Video Journal: Praying by Faith

"And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words."                     ~Matthew 6:7

We're supposed to pray on earth as it is in heaven.  There's an assurance there!  If praying for others doesn't get you excited, then you're probably not praying by faith.  Heartfelt prayer shifts things on earth into the realities of heaven!  I think that's something to get excited about.

If we're praying by faith, we'll be more concerned with the aftereffects of our prayers than with the length of them.  We'll pray anticipating what God will do.  We'll say the words He wants us to say, and then know that we're praying for something that He's already set His heart on doing.  This is a place of resting in faith.

If we're praying by faith, we'll even try to shorten our prayers so that we can more quickly see God's answer!  Remember that God moved on behalf of Abraham even before his servant could even finish praying. (Gen. 24)  God knows the need.  If we pray by faith, we'll get out of the way as fast as possible and just let the Holy Spirit work!

*Note: this post is talking about prayer in the context of praying for others, particularly for healing, deliverance, salvation, etc.  There is a place for lengthy prayers--generally when you're praying in secret, praying for your own spiritual growth, or prophesying

Video Journal: Power in The Hands

"Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle."
Psalm 144:1

When God compels us to pray, we need to accept His gift of faith.  We need to accept His power. We need to expect His love, and we need to expect from that a powerful manifestation.

God taught David how to overcome with His hands, and God is just the same today. We need to accept that God has overcome, and to believe for His will to flow down onto the earth.  We need the Holy Spirit, the Ruach Elohim, to teach us how to pray. (Luke 11:1)

Our faith is just a mirror-image of God's faith.  God's faith is the substance!  And we can conceptualize that faith really is a force when we use our hands to pray.

When our hands become controlled by the power of the Holy Spirit, that's when God takes over.

Praying with your hands, whether scanning with them, pushing with them, circling with them--whatever God calls you to do--might feel weird at first.  It's different!  God is different.  But praying and warring with your hands is worth it, because it's our calling to demonstrate the faith of God in action.

Will you Seek Him?

When things get hard, will you still seek God?  Will you put off all those distractions and the "sin that so easily entangles"?

God wants us to always pray and never give up.  God wants us to continue to search for Him, so that He may be found.  He wants us to find Him!

Do we really, really trust God?  Do we believe that He is who He says He is?

Let's forsake all, and just be with the Lord.  Let's experience His power and flow in His love.  Let's seek Him, because we believe He is good.

Let's make Jesus our hearts' delight, and look for Him even in those empty places.  God said that He'll never leave you nor forsake you.  Do you believe it?  Will you yield to the Holy Spirit within you that wants you to believe it?

Video Journal: Angelic Visitation

Regarding the angels, he says, "He sends his angels like the winds, his servants like flames of fire."
Hebrews 1:7

"Believe in the Lord your God and you shall be established; believe and remain steadfast to His prophets and you shall prosper."                                            2 Chronicles 20:20

Video Journal: Maintaining the Power and Maintaining the Testimony

Yesterday morning God spoke to me and said:

"I so desire to bless you today, Thomas, so maintain the power and maintain the testimony..."

We had a quieter day yesterday.  Sometimes that's the hardest!  When there's nothing exciting going on ..that's when you need the Holy Spirit to keep you in God's presence.  That's when you need to have Jesus by your side continually.

Even when we aren't 'ministering' to anybody, even when we aren't 'doing' all sorts of cool stuff for Jesus, He still so desires to bless us.  And we allow Him to bless us by maintaining in our spirits the wonderful things He's done in the past. We stay uplifted this way!

"And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him."          Colossians 3:17

We need to do it all for the glory of God.  That's when we can be blessed in our coming in and blessed in our going out (Deuteronomy 28:6).

Sometimes it's easy to forget.  Sometimes we forget to draw near to God.  But He can keep us in a better place.  God wants us to always be maintaining in our minds and spirits His power and His testimonies--God doesn't want us to become so bogged down in the present that we forget about the past.

God so desires to bless us.  He wants to take us from glory to glory.

Video Journal: Feet Healings in Springfield

The past two days have been awesome!  We've been hanging out with some great people...and having a great time!  God's been providing opportunities to display His love and His glory.

"And God confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever he chose."                     Hebrews 2:4

Our friend Rob shares his side of the story here:

God is good!  It's a joy to see His power at work, and it's a joy to see His love change things.  

Video Journal: Interceding by Faith

"Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up"  Luke 18:1

"With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints"                                      Ephesians 6:18

When we pray in the Spirit, we will have the spiritual realm in view.  God will give us insight and show us how to pray.  The insight God gives will make us on the alert.  The insight God gives will be exciting.

God will give you the mind of Christ.  He'll show you how to pray and intercede by faith, so you can partner with Him on behalf of others.

Realize that everything God says can be accepted by faith.  Everything God does needs to be accepted by faith! You can think of faith as the force that opens the door to the next thing God has for you.

If intercession isn't a privilege, then you're not doing it from a heavenly perspective, nor by faith.  It wasn't fun for me for the longest time.  Intercession becomes a joy when you're praying for others and feeling God's love for them.  That's what it's all about!

When you're interceding with God, it's no longer a heavy burden.  Praying by faith produces tangible results.  If we as believers will just pray according to God's heart, then we'll see the faith of God shift things!  We'll see His hand line things up.  And most importantly, we'll see things on earth become as they are in Heaven.  We'll see the Kingdom of God surround our lives and situations.

Video Journal: Healed by Hearing the Word

"Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth."  

~Jesus in John 17:17

Praise God for those times when "the power of Yahweh is present to heal".  It's the greatest thing ever to be overshadowed by Him!

If we as Christians will speak the truth with faith and sincerity, then signs and wonders will follow! God wants to amaze people.  He wants to get us excited.  He wants to provide for us a platform from which we can tell others to go farther with God!

"So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."       ~ Romans 10:17

"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."           ~ John 8:32