Making Prayers More Effective

[Word of Life]

God bless you all?

Making Prayers More Effective
By: Clarion-call

I used to think that praying was asking God for things. I never really analyzed how I pictured God, but I guess it must have been like someone who sat in front of a keyboard that had two buttons. The buttons were labeled "Yes" and "No." God indiscriminately pressed one or the other. Or perhaps it was like when kids go visit the Santa in department stores and give him their "wish list." On Christmas morning they may find what they asked for under the Christmas tree and sometimes something else is there.

Some time ago I felt the need to do a study on how the Bible says to pray. I was concerned because I felt like my prayers were being unanswered. I divided prayer up into different parts. I even put together a web page on how the Bible says to pray. I figured I had the process called "prayer" down pat. HA!

I have since updated my prayer page (see Below) to include many of the things I have since discovered about effective prayer. If you want to improve your prayer life then go read the prayer page (the link is on the banner below) and come back and finish this. That page provides the basics. Back here in my prayer closet I will go into much more detail about how I learned to listen and then how to follow through on the plans the Lord laid out for me.

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Prayer Making your prayers as effective as possible
By: Clarion-call
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Does God hear my prayers?

"But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him." Ps 4:3

When can I pray? "Pray without ceasing." 1Thess 5:17

Where can I pray? "I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting." 1Tim 2:8

What words do I need to use when I pray? "....Verily, verily, I [Jesus] say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my [Jesus'] name, he will give it you." John 16:23

What if I can't put my prayer into words? "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God." Rom 8:26-27

How should I pray? "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Heb 4:16


On January 29, 1998 I finally learned how to pray. The funny (or sad) thing is, I already knew how to pray!!! I had done extensive study on how to pray. My HEAD knew how to pray. My heart was the one who was being left out! I finally learned how to listen to God!

I always knew in my head that God loved me. I never really experienced God's love. Oh what a wonderful feeling! I had placed God and all His attributes in a box made of my own understanding. As a result I had put myself in a box and called it "the universe according to Kay." What a fool I was! I have found the door and have looked out and I have seen a whole new world out there which is still only a small portion of what God has for me.

God loves you, too. He loves you with the same HUGE AND WONDERFUL love I experienced. Seek that love. The five parts of prayer I have listed below are still valid, but I have placed extra emphasis on the listen part. God revealed to me that He is close and reachable. He is right here with me! I used to send my prayers in a general upward and outward direction hoping those "helium prayer balloons" would find their way to heaven. Now I know that God is in the same room with me. What a difference! Hallelujah!!!
The Five Parts of Prayer

1.

Praise If God inhabits (lives in) praise then I, for one, want to start my prayers with praise! Let me tell you, God not only inhabits praise, He is reachable and closer than you can imagine. He is right there with you. Tell Him how much you love him. He wants your praise!

On 1/5/99 God told me something that I want to share with you. He said, "Praise! Praise! Praise! Fill the skies with praise! Let it run off your lips! Fill the air! Continuous praise! There's not enough praise!"

Ahh, ladies and gentlemen, there is POWER in praise! Look at Psalm 149:6-9. In 2Chronicles 20:21-22 the Bible gives us an example of how a battle was won with praise alone! The Israelite soldiers FOLLOWED the praise singers to battle! Think about it

"But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Ps 22:3

"To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee forever." Ps 30:12

"I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth." Ps 34:1

"For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods." (In case you are wondering-the next verse shows "gods" to be idols.) Ps 96:4

2.

Thanks We have things to thank God for before asking for more! Even if things are not going well we have the assurance that even they will eventually turn out good according to Romans 8:28! We have to trust Him. We need to thank Him for everything. We can think of things to thank Him for if we try!

"In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." 1Thess 5:18

3.

Forgiveness You and I have been forgiven a large number of things by our Father in heaven. He is glad to forgive us, so we should be glad to forgive others for what they have done. Plus, we need to continually ask forgiveness because even bad thoughts are considered sin and need to be forgiven. (I imagine we all have a thought or two that are less than pure--especially when some Sweet Petunia cuts us off on the freeway!)

We will need less forgiveness if we keep in mind that everyone we see is a creation of God's. Are we going to be the ones to say that God messed up? We need to look at each person through God's eyes. We are ALL much less than perfect!

"If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:" Ps 66:18
"And when ye stand praying, forgive, and if ye have aught against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses." Mark 11:25-26
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1Jo 1:9

4.

Asking According to 1John 3:22 in order to receive the things we ask we need to keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. Verse 23 tells us His commandment is we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. If we are not receiving answers to our prayers then we obviously need to dive deeper into the Bible and get our thoughts and prayers more in line with God's will.

"My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up." Ps 5:3 "
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer." Ps 19:14
"Give ear, O LORD, unto my prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplications." Ps 86:6 "
But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, with men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." Matt 19:26

5.

Listening Listen for the answers to your prayers. Listen for other things God wants to tell you. "Wait on the LORD: be of good courage and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD." Psalm 27:14 Wait can mean wait a minute, wait till tomorrow, wait for a few years. God will reveal things to you in His time. He knows what you need and also knows when to give it to you.

When you are praying leave plenty of time to wait on God to speak to your heart. Imagine Him to be in the same room with you (because He is!) When Jesus died the curtain to the Holy of Holies was split by God from top to bottom so we could enter into that holy place and be with God! Be open to the thoughts you have while listening.

I have found that having pen and paper in hand is valuable to me. My memory is like a sieve- -some things drain right out. I can't remember everything He says. I enjoy going back over the things God revealed to me. If you don't feel God speaking to you, open your Bible. The Bible is God's Word and will speak to you. Then listen and wait for Him to speak to your heart. It is sure worth the wait!

There is a warning I must give you, however. . .if what you feel is the voice of God does not line up with the Bible then it isn't God. The enemy can disguise himself in order to fool you. 2Cor 11:13-15 warns us: "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan (Arch enemy of Good) himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works."

In case you are of the belief that God no longer speaks to us since we have everything He wants to say in the Bible I would like you to think about a few things. How do you know what the Bible is saying unless God speaks to you and reveals it to you? 1John 2:27 tells us the anointing of the Holy Spirit teaches us...the Holy Spirit is God. If God gives you a certain scripture that is significant to you, how do you know He did? How does Satan (Arch enemy of Good) get people to do bad things or get you to take your mind off the Lord without speaking to you? If Satan (Arch enemy of Good) speaks to you, why wouldn't God? You may have said that God laid someone on your heart or that God provided you with something. . .how do you know?

Enjoy visiting with God. You and He both will be thrilled!

"Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus" Heb 10:19 "
See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven" Heb 12:25
"Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah."
Ps 4:4

How Should You Pray?

I've been noticing that different people pray in different ways. Some people are wonderful at praying for people they don't know off of a prayer list. Some people are great at praying for large things, like cities and governments. Other people feel led to pray for their church and/or their neighborhood. There are many different ways to pray.

Don't EVER let anyone tell you that you pray wrong!! Prayer is nothing more than communication between you and God. Allow God to show you how to pray. Allow the Bible to show you how to pray. God knows what areas need prayer. God has commissioned you to pray for certain things in a certain way. Obviously, no one person can pray for all things. If we all allowed God to be in control of our prayer life then there would be a huge increase in the number of answered prayers.

The Body of Christ has many members and each of those is unique. Each of those is filling a unique place and has been given unique gifts. When some of those members don't do the job God has given them then the Body suffers. When we don't pray in the way God shows us (or we try to imitate the prayer of someone else) then our portion is not getting done.

God will show you how He wants you to pray. Keep asking Him to let you know if there is something you should be doing differently. When someone pops into your mind, pray for them. When a concern pops into your mind, pray for it. God will tell you what and how to pray.

Often I have wondered if I am praying wrong. There are times when I just don't know what to say. It is frustrating. I sometimes feel like I am falling down on the job or that I am disappointing God. I read where miraculous things occur when other people pray and I wonder if I am using the wrong words, don't have enough faith, or am doing something wrong. I've heard people teach on what words to use. Some of those directions on how to pray conflict with other people's idea on how we should pray.

Here's something that God showed me:-

There are no tricks to praying. He just wants us to talk with Him, share with Him, and listen to what He wants to say. He knows our needs. He isn't concerned with our performance, just our relationship with Him. He is only interested in us touching Him and Him touching us. We spend too much time striving and not enough time resting in Him.

So, when you are in your prayer closet and are starting to feel frustrated because you don't seem to be accomplishing much, just enjoy your Father's company. Prayer is all about relationship. He already knows the needs. If you don't tell Him about them it doesn't mean He won't take care of them. It isn't in the words you use, it's in your relationship with Him.

 

[Word of Life]

Learning How to Listen to God
By: Clarion-call

As I have stated, I was not sure that my prayers were making it to their destination. It was like sending up helium-filled balloons. You can only let them go and hope they get to their destination as they float up and away

One evening, when I was alone in the house, I decided to anoint all of the doorways of my house with oil and pray that everything in the house or any of the rooms would be pleasing to God. Some bad things had been taking place and I felt it was worth trying. After all, what could it hurt?

The next morning I woke up and felt very strange. I was highly uncomfortable. It was like I felt I needed to get out of the house to get relief from the confusion in my head. Hello!!! It hit me that I had prayed that only things pleasing to God be allowed in the house. ACK!! That meant I was not pleasing to God! Good grief! I had prayed myself right out of my own home!

I knew I had to spend time in prayer. There was nothing else I could do! The problem was, I didn't know what to pray. I had to do something, so I sat down and began with the parts of prayer I knew. I started with praise, gave thanks for answered prayer and other things, asked forgiveness for sins, and then I sat quietly wondering what I should pray. I began thumbing through my Bible. I prayed like I had never prayed before. I felt a connection this time. In the past I had felt like I was talking to a wall most of the time. This time it felt different for some reason. Perhaps it was because I wasn't sure of where I stood with God. Maybe it was because I couldn't solve my problem in any "normal" way. I don't know.

It was then I discovered how to listen. A scripture jumped out at me. It was Psalm 27:14, "Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD." I've had scripture become very meaningful in the past, but this was different. It REALLY jumped out at me. The word, "Wait," came into my head.

I have to back track for a moment before we go further. I had been seeking employment for a year. I had been praying about what type of job would be best for my family. I wasn't sure if I should make sure I found a job where I would be home when my youngest son got home from school, whether we could survive financially on a part-time paycheck, whether to continue seeking employment in the school district, and lots of other concerns.

One evening, at our church prayer service, I had a thought come in my head. It was as if someone had just finished speaking and I had the memory of a voice. It was, "If you had enough faith you would know that I will take care of your finances. I don't want you to get a job. I want you doing more things for me." I was a little confused because I didn't know where that thought originated. I couldn't figure out how I had come up with it and why. The scripture for that evening did mention faith, but we didn't discuss faith.

At the end of the message my pastor made the statement, "You need to have faith that God will take care of your finances." The funny thing was that, as I stated already, faith was not the subject of the message and jobs and finances weren't either.

I was about halfway home from church that evening (which was a 30 minute drive) when I realized I had the feeling there was someone else in the car with me. It wasn't just someone else. It was someone who loved me a lot and who was enjoying my company and enjoying listening to the radio with me as we drove along! Being the skeptic that I was, I wasn't sure what was happening to me. Now, back to my story.

After the word, "Wait," was impressed on my mind I began to get other thoughts. They weren't actually thoughts but, as it had happened to me at church, I had the feeling someone had just spoken to me and I had the memory of what had been said. I began to examine each thing to see if it was a thought that originated from my own head. In other words, were they coming from somewhere else or were they just my own thoughts?

I determined that they were not my own thoughts. Each one came again and again until I locked onto it. They were not things I would have thought on my own. They came gently, but persistently, until I acknowledged them.

Some of the things that I heard were: Put the Kingdom of God first, examine your motives and do things for God, if I am doing things for the Lord there will be people who don't understand, be more bold, bad things that happen are not from God, my mouth is for edification, share what God has given me, wait upon the Lord, Jesus bore not only my sins but my grief and pain and everything bad, God has wonderful things in store for me, "that was Me in the car with you," I AM close and reachable, you've been too skeptical, and lots more. The most wonderful thing of all was that He told me He loved me and I FELT IT! I felt His love for me wash over me. It was better than a cozy blanket on a cold day! It was absolutely breathtaking!

I knew the Bible said God loves me unconditionally. I knew a lot of things, such as how to pray. I knew I was supposed to listen. I knew all those things in my head, but they had never reached my heart! I never experienced God. It wasn't that He wasn't trying to touch me. It was that I wasn't really seeking Him. I didn't really know what I should expect. Nobody had told me I could FEEL His love or HEAR His voice! I had always been taught that my Bible contained the things that God had for me.

I guess the reason I had felt I prayed myself out of my own house, was that God knew I needed to get on my knees and meet Him face to face. I wouldn't have prayed so long and so hard had I not been as flustered as I was.

Looking back over my life, I saw times when God was speaking to me. I just hadn't paid attention. I have since learned that God speaks to different people in different ways. He knows what we can and can't handle and we can and can't understand. Some people receive visions, or pictures. God will come to each of us on an individual basis. He knows everything about us and knows what we need. He will meet us where we are. Our portion is to be seeking Him.

"And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." Luke 11:9-10

"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." Revelation 3:20

I realized that I had limited God. I had decided that my prayer life was as good as it was going to get. I had put God and all His attributes in a box. I decided what God could and would do. By putting God in a box I had only limited my own understanding. I had placed myself in the box and had isolated myself from God.

I then understood that my prayers were not supposed to go floating up toward Heaven. God is with me. He is in me. He is here all the time. He always hears me and understands me. I now speak to Him as I would to another person that would be sitting in the room with me. When I listen for His voice I listen inside myself because that is where the Holy Spirit resides.

Since that day (I refer to that experience as my "Big Wow") I have not heard as much all at once as that first time. However, I do hear from God on a fairly regular basis. I would hear more if I was a better listener. His "transmitter" is working fine. My "receiver" is faulty. I need to practice continuous listening. It is a never ending process. I keep praying that my thoughts become His thoughts. I want to be an open line to His heart so that the things I say and the things I do are directed by Him.

I am continuously praying that God show me what things in my life hinder my walk with Him. I don't want my human thoughts and opinions corrupting what He is saying to me. I will never be a perfect listener or a perfect pray-er, but I am always learning more.

My "learning how to listen" experience took place on January 29, 1998. That was about 25 years after I got saved. It was about 6 years after I did an intensive study on how to pray. All those years I could have been experiencing God face-to-face. Sheesh!

 

[Word of Life]

God Has Been Teaching Me
By: Clarion-call

As you could fathom from my "Learning How to Listen" experience I needed to revise my prayer life. I hadn't spent many long hours in prayer prior to that I'm sad to say. Well, it was like talking to a piece of furniture. How long can you keep that up before you get distracted or bored? The furniture doesn't respond and I couldn't hear God responding. I knew prayer was necessary because, in my head, I knew God could answer those prayers if He so chose. So, I continued throwing requests at him (preceded by praise and thanks and all the other "proper" things, of course) and didn't bother to listen because I never knew He would answer!

Now that I knew there was much more to praying I wanted even more! I tried to recreate the same prayer experience again and again. I would light the same candles and sit on the same spot on the same couch. Not much happened. God, in His wisdom, knew that if I did that every time and heard from Him then that would be the only way and place I would pray. That was not what He wanted. He wanted me to be talking to Him all the time and listening all the time.

After learning how to communicate with God He felt real to me and everything seemed different. I could look on other people with more love than I had before. I felt more confidence in the witnessing I did. I felt I could reach out and touch my Sunday School students with God's love. I was told by other people that they could see a change in me. Hallelujah!

He began to tell me to abide in Christ. He wanted me to learn more about Him. He wanted to use me, but I wasn't sure how.

I had known for a long time that I had a gift of discernment. I wasn't aware how extensive it was. I'd been very critical of people for a very long time. I noticed things they did and said that other people didn't see. I could often tell what was going through someone's mind by the look on their face, the tone in their voice, or by other things they did. My poor husband would roll his eyes when I told him things about people. He figured I had a great imagination. I didn't understand why I was the only one to notice those things.

God told me my gift of discernment was for edification of the body, not for my own personal use. So, in other words, I was supposed to use the discernments to pray for specific needs in a person's life, or to show me who might need encouragement, or in other ways that would edify. I was not to share what I saw with others just to have a topic of conversation. Now, ask me if it has been easy getting rid of that bad habit! Gee whiz, I'd been doing it most of my life! It's like trying to stop a locomotive going full speed!

The wonderful thing is that God not only tells me where He wants me to change, but He is with me each step of the journey. Not only that, but now I can feel His love. I want to change because He loves me. He constantly gives me encouragement and approval in many different ways.

I was asking God what areas in my life were needing to be changed and He was showing me. Most of the things that needed changing involved going through a process called, "Dying to Self." I describe my journey down that interesting road in section

 

[Word of Life]

Going Through the Process of Dying-to-Self
By: Clarion-call

"Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." Matthew 16:24
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." Romans 12:1

"For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." Romans 8:13-14

Ever since I can remember I have based my self worth on how other people view me. If people like me and love me then I am a valuable person. I have craved love and attention most, if not all, of my life.

This low self esteem caused me to spend my entire life developing ways to protect myself from hurt and ways to make myself look better in other people's eyes. I have felt a need to be as perfect as possible in as many ways as possible. I figured if I was perfect then nobody would be able to criticize me. I feared criticism because, to me, that meant somebody didn't like me.

In order for God to use me fully He needed to remove those things from my life. I also had to be willing to let them go. In order to be used by God it was and is necessary for me to be an empty vessel. I need to be empty of myself so that God can fill me up with Him. My thoughts need to become His thoughts. My opinions need to become His opinions.

I had to make the decision that I would allow the things in my life of which God didn't approve to be nailed to the cross. The problem is that whenever something gets nailed to the cross it feels like I am being nailed as well. In order to remove those things I need to be cut wide open and it feels like they are being ripped out of me. Then it feels like the wound lays open for a very long time. It is a very painful process.
However, once it is over it feels great! God always provides me with something better to take the place of what was removed.

I developed some talents over the years of which I was proud. I was a very good secretary, I was very organized, I was a good mom, I was a good wife, I was a good housekeeper, and many other things. I found out I wasn't as great as I thought I was. I started losing things in my terrific filing system. I got fired from a secretarial position and wasn't told why. I looked around and found that I was far from perfect in all the areas I prided myself on. It was devastating! I was crushed!

Then God started isolating me from my friends. I had relied on them to verify that I was a valuable person. God was trying to get me to look to Him for that verification. I was spinning in circles with no where to go. I was looking for anything that I could use to say that I was good at something and couldn't find anything.

Then I realized that God gave me all the talents I possess. He gave me the brain and the body that allow me to do things. It was only through Him that I was able to be good at anything. Without Him I was nothing. That was my first big dying-to-self episode.

I have since then continued to ask God to show me thing things in my life that need to go. He has. Then I have to ask Him to help me let go. I often squeal like a stuck pig and hang on tightly when it happens, but once it is over I can look back and see how much better off I am without that particular thing. I am more able to do the things God wants me to do because I have removed another human thing that gets in the way. Like I said, He then replaces what was removed with something even better or He takes what was good in the first place and slaps His personal seal of approval on it and gives it back better than before.

I have frequent relapses. It is easy to slide right back into bad habits that were so carefully developed over so many years! God is patient with me and never condemns me. He always forgives me when I repent. Hallelujah!

Dying-to-self is a never-ending process. I have to continually ask God to show me what needs to be removed in my life. I want to be used by Him. In order to be used I need to offer my body as a living sacrifice. It has to be acceptable to Him. I've had to come face to face with the fact that I must decrease so He can increase. I am learning how to deal with the fact that my feelings and my wants are not the most important things if I am to be used by God.

I've gone through some major changes in my life thanks to dying-to-self. Some take longer than others. Some are much more scary or painful than others. I have to take up my cross daily and be ready to nail whatever is necessary to that cross. Is it fun? Absolutely, positively, NO WAY! Is it worth it? You bet it is!

The more that time goes on and the more serious I get about my relationship with God the more He expects from me. Ultimately, He expects me to live for Him and not at all for myself. There are some other studies here at the Clarion Call that pertain to dying-to-self. They are "A Call to Holiness" and "Dying-to-Self Bible Studies."

 

[Word of Life]

Oh My Gosh, I'm a Prophet!
By: Clarion-call

If you are of the opinion that the gifts of the spirit are not for today, then stop right here. Pray for understanding. Find out what God thinks about it. After all, if God thinks one way and you think another who would be wrong, you or God? I've got a study on what the Bible says about it.

"And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues." 1Corinthians 12:28

I had read that verse many times and acknowledged those gifts in my head. I had never known anyone with the gift of healing, but felt it existed. I have a good friend who speaks in tongues and I attended a Bible study once where a group of women spoke in tongues. I knew I had a gift of discernment, even though I didn't see it listed here. I knew I had a gift of teaching.

I was aware of the jobs the Old Testament prophets had. I also knew that in the Old Testament it said if a prophet spoke wrong prophecy he was to die. Ah, I didn't want that gift. If I made a mistake I would die. Thank you, but NO!

I had met some people on the Internet that were Christians and had been corresponding with them. They were curious about the details of my experience where God told me He didn't want me getting a job. After much correspondence I learned about the differences between the Old and New Testament prophets. New Testament prophets were not under the "you must die" rule any more. They told me they had that gift and they felt I did, too.

They even sent me a prophecy that was supposedly from God for me. Whoop! Hang on! Stop the train! I'm not wasn't going to swallow that nonsense! I was just the pastor's secretary and a Sunday School teacher. I wasn't equipped to do any more than that, nor was I going to be gullible and swallow that prophecy they sent me. I put the prophecy on the back burner in my brain. I always test things against the Word when they don't sound quite right.

Welllllllll, during my "learning how to listen to God" experience the prophecy they had given me came true. It was as big as life. There was no mistaking it.

Then I began discovering some interesting things. Anyone can learn how to hear God. Not everyone "hears" Him in the same way. As I stated before, He meets you where you are. He will speak to you in whatever way you are spiritually able to hear. However, a prophet hears for others as well as for himself. God gives information about others to a prophet for the sole purpose of edification.

Sometimes the prophet is expected to just intercede with prayer for the individuals or the group that God revealed to him. Sometimes the prophet is supposed to go speak to the one(s) God mentioned. The main thing is that the job of a prophet is edification of the body of Christ.

God began revealing some things to me that required me to go into action in one way or another. I was given encouragement for some people. I was given some warnings for our church and pastor. There were different things at different times. So, even though I was sure I was not equipped for any heavy-duty type ministry it turns out God thought otherwise.

(It seems mostly God shows me what He desires as it pertains to the Body of Christ or to an entire church or church leaders. It's OK if you want to write to me and ask me what God tells me about you, but I probably won't be able to answer you. It isn't very often that He speaks to me about an individual.)

You may want to know how I know for sure what I am hearing is God's voice. Well, that's where the dying-to-self process is helping. God is helping me to deal with opinions, habits, and other things that would hinder my hearing abilities. He is helping me to dump my opinions and to have His opinions. I am not always sure that what I hear is His voice. However, He is faithful to make sure I know. If I ask Him to help me know if it is from Him He will gently tell me again and again until I grab hold of it. He never crams anything into my head and nothing He says will ever contradict the Bible.

It is necessary for me to continue reading my Bible so I can be sure that what I hear does not contradict it. Perhaps that is why it took me so long to get to this stage of the game. Maybe God wanted to make sure I had gotten enough of His Word into my heart. Only He knows why He does things when and how He does things!

When God gives me something I need to find out what He wants me to do with it. Sometimes I am just to pray, sometimes I am to speak up, sometimes I need to take action, and other times I am just supposed to wait. There are so many things I don't know. I am praying for wisdom and understanding.

In April 1998 I discovered I had the gift of tongues. Now I can pray when I know prayer is needful, but I have no idea for what or whom I am to pray. I can just begin praying and know that the Holy Spirit is providing the words.

I feel many Christians are unable to be used by God because of the box in which they have tried to place God. They just cannot believe that it is possible to move a mountain with enough faith. They just cannot believe that God will speak verbally through a prophet. They have been taught by their parents or by their pastor what God can and cannot do. GOD CREATED THE UNIVERSE! Is there anything He can't do? Did God lose His voice? Is God asleep?

In my wildest dreams I would never have imagined the things I have experienced lately. I believe God is able to use me because I have tried to keep an open mind. I have tried to remember, "And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible." (Mark 10:27) I have also thought a lot about the scripture, "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding." (Proverbs 3:5) I have kept in mind that God said, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD." (Isaiah 55:8) I did not fully understand those scriptures. I had them in my head, however. Now God has been able to transfer them to my heart.

I am finding out that there are very few people that I know that understand what is happening in my life. There are a few that think I've jumped off the deep end. There are others that just don't want to listen. There are a few that understand. The unfortunate thing is that my pastor did not understand. He was in an uncomfortable position. He's the pastor of a Southern Baptist Church. It appears it is "against the rules" to believe in certain gifts. Sigh. I am no longer going to that church. There were other reasons as well that were factors in our leaving.

Since then we haven't really been able to find a church home. My poor family is not really sure what is going on. Sometimes a church we visit feels COLD and void of the Holy Spirit to me. Other times I hear pastors teaching things that are not in the Bible. Other times I sadly watch as they "play church" and don't even invite God to play with them! Other times God shows me what we wants done in a church and the leadership rejects it because "we've always done it the other way" or they look at me with a look that says, "you poor crazy thing, we already know what God wants and have been doing it that way."
Under other circumstances I would feel self conscious about what the Lord is doing in my life. I would feel it necessary to defend myself and what I am doing. However, I read something that really ministered to me. It said that God can defend His own reputation. In other words, if God tells me to say something I say it. I don't have to worry about what I said, even if it is about something that hasn't happened yet. It is only my job to say it. It is God's job to take care of the details. Plus, as it says in Acts 5:29, "Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men." I need to be obedient to God and not worry about what people think. Of course, many times it is easier said than done, especially if I resurrect those old feelings of low self-esteem!

Satan (arch enemy of Good) is trying to destroy any chance of my getting together with others with complimentary gifts. He is afraid of what control he will lose over people and over situations. It appears satan is afraid of the things a prophet can do to strengthen and build up the body of Christ! God, in His wisdom, put prophets in the churches to help the leaders determine His will. However, most pastors seem to be of the opinion that they are the only ones that know what God wants. (Here's some different viewpoints on the differences between prophet and pastor.)

I guess God feels I can handle the stress of being a prophet. Maybe that is why I've had so many trials throughout my life. I have come through many fires and haven't been burned to a crisp. I have been on a lifelong "learning how to be a prophet" process. So, here I am. As I exclaimed above, "Oh my gosh, I'm a Prophet!"

 

[Word of Life]

Growing in the Lord
By: Clarion-call

Good, you're still with me! Now I've come to the tail end of my story. Of course, this tail end continues on every day for the rest of my life.
I am still learning about what God has for me. Every once in a while God lets me know I am doing fine. He is revealing things to me a piece at a time.

I have been praying for understanding and wisdom. I have been praying to be used. I have been learning more and more about the Lord by reading my Bible. He has been opening my understanding about a lot of scriptures.

I am also praying that He reveal anything in my life that hinders my walk with Him. I don't want anything standing in the way of my being used by Him. In other words, I'm continuing the dying-to-self as I strive to be in His will 100% of the time.

The Lord has shown me quite a few important things. He has shown me that everything is all about love. Without love for God and for people I cannot be used by Him. Everything He wants me to do has to do with love. Without love I am unusable.

He has told me that He will teach me everything I need to know. I am spending as much time as I can in the Word and in prayer. Satan is throwing roadblocks into my path to try to keep my mind on other things. I am only temporarily sidetracked. I have my mind focused on the Lord. I am learning how to abide in Him. I am slowly but surely emptying myself of myself and filling myself with Him.

I want to be like Jesus. I want to love people with His heart and see people through His eyes. I am trying to be continually in touch through prayer. I am trying to ask His advice about everything. I am trying to speak words of which He would approve. Do I always succeed? No, not by a long shot. Does He condemn me for it? No, not at all. He just offers me His love and forgives my mistakes.
I sure do love Him!

I find it is very difficult to socialize with people who don't know the Lord. That is what I want to talk about and they don't want to hear it. Even my family gets tired of hearing me go on and on about Him. My mom thinks I'm crazy. My husband thinks I'm crazy. Thankfully, God has led me to some people with which I can discuss deeply spiritual things. It hurts to not be able to discuss these things with my family and have them support me and encourage me. Yet, I continue to have hope that they will come to that knowledge some day.

God has "graduated" me from hearing His voice in my head to more of a "knowing" His will. I'm guessing that He wanted me to know His will in a split second instead of waiting for it. So, I have to be even more careful as I go through each day to make sure that He and I are on the same page every single second of every single minute of every single hour.

Father, I pray for the person reading this. I pray that they might feel your love wash over them. I pray they might hear your voice. I pray they desire to know what your will is for their life and that they make the decision to let go of their life and allow you to have it. I pray they discover the gifts you have given them and allow those gifts to be used for the edification of the body. And Lord, thank you for using me.
In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

**************

God bless you all.

 

[Dispersion]

Thank u brother ^^

God bless u 2 =)