans 8:5 For they that are exercising their soulish self (flesh) the flesh are mindful of the things of the soulish self; but they that are exercised in their spiritual being are mindful of the things of the Spirit.
It is at his point that Jesus enters the picture and takes the prayer baton handed to him by Holy Spirit… . Now He (Jesus) who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He (Jesus, see vs.30) makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
Why would Jesus know the mind of the Spirit who is struggling within us concerning this very thing?
Because this is how Jesus operated in partnership with Holy Spirit in his prayer life on earth, as he would only do what his Father directed him to do. Jesus knows the mind of the spirit and he also knows our human soulish mind o he identifies with us in his humanity, having been tempted in all things like us but without sin. That is why he cried out to the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane ‘Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me, but nevertheless let not my will but yours be done.’
So we can be assured that this second phase of intercession for us in our prayer, which comes through Jesus will be answered according to father’s plan and purpose for us (Romans 8:34 Jesus is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us…)
It is then that our world changes around us, because God is at work releasing his supernatural power that reorders everything in our world into a better place. 
Vs.28 And we know that all things work together, (fitting in to a plan) for good to those who love God, to those who are the called (invited) to be aligned with His plan and purpose

There are five things that you will find good to bring to remembrance at the start of each day. 

1. Remember that Jesus is still the same.  He never change, even if yesterday everything around you changed. 
2. Remember that his love for you is an everlasting love, and the reason you exist is because he wants to share his love with you today. That is his greatest desire.
3. Remember that he can do all things, and that nothing is impossible for him, who created you, and the Universe, just for you. 
4. Remember that he only wants the best for you, and he will surprise you with his goodness. 
5. Tell him you will not worry or be anxious today, for there is no need for that – he will make life work out for you if you let him.

And here are the Scriptures for those things

1. Hebrews 13:8 ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.’ (TLB)
2. Jeremiah 31:3 ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you to me.’ (NKJ)
3. Luke 18:27 ‘“The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”(NKJ)
4. Jeremiah 29:11 ‘For I know the thoughts I have towards you, thoughts of good and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.’ (NKJ)
5. Philippians 4:6 ‘Don’t worry about anything, but in all your prayers ask God for what you need, always asking him with a grateful heart (Good News Bible)