Posted on 09/27/2016 11:57:35 AM PDT by metmom
"With all prayer and petition pray at all times" (Eph. 6:18).
Make prayer an ongoing part of your day.
As important as prayer is to your Christian life, you might expect Paul to list it as another piece of spiritual armor, but he doesn't. Instead, he makes it all-pervasive by instructing us to pray at all times. That's our spiritual lifeline—the air our spirits breathe. The effectiveness of each piece of armor is directly related to the quality of our prayers.
We see the importance of prayer throughout the New Testament. Jesus instructed His disciples to be on the alert at all times, praying so that they would have strength to face the trials and temptations that lie ahead (Luke 21:36). The apostles devoted themselves to prayer (Acts 6:4), as did godly people like Cornelius (Acts 10:2). Every Christian is to be continually devoted to prayer (Rom. 12:12).
In Philippians 4:6 Paul says, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." He told the Thessalonians to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17) and instructed men everywhere to "pray, lifting up holy hands" (1 Tim. 2:8).
Jesus and Paul not only exhorted believers to pray, but also modeled diligent prayer in their own lives. Jesus often went for extended periods of time alone to pray. Paul wrote often of his own fervent prayers on behalf of others (cf. Col. 1:9; Philem. 4).
As a child, you may have been taught that prayer is reserved for mealtimes, bedtime, or church services. That's a common misconception many children carry into their adult years. But believers are to be in constant communication with God, which is simply the overflow of seeing all of life from His perspective. Just as you would discuss your everyday experiences and feelings with a close friend, so you're to discuss them with God.
God loves you and wants to share your every joy, sorrow, victory, and defeat. Be conscious of His presence today and take advantage of the sweet communion He offers.
Suggestions for Prayer
Thank God that He's always available to hear your prayers. Ask Him to give you a desire to commune with Him more faithfully.
For Further Study
What do these verses say about the most appropriate times for prayer: Psalm 55:16-17, Daniel 6:10, Luke 6:12, and 1 Timothy 5:5?
I remember about your daughter. I am not sure I remember the rest. You have my deepest prayers and sympathy.
We are told that we will have sorrows in this world. And we do. Some of us more than others it seems. But the Lord is sovereign and is always at work to make His children more into His image. Only He knows how to do this best. We don’t. We can’t. As you said, “He is the answer”. To any question.
When my beloved husband suddenly died just over 2 yrs ago, and due to God’s ordained circumstances, I lost my house and had no way to pay rent or mortgage, He provided. In a miraculous way. But most of all, my faith was increased and I saw His face in ways I could not imagine. If I could go back and bring my husband back, but would have to go back to the same level of faith, I would not.
Pleasant for us, or extremely sorrowful and hard,
“Jesus doeth all things well”.
It wasn't God's will to heal him and He told him so.
So now you're saying God's will might have something to do with how a prayer is answered.
That's quite a bit of a change in your previous position. (bold emphasis mine)
When you pray and are thinking in the back of your mind, "What if they don't get healed?", you may have a faith problem. You can't please God without faith.
You just busted the whole "name it and claim it" false gospel.
Selah!
Yeah, I really should go with my liver shivers instead.
Busted.
God is sovereign and has His will and purpose and when our prayers line up with that, He will answer them the way we expect.
But some people just can’t manage to let God be God. They have to tell HIM what to do and how it should fall out.
That’s pretty gutsy if you ask me.
You shall obtain all you ask of Me by the recitation of the Rosary. http://www.fatima.org/essentials/requests/promises.asp
The difference in the prosperity gospel and fatima is the fallback position of the prosperity gospel that has been espoused here "your faith isn't strong enough". This is the convenient answer when the prayer isn't answered.
The prosperity gospel has shown to be in error when confronted with the truth.
Fatima's promise is a cart blanch promise.
Both are false doctrines.
If either of these were scriptural, we'd never have a sick or poor pentecostal or catholic.
Note also who the catholic is pledging to serve in this false promise:
Whoever shall faithfully serve Me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces.
My late husband was a golfer and bass fisherman. We sold his bass fishing boat to the friend who helped build it. We were going through it and discovered D had crutches in it to help him get out of the boat. There is no way on earth that he would have wanted to live that way. It was all he could do to walk from the bedroom to the rest of the house. Wow. I am sitting in my glider on my patio and just smelled the cologne he used! What is going on?
Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
And not good enough for many so-called *Christians* either.
And about Job,....Read Job 32:1. Now let that sink in for a minute. Then start to read about Elihu from there to the end of the book, paying particular attention to 34:36-37. Now Job 38:1, The Lord speaks to Job from a whirlwind. Go to the end of the book while God lectures Job. The point of the story was Job THOUGHT he was righteous. His friends THOUGHT he was righteous. But God didn't like it. God is righteous. There is none good, no not one.
I teach Sunday school and have for over 20 years. I have home Bible study every week in my home for others that want to come. You know absolutely NOTHING about me and my life yet you make judgements about me on a keyboard 1000 miles away.
No one is forcing you to speak in tongues, but I was just defending those that do.
Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven.
6And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language.
7They were amazed and astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
8“And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born?
9“Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,
11Cretans and Arabs—we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.” Acts 2:5-11 NASB
Which language do you speak?
It's not "name it and claim it" but rather say it in faith. If you lack faith, don't bother to pray. Maybe a prayer like, "Lord, increase our faith" might fit closer. Then watch for God to increase your faith. He could even heal the person instantly to increase your faith.
Let me ask, just a hypothetical question. If a loved one, say a spouse or daughter, died in front of you. Would you pray over her, "Rise up, in the name of Jesus!" or would you just weep as the coroner carried her off? Would you be embarrassed that someone might hear you? Do you believe the Bible or not? The same Spirit in Paul is in you. That is a measure of faith to study on before you are tested. Remember all you need is a mustard seed of faith.
Many people I talk to SAY they have faith, but rarely show any. I've even spoken to pastors praying for sick people in their flock and told them my testimony of my mother in law, and they replied, "I don't believe in that." I asked, why are you bothering to pray if you don't believe. It's the same with me. I tell of things I have seen and done, in person, and they don't believe, yet go to church and pretend they are praying for whatever they have a need for. Then they wonder why their prayers are never answered. I literally have 100's of stories of answered prayers, literal miracles, but people here seem angry at me, or think I'm weird, or a liar, or a fool. When the deaf were healed and the lame made to walk, Jesus told them "Go and tell NO ONE!" What did they do? I'm the same. I just want people to know what I have seen with my own eyes. We are supposed to gather together, especially in the Last Days, to speak of our Testimony. My testimony should edify people, not make them angry. It makes me wonder what spirit is inside them to do such a thing.
There's the pot calling the kettle black.
Weren't you the one passing judgment a few posts back about why someone else wasn't seeing answer to prayer?
Yeppers.
It's there in black and white for all to see.
Tongues can be faked and the Enemy can imitate it.
The languages that were spoken on the day of Pentecost were known earthly languages, not the gibberish that passes for speaking in tongues these days.
And I do know that it's virtually fruitless to tell someone who has had an experience of some kind that maybe it's not of God or genuine after all.
They know what they know and they experienced what they experienced and NOBODY can tell them otherwise, even with their theology does not line up with Scripture.
And the gibberish passed off as tongues today is the perfect example. The whole movement is unscritpural begging to end and we've posted Scripture already showing why.
Apparently it is falling on deaf ears.
No one is forcing you to speak in tongues, but I was just defending those that do.
Nonsense. You said back in a previous post that one of the reasons for unanswered prayer is not being filled with the Holy Spirit. That's not merely *defending those who do.*
It IS trying to coerce someone into it.
HELLO!!
That's "Name it and claim it."
You can claim you are not Pentecostal all you want but you clearly advocate for the prosperity gospel and pentecostalism.
You actions are speaking far louder than your words.
You have one of the most prideful, judgmental spirit I've seen in a long time. You have no business telling others they don't have enough faith because things don't fall out the way YOU think they should.
You DON'T know that and you CAN'T know that.
And then you have the nerve to chastise others because they don't know you and yet you have been doing that very thing yourself on this very thread.
That's called *hypocrisy.*
Also, God never told us that our words have creative power as His do. That's another false gospel teaching.
It IS trying to coerce someone into it.
I attended a Pentecostal church in Del Rio, by golly, Texas. I was a relatively new Christian, but had been well grounded in the word by the Navigators. There were some really fine Christian people there, but I had some profound disagreements about the so called spiritual gifts, (mostly tongues) I felt extremely uncomfortable, and since I knew God is not the author of confusion, I hit the road.
I was far more interested in evangelism than I was about different gifts.
Of course Paul said (1 Cor 12:31) But desire earnestly the greater gifts. And moreover a most excellent way show I unto you. From the Navigator's version. 😀😆(ASV). I prefer the most excellent way, with a heathy dose of evangelism. I just compare ministries. How many unregenerate sinners are being won to the Lord, using the most excellent way?
The whole tongues thing is so messed up.
We’re not to seek tongues and yet I know people by the score who seek for it.
It’s sign for unbelievers, not believers and yet Pentecostals tell others it shows that you’ve been filled with the Holy Spirit.
They claim everyone is supposed to have it and yet Scripture tells us that the SPIRIT gives them individually as HE wills.
They look to it to build themselves up and yet the gifts are given to build up the body. I actually had someone tell me that, yes but when they are built up as an individual, it IS building the body.
They tell us that it’s a *heavenly language* of which there is no reference in Scripture. On the contrary, tongues at Pentecost was known human languages.
They claim it makes prayer more powerful but in James what we are told makes prayer more powerful is righteousness.
There are so many claims about it that cannot be supported with Scripture but are all based on opinion and experience.
some people claim it’s necessary for casting out some demons when praying in English doesn’t work, but Jesus said that the tougher to cast out demons needed prayer and fasting. He never told anyone to speak in tongues to cast out demons.
The whole tongues thing is fraught with error from one end to the other.
And Jesus healed when the recipient had NO or little faith and wasn't even expecting to be healed. At least you acknowledge God heals in His own time - and that time just might be when we finally get to heaven and receive our incorruptible, immortal, glorified bodies. It is destructive to fellow believers to blame them for why their prayers for healing or finances or whatever aren't always answered. Certainly, we should pray in faith with our hearts free from sinful living, but just because God delays answering our prayer or His answer is no, it doesn't mean our faith is absent.
When someone states that all gifts from GOD are supernatural and that you are not getting something from GOD if it is not supernatural, it does not good to show them the Word of GOD tells us that every good thing, like warm sunshine, cool water on a hot day, Spring rains for planted food crops, the smiles and love of happy children, and the companionship of our family pets are GIFTS FROM GOD. Their minds are shut off from reasoning things through because they have been snared by their 'experiences' which are so easily deceptions which they have no discerning spirit to detect!... And when the 'experiences' don't happen for 'some reason', their faith in God's Grace in Christ Jesus wanes quickly.
Are there real miracles? Oh yes! I have been blessed by such. BUT my faith in HIM is not founded in the gibmedat causemyfaithispure mentality. THAT would mean GOD is a respecter of persons. A sure sign that the experiencers are being deceived is the growing arrogance of their proclamations, the haughty airs of their assertions toward those they accuse of sagging faith that their god will not honor.
You're kidding...right? You're arguing like the catholic with the redefining of terms.
Let me ask, just a hypothetical question. If a loved one, say a spouse or daughter, died in front of you. Would you pray over her, "Rise up, in the name of Jesus!" or would you just weep as the coroner carried her off? Would you be embarrassed that someone might hear you? Do you believe the Bible or not?
By your logic(?)no one will ever die or be poor which is in contradiction of what we see in the NT. That is the fallacy of your position. Short of the rapture we will all die at some point in this life.
The same Spirit in Paul is in you. That is a measure of faith to study on before you are tested. Remember all you need is a mustard seed of faith.
This is the same Paul who asked to be healed three times and was told no. Are you saying he didn't have the faith of a mustard seed????
This is the same Paul who you said was told no because it was not God's will for him to be healed. Which, so far, is about the only thing you've said that's made any sense.
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