It has been well said that God always answers
prayer. Sometimes He says, "Yes." sometimes
He says, "NO." Sometimes He says, "Wait
for a minute," and a day to the Lord is a
thousand years to us (2 Peter 3:8). That means that a
ten year wait for us, is 14 minutes and 24 seconds to
God, so ask in faith, but rest in peace-filled
patience.
Surveys show that more than 90% of America prays
daily. No doubt they pray for health, wealth,
happiness, etc. They also pray when grandma gets sick,
and when grandma doesn't get better (or dies), many
end up disillusioned, and some end up bitter. This is
because they don't understand what the Bible says
about prayer. It teaches that sin will stop God even
hearing your prayer (Psalm 66:18). It teaches, among
other things, that if we pray with doubt, we will not
get an answer (James 1:6-7).
Here's how to be heard.
1. Pray with faith (Hebrews 11:6).
2. Pray with clean hands and a pure
heart (Psalm 24:3-4).
3. Pray genuine heart-felt prayers,
rather than vain repetitions (Matthew 6:7).
4. Make sure that you are praying to
the God revealed in the Holy Scriptures (Exodus 20:3-6).
How do you "pray with faith?" Someone
once said to me, "Ray, you're a man of great
faith in God," thinking that they were paying me
a compliment. They weren't If I said to you, "I'm
a man of great faith in my doctor? It's to the doctor.
If I have great faith in him, it means that I see him
as being a man of integrity, a man of great ability
-- that he is trustworthy. I give "glory"
to the man through my faith in him. The Bible says
that Abraham "staggered not at the promise of
God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving
glory to God, being fully persuaded that, what He had
promised, He was able to also perform" (Romans 4:20-21).
Abraham was a man of great faith in God. Remember,
that is not a compliment to Abraham. He merely caught
a glimpse of God's incredible ability, His impeccable
integrity, and His wonderful faithfulness to keep
every promise He makes. His faith gave "glory"
to a faithful God.
As far as God is concerned, if you belong to Jesus,
you are a VIP. You can boldly come before the throne
of Grace (Hebrews 4:16). You have access to the king,
because you are the son or daughter of the king.
When you were a child, did you have to grovel to get
your needs met by your mom or dad? I hope not.
So, when you pray, don't say, "Oh God, I hope
you will supply my needs." Instead say something
like, "Father, thank you that you keep every
promise You make. Your Word says that you will supply
all my needs according to Your riches in glory,
by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19). Therefore, I
thank you that you will do this thing for my family.
I ask this in the wonderful name of Jesus. Amen"
It was the great missionary, Hudson Taylor, who
said, "The prayer power has never been tried to
its full capacity. If we want to see Divine power
wrought in the place of weakness, failure, and
disappointment, let us answer God's standing
challenge, 'Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and
shew thee great and mighty things of which thou
knowest not of.'"
How do you get "clean hands and a pure heart?"
Simply by confessing your sins to God, through Jesus
Christ. His blood cleanses from all sin (1 John 1:7-9).
When you confess them to God through Jesus, God will
not only forgive your every sin, He promises to forget
that sin (Hebrew 8:12). He will even justify you, on
the grounds of the sacrifice of the Savior. That
means He will count it as though you have never
sinned in the first place. He will make you pure in
His sight -- sinless. he will even "purge"
your conscience, so that you will no longer have that
sense of guilt that you sinned in the first place.
That's what I mean "to be justified by faith."
That's why you need to soak yourself in Holy
Scripture -- to read the letters to the churches and
see the wonderful things that God has done for us
through the Cross of Calvary. If you don't bother to
read the will, you won't have any idea of what has
been left for you.
How do you pray "genuine heart-felt prayers?"
Simply by keeping yourself in the love of God. If
the love of God is in you, you will never pray
hypocritical, or selfish prayers. In fact, you won't
have to pray selfish prayers, if you have a heart of
love. When your prayer-life is pleasing to God, the
Bible says that He will reward you openly (Matthew 6:6).
How do you know that you are praying to "the
God revealed in Holy Scripture?" Study the Word.
Don't accept the image of God portrayed by the world,
even though it appeals to the natural mind. A loving,
kind fatherly-figure, with no sense of justice or
truth appeal s to guilty sinners. Look to the
thunderings and lightnings of Mount Sinai. Gaze at
Jesus on the cross of Calvary -- hanging in
unspeakable agony because of the Justice of a holy
God. Such thoughts tend to banish idolatry.
5. Warfare -- Praise The Lord
and Pass the Ammunition
When you became a Christian, you stepped right
into the heat of an age-old battle. You have a three-fold
enemy--the world, the flesh, and the devil. Before
you became a Christian, you floated down stream with
the other dead fish. But now, God has put His life
within you, and you will find yourself swimming
against a three-fold current. Let's look at these
three resistant enemies.
First, the world. When the Bible speaks of the
"world" in this context, it is referring to
the sinful, rebellious, world system. This is the
world that loves the darkness and hates the light (John
3:20), governed by the "god of this world"
(2 Corinthians 4:4)( -- the "prince power of the
air" (Ephesians 2:2). The Bible says the
Christian has escaped the corruption that is in the
world through lust. "Lust" is unlawful
desire, and is the life's blood of the world --whether
it be the lust for sexual sin, for power, for money,
for material things. Lust is a monster that will
never be gratified, so don't feed it. It will grow
bigger and bigger, until it weighs heavy upon your
back, and will be the death of you -- see James 1:15.
There is nothing wrong with sex, power, money, or
material things, but when these become predominant in
God's sight, the Bible calls this "inordinate
affection" (Colossians 3:5). We are told, "Love
not the world, neither the things that are in the
world. If any man loves the world, the love of the
Father is not in Him . . . whoever is a friend of the
world is an enemy of God" (1 John 2:15, James 4:4).
The second enemy is the devil. As we have seen, he
is known as the "god of this world." He was
your spiritual father before you joined the family of
God (John 8:44, Ephesians 2:2. Jesus called the devil
a thief, who came to kill, steal and destroy (John 10:10).
The way to overcome him and his demons is to make
sure you are outfitted with the spiritual armor of
God listed in Ephesians 6:10-20. Become intimately
familiar with it. Sleep in it. Never take it off.
Bind the two-edged sword to your hand so that you
never lose its grip. The reason for this brings us to
the third enemy.
The third enemy is what the Bible calls the "flesh."
This is your sinful nature. The domain for the battle,
is your mind.
If you have a mind to, you will be
attracted to the world and all its sin. The mind is
the data-processing control panel for the eyes and
the ears. It is the center of your appetites. All sin
begins in the "heart" (Proverbs 4:23,
Matthew 15:19). We think before we sin. This happens
because we don't think before we sin. The
Bible warns that lust brings forth sin, and sin when
it's conceived brings forth death. Every day we have
life, we have a choice. To sin or not to sin -- that
is the question. The answer to the question of sin,
is the fear of God. If you don't fear God, you will
sin to your sinful heart's delight.
Did you know that God kills people? He killed a
man because he didn't like what he did sexually (Genesis
38:10). He killed a husband and wife because they
told just one lie (Acts 5:1-11). Knowledge of God's
goodness -- His righteous judgments against evil,
should put the fear of God in us, and help us not to
indulge in sin.
If we know that the eye of the Lord is in every
place beholding the evil and the good, and that He
will bring every work to judgment, we will live
accordingly. Such weighty thoughts are valuable, for
"by the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil"
(Proverbs 16:6). Jesus said,
"And I say to you, my friends, do not be
afraid of those who kill the body, and after that
have no more that they can do. But I will show you
whom you should fear: Fear Him, who after He has
killed, has power to cast into Hell; yes, I say to
you, fear Him!" (Luke 12:4-5).
6. Fellowship -- Flutter by
Butterfly
Pray about where you should fellowship. Make sure
the place you are going to call your church home
calls sin what it is -- sin. Do they believe the
promises of God? Are they loving? Does the pastor
treat his wife with respect? Is he a man of the Word?
Does he have a humble heart, and a gentle spirit?
Listen closely to his teaching. It should glorify God,
magnify Jesus, and edify the believer. One evidence
that you have been truly saved is that you will have
a love for other Christians (1 John 3:14). You will
want to fellowship with them. The old saying that
"birds of a feather flock together" is true
of Christians. You gather together for the breaking
of bread (communion), for teaching from the Word, and
for fellowship. You share the same inspirations,
illuminations, inclinations, temptations, aspirations,
motivations, and perspirations -- you are working
together for the same thing, for the furtherance of
the Kingdom of God on earth. This is why you attend
church -- not because you have to, but because you
want to.
Don't become a "spiritual butterfly."
Send your roots down. If you are moving from church
to church, how I will your pastor know what type of
food you are digesting? The Bible says that your
shepherd will have to give an account to Him that has
entrusted you to him (Hebrews 13:17), so make
yourself known to your pastor. Pray for him regularly.
Pray also for his wife, his family, and the elders.
Being a pastor is no easy task. Most people don't
realize how many hours it takes to gather a fresh
sermon each week. They don't appreciate the time
spent in prayer and in the study of the Word. If the
pastor makes the same joke twice, or shares something
he has shared before, remember, he's human. So give
him a great deal of grace, and double honor. Never
murmur about him. If you don't like something he has
said, pray about it, then leave the issue with God.
If that doesn't satisfy you, leave the church, rather
than divide it through murmuring and complaining.
A woman once spread some hot gossip about a local
pastor. What he had supposedly done became common
knowledge around town. Then she found that what she
had heard wasn't true. She gallantly went to the
pastor, and asked for his forgiveness. The pastor
forgave her, but then told her to take a pillow full
of tiny feathers to a corner of the town, and in high
winds, shake the feather out. Then he told her to try
and pick up every feather. He explained that the
damage had already been done. She had destroyed his
good reputation, and trying to repair the damage was
like trying to pick up feathers in high winds.
The Bible says that there is life and death in the
power of the tongue. We can kill or make something
alive with our words. The Scriptures also reveal that
God hates those who cause division among the brethren
(Proverbs 6:16). Pray with the psalmist, "Set a
watch O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my
lips."
Remember the old saying, "He that gossips to
you, will gossip about you."
7. Thanksgiving -- Do the Right
Thing
For the Christian, every day should be
Thanksgiving Day. We should even be thankful in the
midst of problems. The Apostle Paul said, "I am
exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation" (2
Corinthians 7:4). He knew that God was working all
things together for his good, even though he was
going through trials (Romans 8:28).
Problems will come your way. God will see
to it personally that you grow as a Christian. He
will allow the storms, to send your roots deep into
the soil of His Word. We pray more in the midst of
problems, but it's been well said that you will see
more from your knees, than you will on your tip toes.
A man once watched a butterfly struggling to get
out of its cocoon. In an effort to help it, he took a
razor blade, and carefully slit the edge of the
cocoon. The butterfly escaped form its problem . . .
and immediately died.
It is God's way to have the butterfly struggle. It
is the struggle that causes its tiny heart to beat
fast, and send the life's blood into its wings.
Trials have their purpose. They make us struggle
-- they bring us to our knees. They are the cocoon in
which we often find ourselves. It is there that the
life's blood of faith in God helps us spread our
wings.
Faith and thanksgiving are close friends. If you
have faith in God, you will be thankful because you
know His loving hand is upon you, even though you are
in a lion's den. That will give you a deep sense of
joy, and joy is the barometer of the depth of faith
you have in God. Let me give you an example. Imagine
if I said I would give you one million dollars if you
ripped out the last page of this booklet, and mailed
it to me. Of course, you don't believe that I would
do that. But imagine if you did. Imagine if you had
knowledge of more than 1,000 people who had sent in
the page, and every one received their million
dollars -- no strings attached. More than that. You
had actually called me, and I had assured you
personally that I would keep my word. If you believed
me, wouldn't you have joy? If you didn't
believe me -- no joy. The amount of joy you have
would be a barometer as to how much you believed my
promise.
We have so much to be thankful for. God has given
us "exceeding great and precious promises"
that are "more to be desired than gold." Do
yourself a big favor -- believe those promises, thank
God continually for them, and "let your joy be
full."
An old farmer once had an ungodly relative visit
him. After the farmer had bowed his head and thanked
God for the food they were about to eat, the relative
rudely said, "What did you do that for? There's
no God. We live in an age of enlightenment." The
old farmer smiled and said, "There is one on the
farm who doesn't thank God before he eats." The
relative sat up and said, "Who is this
enlightened one?" To which the farmer quietly
replied, "My pig."
8. Water Baptism -- Sprinkle or
Immerse?
The Bible Says , "Repent and be baptized,
every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the
remission of sins. . ." (Acts 2:38). There is
therefore no question as to whether or not you >should
be baptized. The questions are how, when, and by whom?
It would also seem clear from scripture that those
who were baptized, were fully immersed in water. Here's
one reason why:
"And John was also baptizing in Aenon near to
Salim, because there was much water there. . ."
(John 3:23).
If John was merely sprinkling believers, he would
have only needed a cup full of water.
The Philippian jailer and his family were baptized
at midnight, as soon as they believed. So what are
you waiting for?
Who should baptize you? It is clear from Scripture
that other believers had the privilege, but check
with your pastor, he may want the honor himself.
9. Tithing. The Last Frontier.
It was once said that the wallet is the "last
frontier." It is the final area to be conquered
-- the last thing that comes to God in surrender.
Jesus spoke much about money. He said that we cannot
serve God and mammon (Matthew 6:24). The word "mammon"
was the common Aramaic word for riches, which is akin
to a Hebrew word signifying "that which is to be
trusted." In other words, we cannot trust God
and money. Either money is our source of life, our
great love, our joy, our sense of security, the
supplier of our needs -- or God is.
When you open your purse or wallet, give
generously and regularly to your local church. A
guide as to how much you should give can be found in
the "tithe" of the Old Testament -- 10% of
your income. Whether you give this amount or not,
make sure you do give something to the work of
God (see Malachi 3:8-10). Give because you want
to, not because you have to. God loves a
cheerful giver (2Corinthians 9:7), so learn to hold
your money with a loose hand.
10. Troubleshooting. Cults,
Atheists, Skeptics
If you know the Lord, nothing will shake your
faith. It is true that the man with an
experience is not at the mercy of a man with an
argument. Take for example a little boy who is
looking at a heater. His father warns him that it's
hot. The child says, "O.K. I believe it's hot."
At that point, he has an intellectual belief that the
heater is hot. When his Dad leaves the room, he says,
"I wonder if it really is hot?" He
then reaches out his little hand and grabs the heater
bar with his fingers. The second his flesh burns he
stops believing the heater is hot. He now knows
it's hot! He has moved out of the realm of "faith"
into the realm of "experience."
In comes a heater expert and says, "Son, I
have a B.A. in the study of heat. The heater is
definitely not hot. I can prove it to you."
The child would probably say, "Mr Expert, I don't
care how many B.A.'s you have. I know that
heater is hot -- I touched it! I'm not in the
realm of belief, I'm in the realm of experience.
Goodbye."
If you have touched the heater bar of God's love
and forgiveness, if the Holy Spirit has "born
witness" that you are a child of God (Romans 8:16),
if you have received the Gospel with "power, the
Holy Ghost and much assurance" (1 Thessalonians
1:5), you will never be shaken by a skeptic.
When cults tell you that you must acknowledge God's
name to be saved, that you must worship on a certain
day that you must be baptized by an elder of their
church, don't panic. Merely go back to the
Instruction Manual. The Bible has all the answers,
and searching them out, will make you grow.
If you feel intimidated by atheists -- if you
think they are "intellectuals," read the
book, God Doesn't Believe in Atheists. It will
show you that they are the opposite. It will also
instruct you on how you can prove God's
existence, and also prove that the "atheist"
doesn't exist.
Finally, the way to prevent sporting injury and
pain, is to keep yourself fit. Exercise. The Apostle
Paul kept fit through exercise. He said, "Herein
do I exercise myself, to always have a conscience
void of offense toward God, and toward men" (Acts
24:16). Do the same. Listen to the voice of
conscience. It's your friend, not your enemy.
Remember the words of Solomon:
"Fear God and keep His commandments: for this
is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every
work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether
it be good, or whether it be evil" (Ecclesiastes
12:13-14).
Keep the Day of Judgment before your eyes. On that
Day, you will be glad for the cultivations of a
tender conscience.
Thank you for taking the time to read this booklet.
I hope the principles expounded in it have been
helpful, and that any knowledge you have gained from
it, will some day save you some pain.
