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Believe When You Pray
Hello brethren! Long time No Blog!
Tonight I would like to offer a little encouragement to those of you who feel like your prayers have gone unanswered.
So many times we offer prayers to our God and it seems like we get nothing in return. Silence is what we hear. There are so many reasons why this occurs that I can't even begin to offer all of my opinions. One reason however is that I believe we often ask God for things He has already given us.
Take healing for example. God is not healing anybody this year. He didn't heal anybody last year either. And, God is not going to heal anybody next year either. Is God not in the healing business any longer? Of course He is! But the healing that is available to us was provided 2,000 years ago. We are not waiting for God to heal us, but the truth is that He already did. Our job is to reach into the spiritual realm and appropriate that which has already been done!
And so it is with many of our prayers. The silence you hear could be because God is confused saying, "I could have sworn I already gave that to them". Or, "I could have sworn that was part of the atonement". Can God re-give you something He has already given you? Would He not have to first take it back in order to fulfill your prayer? In many instances, that would have to be true.
Silence from God is not always denial. Neither is it always delay. The truth is that some of the things we ask for in prayer are ours already. We just have have to know how to receive them.
As much as this might upset some of you, God is not the only force that is at work in our ability, or disability, to receive from Him. While He is ever so graceful to all human beings, it is our faith that brings the spiritual blessings into physical reality.
If your prayers consistently seem to go unanswered, amongst other things, there are three major possibilities for this occurring.
1) You are asking God to do something or provide something that He has already made provisions for. How can He answer a prayer like that?
2) The devil, or his army, is contending or resisting, doing battle in the heavenlies to stop your request from manifesting. (It's your job to resist him)
Or
3) You are in unbelief.
Each of those three things require a tremendous amount of explanation. More than I can write and keep this blog at a readable length. But the point that I am trying to make here is that God always answers prayers. And based on the points I am about to make, He answers them the moment that you pray them.
In Mark 11:24 we learn this:
Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. When you pray! At the moment you pray. The very second you make your request. That is the time to believe God heard you! This means you don't have to keep re-asking. When you re-ask, you are doubting God. That's unbelief.
If you have not heard or seen an answer manifest, then maybe it's time to start rebuking the devil so that he will no longer be putting up resistance. Resisting the devil is your responsibility, not God's!
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. You must believe that God hears every prayer you utter!
An example of this can be found in Daniel Chapter 9. I won't post that entire passage here but you can read beginning in verse 1 that Daniel began praying a prayer for the people of Jerusalem. In verse 4 he begins his prayer. If you read all the way through to verse 21 you can see that the angel Gabriel appears on the scene and offers an response to his request.
Let's look at verses 22 and 23:
And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew the]; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision. If you read all the verse from verse 4 through verse 21, that would take you approximately 3 minutes. So, it is likely that Daniel spent approximately three minutes praying that prayer. But what does Gabriel say here? He says, "At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth"
God gave the commandment for Daniels prayer to be responded to at the very moment Daniel started praying. Now I can't explain to you why this took three minutes to manifest. Most of us could hold on for three minutes, amen? But the precedent is established here that even when God gives the OK, there can be elapsed time before we see those answers come to pass.
And the later in Daniel Chapter 10, beginning in verse 1, we see Daniel enter into another time of prayer. Only this time it was for three weeks. And not only was he praying, but he also added fasting to his supplications.
And look closely at verse at verse 12:
Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. Wow! Look at the response he got from the angel this time, "from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard".
From the 1st day his words were heard. And from the first day the commandment was given to send forth the response. I believe that not only was it the first day, but the first moment!
God answers prayers!
In verse 13 we get an example of how Satan can block your prayers even thought God has commanded an answer:
But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.
See, God's silence is not always God's denial. There are spiritual forces that can have a great effect on how soon your prayers come into fruition. But the truth is that God always answers prayer.
What my friend have you been believing God for? Do you believe that He heard you, and answered you, when you prayed?
I repeat Mark 11:24 one more time:
Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. When you pray, believe!
And then if you are not seeing it ask yourself these questions:
1) Am I Asking God to do something or provide something that He has already made provisions for?
2) Is the devil, or his army contending or resisting, doing battle in the heavenlies to stop my request from manifesting. (Am I resisting him?)
Or
3) Am I in unbelief.
God hears you believer! Confess, believe, and receive.
In love,
Michael
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| To add a comment to "Believe When You Pray" |
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| March 03, 2009 |
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Yes, a good word. Daniel is a great example and encouragement! I make it a point never to pray for anything that I cannot believe I have received when I pray. If we are not expecting an actual answer then what are we doing? Many prayers are vague generalities that just make folks feel like they are doing something but we wouldn't know if it was answered or not! I believe most problems with prayer are easily solved if we keep our focus on the One to whom we are praying rather than the act of prayer itself. Prayer can easily turn into a form of sorcery when we attempt to control circumstances, people, and even God with it. I like Andrew Wommack's teaching about the relationship between faith and grace. We ask for things that God has already provided by grace--nothing more. As far as the enemy goes we have to remember that we are under and new covenant; the enemy has been completely defeated at the cross and stripped of his power. Any authority he has is only given with respect to the unbelieving [Ephesians 2] and for discipline [Acts, 2 Cor, etc.]. We have been translated out of his domain into the Kingdom of God's dear Son...that is why we must first, submit to God, and then resist the Devil. As you point out, God is not going to do that for us. In my mind is it most important to make sure we are in submission to God before we attempt to resist. Best regards,
Craig |
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| March 03, 2009 |
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| The older I get, the more I have to refer to in the way of prayers being answered. Some of them took a while, some of them weren't answered the way I thought they should be, but each and every prayer was answered at some point. There are still a few that I am still praying about, but I know that God will take care of it all in His timing, not mine. |
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| March 03, 2009 |
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| I certainly have been guilty of all 3 above! BUT NO LONGER.... WOW, I think of the progress over the past few months and I am amazed even MORE at the power prayer has! Great stuff Michael! |
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| March 03, 2009 |
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| Thanks Michael.This blog is timely,indeed!! I've been in a place and have been pummeled.I have prayed and not received what our Heavenly Father has already provided.Thanks for the loving nudge. "His promises are,Yes and Amen!!" |
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| March 05, 2009 |
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MichaelATL43,
I was always taught that God answers prayer three ways:
1) Yes
2) No and
3) Wait
They never gave me Book / Chapter / Verse for that theology but it sounds reasonable.
Also, I talked with a preacher about your "healing" doctrine and he said, "If God wanted everybody healed, all He'd have to do is snap His fingers and it would be done." God's all powerful; right? That sounds like a reasonable explanation for why there are so many sick people. If God wanted them well, they wouldn't be sick. My preacher went to Preacher School. I didn't. Did you?
If God wants to answer my prayers "Yes" then He will but if He wants to answer them "No" then who am I to question His decision? You should humble yourself to God's decision and not insist on having it Michael's way all the time.
Ya big hedonist!
Rob |
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