Tag Archives: Children

August 25, 2020 · 4:44 am

Are You Willing to Pay the Price?

https://www.charismanews.com/marketplace/68742-a-prophetic-word-about-wealth

The vibrant sounds of Mozart’s Piano Concerto Number Seven swirled through the Beacon Hill mansion’s ballroom. The fifteen females seated around the grand piano, listening to the maestro, had proper Brahmin names like Cabot, Coolidge, Forbes, Lodge, or Shaw. Each traced her ancestry back to the earliest Puritan settlers of Boston. This blueblood lineage insured their invitation to the social tea, no nouveau riche Johnny-come-latelies were among the invitees.

When the pianist completed the piece, he stood and bowed. The women showed their appreciation with warm applause. One of the ladies put her white-gloved hands to her mouth and said, “Oh, I would just do anything to be able to play the piano like that.”

The maestro turned and stared at her. His eyes exploded with fire.

“No you wouldn’t,” he said.

The crowd collectively gasped. All felt sorry for the woman who had been openly rebuked by the man’s insensitive words.

As for the lady, she sat stunned, paralyzed by his harsh eyes, tears rolled down her cheeks. Then, as if she remembered her privileged pedigree, she mouthed three defiant words at the pianist: “Yes, I would.”

“No you wouldn’t,” he said again, leaning over the piano toward the lady.

“Because if you really meant what you said, you would have been willing to give up your youth, your teenage years, and eight to ten hours every day practicing on the piano. You see there is a price to sit on this bench. I’ve been willing to pay it, and you have not!”

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. (Matthew 16:24)

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July 15, 2018 · 7:49 am

Prayers for our Children (Conclusion)

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Grace, Grace, Grace

Maybe some of you will read this book, follow its advice, pray a few prayers, and see instant miracles in your children’s lives. If so, praise the Lord. And if you write me, I will praise the Lord with you, but I may even drive to your home and shake your hand. You see, I prayed for over fifteen years for my son, daughter-in-law, and my daughter.

But paraphrasing a statement by the late Rev. R. W. Schambach: “Sink or swim, live or die, I will not let go of God’s promises until God moves in my children’s and grandchildren’s lives because all I need is a little faith in God.”

This is the persistent type of determination we must have when we pray for our children and grandchildren. Period.

My prayer for parents:

Lord, help us to remember when we pray for our children to walk in their divine destinies that it will not be accomplished by our might or our power, but it will be done by Your Spirit. Remind us, Lord, that we can speak to the mountains in our children’s lives and these obstacles will become plains for our children to walk on and when the chief cornerstone −Jesus Christ −takes His place in their lives, we will shout, “Grace, grace, God’s amazing grace.” (Based on Zechariah 4:6-7)

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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)

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June 24, 2018 · 4:57 pm

Sarah Sanders, Separation of Children from Illegal Immigrants, and Christian Responses

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The White House Press Secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and her party of seven were asked to leave the Red Hen Restaurant in Lexington, Virginia, by Stephanie Wilkinson, the restaurant owner on last Friday night. Wilkinson told Sanders, “We have certain standards that need to be upheld, such as honesty, compassion, and cooperation. I’d like to ask you to leave.”

Her words were based on her dislike for the Trump administration and his positions on LGBT issues.

Sarah Sanders replied, “That’s fine. I’ll go.”

Sanders even offered to pay, but the owner said that it was on the house.

My take is that the owner’s actions were illegal and wrong.

Why?

Stephanie Wilkinson and the Red Hen Restaurant have a covenant via their sales tax agreement with the state of Virginia to provide goods and services to all peaceable and willing buyers who walk into the restaurant. They do not have the option of discriminating against customers based on their race, religion, sex, age, political parties, and so forth.

Wait a second!

What about the Masterpiece Cakeshop lawsuit where the owner, Jack Phillips, refused to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple? Didn’t Phillips claim that his moral standards would be violated if he baked the wedding cake? Yes, he did. And Phillips just recently won a narrow Supreme Court decision in his lawsuit.

I wrote an article for WND disagreeing with Phillips’ stance because he also had a covenant via his sales tax agreement with the state of Colorado to provide goods and services for all customers who entered his business establishment. Even though Phillips won his Supreme Court lawsuit, I still agree with what I wrote.

What about children being separated from their illegal immigrant parents? Is President Trump a ruthless monster for doing this?

Actually, President Trump has been following the law. The Clinton Administration and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to the Flores Settlement in 1997. This multilayered law requires minors to be separated from adults while the adult parents are being criminally prosecuted for illegal entry into America.

Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama followed the same Flores Settlement and separated children from their illegal immigrant parents before Trump became president. Why is everyone complaining now? Where were their voices for the past twenty years?

How do Christians respond to these issues?

All over the map!

Some are outraged by what Sarah Sanders endured at the Red Hen Restaurant, but shout for joy because Phillips won his lawsuit. Many believers think Trump is the equal of the Antichrist for following the law about separating children from their illegal immigrant parents but omit mentioning anything about Clinton, Bush, and Obama. Others fall somewhere in between on each issue.

Is it possible that Christian opinion on issues like these are formed more by the media than by the Word of God and prayer?

Let everyone submit to the governing authorities, since there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority is opposing God’s command, and those who oppose it will bring judgment on themselves. (Romans 13:1-2)

Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.(Titus 3:1)

Do the above verses mean we need to walk lockstep with ungodly laws? Of course, not. That’s how the Nazis browbeat Christians in Germany to accept their ungodly ways. But if we disobey ungodly laws, we do have to realize that we may end up being treated like Dietrich Bonhoeffer who was imprisoned and hung by the Nazis. If so, we need to be as accepting as Bonhoeffer was with his execution.

But also, how many Christians took the time to check on the veracity of the statements by the major media, claiming Trump had developed a new policy for handling illegal immigrants’ children? And also, how many believers took the time to discover the true story behind the little crying girl and President Trump on Time Magazine’s cover?

Wake up Christians!

Pray and study before acting on social media and wherever else. Remember we will give an accounting at the Judgment Seat of Christ for every idle [lazy, shunning the labor one ought to perform] word we speak or write.

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June 22, 2018 · 12:00 pm

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)

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June 20, 2018 · 7:58 am

Praying for Our Children (Part 2)

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“Lord, did I do something wrong?” I said aloud after hanging up the phone.

Almost instantly, I felt the Holy Spirit say to my heart: “Don’t ever pray that way again for your son Scott and his girlfriend Liza. Pray for the two to get married and have a great marriage.”

This quick back and forth conversation came about one weekend in the 1990s because a few months earlier I had prayed for my son to break up with his girlfriend. My prayer was not because Liza wasn’t a great girl because she was all of that and more. But according to my thinking, she didn’t pray or study her Bible or seem sufficiently interested in the Lord to meet my nearsighted standards. So, I figured she had to go.

Did my prayer work?

It seemed to work for a while as the two quit dating almost immediately after my prayer. This continued for a few months until I spoke with Scott on that weekend.

“Just want you to know that Liza and I are dating again,” said Scott.

“Oh…” I replied.

We said our goodbyes and hung up.

When Scott told me about dating Liza again, fear enveloped me. The fear shredded my hardened heart so that I could ask, “Lord, did I do something wrong?”

Upon hearing the Lord’s voice, I repented and began praying for the two to be married, which happened three years later. Liza and Scott now have two sons and a godly marriage.

Does scripture back up my experience?

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5)

“For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, “plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, “My counsel shall stand and I will accomplish all My purpose.” (Isaiah 46:10)

My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. (Psalm 139:15-16)

The above verses reveal God has plans for our children before they are even born. We also know God revealed plans about children and grandchildren to various parents in the Bible:

Hagar about her son Ishmael. (Genesis 16:10-12)

Abraham about his son Isaac. (Genesis 17:19-21)

Rebekah about her twin sons −Esau and Jacob. (Genesis 25:23)

Jacob prophesied over his grandsons. (Genesis 48:15-20)

Jacob prophesied over his sons. (Genesis 49:2-27)

Manoah and his wife about their son Samson. (Judges 13:3-5)

King David about his son Solomon. (1 Chronicles 23:8-10)

All of Judah about Josiah. (1 Kings 13:2)

Zacharias about John the Baptist. (Luke 1:13-17)

Mary and Joseph about Jesus. (Luke 1:30-33; Matthew 1:20-21)

Maybe you’ve raised an eyebrow after reading so far. “Yes, God did this for Israel’s patriarchs, His kings, John the Baptist, and for our Lord Jesus,” you may be muttering to yourself, “but these were people especially chosen by Him to carry out His plans on earth. Why would He do this for me and my children?”

(Continued in Part 3)

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June 13, 2018 · 8:20 am

Praying for our Children (Part 1)

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The number one prayer request I have heard in my thirty-three years of being a believer is this one: “Pray for my children to be zealous for the Lord.”

Almost every Christian parent desires for his or her children to have fiery hearts filled with passion and zeal for God. But sadly, today’s world is filled with increasing levels of lawlessness, which causes many of our children’s hearts to grow cold. This lawlessness creeps into our children’s lives through the Internet, cellphones, texting, Facebook, TV, movies, music, and much more – all of it has the potential of chilling our children’s hearts toward God and His ways.

O offspring of Abraham, His servant, children of Jacob, His chosen ones! (Psalm 105:16)

God promised the descendants of Abraham numerous blessings because of the patriarch’s faith and obedience toward Him and His ways. Because of these promises, Abraham’s children and descendants are referred to as His chosen ones.

God’s plans for Abraham and his descendants are just as valid today for believing parents and their children. Thus, our children should be viewed by faith as His chosen ones, too.

Now, our children may not look like His chosen ones as yet. They may not even be saved and may be walking in the exact opposite direction. But because our children are considered His chosen ones we have all of heaven backing us in our efforts.