Tuesday, August 25, 2009

God is with You as You Fight

By Cheri Bunch
Believing God is a powerful weapon against our enemy. The Lord has given us many promises in His Word, but we must combine our faith with them and BELIEVE that they are true. We must believe that His promises are for us.

When our faith rises in the enemy’s face, it is exhausting for him. He can see that our shield of faith is in place and all of his darts of fire are going to be extinguished. He gets weary of launching weapons that fail. His tenacity begins to wane. His plans will fail, because he becomes discouraged by our persistence.

Sometimes there is a wrestling match involved in our fight. The enemy does not just instantly let go, because he wants us to wear us down and wear out. We have to speak words that make our faith rise up. We must sing songs throughout the day, songs that have words of power, to make our faith rise up. We have to pray to make our faith rise up. We must have the fellowship of other believers to give us a boost by believing with us, agreeing in prayer with us and encouraging us with the Word.

We are in a war and are called to be soldiers. We cannot let down and ask Satan for détente so we can relax and ease the fight. We have to fight through until we see the victory. When victory comes, we must never let that shield of faith down, even for a moment. Why? Because our enemy is always looking for opportunities of weakness.

What have you believed God for? What battle have you wrestled through until the end? When we are fighting the good fight of faith, our God is fighting with us. Isn’t that good news? God is with us when we are fighting a good fight.

I have a word for some of you, “Rise up sister; take up your shield, believe God and fight a good fight!”

Believe until you see, then rejoice and praise your God for giving you the grace to believe!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

24/7

By Cheri Bunch
“Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart ” (Jeremiah 24:7, NKJV).

Someone out there has a prodigal. Are you discouraged? Have you lost hope? Are you worn down, worn out and tired of waiting? I have a word of hope for you.

Jeremiah 24:7 says, “Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart.”

Will YOU believe this for your child?

Please do not tuck this Word away in your pocket, or in your Bible, or even under your pillow. Deposit this Word into your heart. Do not stop believing that your child will come home. Ask for grace to be like the Prodigal Son’s father who waited by the open door of his house waiting for his son to return. Why did he wait? He was expecting his son to come home. He knew that he would return! He was going to be ready for him. The welcome mat was out and his arms were open. He waited until he saw that for which he had believed.

The Lord gave this word to the prophet Jeremiah to speak to His rebellious children. Ask Him to give it to you for your rebellious child. If we will join forces with Him and His Word, we will be well equipped to fight a good fight, defeat our enemy and see our child come back home to the Lord.

My word of hope for you is 24/7. Put Jeremiah 24:7 in your heart today and let it empower you with faith to believe for your child’s return.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Be Anxious for Nothing

By Kandace Rather
"Be anxious for nothing, 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 minds through Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6,7 NKJV).

I have a confession. It took me some time to arrive at a place in my prayer life at which I was able to pray from a posture of faith rather than fear. More often than not I would end my prayer time without any peace and no sense of resolution in my heart about the situation for which I was praying. Most of my prayers were centered around what I was "feeling" and "seeing" in the natural, rather than the truth in His Word. Even now, I have to catch myself if I begin to feel anxious about circumstances that I see coming, or situations I find myself in with one of my children.

It's no surprise that the enemy has even found a way to distort our prayer times. He knows if he can get us fearful and anxious that we will lack the confidence we need to come to His throne room boldly and seek grace in our time of need.

As the Holy Spirit began to reveal to me the truth about praying the Word of God over my children, my confidence grew and my prayers were filled with faith; the result was walking in His peace that surpassed all my natural understanding. Taking His Word and turning it into intercession has become my primary prayer language!

Yes, I do still have times where I just fall of my knees and pour my heart out to Him about how I am “feeling,” but even in those times, I make it my aim to declare, even as David did at the conclusion of Psalm 42:5,
“Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him
For the help of His countenance” (NKJV).
David begins this verse with the confession that his soul is disturbed--he is not in denial about how he feels; however, he quickly tells his soul what to do in the face of despair
. . . to hope in God! We can have hope when we come to God in prayer, with thanksgiving in our heart as we make our requests known to Him. Our hope is rooted and grounded in His love for us and for our children. As we spend time in His Word, sitting at His feet and quieting our soul, peace will come. We can then have a confident resolve in our hearts that He hears us, He cares and He will move in response to our intercession.

I encourage you to take some time this week and ask the Holy Spirit to give you specific Scriptures to begin praying over your children. He will be faithful to show you what is on His heart, revealing those things to you for which Jesus is already making intercession for your family. When we come into agreement with His will, we have to only wait to see the fulfillment that will soon come to pass.

PRAYER: Father, thank You for teaching us how to pray. We choose to turn to Your Word for hope and not merely rely on our feelings or what we see in the natural. Your tender love for us and our children gives us hope even in the darkest times. May this week be filled with a peace that passes all understanding as we come before You in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving in our hearts! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Intercessory Prayer Moves The Heart of God

By Kandace Rather
"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart" (Galatians 6:7-9, NKJV).

You know what I think is interesting about these verses? God, in all His wisdom and authority, gave us free will by giving us the power to choose because He is seeking our voluntary love for Him. He does not force us to sow good seed, nor does He stop us from sowing bad seed. Yet, through intercession we can move the heart of God and move His hand to turn someone's heart. When the heart is turned, the will follows.

We are told in Proverbs 21:1 that "The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes" (NKJV). Although we do not have the power to come against someone's free will, we do have influence with the One who can turn their heart. In this, we find great insight into the power of intercessory prayer. Intercessory prayer is another strategic weapon God has given us as we war in the Spirit for a child or loved one. When someone's heart is in rebellion toward God, the current that is flowing in that person’s heart is working against God's will for his or her life. Instead of that person "flowing" in the will of God, he or she is swimming against the current of who and what He has designed them to be.

Remember, we are all God's creation. However, it's only those who repent of their sin and confess Him as Savior and Lord that are given the invitation to be at the marriage supper of the Lamb and reign with Him in eternity. Those who do not receive His free gift of salvation become destined as children of wrath who will spend eternity separated from God. Sounds heavy, huh? Yet it's this very truth that has many times caused me to burn the midnight oil, coming before the King and asking for mercy for a child or loved one. It's the very truth that has led me to cry out to Him day and night for the destiny of one who is sowing seeds to the flesh and turning his or her will against God.

The questions I want to ask you are, “Do you believe that you have influence with the King?” and “Do you believe your heart of faith and sincerity can move His heart to change the current of water flowing in a child who is in rebellion?” We only have to look to Esther to see that God is moved by our entreaties and our acts of faith no matter what the cost. For me, the cost has been seasons of little sleep; for Queen Esther, it potentially was her life.

"Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25, NKJV). Intercessory prayer is what Jesus is doing even as I write this devotional blog! One definition of intercession is "to plead with a person on behalf of another." We are also told in Ezekiel 22:30 that God was searching for a man that would stand in the gap (or intercede) so that He (the Lord) would not destroy the land. Jesus is now the great Intercessor who stands before His Father and prays for the saints according to the will of God. Not only that, He invites us to join Him!

I will share more next week about intercessory prayer, but I want to conclude this week's blog by reminding you that your prayers for your children are powerful! May we not grow weary in doing good as we intercede for our children . . . let’s be persistent! God is a good Judge and is ready and willing to hear our case and move on our behalf. We are His Bride, not merely persistent widows! (See Luke 18:1-8.)

PRAYER: Father, we exalt Your name this day and honor You for Your perfect leadership over our lives. We ask You now to teach us, show us and move us to intercession for our children. Renew our faith and hope in Your Word and the power of prayer. We believe Your promise that we will see a harvest of good fruit if we do not lose heart. Strengthen our hearts today, Lord! We choose to believe once again what You have to say rather than the whispers of the enemy or the opinions of man. We love you, Father! In Jesus Name, Amen.