71. Sermon on the Mount Secrets - Receiving Faith Part 4

Today is the conclusion of the discussion on Jesus' instruction in Matthew 7:7-11:  “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

I received another rhema verse just before we moved to England. In order to stay in England, I had to re-qualify as a pharmacist, which would cost a lot of money that we did not have. I felt that the Lord had initiated this desire to move to England. Although I had other rhema words from God, indicating He wanted us to go, I did not yet have the faith. What would we do when we get there? Where would we get the money to live on and to pay for my re-qualification? I e-mailed Ina, my wife’s best friend and sister in Christ. Ina had been living in England for the past three years.

“Just come,” she said.

How do I “just come?” I thought.

During my Bible reading the next day, the Lord had the answer. It popped out of the Bible right at me, creating in me tremendous faith. “Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing! Come out from it and be pure, you who carry the vessels of the Lord. But you will not leave in haste or go in flight; for the Lord will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard,” (Isaiah 52:11,12).

Although God originally meant this as a message to Israel, that day He spoke it to me. It was time to go in faith. It was my ministry to encourage the vessels or servants of the Lord, therefore He was talking to me.

The best way to know that a portion of scripture is a revelation from God is that it creates faith in you. “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ,” (Romans 10:17). When you know it was the Lord who spoke to you in person (comes from hearing) from His written Word (and the message is heard through the word of Christ), faith is the result.

After receiving this confirmation from God, we just went. God promised He would go ahead of us and be our rear guard, and boy, did He do it! Miracle after miracle opened doors for us. He kept doing them although I am the least to deserve it. I am talking about tens of miracles in the initial span of one year and still continuing during all the years we've been there. We have since returned to South Africa

Every time I got despondent in that foreign country and encountered persecution, I was tempted to panic or doubt, but the memory of this revelation gave me faith to continue. I recall it fondly as my First Love’s personal words to me. It makes me feel worthwhile, like somebody who is cared for. When this harsh world tries to crush me, I have these love letters in my heart, words spoken lovingly by the Almighty directly to me. Then I feel safe.

Even when I messed up and didn't please the Lord by being disobedient and unfaithful, He was still faithful and kept His side of the covenant.

One more thing about asking: God does not always give the first time we ask. He often wants us to prove our faith by asking repeatedly, by pleading (Philippians 4:6). Jesus told the parable about the widow and the unrighteous judge (Luke 18:1-8), showing us not to give up easily when asking God. God wants to see determination and faith. He wants to see that we know what we want.

Furthermore, He needs to get the timing right. He knows us by heart, knows our future, and knows when the right time is to answer a prayer. If He answers too early, that which we ask for might be wasted or we might not be ready for it. Sometimes He first needs to accomplish something through our current circumstances before He can answer the prayer and bring relief. Sometimes His answer is plain “no.” We do not always hear this, then we think our prayer has not been answered.

The passage about asking also applies to asking people, but unlike God, people, in general, are not so gracious. Credibility plays a major role among people. What you sow is what you’ll reap. We ought to give in order to receive. That is why Jesus ended this passage with, “‘So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets,’” (Matthew 7:12). One cannot be rude and selfish all one’s life and expect to receive from people all the time. In the beginning, people might give out of politeness. In the end, it might bounce back on you.

Give God your love and receive your desires. Give yourself to people and receive what you have given.

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70. Sermon on the Mount Secrets - Receiving Faith Part 3

We are busy discussing Jesus' instruction in Matthew 7:7-11:  “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

Elijah also walked in the great power of answered prayer because he did and prayed only what the Lord told him to. The key with both Jesus and Elijah was that they were sold out to the Lord’s cause. They did not have a thousand and one distractions and could focus solely on listening for the Lord’s voice. Neither of them could hear it audibly, nor could Moses, Samuel, or Paul. For that matter, neither can we. They simply tuned in to Father to hear what He had to say. What separated them from the general population was their undivided devotion to the Lord.

To them, He was everything. They allowed Him to do anything with them in order to accomplish His purposes. They did not mind ridicule and persecution as long as it enhanced what God had in mind concerning His kingdom.

We need to get rid of the things that distract us, tune in to God, and especially read the Bible expecting to find a revelation (rhema) word. This empowers our faith and, when prayed, moves the arm of God. Praying a rhema word, a word that God quickens to us from His written Word, has much power.

I have received much rhema in my life. Many years ago, I needed protection against persecution and mistakes. While I read Psalm 91, verses 14-16 came alive: “‘Because he loves me,’ says the Lord, ‘I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him My salvation,’”

I memorised it and it created faith within me.

I tend to rub the enemy the wrong way by exposing the truth, so I am well acquainted with persecution. As a result, I have had a lot of trouble in my life. Not long after I received this rhema, I realized why the Lord gave it to me. I would need it in times of trouble. Every time I get into trouble, I pray these exact words from this revealed passage. I made it more personal by praying, “Because I love You, Lord, You will rescue me. You will protect me because I acknowledge Your name. . . .”

Without fail, this prayer exerted amazing power. I have been saved from major dilemmas, even from problems that were my own fault, simply because I repented before God when I realized my error. Sometimes the trouble evaporated, but at other times the Lord sent me to deliver a message of wisdom to my adversaries, and that brought my deliverance. To be continued.

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69. Sermon on the Mount Secrets - What is it God wants? Part 2

We are busy discussing Jesus' instruction in Matthew 7:7-11:  “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

In our asking, it is our duty to consider God’s purposes. It is wise, profitable, and righteous not to ask for those things outside of God’s will. We read in Psalm 37:4: “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

I once asked the Lord the meaning of this passage, since I knew He wouldn’t give me whatever I desire. I learned that if we delight ourselves in the Lord, enjoying an intimate relationship with Him, considering Him to be all we need and His will to be our ultimate desire, we will not want anything outside of His will. As a result, while we enjoy His presence, He will place desires into our hearts, then He will give us what we desire. Disciples whose sole desire is to do the will of the Lord will not have a hidden agenda. They’ll ask for only what is needed to fulfill the demands of their calling.

Recently, I confessed to my home group that I had lost my courage and boldness in witnessing. This was a problem I have bathed in prayer for a long time. I didn’t expect anything when I asked the home group. I just felt like talking about it.

Delores, one of the ladies attending that night, urged the pastor to lead the group in prayer for my renewed courage and boldness. He almost let the opportunity pass by, but by the end of the meeting, Delores demanded that we pray for me. Strangely, it seemed like a matter of life and death for her. So they prayed for me and I accepted it as usual.

The next day, I felt courageous, as if nothing could stop me. I was on fire for the Lord again and testified without fear at every opportunity in the radical way I used to. I spoke to some Muslims, and the Lord gave me the most creative approaches. I was a new man.

            Intrigued, I thought and prayed about the reason for the difference. I had prayed for a long time with no results, but when Delores urged, it happened. I was then led to 1 John 5:14, 15 as we discussed earlier. Delores heard the Lord’s prompting. She might not have heard specific words, but the message from the Lord was probably: “It is time for prayer now! It is My will that you should pray for Henry, because I want to do what he asked for.”

The angel has stirred the water, and we need to jump in now to receive our answer to prayer. We need to pray when the Lord tells us to pray, how He tells us to, and about the topic He tells us to. If we pray when, what, and how God wills, we will receive what we ask for.

The key is to be in close touch with the Lord (intimacy) and in right standing with Him (obedience), so we can hear what He expects of us. If in everything we do exactly as He wishes, we will see more results, experience more of His power, and save a lot of time and prayer energy.

Jesus said that if we love Him we will obey Him. He spent many nights hearing from His Father about how to perform His ministry tasks the following day. I believe Father told Him to put mud on the blind man’s eyes, and to pensively write on the ground when the woman was accused of adultery, and to tell Peter to catch a fish and find a coin in its mouth. He did not necessarily hear beforehand, but certainly did when He acted. To be continued.

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68. Sermon on the Mount Secrets - What is it you want? Part 1

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:7-11)

            God is so excited to do this for us, he sealed his promise with an exclamation point.

It shall be given to you, you will find, a door will be opened to you. But sometimes we ask often and yet do not receive. At those times, it does not seem the Lord cares enough to give what we ask. We question whether we have sin in our lives or whether we are not good enough.

I think many of us have battled with this issue. While we have many testimonies of the times the Lord has come through for us, we’ve all had times in which we didn’t get the answers we thought we needed. This shakes our faith.

A missionary named Bob lived by faith. Whenever the Lord sent him on a mission, Bob travelled by train. He waited at the station until the Lord provided a ticket in some way or another. For example, another passenger once discovered he could not take his trip after all, and he gave his ticket to Bob. 

Then one day, Bob waited until all the trains left. This saddened him, and he went home asking the Lord why this happened, since he was so sure he had heard correctly.

The Lord told him to go back to the station the following day, which he did. The same thing happened. When Bob questioned the Lord about this, He asked him whether he would trust Him again. The next day he trusted the Lord again and the Lord provided.

Of the many reasons prayer seems not to be answered, one is definitely the testing of our faith. 

You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. (James 4:2, 3)

James is not known for beating around the bush. He clearly states one of the reasons we do not receive. So how must we ask in order to receive? How do we know we have the right motives?

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him,” (1 John 5:14,15).

              We must know God’s will before we can ask according to it. This is where many Christians make a huge mistake. The only Person who knows what God wants is God himself. Yet many Christians try to obtain His will from other people. We ask the pastor what he thinks God’s will is for our lives. We run to prophets and line up in the prayer line, hoping that someone will prophesy over our lives. Prophecy is good, but we must remember that it is either a confirmation of what the Lord has already told us or preparation for what God is going to tell us in detail later. Once the Lord informed me through a revelation of 1 Timothy 4:13-16 that my job is to teach: “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you. Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”

In this rhema word, “I” represented Jesus. Confirming this rhema was a prophecy I received years before, as well as the overwhelming desire to teach and the gift of teaching.

Knowing this will of God for my life, if I ask for a sports car, I probably won’t receive it, because what advantage will a sports car have for my calling? But if I ask for a good computer, I will receive it, and if I ask for opportunities to preach, they will come. A man who works with street children will do better with a van than a luxury car. God’s will is specific. An older van might be better than a sparkling new one, since the latter will stand out too much in poor areas. To be continued.


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