And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (Matthew 16:18–19, KJV).
God has a plan for each of us. We may be content with what God is doing in our life, but God wants to take each of us beyond where we’re at. He wants take something that’s good and do something even better!
As God has a plan for us, His desire is for His children seek after that plan. We must pray for His will to be done in our lives and not our own. When we follow prayer model Jesus prayed, and pray His Kingdom come (Matthew 6:9–10), we pray for what God’s divinely orchestrated in heaven to be manifested in our lives.
When God speaks a Word into our life, it doesn’t matter what our present circumstances are—it will happen! Simon was a man blown like a reed in the wind; his actions were a direct reflection of life around him. He was impulsive and flowed with the wind. But, Jesus renamed him Peter, which means a stone/rock. Peter would no longer be a reed, swayed by life around him, but would be solid. Jesus called him by what He saw, not the way Peter saw himself (Romans 4:17). We must remember what happens in our life does not define us. What Jesus says is the only thing that matters!
The name Peter was a symbol of the life he would live. Jesus declared it for all to see; to announce what Peter would become. When we live for God, stay true to His Word, and declare who He is, He will declare to the world who we are.
We like to speak self-fulfilling prophesies to ourselves, but they aren’t positive. In fact, they’re the exact opposite. We should speak out and proclaim the reverse of what our flesh speaks, or what the devil is trying to tell us. Our own words need to line up with who God says we are; our words are powerful (Proverbs 18:21). If we speak negative words, our fear will validate it. But, if we speak faith and the promises given to us in Scripture, Jesus will validate it!
The devil is a liar and the father of all lies. He will agree with every false way our minds come up with. He will war against our spirit and tell us we cannot become what God has said. But, God has called us to be more than conquerors (Romans 8:37). He will give us the authority to operate by faith, overcome the enemy, and be what He’s called us to be!
