From: LIFE Today <devotional@loi.org>
Date: Sun, 14 Nov 2010 03:00:30 -0600 (CST)
Subject: Words of LIFE: When Praying, Listen
To: rkbc1947@gmail.com
Words of LIFE
When Praying, Listen
by James Robison
God has not only called me to preach, He has called me to prayer. It
is important to note that Jesus commanded His disciples to preach, but
He taught them to pray. The ministry God gave me was birthed and
bathed in prayer and I am grateful that millions have heard the Gospel
proclaimed and professed their faith in Christ.
But even while blessed in my ministry, I found myself out of the will
of God. I was too busy preaching to spend necessary and important time
in prayer. I once foolishly and almost arrogantly responded to a
sincere woman's question, "When you travel and preach so
many places so many times a day, how do you have time to pray?"
I looked at her and said, "I preach you pray!"
How sad. I had lost intimacy with God. I had unwittingly left my first
love. I was burnt out, burned up and defeated. God in His grace broke
my heart. I missed intimacy with Jesus. I am so grateful that 30 years
ago the Lord accomplished a marvelous work of deliverance and fullness
to restore me to my first love. Jesus made me a servant to others to
ministers, missionaries, the church and the suffering around the
world.
In the last two years, God has called me to meditate on His Word,
research history and spend much time in prayer. When I pray, most of
my time is spent primarily seeking to hear God's heart. In my
weekly commentaries and through the LIFE Today television program, I
have been sharing the impressions, concerns and directions He has
given me while praying. Hopefully you can hear God's heart with
supernatural enabling through what I share.
In this commentary and for the next few weeks, I will communicate the
impressions and messages that come as I seek to know the mind of God.
It will be up to you, along with me and other godly counselors I
consult, to discern if what I hear is His heart and His word. I find
what I hear consistent with scripture. If I could not, I would
seriously question what I heard or thought I heard. Keep in mind, when
we pray, we seek insight, instruction, wisdom and divine guidance
related to every aspect of life. Jesus said, "My sheep hear My
voice," and I believe Him.
As I have prayed and listened, these are impressions that came to my
mind:
I can be an answer and help others be an answer to Jesus'
prayers. It is important even imperative that we seek to become one
with the Father's heart just as Jesus was. Our Lord did not pray
amiss. It is possible! As Christians we can be perfected in
supernatural unity and heart harmony.
Love never fails, but is seldom fully received or freely released. Its
eternal effect is not always revealed within our expected time frame.
Last week the Spirit of God overwhelmed me as I sensed His joy over
the possibility of believers coming together to put His arms around a
suffering world.
During the past 12 months, God has made it very clear to me that our
nation stumbles because the church slumbers. Our national freedom will
be lost if Christians do not allow God in His power to set them free
from the bondage of this present world and become light piercing the
darkness and helping illuminate the way to restore freedom's
foundation. Only an act of God can give elected representatives the
dedication, determination, tenacity and wisdom to hammer out the
details necessary to correct national problems related to taxation,
immigration, the economy, national security, social concerns,
injustice and lawlessness.
Idolatry is the issue. Individually and nationally the first of the
Ten Commandments is too freely cast aside. God is not first for many
church goers, professing Christians or citizens of the United States,
even as they carry money with "In God We Trust" written on
it. All who hold to idols are fellowshipping with demons. Idolaters
are jerked around like puppets on strings. Who is pulling the strings
of your heart? Who is farming the field of your life?
Money is not our problem; the love of money is the problem. This leads
to all manner of evil expressions and foolish trust in false gods. The
fertile field of opportunity and freedom is not the problem. The
farmer who does not understand that his own life is to be God's
cultivated field and His fruitful garden is the problem. We must give
God the field of our lives and let Him root out any weeds that can
hinder fruitfulness. God wants us to be rooted and grounded in love.
He wants believers to be fruitful and multiply His blessings.
Government is not God and must never be presented as all-provident or
foolishly perceived as such. Once God is not first and the primary
pursuit of our heart, we will foolishly look to inappropriate sources
and ineffective solutions. It is a crime to allow children to think
anyone owes them a life or a living. There is not an affective
charitable act on this planet apart from compassion in action hands
out, not just hand-outs.
I will close with this clear and startling image: When I witnessed the
rage and riots in Greece, God spoke to my heart very clearly:
"What you see is a microcosm of what will happen here in the
United States if we do not see a return to God and a spiritual
awakening within the church. Businesses and corporations will be
attacked and ransacked. Normal activity will be disrupted. Perceived
luxury items (cars and houses) subject to damage. Anything giving the
appearance of success or prosperity will be damaged. Darkness will
prevail spiritually and energy sources will be short-circuited.
Communication lines will be severed. All this organized by evil
factions who are controlled by the powers of darkness and who are the
enemies of liberating truth and true freedom." God forbid that
Islamic extremists should get their hands on nuclear weapons. The
former Soviet threat pales in comparison with what these radicals
desire to unleash on the United States and our allies.
Misguided media and manipulators of people will place blame on and
accuse those who have dared to proclaim the truth as being a major
cause of the riotous acts. People who are filled with love, compassion
and truth will be blamed for the despicable acts perpetrated by those
who seek to bring the United States and free nations under their
control.
The only possibility of preventing such actions will be the love and
power of God released through the people of faith. There will be no
healthy redirection of this nation apart from God's wisdom along
with the influence and the bold witness of Spirit-filled God-loving
Christians. The government and Marshall Law will not be adequate. God
is the answer and His love expressed freely through His people is the
only way to miss what will surely come our way apart from repentance
and the return to truth and to the God of our fathers. Consider
Nineveh! Repentance offers hope.
I have been sharing and will continue to share the impressions I have
while praying and seeking God's will with all my heart.
When you spend much time with someone and get to know them well,
it's amazing how clearly you hear and recognize their
voice. Because I do hear God's heart, I am unable to hold
back the release of the river of love, truth and concern that fills my
heart to overflowing.
God has not just given me a sermon, He has given me a message. A
sermon is often about something, but a message is to someone. A sermon
is heard, but a message must be heeded. Sermons are preached. Messages
are delivered. There is a difference. The latter demands a response
and calls for immediate, appropriate action. As with hearing God,
messages from Him will always be in perfect harmony with the Word of
God.
The invitation of Jesus to come as little chicks to the shelter and
shadow of His covering is the image I keep seeing and the clear word
that I keep hearing. He offered this invitation while praying over
Jerusalem and He could see clearly the coming desolation because
God's Word through the prophets had been spurned. If Christians
will pray and listen and then stand boldly and fearlessly, faith and
freedom will prevail. I am praying continually, "Oh Lord, let us
hear and respond to Your invitation and not experience the desolation
that can be avoided through your grace and our response to Your heart
and Your Word."
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