How do we receive God's promises?

HOW DO WE RECEIVE GOD’S PROMISES?
Let me share with you four ways through which we receive God’s promises.
First we need to Prayerful Study our Bibles. The Word of God is the treasury of every on of God’s promises. So we must deeply mine the soil of God’s Word to discover its gems.
There’s a story told of a little girl who pointed to the Bible that stood untouched on the bookshelf
and asked her mother, "Whose book is that?" Startled by her daughter’s question, the mother answered, "Why honey, don’t you know? It’s God’s book." With eyes wide open the girl replied, "Then don’t you think we should give it back to Him? No one around here ever reads it?"
After all, how can we know what our heavenly Father has promised unless we hear His voice in
the pages of the Bible?
We can’t and that is why many people go astray. Many assume that God has made certain promises to them, when in fact He has not. They might assume He has promised them physical healing; a job; fair treatment; or a good marriage.
But the bottom line is that our Christianity is no insurance policy against severe trials and pain. What then, does God promise us? To sum it all up, he has promised us himself. He is all we need.
Paul says in 2 Cor. 1:20, In Christ all the promises of God are yes, but we must search the
Scriptures to find and claim each one.
Second, to receive God’s promises we must patiently wait.

Heb. 6:15 says of Abraham, “And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was
promised.”
Abraham waited 25 years--until he was 100 yrs old--between God’s original promise and the birth
of Isaac. Have you waited that long for God to fulfill a promise? Maybe you have.
We must not rush God. Let Him do His own work in His own time.

King David is another good example. God promised him he would be the king of Israel. Yet he
had to wait for years during the wicked reign of Saul before he came to the throne. And through it all
he learned patience.

Even as early as the book of Genesis the Lord promised His people a Messiah. But it took
centuries for Christ to come in the fullness of God’s timing. It’s hard to wait…sometimes I get impatient with a 30 second download on my computer!

A third aspect of receiving God’s promises is living in obedience to God’s will.
Hebrews 10:36
teaches that obedience is a key to obtaining God’s promise: “You need to persevere so that when
you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.”
Often the Lord’s promises are conditional. We have to fulfill our responsibilities before we can
receive the rewards of God.
Take God’s greatest promise for example: I am talking about salvation in Jesus Christ.
Our Heavenly Father does not give the salvation of His Son to us automatically. Before He becomes ours, we must trust Him as our Lord & Savior and obey the gospel.

A final way that we receive God’s promises is by FAITH.
Heb. 11:1 says, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
This is what the ancients were commended for.”
Our trust in God is the key. Heb. 11:6, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because
anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek
him.”
In 2 Cor. 5:7 Paul states that, "we walk by faith, not by sight."
By faith, as hard as it is, we trust in the invisible God, our loving Father, and we stand on His
promises.
Being a person of faith doesn’t mean we never doubt. It just means that we believe more than we
doubt. Words from a Reliant K song – “Believe your beliefs and doubt your doubts.

Conclusion:
What is the promise you need to claim?
Maybe it is one from Philippians 4:7
"And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your
minds in Christ Jesus."
Perhaps you need the promise of victory over temptation. “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (1 Cor. 10:13)
Or maybe you require the wisdom to deal with the trials in your life. Claim James 1:5
“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”
If you are the victim of slander, divorce, or disease you may wonder if anything good can come
out of it. Take hold of 1 Pet. 5:10, "And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in
Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and
steadfast.
Perhaps you are shouldering a tremendous burden of guilt. You would give anything to wipe out
your past sins. Instead of giving something, just receive this promise: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 Jn. 1:9)."
Whatever it is that we need, God is able to keep His promises. When you and I learn to trust Him according to His promises our lives will never be the same.
I really like this poem by Annie Johnson Flint called “What God Hath Promised”
God hath not promised skies always blue, flower-strewn pathways all our lives through;
God hath not promised sun without rain, joy without sorrow, peace without pain.
God hath not promised we shall not know, toil and temptation, trouble and woe;
He hath not told us we shall not bear, many a burden, many a care.
God hath not promised smooth roads and wide, swift, easy travel, needing no guide;
Never a mountain rocky and steep, never a river, turbid and deep.
But God hath promised strength for the day, rest for the labor, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above, unfailing sympathy, undying love.