Pray specific prayer!!!

Ask, and it shall be given you; Matthew 7 : 7

Good morning, friends. The following story is little bit lengthy. But please read it. May God bless!

Yane’s husband, Beni, without warning, lost his job. For 6 years, he enjoyed working in a multinational company. The first few months were OK; But as the months stretched to a year – and then more, the invitations got fewer and far between. During the almost two years of her husband’s joblessness, Yane was going through her own anxiety. As a mother to two growing schoolchildren, she saw their savings getting smaller. As a contingency measure, she moved out of her 8-yr old job to accept a higher-paying one. But aside from the dwindling funds, she was also worried about Beni’s self-esteem. And their marriage started to suffer too, since she was the one who was now earning for the family. Yane began questioning God, “Lord, I don’t understand what else you’re trying to teach us! How else should we pray? What else should we pray for?” That was when Yane realized that their prayer had to be more specific.

So she gathered her two kids around her and said, “Let’s pray for Daddy, that he would find a good job with a good boss – someone like his first boss in his former company.” And so that became the family’s specific prayer. “Lord, please help Daddy get a boss that is as good and kind as his first boss in his old company, in Jesus name.”

One day, Yane came home from work and saw the kids and her husband in a huddle. What’s all this about?” she asked. She heard her kids whisper excitedly, “Show it to her now!” Beni handed her a brown envelop. As she slowly pulled out the paper from the envelope, she read the name of a company…then her husband’s job title… then his salary… At these, she merely nodded in satisfaction. But when she got to the bottom of the paper, she was shocked. For there was a signature. It was that of Beni’s favourite boss! To her kids’ astonishment, Yane began to cry and laugh at the same time. She could hardly believe it! Like a child, she jumped up and down with joy, much to the kids’ amusement who jumped and laughed along with her.

Gabriel asked his mother, “Mom, why are you crying and laughing at the same time?” Yane saw a great opportunity to explain, “I’m crying because I’m so happy, son. Remember how you prayed for a good boss for Daddy? Look at this name,” she pointed to the paper she was holding. “We were merely asking for a boss that would be like Daddy’s old boss. But no, God gave your Daddy exactly the same boss! He answered our prayers!”

Speaking in IT words, how can we deliver a product or render a service to the business, when they are not clear enough in their requirements?

Paul Yonggi Cho in his book, 'The Fourth Dimension' tells this. "God is with in you. He never works anything independently of you that concerns your life. So please place a clear cut objective before Him specifically in prayer. Don't just say, "God bless me, bless me!". Bible has 8000 promises. If you do so, God would ask, "Out of 8000 promises, what kind of blessing do you want?". God doesn't answer the vague prayers that you yourself are not sure of. So be very definite. If you're not specific, how would you know when God answers?"

Seek Him first!

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Matthew 6 : 33

Good morning, friends.

A king went to a forest in disguise. But he was not able to find his way out. Three young men passed near by. They recognized that it was their king and so they brought him back to his palace. He was so grateful to them and he wished to give them whatever they wanted. The first guy asked the king to give him silver. The king granted silver to him. The next guy wanted gold. The king happily gave him the gold he needed. Finally when the third guy's chance came, he asked the king to visit his home once in six months. The king was surprised, but then he agreed to visit him.

When he visited his home for the very first time, he felt that the way to his home was very bad. So he made plans to set it right and he did it. The next time when he visited, he felt that the house was not that sufficient, so he altered that guy's house. When he came for the third time, he thought it would be better for that guy to marry and so he searched for a bride in his own kingdom and he united them.

What does the above story tell? Does it not convey what Matthew 6 : 33 says? Yes, the first two guys wanted things from the king, whereas the third guy wanted the king's presence. This is what exactly we too need. The Lord is not a liar. He says that when we seek Him above all, He'll add all the other things. Why not try seeking His presence, instead of His blessings? When we focus on blessings, we may lose to focus on the Him. He is the ultimate source of everything and He'll bless us according to His riches in Heavens and He adds no more sorrows to it. No creation is above our Creator. Everything may vanish just like that, but the only thing that remains forever is the Pure Love of our Savior. When we follow Him, the grace and goodness will definitely follow us. We shouldn't run behind the grace and goodness, but behind the Lord and His unconditional, limitless love.

My Savior is always there for me!!!

But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. 2 Thessalonians 3 : 3

Good morning.

In the country of Armenia, in 1988, Samuel sent his young son, Armand, off to school. Samuel told his son,“Have a good day at school, and remember, no matter what, I’ll always be there for you.” He hugged and the boy ran off to school. Hours later, a powerful earthquake rocked the area. Samuel then grabbed his coat and headed for the schoolyard. When he reached the area, what he saw brought tears to his eyes. Armand’s school was a pile of debris. Other parents were standing around crying. Samuel found the place where Armand’s classroom used to be and began pulling a broken beam off the pile of rubble. He then grabbed a rock and put it to the side, and then grabbed another one. One of the parents looking on asked, “What are you doing?” “Digging for my son,” Samuel answered. The man then said, “You’re just going to make things worse! The building is unstable,” and tried to pull Samuel away from his work.Samuel set his jaw and kept working. As time wore on, one by one, the other parents left. Then a firefighter tried to pull Samuel away from the rubble. Samuel looked at him and said, “Won’t you help me?” The firefighter left and Samuel kept digging. All through the night and into the next day, Samuel continued digging. Suddenly he heard a faint cry. “Help! Help!” Then he heard a muffled voice, “Papa?” Samuel began to dig furiously. Finally he could see his son. “Come on out, son!” he said with relief. Samuel took him in his arms and Armand said, “papa, I did not worry because you told me that you’d always be there for me!”

How great the little boy's trust is! Remember the Lord who carves you in His palms knows all your pains, struggles, pleasures, desires and everything that even you couldn't know. I read "Jesus never attended a funeral service, instead He gave life to the dead" in 'The fourth dimension' book by Dr. Cho. That's true. There is nowhere in the Bible you could see Jesus didn't bring the dead back to live. Instead, for all our sins He Himself gave His own life and everything on the cross. We can trust Him all the time. Are you afraid of anything today? Your job, your family, your health, etc,... are more important for Him too. When Israelites turned their back to Him, the Lord was so compassionate and He Himself was not able to see His people suffering. Isaiah 59 : 1 says, "Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save." When troubles knock your door the next time, just speak out, "Hey, my Savior is always there for me. His hand is not too short to deliver me." When I listened to a video of Joyce Meyer I heard her saying, "It is much easier for me to cast everything to Him and to take rest, rather than carrying the tons of burden with me and holding on to them, seeking help from others and finally when everything drops, going to Him." He is the Alpha and Omega. He is the First and the Last. He is the Beginning and the Ending. Is it not easy for us to run to the one who has the key to all our problems, rather than running here and there in vain?

Do yourself a favor!!!

"There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus ..." Romans 8:1

Good morning, friends. Today let us read an incident told by Dr. David (Paul) Yonggi Cho.

One beautiful couple met Dr. Cho. The wife (let us say 'X') looked so depressed. The holy spirit reminded Dr. Cho to ask her about her past. But she refused to reveal it. When Cho told that he would help only if she could open up her heart about her past, she started pouring out. After her parents died at her early years, she was brought up by one lady who had a daughter who got married and when she was away from her husband for her delivery, this X and her sister's husband fell in love with one another and crossed their limits. After that incident, her sister's husband called her again and again and she too cooperated as she was afraid that he would leak things out. Later she got fed up with his relationship and she left him far away and started to lead a new life with a new job, a good husband and loving children. Everything went out good, but this lady was very depressed as she got reminded of that man who had wrong relationship with her whenever her husband loved her. Whenever her children hugged and loved her, she was guilty that she was not at all worthy of their love. When Cho heard that, he asked her to simply forgive herself for what happened.

Now let us read something about the conversation of Mr. R.T. Kendall with Joyce Meyer.

Mr. R.T. Kendall says, "The devil loves it when we are living in condemnation. When you're not forgiving yourself you're helping the devil do his job. Because he is called as an accuser of the brothers in Revelation chapter 12. So when you're accusing yourself, the devil can just go off for a vacation, because you're doing his job for him. We're commanded to forgive ourselves by believing what Jesus Christ did on the cross. When you forgive others, you're giving a gift which they don't deserve it. Don't feel guilty of what you did in the past. I say, give yourself a gift of forgiveness which you don't deserve. This is what the Lord wants you to do. Just set yourself free."

Only in this way you can feel the joy and peace our Savior has for you. Unless you forgive yourself remembering the Savior on the cross and his cleansing power, you are easily prone to devil's work, just like our body is viable to any disease when our immune system collaps when the WBC count drops. So please don't give satan a chance.

Touching tears!!!

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. Isaiah 55 : 11

I hope you are aware of Dr. David (Paul) Yonggi Cho. He is a Korean Christian Minister. He is a senior pastor and founder of Yoida Full Gospel Church, which is the world's largest church which had 8,30,000 members as of 2007. He wrote a book 'The fourth dimension'. I got a chance to read it and the following text is written by him in that book.

I was dying at the age of 19 because of the incurable Tuberculosis. Doctors said that I had just 3 or 4 months to live, as there was no way to arrest the fast spreading rare disease. Feeling dejected and alone, I was hopeless. I was raised as a Buddhist. When I sensed that my life was going to end, I gave up the hope in Buddha. A high-school girl visited me and began to talk to me about Jesus. She came again and again and talked to me about Christ's virgin birth, His death on a cross for my sin, His resurrection and salvation through grace. But they all seemed non-sense to me. I was very much irritated and rebuked her strongly. She didn't run away or retaliate in anger. She simply knelt down and began to pray with large tears rolling down her cheeks with such a great compassion. I was deeply touched when I saw her tears for me. "Young lady, please don't cry. I'm sorry. I now know about Christian love. Since I'm dying, I'll become a Christian for you." I said to her. She gave me a Bible and said, "Search the Bible. You'll find the words of life if you read it faithfully." She encouraged me to read it from Matthew, as she herself was not having faith that I would finish reading from Genesis to Revelation before I die. I started reading and I was shocked at what I was reading. "Abraham begat Isaac; Isaac begat Jacob; Jacob begat Judas and his brethen." I felt foolish. I closed it and said, "Young lady, I won't read it. This is only a story of one man begetting another. I would rather read a telephone directory." She replied, "Sir, as you read on these names will come to hold a special meaning for you." Encouraged, I began reading the Bible again.

Now I would suggest you to read the introduction of Dr. Cho again.

Is it not amazing? The words of a young girl with such a great love and deep compassion has touched an unknown man and changed him altogether. In my fellowship, this month is declared as the month of Personal Evangelism. Sometimes we may wonder, "Ah, what is going to happen if I say him/her about Christ. He/she is a rigid person I've ever seen, bla bla..." But remember this wonderful life changing incident and the verse Isaiah 55 : 11. It clearly says that the word of our God will never return vain, but it will accomplish the purpose for which it is sent to. Who knows? You can also be a young girl/guy for some other Dr. Cho through the right words spoken at the right time. I believe it is not only the words of the young girl, but also the true compassion she had for Dr. Cho and the desire to proclaim the Lord's love that changed a poorly sickdying Mr. Cho to a healthy pastor who could minister to more than 1 crore members and who is being used across the world today. So speak about the word of God boldly, but with the real burden, love and the compassion. Remember the seed which you sow today in someone's heart will be nourished by our Lord and it would give 100 folds of fruits. Let it raise many servants of God.

Confessing God's word

I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: 2 kings 20 : 5

In bible we come across many events where God listened to prayers of saints. Not only He listened, but also answered. Abraham & Sarah were blessed with a baby boy in their older age. Jacob told the Lord that he would not leave the Lord until He bless him and he was blessed. David was saved from the king Saul and from his own son and others, when he prayed. Hannah was blessed with a boy, when she cried to the Lord. The Israel people were brought to their land when they prayed during their tough times. Hezekiah's life was extended by fifteen years when he prayed. Lazarus was brought back by our Lord Jesus, when his sisters prayed. Lepers were healed. Blind men got vision. Crippled man was healed. The water was turned to wine. 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes were turned to a plenty amount, which fed more than 5000 men, because of prayer.

Are you so depressed today? Never mind. Think... Is the Lord who made all those miracles, not able to do a miracle for you today? No, the Lord is same yesterday, today and forever. He never changes and so His power too.

Remember we have a Lord who is the king of impossibilities, a doctor who can make all the impossibilities possible. There is always hope in Him. So don't look onto the situations which make you exhausted. Just believe Him and say faithfully, "If God is for me, who can be against me? I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I may not be able to do anything, but My savior is able to do anything. Is there anything too hard for Him? If God is with me nothing can shake me. What mortal man can do to me, when I'm the apple of His eyes." I got a chance to read a book 'The secret power of speaking God's word' by Joyce Meyer, which speaks about the power of God's word when we confess them . Having The Holy Bible in various versions and translations, different colors and in different sizes is not at all a matter. To confess it out, we've to store it as a treasure in our hearts. Start storing and be blessed.

Link to my previous posts

http://www.wordoffaithforum.com/

You can read all my posts in the above mentioned forum. I hope that would be useful. May God bless!!!

P.S: When I find enough time, I would post the major topics here.

No other hand of grace!!!

My help cometh from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. Psalms 121 : 2

Good morning to you all in the name of our Living Lord, Jesus Christ.

Many times in our lives, we might have came across helps from someone whom we don't even know. We might have wondered how this happened... Let us see such an incident below.

George Mueller, a man of God started an orphanage for children. He prayed to the Lord that He should take care of all the children's needs. He too prayed that the Lord should not let him looking for help from men. One day the caretaker came and told him that there was nothing to give the children in the morning. Mueller asked him to let the children for dining and just went to pray. He prayed a lot to the Lord. And then he went to the dining hall. All the children were waiting for breakfast. One man came and told that He had a vision on the previous night in which Jesus told him to prepare fresh breads for this orphanage and so he brought fresh breads for the children. One more man came and told that while he was on the way to deliver milk to his customers, the van got repaired.. And as it would take more time to recover, the milk might be spoiled. He saw the orphanage near by and brought milk to the entire orphanage.

Thus the faith of George Mueller was honored by our Lord. Was it not amazing? Similarly, the Lord is helping us in whatever we need. We need not ask help from anyone. But He knows when, how and by whom He could help us... Yes, the Lord who created us can help us at the right time and in the right way. Our Lord loves to honor our faith. How sweet He is and how great His grace is!!!!