Often times people ask me to pray for them. Sometimes when they ask this, its because they don't have faith to pray themselves. Or they have prayed, but God has not answered their prayer.
They mistakenly think I can get something for them from God that they cannot get for themselves. I can't.
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One time a church woman asked me to help her find a light fixture for her house. En-route to the store where I was to meet the woman, I prayed that God would help us find the fixture quickly at that store so we wouldn't have to run all over town.
We went into the store and I saw the light fixture immediately. I said nothing, for I wanted the woman to have the opportunity to find it.
She searched about the store while I waited calmly for her. She didn't identify it at all. And when it was obvious that she had finished searching without success, I said to her, "That fixture would work", and pointed to the one I had seen. She said, "Oh yes, it would work", and she bought it.
Later in talking with her, I said something like, "Did you pray before we went to that store?"
She responded, "No, because I knew you'd pray"
It turns out her faith was in me, and not in God.
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Another example of this same woman years before this. Her father was elderly. She called me and asked me to pray about this, for she was afraid he would become a burden to her. I did pray. It turned out that in the next two or three days, he died.
Her faith was in me, and she is no longer in our church group today.
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The following scriptures tell us exactly what to expect when we pray, and the basic characteristic for successful prayer.
I John 5:14-15 And this is the confidence that we have in HIM, that, if we ask any thing according to HIS will, HE heareth us:
And if we know that HE hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of HIM.
If we know we are praying according to the will of God, we can be assured that prayer is going to be answered by God.
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As a young woman, I wanted to marry and I prayed diligently for a husband. My prayer group prayed for me to have a husband. My best friend prayed for me to have a husband.
One woman in the prayer group even said, "Of course it is the will of God that Joan should have a husband."
But was it?
Not all people marry.
Paul said the following:
I Corinthians 7:38 So then he that giveth in marriage doeth well; but he that giveth not in marriage doeth better.
It was not the will of God for me to marry, and I did not get a husband. I am called to do special work of God which, I can see looking back, would have been much harder for me (if not impossible) if I had not been kept in the circumstances in which I lived.
Not all marry, though it is normal for all to want to marry.
But when we pray according to the will of God, that prayer is going to be answered.
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Several years ago a young man in my acquaintance was diagnosed with ALS. During that time, of course, we were all praying that it if were the will of God, that he would be healed. He was 44 years old at the time, with a wife and 2 children.
But I had an open vision about David. I saw him on a golf course. He was totally whole. He was jumping up and down excitedly and waving for us to come on and join him. Things were great!
I knew God was showing me David would die, but his salvation was fine. So I could rejoice in his death.
A member of the church he attended visited me. Clay said, "Don't you think that vision shows that David will be healed?"
I said, "No Clay, David is dying, but he is OK spiritually."
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To pray effectively, we really must have assurance that what we are praying is the will of God. And, when we have that assurance, we know our prayer will be answered.
There have been many times that I have had a thought brought to my mind by the Spirit of God to show me the will of God in the matter at hand. And in such cases I have the assurance of the will of God, so I am able to effectively pray.
But so often, individuals will come to me and say, "I want you to pray for me", and then tell me exactly what to pray. But I have no assurance at all that it is the will of God for the individual.
At one point a young man said, "Pray that I will get the job for which I am applying."
I replied, "No, I will not pray that." He looked shocked.
I said, "I don't know whether it is the will of God for you to get that job."
He did not get that job.
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I just have to have the assurance from God by His Spirit that what I am praying is the will of God before I can pray effectively and fervently.
I can make supplications to God, pleading with God. But it is only when I have the word of God from the Spirit of God that I know the will of God.
I Corinthians 2:11-12 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
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God uses the Spirit of God to bring to our mind various scriptures to show us the way to go in times of crisis and to give us assurance.
When I was a new Christian in 1975, I owned a business in Dallas, Texas, USA. A man had filed a law suit against me. The Holy Spirit brought the following scripture to my mind:
Isaiah 54:17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.
The lawyers that I hired to defend me were charging large sums of money for their legal services. When I heard that scripture, no weapon formed against me would prosper, I had the faith to dismiss the lawyers and go to the court without any human legal counsel. For I believe it was God giving me that scripture to show me the truth about the matter at hand.
When I dismissed the lawyers they said, "There is no way you can go to court without lawyers. You don't know how evil the courts are."
I replied, "The Bible has a promise of God in it that no weapon that is formed against me will prosper. This law suit is a weapon formed against me. Therefore it will not prosper. The Bible is not a history book The Bible is true."
I continued in the situation without human lawyers. It was very frightening, but God gave me many, many scriptures along the way to sustain me. I took the scriptures given to me by God and recorded them on a cassette tape, and played them all night long as I slept.
The law suit drug on for about 4 months. Six days before the trial was to begin in the US court system, the man dropped all charges against me.
The lawyer came to me after that and said, "At the law firm we have been discussing what happened to you, and we believe that what you said would happen, happened. That no weapon formed against you would prosper."
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My faith is built on the word God speaks to me by His Spirit. That word can be a scripture, or it can be an instruction. Both are equally the word of God. But my faith is totally based on what God has said to me.
This is the way every Christian should live.
"What has God said to me?"
Few Christians today seem to understand that God speaks to us by His Spirit in the form of thoughts that HE brings to our minds. Of course the devil brings thoughts to our minds, and so does our own flesh, so you have to evaluate your thoughts to see if they are from God.
James 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
But all prayer is based on what we have heard from God.
And when we have heard from God in the matter at hand, that will never fail.
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Hymn: Standing on the promises
(Click forward arrow > to play music:)
1. Standing on the promises of Christ my King,
Through eternal ages let His praises ring,
Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing,
Standing on the promises of God.
Chorus:
Standing, standing,
Standing on the promises of Christ my Savior;
Standing, standing,
I’m standing on the promises of God.
2. Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
By the living Word of God I shall prevail,
Standing on the promises of God.
3. Standing on the promises I now can see
Perfect, present cleansing in the blood for me;
Standing in the liberty where Christ makes free,
Standing on the promises of God.
4. Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord,
Bound to Him eternally by love’s strong cord,
Overcoming daily with the Spirit’s sword,
Standing on the promises of God.
5. Standing on the promises I shall not fall,
List’ning every moment to the Spirit’s call.
Resting in my Savior as my All in all,
Standing on the promises of God.
(Click pause symbol, " ... at beginning of hymn, to stop music)
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The following scripture pertains to this hymn:
v. 2 By the living Word of God I shall prevail,
The living word of God is the word spoken to you by the Spirit of God during the crisis. By His Spirit, God will bring to our mind ideas that show us what to do, or scriptures which show us what to do.
And when it is of God, it will never fail. We can put our trust in what we have heard from God by His Spirit.
The living word of God is just exactly that, living, because it is instantaneously brought to our mind by God through His Spirit. You can hunt for a scripture and fail. But you will not fail when it is the Holy Spirit bringing the scripture to your mind.
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v. 3 Standing in the liberty where Christ makes free,
We are freed every time we have a word from God brought to our mind by His Spirit, and when we believe and act on that word in the midst of the trial or temptation.
Several years ago, I received a birthday card from a high school friend. In the card she enclosed a note telling me all the plans she had for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. She was going to be with her husband, her daughter, and her grandchildren, celebrating.
Instantaneously, the Holy Spirit brought to my mind these words, "You are dead, and your life is hid with Christ." (Col. 3:3)
I replied to the Holy Spirit, "Yes!"
Then I saw that if I had not heard from the Holy Spirit in this matter, I might have been a little bit depressed or down because I don't have a husband, or daughter, or grandchildren. Nor did I have any plans for the holidays. I was going to be alone.
But God delivered me from depression or sadness by bringing His word on the matter by His Spirit.
Colossians 3:1-4 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
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v. 4 Overcoming daily with the Spirit’s sword,
God speaks to each of His children by His Spirit which lives inside each child. The Holy Spirit brings thoughts from God to our minds to show us the way of God and the will of God as we live on this earth.
We overcome the trials and temptations of this present earth as we hear from the Holy Spirit daily, and take appropriate action to the instruction given by the Spirit.
You do have to be careful. For the devil will try to imitate God and bring thoughts to your mind which are opposite to the way God wants you to go. And often our own fleshly preferences will bring thoughts to us which seem good to us, but are opposite to the way God wants us to go.
But if you are a child of God, if you will ask God to confirm the way to go and to make it clear to you which thought is HIS, and if you will take time before you act, it will be made clear to you which thought is from God.
We must pay attention to those things spoken to our minds by the Holy Spirit in order to follow God. And we do overcome daily with the Spirit's sword.
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v. 5 List’ning every moment to the Spirit’s call.
Resting in my Savior as my All in all,
Once we have established that a thought is from God, we must focus on that thought and rest in that word that we have heard from God concerning the matter at hand. Often, we have to keep it before us day and night to be strong enough to continue in that direction.
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