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Prayer Being Our Basic Christian Right --Watch CeCe Winans Music Video
Watch CeCe Winans Music Video -- Pray
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bible Verses ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Matt 7:7-8 Ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall
find; knock and it shall be opened to you. For every one
who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who
knocks it shall be opened.
James 4:2 ...You do not have because you do not ask.
Mark 11:22, 24 And Jesus answered and said to them, Have faith in
God. For this reason I say to you, All things that you
pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and you
will have them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Words of Ministry ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After a brother was saved, he prayed every day. One day a
sister asked him, “Has God ever listened to your prayer?” He
was surprised. He began to consider how many of his prayers
were answered. He discovered that his prayers were quite vague
and capricious. It did not matter whether God answered them,
and it did not matter whether God ignored them. They were like
prayers to God for the sun to rise the next day; the sun would
rise whether or not he prayed. He could not pinpoint what he
had asked for. This amounted to not having asked for anything at all.
God wants to know what you specifically want and what you
specifically are asking for. Only then can He give it to you.
Hence, to ask means to demand something specific. We have to
ask. This is what it means to seek and to knock. If you go to
a pharmacy for medicine, you must say exactly what medicine
you want. This is why the Lord says that we need to ask and
ask specifically. The problem with us is that we do not ask.
You must learn to be specific with your prayer. You should
know when God has answered your prayers and when He has not
answered your prayers. If prayers are empty when needs are
specific, one cannot expect any solution for the problem. Only
specific prayers can deal with specific problems.
A condition on the positive side for having prayer answered is
faith. Faith is indispensable. Without faith, prayer is
ineffectual. We must believe when we pray. If we believe that
we have received what we are praying for, we will have them.
The Lord said, “Believe that you have received them, and you
will have them.” He did not say, “Believe that you will
receive them” but, “Believe that you have received them.”
Christians often make the mistake of separating believe from
its predicate you have received. They place it before the
expression you will have them. They pray to the Lord thinking
that it is a matter of great faith to “believe...and you will
have them.” However, this is to move believe away from you
have received and to place it before you will have them. The
Bible says that we should believe that we have received, not
that we will receive. The two are definitely not the same.
What is faith? Faith is the assurance that God has answered
our prayer. It is not the conviction that God will answer our
prayer. Faith is when we kneel down to pray and say in an
instant, “Thank God! He has answered my prayer.
Thank God! This matter is settled.”
This is to believe that we have received.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible
and Words of Ministry, from Watchman Nee, Messages for
Building Up New Believers, pp. 150-152. Both are published by
Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. (Repeat 10/12/99)
Please visit us at www.emanna.com
Comments to: comment@emanna.com.
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