Category Archives: Gifts of the Spirit

September 15, 2018 · 8:03 am

The Apostles: Men Doomed to Death (Part 5)

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Close your eyes and visualize what you think an apostle should look and act like. Do you see him or her like a classy CEO of a corporation, barking orders to underlings? Or like a authoritative general? Or like a prestigious national leader?

We probably all have opinions about apostles. Some of our beliefs will be based on our cultures and some on our church traditions or teachings.

But how did Paul visualize his calling of apostle?

For, I think, God hath set forth us the apostles last of all, as men doomed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, both to angels and men. (1 Corinthians 4: 9 ASV)

…we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now. (1 Corinthians 4: 13 NASB)

Not exactly what you had in mind, right? But consider this: our English translations paint a much rosier picture of the apostle than what Paul really visualized when he wrote these verses in his original Greek writings.

Paul actually saw the apostle as a person who was considered by the world as the lowest and worst possible criminal, much like an Adolf Hitler or Idi Amin or a brutal serial killer. A person who the world would not have one drop of pity or empathy for at all.

And if possible, the world would capture the apostle and place him at the end of long procession that would pass by crowds who would taunt, spit on, throw rocks at, dump refuse on, and whatever to belittle the apostle. Why? Because the apostle, in the judgment of the world, deserved this abuse because of his calling.

The long procession would eventually parade itself into an arena where the apostle’s death would be the main attraction for the world’s spectators – and also for angels.

The apostle’s death, as visualized by Paul, would not be a beheading or a firing squad or a hanging. No, those types of executions would be much too civilized for a culprit as evil as the apostle. Instead, wild animals, such as lions and tigers, would be sent into the arena to tear and rip apart the apostle. All the while, the world would be looking on and enjoying the bloody spectacle.

Okay, get the picture?

Now, how would you feel about having an apostle, like the one Paul visualized, come to your church? Would it bother you that the world, maybe your friends, relatives and neighbors, would think of him as an evil criminal? Would you like being linked to his name and assumed to be just as guilty as the apostle because of your association to him?

(Continued in Part 6…but if you want to read all of the parts to date, you can go here.)

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September 14, 2018 · 5:08 am

The Apostles: Men Doomed to Death (Part 4)

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A year after my salvation, I had breakfast once a week with three or four Christian men. We fellowshiped, prayed for each other, and usually one gave a short teaching.

The only teaching that I can remember from those breakfasts was given by a young man who stated, “Our heavenly Father is a good God.”

As he said the words, a revelation exploded within me: “Of course, that has to be true because my own earthly father is a great dad. So, my heavenly Father has to be a good God.”

This simple revelation has remained with me for more than thirty-three years. It has comforted me in my worst times, just knowing that God is a good God and that He absolutely loves me.

Over the years, I have been with many different groups and befriended many Christians. All have mouthed the words, “God is a good God,” but sadly, I have met very few believers who really, really believe that God is a good God.

It’s not that the believers did not love God because they did. It’s just that the believers did not have the child-like abandon of knowing that the Father loved them and was cheering for them on their good days, as well as their bad days.

Most believed that they had to perform at a certain, but undefined, high holy level so that the Father would love them. They did not see themselves as little children and God as a loving Father who absolutely loved and doted upon them, even when they made mistakes.

Some of these believers had less than perfect earthly fathers, and a few were even abused by their dads. And to be honest, this may hinder a person’s revelation of God being a good God, but at the same time, God is able to give anyone a revelation of His love and goodness. We just need to ask and keep asking until we receive this revelation.

But most (98%) of these believers, who had difficulty believing God was a good God, had Christian leaders over them who did not reflect the Father-Heart of God to them.

For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. (1 Corinthians 4: 15)

Here for this third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be a burden to you; for I do not seek what is yours, but you; for children are not responsible to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. (2 Corinthians 12: 14)

Because the traditional church system is set up with a definite separation between the clergy and the laity, most church leaders look at church members as a means for advancing their own personal visions. After all, their personal visions came from God, right? And the laity has been the traditional money-source for hundreds of years, so why change?

The end-time apostles are willing to spend themselves for other believers.

(Continued in Part 4…but if you want to read all of the parts to date, you can go here.)

Prayers for the Church (9/13/2018)

Christ Church Stellarton

A new Pew Research Center Report shows young Christians (35 years old and under) are leaving churches in record numbers. A followup poll reported the young Christians no longer believed the messages were true. The specific explanations included the following:

“Learning about evolution when I went away to college”
“Religion is the opiate of the people”
“Rational thought makes religion go out the window”
“Lack of any sort of scientific or specific evidence of a creator”
“I just realized somewhere along the line that I didn’t really believe it”
“I’m doing a lot more learning, studying and kind of making decisions myself rather than listening to someone else.”

The Apostle Paul went to a city, converted a few people, started a church, stayed a couple of weeks, and then went to another city. He didn’t usually return to the new church for a couple of years. At best, the new church received a letter from him every so often.

And the churches thrived!

Now remember: Paul’s ministry was mainly in the Asian part of the Roman Empire where fifty percent of the people were slaves, ninety percent could not read, and ninety-five percent could not write. So, even if Paul could have left them King James Study Bibles, they were of little value to them.

What did Paul do?

He preached the gospel of the kingdom of God and —

And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.

Most of today’s churches offer musical performances and eloquent speeches, but no demonstrations of God’s power. Hey! This won’t satisfy young people because YouTube has better stuff.

My prayer today:

Lord, help us to contend earnestly for the faith which was once delivered to the saints in the early churches. Help us to not settle for anything less than seeing Your Spirit moving in power in our churches. (Based on Jude 1:3)

Join me to fast and pray for the American church.

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September 11, 2018 · 7:52 am

Prayers for America (9/11/2018)

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On September 11, 2001, I was sitting in Jefferson, Iowa. Carol and I were in the process of moving from Virginia Beach to Southern California. As I checked emails, Uncle Phil said, “Larry, look at the television.”

What I saw stunned me: New York’s Twin Towers being hit by two airplanes. Even as I watched I couldn’t grasp what was going on. How could this happen to America? I thought.

The Holy Spirit spoke to my heart later that day: “America is at war!”

After seventeen years, I now realize that the war I thought was just against terrorism and Al-Qaeda is far greater than that. Every part of America is under attack. Our culture. Our political system. Our faith. Our future. Everything.

And sadly, America doesn’t realize who is behind all of this.

For thus says the LORD of hosts: “Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,” says the LORD of hosts. (Haggai 2:6)

My prayer today:

Lord, open our eyes and move on our spirits so that we turn to You with all of our hearts, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. So that we rip our hearts apart in grief for our sins rather than just going through some more religious motions. Help us, O Lord, to return to You, believing You are gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great understanding, and desire to offer us a reprieve. (Based on Joel 2:12-13)

What do you think and has the Lord spoken to you today?

Join with me to fast and pray for America.

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Tagged as 911, Christianity, Fasting, Prayer, Prophecy, Repentance

September 7, 2018 · 5:37 am

The Apostles: Men Condemned to Death (Part 1)

Praying

“He’s dead! He’s dead!” exclaimed the courier from Rome as he walked toward us.

I stopped working and stood up. The other tent makers did the same. “Who’s dead?” I asked.

“Paul’s dead,” said the courier, wiping the sweat from his forehead. “He was beheaded in Rome about a month ago.”

Even though I knew the Apostle Paul’s ministry would eventually have a sad ending, the news stunned me. O Lord, why? I thought.

I turned away from the group, not wanting to talk about the apostle at that moment. It was just too painful. I walked down to the Aegean Sea and sat on a rock, hoping to sort out my emotions and thoughts. There, I looked back over my years with Paul.

The first time that I met Paul, I was not impressed. His stature was puny, only 4 feet 6 inches tall and 120 pounds in weight, and his public speaking skills were limited when compared to Apollos and the other orators. Yes, he was brilliant and could write, but these were facts that I learned later and did not figure into my first impressions of him.

Yet, there was something about Paul which drew me to him. Maybe, it was his fiery passion for the gospel or his fierce boldness or his love for the church. I can’t put my finger on it, but anyway, I joined up with Paul and traveled along with him as his aide.

On our first journey to Rome, we ended up swimming in the Mediterranean Sea. Somehow, the Roman soldiers did not execute us and we were able to swim ashore to Malta. We eventually arrived in Rome.

Next, I spent two years, waiting for Paul while he was under arrest. When we finally resumed traveling again, everything became a blur of afflictions, hardships, distresses, beatings, imprisonments, tumults, labors, sleeplessness, and hunger.

Then, the fire in Rome changed everything for us Christians, from bad to worse. Believers were blamed for the fire and Paul became a marked man. Nero sent soldiers to hunt him down in Asia.

The stress wore me down. I couldn’t take it any longer.

“Paul, I didn’t join your ministry to be killed by Roman soldiers,” I said on the day of my departure. “I’m going to Thessalonica, start a business, maybe marry a young woman, and start a family. I haven’t really enjoyed life yet.”

Paul was disappointed, but what could he do? I fled on a boat.

It had been almost two years since I last saw Paul and now he was dead. My mind wandered here and there as the blue waves splashed against the rock I sat on.

Did I make the right decision when I left the Apostle Paul? I wondered. And how will I be remembered by future Christians?

For Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica…(2 Timothy 4: 9)

Demas’ decision has earned him a shameful legacy in the Bible for all to read. But still, before we are too hard on Demas, we should consider how we might have dealt with an apostle like Paul.

(Continued in Part 2)

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July 14, 2018 · 7:32 am

Prayers for our Children (Part 7)

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A Testimony of Victory

My daughter Susan and I struggled with our relationship after my salvation in 1985. She watched her parents undergo first a separation, and then a divorce. To her, my newfound Christianity caused nothing but pain for our family.

She traveled to Ames, Iowa, after her second year of college for a weekend visit with me. I looked forward to showing off my beautiful daughter to friends and enjoying her company, but she was sick most of the weekend. She said it was due to a bad tooth.

When I drove her back to Ottumwa on that Sunday, she curled up with a blanket and fell asleep in my Ford pickup. I used the quiet time to pray softly in tongues, asking the Lord for an answer about her sickness. The Holy Spirit eventually spoke to my heart: “Susan is very sick. Tell her mom to take her to the doctor right away tomorrow morning.”

I related the Holy Spirit’s exact words to Susan’s mom.

The doctor admitted Susan into the University of Iowa Hospital in Iowa City the next morning. Her mom phoned and said she needed surgery to remove some kind of growth. I notified the Des Moines Vineyard Church, where I attended at the time, so as many people as possible were praying for her.

The physician delayed her surgery for a week because she had a fever. I continued painting houses in Ames while fasting and praying for her.

My prayers were not vanilla flavored ones like: “O Lord, if Thou art not busy next Tuesday, could Thou stop by the hospital and touch Susan. Thy will be done in this matter. Amen.”

Baloney! This was my daughter −not a roast beef dinner needing some pastoral sounding words prayed over it before being eaten. The same God who told me about her sickness was the same One who could heal her with just one word. His power remained the same yesterday, today, and forever. As His son, I had a right to burst into His presence and ask for Susan to be healed.

I prayed prayers like this: “Lord, heal my daughter Susan. You’ve given numerous promises to me about her life, none of which have happened yet. You saw this sickness when You gave those promises to me so I know the sickness has not taken You by surprise. The Bible states You are not a liar and I believe those words. Heal her now and fulfill all of Your promises for her life.”

I bombarded heaven day and night for my daughter. I continually asked the Lord to give me a word from His mouth so I could use it as a sword of the Spirit to battle in spiritual warfare. The Lord did not speak to me right away, but I kept pursuing Him like the woman did the unjust judge.

On the night before the scheduled surgery, I drove my pickup truck to Iowa City. I stayed overnight in one of the hospital’s waiting rooms, sitting in a recliner with a blanket covering me. The Holy Spirit whispered to my heart as I sat there with my Bible: “Isaiah 54:17.”

This was my sword of the Spirit.

I began praying: “No weapon that is formed against Susan shall prosper, and every tongue that accuses Susan in judgment I condemn in Jesus’ name. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication is from the Lord.”

I prayed all night and even though at times, I drifted off to sleep, my mouth went back to praying as soon as I woke up. I continued in this manner until 7 a.m. when I spent time in thanksgiving, praise, and worship. Waiting in His presence, not speaking a word, I had a vision of a Christian bookstore in Iowa City and felt an urgency to drive there. Did I know why? I had no clue.

This was 1995 and neither Google maps nor GPS were available as yet. So, I checked for a Christian bookstore using the old-fashioned way: a phone book. Looking at the stores in the area, I chose the one that felt the best to my spirit.

I drove there and walked in the door at 9:05 a.m. A pretty young girl with long hair stood behind the counter.

“May I help you?” she asked with a smile.

“The Lord sent me here, but I don’t know why yet.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

My prophetic gift kicked into gear at that moment.

“The Lord doesn’t want you to listen to your parents and others who are telling you to go to Bible school. The Lord wants to train you in His own way for your calling. Listen to His voice and not to other people on this particular matter,” I said.

Her hands covered her mouth and tears flooded her eyes.

“I felt this was what the Lord wanted me to do, but my parents and pastor insisted I was wrong. I asked the Lord to make Himself clear on what I should do. Thanks.”

We chatted a bit, hugged each other, and I left.

Later that afternoon, I walked alongside Susan as she laid on a bed being wheeled into surgery. A nurse stopped me at the doors.

“You can’t go any farther,” she said, pointing at the red line on the floor.

I nodded and stood there with tears streaming down my face. My daughter was going into surgery and I wanted to be with her. I turned around, headed to the waiting room, and sat with my parents and Susan’s mom. My eyes closed almost immediately and I fell asleep.

Five hours later, Susan returned to her room. The surgeon removed a noncancerous cyst, the size of two 2-liter bottles of soda from her abdomen and her appendix.

Susan continued to have a fever after her surgery, which frustrated her. Her doctor refused to allow her to go home until the fever dropped into the normal range. She phoned me one afternoon.

“Dad, will you pray I can go home tomorrow?”

“Okay,” I said, “you’ll go home tomorrow.”

Susan went home the next day, eighteen days after first entering the hospital. Her recovery took many weeks.

This testimony is a short compilation of all the chapters in this book. It’s not that I’m so unique or special because all believers can do this for their own children. But at the same time, I must admit there is a price for us parents to pay. It comes down to whether or not we want to pay it. You see, we must be willing to seek the Lord with all of our heart and follow Him in the same manner.

I believe most of us will say, “Yes, Lord.”

(Continued in Part 8)

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July 11, 2018 · 7:15 am

Praying for Our Children (Part 7)

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Let’s say Carol and I need a Special Widget for an important business project, which must be done right away. All of our money and resources are tied up in the project. So, we need to finish it as quickly as possible.

We jump in our Honda and search all over Temecula, but Best Buy, Staples, Home Depot, and all the other stores have no Special Widgets on hand. We then decide to check Amazon.com and there is one in stock. We purchase it with our VISA Card and have it sent by FedEx. An email from Amazon confirms our order and also gives us a tracking number from FedEx to follow the Special Widget’s delivery route online.

The next day, a friend asks if we have found a Special Widget as yet. “Yes, we have purchased one. It’s on the way,” we answer with big smiles on our faces.

“Are you sure?” the friend asks, raising both eyebrows.

“Yes,” we reply, without any doubts in our minds.

How can we be so sure the Special Widget will arrive at our home?

Carol and I trust the reputations of Amazon and FedEx. The two corporations have a long history of carrying out what they promise to do. Plus, we have guarantees to back up our trust in an email confirmation and a tracking number.

The above Special Widget story is a perfect analogy to show how God answers our prayers.

First, who has the better reputation −Amazon, FedEx, or God?

The answer is obvious for us believers: God.

He never lies, never fails, never sleeps, is omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, and has all of heaven backing His commands. And guess what? God created Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, and Frederick W. Smith, founder of FedEx. So, obviously, God is not overwhelmed by the intricacies of the marketplace or anything at all.

Second, when did Carol and I own the Special Widget in the above story?

As soon as we purchased it from Amazon with our VISA Card, we owned it. It was ours before it ever showed up at our home.

Okay, when do we receive (or own) the answers to our prayers?

For this reason I am telling you, whatever things you ask for in prayer [in accordance with God’s will], believe [with confident trust] that you have received them, and they will be givento you. (Mark 11:24 Amplified Version)

In much the same way as ordering the Special Widget from Amazon, we must believe by faith that God has answered our prayers as soon as we pray them. It doesn’t matter that we don’t see the answers with our natural eyes because we must have faith the answers are on the way, just like we trusted the Special Widget was on its way via FedEx.

Third, Amazon sent us a confirmation email and FedEx gave us a tracking number. Because of these two guarantees, we felt safe in trusting them.

What about God?

Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses]. (Hebrews 11:1 Amplified Version)

Faith in God that He will answer our prayers is our confirmation from the Lord.

Okay, faith may not always seem as tangible as an email confirmation and a tracking number, but here’s something we can do to make it more concrete for us.

Because our Father in heaven is a covenant-making God, we can make a covenant with Him. His covenants with Adam, Noah, Moses, David, and Jesus are written down in the Bible and still in force today. The word “covenant” means pledge or legal agreement between two parties, in this case God and man.

Here’s what I often do:

I write down my prayers for my children and others in a special notebook. For example, let’s say I have prayed for my daughter to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire. I write down her name, the date of the prayer, and Matthew 3:11, the verse where the baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire is mentioned. This becomes a written covenant between God and me.

From the moment I write it down, I no longer ask God to baptize my daughter in the Holy Spirit and fire, but instead I thank Him for doing it. You see, the prayer was answered when I prayed it.

I flip through my notebook often each week, thanking the Lord for answering my prayers for my children and others.

If doubt ever hits me about my prayers, I open my notebook and point to the date and scripture, reminding God of our covenant.

This works!

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.(Colossians 4:2)

(Continued in Part 7)

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July 6, 2018 · 11:20 am

Praying for our Children (Part 5)

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An article authored by Ray Hughes in The Morning Star Journal changed my prayer life forever. Its was entitled The Forgotten Legacy of Sam Jones and told about an almost forgotten evangelist who grew up to be labeled by a Southern newspaper as “the most famous man in America.” Jones was born in 1847, the same year as Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Alva Edison.

The article related how Sam Jones became a hopeless drunkard by the age of twenty-five. His health was wrecked and an untimely death faced him when his dying father made him promise to change. Then the article said:

“Sam declared, ‘I yield, I yield,’ determining right then and there that every remaining step of his life would be an honest effort to fulfill that promise to his father. But Sam’s father wasn’t the only one shouting that day; his saintly grandmother was another. She was said to have read the Bible from cover to cover thirty-eight times while on her knees, applying the promises of God in prayer for Sam’s wayward life.”

Click! The light switched on inside me. I knew that I knew that Scripture was a powerful spiritual tool in praying for people, especially our children.

There is only one book where the words in it are “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and able to discern the thoughts and intentions of a person’s heart.”

That one book is the Bible.

It should be everyone’s favorite prayer book because what is our biggest struggle in praying for our children? I would guess that it centers on whether God will actually answer our prayers.

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. (1 John 5:14-15)

Scripture is God’s revealed will to His believers. Thus, by praying Scripture, we are praying the Father’s will back to the Father so He can move in our children’s lives.

It’s a win/win deal for us parents.

But yet, there is still another benefit of praying Scripture for our children.

Bless the LORD, you His angels, mighty in strength, who perform His word, obeying the voice of His word! (Psalm 103:20 NKJV)

When we pray Scripture for our children, God’s angels are put to work, bringing the prayers to pass in their lives. We can think of ourselves as “spiritual labor bosses” if we pray Scripture, sending angels out to their jobs: our children.

There are hundreds of Bible verses, which make great prayers for our children. You can choose your own as you study the Bible, but here’s a few of the ones I pray along with examples of how I pray them.

The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 NKJV)

“Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart [or hearing heart] to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?” (1 Kings 3:9 NKJV)

This is one of my favorite prayers in which I combine the above two verses.

My prayer: “Lord, give (child’s name) an understanding and hearing heart so that he/she receives the love of the truth and is saved in all situations he/she might face.”

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. (Luke 9:23)

My prayer: “Lord, I pray that (child’s name) would deny himself/herself, take up his/her cross daily, and follow Jesus.”

Your word is a lamp to my feet and light to my path.(Psalm 119:105)

My prayer: “Lord, I pray that Your word is a lamp to (child’s name) feet and a light to his/her path.”

Send out Your light andYour truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to Your holy hill and to Your dwelling. (Psalm 43:3)

My prayer: “Lord, send Your light and Your truth to (child’s name); let them lead him/her to Your holy hill and to Your dwelling.”

I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. (Matthew 3:11)

My prayer: “Lord, I pray that You baptize (child’s name) with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:11-12, 21)

My prayer: “Lord, I pray that (child’s name) is not slothful in zeal, but fervent in spirit, serving You; that he/she rejoices in hope, is patient in tribulation and constant in prayer; and that he/she is not overcome by evil, but overcomes evil with good.”

That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His suffering, being conformed to His death. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:10, 13-14 NKJV)

My prayer: “Lord, I pray that (child’s name) knows You and the power of Your resurrection, and the fellowship of Your suffering, being conformed to Your death. And that one thing he/she would do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, that he/she would press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.(1 Corinthians 14:1)

My prayer: “Lord, I pray that (child’s name) pursues love, earnestly desires the spiritual gifts, especially that he/she may prophesy.”

So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. (2 Timothy 2:22)

My prayer: “Lord, I pray that (child’s name) flees youthful passions and pursues righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.”

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all things shall be added to you. (Matthew 6:33)

My prayer:“Lord, I pray that (child’s name) seeks first the kingdom of God and Your righteousness so that all things are added to him/her.”

These ten examples should give all of us a good idea on how to pray Scriptures for our children. All we have to do is read our Bibles and when we see a verse with a promise, pray it for our children.

Praying the word for our children moves our prayers from being passive into being powerfully active with all of heaven working to bring the prayers to pass.

(Continued in Part 6)

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June 25, 2018 · 5:41 pm

Praying for Our Children (Part 4)

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Our Hunger for God Empowers Our Children

Nearly twenty-five years ago, a divorce turned my life upside down. This upheaval caused me to be apart from my two children most of the time. It was tough being an estranged father and, at the same time, trying to be a committed believer, godly father, and an example for them.

My only hope was to cry out to the Lord. This resulted in me feeling He wanted me to study the Bible in which I discovered some great blessings for us.

I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies and in your offspring all the nations of the earth will be blessed because you have obeyed My voice.(Genesis 22:17)

The angel of the Lord spoke the above blessings to Abraham when the patriarch laid his promise −his son Isaac −on the altar and raised his knife to slay him as an offering to God. Abraham’s willingness to obey the voice of God and to trust Him for his provision, even though there was nothing in sight, brought forth this prophetic promise for all of his children and offspring.

Jewish believers receive all of the blessings of Abraham through the patriarch’s covenant with God. Gentile believers receive the same blessings through our faith in Christ Jesus because we are heirs according to the promises given to Abraham.

What this means is that if we believers endure trials and the testing of our faith, trusting God to bring us through them, like Abraham did, God will bless our children:

(1) with possessing the gates of their enemies and

(2) people will be blessed by our children.

Possessing the gates of the enemies?

In Abraham’s time, cities had walls around them, protecting the city dwellers from their enemies. The gates of the cities were the entrances into the city through the walls and whoever controlled the gates ended up controlling the city. So, possessing the gates of the enemies represents power and control over enemies.

Thus, this blessing of Abraham states that our children will have control over their enemies and will bless other nations (or people).

Who is the man who fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way He should choose. His soul will abide in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land. (Psalm 25:12-13 NASB)

“His descendants inheriting the land” specifically refers to Israel’s descendants inheriting all of the land God gave them in the Middle East or the Promised Land. For us Gentiles, it means that our offspring will inherit the Promised Lands for their lives, whether it is spiritual or temporal.

I have been young, and nowam old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread. He isever merciful, and lends; and his descendants areblessed. (Psalm 37:25-26 NKJV)

The children of righteous parents will never have to beg for food because the Lord will be their provider. And also, because the righteous parents are gracious with their gifts to others, the children will be blessed.

Praise the LORD! How joyful are those who fear the LORD and delight in obeying his commands. Their children will be successful everywhere; an entire generation of godly people will be blessed.(Psalm 112:1-2 NLT)

Parents who fear the Lord and obey His commandments will have successful children.

He will bless those who fear the LORD, bothsmall and great. May the Lord give you increase more and more, you and your children. (Psalm 115:14 NKJV)

Parents who fear the Lord will be blessed and their children will be even more blessed.

The righteous who walks in his integrity— blessed are his children after him! (Proverbs 20:7)

Walking in God’s ways brings blessings to our children.

“And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.(Joel 2:28)

Peter referred to this verse in Acts 2:17. Thus, if we walk in the fear of the Lord and in His ways, we can believe our children will prophesy and see visions.

For our children to receive these blessings, the responsibility rests on us parents. We need to be righteous before the Lord, fear Him, and obey His commandments to the best of our abilities. But even then, we must use our faith to believe these blessings will be poured out on our children.

Prayer: “Father, because I am a believer in Jesus Christ, an heir to the blessings of Abraham, have Your Spirit dwelling in me, obey Your voice and Your commandments, and greatly fear You, I believe that my children −(names)−shall posses the gates of their enemies, shall be a blessing to other people, shall inherit the Promised Lands for their lives, shall not be beggars, shall be successful in whatever they attempt to do, shall have greater blessings than I have enjoyed, shall prophesy, and see visions. Now, I thank You, Father, that Your word is truth and that I can stand on it, no matter what my eyes may see; and I thank You that it is Your responsibility to make Your words come to pass in My children’s lives. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

(Continued in Part 5)

Praying for Our Children (Part 3)

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“For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” (Luke 7:28 NKJV)

Jesus’ listeners were shocked when he said these words because He rated John the Baptist to be the equal of Moses, Aaron, King David, Elijah, Isaiah, and Jeremiah. The Jews revered these older prophets and probably gasped at His words. Then, Jesus went a step further by announcing that born again believers have a greater standing and more benefits before God than all of the Old Testament prophets had during their times on the earth.

Not only that, but we believers are heirs and joint heirs with Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Peter stated believers are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and God’s special people.

So, yes, because of all these examples, and scriptures, we believers are a special people to the Father and have the right to seek Him for insight into the plans He has for our children and grandchildren.

But maybe we should wait a second, okay?

Shouldn’t we first ask ourselves what we plan on doing with the insight God may give us for our children?

You see, once we receive the insight into His plans for our children, we have a responsibility to do something with the information. If we’re thinking we will just write the insight down on a piece of paper and lock it in a storage vault, that’s a terrible idea. Doing something like that is similar to the actions of the unprofitable servant who hid his talent rather than investing it like the two faithful servants did before the master returned. And we know how that turned out for the unprofitable servant!

Our responsibility is to take the plans for our children, which we receive by faith from the Lord, and invest them into their lives through prayer, fasting, and proclamations. It will be a battle, but this will advance our children’s lives on earth and throughout eternity.

Also, we must not think our children are too old for us to seek the Lord for His plans for them. Jacob’s children probably ranged between the ages of late 50s to middle 70s when he prophesied to them.

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My wife and I went along with a group to the home of a family with a deathly ill child. The child was around eleven years old and suffered from acute leukemia. She was thin and covered with a blanket. The parents and child were believers, but the parents knew their only hope for the child was a miracle. Everything in medical science had been tried and had failed.

The group’s leaders anointed the child with oil and uttered a prayer of faith. We all agreed along with the prayers.

But I felt the child would die unless we attempted something different. I also felt the gifts of healing and working of miracles were not manifesting themselves in our group that night.

I looked again at her parents. They desperately wanted her to live.

I cried out to the Lord in my mind. “Lord, do something. Do something. Do something.”

I felt like He wanted me to prophesy to the sick girl.

So, walking up to the child, I prophesied about how the girl would serve the Lord when she was twenty years old, next when she was twenty-five years old, and then when she was thirty years old. I prophesied about her marriage and her children and how she would do the will of God for her generation, just like King David did for his, before dying.

When I finished, everyone −except two people −looked at me like I was a moonstruck idiot. The two exceptions were the parents who got it. They knew for the prophecy to come to pass, the young girl had to live.

I spent some time instructing them how to pray the prophecy into manifestation.

Sometimes, the Lord uses another person to utter His plans for our children.

Prayer:

“Lord, I ask You to reveal any plans for my children that You wish to share with me. With the information, I will be a faithful servant to pray, fast, and proclaim Your plans before You, putting You in remembrance of them, and trusting You to bring them to pass. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

(Continued in Part 4)