Are you fulfilling your destiny?

Many years ago the children of Israel stood by the Red Sea in a dilemma. I want to share a passage with you from Exodus 14:13. It says,

And Moses said to the people, Fear not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD [Yahweh], which he will show to you today: for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will see them again no more forever.

What a wonderful statement of faith. Moses was saying,

"Just take your stand on the Word of God. I'm standing in prayer and believing God."

But God turned to Moses and said to him in verse 14,

And the LORD [Yahweh] said to Moses, Why are you crying to me? Speak to the children of Israel, that they go forward:

Different Prayers

I once sent a request to our mailing list and asked them to answer two questions for me. Those questions were:

1. Have you come to a place in your spiritual life where you expect your prayer to be answered?
   
2. What are the top three things that you would ask for if God promised that He would answer all your prayers?
   

These were actually trick questions in a way. Because you see when we ask you what you are praying for, you need to realize that not all prayer is a prayer of request or asking God for something. There are many different kinds of prayer.

The answers to these questions though helped me to see where so many believers are coming from.

They showed me what some of their aspirations, desires and needs were. And they have helped me to understand what I should address as we go into this new teaching series on fulfilling your destiny.

Being like Moses

You see most people make the same mistake that Moses made at the Red Sea. They say,

"Stand still and watch God do the work."

And you know we come to the Lord in prayer, give Him our requests and say,

"Okay Lord, I am leaving you to do all the dirty work that I don't feel like doing, that I am not capable of doing and don't want to do. So it is in your hands now and I am just going to wait until you do the job."

Well when did God become your servant? When did He become the one that you can give orders to and say, "Go and get me this," like you do to a waiter in a restaurant?

But that is the way we do the Lord isn't it? We say,

"Stand still and just wait."

At a Standstill

Some people have been praying and hoping and waiting for years. Then they get bitter and twisted against the Lord because their prayers were not answered. It is because they are waiting for God to do something, but God said to Moses,

"Don't wait for me to do something. You tell the people to do something."

Maybe the reason none of your prayers have been answered is because you have been waiting for God to do something, when God has been waiting for you to do something. And until you do something you are going to be like the children of Israel standing at the sea and the sea is not moving.

They said, "When is God going to do something? When is the sea going to part?"

"When is God going to provide my needs? When is God going to give me the desires of my heart?"

He will do it when you do something. And I am going to be showing you in this series what God requires you to do.

Then you will realize that the reason you have been waiting for so many years for something to happen is because you have been sitting waiting when you should have been doing.

Adam in the Garden

When God first made man, He created the earth and He made it perfect. He put everything in it and He took His man Adam and put him in the garden.

Adam had all that he needed. Well he almost had everything. There was just one little important thing missing. That thing cost him a rib, but it was worth the investment because he got the woman of his dreams. So even that was provided for him.

Adam met with God every day in the garden. But you know what? There were no prayer requests. Show me where in the Bible it says that Adam prayed to God every day and said,

"God, there are a few things that you left out here. You know I like the way you have made the trees, the fruit trees and the animals. But there is something more I would like here God. Please could you provide it?"

I don't see that in the Bible. God provided everything that man could need. There was no need for Adam to ever pray a prayer request to God. Yet he met God every day and fellowshipped with Him.

There was only one thing Adam may have asked God for and that was a bit of advice. He probably said,

"God, about these animals here, I'm not quite sure how to handle them. God, these trees and plants here seem to be growing wrong. What should I do?"

Or, "God, how should I handle things that are happening in the earth today? Please give me some wisdom and ideas. Give me some instructions so that I can handle it."

He didn't say something like,

"God can you please sort your creation out?"

No, God said,

"Adam I have put you in charge. You are to have dominion over the creation. Whatever happens in the earth is in your hands."

You see Adam could have asked God for a bit of advice on how to run the earth properly. But that was probably the sum total of what we could call 'prayer' in the Garden of Eden.

God's Pattern of a Kingdom

Man was king of the earth. Well what is a king? We kind of miss the power of a kingdom these days, because today we have democracies and the people rule.

The President is just a figurehead who is put in power by the people and removed from power by the people. We no longer have the whole idea of a supreme sovereign who reigns.

But you see God's pattern has always been a kingdom, and God is king. A king reigns and a king commands and he makes things happen. When the king speaks people jump.

The king doesn't just stand there, hoping that someone may get a good idea and do something for him.

He says, "Hey you, do that; I command it! Change that! Go there! Come here!"

Whatever he commands is what is going to happen.

Adam the King of the Earth

Well God made Adam the king of the earth. That is the way God created us as human beings. God created the whole heaven and earth. He made this beautiful earth with everything in it, handed it over to Adam and said,

"Okay Adam, I am stepping back and you are in charge. If you need some help I will meet with you every morning. We can have a chat and have some fellowship. And if you have any questions I am there for you to ask them.

Adam I am not going to interfere in your work unless you ask me to. But I have given you all that you need, so I don't need to interfere. I have done my part and it is over to you now."

You see that is how God made this earth. It is how He made us as human beings.

God made this earth so that man - a creature that consists of a spirit and a soul living in a human body - could be in control. He made man to have dominion and to be king over His creation which is this earth.

I have taught on this in some detail in a series that I preached many years ago. It is now entitled The New Way of Blessing and is published in two different books, so I am not going to go into a lot more detail about that. But I want you to realize that we have lost what God made for man originally.

Adam and His New Boss

But God didn't leave us there. What happened is Adam took his kingly authority and handed it over to a prince. He handed it to one who is known as the Prince of Darkness. His name is Lucifer, Satan and the devil.

He came as the serpent to tempt Eve. And Eve drew Adam in and he submitted his authority in the earth over to Satan.

Man had to now work for everything he needed because he got a new boss. This boss was a hard taskmaster. As he submitted himself to Satan, he still had authority in the earth but he became a slave.

It is just like the children of Israel in Egypt. They were doing wonderfully until the new Pharaoh came in. Then he made them slaves so that they would do all his hard work.

And you know what? They need not have stayed there. They could have left any time they wanted to. But you see Pharaoh gave them all the good things they needed, so they stuck it out for the pay.

Being Dependent on Others

Are you a slave? You are perhaps working in a job that you can't stand, with a boss you can't stand. You are a slave, but you do it don't you because you need the pay.

You have made yourself dependent on a person. But you don't have to stay there. You can leave any time you want, but you become so dependent.

Our mindsets have become so programmed, that we have learned to be dependent on other people. And we have forgotten that God made us to be kings and to rule and reign in this world.

The same lie that Satan gave to Adam and Eve, is the same lie that he still continues to give to us today. He says to us,

"You have to be dependent on somebody else. You have to work hard and study hard. You have to qualify to get a job one day, and somebody will pay you to work as a slave."

You don't have to be there. You don't have to be a slave because God made you to be a king. But you are groveling at the hand of one who is ruled by the Prince of Darkness.

How did they used to pray during that time after the fall? Yes they still prayed. They set up altars and they offered a sacrifice to God. That was the only form of prayer.

I still somehow don't see a prayer request where someone said,

"Lord, please can you give me a new car? Please can you provide my needs?"

I still don't see that. But we have made prayer just this one thing. We have made it of us begging and pleading with God and asking Him to do what He has actually already done. I am going to explain this more as we go on.