Good Afternoon Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
How successful is your prayer life? Are you receiving what you are praying? Are you seeing victory after victory? If you are like most Believers, you are tired of your prayers not being answered. You are tired of not having victory after victory. Let’s quickly examine why most Believers prayers are not answered. This will not be an in-depth study, but it will provide you enough information to study it further.
The number one reason most Believers prayers are not answered is simple: they’re praying the problem and not the answer. What did Jesus say about prayer?
Mark 11:23-24
23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
Jesus, God in the flesh, told US to speak to our problems (as I explained in previous emails, a “mountain” can represent a challenge, a problem, an issue, a sickness, a disease, an infirmity, a financial issue, a relationship issue, an addiction, etc.) Did Jesus say speak to God in verse 23 or verse 24? No. He told YOU to speak to the mountain. God, through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, have armed you with everything you need to speak to your situation and overcome it – victorious every time.
What do most Believers do when faced with a mountain? They go to God crying and whining about their problem and asking Him to fix it. In other words, they pray the problem to God. What is God’s loving response to us when we do this? “Stop bringing me Satan’s words and start bringing Me My Words.” In other words, pray God’s answer to your problem.
Isaiah 43:26
Put Me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.
In Isaiah 43:26, God tells us to “Put Him in remembrance” of His Word. Did God forget His Word? Of course not. But He wants you to pray His Word to Him, the solution to your mountain. By you speaking God’s Word, or answer to your situation, your faith is increased (Romans 10:17) by the hearing of God’s Word. And the result of God’s Word will come to pass (Isaiah 55:11).
The Word is a Seed. How does a farmer get a crop from a seed? By planting it. When a farmer plants a seed, does he go out and dig it up every day to see if it’s growing? No, of course not. He plants the seed and by faith he expects it to grow into a crop. If the farmer were to dig up the seed, he would interrupt the germination process and the seed will no longer grow. Do you know the spiritual equivalent of this in prayer? When you pray something to God one day and the next day or a few days later, you pray it again. This is the equivalent of planting, then digging up the seed. By praying the prayer, again, you have cancelled your original prayer by a lack of faith.
What is a Believer to do once they have spoken to the mountain? Are they to speak to the mountain again? No, that’s unbelief or a lack of faith. That’s digging up the seed you’ve already planted. We are to praise God and thank Him for the answered prayer, for giving us what His Word says about us and the mountain, and for our increase spiritually, physically, materially, and financially. We are to “call things that be not as though they were (Romans 4:17).” And we are to operate in complete faith that our prayer IS answered.
If I have cancer, I’m going to speak to the mountain of cancer directly as if it is standing in front of me. I’m not going to God to ask Him to speak to my cancer. If you do, you are not going to have answered prayer. God cannot do something He has already done. He spoke to it 2,000 years ago through the stripes and the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Word. I Peter 2:24 makes it very clear that we “were” healed of cancer through the stripes of Jesus Christ. Psalm 107:20 makes it very clear God sent His Word, Jesus Christ, and healed us and delivered us from all our destructions. Psalm 103:3 tells us God healed us of all our diseases and Psalm 103:5 tells us God has satisfied our mouths with good things so that our youth is renewed like the eagles. Galatians 3:13-14 tells us Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us that we might receive the blessing of Abraham, which is spiritual, physical, material, and financial prosperity. But Larry, I see in the Old Testament where they cried out to God, and God healed them. Yes, you’re right. But that is Old Covenant, not New Covenant. New Covenant is better. God has equipped YOU to speak to the cancer and heal yourself through His Word. The New Covenant came into being through Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.
Philippians 4:6-8
6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
“Be careful for nothing” means “don’t be anxious about anything. Christ has already overcome everything of the curse and the world.” Bring everything to God by prayer and petition WITH thanksgiving…” When we bring our prayer or petition to God, we are to bring His answer to our mountain. “Father, I thank You with all my heart that my cancer was healed 2,000 years ago by the stripes of Jesus Christ. I thank You Father that You sent Your Word, Jesus Christ, and healed me of this cancer. I thank You Father that Jesus Christ redeemed or purchased me from the curse and all its effects which means I’ve been redeemed from cancer as well. I thank You Father the curse cannot live on my body or in my body because Your Word, Jesus Christ, has already healed me. I thank You Father for the awesome testimony I have of being healed from cancer by Your precious Word. I thank You for the certainty this gives to me and to my brothers and sisters in Christ. I thank You my testimony will be Your light that attracts others to me so I can share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Healer, with them. I thank You Father that Your will in Heaven comes to pass in this earth, and Your will is I walk in divine health because there is no cancer in Heaven. I thank You Father that I am as Jesus is according to I John 4:17. Jesus is at Your right hand and endued with power, wisdom, riches, strength, honor, glory, and blessing, and I am a joint-heir with Jesus and have the same things. I am Blessed of the Lord God Almighty and my body is made whole by the precious Word Jesus Christ.
Remember this, you are always in faith. You either have faith in God’s Word or Satan’s word. Both require faith and both are a substance of the heart and evidence of the kind of faith you have: in the world or in God’s Word. Do you have more faith for your problem or more faith for the Truth? When the Scriptures say in Romans 8:37 that we “are more than conquerors through Christ,” what does this mean? It means we enjoy the fruits of conquest without having to fight the battle. What a wonderful provision of our Father through Jesus Christ. Read Deuteronomy 6:10-11. This is exactly what God is saying in these verses. You will have cities you didn’t build, houses you didn’t fill, wells you didn’t dig, vineyards and olive trees you didn’t plant. A Believer who exercises God’s Word by faith will have the labor of others. Remember what Proverbs 10:22 tells us:
Proverbs 10:22
The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow [toil] with it.
No toil. That’s my kind of blessing! Praise God, I receive it with love, joy, and peace.
Lastly, stop praying, “if it be Your will.” Yes, I prayed that foolishness for years. We have no business bringing a petition to God if we don’t know His will. “Father, if it be Your will, I’ll be cancer free.” How stupid is this! Of course it’s God’s will you don’t have cancer. Is there cancer in Heaven? No. Then it’s not God’s will. The cornerstone of God’s will for all Believers is found in III John 2.
III John 2
Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
God wants you to walk this earth in divine health so you can be a “light” to the world, a testimony of the power of His Word, and be in divine health so you can continue to operate as a blessing.
In closing, stop whining to God about your mountain. Speak the healing Word of God to it in boldness and courage and then thank God every day for your healing, for your deliverance, and for your blessing. Do this, with patience, and you are guaranteed to have God’s promises come to pass in your life.
In Christ,
Larry