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WHEN YOU PRAY!

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WHEN YOU PRAY by emb

Matt.21:
[19] And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.
[20] And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!
[21] Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.
[22] And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

In these verses Jesus shows us the power of prayer. He teaches that number one, you have to have faith which is believing and number two, you don't let doubts or worries or fears distroy your positive belief.

That's the recipe for receiving what you pray for.

It sounds pretty easy, but in my walk with Christ I have learned some things I'd like to share with you that may help you in your own personal Christian walk and understanding.

My life changing understanding of prayer first came in my teens. As a young believer, I had much zeal for the Word of God. I was with other teens who were like minded in the faith. We would go witnessing together, hold prayer meetings, teach the Word, and constantly try to be available for God, Jesus Christ, and each other.

One of our group had a relative that was in the hospital. She was not in good shape. She was in surgery. We met in a prayer meeting for her in the waiting room. We were all praying silently for her recovery and healing. I was using my believing, understanding, and praying in the spirit.

Eph.6:
[18] Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

I had my eyes on this great big floor plant. It was robust and obviously very healthy. As I was speaking in tongues in spiritual prayer, the thought came to me, "as that plant has life, so shall she." I knew instantly it was from God and I was at peace and smiled at my friends to reassure them that I knew all was OK.

I was, however, immediately embarrassed as right after that the doctor came into the waiting room and announced that they had done all that they could but she didn't make it. He said it was as if she had simply given up and there was nothing they could do.

I felt foolish for having been smiling at my friends. It took me a bit to understand. Then a teaching came to mind.

Matt.13:
[58] And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

Jesus, The only begotten son of God was limited because of what? THEIR - the peoples - unbelief. How telling is that?

A great life lesson. We can NOT do the believing for other people. God will not go against another persons will. This woman gave up. It was her will to not fight. Not believe for healing. It is her right. No matter how much God wanted to help, and we wanted to help and no matter how much the doctors and nurses were trying to help, ultimately, it was all up to her, not us.

Father was reassuring me because this woman was saved. He told me that she shall have life, robust and healthy again.

1 Thes.4:
[15] For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
[16] For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
[17] Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
[18] Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

That's what God was doing. He was comforting me. He answered my prayer as best He could by helping my understanding. It wasn't that God didn't want to heal her, it was that she gave up.

So now we have another criteria to add to prayer.

#1: You must believe
#2: Have no doubt worries or fears to cancel your belief
#3: You cannot do the believing for another person.

My walk with Christ continued. I got married when I was 18. My new husband, Paul, and I agreed we would wait to have children till we were more mature and had some time together first.

I was taught believing equals receiving. You must define as a camera picture what you are believing and praying for. You set the time and exposure and snap the picture.

Matt.21:
[19] And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.
[20] And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!
[21] Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.

Jesus found the tree unfruitful at a time when it should have been bearing fruit. It would disappoint many a weary traveler, so he cursed it. Which was easier then chopping it down since I don't figure he had the proper tools to do so anyway.

So you do as Jesus did when he cursed the fig tree. You forget about what you have prayed for and are believing God for as it is done. That is believing.

That's what Paul and I did. We did not believe in the pill and felt it was not safe. I decided to give it to Father. I figured I'd be mature enough at the age of 21 and Paul being 4 years older then me would mean he'd be 25. So I lifted that to Father. That we would have a baby boy when I was 21 and Paul was 25. I also asked for him to be healthy, not to be born bald, have my hair as I had thicker hair, Paul's brown eyes, and my eyelashes. Once I lifted it to Father I told Paul. We both believed it and went about our life believing God.

When I became pregnant, I was surprised and we both accepted it with joy. Our first born son was healthy, born in June with dark hair, and long lashes over brown eyes. I had just turned 21 in April and Paul was 25. I thought of it later and realized what a time frame I had put on God. My birthday was April 1st and Paul's birthday was September 24. This meant I had to have our son after my birthday but before his! I had no idea at the time that I was cutting it this close. Just four months! But God figured it out and did exactly as we had asked and believed of Him.

They say the devil is in the details. I say he is in the lack of it! If you may have noticed, all my concern and prayer and believing was for our baby. I forgot that I was in the mix too. I should have prayed and believed for an easy and healthy delivery for me, but I didn't think about that. Consequently, the devil was able to pay his respects. I had 36 hours of labor, and had to have DNC surgery to remove the placenta that had snapped and broke in my doctors hands.

We also forgot to pray for when we wanted our daughter. I just knew I wanted a healthy non-bald little girl with brown eyes. Again, you don't always get the best when you don't ask for it. No time exposure. My doctor told me I wasn't even healed from having my first child yet and here I was pregnant again! He was not happy with me.

This time I made sure I was in the mix and did not have any problems with delivery. But while our daughter was born healthy, not bald and had brown eyes like her dad, she swallowed and inhaled some of the afterbirth during the delivery which sent her to the incubator and made her stay longer at the hospital. I was able to go home to my husband and little toddler. I would visit her every day. The doctors could not understand why her breathing was not getting better. She showed no sign of any improvement. I lifted it to Father and got the wisdom that I needed to actually talk to her and tell her how much she was loved and wanted at home. I held her and reassured her and told her that her daddy and little brother were waiting at home for her. We loved her and wanted her home with us. She just had to get better and she could come home. That night she had a miraculous recovery and the next day she was able to go home with us.

That's what Jesus did. He spoke directly to the fig tree...

Matt.21:
[19] And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.

So what have you learned about when you pray?

#1: You must believe
#2: Have no doubt worries or fears to cancel your belief
#3: You cannot do the believing for another person.
#4: Ask God for EXACTLY what you want and WHEN You Want it.
#5: Speaking out loud can get the desired results.

Later in life, I've learned a couple more interesting things. I had a friend having trouble getting her prayers answered. She often came to me when she was at her whits end. I'd ask God about it and learned more. She was asking God to have her boy friend call her as she hadn't heard from him for a while and she couldn't get through to him.

The answer I got was interesting as I hadn't really thought about this before. I was told that God was having a hard time getting through to him as he did not have spirit for God to talk to. He was not a Christian.

1 Tim.2:
[5] For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

That is why we need a savior so we can get back in communication with God. As born again Christians we have God's spirit inside of us. God can fully communicate with our spirit then. Without it, we don't have 'spiritual ears' to hear from.

This was confirmed when she finally did talk to him. His mother who is a Christian answered his phone and pushed him to talk with her.

Another time, I had a friend with a similar problem only her boy friend was a Christian. I had to remind her that God does not make people do any thing. This too was confirmed as she learned he had many times felt like calling her but had shrugged it away figuring he'd talk to her when he was finally able to see her.

So what have you learned about when you pray?

#1: You must believe
#2: Have no doubt worries or fears to cancel your belief
#3: You cannot do the believing for another person.
#4: Ask God for EXACTLY what you want and WHEN You Want it.
#5: Speaking out loud can get the desired results.
#6: Intervention from God may be delayed or take extra time
#7: God will do what he can but won't force people to do anything.

The last thing I have learned in my Christian walk is that trust is a very important thing.

Prov.3:
[5] Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
[6] In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Generally when I get wisdom or information that I think is from God, I will verify it by asking in the name of Jesus Christ if it is true.

1 John 4:
[1] Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

It's a matter of helping my own believing to eliminate doubts. One thing though is not to lean on your own understanding concerning an answer. Once you verify it, trust what you are told through Jesus Christ your Lord.

One of my friends was concerned about her boy friend and why he was not communicating with her any more. Well she failed to confide in me that her boy friend had said he may have to leave her as he was being accused of a crime and may have to go to jail until things were cleared up. When I lifted this, I had no clue of this. I was told that he was in prison. I had a hard time believing it and so I did my best to confirm it but still got the same thing every time I asked God what was going on with this person. When I sheepishly told her what I was getting, she confided in me she was getting the same thing and then told me the rest of the story.

This should have been enough of a lesson for me, but in my life I had a question that I was not believing the answer. I just kept asking Father for the truth of it. To the point I was even asking for a sign to help me believe what was the real truth. This went on for over ten years until through total despair and desperation, I finally got it through my head and understood.

Mark 16:
[17a] And these signs shall follow them that believe

Signs FOLLOW those that do one thing - believe. You don't get the sign first so you can believe. I needed to TRUST God that what He told me over and over again and what I verified umpteen million times was actually the truth. Even though it was hard for me to believe. I had to accept it and move on.

Finally and possibly the most important thing when you pray is to make sure you are right with God and that you're asking for something that is according to God's Word.

In Summary Here Are Things To Consider When Praying:

#1: You must believe
#2: Have no doubt worries or fears to cancel your belief
#3: You cannot do the believing for another person.
#4: Ask God for EXACTLY what you want and WHEN You Want it.
#5: Speaking out loud can get the desired results.
#6: Intervention from God may be delayed or take extra time
#7: God will do what he can but won't force people to do anything.
#8: You Must Always Trust God
#9: Always Make sure you're right with God and doing His Will.

I pray that my walk may in some way help you with your walk.

God's Most Abundant Blessings!! :) Shangy!

2 Timothy 2:15
Study to shew thyself approved unto God,
a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth.

May you, and all those you love,
be so blessed and fortunate
as to stand approved before God,
unashamed of your workmanship.

May God Always Bless You and Yours As
You Stand Steadfast on His Word Of Truth!

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