68 Faithful Prayer Rewarded. 1Thessalonians 5;17

In this day of instant everything, we often expect God to jump, and instantly answer our requests, and if He doesn’t, we automatically presume He has turned us down. This is very often not the case. Especially when we know we are within God’s Will eg. when we are praying for the Salvation of a friend or family member. Scripture tells us that God desires all mankind to be saved, so we know we are praying in God’s Will, so what is the problem? Our sincerity and love for that person... How long are we prepared to storm Heavens gates for that one soul. During his lifetime, British evangelist George Muller prayed in millions of dollars to feed the orphans in His care. He didn’t believe in broadcasting his financial needs, yet he always had enough to pay the grocery bill – because God always supernaturally provided. However, Muller’s faith was stretched in other ways. For example he prayed regularly for a list of five men he earnestly desired to see won to Christ. After five years the first man gave his life to Jesus, the second and third after ten years, and the forth after twenty five-years, but here’s the clincher; Muller prayed for the fifth man’s conversation for a whopping fifty-two years, in fact the man made a profession of faith in Christ a few months after Muller’s funeral. Would you pray about something for fifty two years without some visible sign of an answer? You should, and you must! In Muller’s own words, ‘God delights to increase the faith of His children.’ We ought, instead of wanting no trials before victory and no exercise of patience, to be willing to take them from God’s hands as a means of pushing through. Trials, obstacles and difficulties and sometimes even defeats are the very food of faith. If you are praying and asking God, ‘Will You?’ His answer is ‘I will’ Psalm 91:15 tells us ‘He shall call upon me and I will answer him, I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honour him’ And in Jeremiah 33:3 God says ‘Call to me and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’ In (john 16:33) Observe these three things :- 1. Jesus never said that following Him would be easy. ‘In this world you will have tribulation.’ So when you attempt things for God, - expect difficulties and delays. When construction crews work on roads they sometimes put up signs (Orange cones) that mean EXPECT DELAYS The walk of Faith is littered with these signs. Abraham and Sarah waited twenty five years for Isaac to be born, So why do you think you should get an instant answer from God? 2. You must persevere to receive. Waiting is an uncomfortable concept for us. We are used to having everything “On Demand”. If someone tells us to wait, we find an app on our phone to speed up the process. But there’s no shortcut when it comes to perseverance. Sometimes Faith is painful because God is stretching our capacity to receive. So press through the pain – there’s gain on the other side! ‘Keep on asking and it will be given to you’(Matthew 7:7) 3. The end result of faith is larger territory. Twice after Isaac dug a well, the Philistines laid claim to the water. And he named the new well Rehoboth which means ‘a broad place’ (Genesis 26:18-22) Isaac kept on digging and when the brake through came, he declared ‘At last the Lord has made room for us and we will be fruitful in the land’. And the lesson Isaac learned is still part of our faith curriculum today. We must stretch our faith until there is no stretch left in it, and we must pray beyond all delays. Faith and perseverance go together. If you think you have the faith to believe for someone or something, a wise check to see if this is really what you want is, to ask yourself “How long am I prepared to pray for this. Then you will know just how important it is to you. It is your commitment to God, to people and your prayer for them that The Lord is looking for. So trust Him, He will answer your prayer in His perfect time Thank you for reading my thoughts on “keeping your communication with God open. That is our Hot-line to The Creator, The Saviour of Our Souls and the Souls of those we love. God Bless. Phaline .

67. Satan Wants To Stop You. 1Thessalonians 2:18.

The above Scripture by Paul says:-”We wanted to come to you, time and again but Satan hindered us” Have you ever noticed, whenever you want to spend time with God, that you invariably get hindered or interrupted? The phone rings, a child needs your attention or someone is at the door. It’s quite uncanny isn’t it? Well not really! Whenever you have an assignment from God or want to spend time with Him. Satan will repeatedly “Time and again” attack you, to stop you from achieving your goal. Observe these points (1) His attacks reveal that you are quite capable of accomplishing your goal. That’s why when you are down he wants to keep you there, he knows if you rise again, you will be stronger and more effective than ever. (2) He always attacks the birth of something significant in your life. It may even be the birth of your ministry, as with Jesus in the Wilderness temptation. Or the birth of your child of destiny, like the birth of Moses which initiated the killing of all the new born male babies in Egypt in an effort to stop the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt (3) He uses those closest to you as a gateway to your heart. In Matthew (10:36) Jesus said your enemies will be right in your own household. So what should you do? Pray for them. Your intercession is often the only covering they have. So pray daily for the Grace and Mercy of God to be downloaded into their hearts. Above all never forget that your attitude is more important than the adversity you are experiencing. Attacks pass, but your attitude, if bitter or demoralised, can grow into a root of bitterness that will poison everyday of your future. See (Hebrews 12:15) which says “See to it that no one falls short of the Grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” Your influence in God”s Kingdom can be determined by the attacks the enemy launches against you. So don”t get discouraged. Keep praying for yourself and your family. Sometimes Satan’s attacks are obvious. In the Old Testament Zechariah writes, ‘He showed me Joshua the High Priest standing beside the angel of The Lord, and Satan standing at His right hand to oppose Him.’ (Zechariah 3:1). Satan usually prefers to work in incognito, so, frequently he will attack you through people – especially through those closest to you. Scripture tells us in (John 13:2) “ the evening meal was in progress and the devil had already prompted Judas to betray Jesus’ Your best line of defence is the Living Word of God. Jesus was Exposed to a greater level of temptation than any of us will ever face, He quoted the Scriptures to Satan three times and put him to flight. When Satan attacks your mind with temptation, condemnation, doubts or thoughts of inadequacy, God’s Word will be a shield the devil cannot penetrate. In Psalm 119:92) David writes, “If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished. And notice also what happened when Jesus had finished doing battle with the enemy. ‘The devil went away and angels came and took care of Him. (Matthew 4;11) You are not alone, God has placed a cordon of angels around you to sustain and protect you. Angels are only servants – (Hebrews 1;14) says “Angels are spirits who are sent to care for people who will inherit Salvation. During seasons of adversity remember, you are a champion, not a victim. Invest your words and energies into creating new goals and dreams. Stay alert, aware, productive and focused Exude Faith. Expect your faith to be Supernaturally honoured by the God who promised to do so in (Isaiah 59;19) to intervene when you need Him most. Cover your back by spending a few minutes first thing every morning with God, acknowledging Him and your need of Him putting your day and all that is going to be in it in His hands. Then proceed with your day. Blessed by The Father, Saved by The Son and led by His Holy Spirit. Thank you for reading my thoughts on this subject and what is available to us when dealing with Satan. Remember, It’s not your body he’s after, so look beyond the obvious, guard your mind and your eternal Soul, pray often, and indulge yourself with the presence of The Holy Spirit. In Jesus name I pray. Phaline.