Why Doesn�t It Work for Me

							Why Doesn’t It Work for Me?
  God said it, Therefore It has to Happen!
   What is wrong when it don’t happen?

Numbers 23:19
      God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of
man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not
do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

Isa 55:11
      So shall my word be that goeth 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 whereto I
sent it.

God has issued a decree and it must happen.

So if it is not happening for me, I need to find out what I am
doing wrong, or what I am not doing right. It is the respon-
sibility of each individual to locate the cause and effect the
cure. I am totally responsible to find, understand and
do all the requirements of receiving from God. Did I
loose my focus on the promise, did I hold fast my confes-
sion of faith (Heb 10:23,35), If the Word of God is not work-
ing for me it is not God’s fault, it is mine because I failed
somewhere.
When I know, from the Bible, what I am doing wrong, or not
doing right, or maybe not doing at all, then I must make the
necessary corrections, getting myself into the place where
God’s Word will work for me.

There is only one God, therefore there is only one God’s
Word! He did not send one word to the Catholic, another
word to the Baptist, another word to the Pentecostals. God



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sent His Word, not His Words; And we all need to receive it
as God’s Word.

If the Word is not working for me, yet it is working for
some one else, then I must be the cause of the failure,
for God cannot fail, God cannot Lie, God is not a re-
specter of persons. (Rom 2:11; 1st Peter 1:17; Acts
10:34)
In our natural life, when we see someone that is very suc-
cessful and is living the type of life that we desire, instead of
finding fault and criticizing him or her (which is what we
generally do), we should try to find out what they are doing
right so we can emulate them. We would not go to a person
living on the street, to find out how to run a company or
build a business, we would go to the most successful busi-
ness man that we know and get his input, but we would not
turn to someone that has a reputation for being a failure at
everything they have ever tried. Why then don’t we seek out
the person of God that is living the type of life that we would
really deep down like to be living? Why do we want to criti-
cize what they say, especially when they back it up with the
Word of God. If I really desire to live the same way
they live, then I am going to try and find out exactly
what they do, and copy their life style.
Why don’t we study the life of Jesus, and do what he did?
He is our example, He was totally successful,
1st Peter 2:21: For even hereunto were ye called: because
Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that
ye should follow his steps:

Lets examine some of the things that will stop the Word of
God from performing for me: As we start here, I would like
to say first off that the major problem most of us have is
OUR MOUTH. As I have tried to share the solution to situa-
tions, according to God’s Word, I have been continually in-
terrupted by the person wanting to talk the problem with a
yeah but you just don’t understand, I tried talking to
the problem but it did not change: Yes: but did you try

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believing (Mark 11:23-24), talk must be accompanied with
believing if we want to change our situation. If we want to
hear the solution, then we must become attentive to the
Word of God and stop talking the problem, and our con-
tinual negative, it don’t work for me.

Mat 12:36-37
But I say unto you, That every idle word that men
shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day
of judgment.
37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by
thy words thou shalt be condemned.
Idle words accomplish nothing
We get so cute with our mouth and we don’t even re-
alize that we are taking sides with our enemy and
helping in our own destruction when we talk down
about God’s Word.

James 4:7; there are two parts to this verse and they are
very important, and they are in the proper order:
      Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the
devil, and he will flee from you.
 This is the first part and the very first item in receiving
from God and reaping the rewards of His Word.
Submit: 5293. hupotasso, to subordinate; to obey:--be un-
der obedience (obedient), submit self unto.

Many of us claim to be submissive to God, for after all He is
God and we are “Christians”, yet we rebel at and argue over
His Word, refusing to believe that we really need to do it
that way.
Example: God said Speak to the problem, Well, that is the
stupidest thing I ever heard. How can you speak to a prob-
lem? you call it by name and issue a command: (Charles, go
clean you room, it looks like a pig pen: you call it by name,
you give it instructions and expect it to be done just that
way) or I tried that and it don’t work. God said Speak the
solution: We want to talk the problem. God said, with the

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mouth confession is made unto salvation (4991. soteria,
rescue or safety (phys. or mor.):--deliver, health, salvation,
save, saving.) we want to talk how we feel.
Submit to God: become obedient to His Word. Stop trying to
analyze and just start doing. If you are employed and your
boss tells you how he wants something done, do you argue
with him about it or do you become submissive to his
wishes and do it?

Resist the devil: resist: 436. anthistemi, to stand against,
i.e. oppose:--resist, withstand.
This covers more than just saying “satan I resist you”.
We must learn how to resist the temptation to argue with
God’s Word.
We must learn how to resist the temptation to express
how we feel when it is contrary to God’s Word.
We must learn how to resist the temptation to give in to
the temptation to always talk negative.
RESIST THE DEVIL, HE WILL FLEE FROM YOU.
Flee: 5343. pheugo, fyoo'-go; to run away; by impl. to
shun; by anal. to vanish:--escape, flee

SUBMIT TO GOD. “Yes sir, if that is the way you want it,
then that is the way I am going to do it”

      SOME OF THE THINGS WE HAVE BEEN DOING!
Mark 7: 6-13 Tradition
      He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias
prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, this people
honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far
from me.
      Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for
doctrines the commandments of men. Vain: 3155.
maten, mat'-ane; accus. (through the idea of tentative ma-
nipulation, i.e. unsuccessful search; folly, to no purpose:--in
vain.




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      For laying aside the commandment of God, ye
hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and
cups: and many other such like things ye do.
To many times we hear people and especially preachers say,
Yes I know that is not in the Bible but that is how I believe
it. Laying aside the Word of God and preaching personal ide-
as and ideals.
      And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the
commandment of God, that ye may keep your own
tradition. (Tradition: a long established custom or practice
that has the effect of an unwritten law. An established prac-
tice.)
      Making the word of God of none effect through
your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such
like things do ye.

We many times make the Word of God powerless in our sit-
uation because we are going to do it the way we learned
or the way that our church teaches, or the way that
we have always done it, even though we know it is
contradictory to God’s Word. Tradition renders the
Word of God of none effect, it cannot perform for us.

Luke 5:17-24; Reasoning (1260. dialogizomai,. to deliber-
ate (by reflection or discussion, consider, dispute, muse,
reason, think. To analyze )

Verse 17,20-21, 24-25
      And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teach-
ing, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting
by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Ju-
daea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was
present to heal them.

V’s 20-21
     And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man,
thy sins are forgiven thee. (He saw their faith by their ac-
tions)

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       And the scribes and the Pharisees began to rea-
son, (they just did not like what He said or the way he said
it, it just did not fit in with their religious ideas; to many
times we also begin to reason because we don’t like the
way the preacher said something, or we really don’t like
what he said, and we stop the power of God from working
for us) saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies?
Who can forgive sins, but God alone?
V’s 24-25
       But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power
upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the pal-
sy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go
into thine house.
       And immediately he rose up before them, and took up
that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glori-
fying God. (notice it was not the disease that cause him to
glorify God but the Healing)

V 17 says that the power of God was present to heal
them, not heal him, but them, yet because of their
reasoning of what Jesus said, and how He said it, only
one person received his healing.

Mark 6:3-6 Being Offended taking offense at God’s Word
or any other reason that we are offended. Being offended
will STOP GOD’S WORD FROM WORKING FOR YOU.
3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the
brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon?
and are not his sisters here with us? And they were
offended at him.
4 But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without
honour, but in his own country, and among his own
kin, and in his own house.
5 And he could there do no mighty work, save that he
laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.
6 And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he
went round about the villages, teaching.


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Offend; offense; offended; to offend: implies a causing of
displeasure or resentment, in another intentionally or unin-
tentionally. To create resentment, anger, or displeasure,
give offense.
To be offended: feeling hurt, resentful, or angry.

Mark 4:19 Cares of Life
     And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of
riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the
word, and it becometh unfruitful.

Luke 21:34
        And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your
hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness,
and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you un-
awares.
Isn’t it strange that Jesus would put the cares of life into
the same category as excessive partying and drunken-
ness?
Gal 5:21
      Envyings,( jealousy (spite) murders, drunkenness,
revellings (revelling, rioting.), and such like: of the which I
tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that
they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom
of God.

     What are we doing wrong or not doing at all
One of the biggest faults in our not receiving, is our
neglecting to do what God said to do, not the big
things, but the little things like speaking the word in-
stead of thinking the word. He said speak, and we
think the word instead of speaking it, we think the
command instead of speaking it, We need to learn to
follow instructions exactly! Mark 11:23-24: For verily I
say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain,
Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall
not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things


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which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatso-
ever he saith.
24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye de-
sire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye
shall have them.
Speaking is the first step to receiving, but it takes the be-
lieving to get the job done!

We must gain understanding on what to do and how
to do it! We need to be sure that we understand and
do exactly what Jesus said to do!

Almost every one has some certain amount of debt, all have
the responsibility of providing for their family. We can be-
come so concerned with the every day events of life that we
allow the cares of this world, the cares of life, to enter
in; taking over our every thought, taking over our eve-
ry motive, causing us to take short cuts and cheat
when necessary to get what we need or want.
The first two of the things Jesus warns us in about in verse
19, carry with them a certain amount of STRESS, worry,
anxiety, and frustration, then we toss in a pinch of fear and
now we have problems. When we add in the stress factor we
can easily see the danger of allowing the Cares of Life and
the deceitfulness of riches in our life. You ask; what do
you want us to do? It is not up to me to want you to do any-
thing, I am only going to tell you what God’s Word has to
say about it, but if you are really asking, Sow the Word of
God into your negative situation. How do I do that? By
speaking the Word of God and giving instructions to the sit-
uation, call it by name and issue a command.

All of our worrying will not fix anything!
Mat 6:27: Which one of you by worrying can change any-
thing?

Phil 4:6 Be careful (3309. merimnao,; to be anxious about :
3308. merimna, mer'-im-nah; from G3307 (through the idea

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of distraction). for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made
known unto God.
Don’t allow the cares of life to become a distraction from the
promises of God!
When we are stressed out, filled with worry and anxiety, we
cannot think on the things that are good, when fear is in
charge we do not have peace, having lost the joy of the
Lord, we have lost our spiritual strength.
Phil 4:8
      Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatso-
ever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatso-
ever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, what-
soever things are of good report; if there be any virtue,
and if there be any praise, think on these things.
(stop thinking on the things and the news that is not good,
stop thinking on the things that are downers)

Financial lack carries STRESS, worry, anxiety and frus-
tration as part of its package. Stress is a major cause of
mental illness as well as physical illness. This type of stress
will destroy churches, business’ and family’s, as well as per-
sonal life. But most importantly, it stops the Word of
God from Producing for you.
We become driven to provide the things of life, yet Je-
sus told us how to have every thing without having to
struggle.
Mat 6:33-34
      Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness
and all these things shall be added unto you.
      Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the
morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Suf-
ficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
(worry is trying to borrow from tomorrow)
2nd Peter 1:3
      According as his divine power hath given (made avail-
able as a free gift) unto us all things that pertain unto


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life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that
hath called us to glory and virtue:

2nd: The deceitfulness of riches.
We tend to equate this with the wealthy, and if they have
placed their trust in their wealth, then they qualify, but just
being wealthy does not mean they are deceived by their
riches. We need to understand that those who have LACK,
are just as susceptible as the wealthy, in fact probably more
so.
We say, “if I just had a little more money, then I could….”
The deceitfulness of riches will cause one to refuse the fi-
nancial scriptures of God’s Word.
(Mark 10:29-30; Mal. 3:8-12; Prov 3:9-10; 2nd Cor 9:6-
10; Deut 8:13.) [Money will not buy happiness, but a
severe lack of money will produce stress, ]
 And So we use our lack as an excuse to allow the deceit-
fulness of riches to enter in (if I just had a little more mon-
ey!). God has never told us that money was evil, He said
that the LOVE OF MONEY WAS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL. (be-
ing broke all the time can and does cause some folks to
have a love and a craving for money) Jesus told us that
you cannot serve two masters, God and Mammon. We have
mistakenly equated money as Mammon. It is not. Mammon,
Avarice, is the insatiable desire for more, it boils down to
GREED, THERE IS YOUR SIN FACTOR IN HAVING MONEY.
Being deceived by riches, desiring to have and cannot
obtain brings about covetness’ which is idolatry. Do
not be deceived. If you don’t use what you have for
God and according to His Word, you will not use what
you desire to gain for Him or His Word either.

3rd. The desires for other things. Allowing your personal de-
sires to hinder your relationship with God. Allowing personal
pleasure to come before your responsibility to God, the fel-
lowship, and to others, is allowing the desires for other
things to enter in and choke out the Word, making it UN-
PRODUCTIVE FOR YOU. There is nothing wrong with having

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a desire for things, even for pleasure, but when it enters in
and becomes a driving force in your life, IT IS DANGEROUS.
2nd Tim 3:4 Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of
God, Having a form of godliness, but denying the
power thereof;

Jesus did not warn us of these things just to have
something to talk about, He warned us of these things
so we would be aware of the dangers of them. Heb 2:1
tells us to give the more earnest heed to the things
that we have heard since God is speaking to us in the-
se last days by His Son. (Heb 1:1-2; 2:1-3)

  Since we are talking about God’s Word
     Why doesn’t it work all the time?
 God’s promises are faith based and faith
                activated!

Rom 10:11
     How then shall they call on him in whom they have not
believed? And how can they believe in him of whom
they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a
preacher

Heb 11:6
    Without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that
cometh to God must believe that He is, and that he is
a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

If we are going to receive anything From God, it is go-
ing to be by faith and according to our faith.

Mat 9:29
     Then touched he their eyes, saying, according to your
faith be it unto you!



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We must realize that what we have and what we receive
from God is according to our faith!

Mark 9:23
      Jesus said unto him, if thou canst believe, all things
are possible to him that believeth.
To many folks that are not having the promise fulfilled in
their life are trying to find excuses not to believe God’s
Word. We allow our situations to rule our thinking and tend
to believe what our physical senses tell us, and not what
God’s Word tells us! We are being guided by our situa-
tion not by God’s Word!

John 16:23-24
     And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I
say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my
name, he will give it you.
24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and
ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

John 14:13-15
     And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will
I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14    If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
15    If ye love me, keep my commandments.

God’s Word is a faith book, every thing in it is based on
faith, and without faith it is impossible to please God.
In fact having faith in God is a commandment!
Mk 11:22
     And Jesus answered and said unto them, Have Faith n
God,
Christians are known as faith people or people of
faith. However, we as Christians like to confess we are
people of faith, and then we qualify our faith by say-
ing “But” you know, you must use some common
sense. If common sense is going to make us try to
qualify God’s Word according to our situation, then

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maybe we need to get some “Un-Common” sense and
just start trusting and believing God, placing our con-
fidence in His Word not our situation. Stop being
moved by common sense, by tradition, by emotion, by
our logic, by our situation and by our feelings and
start being moved by the Word of God!

Heb 11:3
     Through faith we understand that the worlds
were framed by the word of God, so that the things
which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

Heb 4:2
       For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as
unto them: but the word preached did not profit them,
not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
If the word preached did not do the children of Israel any
good because they did not receive it by faith, it will not do
the church any good if it is not received by faith!

Faith in the believer is the door to the Fathers throne room
(Eph 3:12; Heb 4:16)and it is the avenue by which the Fa-
ther sends the promise back to us. Faith is not just a
word that someone made up, it is a spiritual force and
a spiritual condition of man’s heart. Faith in God’s
Word will cause one to be obedient and do what the
Word tells us to do, it is an action word, faith in our
situations will cause us to make excuses for God’s
Word not working for me.

       What we are probably not doing:

Heb 3:19
     So we see that they could not enter in because of un-
belief.
Unbelief: unfaithfulness ,disobedience.



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Disobedience to God’s Word kept the Children of Israel out
of the promised land for 40 years, Disobedience will stop the
new testament Christian from entering into God’s Promised
land today also, the land of divine health, the land of pros-
perity, and especially the land of peace.

2nd Cor 10:4-5
       (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but
mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
(arguments) (pulling down: demolition; fig. extinction:--
destruction,)
       Casting down imaginations, and every high thing
that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and
bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience
of Christ;
We tend to allow our imaginations to run un restrained, not
casting them down. How many times has your imagination
taken you into the things of God, it does happen sometimes,
how many times has your imagination brought worry about
the future? It does not say cast down all your imagina-
tions, it says to cast down the imaginations (argu-
ments) that exalt themselves against the Word of God.
If it were not for the imagination of men we would not have
any of the modern conveniences that we enjoy, No electric
lights, no automobiles, no airplanes, no computers, no inter-
net: The imagination of men is important to us, that is why
God gave us an imagination, just don’t let it use you to deny
the power of God’s Word.

We don’t spend much time thinking about the strongholds in
our life, or for that matter, we probably don’t really know
what the definition of a mental Stronghold is. A stronghold,
is an area of “defense, a fortified place that is designed to
resist intrusion”. If we were speaking of praise and worship
as the stronghold, the Word would not tell us to tear it down
and demolish it. (Ps 91:2; I will say of the Lord, He is my
refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. But it
does not say to tear your refuge and fortress down.) why

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would we be instructed to use the weapons of our warfare to
destroy them? We have erected strongholds that resist the
intrusion of God’s Word, just try talking to your
friends or family and see if they don’t resist the Word,
they will almost always have a “BUT” to come back
with. We can hear the word but we will not allow it to enter
in and begin making changes in our life because it cannot
penetrate the strongholds of our mind.

2nd Cor 4:3-4
3    But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4    In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds
of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious
gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto
them.

What are the strongholds and what are they erected from?
The fortress walls are made up of Tradition, our Offences, or
being offended, Our reasoning, The cares of Life, the deceit-
fulness of riches and the lust of other things and they are all
held in place with “BUT.” “But” is the mortar that holds all
of the bricks in place. I know that it is in the Bible BUT that
is not how I was taught. (tradition: MK 7:6-13) Our being
offended: I love the music “BUT” I don’t like the way the
preacher says things, or I would go to that church, “BUT”
the music is to long and to loud. I know that I should be in
church regularly, “BUT” I have to work at two jobs, just to
make ends meet. I know that is what the Bible says, “But”
we have to use some common sense.
I know that the Bible tells us that God will Supply All Our
Need, according to His riches in Glory, “BUT” I think that I
have to make my own way, God has never told anyone that
they do not have to anything, Gen 3:19; in the sweat of thy
face shall thou eat bread!

THE STRONGHOLDS MUST BE DESTROYED, that means
that all of the “BUTS” must be kicked out BEFORE
GOD’S WORD CAN BECOME EFFETIVE IN YOUR LIFE.

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Over and through the walls of our strongholds, we can
hear the Word of God, but It cannot penetrate the
walls of our strongholds and enter into our life and
make changes. We individually, MUST set aside all our
training that is contrary to God’s Word and desire a
CHANGE in our life before we can destroy the strong-
holds with the POWER OF THE WORD OF GOD.

Start calling those things that be not, those things
that we desire, as though they are!

Rom 4:17
      (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many na-
tions,) before him whom he believed, even God, who
quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be
not as though they were.
Abraham did not use his age or his wife’s physical condition
as an excuse to not trust God to keep His promise, the bible
goes on to tell us that being strong in FAITH he gave glory
to God and continued to believe, being fully persuaded that
What God had promised He was able to perform, even His
age was not a determining factor that caused him to doubt
God. Even Now God can and will perform His Word.
We have been trained up to CONFESS THE FACTS
when we ought to be confessing God’s Word. We con-
tinually confess our lack instead of confessing that I HAVE
AN ABUNDANCE. Well, we say, how can I claim that I have
an abundance when I cannot keep my bills paid and my
bank account is in the red all of the time. Rom 10:10 tells us
that our mouth makes confession unto! You ask, how can I
claim that I have abundance and not be lying? Did God say;
Phil 4:19; God shall supply all your need: 2nd Cor 9:8; God
is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, hav-
ing all sufficiency in all things? Yes “BUT”! Then to quote
God how can I be lying? If I do not have what God said I
have, I better find out why not! If I have God in my life
then I have a super abundance according to His Word!
He is my supply, He is my defense, He is All that I

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need, in Him I am rich, I have something that money
cannot buy, I have peace! If God supplies all our need,
then we should have no need, if we have no need, We
Are Rich.
Jesus said in John 15:16 that all things that the Father hath
are mine: Rom 8:17; as children, we are heirs; heirs of God
and joint-heirs with Christ: Since every thing that belongs to
God belongs to Jesus, and since I am a join-heir with Jesus,
then all things that belong to Him belong to me, they are
being held in reserve in Heaven just waiting for me to make
my withdrawal from my heavenly reserve Even though I
may not be in possession of all things yet, that does not
mean that they are not mine, now how rich are we?

John 10:10
     The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and
to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that
they might have it more abundantly.

Ps 23
     The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. (lack)

Phil 4:19 My God shall supply all your need according
to His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus.
Since God is your source and there is no lack in Him, then
why shouldn’t you claim that you have an abundance? Go to
God’s store house and withdraw what you need, everything
and any thing you need is on deposit there

2nd Peter 1:3
According as His Divine power hath given unto us all
things that pertain unto life and godliness, through
the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and
virtue: (knowledge: clear perception and understanding)
1st Peter 1:4-5
      To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and
that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
(reserved: to guard (from loss or injury)

                                                                17
5   Who are kept by the power of God through faith
unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Let us Wake up, get up and shake of the lethargy and
study to gain knowledge and understanding of God’s
promises, and the conditions to having them!
2nd Tim 2:15
      Study to show thyself approved unto God, a
workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing
the word of truth.

God has already provided every thing that you will ever
need, and if we are not having it, then maybe we should
spend some time GAINING KNOWLEDGE, clear percep-
tion and understanding, concerning that which we
lack and God’s supply, lets get to know God on a per-
sonal basis, He is my Father!
Lack of understanding steals the promises of God from
us!
What is it that we do not understand about our Fa-
thers Love?
What is it that we do not understand about Calvary?
Calvary is the very well spring out of which all Salvation
flows, It is the heart of God’s Plan of Salvation; Prov 4:23
tells us that out of the heart flow the issues of life: out of
Calvary flow all of the issues of life! God paid for every-
thing that we will ever need to live and live godly, and
the price was Jesus, the place was Calvary!
What is it that we do not understand about being
translated into the kingdom of God’s Son?
What is it that we do not understand about being lib-
erated from the power and authority of the kingdom
of darkness?
What is it that we do not understand about “Whatso-
ever you shall ask the Father in my Name”?
What is it that we do not understand about “My God
shall supply all my need according to His Riches in
glory by Christ Jesus”?

                                                            18
Many times we will see something that we would like to
have and we say “I am going to have that, that is mine, I
claim it” Well! Lets start claiming what God has said is ours,
Don’t divine health and divine prosperity and divine peace
look inviting to us? Isn’t it something we would like to have?
Let us use an example of claiming what is yours even
though you are not physically possessing it yet: (Heb 11:1)
Your older brother has purchased a new home for you and
given you the key to it, although you have not moved in and
taken possession of it yet, can you say truthfully “that is
my home”? then lets say that you cannot seem to make
the key work to enter in and take possession, Would you say
that is not my home because I don’t know how to use the
key?
Your big brother Jesus, has purchased your health, your
prosperity, and your peace and given you the Key (Luke
11:52, Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the
key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them
that were entering in ye hindered. 2nd Peter 1:3 Through
knowledge of Him) and if you don’t know how to use the
key, that is not God’s fault. (2nd Tim 2:15; Study to shew
thyself approved unto God!)
We can boldly say that “I HAVE AN ABUNDANCE AND I
HAVE DIVINE HEALTH; THEY HAVE BEEN PURCHASED
FOR ME AND THEY ARE MINE”.
                      ***************

Calling those things that be not as though they were!
Rom 4:17
     even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those
things which be not as though they were.
(yes but that was God!)
Gen 1:26-27
     And God said, Let us make man in our image,( resem-
blance; hence a representative figure) after our likeness:
and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and
over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all

                                                            19
the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth up-
on the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of
God created he him; male and female created he them

Those things that we desire: Those things that we
have longed for and yet cannot seem to possess!
Mark 11:24
     What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe
that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
Our desires are still in the future, if they were in our posses-
sion already they would be possessions not desires!

We cannot call those things that be NOT as though
they were because we are not fully persuaded that what
God has promised, He IS ABLE AND WILLING TO PER-
FORM. We are not really convinced that God cannot lie or
that every word that proceeded from the Mouth of God
would happen. We must tear down the strongholds of our
mind and allow God’s word to penetrate our life, We MUST
become fully persuaded that GOD CANNOT LIE.

Num 23:19
      God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of
man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he
not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it
good?
Prov 18:20
      A man's belly (life) shall be satisfied (filled full) with the
fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he
be filled.

Mark 11:24
      Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye de-
sire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye
shall have them.
Calling those things that be not, those things we would like
to have, The words that we speak whether to God or to oth-

                                                                 20
ers will bear fruit that will fill our lives. For those folks that
are worried and filled with anxiety about tomorrow and what
it holds, they should have a desire for peace. God said if
you want peace to fill your life start talking it and be-
lieving that you will have the results of your words.
Talking is only the first step, Believing is what gets
the job done. I know several people that talked the right
things, but in their heart they were still filled with fear. We
had a lady in our congregation that we prayed for because of
cancer: she went to the doctor and received a clean bill of
health, in 6 months she came back for prayer for cancer,
When I asked her how she knew that the cancer had re-
turned, she calmly replied, I went to the doctor for a check
up, Why did you go to the doctor: because you are never
really free from cancer. She expected it to return and it did.
 I knew one man that was healed of cancer, had a clear re-
port from the doctor, he wanted to sell his business and
when someone would ask him Why, He would always reply,
because I have cancer and I want to travel before I die. His
wife told me that his mouth is what killed him. His life
was filled with the results of his mouth. If we want
our life filled with peace, and health, then we better
start talking it.

Remember now, we are talking about things we should be
doing and probably are not, answering the question “why
don’t it work for me”. God is faithful to Himself to His
Word and His Children!
God’s promises are all faith based and faith activated
and received by faith!
Have we been doing what God has said? Doing the Word is
very simply living in obedience to what God has said and the
action (work) needed to perfect our faith!
James 2:17-23
     Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being
alone. (believing, faith, alone will not get the job done, it re-
quires action to be complete)


                                                               21
Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works:
show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee
my faith by my works.
     Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well:
the devils also believe, and tremble.
But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without
works (action) is dead?
     Was not Abraham our father justified by works,
when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
22. Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by
works was faith made perfect?
     And the scripture was fulfilled which saith,
NIV.
22: You see that his faith and his actions were working to-
gether, and his faith was made complete by what he did;
and the scriptures was fulfilled that says.

James 2:17 message bible
     17
        Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is out-
rageous nonsense?
  18
     I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying,
“Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I’ll
handle the works department.”
     Not so fast. You can no more show me your works
apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart
from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit togeth-
er hand in glove.

James 1: 6-8
     But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he
that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind
and tossed. (asking in Faith and not putting action to our
words and acting according to God’s Word, is caused by an
unsettled spirit and an unsettled mind set)
     For let not that man think that he shall receive
any thing of the Lord.




                                                             22
(here is one of problems that hinder our receiving
from God, We waver in our faith and in our confes-
sion)
A double minded man is unstable and unsettled in all his
ways, not just concerning certain things but God said in All
His ways.

When we do not DO THE WORD, ACT ACCORDING TO THE
WORD, there is no faith. We are in the arena of MENTAL
ASSENT. Mental assent agrees that God’s Word is God’s
Word, agrees that God cannot lie, but without corresponding
action, it is only MENTAL AGREEMENT. Mental assent will al-
ways come up with a logical reason not to do the word it
will never act, it will only profess. Abraham was justified
when He acted on God’s word, did exactly what God in-
structed him to do, and offered His Son on the alter of
sacrifice. And by his actions was His Faith established.
If he had refused to do what God had asked him to do, mak-
ing some excuse “But, God you promised me” His Faith
would never have become established, and until we are will-
ing to DO WHAT GOD REQUIRES IN HIS WORD, OUR FAITH
WILL NEVER BE ESTABLIHSED EITHER
Gen 22:16-18
      By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because
thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son,
thine only son:
17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I
will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the
sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall pos-
sess the gate of his enemies;
18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be
blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

In thy seed shall all the nations be blessed!
Gal 3:16
     Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made.
He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And
to thy seed, which is Christ.

                                                           23
The blessings are in Christ, Only those who are in Christ
are heirs of the blessings, (Rom 8:17) and we receive
the blessings by speaking them ,believing for them
and doing what God has said to do to have them.

God said “speak to the mountain, and until we do that
we are not DOING THE WORD.
We like to speak about the mountain, complain about the
devil, but that is not what God has said to do. Next God
said, “have faith in your words and you will have what
it is that you have spoken”. We like to say, well I believe
what God said, but I don’t know if I have faith in my words.
Go to Mark 11:23 and STUDY IT OUT FOR YOUR SELF.
NOW DO IT.

James 4:7
      Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the
devil, and he will flee from you.
We claim that we are submissive to God and His Word, but
we refuse to do what He has told us to do. We like to ar-
gue with God, complain because the Word does not work for
me, yet God said become submissive to God, removes
all rebellion.
Being submissive to God is to very simply say “ I don’t really
understand it, and I don’t always agree with it, BUT, IF THAT
IS WHAT YOU SAID TO DO, AND THAT IS THE WAY YOU
SAID TO DO IT, THEN THAT IS WHAT I AM GOING TO
DO AND THE WAY I AM GOING TO DO IT! YES SIR,
what ever you say!
When we argue with God over His word we need to go to
John 12:47-48 and see what Jesus has to say about our re-
jection of God’s Word. It is going to be our judge.
47 And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge
him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the
world.
48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words,
hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spo-
ken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

                                                            24
Find the promise in the Bible, make your confession, that is
mine, do not allow anything, circumstance, situations,
friends or family change your mind. If you cannot make up
your mind about what it is that you want, How can God give
you your desires when you have no desires?

James 1: 6-8
     But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he
that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind
and tossed.
     For let not that man think that he shall receive
any thing of the Lord.
     A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

Eph 6:10-11 Now that you have made your confession of
faith: STAND, DON’T WAVER. We know that once we
have made our confession of faith that we are going to be
attacked (Jn 10:10) We better Stand, having a firm footing
in God’s Word, (this is why we are to have our feet shod
with the preparation of the gospel, so we can stand) pre-
pared to ward off any attack from the enemy no matter
where it comes from. We do not stand in our own ability, our
own strength, our own knowledge and intellect, but we
stand in the power and ability of God, and we need divine
revelation of God’s Word, not our own thoughts con-
cerning it. We stand in the full armour of God, in His
power and ability. Now we are victorious in every area
of life.
We have prayed, we have spoken to the problem, but we
have to wait to long and now we begin to WAVER and start
talking the problem again, we become double minded, un-
stable and un settled in our mind and God said, that we
cannot expect to receive anything from God.
Eph 6:13-14
      Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that
ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having
done all, to stand. (Now God tells us how to stand)

                                                           25
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth,
and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the
gospel of peace; (Why does He talk about our feet being
shod? The enemy will use any method of stop you and if you
cannot march, if he can trip you up, you are of no threat)
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall
be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the
Spirit, which is the word of God:

Luke 10:19 we are probably not exercising our authority
over the enemy
      Behold, I give unto you power (authority, jurisdiction,
liberty, power, right, strength.) to tread on serpents and
scorpions, and over all the power (strength, violence) of the
enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Authority is only as good as the power backing it, we have
God and His throne as the seat of our authority, therefore it
is the final authority, Ps 138:2 For thou hast magnified thy
word above all thy name.

It is one thing to know that God has given you authority, but
it is another thing to understand it and be able to exercise it.
We spend to much time complaining about the devil and
what he is doing to us and what he is stealing from us and
not enough time EXERCISING OUR AUTHORITY OVER HIM.
We should be living in the Victory that Christ Jesus pur-
chased for us at HIS RESSURECTION, not complaining about
what the devil is stealing from us. We better learn about
our authority, what it is, what are its limitations, and
how to exercise it, and stop crediting the devil with
more power to afflict than we give to God to protect.
According to your faith be it unto you!

Isa 54:17 we probably are not Using our mouth to pro-
nounce judgment against the weapons that have been

                                                              26
formed against us, (this is part of exercising our authority)
Instead we talk the problem and just accept it as our lot in
life. GOD SAID: YOU SHALL PASS ADVERSE JUDGMENT
AGAINST EVERY TOUNGE RAISED AGAINST YOU IN JUDG-
MENT, not, that you shall just lay down and allow satan to
run all over you. Your heritage is one of power and au-
thority and it is given you by God himself. (Mark 11:23;
we don’t believe that the problem will disappear if we speak
to it, we have no faith in our words)
We must remember that all of God’s promises are based
on faith and activated by Faith and received by faith, if
we do not believe that it will happen, “that is not
faith” it is speaking in un-belief!

The results of the Children of Israel for un-belief and diso-
bedience:
We will reap the same results for the same sin.
Heb 3:7-19
      Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will
hear his voice,
      Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the
day of temptation in the wilderness: (2nd Cor 5:10; tear
down the strongholds and arguments that are contrary to
God’s Word, we must stop with the analyzing and trying to
qualify the promise according to the situation. Num 13:33)
      When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw
my works forty years.
      Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said,
They do alway err in their heart; and they have not
known my ways.
      So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my
rest.)
      Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you
an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
(the church as a whole does not believe in divine health, or
that their situation can and will be changed by the Word of
God, the sin of unbelief, being a skeptic and always trying to


                                                            27
qualify the promise, will keep you out of the Blessed Land of
promised Health and peace.
Ps 106:24-25 Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they
believed not his word: But murmured in their tents, and
hearkened not unto the voice of the LORD.)
      But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day;
lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness
of sin.
      For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the be-
ginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;
      While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice,
harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
      For some, when they had heard, did provoke: was it
not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.
      But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not
with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wil-
derness? (with whom was He grieved, wasn’t it those that
did not believe?)
      And to whom sware he that they should not enter into
his rest, but to them that believed not?
      So we see that they could not enter in because of
unbelief.
Unbelief: 570. apistia, ap-is-tee'-ah; from G571; faithless-
ness, disbelief (lack of Chr. faith), or unfaithfulness (diso-
bedience).

           Our problems are solved!
         God has given us the answer!

We have been liberated from the power and authority of the
kingdom of darkness, and delivered into the kingdom of
God’s Dear Son where we live in liberty and freedom!

1st Cor 10:13
     There hath no temptation taken you but such as is
common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer
you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the

                                                            28
temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be
able to bear it.
Temptation: 3986. peirasmos, adversity: temptation, X trial
Suffer: 1439. permit or leave alone.

Our way of escape has been provided by God:
John 14:6
     Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and
the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

We have the Word of God, we have Jesus our savior, we
have the Name of Jesus, we have the authority over sa-
tan, we have the right to the use of the name of Jesus
which is above every name. God has provided our av-
enue of escape from the trials and testing that come
our way in this life, and told us to develop our pa-
tience.
                       ************
Now lets look at one of the most important piece of the puz-
zle that is lacking in our quest for freedom from the authori-
ty of the kingdom of darkness, If we are not having the
Word of God manifest in our life, there are lots of reasons as
we have studied earlier, HOWEVER, there is one missing in-
gredient in almost EVERY CASE. If we want God involved in
our situation then we must learn how to PRAISE IN THE
FACE OF DIFFICULTY. (What does it mean to praise some-
one? We tell them all of the reasons that we appreciate
them: We expound to them, their good points) When we
learn how to PRAISE, not lip service but Heart service, this
is not singing a slow worship song on Sunday morning, it is
to praise in the face of difficulty, now we will start
fighting and winning the Spiritual Warfare (2nd Cor
10:4;the weapons of our warfare, praise is one of our great-
est weapons and one of the most neglected). When we
learn how to praise in the face of difficulty, pain, lack, af-
fliction, disease, we will be BRINGING GOD INTO THE BAT-
TLE. It does not matter how low your valley is or how dark
you night is, God is still the God of Heaven and He is still our

                                                              29
Father, He is still Love, He is still faithful, He is still de-
pendable, He is still trustworthy, and He is still worth
our Praise. Praise is the missing ingredient in every
unsuccessful attempt to defeat the kingdom of dark-
ness and start living in the fullness of the Word of
God. We must be careful not to confuse worship and
praise: they are not the same thing even though they
are closely related: Worship indicates an intense love
and devotion, sometimes in a strong show of emotion;
Praise on the other hand is to expound the virtues of
another, heaping praise on them by telling them and
reminding them of all or their virtues and points that
we admire about them. If the Word is not working for
you, take a check on what you are doing and not do-
ing, NOW START LEARING TO PRAISE GOD FOR HIS
ANSWERS AND JUST BECAUSE HE IS WORTHY OF
PRAISE. PRAYER IS THE BATTLE GROUND, PRAISE IS
THE AVENUE TO VICTORY: PRAISE ALWAYS WINS IN
THE SPIRITUAL WARFARE.
Praise! To commend the worth of: express approval or
admiration: to commend the value of, to glorify or extol:
To laud the glory of God:
Laud: great or extravagant praise!
Why praise God in the face of adversity? We praise Him be-
cause He is worthy of praise, (example: they praised him
for his work ethics; we can praise someone for their
achievements and not really even like or know the person,
you cannot Worship someone without loving them. 1ST
Cor 11:2; Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember
me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered
them to you.) [1st Cor 11:17; Now in this that I declare unto
you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the
better, but for the worse.] [1st Cor 11:22; What? have ye
not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church
of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to
you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.




                                                             30
Using the church service and especially the Communion ser-
vice improperly does not warrant praise! Using God’s Word
incorrectly does not warrant praise either from men or God.
When we Praise we say good things about him and to Him,
we praise Him for His faithfulness, we praise Him because
He is trustworthy, We praise Him because He is our Father
we praise Him for the answer, We praise Him to bring Him
on the scene and to get Him involved in the problem, we
praise Him because we know that He is with us no mat-
ter what is going on, and He has counted us worthy to
go through the test!

James 1:2
      Count it all joy (calm delight) when ye fall into divers
temptations or adversity.
Now we can praise Him because we know He will never
leave us or forsake us!
Going through our various adversity’s with a calm delight?
Knowing this!
1st Peter 1: 3-7
      Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us )
be born, bring forth) again unto a lively hope by the resur-
rection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4     To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that
fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
5     Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto
salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6     Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if
need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
7     That the trial of your faith, being much more precious
than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire,
might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the
appearing of Jesus Christ: (when it is all over and done with,
now God will praise and honor you for your faithfulness)
Message Bible:
1 Peter 1:3-7


                                                            31
3
     What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to
have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus
was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life
and have everything to live for,
4
     including a future in heaven—and the future starts
now!
5
     God is keeping careful watch over us and the future.
The Day is coming when you’ll have it all—life healed and
whole.
6
     I know how great this makes you feel, even though you
have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the mean-
time.
7
     Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure;
genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved
genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not
your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his
victory

We Can praise God in the face of adversity? It will
bring about great results:
Mal 3:6 I am the Lord, I change not! What He did then He
can and will do today.

Read 2nd Chron. Chp 20 to find out how powerful praise is!

2nd Chron. 20:19-22
     And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and
of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the
LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high.
     And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into
the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehosha-
phat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants
of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye
be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye pros-
per.
[Believe: aman (ah-mahn); to be firm, stable, estab-
lished; also, to be firmly persuaded; to believe solidly.

                                                             32
In its causative form ‘aman means “to believe” that is to
“consider as trustworthy”. This is the word used in Gen
15:6 when Abraham “believed” in the Lord. Here in 2 chr.
‘aman appears twice in one verse and could be translated:
“be established in the Lord, and you will be established,
count his prophets as trustworthy so shall ye prosper”
[prosper: 6743. tsalach; or tsa-leach; break out, be profit-
able, prosper (-ity, -ous, -ously).. From ‘aman comes
‘emuhah, “faith”. The most famous derivative is “amen”,
which conveys this idea: “it is solidly, firmly, surely true
and verified and established.]”
It is more than just a word of agreement! The very last word
in the Bible is Amen: The Word of God is solidly, firmly,
surely true and verified and established! It is worthy
of our trust!

      And when he had consulted with the people, he ap-
pointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise (to
revere or worship) the beauty of holiness (a sacred place
or thing), as they went out before the army, and to say,
Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.
      And when they began to sing and to praise the
LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon,
Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and
they were smitten.

Sometimes we are just like the Children of Israel, and we
are encompassed about with three armies: We have WORRY
on one side, we have SICKNESS AND DISEASE on another
side, and we have FINANCIAL STRESS on another side, we
are completely surrounded by armies of problems. SOUND
FAMILIAR?
      Do you ever feel like you have been surrounded by a
hoard of problems and there is just no way out? Do you ever
feel like no matter which way you turn there is just no way
out of your dilemma? The feeling of frustration and anxiety
are ever present and over whelming ? The more that you try
to figure out the proper avenue to take, the more you seem

                                                          33
to be over whelmed? (Prov 14:12: There is a way which
seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways
of death.) The more that we think on the problem and how
to solve it, the worse it seems to get: You try to ignore the
problems, but they will not just go away. Your situation is
real, you are in the middle of problems that must be faced,
they will not just go away. You have tried to speak to them
but they are still in your face. Your anxiety begins to turn
into out right fear? We are now faced with a terrible heavi-
ness that we cannot seem to find peace from. Watch your
mouth for the words of your mouth are critical to the
situation. (Isa 61:3, To give to them beauty for ashes, the
oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of
heaviness;) The Spirit of the Lord will remove the spirit of
heaviness as soon as we enter into true praise and worship.


NOW WE MUST TURN TO THE LORD AND GET HIM IN-
VOLVED IN OUR SITUATION. Remember the first item to
take care of is our mouth!.
Ps 141:3
      Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the
door of my lips.

Isa 43:26
     26 Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: de-
clare thou, that thou mayest be justified.

In 2nd Chrio. 20: 7-12 The children of Israel went to the Lord
and reminded him of who He is, Who they are, what they
have done, then they made their declaration of their help-
lessness in the face of the enemy and implored His help.
They reminded God of who He is, of their need, and their
dependence upon Him and they were justified in their
request for assistance.

                     ************


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2nd Chronicles 20:1-25
We will use these scriptures to find out HOW TO COME
THROUGH THE SITUATION AND GET TO TAKE A WALK IN
THE VICTORY OF GOD’S WORD, and live a life filled with the
life time rewards of God’s Promises. We might say “ But that
was the old testament, and we are living in a different time”
God is the same God today that He was then, He is still the
God that created all things through and by His Word and He
can and will do the same thing today that He did then:
1st Cor 10:11
       Now all these things happened unto them for ensam-
ples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom
the ends of the world are come.

This LAND OF LIBERTY we are going to get to is more than
just financial security, It is total victory over the enemy.
Also, let me say something else here, not all of our problems
are financial or medical. However the same principle that
over comes financial and medical problems will also over
come any other problem that you are facing. Always in eve-
ry situation be very careful of the words of your mouth:
      In this story that we are going to study, we will find the
steps that will insure VICTORY and REWARD.

Christian ethics, of war and peace:
     Most elements of the Old Testament conceptions of war
appear clearly here
   (1) Israel gained the land in a unique offensive war that
        God led.
Remember here that you and I are also in possession of a
land of promise that was gained for us by God through the
defeat of satan and all of his hosts.

Col 1:12-13, 2:15
     Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us
meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:


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     Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness,
and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear
Son:
2:15
     And having spoiled (defeated and stripped of power)
principalities and powers, he made a show of them
openly, triumphing over them in it.

(2) God was the chief Planner and Actor (participant) in wars
defending a faithful people.
In this defeat of our enemy, and bringing us into our prom-
ised land, the Kingdom of Gods dear Son, we did not have to
do the fighting, God led the offensive and we enjoy the fruits
of the victory. We still have an enemy who is trying to steal
back our promised land and our promises.
(3) Gods people must seek his guidance before going to
war. When we try to figure out the best means of defeating
the enemy, we will find that we are going to lose this battle.
(4) Yahweh, The God of Israel, is sovereign Lord of all his-
tory and can defeat all nations (enemy’s) no matter how
powerful their armies or weapons. (Isa 54:17, No weapon
that is formed against you shall be successful or shall pros-
per)
(5) In the old testament, the chosen worship place repre-
sented God’s presence with His people where they could
seek His deliverance from calamity through lamentation (Phil
4:6). In the New testament, we do not have to go to any
certain place, (for you are the Temple of the Holy Ghost, 2nd
Cor 3:16) But we must still call upon our God.
(6) Nations, or people, which violate treaty conditions or
return evil for good deserve punishment, and Here in this
story we find that God punished, just as He will today, those
who tried to come against His People. (yes: even you)
(7) Our victory does not depend on the military strength of
God’s people. (listen up Israel and church: God is your pro-
tection not your army, Gen 15:1)
(8) God reveals His will for the SPECIFIC OCCASION to His
people.(if we will seek His face and listen to His Words)

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(9) God is always with His people in battle
(10) Faith in God is the chief weapon of God’s people.
(11) God’s people respond in PRAISE TO GOD.
(12) God always rewards His people for their faithfulness
and obedience.
(13) Our victory causes others to be afraid and refrain from
fighting against God’s people.
(14) Peace, not war, is God’s goal for His people.
Prayer is the battle ground, Praise is where the battle is de-
cided.

Verses 1-12: Prayer and sincerity. Sincere fervent Prayer
(James 5:16)
NOTICE! The first thing that the king did when he was
made aware of the armies that have come against the peo-
ple:
V3-4.
      And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the
Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
      So Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord;
and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.
      (Fasting was one of the keys to releasing the deliver-
ance Judah experienced. This was a proclaimed fast in which
the whole nation participated. Fasting is not a tool by
which one manipulates God to accomplish something.
Fasting is simply an outward indication of an inward sinceri-
ty, an evidence of the urgency we feel when praying for spe-
cial needs. We quite possibly fail to understand fasting. As
we go before God and declare (even individually) that we
are going to fast, we must understand that we are not going
to manipulate God by our sacrifice of doing without food. We
are declaring before God that we are going to seek him and
set aside our bodily needs and focused our attention upon
Him and only Him until we have arrived at a place where He
can take care of our problem. We cannot FORCE GOD TO DO
ANYTHING BY DOING WITHOUT FOOD. But we can and do
show Him our sincerity as we present our needs, cares and
desires before Him. Anything other than a proper fast, is just

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doing without food and will produce nothing except maybe
some hunger pangs.
     So we have here, as soon as we find that we are faced
with the enemy, problems, worry, anxiety, financial stress,
physical well being, what ever the situation is, we must in-
stantly start to seek God for guidance and help.
Verses 5-13 Jehoshaphat’s prayer.
     And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah
and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new
court,
     And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God
in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the
heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so
that none is able to withstand thee?
     Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabit-
ants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to
the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?
(The first part of this prayer is Exalting God and Proclaiming
Him as God, reminding God of who He is, and What He is,
We cannot remind God of who He is, without bringing to our
own mind Who He is, He is Our God, we have chosen to
serve Him and Him alone. This is our first and foremost
obligation to God, We must come to Him in an attitude of
Praise and Worship for Who and What He is)
     And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary
therein for thy name, saying,
(Now they say, we have built thee a sanctuary for thy name,
1st Cor 3:16: Know ye not that ye are the temple of God,
and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile
the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of
God is holy, which temple ye are. We being the temple of
God, this is a place that God has chosen to place His
name and His Spirit. When we call out to God, He hears
instantly, Our supplications are of immediate concern to Him
and He will answer just as He did in Jehoshaphat’s time)
     If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment,
or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and
in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry

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unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and
help. (1st John 5:14-15)
      And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and
mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when
they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from
them, and destroyed them not;
(now they are reminding God, that they did what He had in-
structed and now the responsibility for these actions are
God’s and not the people’s. When we have done according
to God’s Word we no longer have the responsibility of the
situation. This responsibility is now God’s responsibility
for we have been obedient.) [REMEMBER THIS: praising
God for the answer is the opposite of worry and anxiety]
      Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us
out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit.
(We have a covenant of peace with God [Isa 54:10], We
have a covenant of Health with God [Isa 53:4-5], We have a
covenant of prosperity with God, [Mal 3:10-12; Deut 8:18;
2nd Cor 8:9] and when the enemy comes to steal our reward
that God has promised because of our obedience, we can
now go to Him and remind him of Our covenant and tell him
of the enemy that has come to take our possession from
us.)
      O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no
might against this great company that cometh against
us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are up-
on thee.
( We are helpless in our own strength, O God, We have no
might or ability against this great enemy, Cancer, Poverty,
Worry, or any other weapon the enemy has brought against
us, We don’t even know what to do, so we are turning our
eyes upon you and believing that you will come to our aid
for we are your children.) (to many times we run right
straight to the world system for our help, or we try to find
the solution in our own way [Prov 4:12]. God and God alone
is the Strength of the Christian, Ps 1:1-3)
      And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little
ones, their wives, and their children.

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As soon as the people turned to God and made their suppli-
cation with Praise, the Spirit of the Lord responded. God
spoke giving specific instructions on how to handle the
problem.
Verses 15-19
And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Je-
rusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD
unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great
multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's. (Joshua
1:8-9)
(the first thing God speaks is assurance, do not allow fear to
enter in, this battle belongs to God. Why? Remember verses
6-7 How they reminded God that He is their God, (Ps 91:1-
2) He is the God of Heaven and that He rules over all the
kingdoms and nations, reminding Him that they are the de-
scendants of Abraham, God’s friend and with whom He
made covenant)Now after assuring them that God is going
to take care of the battle, He tells them exactly what to do.
(next we receive instructions on what to do: God said GO!
God said “lift up your rod and stretch forth your hand and
you part the waters”’ God said “ You speak to the problem”
God said “believe what you say will come to pass” God said
“I give you authority over all the power of the enemy, now
use it”! God is saying the same things to the Church today
that He said to the Children of Israel in the Old Testament)
      To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they
come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end
of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.
      Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves,
stand ye still,
and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Je-
rusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out
against them: for the LORD will be with you. ( do not allow
worry and fear to set in, how many times have we cried out
to the Lord and never placed our trust in Him but continued
to allow worry and fear to reside in us instead of the Spirit of


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the Lord and confidence that what God has spoken, that is
what He will do?)[being fully persuaded Rom 4:20-21]
      And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the
ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem
fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD.
      And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and
of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the
LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high.
(To many times when we have asked the Lord to intervene
in our situation, we continue to murmur and complain about
the problem, instead of worshipping and praising God for
His goodness and mercy. Praise and Worship always moves
the hand of God, murmuring and complaining never brings
God on the scene.)
[ Ps. 22:3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the
praises of Israel.]
This verse explains how God is enthroned in the praises of
His people. Whenever and wherever God’s people praise
Him, He reigns among them and does miraculous things on
their behalf.]
V20
      And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into
the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehosha-
phat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants
of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be
established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.
[Believe: aman (ah-mahn); to be firm, stable, established;
also, to be firmly persuaded; to believe solidly. In its causa-
tive form ‘aman means “to believe”’ that is to “consider as
trustworthy’. ]

V21
     And when he had consulted with the people, he ap-
pointed (ordained) singers unto the LORD, and that should
praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the
army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth
for ever.


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(PRAISE BIRTHS VICTORY; Praise is the pathway to victory.
Here is a great lesson on the power of praise. Judah was
confronted by mortal enemies, Moab and Ammon and mount
Ser. The people sought God in prayer and with faith in His
Word (20:1-14)[ when we seek God in Prayer, we need to
do it in faith expecting Him to hear and answer,1st John
5:14-15][ the Spirit of the Lord spoke through the prophet
after the prayer of faith, reminding God that He is the God
they have chosen to serve; vs. 6-7] Then came the word of
the Prophet: “do not be afraid, for the battle is not yours,
but God’s (v15)

      The victory came in a strange but powerful manner.
The Levites stood and praised “The Lord God of Israel with
voices loud and high” (v19) Then some were actually ap-
pointed to sing to the Lord and praise Him in the beauty of
holiness. These went before the army, saying: “praise the
Lord, for His mercy endures [lasts] forever (v21) the result
of this powerful praise was total victory! Is there a les-
son here that we can grasp that will help us to always walk
in victory?
NIV verse 21; After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat ap-
pointed men to sing to the Lord and to Praise Him for the
splendor of His holiness as they went out at the head of the
army, saying: Give thanks to the Lord, for His love endures
forever.
V22
      And when they began to sing and to praise, the
LORD set ambushments [to lie in wait for or ambush]
against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir,
which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.
      God sent the spirit of confusion on their enemy’s and
they fell on each other, or they turned one on the other until
every enemy was destroyed, NOT ONE ENEMY ESCAPED;
GOD MADE A COMPLETE AND TOTAL END TO THE ENEMY’S
OF HIS PEOPLE: Don’t you know that God is the same
today as He was then, God is the same yesterday, to-



                                                            42
day and forever. What He did then He can and Will do to-
day for you and me.

V 23-24: God showed that He can and will destroy the ene-
my’s of His people. God’s way was to turn them against each
other so the People of God did not have to do any of the
fighting. The Christian’s fight is a fight of faith, the bat-
tle ground is your prayer closet and the path to victory
is in YOUR PRAISE.

V25:
     And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take
away the spoil of them, they found among them in abun-
dance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels,
which they stripped off for themselves, more than they
could carry away: and they were three days in gather-
ing of the spoil, it was so much.

THREE DAYS IN A DIAMOND PATCH: WHAT A REWARD FOR
SIMPLE OBEDIENCE TO GOD’S INSTRUCTIONS.
Eph 3:20
     Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly
above all that we ask or think, according to the power that
worketh in us,

 Which Would you rather do, reap a reward that goes be-
yond your wildest imagination or involve yourself in the bat-
tle against the host of Satan that has come against you? Liv-
ing a life totally HEALTHY, or trying to find some relief
through the medicine chest and the doctor. Personally I pre-
fer to live the GOOD LIFE.

We need to capsulate the lesson that we have learned here
so we can apply it to our own situation: any situation!
1st: When we are attacked, identify the problem and
2nd: Go to God with it. When you go to God in prayer, do it
right. (don’t try to figure out the best way to handle the sit-
uation; seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,

                                                             43
let Him add all things unto you; Prov 14:12 the way that
seems right to you will probably be the path to your destruc-
tion.)
3rd: Your prayer should start out with Exaltation of God and
Proclamation of Him as God. Declare His worthiness of
Praise, and your acknowledging that He is Worthy of your
praise. Confess that He is Your God, That You have chosen
to serve Him, Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost.
Isa. 43:26; Put me in remembrance, Come lets us plead to-
gether, declare thou that thou may be justified; make your
declaration of God’s Word.
4th: Present your case in humility (1st Peter 5:6-7) admitting
to God that you are helpless in this situation in your own
ability, you have no power and might against this situation,
and you are TURNING TO HIM AS YOUR SALVATION, DE-
PENDING ON HIM TO TAKE CARE OF THE PROBLEM AC-
CORDING TO HIS WORD.
5th: Do not hesitate to BEGIN TO SING PRAISE TO HIM FOR
THE ANSWER, AND FOR THE BEAUTY OF HIS HOLINESS. As
you start to praise, you will find that the spirit of heaviness
is being replace by the garment of PRAISE. (Isa 61:3)
6th: Listen to the voice of the Lord, He will give you instruc-
tions about what to do and how to do it. This voice of the
Lord, may be a sudden remembrance or recollection of a
certain scripture, It may be an impression of something that
you had allowed to slip your memory, it may be an impres-
sion down deep inside of you that you suddenly know what
to do, It may be an audible voice. What ever it is begin
immediately to obey it. (James 1:22; Mark 11:22-24;
Rom 10:9-10)
Continue in an ATTITUDE OF PRAISE AND WORSHIP and
you will see the salvation of the Lord for you.
7th: start enjoying the rewards of your obedience. And
continue to praise and thank God for the victory.
      REMEMBER: When we murmur and gripe, com-
plaining about our situation, we are empowering it
over us and we are speaking a negative result.


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  Reap a Life time of Reward
Cash in on the Promise of God
Start to enjoying the Blessings
       of God In your life
 Spend a life time in the free-
  dom Gods Word provides!




                              45