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Promises of God and Prayer.

empy — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 02:36:46 +0000

Key verse: “Because Rebeca had no children, Isaac prayed to the LORD for her. The LORD answered his prayer, and Rebeca became pregnant” (Gen.25:21).

This verse here gives us a clear insight into the relationship between God’s promises and our prayers. This is a totally misunderstood subject as many well meaning believers think that God’s promises will automatically come true. They wait impatiently for God to fulfill His promises and some times even find fault with God for His callousness about His promises.

This verse here tells us the secret about the many unfulfilled promises of God. We know that God promised Abraham seed like the sand of the sea and like the stars of heaven (Gen.22:17). Yet it took quarter of a century before Abraham had the joy of seeing his promised son. There was a time when Abraham was willing to make a compromise and he was willing to accept Ishmael as his heir (Gen.17:18). We can imagine Abraham being fed up with waiting for the son of his promise. And in his conversation (prayer) with the Lord, Abraham was now making a negative suggestion; that he was willing to accept the seed of his flesh as the promised seed! But God would NOT compromise on His promise to Abraham. God said “No” to that suggestion of Abraham and God wanted Abraham to wait patiently for His promise to be fulfilled. We can well imagine Abraham asking God when that glorious day was going to be! Abraham was obviously waiting and praying that God would fulfill His promise soon. And at last Isaac was born as promised by God, in answer to long and patient wait and believing prayers of Abraham.

This truth is confirmed in the incident that followed. Now that Isaac is married, there is yet another problem for the promise to be fulfilled. We are told that Rebeca was barren! It was indeed the least expected thing. But this situation teaches us the fact that the promises of God would not come true in our lives in a natural process. It is absolutely true that God promised seed like the sand of the sea and that not one of the promises will ever fail either. It is also true that God will fulfill all His promises right in time (Acts.7:17). God is faithful and He will surely fulfill His promise with out fail. But the amazing truth is that God fulfills His promises ONLY in answer to the prayers of His people!

All the promises are written down for us in His Word (Rom.1:2) and all promises are for all who believe (Gal.3:22). We are told that the promises of God are to be obtained by faith and patience (Heb.6:12,15). And we are asked to perfect holiness since we have these promises (2Cor.7:1). With all the above, if we do NOT continue in fervent prayers, the promises of God will never come true in our lives. This truth is expressed through out the scriptures and we need to take heed to it to see that we obtain the promises of God in our lives.

Let us look at the life of Jacob as a clear example of this truth exemplified for us. Jacob comes to Bethel and there he receives the promises of God (Gen.28:10-22). Then in the life of Jacob there was that long gap of twenty years where he seeks all short cuts to make His life a blessing. But alas! Twenty years later, though he became a big number physically, yet he was more a miserable person than ever before. But at Peniel he wrestles the whole night and there he became the heir of his promises. His name was changed and he became a new person altogether. We see that though he got promises at Bethel, only after his Peniel experience, the promises got fulfilled in his life.

From Dan. 9:2-3 we learn that Daniel knew this truth as well. When Daniel learnt that the captivity was going to be for seventy years, knowing that he was living at the time when the promise is to be fulfilled, he turns to God in prayer and in supplication. And God reveals to Daniel the mystery behind seventy year captivity. In that most solemn passage of Scripture we have the exact date of the crucifixion of our Lord predicted (Dan.9:26)! Daniel was able to get that truth because he was willing to spend time praying that God would indeed fulfill His promise made by His prophet.

We often wonder why God is slack in fulfilling His many wonderful promises of His Precious Word. Once we get the grip of this truth, we know the real reason for this situation. It is not God rather we, His people, who are responsible for God’s promises not being fulfilled.

Does that mean that God’s promises will never come true in its appointed time? Read what the Lord says about His promises. ”The LORD gave me this answer: “Write down clearly on tablets what I reveal to you, so that it can be read at a glance. Put it in writing, because it is not yet time for it to come true. But the time is coming quickly, and what I show you will come true. It may seem slow in coming, but wait for it; it will certainly take place, and it will not be delayed” (Hab.2-3). And to Jeremiah the Lord said, “‘You are right’, the LORD said, ‘and I am watching to see that my words come true’” (Jer.1:12).

Surely God will fulfill all His promises in time with out fail. But because He does it ONLY in answer to prayers of His people, unless we pray, God will raise others who will pray and in answer to their prayers God will fulfill His promises in time! We can see this truth exemplified in history of the church again and again. Where ever there was a praying church, there was a mighty movement of the Spirit of God. If ever there was slackness in the Lord’s work, it is because the people of God failed to call on Him in prevailing prayers. Also we can see that before God begins to do a mighty work, He gets His people praying. Zechariah the prophet sees that in future there is going to be a mighty turning of the people of Israel to God. And before that happens the prophet says that God would pour on them the spirit of grace and supplication (Zech.12:10ff).

So, if there is an urge within us to pray, it is an indication that God’s grace is at work within us. When we feel an urge to pray let us put aside every thing else and be at His feet discerning His will and praying that He would accomplish His will for His glory. If we fail to do that, God will raise others who will pray and in answer to their prayers He will fulfill His promises. And we will be the ones who are the losers. We would have lost the privilege of being co-workers with the Almighty in bringing about His purposes on earth! May we be sensitive to the call of the Spirit of God and may we bring glory to His Holy Name by seeing that all His promises are fulfilled for His glory.

The Bible ends with last the promise of our Lord and John’s response to that promise in Rev.22:20. May we also make it our prayer as we wait for His coming in these very last days of the age of grace.

Let us always remember that the key to get a positive answer to our prayers is to take hold of the promise of God and make it our prayer. Once we know some thing is the will of God, we need to pray in perseverance till we receive our answer. May the Lord give us grace and may His name be glorified. Amen.

Brief Testimony

empy — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 15:15:20 +0000

Brief Testimony

My faith life began in 1975. This I did following the call of God based on 2Cor.5:7 which says, “We live by faith and not by sight”.

The first thing I did was to resign my comparatively easy job as a lecturer which feteched me a regular salary. Then I decided to do a much harder work of Linguistic research in order to write down a language which had no script till then. And I needed specilized training for the same. This I wanted to do with the aim of making the whole tribe a literate community and I was found without a regular source of income to sustain my family. For the next three and a half years I was all alone with a family of two children then, with no salary, and without any known source of income. But during those years I proved to my satisfaction that God was indeed very real in our lives as He opened doors for our further training then. Part of that training was done in UK, in Linguistics. This was far beyond our fartherest dreams and beyond any man’s imagination! If God had not done it, how could a penniless and a worthless student from India be able to do his thesis work under Prof. Ackroyd at King’s College in London?!! The Lord also opened the door for me to do a Master Degree in Biblical Hebrew through the oldest university in India.

Three and a half years later, my local worshipping group commended me to the service of the Lord following the pattern found in Acts 13:1-4. And they only promised to pray for me. From 1975 till this day I live without a regular salary, no human sponsors, no business income nor income from any estate. Now we have five children and I want to testify to the fact that we never ever went hungry nor were we found in need and were left with out any help. And we never approached any man for any financial help. Then we were living near a remote jungle-tribe that our contact with the extended family and friends was practically nil.

By 1986 I had sufficient faith to believe in God to erect a concrete building without any contact with men for the finance of it. I started the construction with little money in hand, completed a 700 sft. of concrete structure including the roof within a matter of thirty calendar days. When the building was completed there was no debt, and I had informed no man any where even for prayer about this project as I wanted to prove a point. That building has a granite inscription which reads, “This building stands witnessing the fact that God of Elijah lives”. For over six months I spent eight to ten hours every day in my prayer- closet; praying, planning and interacting with God for the project. The purpose of the building was to house the tribal children to educate them. I had twenty five of them to stay with me along with my five children and we fed them and educated them with out a human sponsor. We made no magazine reports; nor did we send out a prayer letter any time about what was going on in that remote part of the world. Yet the Lord provided for every need of ours with out fail. This I did to prove to the Christian community that the work of the Lord could be carried on very well with out appeals for funds!

When the building was completed within 30 days, I was amazed to the core. I just could not believe it. I thought my life-purpose was indeed accomplished as I proved once again without a speck of doubt that indeed God answers prayers today. In 1991 I became semi-paralyzed and for the last eighteen years I am unable to walk even one step without crutches. And I had to discontinue the work and leave my station for health reasons.

In 1996, one person with whom I have had very little contact came to my house with a bundle of money saying that the Lord was asking him to give me money to purchase a car! That answer to prayer came just with in 24 hours of my prayer for the same. Read more of the stories in the other posts in the blog.

Now I am almost confined to my bedroom. The enormous amount of money for my treatment and for the education of all my children (the eldest was only 16 then; now all are well settled), all were well taken care of as direct, tangible, undeniable, unbelievable answer to prayers day by day. No individual, no organization, no church could ever claim that they kept us going all these years without us going bankrupt. Oh, yes, I have been getting money from people known and unknown to me, from family and from friends, from believers and from unbelievers, all with out an appeal. Indeed often I never knew where our next meal would come from, but it always came right in time. We just don’t know how our needs are taken care of. But we are well cared for.

In the light of my experiences, no one could ever say that God never answered our prayers.

So here I stand. I say that the God of the Bible is true and is alive and is active. I simply subsisted for more than thirty four years now by trusting in Him alone for all my needs. Praise Be to His Holy Name.

(For more detailed stories from my life read the page titled ‘life’ and posts under ‘unforgettable experiences’ in the blog here. Thank you!!)

Science Of Prayer

empy — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:16:49 +0000

“A wise man’s heart is at his right; but a fool’s heart is at his left” (Ecc.10:2).

A wise man is some one who enjoys the best that life offers. The Bible contains extra-ordinary wisdom as it is God’s revelation to man. It contains promises for life here and life here-after. “for bodily exercise is profitable for a little; but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life which now is, and of that which is to come” (1Tim.4:8). If one would follow all regulations of the Old Testament about food, sanitation and morality, one could be sure of a healthy and a happy life here on earth. The New Testament, on the other hand, offers the way to enjoy eternal bliss.

The verse quoted above was written about 3000 years ago by King Solomon who is considered the wisest of men. What he said at that time is discovered by modern scientists now with exact accuracy about the way how the human brain functions.

It is a common knowledge today that our brain is divided in to left and right and each has essentially different functions to perform. It is also known today that our brain produces electronic pulses as it vibrates regularly. When our eyes are open and when we do any physical activity our left brain vibrates at 14-21 cycles per second (cps). When our eyes are open, it is the left side of our brain which is activated usually and it is analytical in nature and activity oriented in function. But when we close our eyes and begin to concentrate on some thing, the right side of our brain begins to be activated and the vibration is reduced to 7-14 cps. This is the center of our brain and it takes us to the strongest part of our mind power which is on the right side. When we sleep the cps reaches 4-7 and in a deep sleep it is 0-4 which is a kind of unconscious stage. In our sleep right side of our brain controls all our internal organs.

The activity of our brain between sleep and wake up, that is, the position with eyes closed in a relaxed mood when we concentrate on some thing, is the creative and intuitive part of our mind and it is the center of our brain’s activities. It is called the Alpha mind. If some one is able to cultivate the habit of remaining in this position of the mind for some time regularly, it is said to have enormous effect on one’s active life. Unfortunately, though the Bible talked about it long before the modern scientists discovered it, the Bible believers do not get the benefit out of this ancient Bible revelation.

How shall we get practical benefits from this Bible revelation about how our mind works? This is what we exactly do when we pray. Christ who is the Eternal Word lives in our hearts by faith (Eph.3:17) in all believers. When we close our eyes and concentrate on Him we get in to direct touch with Him. All we need to do now is to discipline ourselves to strict timings and for regular practice for this contact with the divine in us.

1. Twice a day set apart a minimum of fifteen minutes each as soon as waking up and just before going to bed.

2. Sit up straight with your legs stretched and body straight and the body relaxed. A kneeling position with hands and head slightly lifted up with eyes closed is found to have tremendous effect for prayer.

3. Take a deep breath and release it slowly after closing your eyes. It helps with the circulation of blood in our body.

4. Concentrate your mind on God and on His goodness to you and thank Him for all good things you enjoy in life one by one. Say it loudly to yourself so that you could hear what you say so that your concentration is not lost. Do it for the first five minutes. You may sing a song of praise at this time instead, with eyes closed and with full concentration. We are told that He lives up on the praises of His people (Ps.22:3).

5. Then for the next five minutes repeat to yourself a verse of Scripture which assures you of God’s wonderful work in your life. You might say it aloud to yourself, “I am a child of God through Christ”, or say “God has blessed me with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” or say, “The Lord is my shepherded, and I shall not want” or “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. And visualize yourself as safe and sound in the hands of the Lord. Do this for a minimum of five minutes. And never entertain any negative thought any time in your life (Ph.l.4:8,9). It is called positive affirmations.

6. Then take another deep breath and continue with eyes closed to pray for others and pray for your own needs for the day. And take your time for it. Our Lord said, “For truly I say to you that whoever shall say to this mountain, Be moved and be cast into the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that what he said shall occur, he shall have whatever he said (Mk.11:23). It is called creative visualization.

7. Do it at the same time daily with out fail with eyes closed and in full concentration. Force yourself to do it by discipline for the first three weeks. If you can do it for three weeks, it would become a habit with you and you could do it with out much difficulty later on.

What actually happens is that when we close our eyes and concentrate on some thing, our right brain gets activated and our subconscious mind gets the message instantly. Because the vibration level there is lower, it affects our whole system positively. Our tension would be relieved and problems related to tension would begin to reduce slowly. If we practice it daily just as we have our food at the correct time or just as we take medicines prescribed by a doctor, we would soon find that our bodies become healthier and our dependence on other medicines would be reduced to a minimum. Many have benefited from this practice. I invite you too to enjoy life at its best and be wise as God expects us to be.

May I add one more word. The more time you are able to spend in this condition is better for you and for others around you. And it would bring glory to God ultimately as we are actually in touch with Him all the time we are doing this. In other words, when we pray we are functioning like a fully charged mobile phone with the right connections. We are sending the power of God as electronic pulses to the recipient (the one for whom we are praying) through our minds. The only difference is that when we are sending the message (i.e. when we pray) we are also charging our batteries at the same time!! So less time in prayer means a poorly charged battery. And no time in prayer means batteries are fully discharged. So I suggest a minimum of one hour daily as ideal for every one. But with out fifteen minutes at a time twice a day it might not yield much desired results at all. Try this out and share with us how it has worked for you. Thanks.