Verse of the Day

Genesis 15:6 6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

The Secret to David Green's Successful 'Hobby'

TULSA, Okla. -- Billionaire David Green has closely followed Biblical principles over the years. In 1972, the founder and CEO of the arts and crafts chain, Hobby Lobby, started the business with just $600.

From the company's humble beginnings in an Oklahoma City living room, Green now oversees close to 20,000 employees and 457 stores in 39 states.
    
He was number 136 on Forbes' list of the 400 richest Americans published late in 2010, with a net worth of just over $2.5 billion.

Hobby's Ministry

The journey to that amount was draining at times, involving battles with pride and debt. But a humble and grateful Green emerged from the trials, giving all the credit to God.
    
"God has just blown us off the map, and we know that we give God the glory," Green told an audience at a luncheon in Tulsa, fighting back the tears.
     
Only a portion of the West Coast and New England are without the arts and crafts chain. However, Green said Hobby Lobby stores are on the way, with one expected to open in California in January, to be followed by stores in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire.
         
"There are so many decisions that we have to make that we just can't make without God, the Holy Spirit guiding us. And it has been very important for us, our family, to lean on the Holy Spirit," Green shared with CBN News.
    
"For him, it was always a ministry," said David's son, Mart Green, who is also a highly successful businessman.

"He couldn't be a preacher, and Grandma wanted six preachers, and he wished he could have been a preacher, but that wasn't his calling," he explained. "So he had to go where his gifting was, and he just, he loved the retail business." 

Real Giving    
Green built his business on Biblical principles.
    
"We try to do as much as we can, especially as we have rid ourselves of any debt," Green explained. "We've always tithed. That's something that we always have been taught, but we've also been taught that that's not giving. Giving is above what we owe God, and that is our tithes."
    
More profits mean more funds to give away. Green and his family have given millions to Christian causes and education. Their generous donations have benefited Liberty University in Virginia, rescued Oral Roberts University in Oklahoma, and will enable C.S. Lewis College to open in Massachusetts.

Green's latest charitable endeavor involves purchasing Christian artifacts and ancient Bibles for a national Bible museum. 

Caring for Employees    
However, the CEO hasn't forgotten those who help keep Hobby Lobby stores running and the customers happy. In 2010, the company raised the minimum wage for full-time employees to $11 per hour -- 52 percent above the federal minimum wage.

Green said raising wages is a way to reward employees for the company's success.
    
Another way that Green takes care of his employees is by limiting the number of hours that the store stays open in the evenings. Monday through Saturday, it's only open until 8 p.m. Hobby Lobby is also closed on Sundays to allow time for family and worship.
    
"It kind of frightened us when we knew God was speaking to us about closing on Sunday, because it is per hour, the busiest day of the week. But we knew God wanted us to close," Green said, adding that the move has not hurt the company's bottom line.

Blessing in a Tough Economy    
Green said there are no other companies the size of Hobby Lobby that are open only 66 hours a week. Yet, even in these tough economic times, the business is flourishing. He said same-store sales rose 6 percent in 2009, and the company's overall revenue was up 10 percent.

"Our businesses have done really well, even in these hard times," Green told CBN News. "Last year, we had a nice increase, even in our same stores. This year we're above that."   

"So I know God is in this," he said. "And He is blessing us, and I think just as important as our giving is our hearts and that we do have clean hands and a pure heart in our work. And this is what God would require of us."
     
Sharing the Gospel

Green and his family are not just financial givers. They strive to help meet the spiritual needs of their employees as well. Three Hobby Lobby chaplains minister to workers.
    
Green said hundreds of employees have given their hearts to Jesus Christ, including more than a dozen managers this year alone.
    
"We prayed a prayer with them, and we did have 15 managers come to know Christ in the business place," he shared.
    
Sharing the Gospel, Green says, is the driving force behind his quest for success in the marketplace. In fact, that's how he wants to be remembered.
    
"I would like to know that we have brought as many people to know Christ as we possibly can," Green said. "We hope to continue to just grow our company. As long as there's someone on this earth that doesn't know Jesus Christ, we have a job to do."

*Original broadcast Nov. 6, 2010.

Verse of the Day

Psalm 118:14

14 The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.

Foundation For a Stable Family

Hello Reader,
With joy and gladness I welcome you to this edition of Family Success. In this third month of the year of Heaven On Earth, I shall be teaching on The Foundation for a Stable Family. In our Christian journey, a call to a constant examination of our foundation is a major prerequisite and cannot be over emphasized.
Instability is one of the circumstances facing the average family around the world today. It has ravaged many homes causing separation, infidelity, sorrow and non-fulfillment. The good news is that there is a solution to this instability in families. You don’t have to go through any of those heart-shaking experiences; in fact your family can become so stable that you will not be aware that others are collapsing. For you to have a stable family, you need a solid foundation. That is why today I shall be examining: Laying A Solid Foundation.
The foundation of a house is what determines how stable and strong the building will be. The Word of God says: If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Psalm 11:3). There is nothing anyone can do if the foundation of a building be destroyed. So, also, if the foundation of your family life be destroyed, every other part will be faulty.
The foundation for securing a stable family is in your personal relationship with God. You need a personal encounter with God. God is the Author of marriage. He is the One who founded the family. So, the starting point is, your relationship with the Almighty Father will affect and determine your relationship in your marriage. How vital and strong the quality of your relationship with your heavenly Father is, will determine the quality of the relationship in your family.
God is the only source of true and lasting relationship. When you allow God to enter into your ship, your ship will never sink. As singles, I want you to know that it is the will and intention of God for you to enjoy a sweet home but it is very important to know that, your true and lasting satisfaction, joy and fulfillment in life is rooted in your relationship with the Almighty God. A good understanding of this will help you to walk in life with confidence.
I want you to know that your spouse is not your source of joy. God is the only source of joy. If you understand this, you will be ready to walk by the Word of God, to secure stability in your home. If you know this, that God is the only source of joy, happiness and contentment in the family, you will know that changing spouse like changing clothes is not the solution to your contentment in the family. Looking for the latest models in town will never bring you contentment. God is the source!
Your problem today may be, ‘Oh! My husband is not good, I will look for another one. My wife is not good, I will get a better one.’ May be you are even contemplating of divorce, as you are reading this material right now, the light of God will come on you and God will restore dignity back to your marriage. Stop that divorce plan; divorce is not the solution. It is your relationship with God that makes all the difference and you will make progress in your family life. Whatever has caused you heartache and tears before, your relationship with God will cause a change and you shall have stability in your family.
Family stability is a possibility, but it is not a gift, you have a responsibility. Bishop David Oyedepo, whom I am privileged to be married to, said: “Faith that makes God absolutely responsible for the events of your life is an irresponsible faith”. You have a part to play!
You need to be born again to have a relationship with God that Father, Who founded the family. God is the only true source of joy. Allow God to come into your life so you can have a relationship with God. You can say this prayer of faith:
“Dear Lord Jesus Christ, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me of my sins and cleanse me with Your Blood. Deliver me from sin and Satan to serve the living God. I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Make me a child of God today. Thank You for accepting me into Your Kingdom.”
If you prayed this simple prayer, you are now a child of God. He loves you and will never leave you. Read your Bible daily, obey God’s Word and seek Christian fellowship (John 14:21).
Congratulations! You are now born again! All-round rest and peace are guaranteed you, in Jesus’ Name. Call or write, and share your testimonies with me through contact@faithoyedepo.org, and conselling@faithoyedepo.org; OR 07026385437 and 08141320204.
For more insight, these books authored by me are available at the Dominion Bookstores in all Living Faith Churches and other leading Christian bookstores:

• Marriage Covenant
• Making Marriage Work
• Building A Successful Home and Success in Marriage (Co-Authored).

The Power Of Prayer

Mark 11:24 ESV / 729 helpful votes

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Philippians 4:6-7 ESV / 551 helpful votes

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

James 5:16 ESV / 397 helpful votes

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

1 John 3:22 ESV / 298 helpful votes

And whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.

1 John 5:14-15 ESV / 295 helpful votes

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

John 15:7 ESV / 285 helpful votes

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

Jeremiah 29:11-15 ESV / 239 helpful votes

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. “Because you have said, ‘The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,’

John 14:13-14 ESV / 219 helpful votes

Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

1 John 5:14 ESV / 174 helpful votes

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.

1 Timothy 2:5 ESV / 173 helpful votes

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

Ephesians 6:18 ESV / 173 helpful votes

Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

Matthew 6:9-13 ESV / 144 helpful votes

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Matthew 21:21-22 ESV / 140 helpful votes

And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

James 1:5 ESV / 130 helpful votes

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

Luke 11:9 ESV / 120 helpful votes

And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Matthew 6:7 ESV / 120 helpful votes

“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.

James 1:6 ESV / 115 helpful votes

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

Matthew 6:7-8 ESV / 113 helpful votes

“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

1 Timothy 2:8 ESV / 110 helpful votes

I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;

Luke 18:1-8 ESV / 97 helpful votes

And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” ...

Acts 12:5 ESV / 95 helpful votes

So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.

Proverbs 28:9 ESV / 86 helpful votes

If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.

1 Timothy 2:1 ESV / 79 helpful votes

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,

1 Thessalonians 5:17 ESV / 78 helpful votes

Pray without ceasing,

Matthew 6:9 ESV / 76 helpful votes

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Acts 20:36 ESV / 75 helpful votes

And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.

Acts 16:25-26 ESV / 73 helpful votes

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened.

Matthew 6:13 ESV / 71 helpful votes

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Isaiah 41:10 ESV / 71 helpful votes

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Jeremiah 33:3 ESV / 70 helpful votes

Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.

Psalm 91:1-16 ESV / 68 helpful votes

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, ...

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV / 64 helpful votes

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 John 1:9 ESV / 61 helpful votes

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Acts 4:23-31 ESV / 60 helpful votes

When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’— for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, ...

Romans 8:26 ESV / 59 helpful votes

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

Daniel 6:18-24 ESV / 57 helpful votes

Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no diversions were brought to him, and sleep fled from him. Then, at break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions. As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish. The king declared to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! My God sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.” ...

Psalm 103:1-22 ESV / 56 helpful votes

Of David. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. ...

Acts 10:9 ESV / 55 helpful votes

The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray.

Luke 11:1 ESV / 54 helpful votes

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”

Matthew 7:1-29 ESV / 51 helpful votes

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. ...

Psalm 141:2 ESV / 46 helpful votes

Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!

James 5:13-14 ESV / 44 helpful votes

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

Amos 1:1-15 ESV / 42 helpful votes

The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. And he said: “The Lord roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel withers.” Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron. So I will send a fire upon the house of Hazael, and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad. I will break the gate-bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of Aven, and him who holds the scepter from Beth-eden; and the people of Syria shall go into exile to Kir,” says the Lord. ...

James 4:3 ESV / 41 helpful votes

You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

Acts 4:24 ESV / 39 helpful votes

And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them,

Acts 2:42 ESV / 38 helpful votes

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV / 38 helpful votes

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Mark 16:16 ESV / 36 helpful votes

Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Ezekiel 36:11-15 ESV / 36 helpful votes

And I will multiply on you man and beast, and they shall multiply and be fruitful. And I will cause you to be inhabited as in your former times, and will do more good to you than ever before. Then you will know that I am the Lord. I will let people walk on you, even my people Israel. And they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance, and you shall no longer bereave them of children. Thus says the Lord God: Because they say to you, ‘You devour people, and you bereave your nation of children,’ therefore you shall no longer devour people and no longer bereave your nation of children, declares the Lord God. And I will not let you hear anymore the reproach of the nations, and you shall no longer bear the disgrace of the peoples and no longer cause your nation to stumble, declares the Lord God.”

James 5:16-18 ESV / 33 helpful votes

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

Acts 12:12 ESV / 32 helpful votes

When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.

Colossians 1:3 ESV / 31 helpful votes

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,

Amos 3:5-15 ESV / 31 helpful votes

Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth, when there is no trap for it? Does a snare spring up from the ground, when it has taken nothing? Is a trumpet blown in a city, and the people are not afraid? Does disaster come to a city, unless the Lord has done it? “For the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken; who can but prophesy?” Proclaim to the strongholds in Ashdod and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt, and say, “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria, and see the great tumults within her, and the oppressed in her midst.” ...

Psalm 55:22 ESV / 31 helpful votes

Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.

Genesis 18:27 ESV / 31 helpful votes

Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes.

1 John 5:15 ESV / 29 helpful votes

And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

James 1:5-7 ESV / 29 helpful votes

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;

Isaiah 65:24 ESV / 29 helpful votes

Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear.

Hebrews 10:19-22 ESV / 28 helpful votes

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

1 Peter 5:7 ESV / 27 helpful votes

Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

Acts 28:10 ESV / 27 helpful votes

They also honored us greatly, and when we were about to sail, they put on board whatever we needed.

Acts 17:11 ESV / 27 helpful votes

Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

Psalm 41:1-4 ESV / 24 helpful votes

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him; the Lord protects him and keeps him alive; he is called blessed in the land; you do not give him up to the will of his enemies. The Lord sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness you restore him to full health. As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against you!”

1 Corinthians 1:4 ESV / 23 helpful votes

I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus,

Romans 10:17 ESV / 23 helpful votes

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Philippians 1:3-4 ESV / 22 helpful votes

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy,

Psalm 51:1-19 ESV / 21 helpful votes

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. ...

Psalm 23:4 ESV / 16 helpful votes

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

John 16:26-27 ESV / 14 helpful votes

In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.

1 Thessalonians 5:17-20 ESV / 13 helpful votes

Pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies,

John 1:1 ESV / 12 helpful votes

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Psalm 27:1-14 ESV / 12 helpful votes

Of David. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident. One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock. ...

Psalm 18:5 ESV / 12 helpful votes

The cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.

James 5:14-17 ESV / 11 helpful votes

Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.

Psalm 50:15 ESV / 11 helpful votes

And call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

Psalm 35:1-28 ESV / 10 helpful votes

Of David. Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me! Take hold of shield and buckler and rise for my help! Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers! Say to my soul, “I am your salvation!” Let them be put to shame and dishonor who seek after my life! Let them be turned back and disappointed who devise evil against me! Let them be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the Lord driving them away! ...

2 Corinthians 12:7-9 ESV / 9 helpful votes

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Daniel 9:1-27 ESV / 9 helpful votes

In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a Mede, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. ...

Ecclesiastes 3:11 ESV / 9 helpful votes

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

1 Samuel 12:2 ESV / 9 helpful votes

And now, behold, the king walks before you, and I am old and gray; and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day.

Matthew 21:1 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,

Matthew 26:36 ESV / 7 helpful votes

Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.”

2 Thessalonians 1:11 ESV / 6 helpful votes

To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power,

Ephesians 3:12 ESV / 5 helpful votes

In whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.

Luke 11:32 ESV / 5 helpful votes

The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

Matthew 26:41 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Matthew 18:19-20 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

2 Thessalonians 3:1-5 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

Philippians 4:1-23 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved. I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; ...

John 20:11 ESV / 4 helpful votes

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb.

John 3:1-36 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ...

Matthew 21:6 ESV / 4 helpful votes

The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them.

Psalm 107:1-43 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to a city to dwell in; hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them. ..

Seven Blessings of the Tithe

By Benny HinnRecently while watching Pat Robertson on the 700 Club, the Lord put something on my heart that I want to share with you.
Pat talked about the importance of the tithe, as mentioned in Malachi 3. While I was listening to him, I felt strongly that I needed to teach on the seven blessings of the tithe, too, for like Pat Robertson, I believe the tithe is very important to the Lord Jesus.
First of all, Malachi 3:10 teaches: “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”
Then the Lord promises, “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts” (verse 11).
SEVEN PROMISES
In the next verse, the Lord gives us this most remarkable promise: “And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts” (verse 12). In this noteworthy portion of Scripture, we find the Lord’s command to bring “all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house.” The Lord clearly tells every believer that the tithe belongs to Him and His work.
The Lord even challenges us to test Him: “Prove me now herewith” (verse 10). This is the only time in Scripture that the Lord makes that offer. That is one of the most amazing invitations we have ever been given by the Lord Himself; that we, as God’s people, can prove Him in this matter.
Following His challenge in Malachi 3:10, He then begins to give us the seven most amazing blessings of the tithe:

• “If I will not open you the windows of heaven” (verse 10). The windows of heaven always deal with revival. The Lord promises to revive every person who obeys Him.
  
• “And pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (verse 10). Think about it! God Almighty declares clearly in His Word that the tither will be prosperous—so prosperous, in fact, that there will not be room enough to receive the prosperity and blessings God has in store for the one who obeys Him.
  
• “I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes” (verse 11). Years ago when I taught on this subject in Orlando, I discovered that rebuke, to my amazement, means “to cripple” or “to paralyze.” God Almighty will actually cripple the enemy on your behalf when you tithe. The tithe is so important to the Lord that He promises to paralyze and cripple the enemy so that he will not be able to touch your life! Remember, the Lord said to prove Him. These things will happen, for this is the Word of the Lord!
  
• “He shall not destroy the fruits of your ground” (verse 11). This means that the enemy, whom God has crippled on your behalf, will not be able to touch your finances. The “fruits of your ground” refers to your money. The enemy will not be able to touch your money as a result of your obedience to the Lord in the tithe.
  
• “Neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lordof hosts” (verse 11). It is remarkable that in John 15:5, Jesus said, “I am the vine, ye are the branches.” The vine, therefore, means the family, and God gives this amazing promise to the tither when He says that the enemy will not touch your family, if you obey the Lord.
  
• “All nations shall call you blessed” (verse 12). In this most amazing blessing and promise, God will bless and prosper you so that the nations of the world will see the blessings of God upon you. In other words, you will be a mighty witness of the power and blessings of God.
  
• “Ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts” (verse 12). Delightsome means “highly desired.” As you obey the Lord with the tithe, God will so highly desire you that He will use you.

These seven most amazing blessings of the tithe can be summarized:

• You will have revival.
• You will experience great prosperity.
• The enemy will be crippled and will not touch your life.
• Your finances will be safe.
• Your family will be safe from the hand of the enemy.
• You will be a great witness of the power and blessings of the Lord to the nations.
• You will be highly desired, and God will use you for His glory!

THE STOREHOUSE
Before giving these seven blessings in Malachi 3, the Lord very clearly mentions the tithes and offerings in verse 8: “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings” (Malachi 3:8). Then He says, “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse” (verse 10).
The “storehouse” is not your local church! Many years ago, I taught that the storehouse was the local church. As I have continued to study the Word, travel the world, and mature in the Lord, I have come to realize that the storehouse is not the local building but the ministry that feeds your life.
Any ministry that feeds you the Word of God is that storehouse! The Word of God is clear on this, for He says, “Bring ye all the tithe into the storehouse.” The tithe belongs to the ministry that gives you fresh bread and the meat of God’s Word.
As you support the storehouse that the Lord has placed into your life, the Lord has promised to send these seven supernatural blessings upon your life!
If this ministry has been that storehouse for you, then it is the law of God that you should give your tithes and offerings to this ministry. In fact, according to the Word of God, you should support whatever ministry God uses to feed your life.
I want to share an important truth with you. The Word of God is clear also in Deuteronomy 26 that the tithe does not belong to the dead. In the midst of teaching on the tithe, the Lord tells us, “Nor given ought thereof for the dead” (Deuteronomy 26:14). If you want to receive the seven supernatural blessings of the tithe, make sure you are not giving your tithe or offering to a dead work.
If you give to a dead ministry, there will be no result! But when you give to a ministry that is alive and preaching the Gospel to the world, then these promises will be yours.
BREAKING DEBT FROM YOUR LIFE
When I saw this powerful truth and began applying it in my own life—as I became a tither myself—God truly broke the debt from my life.
Debt is broken by only one thing—giving to the Lord’s work!
I want to see the Lord bless your life. It is your tithe that opens heaven, and it is your offering that brings prosperity your way. The Lord requires both, the tithe (at least 10 percent) and the offering (extra money that the Lord directs you to give). We cannot be blessed without the tithe, and we cannot see abundance without both the tithe and the offering.
The Lord clearly states in His Word to give both tithes and offerings.
Today, give both to the Lord. Sow your seed. And as you give your tithe and sow your seed-offering this month, lay your hands on that seed and claim the seven supernatural promises of Malachi 3.

He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

Hebrews 13:5-6

Self-consciousness is a major problem in the Body of Christ today. It keeps us from doing the things God tells us to do. Instead of simply obeying Him, it makes us start to wonder, Now what will people think of me if I do that? What if I command that person to get out of the wheelchair and he doesn't get up? What if I start believing for prosperity and go broke? What about that, God? I won't look too good, will I?
If you've ever been through that, let me tell you something: It doesn't matter how you look! It's obeying God that counts. When it comes to obeying God, your own reputation doesn't count. And the sooner you forget it, the better off you'll be.
But you know what's ironic? Once you do that, your reputation gets better. It's a funny thing. When you lose that desire to protect your image, your image will improve. Why? Because then when people look at you, instead of seeing that puny little image you have of yourself, they'll see the image of the Lord Jesus coming through.
So put aside that old self-consciousness and develop God-consciousness instead. Stop being dominated by the fear of man and start being motivated by faith in what Jesus can do.
After all, He has promised He will never leave you or forsake you. Grab hold of that. Believe it. Act on it. Once you do, you'll realize there's really nothing to be afraid of anymore!

Scripture Reading:

Romans 8:29-39

© 1991 Eagle Mountain International Church, Inc. aka: Kenneth Copeland Publications    All rights reserved.

- See more at: http://www.kcm.org/read/faith-to-faith#sthash.zDDPXA1H.dpuf

He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

Hebrews 13:5-6

Self-consciousness is a major problem in the Body of Christ today. It keeps us from doing the things God tells us to do. Instead of simply obeying Him, it makes us start to wonder, Now what will people think of me if I do that? What if I command that person to get out of the wheelchair and he doesn't get up? What if I start believing for prosperity and go broke? What about that, God? I won't look too good, will I?
If you've ever been through that, let me tell you something: It doesn't matter how you look! It's obeying God that counts. When it comes to obeying God, your own reputation doesn't count. And the sooner you forget it, the better off you'll be.
But you know what's ironic? Once you do that, your reputation gets better. It's a funny thing. When you lose that desire to protect your image, your image will improve. Why? Because then when people look at you, instead of seeing that puny little image you have of yourself, they'll see the image of the Lord Jesus coming through.
So put aside that old self-consciousness and develop God-consciousness instead. Stop being dominated by the fear of man and start being motivated by faith in what Jesus can do.
After all, He has promised He will never leave you or forsake you. Grab hold of that. Believe it. Act on it. Once you do, you'll realize there's really nothing to be afraid of anymore!

Scripture Reading:

Romans 8:29-39

© 1991 Eagle Mountain International Church, Inc. aka: Kenneth Copeland Publications    All rights reserved.

- See more at: http://www.kcm.org/read/faith-to-faith#sthash.zDDPXA1H.dpuf

He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

Hebrews 13:5-6

Self-consciousness is a major problem in the Body of Christ today. It keeps us from doing the things God tells us to do. Instead of simply obeying Him, it makes us start to wonder, Now what will people think of me if I do that? What if I command that person to get out of the wheelchair and he doesn't get up? What if I start believing for prosperity and go broke? What about that, God? I won't look too good, will I?
If you've ever been through that, let me tell you something: It doesn't matter how you look! It's obeying God that counts. When it comes to obeying God, your own reputation doesn't count. And the sooner you forget it, the better off you'll be.
But you know what's ironic? Once you do that, your reputation gets better. It's a funny thing. When you lose that desire to protect your image, your image will improve. Why? Because then when people look at you, instead of seeing that puny little image you have of yourself, they'll see the image of the Lord Jesus coming through.
So put aside that old self-consciousness and develop God-consciousness instead. Stop being dominated by the fear of man and start being motivated by faith in what Jesus can do.
After all, He has promised He will never leave you or forsake you. Grab hold of that. Believe it. Act on it. Once you do, you'll realize there's really nothing to be afraid of anymore!

Scripture Reading:

Romans 8:29-39

© 1991 Eagle Mountain International Church, Inc. aka: Kenneth Copeland Publications    All rights reserved.

- See more at: http://www.kcm.org/read/faith-to-faith#sthash.zDDPXA1H.dpuf

Today's Bible verse

Psalm 1:1 1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.

Verse of the Day

Proverbs 11:30-31

30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise. 31 If the righteous receive their due on earth, how much more the ungodly and the sinner!

Possibility Faith—You Can Have It!

By Kenneth W. Hagin

Are you falling short in your faith and not receiving what you’re believing for? By learning how to develop possibility faith, you’ll find that turning impossibilities into possibilities isn’t as hard as you think!
In the 1920s, Joseph Baermann Strauss dreamed of constructing a bridge that would span the Golden Gate strait—the narrow, turbulent channel where the Pacific Ocean and the San Francisco Bay meet. His skeptical peers believed that such a bridge could never be built. They believed that engineering challenges and enormous building costs made this dream impossible to achieve.
But this determined engineer didn’t allow the opinions of people or the nearly insurmountable construction challenges rob him of his dream. Sixteen years after he submitted preliminary sketches to San Francisco’s city engineer, the Golden Gate Bridge finally opened for traffic.
Joseph Strauss had what I call “possibility faith.”
You may be asking, “What is that?” Possibility faith knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that any adversity can be overcome and any dream can be achieved.
Possibility faith is based on the following scriptures.
LUKE 18:27
27 The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.
LUKE 1:37
37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.
Possibility faith is a faith that believes in your heart, says with your mouth, and receives what you believe in your heart (Rom. 10:9–10). You may be thinking, Well, Rev. Hagin, that’s easy for you to say, but my faith isn’t as strong as yours.
Let me show you how to turn what may look like an impossible situation around. It’s not as difficult as you may think!
In Mark 11:22, Jesus told His disciples to “. . . Have faith in God.” The Worrell New Testament translates this verse as “Have the faith of God.” In other words, it’s saying, “Have the God-kind of faith.”
If you have been born again, as a child of God, you have become a member of God’s family through the redemptive work that Jesus completed on the Cross of Calvary. You are now a joint-heir with Christ (Rom. 8:17.) We see in Romans 12:3 that “. . . God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” So, you see, you have been given the same kind of possibility faith that God has!
Now it’s up to you to develop, or strengthen, that faith. Just as you have to eat every day so that your physical body is strengthened, you must also “eat” spiritual food. This is done by reading and meditating on Scripture every day. You can’t read your Bible once a month or pick it up when a crisis happens and expect your faith to be strong.
I recommend that you have a time of prayer and Bible reading before you leave your house every morning. And from your Bible reading, take one scripture and mull it over in your mind all day long. Quote it every time you get a chance. Think about that verse until it becomes so strong in your heart that if something happens that is contrary to it, you simply can’t accept it. Why? Because your thoughts immediately turn to the Word of God, and you accept only the Word as your final authority.
For instance, let’s say you’re meditating on First Peter 2:24, which says, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” You’ve thought about this verse and meditated on it for such a long time that if a doctor gives you a bad report, your first thought is No. That sickness is contrary to the Word of God. Jesus paid the price for ALL diseases when He died on the Cross. I’m not going to accept the doctor’s report. I’m going to stand on God’s Word until healing comes to pass in my life.
Then when you speak what God’s Word says about healing, it’s more real to you than any pain or symptom you feel in your body. As you continue to confess healing scriptures, you will see the manifestation of your healing.
Unfortunately, too many people speak God’s Word before it has grown big on the inside of them, and they expect that to work for them. This is what I call “head” faith. They’ve heard what the Bible says about something, and they believe it superficially. But when their body begins to hurt or they encounter adversity, instead of speaking God’s Word, they speak what they feel or see. They need to continue to say what God’s Word says until that Word gets down in their spirit and a living faith arises in their heart.
I believe all Christians fall into three categories of faith. I can usually talk with somebody for just a few minutes and know which category he falls in.
1. The “excited faith” people.
These people are caught up in the inspiration of the moment. They’ve heard a good sermon and are excited about what God can do. But they don’t have any Word in their heart, so their faith never produces anything.
2. The undecided people.
Although these people know what the Word of God says, they give more weight to the pain in their body or to their circumstances. They’ll make a faith confession one minute but are quickly snared by the words of their mouths by speaking how they feel the next minute (Prov. 6:2).
3. The “positive confession” people.
These are the people who have possibility faith! They’ve taken the time to meditate on the Word of God until it has become more real to them than how they feel or what they see. While they acknowledge that their body hurts, for example, they acknowledge that the Word of God is a higher authority. No matter how bad they may feel or what the circumstances, they continually confess Scripture. They are not moved by what they feel or see but firmly stand on what God has said. As a result, it’s not long before their healing—their answer—manifests.
In our home, believing God is a way of life. There are times when I will purposely use my faith to get something even though I may have the money to pay for it. Instead of using money from my checking account, I’ll wait until God provides it. That way, I’m constantly developing my faith. Then when I face what seems to be an impossible situation, I’m at my best. And I’m ready to conquer the impossibility with possibility faith!
Too many people wait until they are diagnosed with cancer or some other terminal disease before they start filling their hearts with healing scriptures. You can compare that to trying to put a roof on a house during a storm! It can be done, but it’s going to be tough. That’s why you need to start developing faith for healing, for example, when you’re feeling fine and not facing a challenge.
Don’t wait until a crisis happens to develop possibility faith. Continually spend time reading, meditating, and confessing the Word. When you do, it won’t matter what comes your way, your faith will turn impossibilities into possibilities!

The Power of Prayer and Fasting By Marilyn Hickey

"Fasting and prayer? Didn't those go out of style decades ago?" The woman who said this to me was a godly woman, a woman who had been in the church all her life, and a woman intent on obeying the Lord. She knew her Bible. She was very serious in her questions.
Yet for some reason, she had concluded -- at least subconsciously -- that fasting and prayer were no longer intended for believers in today's world.
The truth is, fasting and prayer are for today! In fact, now more than ever!
The combination of fasting and praying is not a fad or a novelty approach to spiritual discipline. Fasting and praying are not part of a human-engineered method or plan. They are not the means to manipulate a situation or to create a circumstance. Fasting and praying are Bible-based disciplines that are appropriate for all believers of all ages throughout all centuries in all parts of the world.
Through the years, I have learned that many people in the church have never been taught about fasting and prayer, and many have therefore never fasted and prayed. As a result, they don't know why fasting and praying are important, what the Bible teaches about fasting, or how to fast. To many, fasting sounds like drudgery -- or a form of religious works. To others, fasting sounds extremely difficult. People tend to stand in awe at reports of those who have fasted for several weeks. When I hear about such fasts, I no doubt think what they think: If I fasted that long, I'd die! I couldn't possibly do that!
Let me assure you at the outset of this book that I am not advocating prolonged periods of fasting for every believer. A fast can be as short as one meal. Neither do I advocate fasting and praying for the mere sake of saying with self-righteousness, "I have fasted and prayed about this." I do not advocate fasting so that the hungry in a foreign nation might have the food you would have eaten that day -- which is highly unlikely. I do not advocate fasting apart from prayer.
KEY REASONS TO FAST AND PRAY
I do, however, encourage every believer to fast and pray for two very important reasons:
1. The Scriptures Teach Us to Fast and Pray
The Bible has a great deal to say about both fasting and praying, including commands to fast and pray. The Bible also gives us examples of people who fasted and prayed, using different types of fasts for different reasons, all of which are very positive results. Jesus fasted and prayed. Jesus' disciples fasted and prayed after the Resurrection. Many of the Old Testament heroes and heroines of the faith fasted and prayed. The followers of John the Baptist fasted and prayed.Many people in the early church fasted and prayed. What the Scriptures have taught us directly and by the examples of the saints is surely something we are to do.
2. Fasting and Prayer Put You into the Best Possible Position for a Breakthrough
That breakthrough might be in the realm of the spirit. It may be in the realm of your emotions or personal habits. It may be in the realm of a very practical area of life, such as a relationship or finances. What I have seen repeatedly through the years-not only in the Scriptures but in countless personal stories that others have told me -- is that periods of fasting and prayer produce great spiritual results, many of which fall into the realm of a breakthrough. What wasn't a reality . . . suddenly was. What hadn't worked . . . suddenly did. The unwanted situation or object that was there . . . suddenly wasn't there. The relationship that was unloving . . . suddenly was loving. The job that hadn't materialized . . . suddenly did.
The very simple and direct conclusions I draw are these: First, if the Bible teaches us to do something, I want to do it. I want to obey the Lord in every way that He commands me to obey Him. And second, if fasting and praying are means to a breakthrough that God has for me, I want to undertake those disciplines so I might experience that breakthrough!
Every person I know needs a breakthrough in some area of his or her life. I am no exception. I need breakthroughs all the time -- it may be a breakthrough in understanding a situation, a breakthrough answer to a problem, a breakthrough idea, a breakthrough insight, a breakthrough in financial or material provision, a breakthrough in health. If you have any need in your life, you need a breakthrough from God to meet that need! Fasting and prayer break the yoke of bondage and bring about a release of God's presence, power, and provision.
I certainly have seen this borne out in the course of my ministry.
When I was forty-two years old, I went to an Assemblies of God camp in Alexandria,Minnesota, to speak for a women's retreat. The first two days of the retreat went very well, and then I had one day in between the first retreat and the second -- so many women had registered, the camp could not host all of the women at the same time. I took that day in this lovely place in Minnesota to enjoy the lakes and trees -- it was a gorgeous environment -- and to fast and pray about God's will for my life. I felt as if I was doing a lot of good things, but I also thought I might miss God's best for me. I longed to hear from God and to receive a revelation from Him about my life.
In that day of fasting and prayer, God spoke to me words from Isaiah 11:9: "I have called you to cover the earth with the Word." Through the years, the Lord has confirmed that word to me a number of times, but this was my initial call to take the message of God's Word to the whole earth, and it came as the result of one day of prayer and fasting.
The breakthrough that you may need in your life is a sense of God's direction -- not only for today and tomorrow, but for the broad scope of your life. If you long to know God's purpose for you on this earth, I strongly encourage you to seek God in prayer and fasting.
THE PRINCIPLES OF BIBLICAL FASTING
There are two main overriding principles related to prayer and fasting in the Bible.
First, biblical fasting is going without food. The noun translated "fast" or "a fasting" is tsom in the Hebrew and nesteia in the Greek language. It means the voluntary abstinence from food. The literal Hebrew translation would be "not to eat." The literal Greek means "no food."
I know people who say they go without television or movies, and they call these "fasting" times. I'm not opposed to that definition of fasting-fasting does imply that we are giving up one thing in order to replace it with something else, and in the Bible sense, specifically to replace it with prayer. But in the main, I believe fasting has to do with our abstaining from food. Second, biblical fasting is linked with serious seasons of prayer. The more seriously we approach prayer and fasting, the more serious the results we will experience.
I sometimes hear people say, "I'm giving up chocolate" and they regard this as a type of fasting. I think this is a rather frivolous approach. The first and foremost purpose of a biblical or spiritual fast is to get a breakthrough on a particular matter that one lifts up to the Lord in prayer. A spiritual fast involves our hearts and the way in which we relate to and trust God. It relates to discerning and receiving strength to follow through on what God might reveal to us about circumstances in our lives or a direction we are to take.
I am not against people fasting in order to lose weight. Many people fast to lose weight or maintain their weight.What I am opposed to is making the losing of weight your primary goal in a season of spiritual fasting and prayer. To have weight loss as a goal makes your fasting a diet plan, not a time of genuine fasting and prayer. If losing weight is your purpose in fasting, you will be missing out on the full reason for fasting, and you likely will be concerned only with what you don't eat rather than with what you are led to pray.
Now there's certainly an issue of food that is associated with many seasons of prayer and fasting, and let me quickly add this: control of eating is a valid reason to fast. The purpose is not the number of pounds you might lose during a fast, but rather, trusting God to help you regain mastery over food during a fast. Jesus said, "The spirit is . . . willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matt. 26:41). Fasting is a means of bringing the flesh into submission to the Lord so He can strengthen us in our mastery over our own selves. Fasting in the flesh makes us stronger to stand against the temptations of the flesh. Those temptations very often deal with food.
Abstaining from food is often God's way of showing that His desire for us is that we regain mastery over all things associated with our flesh in order to subdue our flesh and elevate our emphasis on spiritual matters. God's promise is to help us as we overcome the flesh and put all carnal temptations into subjection.
ABSTAINING FROM FOOD TO REGAIN MASTERY OF THE FLESH
We are wise to recognize that food was the enticement the devil used to cause Eve and Adam to sin in the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 2 the Lord God told Adam and Eve that they could eat freely of every tree in the garden of Eden, "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Gen. 2:17). God did not tell Adam and Eve to refrain from touching a particular animal or smelling a particular flower or swimming in a certain stream. He told them to refrain from taking a particular fruit into their bodies-one type of fruit out of all the many types He had made available to them.
God had given Adam and Eve authority over all things that He had created-every bird, fish, beast of the field, and over "every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat" (Gen. 1:29). God did not prohibit Adam and Eve from interacting with any part of God's creation when He commanded them to be fruitful, multiply, replenish the earth, and subdue it-except for this one tree and its fruit. They were not to eat of a particular tree,what God described to them as the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil."
Why did God set apart this one tree and its fruit? God was giving Adam and Eve free will and the ability to make choices and decisions. Free will isn't really free if a person has no choice.
Adam and Eve had a choice to make about this one tree. God told them to abstain from eating from its fruit because He did not want His beloved creation to have a knowledge of evil. He had already given them a full knowledge of everything He called "good."He wanted to spare them the heartache of knowing evil. That's true for us today as Christians. God calls us to pursue only what is good. Paul wrote to the Philippians: "Whatsoever things are true . . . honest . . . just . . . pure . . . lovely . . . of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things" (Phil. 4:8). God desires only good for His children. He tells us in His Word, "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good" (Rom. 12:21).
Even as God calls us away from evil and toward good,He gives us a choice. So many of the problems we have in our world today are the result of men and women making the wrong choices. They have knowingly and unknowingly chosen what is evil.And the end result is the same for us as it was for Adam and Eve: death and all forms of sin that lead to death (see Rom. 6:23).
Let me point out to you two results from the disastrous choice that Adam and Eve made about the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
1. Diverted Attention
First, Eve listened to what the devil had to say to her about the fruit itself. The devil diverted her attention from whatever it was that Eve was doing. He called her attention to the tree and its fruit. The Bible tells us the devil came to her in the guise of a beautiful and subtle serpent and said to her, "Hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" (Gen. 3:1). There's no indication that Eve had given much thought to the tree before the devil asked her this question. There's no record that she longed for it or had any curiosity about it. She certainly didn't crave it, because she had never tasted it!
In many ways, the devil uses this same tactic today. He calls our attention to how beautiful and refreshing certain foods and beverages appear. It's difficult to go through a day without seeing enticing food and beverage commercials on billboards, on television, and in magazines. Foods are presented in the most tempting ways in stores, restaurants, and on menus. The devil says the same thing to us he said to Eve:"Has God really said you can't have a bite of this?"
A woman once said to me, "If there's a piece of pie in my house, it calls out to me. It says to me, even in the middle of night, 'Eat me. Come eat me.' I can't resist."
Now I'm certainly not linking the devil to a piece of pie, but I am saying this: the devil will always call your attention repeatedly to the thing that is harmful for you, but he will do it in a way that makes you feel deprived if you don't indulge in eating, drinking, or partaking of what is harmful. The implication of the devil is always: "This is so good. Has God really said you can't have any of this good thing?"
Never forget that the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was the knowledge of good and evil. There was an element of good in that fruit, not just evil. The devil told Eve specifically that the fruit of the tree was "good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes" (Gen. 3:6). All Eve had to do was look to see that the fruit was pleasant. She made a bad assumption, however, that what was visually pleasant would also be "good for food." In that, the devil was very wrong!
What about us? There's an element of good in foods and substances that are ultimately bad for us, even if it's just the good appearance, smell, or taste. Have you ever noticed how beautiful all the colored and distinctly shaped bottles look in a bar? Those bottles always seem lighted in just the right way to make them look very special, very festive, very appealing. Many foods are pleasant to the eyes. Many drinks are presented in ways that make them appear pleasing. We buy into the lie that what is pleasing is also nutritious and beneficial.
Fasting calls us to turn away from food. Fasting calls us to redivert our attention back to the things of God and His commandments. Fasting calls us to face and overcome the devil's call: "Has God really said you can't have this?" Fasting calls us to abstain from all things harmful for us, and in most cases, from all food for a period of time. The devil's insistent question is likely to become very loud in our minds as we begin a fast: "Has God really said you can't eat? Not anything? Not the things you love the most? Has God really called you to fast- to abstain totally from this thing that you have labeled as 'good'?"
Our answer must be a firm "Yes! God has called me to fast. He has called me to give my full attention to Him and to His commandments. He has called me to obey Him fully in all things. And God has called me to say no to you, devil!"
2. Temptations Toward False Benefits
Eve listened to what the devil had to say to her about the benefits of eating what God had prohibited. The devil always points out the would-be and usually short-term benefits of sin. Many substances that are ultimately harmful for us taste good or feel good or bring pleasure. In some cases, the partaking of the substance makes us feel like adults, feel accepted by others, or feel more powerful and in greater control. Some people say about certain foods and substances that they "give me quick energy," "make me more alert," or "help me relax."
The devil told Eve that the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil would make her wise-she would be as a "god," knowing good and evil.
In the short term, the devil was right. Eve suddenly had a knowledge of evil. She really knew in her own experience as a human being that evil existed. This was the first time in her life she had ever known the contrast-up to that point, all things had been good.
What the devil failed to mention to Eve was the ultimate consequence that God had associated with eating of this fruit: "You shall surely die." The devil failed to mention any downside to her disobedience. In fact, he dismissed God's consequences with a sarcastic question.
The devil comes at us the same way. The devil never tells us that drinking alcohol can make a person an alcoholic. He never tells a person that smoking cigarettes can cause him or her to have lung cancer. He never tells a person that eating too much of the wrong foods can lead to chronic illness and premature death. The devil points out only short-term benefits, never long-term disasters.
When we fast, we are suddenly aware once again of what is good and evil. We have a heightened awareness not only of God's goodness and of God's commandments, but of the evil that abounds in the world around us.
A man once said to me about fasting, "It seems that when I fast the world seems much more black and white, at least for a period of time. I see right and wrong much more clearly. I see good and bad, blessings and cursings, benefits and negative consequences, what is godly and what is ungodly. I am much more discerning about what lines up with God's commandments and what falls into the category of 'man's commands.'"
I asked him what happened after he stopped fasting. He laughed and said, "I am still very clear on these things, but there's also a time after I end fasting that the whole world seems more vivid and more colorful than ever before. I can distinguish tastes again. The sky seems bluer than before. The air seems crisper in the mountains. All of my senses seem to be heightened toward what is God's creation-which is always good- and what is man's invention-which very often has an element of evil to it."
Those who fast often experience greater discernment of good and evil. In fact, it seems to be a major by-product of fasting. God seems to give us an opportunity as we fast to take a look again at our lives and the world around us and to discern what is good and what is evil.