Praying To God Is Like Talking To A Friend On The Phone. You Can’t See Him, But You Are 100% Certain He’s Listening. When A Man Works, A Man Works, But When A Man Prays, God Works!

We are always relying on God. We always Have and we always Will. Sometimes you have to stop talking and let God be the spokesman. God want us to pause before responding to people or situations giving His spirit space to act through you. Rather than trying to maintain control over your life, abandon yourself to His Will. God doesn’t want us to just call on Him on Sunday’s and spend the rest of the week acting like an orphan. Sometimes loneliness is God’s cry of friendship time with you. Whatever situation you have right now, be confident God is with you.

God wants us to depend on Him, because He is reliable and will never fail us. Praying To God Is Like Talking To A Friend On The Phone. You Can’t See Him, But You Are 100% Certain He’s Listening. When A Man Works, A Man Works, But When A Man Prays, God Works! The more you have to rely on God, the more you will choose to rely on God. The idea that man can solve man's problem is a lie that blocks the truth that we need God; everyday and every hour. Lord, help us to abandon anything within us that resist relying on You. God will always provide, it just might look different than what we had in mind. Often the answer to our prayers does not come while we’re on our knees, but while we’re on our feet serving the Lord and serving those around us.

God is well aware of where you are and every step He is asking you to take. Thanking God after He answers prayer is gratitude, thanking Him in advance is Faith. Sometimes God’s blessings are not in what He gives, but in what He takes away. He knows best. Trust Him. God is asking who is in charge of your life? If it is I, then worry is both unnecessary and counterproductive. For the Christian life is not simply Faith in the future but Trust In God Who Holds The Future. God never ask us to decide for Him, He asks us to yield to Him, ..big difference.

“Persistent prayer is not that He will hear us but that we will finally hear Him. When you pray, be sure to listen also. You have things you want to say to God, but He also has things He wants to say to you."

Be Like The Blind Man, When You Can’t See Jesus, Listen For Him, And When You Hear Him, Make Sure He Hears You! Open Your Mouth; Jesus Loves These Kinds Of Prayers: Persistent and Bold.

Matthew 20:29-34, "As Jesus and His disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd was following. Two blind men who were sitting by the road heard that Jesus was passing by, so they began to shout, “Son of David! Have mercy on us, sir!” The crowd scolded them and told them to be quiet. But they shouted even more loudly, “Son of David! Have mercy on us, sir!” Jesus stopped and called them. “WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO FOR YOU?” He asked them. “Sir,” they answered, “WE WANT YOU TO GIVE US OUR SIGHT!” Jesus had pity on them and touched their eyes; at once they were able to see, and they followed Him." (GNT)

Be Like The Blind Man, When You Can’t See Jesus, Listen For Him, And When You Hear Him, Make Sure He Hears You! Open Your Mouth; Therein Lies Your Miracle!

Therefore, starting today, pray Big and Bold! Ask the hard thing! And be specific! Don’t be afraid! Ask God to heal the situation in your marriage; the substance abuse in your children; your fear of tithing because of your bills and debt. Take to Him specifically what the doctors diagnosed! Jesus is not afraid of Cancer; Heart Failure; Diabetes; Arthritis; HIV or Aids! He Can Heal Anything, So Take Everything to Him! He has no fear in regards to your mistakes and even deliberate sin. He can handle the divorce; the unemployment; the church transition; the foreclosure; the bankruptcy; the child support (and even lack thereof).

Why struggle with fear, fret, panic, anxiety worry, stress; anguish and the like, when you could simply enter your prayer closet (the one that you make anywhere, including a bathroom stall at work!)

Block out people who try to discourage you with such statement as “nobody has ever survived that; or my dad died from that same exact thing; or boy you must be out of your mind to think God will do that; or girl you may as well throw in the towel because not even Jesus can clean this mess up!”

Jesus loves these kinds of prayers: Persistent and Bold!

And lastly, let's focus on the one secret of prayer that we miss all too often. In verse 32 Jesus says, "What do you want Me to do for you?" It seems like such an obvious question though, don’t you think? I mean after all, here are two BLIND men! And Jesus heals BLIND people! However, the blind men say instead, "Lord, have mercy on us." And there’s nothing wrong with that, but Jesus says, "Well, tell Me exactly what you want Me to do?" This is a characteristic of prayer that gets miracles and that’s praying Specifically!

See, these guys had already made a GENERAL request, "Lord, have mercy," but Jesus insists that they narrow down their request and tell Him EXACTLY what they want, SPECIFICALLY. And when they do, Jesus responds with a miracle!

The word “specific” is defined as “clearly defined or identified; precise or clear; relating to a particular individual or situation; a definite reference; limited to one particular thing; exact; detailed; intended; distinctive; unique; designated; explicit.”

This is what your prayers need to sound like!

See, too often our prayers are like those vague answers I give my family in regards to buying gifts for me, "Anything will be fine, and anything you pick out or pick up is alright by me." Likewise, we talk to God about "give me a blessing," "I need an answer," "send help!" or some GENERAL spiritual request. And I wonder if Jesus is standing there asking, "Well, like what? What are you asking for?" In fact it's really expanded my praying to imagine Jesus standing there as I pray, saying, "Okay, J.P., what do you really want Me to do for you?"

And so, I learned not to just ask God to bless my marriage, but I’ve learned to take specifics about my marriage to Him. I no longer just say “Lord, keep my children safe.” But I’ve learned to pray “Lord, keep my children safe not just from others or harm, but from their own imaginations; desires; devices; wants; lusts; insecurities; immaturity”, and the like. I don’t just say “Lord bless my finances.” But “Lord, bless me to be a good steward over the finances that you have provided for me. Help me to be disciplined in my spending and saving…”

In other words, I don’t want to be like the blind men sitting by the road yelling Lord have pity and mercy on me, when my specific request is, “I WANT YOU TO GIVE ME MY SIGHT!”

Now it isn't that He doesn't know what the need is. He just wants us to know what we believe Him for...specifically...not vaguely because we have doubt, fear and unbelief!

Listen to Philippians 4:6, "Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [SPECIFIC] requests known to God." (AMP)God honors specific faith! Not demands, but requests that are always under the umbrella under which even Jesus Himself prayed, "Not My will but Yours, Lord."

Coming to God persistently, daring to believe Him for big, bold, specific requests touches His heart!

You know what I also find interesting as well? Once they make a persistent, big, bold and specific request of Jesus; once their request is granted; they “…joined the procession.” This is the same crowd of critics that tried to mess up their miracle! This is why you can’t be deterred by your critics. Let God’s work in your life be what silences those who tried to silence you! Think about it: Two blind men shouting to get their sight silenced those who tried to shut them up…isn’t God amusing!

Let today be the day your prayer life takes on a new dynamic. One that is specific in its nature.  One that goes to God KNOWING He hears and He answers!

SEE to it today that you Make Your Prayer Request Specific! You Have NOTHING to Lose And EVERYTHING to Gain!

Blessings

J.P. Olson

  

www.thewordwithjpolson.com

This Is What Causes Us To Become Discouraged So Quickly. Because As Soon As God Gives Us A Word, Satan Goes To War! God Speaks Healing, And Here Comes Satan With Another Symptom;God Speaks Wealth And:

Here's what happens: God's Word has landed in your heart. You're starting to gain some ground spiritually, so hell has been notified and your enemy is alarmed. He comes immediately to try to take away the ground you just gained through God's Word. This Is What Causes Us To Become Discouraged So Quickly. Because As Soon As God Gives Us A Word, Satan Goes To War! God Speaks Healing, And Here Comes Satan With Another Symptom; God Speaks Wealth, And Here Comes Satan With An Unexpected Bill; God speaks promotion, and here comes Satan with a layoff; God speaks a new home, and here comes Satan with a leaky roof; God speaks opportunity, and here comes Satan with obstacles; God speaks calm, and here comes Satan with chaos; God speaks anniversary, and here comes Satan with divorce papers! And he doesn’t drag his feet either, the Bible says, "at once, by force, right away, immediately, no sooner than, quickly, and as soon as" the Word is Sown, here comes Satan with his Shovel!

Mark 4:15, “These [in the first group] are the ones along the road where the Word is sown; but when they hear, SATAN IMMEDIATELY comes and takes away the Word which has been sown in them.” (AMP)

It's important to understand that Satan doesn’t want you to gain any more ground!

Satan, the commander of hell's forces, is determined to stop you from ever becoming what Jesus died for you to be! And like any smart general, he knows he has to stop you before you grow and gain any more ground. His strategy is revealed in Mark 4:15. "Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. AS SOON AS they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them."

Listen to what Satan does WHEN YOU HEAR A WORD FROM THE LORD: “AT ONCE AND BY FORCE… RIGHT AWAY SATAN COMES… SATAN SOON COMES… SATAN IMMEDIATELY COMES… SATAN COMES AT ONCE… NO SOONER DO THEY HEAR THE WORD THAN SATAN SNATCHES… SATAN QUICKLY COMES…”

Let’s look at this Scripture in a few translations:

“The ones along the path are those who have the Word sown [in their hearts], but when they hear, SATAN COMES AT ONCE AND [BY FORCE] takes away the message which is sown in them.” (AMPC);

“Sometimes the teaching falls on the road. This is like the people who hear the teaching of God, but SATAN QUICKLY COMES and takes away the teaching that was planted in them.” (NCV)

Listen: If you don’t Guard the Word God has given you, Satan will come in IMMEDIATELY, and fight to steal it! And in the end, you will be the one fleeing, and surrendering everything, including those attached to you!

In other words, by no means is Satan playing games, in fact, he’s playing for keeps! “The thief’s PURPOSE is to STEAL AND KILL AND DESTROY…” (John 10:10 NLT) Nothing about that sounds like child’s play! Which is why it’s so vital that you take the enemy seriously! He has a Purpose just as much as you do! And if you let him, he will fulfill his, leaving you to forfeit yours!

Which may help explain why things have suddenly gotten so tough for you, why things are going wrong, maybe why you don't have the spiritual enthusiasm you did before. Your logical reaction is, "I've been really trying to do what God wants, so what's wrong here?" The answer is, "'Nothing's wrong! It's because something's right!"

You have (‘a promise’; ‘a word from God’) and the enemy is worried and ready to attack because he can’t let you have that ground, then gain more! So suddenly he's interested in you. He didn't have to bother you when you weren't a threat. He didn’t bother you when you stopped fasting, became lazy in reading/studying the Word, started slacking in your prayer/devotion time with God, when you stopped going to Sunday School, and started making excuses for skipping Bible Study. The enemy didn’t think 2 cents about you. You didn’t even appear on his radar, in fact he may have said something like this: “But the evil spirit retorted, “I know and recognize and acknowledge Jesus, and I know about Paul, BUT AS FOR YOU, WHO ARE YOU?” (Acts 19:15 AMP)

The enemy doesn’t bother those who don’t bother him! If you’re not reading the Word, in prayer, fasting, obeying the commandments, fellowshipping with your brothers and sisters in Christ, walking in the Spirit, being directed and guided by the Holy Ghost, what does he want with you? After all, what can you do to attack his kingdom, when you aren’t armed with any of the weaponry of the Kingdom yourself!?

However, for those who have made the decision to get rid of their bad habits, attitudes and addictions; those who have decided to reignite the fire in their gifts, prayer and devotion time; those spending more time with God, the saints, and in the sanctuary; those hearing from God and following the directives of the Holy Ghost, the enemy is screaming from hell, “READY, AIM, FIRE!”

And by no means should that terrify you, in fact, it ought to excite you, that you’re finally on the enemies hit list! It’s not because of what you’ve done wrong, it’s because you’ve finally got it right!

So now he's got to get himself in position to make it hard for you! He's got to stop your forward progress fast or there's no telling how much ground he's going to lose! He has to stop you before you start interceding for folks, laying hands on people, speaking in tongues, binding the works of the flesh. He’s got to stop you before you start pleading the blood of Jesus over your family; before you start anointing your children. He’s got to stop you before you start speaking those things that be not as though they were. He’s got to stop you before your hope is renewed and your faith is revived. He’s got to stop you before you start believing that God meant just what He said concerning you.

He’s got to stop you before you start dreaming again. He’s got to stop you before you stop living in the past and start seeing yourself in a great future. He’s got to stop you from walking with God, before you gain more ground!

Satan gets busy whenever God has made a major landing in your life. Maybe you've recently made a new surrender of your life to Jesus or you've said yes to His call on your life. You've stepped up to leadership. Could it be that you've begun a new work for the Lord? Made a new commitment to be the marriage partner or the parent you should be, to give more to the Lord's work, to live by new priorities? Guess what? Alarm bells are going off in hell!

But don't get discouraged. Don't go back to the old ways. This is just your old enemy trying to stop this progress while it's new and fragile. If you keep going this way, your enemy's going to lose big time and he knows it. So step up and launch a Biblical counterattack. In the words of James 4:7, "Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come near to God and He will come near to you."

Psalm 91: “You who sit down in the High God’s presence, spend the night in Shaddai’s shadow, Say this: “God, You’re my refuge. I trust in You and I’M SAFE!” That’s right—He rescues you from hidden traps, shields you from deadly hazards. His huge outstretched arms protect you—under them you’re PERFECTLY SAFE; His arms fend off all harm. Fear nothing—not wild wolves in the night, not flying arrows in the day, Not disease that prowls through the darkness, not disaster that erupts at high noon. Even though others succumb all around, drop like flies right and left, no harm will even graze you. You’ll stand UNTOUCHED, watch it all from a distance, watch the wicked turn into corpses. Yes, because God’s your refuge, the High God your very own home, Evil can’t get close to you, harm can’t get through the door. HE ORDERED HIS ANGELS TO GUARD YOU WHEREVER YOU GO. If you stumble, they’ll catch you; their job is to keep you from falling. You’ll walk UNHARMED among lions and snakes, and kick young lions and serpents from the path. “If you’ll hold on to me for dear life,” says God, “I’ll get you out of any trouble. I’ll give you the BEST OF CARE if you’ll only get to know and trust Me. Call Me and I’ll answer, be at your side in bad times; I’ll rescue you, then throw you a party. I’ll give you a long life, give you a long drink of salvation!” (MSG)

That’s the security you have when you come near to God and He comes near to you! Not only is He your refuge keeping you safe, but He’s also Ordered (not asked) His angels to guard you wherever you go! Remember this the next time God gives you a Word. Protect it by remaining in the Presence of God. Knowing that His angels are with you, guarding you, keeping you safe, wherever you go. That’s how you protect your beachhead (‘your promise/your Word from God’). Don’t just let the devil take your property! Fight for it, guard it, and stay as close to God as you can!

Don’t get all excited about the Word from God, and forget to Guard it! Remember the enemy is ready to steal, kill and destroy, and that includes you and the Word of Promise given to you. Don’t let him get it! He’s ready and alert, now make sure you are too!

1 Peter 5:8-11, “Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up. You’re not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It’s the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won’t last forever. It won’t be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does.” (MSG) Stay Alert, The Devil Is Poised To Pounce! The Danger for us as believers in becoming lazy, is that the devil never is! He’s Poised to Pounce! He’s in Position to Attack, are you?!

Charles Spurgeon said, "The greatest sign of God's will and God's power is the Devil's growl." If you're hearing the "growl" you're probably on the right track! You're on your way to some of the greatest victories of your life! Protect Your Word, Protect Your Promise! He’s Only Getting Worse, Because You’re Getting Better! It will be a fight to the finish, but one you will finish and win! Keep your armor on, and fight the good fight of faith!

You’ll Gain More Ground If You Keep the Devil Under Your Feet!

1 Timothy 6:12, "Fight the good fight of the faith [in the conflict with evil]; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and [for which] you made the good confession [of faith] in the presence of many witnesses." (AMP)

Therefore, Soldiers in the Lord's Army, Put Your Warfare Clothes On, Go to Battle and Guard the Word God Gave You!

Ephesians 6:10-18, “And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his demons. Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.” (MSG)

Blessings

J.P. Olson