Faith

One thing that has truly interested me in recent months is the subject of “faith”. It’s funny how the lessons of life truly teach us the true meanings of concepts that we as believers understand conceptually, but not in reality. For those of you that read my last blog entitled, “Let Patience Have its Perfect Work,” you know and understand that these past few months have stretched me beyond words. I have experienced various things that have challenged my faith. Through it all, I have felt my faith in God rise stronger than ever. Maybe it might be to the fact that I am young and the Lord is placing experiences in my life to build my faith for where He is taking me. Whatever the case, this season has given me a new fortitude as it relates to having faith in God.

Growing up in a predominately charismatic background, the concept of faith was always taught as something that was connected to something physical or natural. Hearing stories of people believing God for a car, or a financial breakthrough, or even the deliverance of a family member, I naturally developed the thought that faith always brought about by a natural manifestation. From my perception, faith was associated with the Lord acting or demonstrating His power in ways that affected a person’s reality. We know according to Hebrews 11:6 that without faith it is impossible to please God. We are taught that in order to believe God for something supernatural we must have faith. These thoughts are all scriptural and biblical and they are true as it relates to our Christian walk. But in these past few months, my faith has been tested. The testing of my faith has not only been in my faith to believe God provisionally, but also in the spirit of faith. We are taught according to 1 Corinthians 1:22 that faith is one of the gifts of the spirit and that people can actually posses a gift of faith. My faith has not been tried to question my faith in God, but it has been tested to stretch my understanding of who God is. Hebrews 11:1 teaches us that faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen. So our faith in God is a type of substance that brings about the things that we believe from spiritual realm to our earthly realm. However, is the manifestation of what we see or experience through faith only tangible? Is my spiritual faith only proven when I believe God for a brand new Mercedes Benz and actually receive it? Or is my faith proven by my belief in a God that I can’t see with my natural eye? These are concepts that have been on my heart throughout my process these past few months.

For so long in the Word of Faith movement we have taught this prosperity Gospel that has truly crippled the church as it relates to the topic of faith. Our faith is not associated with our financial provision! However, we can believe God and he provides for us. We must understand that some of us will never enter into millionaire status. I personally believe that a lot of the teachings that we hear concerning prosperity is a form of manipulation to raise large offerings. Now, I do believe that the Lord desires to provide for His people and when we have needs He moves on our behalf. God blesses people who tithe and God blesses those that give. The financial seeds that we plant open up the windows of heaven so that we can receive our blessing from the Lord. We must move past being obedient to scripture because we are expecting to get something in return. We should give out of our love and covenant with the Father and in return He gives back to us because of His love and covenant with us. There are times that we will experience seasons of drought and famine, but these times are always ordained by God to bring forth his plan is some capacity. What has brought me to this perspective has been my recent experiences over the past few months. I have returned my tithe, sown offerings, given of my self, blessed people all expecting a supernatural miracle as it related to my finances. I started to become somewhat discouraged because nothing was changing. As a matter of fact, I did all this not expecting a major increase in my wealth, but just to stay afloat. The funny thing is that what I have been taught hasn’t manifested in my life at all! Instead of the devourer being rebuked, I have felt as if everything I have had personally has been stripped away. I haven’t received a check in the mail, forgiveness of any of my student loans, a raise on my job or a promotion, or even someone just blessing me with a car. If my faith were based strictly on God’s provisional blessings, I would have backslidden about 3 months ago. I would have totally given up on all that I have confessed to believe. The irony of it all is that my faith has gone to higher heights. I am confident now in the God that I serve. I have learned that we give ourselves to God because it is our reasonable service for how He gave to us. I do believe that my turn around is swiftly approaching, but this season was God ordained to develop the real type of faith in me. Habakkuk 3:17-18 states, “17Though the fig tree does not blossom and there is no fruit on the vines, [though] the product of the olive fails and the fields yield no food, though the flock is cut off from the fold and there are no cattle in the stalls,18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the [victorious] God of my salvation!” Basically the prophet was saying if I don’t have anything or see God’s provision I will rejoice in my God. We must have faith in the existence of our God and who He is. Even if we don’t see provision, we rejoice in Him as Jehovah Jireh. Even if we do not receive the healing in our bodies He is still Jehovah Rophe. We must come to a deeper level of faith that goes beyond the things in this natural realm. Before God created the earth He was here. When the Lord gave Moses the instruction to tell Pharaoh to let the children of Israel go, He told Moses to tell Pharaoh that the “I Am” sent him. We learn in grammar school that “am” is a state of being verb. God described himself as the state of being. Everything in the world was created through Him by His word. Our reality lies in the truth of His existence. Our faith mustn’t be only in God’s provision, but in the fact that God is God! When we view God as the state of being, then everything associated with his attributes will manifest in our lives. Our faith must be confident in the God that we serve.  

One scripture that stands out to me is in Jude 1 where he mentions about the faith that was delivered to the saints. I have spent some time now pondering on what he actually meant when he wrote this verse. I thought to myself, “What is that type of faith, and do I have it?” In this verse, he is talking about reality of the truth that the received when the first believed. He is also talking about the faith through experience that they had with God. Their faith was built strong because of their powerful encounters with the creator. The faith that the saints in the early church possessed was not this sort of name it and claim faith that helps people to think positively, but a faith in the creator that no situation could shake. The kind of faith that the martyrs of the early church like Stephen possessed when they viciously stoned him to death, Paul who was beheaded and Peter who was crucified upside down. The kind of faith that went beyond natural possessions, but into a place with God that gave them strength to stand in the face of death and still confess Jesus as their savior and redeemer.

Our faith must be based on the existence of our creator. Though we may encounter experiences that are sent to us to stretch and test are faith, we mustn’t waiver. In the days that we are living in we must develop faith that is unshakable. Situations rise up all the time, but we must be able to have strong faith that causes us to live strong in the spirit. You may be going through a time of pressure, but allow this time to bring forth a new measure of faith. Your faith in God shall cause you to walk in places in the supernatural that will supersede the average lives of everyone else in the world. The Lord has given us the measure of faith that allows us to live higher. When everyone else in the world is going crazy, we have this consolation that we have faith in the one who began the good work in us and that he will be faithful to bring his plans to pass. In the midst of utter chaos, our faith keeps us grounded. Today, ask God for a greater measure of faith that you might stand strong in the midst of adversity. Not just strong faith to attain natural possessions, but faith to live in the consistent peace of God’s reality. 

Let Patience Have Its Perfect Work!

James 1:2-8

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

In the past few months since I finished college, the Lord has placed me on an extremely interesting journey. This has not been a time that many people experience when they are fresh out of college. I haven't had the luxury to relax, kick back, get an amazing job, and life with experiencing the fruit of what I have worked so hard for over the past four years, and in many cases my life. This season has been a season full of trials, challenges, pressure, and experiences to build faith in me. Honestly, I have hated this experience, from my employment, to my personal life. There were times that I wondered if I would ever accomplish all that I believed for years the Lord place in my heart. I have gone through times of sadness, and even battles with the spirit of depression. My place caught on fire, I felt as if I had holes in my pockets, feelings of being lonely, frustration concerning my job, and I just recently totaled my car, these are just some things that I have experienced in the past 3 months. All the time wondering, what was happening to me and in my life. I also wondered if I was experiencing a repercussion of something I did. All through the midst of this season I have felt the Lord closer to me than ever. I mean really, you know how the Bibles says, Enoch walked with God, there have been times where I have felt like the creator was my roommate, no lie. He has spoken to me concerning his plans on the earth, ignited a greater burden and passion for ministry with in me, given me more understanding of how to minister, taken me into a deeper place as it relates to prayer, increased my anointing, filled me with an amazing measure of faith and joy, and brought me closer to Himself. Through all my terrible experiences around me, the Lord has truly comforted me and birthed in me the type of faith that was delivered to the saints in the early church that we read about in Acts. 

However, the question is posed of why. Why am I a going through all this? One day I was on the phone with my mother, franticly asking her to explain to me what was happening and she responded "life." Her statement to me caused me to reconsider how I was handling this season. A minister that has been dear to my family, Brenda Tatum, preached a message years ago about "Growing" through the process. That message has stuck with me and it helped me to shape a different perspective concerning my personal situation. Last week, when my car hydroplaned off the turnpike, was probably the icing on the cake for me. With all the situations that rose up from that accident, the Holy Spirit kept whispering in my ear a portion of the James 1 passage, "The testing of your faith produces patience. Let patience have its perfect work."  I mean all week long, He kept whispering this verse to me. To answer the question of why all the crazy experiences have been happening to me is found right here in this passage. These experiences have been sent by God to allow my faith to be strong producing and strengthening my patience in God and his seasons, allowing patience to bring forth the fullness of what God sent the trial to produce. My trials have been divinely assigned to me to crush me bringing out more of God and His anointing. Please hear me, I am not in any way trying to pump myself up, but I am just sharing with you that the intense hell I have encountered in the past few months have increased my faith so that I walk more in God's glory to conquer hell. The more the devil has attacked me, the more God has demonstrated His supernatural power in me. It seems a little strange but it is true. God used hell to push my spirit higher to experience heaven. An experience of pressure brings out what God has put deep within. My decision has been to let patience have its perfect work. 

 James wrote this chapter with a very interesting approach on suffering. The funny point of the text is that he says to consider it a joy when we are going through trials. The irony of this is because joy is associated with good experiences. How can we have joy when we are in bad times? The way we do this is but trusting in the Lord and His faithfulness over our life. A few notes back, the Lord had me to write about the revelation of praying the Word of God. The Bible tells us in Isaiah that the Lord’s word shall not return to him void, but it accomplishes what He sent it to do. His word over our lives cannot return to him without it being accomplished. So we when we go through trials, we have an outlet to rejoice because the trail is the very proof that the word over your life is coming to pass. All the trial is doing is positioning you for the manifestation of God’s word. Then it says that going through trails brings about a testing of our faith and that brings about perseverance. Life is not easy, and accomplishing the will of God is even harder (because you have to fight hell to do it). God uses the trail to build faith and that brings about the ability to stand. Standing in the midst of storms is a decision. We decide to stand, same as we made a decision to be saved. When you make up your mind to “grow through” it must be a finished decision, you mustn’t doubt. Doubting is grounds to not experience the fullness of the word of God manifesting in your life. If we say we are believers in Christ that is it! Through the storm, believe that God has a word over you and rejoice because the word is coming to past. Falling out of faith, limits the word from coming forth. The Bible says, if we doubt when we request of God that we are double minded and that makes us unstable in every aspect of our lives. Believe God or don’t believe, it is impossible to go back and forth. Be filled with faith through the process.

This note is a little different for me because my notes are normally written concerning various revelations the Lord has deposited in my spirit, but this note is to encourage. My desire is to encourage you to stand in the midst of your adversity. The enemy would love to confuse you to think that God is mad at you, or you are off in some way or another, but hear me, God has positioned you in this season to bring more of himself out of you. As you read this note, the word of the Lord to you is to stand and let it have its perfect work in you. I am reminded of how it is when we take medication. Sometimes the doctor informs us to rest and let the medication do what it needs to do. Or when we are put under an anesthetic for medicinal purposes, the person that administers the drug always says, "Just relax." As I write this note I feel the anointing for a person provided an anesthetic with a message from God saying, "Just Relax" and let the will of God for your life do what it needs to do in your life. Grow through this process and let the Glory of the Lord be revealed.

Prayer Assignments

Apart of our personal prayer life, the Lord does give us different assignments concerning prayer needs on the earth. A prayer assignment is whenever you have a strong desire to pray for a particular place, need, person, or situation. Sometimes people have prayer assignments for a short season, a day, a few years or even a lifetime. In any case, God gives us prayer assignments because we have the anointing and faith to get the job done in prayer. Prayer assignments are all through out scripture, from Elijah, Nehemiah, Ezra, Daniel, Anna, Paul and Silas to the saints that prayed for Peter out of prison, all these examples had a particular burden through prayer and the Lord gave them the influence to meet the need either spiritually or physically. Many times God will place a burden on our heart for a situation and it is our responsibility to pray what God reveals to us concerning that unction. The Holy Spirit is the only one who gives prayer assignments and our responsibility is to stay yielded to receive from the Lord what we are to pray.

In the previous module we discussed praying the will of God and waiting to receive what the Lord wants us to pray. Whenever you pray, inquire of the Lord what he wants you to pray and the pray accordingly. Many times the Holy Spirit has already placed our prayer assignment in our heart. That thing that bothers you about your nation, job, friend, church, community, or family member is probably the thing that the Lord has placed upon you as a prayer assignment. Many times, we express our heart in the wrong ways and we end up hurting and hindering that which we are called to pray for. There are so many Christians that see issues in the church and instead of praying for it they began to gossip and talk about what they see and cause more of a problem. Imagine, if every believer would start talking less and praying more how our world would be. When inquiring of the Lord what to pray, the best thing to do is to pray what’s on your heart. If you stay true to your heart, you will never go off. Many times what is on your heart is your prayer assignment. In prayer we are able to affect change in places that we may never have a chance to physically visit or see naturally. Your prayer assignment may be some far off country and you may never have the opportunity to go and work in missions to help but you can go there in the Spirit. There is no distance in prayer.

                  Sometimes your prayer assignment would cause you to physically make a difference. We see this with Nehemiah chapters 1 and 2. Nehemiah was so distraught to hear that the walls of his city were tore down that he prayed to God and the king granted him favor allowing him to go to his nation and start an initiative to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. The burden that he had for his country led him to be the revolutionist that launched a movement in Jerusalem. Your prayer assignment can sometimes be associated with your life purpose. The main things is to stay true to where God has called you. Again, if you follow your heart, you will never be off. Follow what the Lord has already place inside of you and your prayer life will full of victorious stories of God’s miracles power.

Praying the WILL of GOD

One thing that fascinates me concerning the subject of prayer is how multi-facetted the topic is, but yet the Lord has designed it to be so simple that a little child is able to pray. Honestly, it is not as deep as many intercessors make it to be. Yes, the Lord moves in many different ways and it is extremely important that we flow with Him in prayer, but it's not a complicated formula. It is simply submitting your heart and emotions to Him that he may use you to pray as He feels. In order to stay in the flow of the Lord's Spirit in prayer, all you must do is to keep your attention on God and not yourself in your prayer time. Pray with one purpose and that is to be a vessel the Lord is able to use to legislate his agenda on the earth. Jesus Christ came to earth not preaching of Himself but about the kingdom of Heaven. His assignment was to establish the kingdom of heaven on the earth. The way the kingdom is advanced is by the people who have the kingdom within them. According to Luke 17:21, the kingdom of God is within us. 

Since the kingdom of God is within us, we must always be mindful of the king’s agenda for the earth and make sure that we are living and praying accordingly. There are things that the king is decreeing concerning the earth and it is up to the people of God to hear and see where their assignment lies according to that declaration. The God we serve is a sovereign God and He does not operate against his own sovereignty. In Hebrews 2:5-9 we are taught that through Christ Jesus we have dominion over the earth. We also see in Genesis 1:26 that when God created man, He gave man dominion over the earth realm. Whenever the Lord desires to do something on the earth, he uses a man to institute it. In every scriptural example of the Lord's will being done on the earth, God appears to the individual with his agenda and the individual gives the Lord their consent and then the miraculous occurs. The best example I can think of is when the Lord promised Mary, the mother of Jesus, that she was going to conceive the Christ. The Angel appeared to her, gave her the message from the Lord and Mary said “be it unto me”. Mary became a womb of what would change the face of the world. This same phenomenon occurs in prayer as we spend time focused on the Lord and his desires concerning the earth. We pray and then the Lord fills us with His plans so that we may be used by Him to pray those particular things into existence.

With all this we must stay so careful to pray the will of God, through God. The last note I posted discussed praying the word of God, but this one is similar and different at the same time. Praying the will of God is praying the very heart, and mind of God concerning a subject or situation. Romans 8:27 says,

 “And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”

This scripture reveals to us how the Spirit of God, who is in the people of God, is praying for the people of God according to the will of God. The Spirit of the Lord is praying out the will of the Lord! (This is heavy to me personally) So the Lord has placed His spirit within us so that we may always have a channel to Him. The spirit of the Lord keeps us as believers connected to the Father at all times! The thing is that we must pray in His spirit. We mustn’t pray in our flesh, for in that lies our own mind, will and emotions. The Lord doesn't respond to the prayers of the soul that is hooked up to the flesh, but He responds to the prayers of His spirit resting within his people, praying prayers for His people according to his will. The Lord placed himself within you to keep you hooked up to him that you may see the provision of his will constantly. His will is to prosper us, give us an abundant life, heal us, deliver us, and do good to us. All this is what the spirit within us praying for us. In order to pray the will of God, we must dig deep and pray from what has already been placed within us. Once we pray according to Him in us we will see great manifestations of the Lord on the earth. The Lord is concerned for that which concerns you, and He is within you praying for the will of the Lord concerning everything you are concerned with. The will of the Lord is also associated with the plan of the Lord. We are to pray the plans of the Lord into existence, decreeing and declaring that His will shall be accomplished on the earth. 

Now when you go to pray, dig deep into the Spirit of the Lord within you, hear how He is praying. For we know that he is praying according to the will of the Lord. Once we have gotten a clear understanding, then we are able to proceed in prayer. This revelation has blessed me personally by teaching me how to pray more effectively. I don't know about anyone else, but my main desire is to please the Lord when I pray, and see results because my prayer hit heaven. My prayer for you as you have read this note, is to be ever so shaped and fine tuned as it relates to your prayer life, that you walk strong in spirit praying out the will of God for the earth today. For there is a great army of pray-ers coming forth in the days to come that will give birth to the will of God in the earth. We shall see the Lord’s power when we pray!

The Spirit of Wisdom

Exodus 31: 1-5

“And the Lord said to Moses, ‘See, I have called by name Bezalel son of Ur, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom in understanding in knowledge, and in works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and it work in all manner of workmanship.’ ”

Scriptural Background

The background of this scripture falls in a time where the children of Israel were in the wilderness and the Lord was instructing Moses about creating a sanctuary that he may live among the children of Israel. In this present time, the Children of Israel were considered to be nomadic because they had not settled in a particular land of dwelling. As the Lord led them to the land of promise, they lived in tents so that it would be easy for them to pack and move once the Lord told them to do so. Moses was instructed to build a tabernacle. The Hebrew word for tabernacle is “dwelling place.” This was considered to be the Lord’s house amongst the Israelites as they traveled to their promised land. There were various elements that made up of the tabernacle: The Alter of Burnt offering, bronze laver, table of showbread; alter of incense, and Ark of the Covenant. From Exodus 25-31 the Lord gives detailed instructions on how he wanted these articles to be hand crafted.

Exodus 31:3 : The Spirit of Wisdom

All the articles of the tabernacle were unique and distinctive. Exodus 31:3 says, “And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, In wisdom, in understanding in knowledge and in all manner of workmanship.” In order to build the temple Lord said to Moses that he would fill them with the Spirit of God and wisdom. In Exodus 28:3, the Lord gave instructions about designing the priest garments for when they ministered in the temple. The Lord also said, “I have filled them with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments, to consecrate him, that he may minister to Me as priest.”

The Lord filling these specific individuals with the spirit of wisdom was major, especially for the task at hand. The Lord was building something that was never created or built before, and this building was not for a purpose that would be for human use. This was not a house for the people to live, but rather a place for the Lord to rest amongst the people. This means that God was allowing his holy deity and majesty to abide in the midst of human beings. These articles for the tabernacle couldn’t have been designed or contrived from human intellect, thought, or design. If it was built from a man’s wisdom and understanding it would not be up to par for the Lord of Host to dwell. The Lord filled individuals with his mind (the spirit wisdom) to accomplish this task.

Understanding The Spirit of Wisdom

The thought provoking question is then, “What is the Spirit of wisdom?” In Isaiah 11 the prophet gives a prophetic word concerning the reign of Jesse’s offspring. This messianic prophecy states that the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.” So, in understanding the Spirit of wisdom and the awesomeness of the Lord filling his people with his spirit of wisdom is that the Lord God will fill human beings with naturally finite wisdom with his infinite wisdom. The spirit of wisdom is an attribute of the supernatural power of God that he uses to confound the wisdom of the wise. Remember that our thoughts aren’t like God’s. God filled these artisans with his understanding and wisdom to get accomplished something that would not be able to be produced by the normal human mind. The supernatural power that Christ walked with was the infinite knowledge of the creator. This is why our thoughts aren’t like God’s because we live in a finite reality with finite understanding, where he lives in an infinite reality with an infinite understanding. God filled these people with His mind to enable them to accomplish a work that would supersede the normal work and development of man.

THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM IS THE CREATIVE POWER OF GOD!

The spirit of wisdom is the creative power of God to have insight into something that has not been created before. In the beginning when the Lord created the earth, the Bible talks about how the earth was without form and void and then the Spirit of God would move upon the face of the waters of the deep. The Lord created the heavens out of nothing. He was able to see what wasn’t there and create it. This is the Spirit of wisdom. The creative power of God to see what has not been seen before and bring it into existence. When the Lord moved upon the artisans to create the various articles of the tabernacle, he deposited a portion of his creative insight into them to create what he instructed.

In life the Lord will give us an assignment and in that assignment it is His desire to fill us with his Spirit of wisdom to bring about what he has planned. The Lord our God is sovereign and he doesn’t defy the Laws and principals that he has established under his sovereignty. In his sovereignty he has given man dominion over this world (Genesis 1:27). In that anything that God desires to get accomplished on the earth, he uses a man. The Lord moves upon individuals with his illumination so that a particular assignment on the earth can be accomplished. This is what God was doing with the artisans; he filled them with his infinite understanding to see into the realm of the spirit God’s intent for the tabernacle. As a result they built something that was unique to this world.

How is this applicable for you?

The wisdom of man is the wisdom of things that have been taught, studied or learned. We go to school to receive natural wisdom and understanding of things of what people have developed and learned. However, the spirit of wisdom is the understanding of God and insight. In these last days the Lord desires to fill his people with the spirit of wisdom so that his people will have insight beyond their natural intellect. This is to establish God’s people as resources in the earth. In 1 Kings 3, King Solomon asked for wisdom. The Lord was pleased with his request that as a result of his wisdom he became the richest man in the world. Solomon did not request money, but wisdom. The Bible declares that in 1 Kings 10:24 the earth sought the wisdom of Solomon. People came from everywhere and gave him money to hear what the Lord had given him.

The Lord desires to fill his people with his wisdom in specific realms of influence so that his people can see beyond what others with mans understanding have seen. The Lord wills to do this for his people in particular fields, occupations, and areas so that the creative power of God can come into those places to supersede the normal understanding. This all magnifies God. When a person is filled with the spirit of wisdom, God raises them up as influential leaders to display the power of God. The wisdom of God is a manifestation of his power and Glory.

As a believer in Jesus Christ you have a right to request wisdom. God wants to fill you with his Spirit that you may become a resource with an ability to see beyond this natural world. The Lord wants to give you his wisdom so that you may function skillfully in your particular field, ministry, or craft. Your life should be a testimony of God’s miraculous power. This power goes beyond the manifestations of the Holy Spirit that believers experience in church services. The power of the supernatural must go beyond the four walls of the church into the world, that men may see your good works and glorify the Father in heaven. Just imagine, Spirit filled believers working in secular arenas utilizing the wisdom of God. Christians would be the most celebrated people in earth because of the insight that they possessed by the spirit of God. God wants to enlighten you to see from his perspective that you will be able to operate from that place, revealing His ways and thoughts to the rest of the world. The world is crying out for people filled with the mind of God to change situations.

Request the Spirit of Wisdom

You are a child of God, and you have the right to request of your father to fill you with his spirit. Not only to speak in tongues, but to be filled with his wisdom. Ask God for wisdom concerning your home, family, career, and finances so that you as a believer in Jesus Christ can function from a different reality from this world. You are a child of the creator of the Universe and you have the spirit of that Creator resting in you, guiding you to all truth and understanding. Seek and ask for wisdom and see the creative power of God change your world and the world around you. For you have the mind of Christ.

Praying out the WORD of God

For those of you that know me well you know that my heart is in prayer. I believe the Lord is calling for and raising up a great army of individuals that will pray out His will as it relates the world and the times we are living in. We must pray! God allows us as believers to give birth to the will of God on the earth, and this all happens in the posture of prayer. Prayer is not only the place where we tell God all our problems, but also the place that God has ordained for His people to receive his thoughts, plans, and insight concerning various situations on the earth. We should be receiving just as much we are talking in prayer. When we pray we should position our hearts first to seek out the will of God concerning situations and then pray that through. It is impossible for us to assess things that are happening from a carnal perspective and try to pray for them spiritually. IT DOESN'T MIX. We must learn to pray in the Spirit and by the Spirit of God. Prayer in the Spirit of God opens us up for great manifestations to experience God and his supernatural power. Once we avail ourselves to pray in a higher place then we will begin to see the manifestations of what we have inquired and sought the Lord out for in greater way. Have you ever wondered why some of things you prayed for never came forth, many times the answer is simply in the fact that what you probably was praying for wasn't an unction of the Spirit of God, or even his will. This is a common occurrence, especially when we allow emotions and personal thoughts and feelings to alter how we pray. I am so guilty of praying my own thoughts with out the unction of the spirit to where it is not even funny. I have gone in to prayer praying my own agenda leaving out of prayer hoarse, thirsty and tired with absolutely know results. So now I have learned to seek the Lord first and pray his heart and I see great manifestations of His power when I pray. It’s a beautiful thing! :-)

            Now, this Isaiah 55 passage has really been ministering to my spirit. It has for a while now. For those of you who read my note concerning waiting, you have already read one revelation that the Lord gave me concerning this passage, but the Lord has ministered to me yet again concerning that passage especially as it relates to praying the word of God. It says,

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, 

and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:  It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

In verse 8 and 9 it talks about how God's thoughts aren't the same as ours. We think from a finite perspective and the Lord’s mind is infinite. This means that his thoughts supersede those of human beings. However, the cool thing is that he has thoughts. The Lord has thoughts concerning everything that is happening in the world. He has strategies, and plans but the problem is that most of His people simply don't ask Him. When we pray we are actually able to access his plans and thoughts. He has a thought concerning your idea, business, job, family, city, state, and overall life. All we have to do is just seek him and ask. As believers in Christ we can go the Lord with boldness and request of him according to Hebrew 4:16. Begin seeking out his thoughts when you pray and watch how the Lord response to you. If the body of Christ would pray in this dimension, we would be the most sought after people and all facets of life. Believers would be looked at as resources concerning the world and its issues. 

Verse 10-11 is what has truly ministered to me concerning praying the WORD of God. This verse talks about how rain and snow comes from heaven and waters the earth and it compares the word of God to this phenomenon. The Lord speaks His word from heaven and it comes down to the earth to produce. Rain comes down and as a result we see the earth nourished, when there is no rain there is know produce and all vegetation dies. So is it with the word of God. The Lord speaks and it brings forth a harvest. This verse closes by stating that his word shall not return to him empty but it shall accomplish everything that it was intended. 

Concerning praying the word of God, we must first inquire of the Lord what his word is concerning whatever the situation is. His thoughts are to prosper us and so his word is to prosper us as well. Even if His word and thoughts are to place in uneasy situations for seasons it is still to bring forth a great harvest for our lives. When you pray, according to this scripture and pray in God's word concerning your prayer request. For example if you are praying for a love one that is wayward, pray like this, "Father I thank you for your word concerning Joe and that your word in him shall not return to you void, so I pray that your word for him manifest in his life and that he walks in your divine will according to your word." God's is faithful to what he speaks and His word is the force that is still holding our very existence, because through his word everything was created. When you pray in the word of God you are also praying in the creative nature of God concerning your prayer request or assignment. Everything that you desire in life shall be manifested according the word of God. At his word is shall spring forth.

As I close this note I am compelled to say that we must posture our hearts different as it relates to our prayer lives. We must pray higher. You may ask Robert how? How do I pray higher or deeper? The way that we do this is by not trying to pray from where we understand. Don't be afraid to be launched into things that might seem to be different. One of my prayer mentors, Lucy McKee, states that the must pray from our heart. Stay true to the leading of the spirit and you will pray according to the will of God. God has placed various issues on your heart and it is your assignment to pray them through. God wants to speak to you expressively and inform of his heart concerning what his placed on your heart. Our thoughts aren’t like God and neither is our wisdom. The bible states in 1 Corinthians 1 that God uses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. That which we see as wise or profound is nothing to the depth of God. Seek him and receive his mind as a result we will have the thoughts of heaven that surpasses the thoughts of earth. Be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds!

blessings, 

Robert Randolph Rush III