V-MAIL TO THE FRONTLINE

PART 45

PRAYER VI: BETWEEN PATIENCE AND THE MIRACLE

“For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith”. (Romans 1:17)

“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint”. (Isaiah 40:31)

Faith is in you and measured by the amount of the Word of God that has become a revelation to your heart and mind. Every Christian does not have the same amount of faith because each individual has different levels of understanding and degrees of spiritual maturity. As there is a difference between knowledge and wisdom there is also a difference between faith and hope. People who do not know God personally can only “hope” for things like wishing upon a star. Hope leans toward chance while faith stands steady without budging. Christians can live on a spiritual merry-go-round if they do not develop a working understanding of how faith operates and sadly – many do. When knowledge is not allowed to grow into wisdom, hope usually does not grow into faith. If we pray without faith, our request loses the potential to activate the release of God’s miracle power. The most difficult place to be is after we have made our petition and we are trying to be patient while waiting for the answer. The substance is our vision and the evidence is the mystery of holding onto what we cannot see or hold. “NOW faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. (Hebrews 11:1)

We can have as much of God as we want and can be filled with all of His Spirit and revelation that we choose to make time to receive. Each one of us has the free-will to choose between pleasures of the world and the desires of the spirit and the one that is given the most attention is the one that will lead us. “Don’t you know that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are to whom you obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” (Romans 6:16) Woven into the fabric of the creation of our free-will is found the principal and harmony of conditions. Life is based on conditions and if you look closely to the spiritual realm you will find that God’s Word is also. His willingness to use His super-natural power on our behalf is multiplied to us and through us by our revelation of His Word. God’s Word is filled with faith and those who fill themselves with the revelation of His Word are literally filling themselves with faith. He gave everyone the same Bible but some believe it and others do not. Some pick out the parts they like or that fits their world view while others just read it but never really understand what it means. We get out of it what we put into it! Going through the motions of just being religious will create a legalistic and lifeless existence, but if we realize that His Word can re-create our life when we live in Him and His Word lives in us – then we are connecting with God through faith and are ready to receive all His promises! “If you abide in me, and my Words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you”. (John 15:7)

I am sure you have noticed that most answers are not instantaneous. And along with that, you no doubt have battled with the frustration of trying to keep a positive attitude while you wait for your miracle. Patience is confidence that knows an answer is on the way! “But let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing”. (James 1:4) Patience is not a place where we just sit around and wait on the solution but rather it is a state of mind and condition of the heart that is resting in peace while staying focused and keeping the hand to the plow. Patience is the brother to faith and they cannot be separated. We must have patience to have faith and faith to have patience because waiting is a part of believing that God has heard our prayers and KNOWING He is in the process of bringing them to pass. “Thy Words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy Word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by Thy name, O Lord God of hosts”. (Jeremiah 15:16) Faith is having a vision of something and patience is realizing that in God’s time – the vision will manifest into reality no matter long it takes. Selah. God’s word for you this week is that He has heard the cries of your heart, the prayers in your thoughts and is working on a plan to make everything fit perfectly according to His will and for His glory. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into the grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God”. (Romans 5:1-2)

Worry, anxiety, doubt and fear are enemies to faith and patience. The heavenly order of God’s divine reality is based on very strict principals when it comes to the positive and negative forces in the spiritual realm. Faith and patience generate a positive power when the disciplined mind and the confessing mouth join together in a “unified” determination. Selah. When God speaks to create something, it will be changed because God speaks in the faith of “knowing” that it will happen. When we confess His Word in faith we must also be convinced and know within our spirit and conscience that it is His will and as He is omniscient – He never fails! “So shall My Word be that goes forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereunto I sent it”. (Isaiah 55:11) Likewise if the mind and mouth are allowed to agree with negativity they can create devastating curses and dangerous influences. Whoever can receive the revelation of the power of words and allow this awareness to become a lifestyle, will definitely reap the harvest of blessings and the anointing to do God’s work! “According as His divine power HAS given unto US – ALL THINGS that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that has called us to glory and virtue”. (II Peter 1:3)

Father has never been too busy to remember every word you have told Him in secret. He knows how we feel inside from our emotions all the way into the core of our bones. “For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart”. (Hebrews 4:12) He knows you – He died for you – He loves you intensely – He wants to be with you constantly, and He wants to help you in every way He can! But, He can only be as much of a Father to you – according to the amount of your heart you give to Him. Selah. Many people trust that miracles WERE given by God in the Bible and they may believe that God CAN change any circumstance or situation, but they are not convinced that God WILL do it for THEM! Some might be deceived into thinking they are not worthy to be given a miracle or their independent attitude tries to fix everything with their own brain. Sometimes people will exhaust every possibility with doctors, medications, loans, lawyers, counselors, psychiatrist, escaping and everything they can think of. But, why do saints that claim to know the divine reality leave prayer as a desperate “last resort” measure? Because maybe they have never really experienced a personal relationship and have never received the revelation of just how much He loves them! When His love made us His child, we became an heir to everything He has, including the privilege to seek Him, love Him, worship Him and pray to Him! “And Jesus answering said unto them, “Have faith in God”. For verily I say unto you, that whoever will say unto this mountain, be thou removed, and be cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he said shall come to pass; he shall have whatever he says. Therefore I say unto you, whatever you desire when you pray, BELIEVE that you receive them, and YOU SHALL HAVE THEM.” (Mark 11:22-24) Doubt is a thief that can steal our miracle if we allow it to live in our conscience. We must KNOW we have what we are praying for.

I am friends with a youth pastor from London Kentucky and he was sharing with me the other day about a lady in his church that gave a powerful testimony about how God had healed her from cancer. I asked him to see if she could write it down and send it to me. I have been encouraged with this wonderful miracle and wanted to share it with all of you as a blessing.

“In 2006, I was diagnosed with an incurable cancer. It had spread from both sides of the lymph nodes in my neck down to my chest, stomach and the lymph nodes in my pelvis. I had a bone marrow biopsy, which confirmed 60% involvement in my bone marrow and I had 30 chemo treatments at that time. I relapsed after that and had 15 treatments with much stronger chemo. At this time I was getting worse and my future did not look good.

My white blood count went down after these treatments and I was very weak and sick. I had started attending church at Philpot Chapel in London and my church family, along with other churches that some of my relatives and friends belong to, were all praying for me. The doctors were telling me the whole time that this cancer was incurable and I was put on a donor list for a stem-cell transplant. Because of what doctors were saying, I was afraid and had anxiety about receiving a miracle from God. Oh, I would pray; God please heal me, I don’t want to leave my children, my husband, and my family, they need me, but if it’s your will, I will go home. I would go back and forth with my faith but most of the time I think I doubted that I would really be healed.

Then a couple of months later, one night I started hurting in my hips and legs and the pain was unbearable. I knew it was from the cancer in my bone marrow. I started to pray, “Dear God, please take this pain away from me. I know that you can! I believe that you can! You have taken care of me through this whole sickness and I know that you will not put more on me than I can stand. Please God, in the name of Jesus!”

I said this over and over, In the name of Jesus, take my pain away and heal me from this terrible disease. And all the sudden I stopped hurting. A peace came over me like never before. The doubt was gone and I was so happy. I drifted into the most peaceful rest while praising Jesus and telling Him I love Him.

My daughter had surgery the next morning and I told her to pray in Jesus’ name and she would be fine, which she was, thank God! That same day I was supposed to get my new bone marrow results. My doctor’s office called and said they needed to send my bone marrow off for more intense testing and it wouldn’t be back until the next week. Some of my family was afraid they had found some more problems. But I had such a peace. I knew I was okay and that I was healed. So, on Wednesday of that next week, I went to the doctor to get my bone marrow and CT scan results. For the first time since 2006, they showed 0% cancer in my bone marrow and nothing on my scans! Praise God! With my Dr. scratching his head, he said he would send it off for one more test just to make sure there was not even a fraction of cancer – and it also showed 0%. Awesome God! All glory to His Name! He can do anything! He can take your pain away in a split second and He can cure an “incurable cancer” just as fast. I just want everyone to know that He can still perform miracles! He did it for me and He will do it for you. When you stop doubting, He will show up and He will take care of you like you have never dreamed possible. Praise God!! I thank Him for my family and church family and want to live the rest of my life for Jesus and lead other people to Him! Praise God! Praise God! Sincerely, Sherry Sizemore-Watkins, 2011”.

Dear heavenly Father, we praise You and worship You for who You are. If we have any sin in our heart toward someone, we ask that you would forgive us. Create in us a clean heart and renew a right spirit within us. Teach us how to pray Lord. Help us to build stronger faith so that we can believe and know that your power will be released. Use us as instruments for your glory so that all can see and know that You are God! Amen.