Tag: #prayer

EPISODE 89 — BUILDING A RELATIONSHIP BY PRAYER

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO VERSION: https://rumble.com/v4sl08c-god-focus-this-morning-episode-89-buidling-a-realationship-by-prayer.html

WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode is: “Building A Relationship By Prayer”

As God’s children, we should have joy. We have every reason to walk out our faith walk with joy. Life throws us some hard and hurtful things at times. But in the times of our deepest despair, we can have joy in our hearts that God is with us. He will answer when we call in times of trouble.

Psalm 5:11-12 But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee. 12 For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.

I have been thinking about all the different stories in the bible that we use for inspiration. Daniel in the lion’s den, the three Hebrew men in the fiery furnace, David and Goliath and don’t forget Elijah calling fire down from heaven.

All of these miracles were preceded by a strong prayer life. Daniel was thrown in the lion’s den for praying. Each of these miracles happened because of the relationships these people had with God. They all had put in the prayer time and had gotten to know God in an intimate way.

If we ever expect receive anything from God, we have to work on our relationship with Him. Not for what He can do for us, but because we desire a deeper faith walk. Our relationship will grow as we create a time of prayer and fellowship.

Think of the old saying about the man that took a chisel and hammer and tried to break a rock in half. He hit the rock repeatedly, finally there was one last blow of the hammer that the chisel separated the rock into pieces. It wasn’t the final blow that broke the rock, but all the ones that had gone before including that final one.

Prayer is the same way. Do you think that God would have answered on top of Mt. Carmel with fire, if Elijah had not built a relationship with God. If that was the first prayer he ever prayed. It is highly unlikely, because the prophets of Baal would have never been in that challenge with Him.

The enemy knows when you have been with God. He knows if you have been with Jesus. Just like Moses came off of the mountain, he had to put a veil over his face because the people couldn’t stand to look at him.

The reason some people do not like to be around Christians is that the Spirit of God in them, makes their demons nervous. They will know that you have spent time with God, because like Moses you will be shining with God’s light.

Building our faith and strength as believers starts with a healthy prayer life. There is power in prayer. My grandfather always said, little prayer equals little power. We need great overcoming power. It stands to reason, the body of Christ needs to amp up our prayer life, me included.

Ps 55:1 Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication.

Many verses in Psalms are similar to the above verse. David often felt unworthy of God’s attention. It is easier to fall than to get back up. David felt like God was going to give up on him.

God will not give up on us if we are sincere and wanting to grow. He will help to pick us up when we fall, if we ask Him to help.

BEFORE I GO, A QUICK REMINDER: Today is the National Day of Prayer. Take time today to slow down and find a quiet place to talk to God. Our country needs our prayers today more than ever before for good to triumph over evil. Ask God to pull down the evil leaders and set up righteous ones.

Pray for the hurting and the children of the world that are being trafficked for its even hard for me to imagine, for sacrifice to false gods, medical experimentation and evil sexual desires of evil people. God help set the children free.

I want you to know that I will be praying for all of you to be strong against evil. Let your light shine and hope arise in your heart. God is still on the throne and He will take care of it all, If we pray.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 88 –LITTLE PRAYER = LITTLE POWER

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

THE TITLE OF TODAY’S EPISODE “LITTLE PRAYER EQUALS LITTLE POWER”

Thursday, May 2, 2024, is the National Day of Prayer. This year’s theme is “Lift Up The World, Light Up The World.”

The theme verses are 2 Sam. 22:29-31 For thou art my lamp, O Lord: and the Lord will lighten my darkness. 30 For by thee I have run through a troop: by my God have I leaped over a wall. 31 As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him.

It is based on the idea that God’s word is a lamp and lights up the darkness and provides guidance and strength to those who take refuge in Him.

The information about the National Day of Prayer can be found at www.nationaldayofprayer.org

I love the theme they chose; our world needs to be lifted up and lit up. Only by letting our light shine can we reach the lost.

I want to encourage you to make plans on Thursday to carve out a little extra time with God on the National Day of Prayer. Our country is in more need of prayer than ever before in our history since the civil war that ripped this country apart. We are in a different kind of war this time, not being fought with guns and cannons but with prayer. We are in a battle for the very soul of our nation.

Our country is divided not by north and south this time, but by good versus evil. Right verses wrong. Love verses hate. There are a lot of evil forces trying to tear this country apart. We have to unite it with God’s love. The only way this will happen is through prayer.

Prayer is a powerful tool in our arsenal against the enemy. Satan has taken over a lot of people and there is total darkness in them. This is why we need to let our light shine now more than ever.

God will give us light in this dark world. It is time we moved beyond saying a prayer to actually praying a prayer. What is the difference? Saying a prayer is a bunch of words directed to God. Praying a prayer is when we make a heart connection to God while we are petitioning him for our needs and those of others.

Then you have intercessors. God has given these people a gift to be able to connect to the throne room. It is their calling to be prayer warriors. They get down to the business of spiritual warfare on behalf of others. We all need to pray at whatever level we are at, as long as we are sincere and make a heart connection to God, He will hear us.

2 Chr 7:14 – 14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

This verse is the key to how we can get our land healed. We need to humble ourselves and pray. It says we need to seek his face and turn from our wicked ways.

It is time we search our lives to make sure there is nothing between us and God. Little things can creep in sometimes unaware. If we find that all is well, then we can reach out on behalf of our country and all the lost souls. People are hungry for God, but don’t know what they are wanting. It is up to us to show them what they need. It all starts with prayer.

Prov 15:29 The Lord is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.

God will always hear our prayers. He will always answer, but we need to pray according to His will. There are times we ask God for something, and it may seem like a good thing to us. But God knows what we have need of even before we ask. Sometimes he answers no, in order to give us a bigger and better yes.

Acts 6:4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.

If we are dedicated children of God, we will pray and study the word of God. As followers of Christ, we are supposed to go out and make disciples. How can we do that if we don’t pray and don’t know the word of God?

Matt 6:6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

God is wanting us to pray in the secret place. The Pharisees were big on praying for man’s attention. They would stand on the street and use big fancy words and eloquent speech in order to impress mankind. I have nothing against public prayer. I believe we do not do it enough. But if we pray in public it has to be with the right attitude and for the right reason.

God wants us to get in a quiet place where we can hear him speak to us too. We need to pray in a quiet, private place in order to enter into the secret place of communication with God.

I want to encourage you to make plans for Thursday to set aside extra time to pray for our country. America will be saved from the enemy if we humble ourselves and pray. God is the only one that can turn it around. He will if we do not give up, even if things appear worse for a while, God has us in the palm of his hand.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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LET PRAISE GO BEFORE YOU

Lazarus had died, the mourners were with the family. In a normal situation, this was the end. He had been buried. But Jesus came on the scene. He didn’t make a big production. Jesus asked that they roll away the stone that sealed the cave where Lazarus was placed. He simply said a prayer for the sake of the crowd that had gathered, then said, “Lazarus, come forth.” Soon, Lazarus came walking out of the tomb. He was still bound in his grave clothes and had his face covered with a napkin. It took others to set him free of his grave clothes.

To look at the modern church, one might say we were all but buried. Jesus is calling us to come forth. He is calling for the warriors to arise. He is calling for the army to be who we must be in this day. Every day, we need to put on our whole armor and go to battle. Satan is after the body of Christ. If he can keep us depressed and stressed, we cannot focus on our task.

Many are still bound by their grave clothes. It is up to us to help set them free. We can overcome and set them free if we get down to the business of serious prayer. The enemy is not going to be defeated with a ten-minute prayer in the morning and a ten-minute prayer at night. These are serious times, and it is going to take serious warriors.

Are you a prayer warrior? It doesn’t take any special skill to pray. It just takes an investment of prayer in a quiet place. The biggest enemy of a full prayer life is distraction. The enemy will do all he can to distract us. But we will not be defeated. We will overcome because the power of God is within us.

Take time to be an encourager, reaching out to someone struggling and helping them get free of the grave clothes of fear, anxiety, depression, distraction and being overly busy. We can win the battle if we go to fight. All God requires is for us to show up with worship and prayer.

I often use the story of Jehosophat. He was in a horrible predicament. He had three armies coming against him at one time. It looked like, in the natural there was no way he could win. But God told him to go out to fight and that the Lord would fight for them. Jehosophat sent his worshippers in the front to go before them with praise.

We can fight the enemy better, if we enter into God’s presence with praise and worship. This will get God’s attention and he will fight our battles. He only wants us to lean on Him.

2 Chr 20:15-18 And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s. 16 Tomorrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel. 17 Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them: for the Lord will be with you. 18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshipping the Lord.

I love this story because it shows how good our God is to deliver those who trust Him. We, too can trust Jesus to deliver us from the things the enemy has planned. We have to stand strong, stay in the word and pray like we have never prayed before now. It is almost time to march out against the enemy. Make sure you go to battle with your praise and worship in the forefront.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

BUILDING A HOUSE

Psalm 127 Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

I know, I hate to waste my time. Why would you waste your time building a house, that does not have any value? A contractor could invest a lot of time and money in building a house. Now imagine that house sitting on the market. No one is living in it; therefore, it has no value as shelter or comfort to anyone. The contractor cannot get a return on the investment to put in other projects. This is the worst-case scenario for a contractor.

Spiritually speaking, we can build all sorts of fancy buildings to have meetings in that we call church. But if the Lord is not in building the spiritual side of the house (church) it is worthless. True everlasting kingdom things will not be accomplished. People will only be full of coffee from their coffee bar in the lobby. The church needs to be full of the Spirit of God. It is God that transforms lives.

How many times do we miss God’s instructions about how he wants us to build? Every good contractor will have a blueprint. Our Bible is our blueprint, it gives us instructions on how we need to build His house. Many natural houses get taken out by dry rot and termites. Our church can suffer from the decay of sin. Too, long we have allowed sin to creep into the church. Eating away at the foundation like termites. We have accepted things that are contrary to the word in the name of compassion and tolerance.

The church is not called to conform to the world. We are called to change it. If people’s lives were in good, solid shape they would not need God to remodel them like an old house. Eph 2:19-22 19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; 20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; 21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

We are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Jesus told Peter that he was a rock, and said, upon this rock, I will build my church. In other words, you have a solid grasp of what I want you to carry out in the world. You will be solid and not wishy, washy. I can trust you to be solid ground for people to build their understanding of the gospel.

Just like Jesus being the chief cornerstone of any congregation, we need him to be our personal spiritual cornerstone. Our personal lives need Jesus in the center. We too need a blueprint on which to build our lives. Again, that blueprint is the Word Of God, our Bible. The enemy has tried to alter the blueprints by changing them with a watered-down version of the word. Some of the “new” translations are severely inaccurate. If someone new to building came along and read some of these translations, they would be deceived and not build on a firm foundation. Then the house would suffer all sorts of issues from cracks in the walls to a total collapse.

Jesus spoke a parable of a wise man that built on a rock. When the storms of life came, it stood strong against the storms. But he also spoke of a foolish man that built on sand. When the storms came, his house fell. We never want to see anyone fall. It is up to us to get into our Bible and study the blueprint. Then we need to share our knowledge to help others build wisely.

I Cor 6:19- 19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? This is a reminder that we are the house in which God dwells. We can trust him because he is a master craftsman. He not only built each one of us as unique individuals, but he created the heavens and the earth. We are so individually designed that we all fit together perfectly to make the beautiful bride that Jesus will return to receive one day soon.

JUDE 17-21 ¹⁷But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; ¹⁸How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. ¹⁹These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. ²⁰But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, ²¹Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

Do not let your labor be in vain; allow God to build your house. He wants to talk to you. Spend time in prayer, building up your most holy faith. I promise you He will keep you on track if He is your chief cornerstone.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS