Tag: Prayer

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BIBLE AND WEALTH

THE PRAYER OF FAITH

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The Christian life is a life of faith. Faith is that which sustains us in our walk with the Father. Faith is actually a virtue of the child of God. It is by faith that we accepted Jesus Christ as our personal saviour and as a result received eternal life, that is, the God –kind of life. Romans 1:17 states that, “The just shall live by faith”. Hebrews 11:6 also states that “But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him”. The prayer of faith is said by the child of God who knows his/her identity in Christ. The prayer of faith works by discovering your rights and privileges in the bible. More often than not, the challenge of the Christian is a ‘word problem’, that is, lack of knowledge of the word of God.  

We have several kinds of prayer and the prayer of faith is one of these kinds of prayer. This kind of prayer involves speaking God’s word about specific circumstances in order to bring about desired changes without entertaining doubts in our heart. The following scripture throws more light on the issue. “And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whatsoever 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. Therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, ‘believe’ that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark 11:22-24).

‘Believing’ as used in the above scripture is a fundamental requirement to get answers to our prayer of faith. To believe is to possess in the heart and it also means to accept that what you have prayed about ‘exists’ and therefore “act as such”. James 2 states that ‘… the devils also believe..’. The difference between the believe of the devils and the believe of the Christian is that, the believe of the Christian goes with action or works. The mountain as used in the scripture above refers to physical and spiritual obstacles and it is exciting to know that our Father has given us the power to make desired and positive changes in our environment.

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BIBLE AND WEALTH

WHY DO WE PRAY?

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Prayer is an important part of every religion. Even non-religious persons sometimes say some prayers especially when challenges arise. In Christianity, prayer is a privilege granted to the child of God to have fellowship with the God-head. How do we feel when we are having great fellowships with our earthly parents? We feel very accepted and confident at home and wherever we find ourselves. We may not be liked by our peers in school for several reasons but so long us we know that we are loved by our parents and always have fellowship, we are at least ok.

As we pray, we make investment in eternity. It can be likened to buying of shares in an investment market. As we buy shares, we are confident that in future we will get some returns on our investment. Of course it is true that sometimes, we make losses on our investments but prayer as a form of investment comes with no losses! We may be enjoying some blessings now because of the prayers we made some years back or because of the prayers of loved ones which were made some years back.

As we pray, the eyes of our understanding are enlightened. We are able to understand the scriptures more and obey the scriptures. Our spirits are tuned up to receive encouragement and revelations from God to be able to impact on the world around us. We are able to get more understanding about situations around us and to know the right things to do and at what time to do these right things. We are able to connect to the ideas and visions of God concerning situations in our lives.

Prayer makes tremendous power or strength available for the child of God. Power is the ability to cause changes. A lot of activities go on in the spiritual realm. Things that happen in the physical realm have some connections in the spiritual realm. As we pray, we are able to cause changes in the spiritual realm and later see these changes in the physical realm.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 states that we should pray without ceasing. This shows us how important prayer is to the child of God. If you abrogate the communion between you and your loving father, several negative consequences can result therefore the need to always commune with the father. Scripture is replete with several instances where prayers were said and positive results were achieved. In the book of Acts, the church prayed for imprisoned Peter and an angel rescued him from prison. Several miracles of Jesus were done after He had prayed.      

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BIBLE AND WEALTH

YOU CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR SITUATION!

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I have heard some people say that life is not fair. Some others have also said that the world is an unfair place to live in. Though these statements may be true, we will be doing ourselves some good if we purpose to do something about the unpleasant situations we are going through. Throwing in the towel will rather worsen our case because literally, we will be saying that it is ‘finished’ and we can’t do anything anymore. This article will briefly look at a scenario in the bible where the church did something about an unpleasant situation and had a good result.   

“Acts 12:1-8: Now about the time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people. Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was make without ceasing of the church unto God for him. And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison. And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him: and a light shined in the prison; and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands. And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me”

If you are going through an unpleasant situation after doing all that is humanly possible, don’t worry so much. Don’t throw in the towel yet. You got to do something again! You got to first locate what God has said about the unpleasant situation and pray in faith. A pray of faith always delivers result(s). The church would have also lost Peter if prayer was not said for him. There is tremendous power in prayer and it is the responsibility of the child of God to pray and get positive results. The word of God will displace fear and increase our faith to reverse or stop any unpleasant situation.  As we pray and meditate on God’s word, our actions are tailored in the right direction to change bad situations.

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BIBLE AND WEALTH

MEN ALWAYS OUGHT TO PRAY

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Prayer is more than just asking for ‘handouts’ from God. It is more than ‘begging’ God for help!. This is the pray of some people- “oh God, when are you going to help me out of this situation?”; “oh God, give me a child”; “oh God, I want some money”; heal me oh God because I have been in this condition for the past 10 years”; God forgive me my sins and heal me because the bad situation am going through is as a result of my sins”. God does not take delight in the bad situations you are going through. He always wants the best for everybody. God has already made provision for unbelievers by the death of Jesus on the cross. It take a simple but important prayer to become born again and be an heir of the kingdom of God.

Like someone said, prayer is a ministry for every believer. Ministry can be defined as work. Prayer is one of the development elements that sustain the Christian in the fight of faith. Through prayer, we praise and glorify God. We acknowledge the power of God in our lives and thank Him for his mercies and wonderful deeds; through prayer, we save lives. Intercessory prayers have brought deliverance and salvation to many lost souls in the world; through prayer, we declare God’s word to change unpleasant circumstances. Prayer has brought about healing of terminal medical conditions, and brought progress in the lives of believers. Prayer does many more things! Luke 18.1: Men always ought to pray and not to faint. As we pray, we are able to hear from God through His word (Rhema). Through prayer, our human spirit aligns with the Holy Spirit and deep things of the spirit are revealed to us to walk in them and be a blessing to the world. Prayer will give you direction on what to do and align your body to God’s purpose for your life. It really does not matter the amount of time spent during prayer, however, enough fellowship with the Holy Spirit is required during our prayer times and the fellowship with the Holy Spirit must not end after our prayer times. Our prayer should be more of speaking God’s word in concert or as some others will put it-prophesying the word of God. God’s word is life and spirit and a powerful tool to bring about positive change in our lives.

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