Pressing in For the Answer

Yesterday I saw a bumper sticker that said, “Don’t stop praying”. This was an affirmation and encouragement to me. I had been meditating on a testimony that I heard from Apostle Dutch Sheets that had to do with this very thing. I hope it will encourage you as well.

Dutch was preaching on faith to a group of young people. A young woman approached him after his talk and asked if he really believed what he just spoke about. He told her he did. She then asked if he would drive an hour away to a hospital to pray for her sister who had been seriously injured. Dutch agreed and drove to the hospital and as he entered the room, he was startled to see that this girl was in a coma. Dutch prayed and nothing happened. He told the Lord I am going to commit to coming here weekly to pray for this girl until you raise her up. Months went by and nothing had changed to this girl’s condition. For months, Dutch would drive an hour away, pray, read the word, and sing songs over her. A year had passed and he was discouraged over not seeing a change in her condition. One day he got a call saying that the girl woke up out of the coma! Dutch had been praying and believing over a year to see this girl raised from her sickness. God worked a miracle. Why did it take so long? Whose faith caused this to happen? These are questions that we humans have and it is one of those things that we will never know until we get to heaven. In the midst of praying, we war with our minds when it comes to living this life of faith. Some things we won’t ever have an explanation for. It is like the blind man that was healed by Jesus who could not explain it. He said all I know is that I once was blind and now I see!

Keep going towards the miracle

Jesus gives us instruction that men ought always to pray and not to faint. The reason he said this is because He knows we will have times that we become discouraged and feel we don’t have the strength to pray anymore. I know that I have been weary of asking for the same thing time and time again. We all deal with this, but remember, if we stop asking, we stop living by faith, then we stop experiencing the supernatural and the miracles He has for us. We were made to experience miracles. We were also made to ask, seek and knock until the answer comes.

In Lk. 18:1-8 “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not lose heart. He said: ‘In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God and did not respect man. There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’ For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now will not God bring about justice for His own elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” Our focus should be on Jesus and the faith He has given us working through us, not on the manifestation of the miracle we are after. Jesus is saying that when we live by faith, we will keep praying no matter what we see or don’t see. When Jesus looks at us, will he find faith?

Living by faith requires a mind shift

The just living by faith is God’s intention for those that follow Him. It is the only thing that can cause man to have the limits off and go into the impossibility realm of supernatural power into God’s ability and leaving man’s ability.  Living by faith in this world requires a focus on living from another kingdom – the kingdom of God.  Don’t be conformed to the kingdom of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind to think like God thinks. To be transformed in our minds keeps us in a place of going towards miracles and the supernatural. Being surrounded with all the cares and strife of this world will not be able to stop us from living by faith as we are transformed in our minds.

To live a life of faith we must pray and ask God for specific things. In Jn.16:24 Jesus said, “Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” There are several scriptures that tell us to ask. What are you asking God for? This should be our lifestyle and yet many don’t even know what they really want because the cares of this life are overwhelming them. For some they did not get a prayer answered in the past and so they just gave up asking.

What is in your heart that you want to see God do in your life or the life of someone else? Go to the Lord and ask for it. So often people don’t ask because they don’t know if it is the Lord’s will. Go to the Word and if you can’t find this specific thing in the Bible, then go with what is in your heart. God said He would give us the desires of our heart. Now with your transformed mind, pray without ceasing.

Meditate on answered prayer

I began meditating on many of the things I have asked God for over the years and am amazed at how God has answered. Asking God time and time again did not make sense to my natural mind, but since Jesus said this was faith, I kept going for it. Some of the answers - homes, salvation of my brother before he died, help and deliverance for my children, mates for my children, living debt free, obtaining my inheritance, healing of my body and so many others I have prayed over, the promise of grandchildren, releasing prophetic words that set others free – the list goes on and on. Thank God I did not stop praying! Let me encourage you to meditate on all the times God has answered prayers for you. I believe you will go into a new level of faith and your prayer life will be transformed as you worship and ask God for even more. Now with your transformed mind, don’t stop praying!