Pray Network Forum

My wife and I just got back from 11 days in Israel with Caroll Roberson. We learned so much that we need to share. I feel it has changed the way I will study God's Word and preach. We brought back many teaching aids and pictures we will be using to teach others.

I would recomed this for everyone who can possibly paarticipate in going to this amazing land.

In the silence we wait for God to ask us, "Why are you here? Why do you seek me? What are you inquiring of me?"

After the silence God speaks.

"And the Lord said to him, Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. And anoint Jehu son of Nimshi to be king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah to be prophet in your place." 1 Kings 19:15-16 (AMP)

What is forgiveness? Is it forgetting an event happened? Or is it surpressing the emotions the occurred surrounding the event. Is forgiveness simply saying "I forgive you" because we are required to forgive according to Matthew 18:22? Are we more eager to forgive when we have minimal contact with the person we need to forgive? If we see the person do we hide or shun them? Or are we happy and excited to see the person who offended us?

During this second semester of Elijah House the topic of "Accomplishing Forgiveness" was discussed. True Forgiveness is a supernatural act that requires God's grace. I realized I had NOT truly forgiven, I just merely mechanically forgave the person. I went through the motions of forgiveness but never investigated the emotions associated with the hurt. What hurts worse disappointments based on unspoken expectations, physical wounds or emotional wounds? They all hurt and they all need to be forgiven.

True forgiveness required me to allow Holy Spirit to me walk through that experience and identify with that other person. We were introduced to the power of the Gethesmane prayer. This was were Jesus bore our hurts, sins and pains. Where He identified with our emotions and cried out with agony to the Father, confident that he would comfort him and help him walk through true forgiveness.

So you maybe wondering where am I in the forgiveness process?

Step #1, talking to God telling him how I feel. How the hurt has affected me. How I need him to help me forgive Him, others and myself.

I am a work in progress.

Continue to pray!

Mustard Seed Faith

When the disciples failed to heal a boy who was demon possessed, they asked Jesus why they couldn’t drive the demon out. Jesus replied, “Because you have so little faith.” He said, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain. Move from here to there and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:19-21)

Again in Matthew 21:21-22 Jesus told his disciples, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

In Luke when the apostles asked Jesus to increase their faith, he replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.” (Luke 17:6)

Faith, how do we get it? It grows with exercise, it follows God despite the circumstances, it involves endurance until the end, it is the way God works through people.

Faith comes from seeds that are planted deep within our spirits. Each time we encounter a person who has faith, it is possible for them to plant a seed inside us and that seed grows with each encounter of other people of faith. It increases more and more. When we surround ourselves with people who want to share their faith, people who have experienced God moving in their lives, it comes out in words, in actions, in their demeanor. That touches a place within us that longs to have the same type of faith and that encounter strengthens our faith.

This faith that grows and increases will continue to grow if we tend it, water it, intentionally putting ourselves in situations with others of deep faith and soak up what they have until one day, without our even knowing it, we have become ‘a mustard plant’ with others learning from our experiences, hearing our stories of faith and wanting to be near us so that they may grow in their faith.

I think Jesus had hoped that his disciples had been with him long enough to have increased their faith. But, the disciples had not yet received the Holy Spirit and that kept them from possessing faith to the degree that Christ had it.

How does obedience to God increase our faith? When we know God, we know the things that he expects from us. The only way we can really get to know God is through his word. It is an instruction manual for us as we live our lives here on earth. Each time we do something that he asks us to do, our faith in increased.

A few years ago I was praying for a girl in my church who had been in a terrible accident. Her mother needed a care giver because the lady who had been helping her had quit. I was just asking the Lord to send someone to her and he spoke very clearly to me, not in an audible voice but in my spirit, he said “you call her”. I came up with every excuse possible why I couldn’t do it, but the spirit would not let me alone until I called her. It would require only a few hours each day to get Rachel up, dressed, fed and ready for the school bus. Easy enough, but then her mother told me that Rachel had to have a shot each morning and I knew that was one thing I could never do. Sorry God, I guess you’ll have to find someone else - wrong! When I told God that I couldn’t give her shots his response to me was, “I will give her the shots, just let me use your hands.” I had to do it and every day for nearly two years I took care of Rachel.

God used me in a mighty way to minister to not only Rachel but her mother as well. Because of my obedience my faith grew so much over that time.

God taught me through TV ministers that I would watch before I had to get Rachel up each day, he taught me through the devotional time I had with Rachel each morning, he taught me through Rachel’s ability to see angels all around us and her childlike faith that shared these things so easily. He taught me that sometimes life is very difficult, but he is with us through every trial, every heartbreak, every ache and pain. Yes, my faith increased through my obedience to him.

If you hear the voice of God speaking to you to do something, no matter how big or small the task, respond in obedience. Your faith will increase. Remember Abraham, when God asked him to take Isaac up the mountain and sacrifice him. Don’t you think that when the angel stopped Abraham from killing his son, and God provided the sacrifice, that Abraham’s faith increased one hundred fold that day?

We serve a big God, a God who is mighty and powerful, a God who wants to bless us and wants us to be a blessing to others. Jesus said, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” God will hear the prayers of those who are obedient, those who want to increase their faith. Ask and it will be given unto you.

As your faith increases, start sowing mustard seeds everywhere you go. Those seeds will begin to grow and those you have witnessed to will have their faith increased and begin to sow seeds themselves. It is an amazing way that our faith spreads to others.

Holy God,

We are like the father in the Bible who wanted Jesus to heal his son, he cried out, “I do believe, help thou my unbelief.” We want to believe, we want our faith increased. Speak to us right now and tell us what you would have us do. We will obey and trust you to use us not only in the big events of our lives, but also in the small, mustard seed deeds that are done out of obedience to you. Enable us with the power of your Holy Spirit and because of the blood of Jesus. Amen

The tree was diseased and the fruit was worm-riddled. It had to go. We had tried to treat that apple tree for a couple of years without success. We had gathered up the wormy fruit and added it to the dumpster for more than one season. The tree took our time and energy without giving us any benefit back. We cut it down. Then for a couple of years, we had to deal with roots sprouting up. Over time, we now removed all evidence of this worthless tree.

This past week I have been immersed in a Prayer Seminar presented by the Sycamore Commission. I learned that my spiritual life can be changed as I deal with unwanted “trees.”

Mike and Cindy Riches used an illustration of a tree structure as they taught about dealing with strongholds in our spiritual lives. A core stronghold, such as fear, was compared to the trunk of a tree. The fruit produced can be control, anger, inflexibility, perfectionism, headaches, isolation and a wide range of other behaviors. I can focus on plucking off unwanted fruit, but another crop will soon surface. I can cut off the trunk and demand, in prayer, that fear be gone, but it will likely continue to re-emerge until the roots are dealt with. When the trunk is “fear,” I learned that some roots include generational issues, curses or lies or love deficit issues.

Here is a guide to follow for this process:

1. Prayer Team Preparation - Confession
If needed, address any known unresolved issues that might compromise freedom for the Holy Spirit to work through you.

2. Protect the Time
Of the two or three who have come to pray, select a captain who will lead the prayer time. The captain prays a prayer of protection over the time.

An example prayer: "In Jesus' Name, I rebuke every demonic spirit that would oppose or try to compromise this prayer time in any way. I bind you and command you to go to the feet of Jesus. I exercise authority over and bind our fleshly thinking and imagination that conflicts with God's revelation. I bind any previous knowledge of this person in any way that it might get in the way of God's revelation. I ask You, Holy Spirit, to fill us so we may minister in the power of God, and I thank you for speaking clearly and specifically to us in Jesus' Name. Amen"

3. Strongholds
In prayer, ask God, "What are the core strongholds that may hinder _______ from fully living in your original design and purpose that you want to address at this time?" The team should listen to what God says and ask the one being prayed for if it resonates.

4. The Root
Ask "Lord, what is the source (root) of this stronghold (name it) in _______’s life?" It may be a curse or something else that God will reveal.

5. Pray
After asking if the individual is willing, lead through a prayer to deal with the revelation that they have received. Here is a pattern we use:
a) Repent of the sin and receive God's forgiveness and cleansing (also if a "root" revealed requires forgiveness such as injustice, love deficit, etc., grant forgiveness at this point).
b) Rebuke the enemy's hold on you
c) Replace all lies with God's TRUTH - declare that with God's power you will walk in specific truths
d) Receive the Holy Spirit's in-filling, impartation and blessing prayers

6. Encouragement and Exhortation

Provide practical advice
- Warn of the enemy's challenge and how to counter it
- Make sure that the person has scriptures and truth s/he can use to stand strong
- Assure the person of their authority in Christ

This approach has been used many times in our church with amazing results and freedom. Thanks to Mike & Cindy Riches from the Sycamore Commission for teaching us how to live free.

For this very reason do your best to add goodness to your faith; to your goodness add knowledge; to your knowledge add self-control; to your self-control add perseverance; to your perserverance add godliness; to your godliness add brotherly kindness; and to your brotherly kindness add love. These are the qualities you need, and if you have them in abundance, they will make you active and effective in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:5-8

It’s funny, the Bible tells us that God is Love - that is the end to which we are striving to become. That is the epitome of our existence.

There are steps that we climb to achieve this ultimate love. But before we climb the steps, we have to possess faith. It is our very foundation.

No one can give us faith, it is something that the Bible says comes from hearing and the hearing comes from the Word of God. The more we immerse ourselves in God’s Word, the more we hear God’s Word preached, the more opportunities we have for our faith to grow.

As our faith begins to grow, our goodness should increase. We know that our good deeds do not earn us a place in the Kingdom of God, but because we are grateful for what Christ did for us, we want to please God, our Heavenly Father. We want to be obedient children and be a blessing to God and to all those around us. This is a quality of the Father that we want to exhibit. The Holy Spirit helps us, by pointing out our sins and helping us crucify our flesh of these sins, one at a time. It is usually a process, making us more like Jesus, day by day.

To goodness we are to add knowledge. How do we do that? What can we possibly do to make ourselves smarter?

It is amazing how the Holy Spirit works in this area. God is all-knowing, He created everything in the universe and knows all about everything. If we have faith in Him and know that He loves us and cares about us, if we are truly wanting to be just like Jesus, God knows this and if we have a question, He will give us the answer. This is one of those super-natural, mysterious ways of God.

How many times have we lost something, keys, books, phone numbers, papers? Have you ever prayed for God to reveal something to you and found it almost immediately?

The knowledge of the universe is at our disposal through the Holy Spirit. Many times I have been stumped about trivial things, like what I should wear. At other times, I am stumped by mechanical things, how can I fix this computer? God has the answers to all these questions. All we have to do is ask.

To knowledge we are to add self-control. This is a very difficult godlike quality for us to possess. It means that we have to crucify the fleshly desires that want to rule us.

Our minds are where most control issues originate. We want something, not necessarily because it is a physical want, but because we ‘think’ we need it. When we begin to possess self-control, we ignore the part of the flesh or brain that says we desire something unless we check with God first. It is more of God-control than self-control.

It is really giving up self and relying on God. As we grow in our relationship with God, we realize what actions would be pleasing to God and what actions would not glorify Him. Since we want to glorify our Heavenly Father with our very lives. we will choose to do the ‘Christ-like’ things.

Perseverance is the next godly quality that we are to increase in. This is a quality that can only be increased by repeatedly doing the right thing in the right manner that is pleasing to God and in a ‘Christ-like’ way.

To persevere means ‘to continue steadfastly in a thing and give unremitting care to it.’ according to Vines. That is to say that we have a focus, it is to possess godly characteristics. With that goal in mind, we continue each day towards that end.

There will be days when we may falter, we may even forget the ultimate goal at times, but if we can just persevere, day by day, we will continue the climb to ‘love’.

After persevering, we make the climb to godliness. Godliness is a godward attitude. It reminds us of who we are in Christ. We are new creations, we are God’s children. He loves us with the same deep, abiding love that He has for Christ, because when God looks at us, He sees Jesus.

We need to understand this oneness with Christ and live as though we believe it. We are indeed ‘children of the king’. We are royalty-we are priests. God expects us to act accordingly.

We cannot go around doing the things that we did before we realized our heritage. The more that we know about our maker, the more righteous we become, not because of anything we do or because of anything we deserve, but because we were chosen and because Jesus died for us. That is what gives us the clothes of righteousness.

Brotherly kindness is a direct result of this godliness. If we do not have brotherly kindness, we are not truly exhibiting godliness, it is a fake form of godliness.

God loves everyone equally-he is not a respecter of persons. He doesn’t love Billy Graham any more than he loves Jeffrey Dahmer. In His eyes, we are each a child of his. Why would he expect us to behave any differently than he does?

We can’t be more kind to a brother who has a nice home and fancy car than to our brother who is homeless and in need of a bath. This brotherly kindness we exhibit is to be exactly the same way that God would be kind, without favoritism. A brother, is a brother, is a brother.

Jesus instructed us to love your neighbor as yourself. Our neighbor is our brother. If we are indeed children of God, if we are priests, if we are royalty, why would we not see that in our brothers? Christ died for them also-they have as much right to forgiveness and eternal life as we do. We didn’t earn a place in heaven and they won’t either. They just haven’t heard the word enough yet to develop that faith which is the foundation. Whose place is it to share the word? Jesus said, "therefore go and make disciples of all nations.”

To brotherly kindness we are to add love. Love, the gospel in one word is Love. The Bible tells us that ‘God is love.’ ‘God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever would believe in him would not perish but have everlasting life.’

This true perfect, holy love is not conditional, it is not a love based upon our actions. God loved each one of us, before the foundation of the world. He knew that we would be sinners and would need a savior. He loved us anyway. He knew that some people would reject his offer of eternal life, but he loves us anyway. His love is so unmovable, so perfect, so unbelievable! That is how we are supposed to love-can we do it?

Mother Teresa was able to love that way. She didn’t look at the outside of people, it was almost like she looked into their very hearts and saw what God sees in each one of us. A person of worth and value, a person created in God’s image, just waiting for a relationship with the Almighty God.

How can we love like that? We can’t, not on our own. But with the power of the Holy Spirit and with the purposeful dying to self, with perseverance we can ask God to love the unloveable people in our pathways. He wants to love everyone and it is God’s will that all men will come into a knowledge of Him.

How can we show the love of God to someone today? Jesus said if we did anything to the least of these, we did it for him. Food, clothing, shelter, meeting the basic needs is a good way to begin to show love to our fellow ‘earth travelers.’

Heavenly Father,

We want to be more like Jesus, but we know that it can only happen with the help of the Holy Spirit. Teach us today to grow into ‘little Christs’. We submit our wills to your will. We choose to be your children and live like children of the king. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen

A prayer resource set that I have found effective is the "Power of a Praying Woman Bible" (Stormie Omartian, General Editor) alongside the related "Praying Through the Bible: A Prayer Journal". I found the Bible on sale at Christian Book Distributors and the Journal at Bookcloseouts, both on sale and at reasonable prices. The study Bible has a feature, Going Deeper, in which Stormie suggests a passage to read and then she has commentary on it. I read both the passage and what she has to say about it. Then I go into the journal and write my own prayer based on the reading. I will share my prayer that I wrote after reading Habakkuk 1:1-11.

Dear Heavenly Father,

I wait and watch, wondering what will You do to the wicked. Surely the day of Your justice will come. I wait upon You to administer justice. You do know all---You alone see the whole picture. You have rewards for those who try to keep Your laws and You allow consequences to punish those who are disobedient to Your laws. Thank You for the features of Your law. It surely proves Your love for us. Through Jesus, Amen

I don't think it was intentional or noticed at the time of writing the prayer but now that I look back on it, there is a lot of alliteration in that first sentence of the prayer! When I wrote it I was not considering it for public view. But I share it in case someone else may be encouraged to start prayer journaling based on Scripture reading. Previous to this I kept a prayer journal but it was usually about asking God to provide for the needs of people in my personal realm and it was not so much tied to Scripture. I found this to be a refreshing change that added depth to my prayers.

Communication With God

What is communication? It is a two way interaction. Prayer is the way we communicate with our creator God. It is through prayer that we find out who He is and it is through prayer that He discovers how much we want him to be part of our lives.

John Wesley said it best, “God does nothing but in answer to prayer.” That is an awesome thought, our prayers enable God to act. He is waiting for us to ask for help, to ask for forgiveness, to ask for wisdom, to ask for knowledge, to ask for our needs to be met. Matthew 7:7 says, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

I have first hand knowledge of asking and receiving. When I earnestly started seeking God in 1993, I would sit with my Bible opened to the concordance and just start looking up every reference to God. I wanted to know more and more about Him. I found out that He is the creator, He made man in His own image. I believe He made us in His image so that He could converse with us. Have a relationship with us. He wanted someone to share His knowledge with. Someone to marvel at all He is and all He has done. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He still wants this relationship with each one of us. He created each of us with our own set of fingerprints, we are each one unique and different and He can relate to each one of us in a different manner.

God cannot communicate with us in our sinful state. He is so righteous and holy that He cannot look upon sin. He had to make a way to ‘atone’ for our wickedness so He made a way for us to come to Him.

Atonement is the Old Testament way that God taught the priests to come into his presence once a year. In Leviticus 16 we see God, through Moses, instructing the priest what to do to be cleansed of all their sins. Blood from a bull was to be sprinkled on the altar as a sacrifce to God. This blood was not a perfect sacrifice, it had to be done annually. This was always performed the tenth day of the seventh month. But this atonement was not lasting.

God took the form of a human being, clothed himself in humanity and willingly died for the sins of the world, just to have a relationship with us!

His blood was perfect sinless blood and the only way to provide a lasting atonement for all people.

That is amazing grace. We are so blessed to be called His children, and it is only through the blood of Jesus Christ that this happens.

What is more amazing is that Jesus would go back to the Father God and speak in our behalf.

Hebrews 7:24-25 tells us that “because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.” And in Hebrews 7:27 we see that “unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day... He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.”

Every time we pray, Jesus interprets our prayers to God in a way that is acceptable to Him. He takes our feeble attempts of communicating, and puts our words into words that God can honor. Not because of who we are, but because of our belief in Christ as our mediator.

Therefore, we don’t have to worry if our prayers are eloquent or if we forget to say something that we are thinking. Even if we forget to pray for someone we promised to pray for, when we do remember them in prayer, we can know that God is timeless. Our idea of time means nothing to him.

Pray using your own language, using your own way of speaking because Jesus knows what you are saying and can tell his Father what we really need. He just wants us to ask.

Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to help us live our lives as Christians. This spirit is the very Spirit of God and it comes to live in those who believe that Jesus is the Christ, the messiah, the one God sent to be our atonement. The Holy Spirit is living inside each and every believer.

There are times when we just don’t know what to say or how to pray. That’s when the Holy Spirit comes to help us. He is just waiting to be asked. He is such a gentleman, he will not impose himself on us, but waits patiently for us to call on him.

He not only speaks to God for us, but he also speaks for God to us. He puts the desire to pray for specific needs in our hearts.

He is our transmitter sending us requests from God and receiving our prayers to be filtered through Jesus, our interpreter.

Jesus told his disciples about this promised Spirit in John 16:13, “But when he, the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”

God is always on call - 24 hours a day, seven days a week. He doesn’t have an answering machine, or voice mailbox, he won’t put you on hold to answer another call, and you never ever get a busy signal.

I cannot remember a time when I asked God a specific question and he failed to give me an answer. I ask Him all sorts of questions and He gives me answers. Not in an audible voice, but within my spirit.

I remember one year in August in southwest Ohio, a cicada came flying into the car right in my face as I was driving down the road. They are very ugly bugs and very large. They don’t bite or hurt people, but their size is frightening.

I remember feeling fear and trying to overcome the fear by calling out to God. I asked Him why in the world He made cicadas. The answer came almost before I finished asking. In my spirit I heard Him say, “It’s food for the birds, Marsha.”

That’s right, he used my name, He knows each one of us by name and He is always eager to have a conversation with us. In Psalm 49:16 the Lord tells us that he has engraved us on the palms of his hands; our walls are ever before him. And in 1 Peter 5:7 he says, “Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.”

The only way to truly get to know God is by spending time with him. The only way to spend time with him is by diligently seeking him and by deliberatly setting aside time in his Word, the Bible. He reveals himself to us through his word.

God wants to know about you and the things that trouble you. He wants you to ask him about decisions in your life. He wants to be able to guide and direct you. He really does want to be a daily part of your life. After all, He is the one who created you, He has a lot at stake in your life.

If we look to Jesus’s example we see that every morning he got up early and went to a solitary place to pray. He was directed every step of the way by God, His Holy Father. He asked Him for help in all that he did. Why should we be any different?

When Jesus lived on this earth as a man, he experienced everything that we experience. I would imagine that he really didn’t “feel” like getting up early, but he knew that was the only time that he could have time alone with his Father.

When could you spend time alone with your creator? What time of day is your best? Begin now if you don’t already have a quiet time. It will become the most important part of your day.

How do you start spending time with God? What is the first step? Get a Bible, make sure you get a translation that you can understand. Plan a time of day that works best for you when you won’t be interrupted by the phone, the door, the demands of children.

For me, the first thing every morning is best. I just get up a little earlier than I used to and plan to spend at least 1/2 hour with God. I started with five minutes back in 1993. I used a little devotional book to get a focus for the morning. But there is no set formula. If you start seeking God, he will help you with the details.

Continue meeting with God everyday. I have heard that if you do anything for 21 days, it becomes a habit. Get to know your creator, He is waiting to speak with you. It doesn’t have to be a profound or Biblical conversation, He just wants to get to know you and wants you to get to know Him. Go ahead...pray.

Heavenly Father,

We do want to know you more. We invite your precious Holy Spirit to teach us more about you. Today could you show us just one new thing about your character? We truly want a relationship with you because we love you and know that you love us. Thank you Father, in Jesus’ name. Amen