Major Key

I got the keys! And no, I’m not talking about a DJ Khaled song! Follow me…

Have you ever given someone keys to something you own? Has someone ever given you keys to something they own? If so, you would know that it takes a great deal of trust to give or receive such a thing. This is because having keys means having access and having access symbolizes a degree of authority.

Matthew 16:19- “And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.

Just to give you some context, God had just asked his disciples who they thought he was. Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the son of the living God.” Jesus told Peter that he had not learned that from any human, but from the Father, in heaven. Jesus then explained that he was building his church and that nothing would conquer it. In the meantime, Jesus told Peter that he would receive keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. The keys that Jesus is referring to is knowledge of how to enter the kingdom. This knowledge illustrates the life that the Christian must follow to achieve salvation.

As I was praying the other day, God made it clear to me that I was utilizing a very powerful key. I think it might just be the master key! What is this key? It’s prayer! We always talk about how important prayer is, but do we really know how to utilize it? Do we really understand it’s power?

In Luke 11:1-13, the disciples ask Jesus how to pray. We always say that prayer is a conversation between us and God. I’m not refuting that, but could there be more to it? Why would these disciples ask Jesus how to pray when they had already been doing so? Jesus tells them how to pray and because he is the master of parables, he tells them a story of a man who went to his friend’s house in the middle of the night to borrow three loaves of bread. The friend tells him that the door is locked for the night and he can’t help. The word continues in saying that if the man knocks long enough, his shameless persistence would get him what he asked for. Let’s look a little closer though at this.

1. The man came at a time that didn’t seem fitting. Note that he came at midnight.
2. The man was very specific in his need. Note that he needed 3 loaves of bread.
3. The man was persistent. He didn’t ask once.

With these three points in mind, here’s my conclusion. If we are shamelessly persistent in asking God exactly what we need, he will open the door and make it our time! We must get specific and strategic in our prayers. We can’t aim at anything if there is no target!  And once you get a target to aim at, you must shoot repeatedly until you hit the desired point. This is the same with prayer!

So, to use this major key, I have three questions for you. Are your prayers persistent? Are your prayers specific? Are your prayers in accordance to God’s will? Begin to think about these things. And when you pray, be expectant of what God will do. If someone says they are going to give you $1000, you look for that. You might even remind them. God has promised much greater than that. Do we look for him, do we remind him? God loves nothing more than to be in relationship with us. He wants us to cast all our cares on him and he wants us to depend on him.  So, take heed of this. As a child of God, you have the keys until his kingdom comes. So, don’t fumble around outside and never get to enter.

Happy Monday! Use those keys!