Rabbi Schneider - How to Walk in God's Will

TOPICS: Apostolic Prayers Season 3, God's will

Welcome today to Discovering the Jewish Jesus from Jerusalem. Behind me you can see Mount Zion. I'm really excited today to bring you a message from the Word of God, right from the city that our King was crucified in. The grace of God is still pouring out to the world from Jerusalem and when Yeshua returns beloved, His manifest glory is gonna first hit right here. Now it's fascinating today as we go through the book of Colossians, that the first verse starts out in a very unique way. Hear the Word of God as I read the book of Colossians, chapter 1, verse number 1. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the Word of God abides forever.

"Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother". What I find really unique about this is that when Paul is writing to the saints in the city, he's saying, "This letter that I'm writing to you". Paul says, "Is from both myself and from Timothy". Listen again what Paul said there. He said, "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother". So he's writing to the saints at Colossae and he's saying, "Listen this letter is from me and it's from my son in the Lord Timothy". You see Paul had raised up Timothy in the things of God. Paul had laid his hands on Timothy and imparted a spiritual gift to him. Paul encouraged Timothy to let no man look down on your youth. Paul talked about Timothy and he said to him, "Timothy you need to be bold in the things of God". And Paul said of Timothy, "You are truly to me a beloved son in the Lord".

And I find this fascinating, because we can raise people up in the things of God. Paul also said to Timothy, "Timothy you've known the scriptures from your youth". And Timothy was even taught by his grandmother in the things of God. When I'm thinking about this concept, it's also fascinating to me that the scriptures that Paul was referring to when he said to Timothy, "Timothy you've known the scriptures from your youth that are able to equip you to every good work and to train you in righteousness," the scriptures that Paul was referring to that Timothy had known from his youth, listen now, were the Tanakh. Timothy knew the Hebrew scriptures, because the New Testament hadn't been written yet. And so what we can infer from this is that the Hebrew Bible, the Torah, the prophets and the writings, the Psalms, etc.

These scriptures beloved, are used today in the lives of God's people to train us, that's why Jesus said, "Don't think I've come to abolish the law and the prophets. I've not come to abolish, but to fill full, or to fulfill". And He said, "Everybody that teaches others both in the New Testament writings and from the Hebrew scriptures," Jesus said there in Matthew 5, "Is gonna be called greatest in the Kingdom of God". And so once again I just find it fascinating here that Paul is writing this letter to the saints at Colossae and it's both from himself and Timothy, his son in the Lord that knew the Hebrew Bible from his youth. And Timothy was raised in the Hebrew scriptures and then Paul said to Timothy, "Listen these scriptures that you were raised in, Timothy, the Torah, the prophets and the Psalms and writings, these are the scriptures that are equipping you and training you for righteousness, even as Jesus used the Hebrew scriptures to defeat the devil in the wilderness".

And we read that He quoted from the book of Deuteronomy four times there when He was doing battle with the devil in the wilderness, as is revealed to us in the book of Matthew chapter 4. So with that introduction I want to move deeper into the book of Colossians to take you to the portion of scripture that we're looking to minister to you from today. And what we're doing, is we're pulling out of the book of Colossians the prayer that Paul and Timothy were praying for God's people. You see it's very critical that we take this seriously. The reason is, is because some of us are not being empowered with the Spirit of God the way that God wants to empower us, listen, because we're asking Him for the wrong things. The scripture warns us not to ask amiss, But if we ask anything, the Bible tells us, according to God's will, then we can be confident that He hears us and He's gonna answer our prayers.

So how do we know if we're praying according to God's will? Well one of the ways that we can know for certain beloved one, that we're praying God's will, is when we pray to Father God in Yeshua's name the same things that the apostles prayed to Him for, because the apostle's prayers were inspired by the Ruach Hakodesh, the Holy Spirit. So with that said, let's look at the prayer now that Paul and Timothy prayed. I'm reading from the book of Colossians chapter 1, beginning there in verse number 9. Paul says this, "For this reason also since the day we heard of it". Notice he uses the word we there. "For this reason also since the day we heard of it". Who's the we? He's talking about himself and Timothy. "For this reason also since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding".

The first thing beloved one that I want to point out, listen to me, is that Paul and Timothy were not just praying for themselves. Let me ask you a sincere question. How much of your prayer and my prayer is focused on just our own needs? In other words, how much do we really pray for other people? I have a hunch that many of us are only praying for our own needs. Some of you younger people, you're focusing almost all your attention, "Father God give me a husband. Give me a wife. Give me a job. Let me buy that house". And obviously we should bring all these things before Father, but are we praying for other people? You see Paul said, "Listen, from the day we heard about you Timothy and I, we have not ceased asking Father God to bless you in these ways".

So I want to challenge you and I today, let's move our boundaries. Let's expand ourselves in the love of God and let's begin to pray not just for our own needs, but let's begin to pray for other people. God wants our boundary in the Holy Spirit to extend, so that we enter into the domain of love and come out of a sphere of selfishness. If we're gonna walk in the power of the Kingdom, if we're gonna walk in righteousness, if we're gonna walk in the fullness of the Holy Spirit we have to move beyond our own ego boundaries and we have to begin to become concerned with other people. Remember Paul began this prayer, he said, "Listen, from the day that Timothy and I heard about you we have not ceased praying for you".

You see the scripture tells us to not look out only for our own needs, but to look out for the needs of others. The scripture even says that we should consider others before ourselves. Now I know this is not natural for us, because in the natural we're all selfish. But the point is, is that we're new creations and God is challenging us with His word today to help us come out of the natural and to move into the supernatural and to become like Jesus who didn't come to be served, but He came to serve. And so let's begin to pray beloved, for other people, even as we're praying for ourselves.

"For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and ask that you might be filled," listen now, "With the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding". So the first thing that Paul is praying for, for God's people, listen now, is that they would have a knowledge of God's will. God wants you and I, listen, to by the Spirit of God be sensitive to His will. He wants us to have spiritual discernment, so we can perceive what His will is. And Paul continues with all wisdom. Listen again. "I'm asking that God would give you a knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding". God wants us to know when to come in and when to go out. He wants us to have a sensitivity to His will, so that we can know when to speak and what to say and when to stop.

Again, He wants us to know when to come and when to go. Remember there's an old song here, "Know when to hold them, know when to fold them, know when to walk away, know when to run". God wants us to be able to navigate through life abiding in His Spirit, but how can we do that unless we have an awareness in the present moment of His will. We're not just talking about knowing His will because we memorized the Bible in his head. Paul is praying that God's people would walk in a supernatural consciousness in the present moment of His will, that we'd be able to abide in Him. Jesus said, "He that abides in me bears much fruit". But you see, we can't abide in Jesus, we can't remain abiding in the Holy Spirit unless we're conscious of every second of God's will.

I want to encourage you to get your spiritual antenna up. You see God, beloved ones, is the God of the now. He's not just the God of yesterday. He's not just the God that worked in the life of Paul and Timothy and Daniel and Ezekiel and Moses and the Old Testament prophets, He's your God. Jesus said He's the God of the living. He's the God of the now. And we need to walk in the nowness of God. He is the I am that I am. When we begin to become sensitive to the Holy Spirit in the present then we can walk, as Paul said, "In the knowledge of His will". Paul said, "I'm praying for you that you'll have the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding".

You see wisdom enables us to apply the knowledge of God in the present circumstance. This is supernatural. This doesn't come just from book learning, it certainly comes through knowing the written Word of God, but there needs to be a marriage in our life between knowing the written Word of God and being sensitive to the ever present Holy Spirit. That's why Jesus said to His apostles, "It's good for you that I go away, because when I go I'm gonna send the Holy Spirit and He's gonna take of Me and reveal Me unto you".

Every second God's knowledge is being poured out into the earth. You see even as the sun continues to give forth it's rays, whether we can see it or not, so too the knowledge of God and the power of His Spirit is continuing to pump toward us. Paul prayed in another portion of scripture that we would have revelation concerning the power that's at work, listen now, toward you and me. His power is ever flowing, listen now, toward you and me.

So Father I pray right now for all of us. I pray for those that are listening right now, Father those that are hearing, those whom sense Your Spirit knocking at their heart. I pray for myself, even as Paul prayed, Father that You would give us a spiritual sensitivity to Your Spirit. Father God that You would open our heart and expand our consciousness to be able to perceive Your will and to have all types of understanding and wisdom wherever we are. That the multifaceted dimensions of the Holy Spirit would pour forth from our life wherever we go. Father that even as the rainbow surrounds your throne, even as Ezekiel saw you God with the rainbow around the radiance of Your presence.

I pray that we would be able to be so sensitive to all the dimensions of Your Holy Spirit operating in us and through us that we would walk in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. Father right now in Yeshua's name, You said that what I loose on earth would be loose from heaven. And Father in the name of Your Son I release right now into Your people, everyone that's watching, everyone that's under the sound of my voice right now with an open heart, Father I release right now the keys to have spiritual wisdom and understanding in ways that they've never entered into before. Yeshua I declare it over them even as Paul laid his hand on Timothy and imparted His spiritual gift.

Right now Father God in the Spirit I release a spiritual gift, an anointing of the Holy Spirit into the minds and hearts of Your people to enter into a greater realm of walking in spiritual wisdom, understanding and revelation for Your glory in Jesus name. Father I'm reminded of how they brought the handkerchiefs to Paul and how Paul prayed over the handkerchiefs and then those handkerchiefs were brought to the sick and the sick were healed, how the anointing Father God can be taken over time, over geographical areas, transferred and imparted. Father God in Yeshua's name, by the authority of the office that I stand in I release into Your people Father, into their minds and into their souls the power of the resurrection. And Father I ask You to strengthen them right now in spiritual wisdom and understanding and in the knowledge of Your will, that You would be glorified in the lives of Your people.

And if you're in agreement with that beloved one, for your own life, right now just thank Father and say, "Yes Father God I believe it and I agree with that". Now let's move to the next verse. Paul says this, "That I want you to have the spiritual wisdom and understanding for this purpose," Paul says in verse 10, "So that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work, increasing in the knowledge of God". You know what I really love about this verse first of all? Is it puts us in a place of accountability.

Listen again how Paul begins in verse number 10. First he prays that we'll increase in spiritual wisdom and understanding and then he tells us why. "So that you will walk in a manner," listen now, "Worthy of the Lord". Do you hold yourself accountable to God to walk worthy of Him? You know there's so much teaching today on grace and I believe in grace ten thousand percent. I'm saved by grace through faith alone. We're only saved by the grace of God, even our faith is the gift of God. But you know what the problem is beloved, if all we ever hear is that Jesus has done it all, that Father God has done it all through His Son and we never hear that there's something we need to do, that we need to respond, that we are in partnership with God, then we've missed the boat.

You see Paul said, "I want you to have this wisdom, so that you'll walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and that you'll walk in a way that pleases Him". You see some people all they're hearing is a greasy grace and a sloppy agape. In other words, there's not balance to the message that some are preaching and some are hearing. It's salvation by grace through faith alone, but that with this, with this grace that we receive there's an impartation beloved one, listen to me, to walk in a way worthy of the Lord and to walk in a way that's pleasing to Him.

I want you to get ready for next week's broadcast and I want you to prepare your heart, because God is calling you and I to the next level. He's gonna give us a greater revelation of Himself, but He's gonna do it beloved, so we'll walk in a way that's worthy of Him and in a way that's pleasing to Him. And if you and I are gonna walk the way of holiness, we must walk in obedience, we must walk under His authority, and we must hold our self accountable beloved, to obey Him. You see the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and I'm praying that between now and next week God will impart to you beloved, the fear of the Lord that produces holiness in your life.