"Have the Faith of God: When You Pray!" Conclusion - Parts 4A - 4C August 31, 2014

[Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks, PsyD]

IV. Conclusion – Part 4A-4C: If we want the results Jesus got when He prayed, we must do what he did - Jesus prayed the will of the Father; that is why Jesus said, "Father I know You always hear Me!" Yes, the Father heard Jesus because Jesus was believing for God's will to be done when He prayed; He knew God would do what was best in the situation! The Holy Spirit helps us to pray; He prays for us, through us, when we do not know what to pray!

Jesus gave us a model prayer to pray; He showed us how to pray in John 6:5-15. The disciples saw the effectiveness of Jesus' prayers to the Father and wanted Him to teach them how to pray! The "Our Father" prayer is not a selfish prayer but one asking for God's will to be done in our lives here on earth as it is in heaven; where the spiritual meet the natural and do away with it - the Holy Spirit expels ALL darkness! The enemy will do any and everything he can to cause us to lose faith in God - to faint - he does not want us to trust God!

When things come to shake us and we go to our heavenly Father for help, for answers, we must keep focus on who He is and what His Word has already said about the issue! Ecclesiastes 1:9 says "Everything that happens has happened before; nothing is new, nothing under the sun" (biblegateway.com - CEV).

This Scripture shows that we are not the only one going through; what we are going through it has happened before and God has gotten them out and people of old and will get us out now! We serve an ALL Powerful, ALL knowing, loving God who has a plan for us (Jeremiah  29:11)! God will not let us perish! David said in Psalms 37:25:

"I have been young and now am old, yet have I not seen the [uncompromisingly] righteous forsaken or their seed begging bread."

Yes, stuff will happen to us and will continue to happen as long as we are in this body on this earth! Why? Because we are housed in a body of sin as a result of Adam's disobedience in the Garden of Eden! We are born in sin and shaped in iniquity! Jesus lets us know that in this world we will have tribulations (John 16:33) but be of good cheer because he has already overcame the world for us! Yes, Jesus reversed the curse that came with Adam's sin and fulfilled ALL the requirements of the Law of Moses as a result of that sin but unless people in the world accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior, and transform their minds with the Word of God, they will continue to sin, be controlled by sin, and lost! We who are confessing Jesus should spread the Gospel, the Good News, around the world so people will have a choice to whom they will serve - God or continue to serve the devil. The Bible tells us to be persuaded I our own minds so we cannot force anyone to accept Jesus; it has to be their choice! If they want to live for the devil, that is their choice and if they want to live for God, that is their choice! I remember once when I was counseling more then with people (they came to me for help but did not listen to what God told me to tell them).   

After they would not listen, I asked God why the people would not listen to me; I knew I was telling them what He told me to. God answered and I had to laugh, He said "They do not listen to me what makes you think they are going to listen to you?" That was too funny:)!! So you see, we can give the Word to people but cannot make them accept it! As my grandmother use to say "You can take a horse to water but cannot make him drink it!"

Once we fully understand that we will have tribulations in this world but Jesus has won the victory for us over this world, and settle it in our minds, we will know when bad things happen, they are NOT from God! God is NOT the Author of evil and destruction - He is the Author of goodness! James 1:16-18 lets us know EVERY good and perfect gift comes from God above! Proverbs 10:22 says it is the Lord who blesses us and His blessings adds NO sorrows to our lives! Therefore, let's be careful when we say "Oh, God blessed me with this or that!"

Let's make up in our minds to pray, petition, inquire of the Lord, seeking His will in the situation; it does not matter how much we need something or think we need it! We are to seek, ask God, in prayer and we believe like He believes for the outcome for that situation - no ifs, ands, or buts - what God say goes. God knows, He sees, and works ALL things out for our good because we love Him and are the called according to His purpose!

To encourage you more so you can see everything we pray for does not happen the way we think it should or will, I want to end this teaching with a story of what happened to me some years ago; it shocked me when the outcome was not what I thought it was going to be.

I was in the hospital and my roommate was an old lady (looks like she was around 80 years old) who had cancer. God told me to lay hands on her stomach and pray for her. I got out of my bed and asked her could I pray for her and she said "Yes!" When I laid my hand on her stomach, I felt heat and I just knew she was healed. After I got out the hospital, I kept in contact with her - she reminded me of my great grandmother who raised me. I had to go out of town and told her I would see her when I got back. When I got back in town, I called her and her daughter answered and told me she had went back in the hospital and had died:)! I was devastated!! I could not understand it!! This shows that we don't know all God's plans and we never will! We just do what He says, when He says, and leave the rest up to God - don't question God in an accusing tone - it is not His fault these things happen! But God takes what the enemy meant for evil and turns it around for our good!!

As I said before, things happen because of the enemy, the fallen world (as a result of Adam's sin of disobedience), our disobedience, our unforgiveness, sin in people's lives, etc. Yes, Jesus did away with our sins but if that person has not accepted Him as his/her personal Lord and Savior, they have not tapped into His benefits - they have not received their adoption into the Royal family. Therefore, they continue to live in sin trying to use His Blood and have not given Him their lives!

I pray the Holy Spirit will open your eyes as you study this teaching, I know He has opened mine and I was truly blessed by this message. This teaching has taken months to complete (I stated it September 2013 and finished it January 11, 2014) - God is teaching us how to have effective prayer lives as Jesus did and I am glad!

May God continue to open your eyes to His truth! God bless you all!

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Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks

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