Hey Oseas, one issue with Dan 9:27 is that it's all about the Messiah. The seventy weeks are all about Jesus, no antichrist. Jesus did cause the oblation to cease 3 and a half years into his ministry " annoint the most holy", which was his baptism. There is no prophetic "covenant" with Israel for seven years made by the antichrist, this is an erroneous teaching.
The message below is for your meditation, as a clue, to decipher an enigma / conundrum.
As you know, Revelation 13 describes two terrible different Beasts:
Beast of sea(verse 1),
Beast of the earth(verse 11)
Which of the two Beasts are you referring to?
According to the Revelation, sea means waters, waters mean peoples, and nations, and multitues of all tongues- Revelation 17:15-i.e. Gentile nations, so the Beast of sea is a Gentile Beast.
The Beast of earth has two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a DRAGON (a false lamb), by allegory, earth here is Israel, the clay( Isaiah 64:8) a dry land, like an isle in the sea, a portion of earth surrounded by waters (gentile peoples) on all sides.
According to the Daniel 9:27, he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week. Revelation 13:2 says the DRAGON shall give to the GENTILE Beast of sea his Power, and his Seat(his throne in Jerusalem), and great Authority. And in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations( Daniel 12:11) he shall make it desolate until the consummation.
Hello Stephanie V. I am happy to continue to pray for you and your health. You have been posting your prayer needs here for a long while and I am glad you do. May the Lord bless you and heal you and restore to you your energy, strength, resistence to illness, and increase your body's health from day to day.
We have similar understanding on some things, Jesus said Take heed that no man deceive you, to be deceived is to be taken out of the way. He also said broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: We as humans tend to go with the majority thinking so many believe one thing it must be the right way, Satan's best deception.
It has been taught for so long now, that many are looking for something that is not the truth and will be unable to stand when the hour of temptation comes. There is not a first and second half of tribulation there are 3.5 years given to the beast as we see in Revelation 13. Many are looking to be taken to heaven before the beast arises out of the bottomless pit.
I have not seen anywhere in Scripture where we are taken or we go to heaven, if someone can show me, I would be grateful.
Hello Ross, I can suggest a verse for you and it is a command from God. "He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions." (Ps.107:20). The psalm is specifically about God's manifold mercies to Israel which is merely a springboard for Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever. He is the word became flesh. So this verse is eternally true. This is what we have in the healing of a man for thirty eight years by the pool in John 5. The Spirit has chosen this to prove literally what Is.55:11.
" So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." God has sent the word before you and Debra were born. Jesus being present at Bethesda so healing him proves that Gods word works at many levels. So praying in faith means you are claiming victory as God promised. All his promises are 'yea' in his Son. May God work with your faith. In case if there are unconfessed sins confess them to God so there is nothing that Satan can claim against you.
Your healing comes from God and from his Son. In your heart check out if there is no anger, malice or anything to hinder from being healed. God is good and merciful. May God heal you and your sister, Amen
Beautiful and thought full prayer. This prayer blessed me as I recall all the ways God has worked in my life. God is good and we can be assured of His faithfulness in our care and needs.
12 What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me?
13 I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord.
Prayer of the day in favor of God's people throughout the Earth, in favor of His beloved Church, until He returns to be with us forever and ever, as He promised us
Beloved GOD, father of the Lord JESUS Christ
We thank you for more this day of life that you have granted us
We lie down, we get up, because you have kept us alive until this moment that we call upon You, it in Your presence
We thank you for this daily bread that you have not missed on our table
To nourish and strengthen our body
but above all, beloved Lord, strengthen our soul in the Power of your Word,
the bread of life, the bread of heaven, the heavenly manna
Bless us throughout this day, keep us and deliver us from all evil and all danger
May your angels be encamped around your people, your servants in whole Earth, to protect them, today and always
Give us victory in struggles, in difficulties,
supplies our needs, and heals us of our illnesses,
heals the illneness in the midst of your people throughout the Earth,
Lord, in our work, in our activities, bless us and prosper them
Your kingdom come to us according to your Word, as is written "the
kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of the Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever",
It continues to accompany us and guard us throughout the day, protecting us from all danger and all evil, today and always.
We ask, we pray, and we thank You, in the name of the Lord JESUS Christ, now and forevermore
JESUS' own testimony of Himself is wonderful,it reveals in depth the mystery of His existence in the greatness of the Universe created by GOD the Father,full of heavenly bodies,and on Earth specifically He populated the planet with living beings,and He sat in the circle of the Earth: Is.40:21-22:->21Have ye not known?have ye not heard?has it not been told you from the beginning?have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22 It is GOD that sits upon the circle of the Earth,and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers;
That said,we must remember what JESUS said from His own existence:Jo.17:4-5:
4I have glorified thee on the earth:I have finished the work which thou gave me to do( John 1:3&5:17& Hebrews 1:1-2 testify what JESUS said.Check it)
5And now,O Father,glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the WORLD was.(John the Baptist,angel of the LORD,testified about this,saying:Jo.1:18-No man has seen GOD at any time,the only begotten Son,which is in the bosom of the Father,He has declared Him)
Paul testified:Col.1:14-16:
14 In JESUS we have redemption through His blood,even the forgiveness of sins:
15 Who is the image of the INVISIBLE GOD,the firstborn of every creature:
16 For by Him-by JESUS-were all things created,that are in heaven, and that are in earth,visible and invisible,whether they be thrones,or dominions,principalities,powers:all things were created by Him,and for Him:( John 1:3&5:17& Hebrews 1:1-2 confirm)
Acts 4:11-12:
11This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders,which is become the head of the corner.
12Neither is there salvation in any other:for there is none other NAME(except JESUS)under heaven given among men,whereby we must be saved.
Mat.11:27-No man knows the Son,but the Father;neither knows any man the Father,save the Son,and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him.
No man has seen GOD,the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He has made Him known.John1:18
Continuing with conviction of the Spirit vs man made manipulation.
In light of John 16:8 it is hard to understand the concept of bending over backwards to have people feel comfortable and "fit in" to a church. In fact; I would even go so far as to say it wouldn't be a bad slogan for a church to say in their bulletin that people should "plan to feel UNcomfortable" in their services. How can the fear of the Lord be something which is entertaining to anyone?
How can to so called "hole in men's hearts that only God can fill" appeal to anyone who doesn't conceive their own hopelessness before a righteous and Holy God who they have offended and continue to do so as long as they are unregenerate? ( Psalm 7:11-13). God is angry with the wicked every day; and it is truly sad that many don't get that to appreaciate His love; mercy; and kindness that we have to understand who we are and what great cost it was that He had to send His only Son to die in our stead.
We need something powerful enough to stand against an intractable foe; who seeks to kill; steal and destroy. Let's be real; if a church wants to seek and save the lost they won't be focusing so much time on flashy entertainment; and expensive building projects but will focus on missionary efforts. Many have bought into either careless giving with unscrupulous ministries that are not biblically sound or doing a bunch of service projects without the MAIN priority being presenting the Gospel. We can't err on the other side either with resources; but I have found it is often individual efforts of laypersons on a consistant basis that have more effect than occasional outings where everything tends to be rather scripted. And of course there is the BIG issue of cult personalities where noteriety becomes a snare; sadly that seems to have occured with Billy Graham when he didn't protest having a star in hollywood with his name on a pavement. SEE LUKE 16:15. We don't need approval of politicians or the world.
Greetings in Christ JESUS,sisters Ellen and Momsage
Praise our Lord JESUS Christ,which is,and which was,and which is to come,the Almighty.Aleluia!
Yes,the Word is GOD.Once the Word of GOD is in your heart,it is GOD dwelling within you,understand?in your heart,and is everlasting Life,understand?Aleluia.
Our conversation is in heaven(heaven?Ephesians1:3-8 & 2:6-10);from whence also we look for the Saviour,the Lord Jesus Christ:Who shall change our vile body,that it may be fashione like unto His glorious body,according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself- Philippians 3:20-21.
JESUS assured us,saying:Jo.7:38-39:->38 He that believes on Me,as the Scripture has said,out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
39This spake He of the Spirit,which they that believe on Him should receive.
GOD is Spirit,as our Lord JESUS said,and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth-Jo.4:24.
JESUS said:Jo.5:24-25
24Verily,I say unto you,He that hears my Word,and believes on Him that sent me,has everlasting life,and shall not come into condemnation;but is passed from death unto life.
25...The hour is coming,and now is,when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of GOD:and they that hear shall live.
The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. Cor.12:8-11:
8For to one is given by the Spirit the Word of wisdom;to another the Word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
9To another faith;to another the gifts of healing;
10To another the working of miracles;to another prophecy;to another discerning of spirits;to another divers kinds of tongues;to another the interpretation of tongues:
11But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit,dividing to every one severally as He will.
Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of GOD, which is in you, aleluia.
Our Lord JESUS promised us,saying:Unto every one that has shall be given,and he shall have abundance- Matthew 25:29.Aleluia.
Conviction of the Spirit vs. man made manipulation
When God gets a hold of a man; He has no interest in using a man's intellect; beauty; or any other thing the old nature has to offer. He must put these things to death through the power of the risen Christ to begin His transformation and make a man suitable as a servant for His Kingdom. Compare this to a cult leader; he is using one of two techniques; flattery in order to draw in susceptible victims (usually young attractive women whose true purpose is only later realized); or fear and control to keep them in. At the inception; therefore is a weakness in a person which sucks them in to their hypnotic mind control where in the beginning there is often a period of time when a person can free themselves from such a fate if they truly seek the Lord.
More often we are in situations which are rather nebulous or ill defined as right or wrong. Particular denominations or individual Pastors can have their own temperment; or doctrines that are more or less severe or restrictive than others. This can result in what has happened with a friend of mine who is a young Pastor; where the influence of the church founders often controls the narrative which in his case has been a hindrance to maturity in the congregation. I won't focus here on the various nuances in regard to remaining with or leaving a particular fellowship and I probably covered it some time in the last 2 years on this site.
When it comes to things like prayer; for instance things seem to usually swing toward an extreme of a bare bones diet in today's churches. When people are pressured to do things we have to be certain we are not creating our own kingdom. When I got to see an elderly lady preaching to someone living on the street and the lady was in tears it wouldn't have happened with a half hearted effort; but with a true anointing of the Spirit of God. Would you want someone who doesn't demonstrate love praying for you? Food for thought..
For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. ( 2 Cor. 7:10).
Giving careful thought to the subject at hand I thought I would mention some more scripture. Romans 14:17 says:
For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Understanding sin; first of all has to go beyond what we are used to in this world. Our actions are sinful; and our bodies corrupted but nothing is inherently evil about the physical part of man; indeed we are "fearfully and wonderfully made" ( Psalm 139:14). Jesus demonstrated as a perfect man that he could weep; eat; drink; and sleep as others did but set an example of serving rather than being served ( Matthew 20:28). All things are right in their place; physical intimacy in the marriage bed ( Heb. 13:4) is one good example. Killing a man in defence of a family or serving in the armed services is diametrically opposed to murdering someone out of spite.
As believers; we should find not only repugnant the desires we once had of the world flesh and the Devil but also find that what was once the obsession of our daily lives; although we are to work diligently to serve the Lord and continue with our families whenever possible the everyday procedures are strangely dim; as it were to our heavenly hope which we have now "seated in heavenly places" ( Eph. 2:6). Our focus goes away from OURSELVES and to the Body of Christ as well as seeking to reach the lost. Proverbs 11:30 says The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.
Again; as per some of my older posts in regard to the Christian "music industry" as well as many megachurches or those supposedly exercising "manifestations" which of these exactly is causing conviction of sin to occur and is focused on God's righteousness? Finally where is the Godly fear of His wrath; that is what brings revival
8And when He comes, He will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9in regard to sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see Me; 11and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world has been condemned.
"And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." ( Revelation 5:13)
"Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." ( John 20:29).
Starting with the middle verse; I thought it interesting to consider that IF this is to be taken chronologically; IMMEDIATELY after the Rapture and before the onset of the first seal being opened; everyone will praise God and Christ. I had originally noted that this occurs at the sixth seal; when mankind runs away from God and realizes His judgments have begun. This brings to mind what was said in the passage from John; we don't want to wake up in the Tribulation and have to face the horrors of that time and martyrdom to boot which will be the basic change once everything is revealed; the church age is over and the saints are to be overcome ( Daniel 7:25).
The Spirit reflects Christ in its operation. When Jesus spoke it was often in regard to bringing out the full meaning of the law (lust and anger) as general teaching to the crowd; or specific allegations to a group of Pharisees in particular as well as lawyers.
The Spirit causes individuals to have a general conviction of sin because we have a sense of God's holiness against our own condition. The end result of sin is death ( Romans 6:23) and hell. Godly sorrow brings repentance (and life) worldly sorrow death.
I have truly been helped by all I have read on this site. Thank you! I just finished reading the posts on anointing with oil and prayers. I truly believe your writing is inspired by God. Keep doing what you do. Amen.
To compare, here's two similar terrible situations
Ps.34:19-Many are the afflictions of the righteous:but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
Acts 14:22-We must through much tribulation enter into the Kingdom of GOD
The KING of DARKNESS,the Devil, showed to JESUS all the kingdoms of the world,the glory of them,and said:All will I give thee,if thou fall down and worship me.Mat.4:8-9.
Re.13:1&15:
1 I stood upon the sand of the sea(John was a citzen of Israel),and saw a(MAN)Beast rise up out of the sea(Gentile nations),having 7 heads,10 horns, upon his HORNS 10 crowns(CROWNS UPON HORNS?),and upon his heads a NAME of blasphemy.
15 And he-MAN Beast of earth-Re.13:11-a false messiah- John 5:43-47,had power to give life unto the Beast's image,that the image should speak,who worships not the image must be killed.
Daniel 3:2-20
The KING sent to gather the princes,governors,the captains,judges, counsellors,all the rulers of the provinces,to come to the dedication of the image he had set up.They stood before the image and an herald cried:To you is commanded,O people,NATIONS,and languages,that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet,flute, harp,and all kinds of musick,ye fall down and worship the image the king has set up:Whoso falls not down and worships shall be cast into the burning fiery furnace.But Shadrach,Meshach,Abednego,O king, have not regarded thee,they serve not thy gods,nor worship the image you has set up.So in his rage and fury the KING commanded to bring them,and said:Is it true,O Shadrach,Meshach,Abednego,do not ye serve my gods,nor worship the IMAGE I have set up?When you hear the sound of the cornet,all kinds of musick,ye fall down and worship the image I have made;well:if not,ye shall be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace;who is that GOD that shall deliver you out of my hands?
O king,our GOD whom we serve is able to deliver us from furnace,thy hands,and we will not serve thy gods,nor worship the image you have set up.
21 For then shall be great TRIBULATION, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time(this current time), no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. (The theory of being caught(pre-trib) before this event of "days shall be shortened" is wrong, it's a nonsense).
Isaiah 26:20-21
20 Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment (seven years), until the indignation be overpast.
21 For, behold, the Lord cometh out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.
Romans 2:6-11
6 GOD will render to every MAN according to his deeds:
7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, ETERNAL LIFE:
8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;
10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:
11 For there is no respect of persons with GOD.
Revelation 11:15 and 18
15 ... The kingdoms OF THIS WORLD are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever.
18 And the nations were(will be)angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be Judged( Daniel 12:2. Take a look), and that thou should give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and should destroy them which destroy the earth.
Very interesting.You know:2Ti.3:1-This know also,in the last days PERILOUS times shall come.Why? 2Timothy 2-5 give us extense list why perilous times. And Re.2:9&24-29 reveal:9I know thy works, tribulation and poverty(but thou art rich)and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not,but are synagogue of Satan. 24-But unto you I say, as many as have not this doctrine and have not known the depths of Satan,as they speak;I will put upon you none other burden.
25That which ye have already hold fast till I come.
26And he that overcomes,and keeps my works unto the end,to him will I give power over the nations:
27And he shall rule them with a rod of iron;as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers:even as I received of my Father.
28And I will give him the morning star.
29He that hath an ear,let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
About Satan,the MAN of sin,son of perdition,the Word of GOD reveals:Is.14:13-14:
13Thou hast said in thine heart:
(1)I will ascend into heaven(heaven? Ephesians 1:3-8),I will exalt my throne above the stars of GOD(above GOD's stars?See Daniel 12:3, always be careful,perilous times now,also according Re.12:4.Take a look):
(2)I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation,in the sides of the north:(Why Satan intends to sit in the sides of north?Ps.48:2 reveals why:Beautiful for situation,the joy of the whole earth,is mount Zion,on the sides of the north,the city of the great King-JESUS-
14I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;I will be like the most High(clouds? Revelation 12:14& Isaiah 60:8).Satan,a former Cherub, ruler of Eden,intends to be equal GOD.Ez.28:1-10 reveal:2Thus saith the Lord God;Thine heart is lifted up,and thou say,I am a God,I sit in the seat of GOD,in the midst of the seas(nations);thou art a MAN,not God,though thou set thine heart as God's heart:
I will bring strangers,the terrible of the nations,against thee:they shall draw the Sword against the beauty of thy wisdom.
As you know, the kings of Israel chosen by GOD they were anointed with oil by the prophets of the Lord.
To be anointed with oil is to be separated as GOD's chosen one- Matthew 25:31-34. Take a look. The true chosen ones of the Lord are prudent and wise, they have lamp to shine as they walk in the world of darkness, and enough oil to keep the lamp burning to meet the Lord, the bridegroom, and be saved. By the way, He said: Revelation 3:11-13:
11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no one take thy crown.
12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my GOD, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my GOD, and the name of the city of my GOD, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my GOD: and I will write upon him my new name.
13 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Att all times, let your garments be white, and let oil not be wanting on your head - Ecclesiastes 9:8.
Revelation 19:5-8:
5 And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our GOD, all ye His servants, and ye that fear Him, both small and great.
6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord GOD Omnipotent reigneth.
7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready.
8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Regarding mystery of GOD, I have already commented in prior posts, our Lord JESUS-the Word made flesh- spoke of this in Matthew 11:27, and according His promise, unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance. Hallelujah!.
May our Lord GOD bless and keep us, and give us His protection
Addendum: Demonic "miracles" and answered "prayers" and casting out demons
False signs and wonders are scriptural warnings for the last days; particularly in the Book of Revelation. Most who are of sound mind would cringe at the so called "Kundalini awakening" or other such phenomenon that invokes the coiled serpent within for all sorts of magical powers. What can be said is that as Christians we are promised all power over the evil one; and since that was won at the cross we have no reason to suspect that doesn't still exist as the authority given by Christ over demons according to the promises of ( Luke 10:19). Of course as with all scripture this passage must be taken in context; in Paul's case a snake fell off his arm and caused no harm; he didn't go out looking for some sensational footage; as clearly indicated in Acts 28:5-6. We also don't go out willy nilly after the evil one as the sons of Sceva did without bad results ( Acts 19:11-20). However as Spirit filled believers when we are exercising in His strength and with His authority we are fulfilling necessary service in casting out demons or commanding them not to continue to oppress people. This means; of course that we make sure a person WANTS to be freed; and willing to repent of any sins which give Satan legal foothold on their souls.
There are also demonic incantations or "prayers to Satan" of which I had the dubious distinction of hearing spoken against me a few years back. We need to factor in spiritual hinderances to our prayer as it is scriptural as we see in the book of Daniel and apparently with some missionary efforts Paul had. This doesn't guarantee our prayers are answered but such hinderences certainly make a breakthrough unlikely if we haven't dealt with strongholds in our own lives of entrenched sin as well as in others as well who we hope to see delivered.
The last point for now is that we must be open for others to pray for our needs as well. We need each other.
Prayers: Concluding thoughts (if you're lucky) for now.
In general; prayer is often answered when it isn't a "no or later" situation through other means and individuals than we in our puny minds can comprehend. It seems from my experience there are those who are obsessed in wanting to meet the needs of others (i.e. a gift of service) and others (probably more like myself) who like to offer some thought provoking scriptural concept or parable like statement to make people think. What I mean is; in my inherant selfishness; I am not obsessed like those aforementioned gifted believers with a gift of service or helps to always meet people's needs up front and right away.
This isn't getting me out of the pit I'm digging for myself...but I'm making a point (I think). Sometimes at least I hope; there is some merit to being abstract in some regard at least in not always having to be the one to fix the problem. That leaves me with my own issues of having to push myself to be as giving as a lot of others but obviously that is my problem not that of the audience (I will presume innocent until proven otherwise in that regard).
Okay; enough of the "Pauline" sarcasm. In having wisdom and being wise as serpents; innocent as doves we wrestle out our existence. ( Matthew 10:16). With prayer of course we are to take appropriate action when we can so we don't be as the person in James 2:16 and not be an answered prayer OURSELVES to someone in their misery. We can't give away all our money in the same token unless it is our own volition and to fulfill the Great Commission unless it is for dire need or our family interests (even that with caution). All of this is to say that indeed we need as the Body of Christ not to be overly lazy or overly burdened to the extent that the individual in Phillippians 2:27 was who Paul mentioned.
Prayer usually involves a marathon effort but sometimes is answered as a sprint. Sometimes God works miracles without obvious prayer
Emotional healing: Prayers and communication with the Lord.
The Spirit of the Lord should be what guards our heart ( Prov. 4:23); keeps the reins of our heart in check ( Jeremiah 17:10); gives us the mind of Christ ( 1 Cor. 2:16) as well as communing with our soul ( Romans 8:16).
As ironic as it seems; it may be often best to focus on prayers for our enemies rather than friends. With any kind of healing; there is the tendency because of our own emotional connection to desperately ask for relief from pain and suffering of any sort for those we know and love. What we fail to see sometimes especially with those we are familiar with is that God often uses suffering as a form of chastisement to get someone's attention and turn to the Lord. Obviously we shouldn't be the arbitrators of what kind of test others should go through and deliberately hold ack on prayers either. As we study persevering in prayer; we should also learn to sense the course of events the Lord is directing in an individuals life over time and tweek the prayer appropriately.
Mental healing: This subject of course intersects with emotions and physiological factors; such as Dopamine levels. Actual brain damage may be involved as well as unknown factors. Overall; of course patterns of behavior will bring healing as one focuses their energies on study of the Word and living out a Godly and obedience life of service to the Lord and of course turns away from worldliness. Those too fixated on faith healing at the expense of anything else are missing out on even Paul's example of his thorn in the flesh. Many are able to sympathize with others who are down and out; and the transparency of our own strugles can be a real inspiration and valuable in evangelism. This is more than the boasting of how depraved we are; although incorporates an internal comprehension of our good deeds being filthy rags before conversion. What it DOES show is unconditional love and an open heart to ruined sinners.
I may seem to have strayed from my original topic of prayer; but since all types of "miraculous" ministers of the Gospel whether genuine or fake use some method of prayer as a means of operation. I haven't even delved yet into emotional; mental and spiritual healing although they are often either interchangeable or intersecting in many ways in a person's earthly existence.
Matthew 9:5 gives us food for thought; as to the greater challenge of forgiving sins than healing someone. Since the enemy can manipulate things somewhat in the physical realm a false miracle is certainly possible within limits; but cannot do the same in forgiving sins. (I should paraphrase that comment in saying that yes; some form of mental tranquility is used to render one senseless; and sear their conscience to their own sinful and appalling state but if God is calling that person the enemy is allowed also to cause increasing torment as only true love casts out fear). We; of course can't be so glib as to tell someone their sins are forgiven; instead we wait for someone to be convicted and say as the jailor to Paul how must we be saved?
Before discussing the emotional and mental healings which obviously are more difficult to prove scientifically (not to mention healing of the soul which HAS to be spiritual) I don't want to leave the question unanswered that may come up.
The question is; of course when should we pray for a healing and when NOT? Obviously I cannot play God here and tell someone as long as someone is alive at least that they shouldn't pray in that way. I would say that if someone has died that normally at least we shouldn't resort to that. It SEEMS on the surface that a few people appear to have experienced this; but in one case I may have brought up recently of a man in Africa; within a year he seems to have disappeared from view when others tried to find him. I'll leave that subject to a missionary to respond.
To continue; here is the third scenario with healings.
Healings that ARE verifiable as at least unexplained with reliable medical information (hint: it helps to have first and last names at the very least). This would as far as I can tell be subdivided further into 3 categories:
1) Prayers that were given by either doctrinally unsound or downright heretical preachers that appear to have resulted in a genuine healing following the standard above. I will call that the Judas Iscariot factor; based on the verses where Jesus sent him out when the disciples were commanded to do these type of miracles (read Luke chapter 10).
2) Prayers that were given by doctrinally sound individuals which appears to have resulted in genuine miracles and
3) Miracles that are verifiable which either the person healed and/or those around him or her were not believers or had no interest in religion. I could add a fourth situation here similar to above but performed by "New Age" practitioners. I think I'll make a seperate post on that soon.
So; what are we to think? As Jesus said; go to the priests ( Luke 5:14) as evidence of true healing; as they were used for this purpose in the O.T. as well as deciding when a person was ceremonially unclean and what procedures were to be rendered for this to become a reality. Red flags should certainly go up when we have so called "faith healers" who don't have the guts to prove things through the medical establishment. Once that is initiated; if their reaction is "yes; but.." and they cannot let us make our own decisions as to further care then of course it may be good to walk away from their counsel. That is perhaps a fifth thing to add to this section; REMISSION can occur for unexplained reasons scientifically. That doesn't mean we should brush off even a temporary healing but be cautious of a "thus saith the Lord" that it is gone for good. All of us are mortal evenhealed
Some may be familiar with the verse "with His stripes we are healed" ( Isaiah 53:5). It is on every cover of the "Stryper" albums.
I could spend much of this post presenting scriptures related to protection from plagues directly related to blessings and cursings; miracles of the "Apostolic" era when it seemed more commonplace to see things happen even to the extent that touching the edge of a garment would bring healing (seen in both the Gospels and the book of Acts). There is; or should be no doubt as to the validity of genuine miracles that Christ did in numerous examples; and no doubt other occurrences which weren't recorded.
The same holds true in general until the N.T. Canon was completed which by reasonable estimates was just shy of the end of the
1st Century AD (and there goes my paragraph margins all haywire)...
I have seen the detailed analysis from several reliable sources online which have discussed the events since the "Azuza Street Revival" up to present day "signs and wonders" and admittedly a fair minded analysis is to say the least discouraging. It is no wonder some decide to become atheists after some of the sideshow antics; unverified "healings"; and downright sadistic techniques where people are slammed down and brutalized to demonstrate some so called miracle. I won't mention who did that a few years back. A realistic breakdown of all scenarios are as follows:
1) Reported miracles that are unverifiable which are later found out to be hoaxes definitively. Naturally the "perpetrators" in order to keep fleecing their flock won't ask for repentance or admit their sin. At best they will slither to a different ministry or; if we're lucky to another worldly method of getting rich quick and leave the rest of us alone.
2) Reported miracles that are unverifiable which cannot be deduced after careful analysis if they are true or not with insufficient evidence.
When we consider the long-suffering of God concerning the sinfulness of each and every human being born, (Jesus being excepted because He was sinless and was God in the flesh). for 4+millenia from Adam to Jesus and for 2000 years since Jesus's self sacrifice for us, persisting in prayer helps us to understand better not only His righteous offense at our sin against Him, and the intense, supernatural suffering and anguish Jesus bore for us on the cross; but also, the Father's grief over His Son and His compassion and mercy towards us. He did not spare His only begotten Son nor did He make His wrath light on His Son, but Jesus took all the wrath of God for sinners chosen to become redeemed children of God. In our persistence in prayer, we can learn how to wait long for the answer God will bring to our prayers. We can know the pain of seeing those we love suffer, reject or resist God, or be under intense attack of the devil. We grieve in prayer but at the same time, rejoice in the hope we have in God and His intention to bless and deliver those we pray for in whatever way is needed.
Richard, thanks for posting on this topic of communicating with God. He loves it when we turn our thoughts, hearts, and will to Him in prayer and He loves to answer our prayers because of the work and merit of His Son, Jesus Christ.
I agree that God knows all that we need and desire. He will act according to His character and will with or without our prayers. But we are to obey Him in developing a prayerful heart. Doing so changes us bit by bit into the person God wills us to become. I am glad you mentioned the widow who continued to ask the king for help. She was persistent in her request, which means that she asked many, many times over many, many days or perhaps years. I think that we are to follow this illustration in situations that God places before us. For example, I continue to persist in praying for my sons. They need deliverance from mental illness, unbelief, and restoration to their way their minds work and to be made joyful people once again. I have been praying almost daily for them for 22 years when the mental illness first appeared after 9/11 (which I think was a factor in their depression as teens). I trust that God always hears my prayers for them and by faith I believe that my prayers will be answered in the best way. So, instead of being steeped in worry or becoming weary of asking God for the same things again and again for years, I am more and more positive that He will do all of these things in my sons' lives. When I do not know, but as I come to know Him more and His will I find Him trustworthy.
Being persistent in prayers faithfully asking for the same things again and again is not "repetitive prayer" as the pagans do by using chants, ritualistic prayers, incantations, etc. to entreat their idols. We know that God heard us the first time we petitioned Him and had already begun to answer before we even asked. But obeying His command to be persistent in what He calls us to pray for again and again, sometimes or years is beneficial to us, since He can save, heal, deliver, and provide for those we pray for with or without our prayers. But by persisting in faithfully praying with confidence to God brings to us good and growth.
Point 2: Conclusion. As with anything else we want to make our requests known to God ( Philippians 4:6). As far as personal requests go; of course God knows our needs before we ask so we can be as specific as needed to attempt to request what is in accordance with His will.
I started going through prayers from the beginning of scripture and got as far as Gideon's prayers. Hopefully I'll continue where I left off if it helpful to others. I should have noted that almost all if not all the prayers I have examined so far are for the benefit of others. Abraham prayed for Lot (at least prayer in terms of speaking with the Lord directly before the angels scouted out Sodom); and Isaac was found a wife and the prayers of Abraham's servant in the process were demonstrated. Later on we see Hannah's prayers for a son which were answered in due course. Later on in Psalms and prayers of David in particular we see personal requests in the anguish of persecution and also due to sin that resulted in collateral damage of misery . I think what we can take away here is that for the blessings and good things of this life it is prudent to focus on needs of others first. It is also helpful when we desire something for ourselves to have a brother or sister be a support so that when two or more pray together we can know the Lord is involved and present ( Matt. 18:20). That is of course important for us when we are struggling with sin as well; although such intercession seems to be foreign in the Old Testament prayers as it seems the Spirit wasn't working in the same capacity in that regard as it does today in the Church era. Perhaps Esther's prayers along with fasting to the king to save her people or Daniel's request to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4:27 was after prayer as mentioning turning from sin could have brought ire upon Daniel for insinuating such a thing to royalty.
Prayer should be as specific as needed; but open to His direction.
Point #2 Avoid extremes of being too vague and too detailed.
Often in prayer meetings I have online the host basically gives a laundry list of people and needs then in prayer says "take care of" and proceeds to read the list again; with a few bare bones details of their particular situation. That would require Divine intervention for me to have any idea for those I have never met how to pray for them; so I can only assent to the requests.
The fact that his heart seems to be in the right place because he tirelessly takes time as a retired man to contact these individuals is commendable; and surely on his end I expect to see answered prayers; but it has little practical effect on me except to support him as a brother except when something specific actually is clearly answered. I would say this shows a lack of sufficient time and effort for the prayer needs that exist among the congregation at large when there is only 10 or so minutes to read such an exhaustive list.
As for being too detailed; I am cautious about assigning any delineation here. Certainly as the case above showed; if we are the one brining a request to the attention of others there are some things that would seem ridiculous. If someone needed a new car; for instance to ask God to provide a yellow polka dotted Jaguar (not that I could envision it) would seem at best petty.
To want any fancy or exorbitant object is something I will leave to the prayer requests of certain unmentionable prosperity folk that apparently have enough money fleeced from their congregants and deluded enough people to actually want to contribute "seed money" for such insanity. On the other hand we wouln't want to pray for any vehicle and expect a trash truck or Sherman tank to be a given as an answer and go to the ends of the earth to acquire them (although both would be expensive).
We wouldn't ask for the cheapest car that was clearly a piece of crap either especially if it is our gift.
Completing my example 1 of prayer for someone to be saved; as I repeatedly nag it isn't something we find in scripture. Paul when on trial went as close as saying he wished to see someone saved ( Acts 26:28 with Agrippa). Just as we once were before the light broke through we were once blinded to the truth; and therefore shouldn't expect any efforts no matter how sincere or even faith filled will make one iota of difference in bringing someone to salvation. That is a really harsh statement at face value.
We know for a fact it won't work with someone already physically deceased; and of course that would be a sin or necromancy and useless according to Hebrews 9:27. But we were once "dead in sin" ( Ephesians 2:13). It is easy as a true believer to be perplexed how people can have multiple and long term opportunities to hear the Gospel and still reject it. What is worse is those who go along and perhaps make a confession but are insincere in their hearts; thus never producing "good fruit". We know that if we hear the truth it is of God as our spirit testifies with His Spirit that we are children of God. ( Romans 8:16).
The rest of the world is content that Christ is a good teacher or Prophet as that is all they can see; His humanity apart from Divinity as a member of the Godhead.
I will leave this topic with a general statement. We should sow seeds with whoever we can; but not make an undo effort to spend an inordinate amount of time with those not open to the Gospel at the expense of the Great Commission at large.
As Jesus stated in comparison to our service to God we must hate those closest to us; which doesn't mean of course to abandon care as that makes us worse than an infidel. Our motivation for service must be to serve God always; and that has to be despite whether all those we care about come to Christ or not.
The message below is for your meditation, as a clue, to decipher an enigma / conundrum.
As you know, Revelation 13 describes two terrible different Beasts:
Beast of sea(verse 1),
Beast of the earth(verse 11)
Which of the two Beasts are you referring to?
According to the Revelation, sea means waters, waters mean peoples, and nations, and multitues of all tongues- Revelation 17:15-i.e. Gentile nations, so the Beast of sea is a Gentile Beast.
The Beast of earth has two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a DRAGON (a false lamb), by allegory, earth here is Israel, the clay( Isaiah 64:8) a dry land, like an isle in the sea, a portion of earth surrounded by waters (gentile peoples) on all sides.
According to the Daniel 9:27, he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week. Revelation 13:2 says the DRAGON shall give to the GENTILE Beast of sea his Power, and his Seat(his throne in Jerusalem), and great Authority. And in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations( Daniel 12:11) he shall make it desolate until the consummation.
GOD BLESS
We have similar understanding on some things, Jesus said Take heed that no man deceive you, to be deceived is to be taken out of the way. He also said broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: We as humans tend to go with the majority thinking so many believe one thing it must be the right way, Satan's best deception.
It has been taught for so long now, that many are looking for something that is not the truth and will be unable to stand when the hour of temptation comes. There is not a first and second half of tribulation there are 3.5 years given to the beast as we see in Revelation 13. Many are looking to be taken to heaven before the beast arises out of the bottomless pit.
I have not seen anywhere in Scripture where we are taken or we go to heaven, if someone can show me, I would be grateful.
God bless,
RLW
" So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." God has sent the word before you and Debra were born. Jesus being present at Bethesda so healing him proves that Gods word works at many levels. So praying in faith means you are claiming victory as God promised. All his promises are 'yea' in his Son. May God work with your faith. In case if there are unconfessed sins confess them to God so there is nothing that Satan can claim against you.
Your healing comes from God and from his Son. In your heart check out if there is no anger, malice or anything to hinder from being healed. God is good and merciful. May God heal you and your sister, Amen
Beautiful and thought full prayer. This prayer blessed me as I recall all the ways God has worked in my life. God is good and we can be assured of His faithfulness in our care and needs.
12 What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me?
13 I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord.
Prayer of the day in favor of God's people throughout the Earth, in favor of His beloved Church, until He returns to be with us forever and ever, as He promised us
Beloved GOD, father of the Lord JESUS Christ
We thank you for more this day of life that you have granted us
We lie down, we get up, because you have kept us alive until this moment that we call upon You, it in Your presence
We thank you for this daily bread that you have not missed on our table
To nourish and strengthen our body
but above all, beloved Lord, strengthen our soul in the Power of your Word,
the bread of life, the bread of heaven, the heavenly manna
Bless us throughout this day, keep us and deliver us from all evil and all danger
May your angels be encamped around your people, your servants in whole Earth, to protect them, today and always
Give us victory in struggles, in difficulties,
supplies our needs, and heals us of our illnesses,
heals the illneness in the midst of your people throughout the Earth,
Lord, in our work, in our activities, bless us and prosper them
Your kingdom come to us according to your Word, as is written "the
kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of the Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever",
It continues to accompany us and guard us throughout the day, protecting us from all danger and all evil, today and always.
We ask, we pray, and we thank You, in the name of the Lord JESUS Christ, now and forevermore
Amen
That said,we must remember what JESUS said from His own existence:Jo.17:4-5:
4I have glorified thee on the earth:I have finished the work which thou gave me to do( John 1:3&5:17& Hebrews 1:1-2 testify what JESUS said.Check it)
5And now,O Father,glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the WORLD was.(John the Baptist,angel of the LORD,testified about this,saying:Jo.1:18-No man has seen GOD at any time,the only begotten Son,which is in the bosom of the Father,He has declared Him)
Paul testified:Col.1:14-16:
14 In JESUS we have redemption through His blood,even the forgiveness of sins:
15 Who is the image of the INVISIBLE GOD,the firstborn of every creature:
16 For by Him-by JESUS-were all things created,that are in heaven, and that are in earth,visible and invisible,whether they be thrones,or dominions,principalities,powers:all things were created by Him,and for Him:( John 1:3&5:17& Hebrews 1:1-2 confirm)
Acts 4:11-12:
11This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders,which is become the head of the corner.
12Neither is there salvation in any other:for there is none other NAME(except JESUS)under heaven given among men,whereby we must be saved.
Mat.11:27-No man knows the Son,but the Father;neither knows any man the Father,save the Son,and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him.
No man has seen GOD,the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He has made Him known.John1:18
In light of John 16:8 it is hard to understand the concept of bending over backwards to have people feel comfortable and "fit in" to a church. In fact; I would even go so far as to say it wouldn't be a bad slogan for a church to say in their bulletin that people should "plan to feel UNcomfortable" in their services. How can the fear of the Lord be something which is entertaining to anyone?
How can to so called "hole in men's hearts that only God can fill" appeal to anyone who doesn't conceive their own hopelessness before a righteous and Holy God who they have offended and continue to do so as long as they are unregenerate? ( Psalm 7:11-13). God is angry with the wicked every day; and it is truly sad that many don't get that to appreaciate His love; mercy; and kindness that we have to understand who we are and what great cost it was that He had to send His only Son to die in our stead.
We need something powerful enough to stand against an intractable foe; who seeks to kill; steal and destroy. Let's be real; if a church wants to seek and save the lost they won't be focusing so much time on flashy entertainment; and expensive building projects but will focus on missionary efforts. Many have bought into either careless giving with unscrupulous ministries that are not biblically sound or doing a bunch of service projects without the MAIN priority being presenting the Gospel. We can't err on the other side either with resources; but I have found it is often individual efforts of laypersons on a consistant basis that have more effect than occasional outings where everything tends to be rather scripted. And of course there is the BIG issue of cult personalities where noteriety becomes a snare; sadly that seems to have occured with Billy Graham when he didn't protest having a star in hollywood with his name on a pavement. SEE LUKE 16:15. We don't need approval of politicians or the world.
Praise our Lord JESUS Christ,which is,and which was,and which is to come,the Almighty.Aleluia!
Yes,the Word is GOD.Once the Word of GOD is in your heart,it is GOD dwelling within you,understand?in your heart,and is everlasting Life,understand?Aleluia.
Our conversation is in heaven(heaven?Ephesians1:3-8 & 2:6-10);from whence also we look for the Saviour,the Lord Jesus Christ:Who shall change our vile body,that it may be fashione like unto His glorious body,according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself- Philippians 3:20-21.
JESUS assured us,saying:Jo.7:38-39:->38 He that believes on Me,as the Scripture has said,out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
39This spake He of the Spirit,which they that believe on Him should receive.
GOD is Spirit,as our Lord JESUS said,and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth-Jo.4:24.
JESUS said:Jo.5:24-25
24Verily,I say unto you,He that hears my Word,and believes on Him that sent me,has everlasting life,and shall not come into condemnation;but is passed from death unto life.
25...The hour is coming,and now is,when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of GOD:and they that hear shall live.
The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. Cor.12:8-11:
8For to one is given by the Spirit the Word of wisdom;to another the Word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
9To another faith;to another the gifts of healing;
10To another the working of miracles;to another prophecy;to another discerning of spirits;to another divers kinds of tongues;to another the interpretation of tongues:
11But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit,dividing to every one severally as He will.
Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of GOD, which is in you, aleluia.
Our Lord JESUS promised us,saying:Unto every one that has shall be given,and he shall have abundance- Matthew 25:29.Aleluia.
When God gets a hold of a man; He has no interest in using a man's intellect; beauty; or any other thing the old nature has to offer. He must put these things to death through the power of the risen Christ to begin His transformation and make a man suitable as a servant for His Kingdom. Compare this to a cult leader; he is using one of two techniques; flattery in order to draw in susceptible victims (usually young attractive women whose true purpose is only later realized); or fear and control to keep them in. At the inception; therefore is a weakness in a person which sucks them in to their hypnotic mind control where in the beginning there is often a period of time when a person can free themselves from such a fate if they truly seek the Lord.
More often we are in situations which are rather nebulous or ill defined as right or wrong. Particular denominations or individual Pastors can have their own temperment; or doctrines that are more or less severe or restrictive than others. This can result in what has happened with a friend of mine who is a young Pastor; where the influence of the church founders often controls the narrative which in his case has been a hindrance to maturity in the congregation. I won't focus here on the various nuances in regard to remaining with or leaving a particular fellowship and I probably covered it some time in the last 2 years on this site.
When it comes to things like prayer; for instance things seem to usually swing toward an extreme of a bare bones diet in today's churches. When people are pressured to do things we have to be certain we are not creating our own kingdom. When I got to see an elderly lady preaching to someone living on the street and the lady was in tears it wouldn't have happened with a half hearted effort; but with a true anointing of the Spirit of God. Would you want someone who doesn't demonstrate love praying for you? Food for thought..
For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. ( 2 Cor. 7:10).
Giving careful thought to the subject at hand I thought I would mention some more scripture. Romans 14:17 says:
For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Understanding sin; first of all has to go beyond what we are used to in this world. Our actions are sinful; and our bodies corrupted but nothing is inherently evil about the physical part of man; indeed we are "fearfully and wonderfully made" ( Psalm 139:14). Jesus demonstrated as a perfect man that he could weep; eat; drink; and sleep as others did but set an example of serving rather than being served ( Matthew 20:28). All things are right in their place; physical intimacy in the marriage bed ( Heb. 13:4) is one good example. Killing a man in defence of a family or serving in the armed services is diametrically opposed to murdering someone out of spite.
As believers; we should find not only repugnant the desires we once had of the world flesh and the Devil but also find that what was once the obsession of our daily lives; although we are to work diligently to serve the Lord and continue with our families whenever possible the everyday procedures are strangely dim; as it were to our heavenly hope which we have now "seated in heavenly places" ( Eph. 2:6). Our focus goes away from OURSELVES and to the Body of Christ as well as seeking to reach the lost. Proverbs 11:30 says The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.
Again; as per some of my older posts in regard to the Christian "music industry" as well as many megachurches or those supposedly exercising "manifestations" which of these exactly is causing conviction of sin to occur and is focused on God's righteousness? Finally where is the Godly fear of His wrath; that is what brings revival
8And when He comes, He will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9in regard to sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see Me; 11and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world has been condemned.
"And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." ( Revelation 5:13)
"Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." ( John 20:29).
Starting with the middle verse; I thought it interesting to consider that IF this is to be taken chronologically; IMMEDIATELY after the Rapture and before the onset of the first seal being opened; everyone will praise God and Christ. I had originally noted that this occurs at the sixth seal; when mankind runs away from God and realizes His judgments have begun. This brings to mind what was said in the passage from John; we don't want to wake up in the Tribulation and have to face the horrors of that time and martyrdom to boot which will be the basic change once everything is revealed; the church age is over and the saints are to be overcome ( Daniel 7:25).
The Spirit reflects Christ in its operation. When Jesus spoke it was often in regard to bringing out the full meaning of the law (lust and anger) as general teaching to the crowd; or specific allegations to a group of Pharisees in particular as well as lawyers.
The Spirit causes individuals to have a general conviction of sin because we have a sense of God's holiness against our own condition. The end result of sin is death ( Romans 6:23) and hell. Godly sorrow brings repentance (and life) worldly sorrow death.
Ps.34:19-Many are the afflictions of the righteous:but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
Acts 14:22-We must through much tribulation enter into the Kingdom of GOD
The KING of DARKNESS,the Devil, showed to JESUS all the kingdoms of the world,the glory of them,and said:All will I give thee,if thou fall down and worship me.Mat.4:8-9.
Re.13:1&15:
1 I stood upon the sand of the sea(John was a citzen of Israel),and saw a(MAN)Beast rise up out of the sea(Gentile nations),having 7 heads,10 horns, upon his HORNS 10 crowns(CROWNS UPON HORNS?),and upon his heads a NAME of blasphemy.
15 And he-MAN Beast of earth-Re.13:11-a false messiah- John 5:43-47,had power to give life unto the Beast's image,that the image should speak,who worships not the image must be killed.
Daniel 3:2-20
The KING sent to gather the princes,governors,the captains,judges, counsellors,all the rulers of the provinces,to come to the dedication of the image he had set up.They stood before the image and an herald cried:To you is commanded,O people,NATIONS,and languages,that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet,flute, harp,and all kinds of musick,ye fall down and worship the image the king has set up:Whoso falls not down and worships shall be cast into the burning fiery furnace.But Shadrach,Meshach,Abednego,O king, have not regarded thee,they serve not thy gods,nor worship the image you has set up.So in his rage and fury the KING commanded to bring them,and said:Is it true,O Shadrach,Meshach,Abednego,do not ye serve my gods,nor worship the IMAGE I have set up?When you hear the sound of the cornet,all kinds of musick,ye fall down and worship the image I have made;well:if not,ye shall be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace;who is that GOD that shall deliver you out of my hands?
O king,our GOD whom we serve is able to deliver us from furnace,thy hands,and we will not serve thy gods,nor worship the image you have set up.
That said,Get ready
21 For then shall be great TRIBULATION, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time(this current time), no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. (The theory of being caught(pre-trib) before this event of "days shall be shortened" is wrong, it's a nonsense).
Isaiah 26:20-21
20 Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment (seven years), until the indignation be overpast.
21 For, behold, the Lord cometh out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.
Romans 2:6-11
6 GOD will render to every MAN according to his deeds:
7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, ETERNAL LIFE:
8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;
10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:
11 For there is no respect of persons with GOD.
Revelation 11:15 and 18
15 ... The kingdoms OF THIS WORLD are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever.
18 And the nations were(will be)angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be Judged( Daniel 12:2. Take a look), and that thou should give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and should destroy them which destroy the earth.
Get ready
25That which ye have already hold fast till I come.
26And he that overcomes,and keeps my works unto the end,to him will I give power over the nations:
27And he shall rule them with a rod of iron;as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers:even as I received of my Father.
28And I will give him the morning star.
29He that hath an ear,let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
About Satan,the MAN of sin,son of perdition,the Word of GOD reveals:Is.14:13-14:
13Thou hast said in thine heart:
(1)I will ascend into heaven(heaven? Ephesians 1:3-8),I will exalt my throne above the stars of GOD(above GOD's stars?See Daniel 12:3, always be careful,perilous times now,also according Re.12:4.Take a look):
(2)I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation,in the sides of the north:(Why Satan intends to sit in the sides of north?Ps.48:2 reveals why:Beautiful for situation,the joy of the whole earth,is mount Zion,on the sides of the north,the city of the great King-JESUS-
14I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;I will be like the most High(clouds? Revelation 12:14& Isaiah 60:8).Satan,a former Cherub, ruler of Eden,intends to be equal GOD.Ez.28:1-10 reveal:2Thus saith the Lord God;Thine heart is lifted up,and thou say,I am a God,I sit in the seat of GOD,in the midst of the seas(nations);thou art a MAN,not God,though thou set thine heart as God's heart:
I will bring strangers,the terrible of the nations,against thee:they shall draw the Sword against the beauty of thy wisdom.
I exceedingly appreciated your reply
As you know, the kings of Israel chosen by GOD they were anointed with oil by the prophets of the Lord.
To be anointed with oil is to be separated as GOD's chosen one- Matthew 25:31-34. Take a look. The true chosen ones of the Lord are prudent and wise, they have lamp to shine as they walk in the world of darkness, and enough oil to keep the lamp burning to meet the Lord, the bridegroom, and be saved. By the way, He said: Revelation 3:11-13:
11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no one take thy crown.
12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my GOD, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my GOD, and the name of the city of my GOD, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my GOD: and I will write upon him my new name.
13 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Att all times, let your garments be white, and let oil not be wanting on your head - Ecclesiastes 9:8.
Revelation 19:5-8:
5 And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our GOD, all ye His servants, and ye that fear Him, both small and great.
6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord GOD Omnipotent reigneth.
7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready.
8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Regarding mystery of GOD, I have already commented in prior posts, our Lord JESUS-the Word made flesh- spoke of this in Matthew 11:27, and according His promise, unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance. Hallelujah!.
May our Lord GOD bless and keep us, and give us His protection
Amen
False signs and wonders are scriptural warnings for the last days; particularly in the Book of Revelation. Most who are of sound mind would cringe at the so called "Kundalini awakening" or other such phenomenon that invokes the coiled serpent within for all sorts of magical powers. What can be said is that as Christians we are promised all power over the evil one; and since that was won at the cross we have no reason to suspect that doesn't still exist as the authority given by Christ over demons according to the promises of ( Luke 10:19). Of course as with all scripture this passage must be taken in context; in Paul's case a snake fell off his arm and caused no harm; he didn't go out looking for some sensational footage; as clearly indicated in Acts 28:5-6. We also don't go out willy nilly after the evil one as the sons of Sceva did without bad results ( Acts 19:11-20). However as Spirit filled believers when we are exercising in His strength and with His authority we are fulfilling necessary service in casting out demons or commanding them not to continue to oppress people. This means; of course that we make sure a person WANTS to be freed; and willing to repent of any sins which give Satan legal foothold on their souls.
There are also demonic incantations or "prayers to Satan" of which I had the dubious distinction of hearing spoken against me a few years back. We need to factor in spiritual hinderances to our prayer as it is scriptural as we see in the book of Daniel and apparently with some missionary efforts Paul had. This doesn't guarantee our prayers are answered but such hinderences certainly make a breakthrough unlikely if we haven't dealt with strongholds in our own lives of entrenched sin as well as in others as well who we hope to see delivered.
The last point for now is that we must be open for others to pray for our needs as well. We need each other.
In general; prayer is often answered when it isn't a "no or later" situation through other means and individuals than we in our puny minds can comprehend. It seems from my experience there are those who are obsessed in wanting to meet the needs of others (i.e. a gift of service) and others (probably more like myself) who like to offer some thought provoking scriptural concept or parable like statement to make people think. What I mean is; in my inherant selfishness; I am not obsessed like those aforementioned gifted believers with a gift of service or helps to always meet people's needs up front and right away.
This isn't getting me out of the pit I'm digging for myself...but I'm making a point (I think). Sometimes at least I hope; there is some merit to being abstract in some regard at least in not always having to be the one to fix the problem. That leaves me with my own issues of having to push myself to be as giving as a lot of others but obviously that is my problem not that of the audience (I will presume innocent until proven otherwise in that regard).
Okay; enough of the "Pauline" sarcasm. In having wisdom and being wise as serpents; innocent as doves we wrestle out our existence. ( Matthew 10:16). With prayer of course we are to take appropriate action when we can so we don't be as the person in James 2:16 and not be an answered prayer OURSELVES to someone in their misery. We can't give away all our money in the same token unless it is our own volition and to fulfill the Great Commission unless it is for dire need or our family interests (even that with caution). All of this is to say that indeed we need as the Body of Christ not to be overly lazy or overly burdened to the extent that the individual in Phillippians 2:27 was who Paul mentioned.
Prayer usually involves a marathon effort but sometimes is answered as a sprint. Sometimes God works miracles without obvious prayer
The Spirit of the Lord should be what guards our heart ( Prov. 4:23); keeps the reins of our heart in check ( Jeremiah 17:10); gives us the mind of Christ ( 1 Cor. 2:16) as well as communing with our soul ( Romans 8:16).
As ironic as it seems; it may be often best to focus on prayers for our enemies rather than friends. With any kind of healing; there is the tendency because of our own emotional connection to desperately ask for relief from pain and suffering of any sort for those we know and love. What we fail to see sometimes especially with those we are familiar with is that God often uses suffering as a form of chastisement to get someone's attention and turn to the Lord. Obviously we shouldn't be the arbitrators of what kind of test others should go through and deliberately hold ack on prayers either. As we study persevering in prayer; we should also learn to sense the course of events the Lord is directing in an individuals life over time and tweek the prayer appropriately.
Mental healing: This subject of course intersects with emotions and physiological factors; such as Dopamine levels. Actual brain damage may be involved as well as unknown factors. Overall; of course patterns of behavior will bring healing as one focuses their energies on study of the Word and living out a Godly and obedience life of service to the Lord and of course turns away from worldliness. Those too fixated on faith healing at the expense of anything else are missing out on even Paul's example of his thorn in the flesh. Many are able to sympathize with others who are down and out; and the transparency of our own strugles can be a real inspiration and valuable in evangelism. This is more than the boasting of how depraved we are; although incorporates an internal comprehension of our good deeds being filthy rags before conversion. What it DOES show is unconditional love and an open heart to ruined sinners.
I may seem to have strayed from my original topic of prayer; but since all types of "miraculous" ministers of the Gospel whether genuine or fake use some method of prayer as a means of operation. I haven't even delved yet into emotional; mental and spiritual healing although they are often either interchangeable or intersecting in many ways in a person's earthly existence.
Matthew 9:5 gives us food for thought; as to the greater challenge of forgiving sins than healing someone. Since the enemy can manipulate things somewhat in the physical realm a false miracle is certainly possible within limits; but cannot do the same in forgiving sins. (I should paraphrase that comment in saying that yes; some form of mental tranquility is used to render one senseless; and sear their conscience to their own sinful and appalling state but if God is calling that person the enemy is allowed also to cause increasing torment as only true love casts out fear). We; of course can't be so glib as to tell someone their sins are forgiven; instead we wait for someone to be convicted and say as the jailor to Paul how must we be saved?
Before discussing the emotional and mental healings which obviously are more difficult to prove scientifically (not to mention healing of the soul which HAS to be spiritual) I don't want to leave the question unanswered that may come up.
The question is; of course when should we pray for a healing and when NOT? Obviously I cannot play God here and tell someone as long as someone is alive at least that they shouldn't pray in that way. I would say that if someone has died that normally at least we shouldn't resort to that. It SEEMS on the surface that a few people appear to have experienced this; but in one case I may have brought up recently of a man in Africa; within a year he seems to have disappeared from view when others tried to find him. I'll leave that subject to a missionary to respond.
To continue; here is the third scenario with healings.
Healings that ARE verifiable as at least unexplained with reliable medical information (hint: it helps to have first and last names at the very least). This would as far as I can tell be subdivided further into 3 categories:
1) Prayers that were given by either doctrinally unsound or downright heretical preachers that appear to have resulted in a genuine healing following the standard above. I will call that the Judas Iscariot factor; based on the verses where Jesus sent him out when the disciples were commanded to do these type of miracles (read Luke chapter 10).
2) Prayers that were given by doctrinally sound individuals which appears to have resulted in genuine miracles and
3) Miracles that are verifiable which either the person healed and/or those around him or her were not believers or had no interest in religion. I could add a fourth situation here similar to above but performed by "New Age" practitioners. I think I'll make a seperate post on that soon.
So; what are we to think? As Jesus said; go to the priests ( Luke 5:14) as evidence of true healing; as they were used for this purpose in the O.T. as well as deciding when a person was ceremonially unclean and what procedures were to be rendered for this to become a reality. Red flags should certainly go up when we have so called "faith healers" who don't have the guts to prove things through the medical establishment. Once that is initiated; if their reaction is "yes; but.." and they cannot let us make our own decisions as to further care then of course it may be good to walk away from their counsel. That is perhaps a fifth thing to add to this section; REMISSION can occur for unexplained reasons scientifically. That doesn't mean we should brush off even a temporary healing but be cautious of a "thus saith the Lord" that it is gone for good. All of us are mortal evenhealed
2).
Point #3 Physical healing.
Some may be familiar with the verse "with His stripes we are healed" ( Isaiah 53:5). It is on every cover of the "Stryper" albums.
I could spend much of this post presenting scriptures related to protection from plagues directly related to blessings and cursings; miracles of the "Apostolic" era when it seemed more commonplace to see things happen even to the extent that touching the edge of a garment would bring healing (seen in both the Gospels and the book of Acts). There is; or should be no doubt as to the validity of genuine miracles that Christ did in numerous examples; and no doubt other occurrences which weren't recorded.
The same holds true in general until the N.T. Canon was completed which by reasonable estimates was just shy of the end of the
1st Century AD (and there goes my paragraph margins all haywire)...
I have seen the detailed analysis from several reliable sources online which have discussed the events since the "Azuza Street Revival" up to present day "signs and wonders" and admittedly a fair minded analysis is to say the least discouraging. It is no wonder some decide to become atheists after some of the sideshow antics; unverified "healings"; and downright sadistic techniques where people are slammed down and brutalized to demonstrate some so called miracle. I won't mention who did that a few years back. A realistic breakdown of all scenarios are as follows:
1) Reported miracles that are unverifiable which are later found out to be hoaxes definitively. Naturally the "perpetrators" in order to keep fleecing their flock won't ask for repentance or admit their sin. At best they will slither to a different ministry or; if we're lucky to another worldly method of getting rich quick and leave the rest of us alone.
2) Reported miracles that are unverifiable which cannot be deduced after careful analysis if they are true or not with insufficient evidence.
pt. 2
When we consider the long-suffering of God concerning the sinfulness of each and every human being born, (Jesus being excepted because He was sinless and was God in the flesh). for 4+millenia from Adam to Jesus and for 2000 years since Jesus's self sacrifice for us, persisting in prayer helps us to understand better not only His righteous offense at our sin against Him, and the intense, supernatural suffering and anguish Jesus bore for us on the cross; but also, the Father's grief over His Son and His compassion and mercy towards us. He did not spare His only begotten Son nor did He make His wrath light on His Son, but Jesus took all the wrath of God for sinners chosen to become redeemed children of God. In our persistence in prayer, we can learn how to wait long for the answer God will bring to our prayers. We can know the pain of seeing those we love suffer, reject or resist God, or be under intense attack of the devil. We grieve in prayer but at the same time, rejoice in the hope we have in God and His intention to bless and deliver those we pray for in whatever way is needed.
Richard, thanks for posting on this topic of communicating with God. He loves it when we turn our thoughts, hearts, and will to Him in prayer and He loves to answer our prayers because of the work and merit of His Son, Jesus Christ.
I agree that God knows all that we need and desire. He will act according to His character and will with or without our prayers. But we are to obey Him in developing a prayerful heart. Doing so changes us bit by bit into the person God wills us to become. I am glad you mentioned the widow who continued to ask the king for help. She was persistent in her request, which means that she asked many, many times over many, many days or perhaps years. I think that we are to follow this illustration in situations that God places before us. For example, I continue to persist in praying for my sons. They need deliverance from mental illness, unbelief, and restoration to their way their minds work and to be made joyful people once again. I have been praying almost daily for them for 22 years when the mental illness first appeared after 9/11 (which I think was a factor in their depression as teens). I trust that God always hears my prayers for them and by faith I believe that my prayers will be answered in the best way. So, instead of being steeped in worry or becoming weary of asking God for the same things again and again for years, I am more and more positive that He will do all of these things in my sons' lives. When I do not know, but as I come to know Him more and His will I find Him trustworthy.
Being persistent in prayers faithfully asking for the same things again and again is not "repetitive prayer" as the pagans do by using chants, ritualistic prayers, incantations, etc. to entreat their idols. We know that God heard us the first time we petitioned Him and had already begun to answer before we even asked. But obeying His command to be persistent in what He calls us to pray for again and again, sometimes or years is beneficial to us, since He can save, heal, deliver, and provide for those we pray for with or without our prayers. But by persisting in faithfully praying with confidence to God brings to us good and growth.
cont.
Point 2: Conclusion. As with anything else we want to make our requests known to God ( Philippians 4:6). As far as personal requests go; of course God knows our needs before we ask so we can be as specific as needed to attempt to request what is in accordance with His will.
I started going through prayers from the beginning of scripture and got as far as Gideon's prayers. Hopefully I'll continue where I left off if it helpful to others. I should have noted that almost all if not all the prayers I have examined so far are for the benefit of others. Abraham prayed for Lot (at least prayer in terms of speaking with the Lord directly before the angels scouted out Sodom); and Isaac was found a wife and the prayers of Abraham's servant in the process were demonstrated. Later on we see Hannah's prayers for a son which were answered in due course. Later on in Psalms and prayers of David in particular we see personal requests in the anguish of persecution and also due to sin that resulted in collateral damage of misery . I think what we can take away here is that for the blessings and good things of this life it is prudent to focus on needs of others first. It is also helpful when we desire something for ourselves to have a brother or sister be a support so that when two or more pray together we can know the Lord is involved and present ( Matt. 18:20). That is of course important for us when we are struggling with sin as well; although such intercession seems to be foreign in the Old Testament prayers as it seems the Spirit wasn't working in the same capacity in that regard as it does today in the Church era. Perhaps Esther's prayers along with fasting to the king to save her people or Daniel's request to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4:27 was after prayer as mentioning turning from sin could have brought ire upon Daniel for insinuating such a thing to royalty.
Prayer should be as specific as needed; but open to His direction.
Point #2 Avoid extremes of being too vague and too detailed.
Often in prayer meetings I have online the host basically gives a laundry list of people and needs then in prayer says "take care of" and proceeds to read the list again; with a few bare bones details of their particular situation. That would require Divine intervention for me to have any idea for those I have never met how to pray for them; so I can only assent to the requests.
The fact that his heart seems to be in the right place because he tirelessly takes time as a retired man to contact these individuals is commendable; and surely on his end I expect to see answered prayers; but it has little practical effect on me except to support him as a brother except when something specific actually is clearly answered. I would say this shows a lack of sufficient time and effort for the prayer needs that exist among the congregation at large when there is only 10 or so minutes to read such an exhaustive list.
As for being too detailed; I am cautious about assigning any delineation here. Certainly as the case above showed; if we are the one brining a request to the attention of others there are some things that would seem ridiculous. If someone needed a new car; for instance to ask God to provide a yellow polka dotted Jaguar (not that I could envision it) would seem at best petty.
To want any fancy or exorbitant object is something I will leave to the prayer requests of certain unmentionable prosperity folk that apparently have enough money fleeced from their congregants and deluded enough people to actually want to contribute "seed money" for such insanity. On the other hand we wouln't want to pray for any vehicle and expect a trash truck or Sherman tank to be a given as an answer and go to the ends of the earth to acquire them (although both would be expensive).
We wouldn't ask for the cheapest car that was clearly a piece of crap either especially if it is our gift.
Completing my example 1 of prayer for someone to be saved; as I repeatedly nag it isn't something we find in scripture. Paul when on trial went as close as saying he wished to see someone saved ( Acts 26:28 with Agrippa). Just as we once were before the light broke through we were once blinded to the truth; and therefore shouldn't expect any efforts no matter how sincere or even faith filled will make one iota of difference in bringing someone to salvation. That is a really harsh statement at face value.
We know for a fact it won't work with someone already physically deceased; and of course that would be a sin or necromancy and useless according to Hebrews 9:27. But we were once "dead in sin" ( Ephesians 2:13). It is easy as a true believer to be perplexed how people can have multiple and long term opportunities to hear the Gospel and still reject it. What is worse is those who go along and perhaps make a confession but are insincere in their hearts; thus never producing "good fruit". We know that if we hear the truth it is of God as our spirit testifies with His Spirit that we are children of God. ( Romans 8:16).
The rest of the world is content that Christ is a good teacher or Prophet as that is all they can see; His humanity apart from Divinity as a member of the Godhead.
I will leave this topic with a general statement. We should sow seeds with whoever we can; but not make an undo effort to spend an inordinate amount of time with those not open to the Gospel at the expense of the Great Commission at large.
As Jesus stated in comparison to our service to God we must hate those closest to us; which doesn't mean of course to abandon care as that makes us worse than an infidel. Our motivation for service must be to serve God always; and that has to be despite whether all those we care about come to Christ or not.