By Pastor Stephen Piersall
God's Preservation Ministry Soul Care
gpmsc.org/, http://www.facebook.com/GodsPreservationMinistry
networkedblogs.com/blog/soul-care
I have spoken about; “Forgiveness,” “Giving,” “How to Pray,” and today I just want to show you some examples how prayer can, does, and will be answered by our LORD.
1. Justine had Stage 4 cancer; jaw, sinus cavity, surgery and now in recovery. Cancer all gone, Over 1,100 people prayed for her.
2. Jaymie, broken extended family refuses to accept her, and she is pregnant. Recently had a baby shower with both sides of the family together in harmony. I remember in conversations with the family, that it has been impossible to gather for an outing in peace.
3. Lynn, life threatening abdomen surgery, over 1500 people praying. After recovery, received more bad news she would need another surgery. Everyone kept praying, latest news, No new surgery, swelling is reduced, fluid has drained, and severe pain is subsiding.
4. Someone at church received a prophetic word during the church service. He mentioned that there were people in the congregation with lower-back problems and some with right shoulder pain. No names were given. As I am with the church’s prayer team, I witnessed miraculous healing as we had several people come forward with those specific medical concerns. All left the church fully healed, while some sensed the warmth within them and were starting to notice they felt better. Prayer team that day was less than 10 people.
I could go on with more examples, but I only want to make this point. When someone says to pray for them, don’t acknowledge so and later forget. Pray right then and let God perform the miracles of healing TODAY, just as Jesus did over 2000 years ago.
I'll give a few points to when I have taught people to pray:
1. Be Focused. Ask the Holy Spirit to come and take over the situation and give you the words to pray for someone. Avoid generalizations, e.g. “Bless them," “Be with them," etc. Matthew 28:20 “I am with you always," Tell God exactly what you want him to do. Mark 10:51, Remember when the crowds brought a blind man to Jesus, our Lord asked him, "What do you want me to do for you?" God does not want all the fluff and feel good words; He asks the same question of us, and be specific.
2. Be Consistent. Matthew 7:7, “Ask and it will be given to you.” Start a regular prayer journal, write your prayers down and pray every day as God wants us to. Yes, Matthew 6:8 clearly states, “God knows what you need before you ask him." As we continue to pray, we submit ourselves to the Holy Spirit, so he can mold us into the character of Christ. The longer we pray, the greater we are empowered, led, and matured as a Christian.
3. Expect Results. Pray in faith that you know God is listening. Philippians 4:19 “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Be sure, God will use a multitude of methods for healing. He uses physicians and medical technology of today. Pray for the doctors, nurses, staff, etc. Act and not be surprised that he intervenes in supernatural ways.
a. Death. Sometimes he heals us eternally by taking us from our fallen, diseased bodies into his open arms in Heaven. We must accept the outcome no matter what. He KNOWS best, and we are to remain in faith, “Thy will be done.”
Looking inside the spiritual & literary worlds
Friday, May 16, 2014
Demonology 101: Destroying Relationships
By Reverend Mark Hunnemann
I was reminded recently that the basic work of Satan and his demonic followers is simple--destroy relationships--first with God, and then with other people.This goes back all the way to the Garden, in which Satan succeeded in bringing destruction on a vertical level as well as a horizontal level.It is important to not lose sight of Satan's basic strategy in the midst of discussing a thousand other issues regarding the paranormal.
Because God is TRINITY--three distinct Persons in one God--relationships are intrinsic and foundational to reality. Put simply, since relationships are so important to God (Great Commandment), then they will be important to Satan as well. Why? Because the Evil One hates that which God loves...it is as simple and profound as that.
It is easy to overlook the context of one of the most oft quoted verses re Satan. "Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, ha been for your sake in the presence of Christ, SO THAT WE WOULD NOT BE OUTWITTED BY SATAN; FOR WE ARE NOT IGNORANT OF HIS DESIGNS." (2 Corinthians 2:10-11..bold added) The emboldened part of this text is quoted often, but do we realize that the context is mending relationships? Scholars differ over what issue he is referring to, but it boils down to not letting Satan outwit them due to a broken relationship/s within the Bride of Jesus.They needed to be forgiving.....Hence,we need to be on guard against the devil sowing seeds of discord/unforgiveness in the Church. Paul knew that friction amongst believers was a favorite scheme of Satan...we need to know that as well, and guard against it.
The only place in the bible where it explicitly refers to "not giving the devil a foothold "topos" " is in reference to relationships. Specifically, In Ephesians 4:26-27 we are told to not let the sun go down on our anger, "so we don't give any opportunity to the devil." That does not necessarily mean agreeing on everything, but it DOES mean agreeing to love each other. One wise person said to me, "Don't get into deep discussions after 10 pm." It seems to me that "giving the devil a foothold" basically means allowing for stronger demonic influence in that relationship.Not a happy thought. And sadly, going to bed angry amongst spouses often becomes a habit. A vicious cycle is begun. But this warning applies across the relational board--going to bed angry at another believer will easily lead to bitterness.
There is an astonishing passage in Matthew 5 regarding how important reconciliation is."So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother,and then come and offer your gift." (Matthew 5:23-24) I said it was astonishing because this text states that reconciliation takes precedence over worship!
Jesus is using Old Testament imagery (altar/gift), but the principle remains--in a sense, doing what you can to try to bring reconciliation is more important than worship...at least it takes precedence. Put another way, before we worship the Lord.(individually or corporately) we should search our hearts to see if there is anybody we have wronged, and need to apologize to.
People with sensitive consciences need to be careful here because a certain level of friction will always be present. But there is a difference between wronging a person and living in disagreement.
It is so easy on Facebook to circumvent this process by blocking people right in the middle of dealing with a misunderstanding.There is a time and place for blocking folks who prove to be hateful, but we should use that as a last resort. Being a private person, I am "preaching" this primarily to myself.
Let us not lose sight of the priority of relationships in spiritual warfare...both with God and other people.All these other issues are secondary.
"Seeing Ghosts through God's Eyes" (also in a Kindle edition)...please consider purchasing my book which uses science, logic, and the bible to analyze the true source of power behind paranormal activity.
I was reminded recently that the basic work of Satan and his demonic followers is simple--destroy relationships--first with God, and then with other people.This goes back all the way to the Garden, in which Satan succeeded in bringing destruction on a vertical level as well as a horizontal level.It is important to not lose sight of Satan's basic strategy in the midst of discussing a thousand other issues regarding the paranormal.
Because God is TRINITY--three distinct Persons in one God--relationships are intrinsic and foundational to reality. Put simply, since relationships are so important to God (Great Commandment), then they will be important to Satan as well. Why? Because the Evil One hates that which God loves...it is as simple and profound as that.
It is easy to overlook the context of one of the most oft quoted verses re Satan. "Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, ha been for your sake in the presence of Christ, SO THAT WE WOULD NOT BE OUTWITTED BY SATAN; FOR WE ARE NOT IGNORANT OF HIS DESIGNS." (2 Corinthians 2:10-11..bold added) The emboldened part of this text is quoted often, but do we realize that the context is mending relationships? Scholars differ over what issue he is referring to, but it boils down to not letting Satan outwit them due to a broken relationship/s within the Bride of Jesus.They needed to be forgiving.....Hence,we need to be on guard against the devil sowing seeds of discord/unforgiveness in the Church. Paul knew that friction amongst believers was a favorite scheme of Satan...we need to know that as well, and guard against it.
The only place in the bible where it explicitly refers to "not giving the devil a foothold "topos" " is in reference to relationships. Specifically, In Ephesians 4:26-27 we are told to not let the sun go down on our anger, "so we don't give any opportunity to the devil." That does not necessarily mean agreeing on everything, but it DOES mean agreeing to love each other. One wise person said to me, "Don't get into deep discussions after 10 pm." It seems to me that "giving the devil a foothold" basically means allowing for stronger demonic influence in that relationship.Not a happy thought. And sadly, going to bed angry amongst spouses often becomes a habit. A vicious cycle is begun. But this warning applies across the relational board--going to bed angry at another believer will easily lead to bitterness.
There is an astonishing passage in Matthew 5 regarding how important reconciliation is."So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother,and then come and offer your gift." (Matthew 5:23-24) I said it was astonishing because this text states that reconciliation takes precedence over worship!
Jesus is using Old Testament imagery (altar/gift), but the principle remains--in a sense, doing what you can to try to bring reconciliation is more important than worship...at least it takes precedence. Put another way, before we worship the Lord.(individually or corporately) we should search our hearts to see if there is anybody we have wronged, and need to apologize to.
People with sensitive consciences need to be careful here because a certain level of friction will always be present. But there is a difference between wronging a person and living in disagreement.
It is so easy on Facebook to circumvent this process by blocking people right in the middle of dealing with a misunderstanding.There is a time and place for blocking folks who prove to be hateful, but we should use that as a last resort. Being a private person, I am "preaching" this primarily to myself.
Let us not lose sight of the priority of relationships in spiritual warfare...both with God and other people.All these other issues are secondary.
"Seeing Ghosts through God's Eyes" (also in a Kindle edition)...please consider purchasing my book which uses science, logic, and the bible to analyze the true source of power behind paranormal activity.
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