Daily Archives: August 29, 2012

From BradStanton.com

This prayer warrior, Brad Stanton, has some really good stuff. I reposted this from his blog. I recommend you check it out! I can’t wait till his book arrives The Amazing Power of Prayer

F Faith and Find a Bible verse to stand on.
A Ask
I Imagine the answer
T Thank God for it
H Hold on to your faith and be Happy while you wait

1. Faith. Have faith when you pray and Find a Bible verse to stand on.
Matthew 9:29 “According to your faith will it be done to you
Matthew 21:22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
Mark 11:23, 24 “Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

Find a verse in the Bible that applies to your prayer request. At first, that seems restrictive and difficult, but there are so many promises in the Bible, you will surely find one if your desire aligns with God’s will. For example, if you are praying for money, get a concordance and look up verses that speak of wealth or prosperity. Joshua 1:8, Psalm 1 and Psalm 112 are a few of many good verses about wealth. If you are praying for a relationship, look up verses on love. If you are lacking something, think of Psalm 23:1 “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall lack nothing.”

Find scriptures that promise you an answer to your prayer. It is a good idea to memorize a verse or two of those promises. Many times you will not find a specific verse that promises you what you are asking. That is okay. Just have faith and pray for it.

2. Ask God for it in faith.
Matthew 7:8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
Simply put, ask God for what you need. Another “A” in our FAITH acronym might be “Agree.” It is good to find other people to agree with you in prayer. Matthew 18:19 tells us, “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.”

3. Imagine the answer to prayer in your mind.

Imagine it like you already have it. If you are praying for a relationship to get better, imagine that it is. Your optimistic attitude will help change the relationship. That is the way God created faith. On the other hand, being pessimistic, lacking faith, and thinking about negative things, will cause problems in the relationship. When a person thinks about the negatives of the relationship, he will be more likely to get angry or do other things that are not good for the relationship. I have seen this happen many times in my own life and in the lives of others.

It is important to imagine you have already been given the answer to your prayer, because if you have faith and you pray in God’s will, you do already have the answer. I will explain this more in the chapter on Daniel.

4. Thank God for it.

In Mark 11:24 we read, “Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Notice it says “…believe that you have received it…”. This means that at the moment you ask God for it, you receive it. However, it may take some time for it to materialize or to become substance Some translations of Hebrews 11:1 read, “Faith is the substance (my emphasis) of things hoped for…” Daniel prayed in Daniel 10, but the powerful angel that came to give him the answer to his prayer was detained by Satan or a demon. There was apparently a wrestling match in the unseen world. Paul said we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against the powers in the heavenly realms. These powers will do everything possible to damage our faith and prevent us from getting an immediate answer to our prayer. From the book The Amazing Power of Prayer

You can find his book here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008EOCODK

Prayer is unamerican

 

The soul of America is do-it-yourself. From the pioneers to the engineers, from the entrepreneurs to the politicians, the self-made man is the highest ideal. Rambo personifies the one-against-all, triumph-by-my-own-resources mentality. In the 1800s Horatio Alger Jr. promoted the “rags to riches” storyline in his popular novels, always of a character who was amply rewarded for his self-reliance and hard work. Whether it be defeating infectious diseases or inventing military drones to bomb terrorists, Americans know we can do it all — by ourselves.

No wonder prayer enjoys such small popularity: its essence is to rely on God. Throughout the classroom, the media and circles of friends, we are told directly and indirectly to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. Then in church, we are told to let God pull ourselves up. Depending on another — even if that other is God — runs contrary to our common sense.

Consider the marvels of prayer! How much do you depend on yourself? How much on God? Chuck Colson, President Nixon‘s hatchet man, was shocked when he read the Bible for himself and discovered that his favorite “verse” actually is NOT in the Bible: “God helps those who help themselves.”

People who live off of handouts get scorned. But what about if the handout is from God?