I challenge you to eliminate everything from prayer that has nothing to do with God. Many of us are mad with God because He has not answered our prayer, and half the time we have not even prayed. It is not as complicated as we make it.
It appears that we pray only when we are at our wits end, when we run out of ourselves. You are not really praying, because you do not know what prayer is until you come to your wits end, then you cry out. That's prayer, because at that moment you have no agenda. Prayer is really not a part of our natural life. It is not ordinary. To worldly-minded people, it's not sensible. Prayer is actually an interruption of our personal goals. You are telling God, "I interrupt my personal goals and ambitions to submit myself to yours." Most folks pray according to their desire and are actually asking God to fall in line with what will personally satisfy them. Unless you understand that prayer is an interruption in your plans, I propose to you that you are not talking to God.
Prayer is not a way of developing us; what God is doing through prayer is waking up Him in you. Most folks pray to improve their program or their self-image. God says, "I'm telling you to commune with Me because I'm in you, so My character and nature can come through you."
We look at prayer as a means of getting things for ourselves. God's idea of prayer is for His holiness, purpose, and wise order to come into our lives. We must remember that there is a difference between God's order and His permissive will. His order is His character and His permissive will is what He will permit. It is His order that there should be no sin, but in His permissive will, He allows it. The only way you get into God's order is by prayer.
The bible says, if you ask in His name, you will get it, and so you think, "I don't care if it is His will or not. It's in the name." No, it's not! I'm sorry. It's not in His name, it's in His nature. God is saying, "If you don't know Me and you use My name, you still don't get access." When a king walks in a room, he doesn't have to say it. If you don't carry God's spirit, you can say "Jesus" and "hail Mary" all you want in prayer. The bible says His nature is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit when we are born from above. It has to be nourished. Jesus promised to only be at those prayer meetings where two or three are gathered together "in My name," meaning, "in My nature."
I've sat in prayer meetings where folks trip out on the way people pray, "God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The one who brought something out of nothing...The one who flung all the stars..." God isn't listening to that. When you pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathens do....God is not deaf. So volume doesn't make Him hear any better than speaking softly. The only reason you can talk to God is because of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. His blood bought and empowered you. If you don't understand that it is the blood of Jesus, then words and volume can easily impress you. When you pray, you don't have to put on a show. Just talk to Him. The church is so messed up because we want somebody that can stand before us and tickle our ears. These persons in turn begin to think they are the ones getting you to the throne, but it is Christ.
You have to have the knowledge in prayer that God is "Master." Here is the problem: We like "Savior"; we like "healer"; and we like "our provider." We like anything that keeps God as a "supernatural buddy." If He is our provider, then we are only going to call Him when we need something and base the prayer on the need and not the cost and who paid it. If we just look at Him as healer, then we will only get in tune with Him when we are sick. Once you dance about your healing, you forget what it cost you to get it. If we just know Him as "my deliverer," then we only get serious about it when we need to be delivered. When you get down to pray, God says He is not responding because you are hurting or sorrowful, but rather because "My Son went through the agony, pain, crucifixion, death and burial, and I raised Him up." When you pray, understand this, and then pray, submitting your agenda to His, and pray in His name.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Saturday, September 15, 2007
The Power of Praying with Faith
by Dr. Frederick K.C. Price
The prayer of faith, also known as petition prayer, is the prayer that most people think of when they use the term prayer. Petition prayer is between you and God. It is you asking God for a particular outcome, whether it's a job, money, a lifetime mate, or whatever. The key verse for the prayer of faith is Mark 11:24, where Jesus says: "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them."
The rule to consider here is when you pray-not after you pray...not when you feel something...not when you see something. When you pray (the moment that you pray) you must believe that you receive what you asked for.
This is a difficult concept for some people. God is a present tense God. He doesn't operate in the past or in the future, but in the now. Whenever you pray, at that moment you are in the present. At that precise time, you must believe that you receive what you are praying for. Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Your faith is substance-it is something real, something tangible. It is the evidence of things you cannot see.
Think of a court of law. The jury was not at the scene of a crime, but the attorney introduces a photo of the crime scene that shows blood. That photo takes the place of the "thing" itself, the crime scene. The evidence is proof of something the juror cannot see but knows nonetheless. Your faith is proof of something that you have received...but can't yet see. The Amplified Bible says it this way: "Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]."
Notice that Mark 11:24 does not say when you will actually see the result of your prayer. It does not tell you how long it will take for that prayer result to appear, and this is where many Christians get hung up. God lives in one eternal now. There is no past or present for Him. But in the natural world, due to a number of factors, it may take time for the answer to manifest itself. As an example, when you make a stock market transaction and tell your broker to sell $100 of stock, he sells it right then. But you do not possess the actual money until he sends it to you through the mail or transmits it electronically to your account. Even then, you will likely get a check, and that check does you no good until you endorse it and put it in your account. We do not have a problem understanding these processes that we have to go through in the natural world. We know they are required to bring something you have into a reality you can use.
Part of the faith required to make a prayer transaction, to activate your faith request, is that you can only pray one time for something-because if you believe you have already receive it, why would you ask for it again? Imagine I'm standing in front of you, and I say, "Please give me your Bible."
You reach down, pull out your Bible, and hand it to me. Then I say, "Please give me your Bible."
What? You would rightly say, "Are you crazy? I just gave you my Bible." If you have asked God for something once, you must have faith enough to believe that He heard you and that He has answered your prayer. That's what Jesus meant when He said, "Believe that you receive them" (referring to the things you prayer for).
God answers prayers, and He will answer your specific prayer in line with His Word, but it is your faith that brings that answer out of the spiritual world and into the physical world. How many times in Scripture does Jesus say to someone, "According to your faith...," or "Daughter, you faith has made you whole"? He referred to people's faith constantly, and even though it was His power that healed them, He always credited their faith with being the catalyst. In fact, when Jesus went to His hometown, we are told: "Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief" (Matt. 13:58). Well, I have a question for you: Did Jesus suddenly lose His power on that visit to Nazareth? No! His power never changed. What changed? It was the people's level of faith mixed with His power.
There is a simple spiritual explanation for this. God will not do something against your will. God will not violate free will. If you don't have faith to do something, He won't violate your will. When the blind men came to Jesus and asked that He restore their sight, He asked them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" (Matt. 9:28). They said, "Yes," and He said, "According to your faith let it be to you" (v. 29). The Bible actually indicates that they received their sight. Just as the air you breathe is already there-but you must inhale it, so your healing is already here to be taken by faith.
The prayer of faith, also known as petition prayer, is the prayer that most people think of when they use the term prayer. Petition prayer is between you and God. It is you asking God for a particular outcome, whether it's a job, money, a lifetime mate, or whatever. The key verse for the prayer of faith is Mark 11:24, where Jesus says: "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them."
The rule to consider here is when you pray-not after you pray...not when you feel something...not when you see something. When you pray (the moment that you pray) you must believe that you receive what you asked for.
This is a difficult concept for some people. God is a present tense God. He doesn't operate in the past or in the future, but in the now. Whenever you pray, at that moment you are in the present. At that precise time, you must believe that you receive what you are praying for. Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Your faith is substance-it is something real, something tangible. It is the evidence of things you cannot see.
Think of a court of law. The jury was not at the scene of a crime, but the attorney introduces a photo of the crime scene that shows blood. That photo takes the place of the "thing" itself, the crime scene. The evidence is proof of something the juror cannot see but knows nonetheless. Your faith is proof of something that you have received...but can't yet see. The Amplified Bible says it this way: "Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]."
Notice that Mark 11:24 does not say when you will actually see the result of your prayer. It does not tell you how long it will take for that prayer result to appear, and this is where many Christians get hung up. God lives in one eternal now. There is no past or present for Him. But in the natural world, due to a number of factors, it may take time for the answer to manifest itself. As an example, when you make a stock market transaction and tell your broker to sell $100 of stock, he sells it right then. But you do not possess the actual money until he sends it to you through the mail or transmits it electronically to your account. Even then, you will likely get a check, and that check does you no good until you endorse it and put it in your account. We do not have a problem understanding these processes that we have to go through in the natural world. We know they are required to bring something you have into a reality you can use.
Part of the faith required to make a prayer transaction, to activate your faith request, is that you can only pray one time for something-because if you believe you have already receive it, why would you ask for it again? Imagine I'm standing in front of you, and I say, "Please give me your Bible."
You reach down, pull out your Bible, and hand it to me. Then I say, "Please give me your Bible."
What? You would rightly say, "Are you crazy? I just gave you my Bible." If you have asked God for something once, you must have faith enough to believe that He heard you and that He has answered your prayer. That's what Jesus meant when He said, "Believe that you receive them" (referring to the things you prayer for).
God answers prayers, and He will answer your specific prayer in line with His Word, but it is your faith that brings that answer out of the spiritual world and into the physical world. How many times in Scripture does Jesus say to someone, "According to your faith...," or "Daughter, you faith has made you whole"? He referred to people's faith constantly, and even though it was His power that healed them, He always credited their faith with being the catalyst. In fact, when Jesus went to His hometown, we are told: "Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief" (Matt. 13:58). Well, I have a question for you: Did Jesus suddenly lose His power on that visit to Nazareth? No! His power never changed. What changed? It was the people's level of faith mixed with His power.
There is a simple spiritual explanation for this. God will not do something against your will. God will not violate free will. If you don't have faith to do something, He won't violate your will. When the blind men came to Jesus and asked that He restore their sight, He asked them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" (Matt. 9:28). They said, "Yes," and He said, "According to your faith let it be to you" (v. 29). The Bible actually indicates that they received their sight. Just as the air you breathe is already there-but you must inhale it, so your healing is already here to be taken by faith.
We Inherited Power
Ephesians 1:19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power.
We have power. Its about the strength that progressively increases. Its about that vigor, that dominion, and that manifested power that can be seen. This is all part of the inheritance of the saints.
You inherit His power, to us "...and what is the exceeding greatness of his power who believe..." This inheritance belongs to the believers. An inheritance is something you don't earn; it's something that was left to you.
When Jesus died on the cross, He left you some power, some anointing, some blessings, and some ability. Jesus understood that when it was time for Him to leave the earth, believers would need weapons that were beyond their thinking ability, speaking ability, and beyond their natural education in order for God's will to be done. Without these, they were not going to be able to get the job done.
So, He said that he would not leave us comfortless. "I will send you another comforter, and he will teach you all things and remind you of what I said unto you." That comforter is the Holy Ghost. And the Holy Ghost is active, energizing, and effective. He is the power, He is the might, and He performs where you can see it.
Verse 19 tells us this power works "according to the working of his mighty power." The word mighty here means force-His force, His ability. In other words, God wants us to increase in that which is in the Lord, increase in His dominion and in the manifested power of His force and His ability.
Jesus knew we would need power to defeat the enemy. He knew we would need power to perform miracles when necessary, to have supernatural strength when necessary, and to be able to flow and function when everything else was going contrary, so He prayed the Father to send us the Holy Ghost.
Walk in the inheritance that was given to you, it's the power of the Holy Ghost.
The Church Tablecloth That Reunited A Husband and Wife Separated by War
This is an amazing story that I came across doing one of my reads....
THE TABLECLOTH
The brand new pastor and his wife, newly assigned to their first ministry, to reopen a church in suburban Brooklyn, arrived in early October excited about their opportunities.
When they saw their church, it was very run down and needed much work. They set a goal to have everything done in time to have their first service on Christmas Eve. They worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls, painting, etc. and on Dec 18 were ahead of schedule and just about finished. On Dec 19 a terrible tempest - a driving rainstorm - hit the area and lasted for two days. On the 21st, the pastor went over to the church. His heart sank when he saw that the roof had leaked, causing a large area of plaster about 20 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall of the sanctuary just behind the pulpit, beginning about head high. The pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor, and not knowing what else to do but postpone the Christmas Eve service, headed home.
On the way he noticed that a local business was having a flea market type sale for charity so he stopped in. One of the items was a beautiful, handmade, ivory colored, crocheted tablecloth with exquisite work, fine colors and a Cross embroidered right in the center. It was just the right size to cover up the hole in the front wall. He bought it and headed back to the church. By this time it had started to snow. An older woman running from the opposite direction was trying to catch the bus. She missed it. The pastor invited her to wait in the warm church for the next bus 45 minutes later. She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the pastor while he got a ladder, hangers, etc., to put up the tablecloth as a wall tapestry.The pastor could hardly believe how beautiful it looked and it covered up the entire problem area. Then he noticed the woman walking down the center aisle. Her face was like a sheet. "Pastor," she asked, "where did you get that tablecloth?"
The pastor explained. The woman asked him to check the lower right corner to see if the initials, EBG were crocheted into it there. They were. These were the initials of the woman, and she had made this tablecloth 35 years before, in Austria. The woman could hardly believe it as the pastor told how he had just gotten the Tablecloth. The woman explained that before the war she and her husband were well-to-do people in Austria. When the Nazis came, she was forced to leave. Her husband was going to follow her the next week. She was captured, sent to prison and never saw her husband or her home again. The pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth; but she made the pastor keep it for the church.The pastor insisted on driving her home, that was the least he could do. She lived on the other side of Staten Island and was only in Brooklyn for the day for a housecleaning job.
What a wonderful service they had on Christmas Eve. The church was almost full. The music and the spirit were great. At the end of the service, the pastor and his wife greeted everyoneat the door and many said that they would return. One older man, whom the pastor recognized from the neighborhood, continued to sit in one of the pews and stare, and the pastor wondered why he wasn’t leaving. The man asked him where he got the tablecloth on the front wall because it was identical to one that his wife had made years ago when they lived in Austria before the war and how could there be two tablecloths so much alike? He told the pastor how the Nazis came, how he forced his wife to flee for her safety, and he was supposed to follow her, but he was arrested and put in a prison. He never saw his wife or his home again all the 35years in between.
The pastor asked him if he would allow him to take him for a little ride. They drove to Staten Island and to the same house where the pastor had taken the woman three days earlier. He helped the man climb the three flights of stairs to the woman’s apartment, knocked on the door and he saw the greatest Christmas reunion he could ever imagine.
True Story - submitted by Pastor Rob Reid Who says God does not work in mysterious ways.
THE TABLECLOTH
The brand new pastor and his wife, newly assigned to their first ministry, to reopen a church in suburban Brooklyn, arrived in early October excited about their opportunities.
When they saw their church, it was very run down and needed much work. They set a goal to have everything done in time to have their first service on Christmas Eve. They worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls, painting, etc. and on Dec 18 were ahead of schedule and just about finished. On Dec 19 a terrible tempest - a driving rainstorm - hit the area and lasted for two days. On the 21st, the pastor went over to the church. His heart sank when he saw that the roof had leaked, causing a large area of plaster about 20 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall of the sanctuary just behind the pulpit, beginning about head high. The pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor, and not knowing what else to do but postpone the Christmas Eve service, headed home.
On the way he noticed that a local business was having a flea market type sale for charity so he stopped in. One of the items was a beautiful, handmade, ivory colored, crocheted tablecloth with exquisite work, fine colors and a Cross embroidered right in the center. It was just the right size to cover up the hole in the front wall. He bought it and headed back to the church. By this time it had started to snow. An older woman running from the opposite direction was trying to catch the bus. She missed it. The pastor invited her to wait in the warm church for the next bus 45 minutes later. She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the pastor while he got a ladder, hangers, etc., to put up the tablecloth as a wall tapestry.The pastor could hardly believe how beautiful it looked and it covered up the entire problem area. Then he noticed the woman walking down the center aisle. Her face was like a sheet. "Pastor," she asked, "where did you get that tablecloth?"
The pastor explained. The woman asked him to check the lower right corner to see if the initials, EBG were crocheted into it there. They were. These were the initials of the woman, and she had made this tablecloth 35 years before, in Austria. The woman could hardly believe it as the pastor told how he had just gotten the Tablecloth. The woman explained that before the war she and her husband were well-to-do people in Austria. When the Nazis came, she was forced to leave. Her husband was going to follow her the next week. She was captured, sent to prison and never saw her husband or her home again. The pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth; but she made the pastor keep it for the church.The pastor insisted on driving her home, that was the least he could do. She lived on the other side of Staten Island and was only in Brooklyn for the day for a housecleaning job.
What a wonderful service they had on Christmas Eve. The church was almost full. The music and the spirit were great. At the end of the service, the pastor and his wife greeted everyoneat the door and many said that they would return. One older man, whom the pastor recognized from the neighborhood, continued to sit in one of the pews and stare, and the pastor wondered why he wasn’t leaving. The man asked him where he got the tablecloth on the front wall because it was identical to one that his wife had made years ago when they lived in Austria before the war and how could there be two tablecloths so much alike? He told the pastor how the Nazis came, how he forced his wife to flee for her safety, and he was supposed to follow her, but he was arrested and put in a prison. He never saw his wife or his home again all the 35years in between.
The pastor asked him if he would allow him to take him for a little ride. They drove to Staten Island and to the same house where the pastor had taken the woman three days earlier. He helped the man climb the three flights of stairs to the woman’s apartment, knocked on the door and he saw the greatest Christmas reunion he could ever imagine.
True Story - submitted by Pastor Rob Reid Who says God does not work in mysterious ways.
Cast your cares on Him
Psalm 127:2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; for so He gives His beloved sleep.
“I was up the whole night — my boy was running a high fever.”
“I slept only for two hours — I was trying to improve my assigment.”
“I couldn’t sleep at all — I was worried about the bills that are piling up.”
The Bible says that God “gives His beloved sleep”. Who are His beloved? You and I! Because we are in Christ, we are His beloved. (Ephesians 1:6; 2 Thessalonians 2:13)
God says, “It is vain for you to rise up early; to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows…” In other words, it is pointless to worry and lose sleep because the truth is, “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labour in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” (Psalm 127:1)
You see, God is the one who builds your career and guards your marriage. He is the one who watches over your children and future. He is the one who guards your bank account, and watches over your financial investments and business ventures. You are not the one!
So don’t worry and stay up late as if you are the source of the increase or the one who has the power to make things happen and save the situation. God is the one and He says to you, “My beloved child, throw that care, that burden, to Me and go to sleep.” For when you are sleeping, He is working on your situation. He, who neither slumbers nor sleeps (Psalm 121:3–4), works the night shift for you as you sleep!
But because we are such doers and performers, it is hard for us to let go and let God take over. But when we actually do, casting all our cares, anxieties, worries and concerns once and for all into His hands, we will see how He cares for us affectionately and watchfully. (1 Peter 5:7) We will see Him taking care of our problems and working things out for our good. (Romans 8:28)
Trust your Father’s love for you. Cast your cares on Him and have no more sleepless nights!
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
See The Work Accomplished
John 19:30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
What do you see when it comes to healing for your sick body, restoration for your failing marriage or breakthroughs for your financial woes? Do you see a finished work or a work that is yet to be completed?
God wants you to know that what you desperately need Him to do for you has already been done! Jesus’ finished work at the cross so satisfied the Father’s heart that from heaven’s throne came the pronouncement, “It is done!” (Revelation 16:17) in response to Jesus’ cry on earth, “It is finished!” So God wants you to have this revelation that whatever you need Him to do for you has been done because Jesus has accomplished it all for you.
You are not waiting to be healed — your healing has been accomplished. You are not going to receive restoration for your marriage or a breakthrough in your finances — your restoration and breakthrough have been accomplished. You are not going to die from any lack — you have been abundantly supplied. All these things have been accomplished, not by you, but by Christ alone!
If you are bothered by a pain in your body, God wants you to see your healing finished or accomplished for you by His Son’s death on the cross. If it is a loss or debt you face, or a certain sin you are struggling with, my friend, believe that your provision, restoration and deliverance have been accomplished or done for you.
Don’t worry about what you see or feel, or the presence of contradicting reports. These are lying symptoms and though they may seem very real, they are temporal and not the truth. God’s Word is the truth and it will remain because it is eternal. And when you believe that only what God’s Word says about your situation is the truth, all the lying symptoms will eventually line up with His Word.
God the Son says, “It is finished!”
God the Father says, “It is done!”
What do you say?
What do you see when it comes to healing for your sick body, restoration for your failing marriage or breakthroughs for your financial woes? Do you see a finished work or a work that is yet to be completed?
God wants you to know that what you desperately need Him to do for you has already been done! Jesus’ finished work at the cross so satisfied the Father’s heart that from heaven’s throne came the pronouncement, “It is done!” (Revelation 16:17) in response to Jesus’ cry on earth, “It is finished!” So God wants you to have this revelation that whatever you need Him to do for you has been done because Jesus has accomplished it all for you.
You are not waiting to be healed — your healing has been accomplished. You are not going to receive restoration for your marriage or a breakthrough in your finances — your restoration and breakthrough have been accomplished. You are not going to die from any lack — you have been abundantly supplied. All these things have been accomplished, not by you, but by Christ alone!
If you are bothered by a pain in your body, God wants you to see your healing finished or accomplished for you by His Son’s death on the cross. If it is a loss or debt you face, or a certain sin you are struggling with, my friend, believe that your provision, restoration and deliverance have been accomplished or done for you.
Don’t worry about what you see or feel, or the presence of contradicting reports. These are lying symptoms and though they may seem very real, they are temporal and not the truth. God’s Word is the truth and it will remain because it is eternal. And when you believe that only what God’s Word says about your situation is the truth, all the lying symptoms will eventually line up with His Word.
God the Son says, “It is finished!”
God the Father says, “It is done!”
What do you say?
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