Bill Johnson via Ben Winkley

o, Bill says its good to diversify prayer – hope deferred makes the heart sick but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life (prov 13 v 12). Therefore pray for lots of things so you have some of them fulfilled!

It may be helpful to pray for things in four categories:
1) Those things that would probably happen anyway (without supernatural intervention) because “although the horse is prepared the battle is the Lords” (Prov 21 v 31) When you see these answered you may be tempted to think “it wouldve happened anyway”, but actually you will be likely to remember God and celebrate with him. Celebrating even the mundane things will be a “tree of life” for your prayer life.
2) Those things that are unlikely to happen without divine intervention
3) Those things that are impossible without God
4) Those things that are so ridiculous that we would be a little embarrassed to tell anyone else what we were praying (not necesarily massively big, just extravagent and perhaps a little pointless, like the small desires of our heart)

Anyone have any cool prayer answers that you can comment on this post to encourage everyone? 🙂

 

From Ben Winkley (amazing roommate and brother)

You Are Clean, Whole, Healed, Righteous & Prosperous! Joseph Prince

Pronounce Yourself Clean! Matthew 8:3 3Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Most of us are familiar with the healing of the leper in Matthew 8. It is a beautiful account of God’s willingness to touch and heal the sick, no matter how unclean they may be. Whenever we doubt God’s willingness to heal us, we should listen to the words of Jesus again: “I am willing; be cleansed.” He is the same yesterday, today and forever! Since the Bible is clear about God’s willingness to heal, why do we still have problems with our health? Why do we still experience symptoms in our bodies? I believe that the answer is found in what Jesus told the leper to do next. He told him to go and show himself to the priest. (Matthew 8:4) This was the law then for lepers who were healed. (Leviticus 14:2–3) And he was to hear the priest pronounce the word “clean” over him. (Leviticus 14:7) You see, as believers, when we received Jesus, His blood cleansed us from sin as well as sickness. (Isaiah 53:4–5) But we keep hearing people pronounce sin, sickness, poverty and death over us. We keep hearing people tell us that we are unclean, undeserving, poor, weak, and that it is only natural that we grow old and sickly, and die. God is waiting for a priesthood that will rise up and pronounce His people clean! “But Pastor Prince, where can I find such priests?” Who are the priests today? You and I! In fact, we have more authority to pronounce good things than the Levitical priests of the Old Testament. They were just priests. But we are king-priests by the blood of Jesus! (Revelation 1:5–6) Where the word of the king is, there is power. (Ecclesiastes 8:4) And by the word of a priest, every controversy and every assault shall be settled. (Deuteronomy 21:5) Beloved, God has cleansed you, so pronounce yourself clean! Right now, put your hand on your heart and pronounce good things over yourself. Say, “I pronounce myself clean, righteous, healed, whole and prosperous by the blood of Jesus!” By your word as a king-priest, every assault against you shall be settled!   By: Joseph Prince

Jesus has given us his “shalom” peace, all encompassing

Jesus Has Given You His Peace  –  Joseph Prince

John 14:27 27Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you…

In Israel, Jews greet each other with the words “shalom, shalom”. Unlike the English word “peace”, “shalom” does not just mean peace of mind, but also wholeness for your entire being — spirit, soul and body. It means having a sense of completeness and soundness. In other words, shalom encompasses your prosperity, health and total well-being. When Jesus spoke to His disciples in John 14:27, He did not use the English word “peace”. He would have used the Hebrew word “shalom”, saying, “Shalom I leave with you, My shalom I give to you…” Interestingly, the word “leave” here actually means “bequeath”, the way a rich man bequeaths his estate to his beneficiary. The disciples must have been excited when they heard that Jesus was bequeathing them His shalom. They must have known that to receive His shalom was to have His health because they had never seen Him sick. To have His shalom also meant never being in lack because He was never broke. Whenever He needed money, money was there. Once, money to pay the temple tax came in the mouth of a fish! (Matthew 17:24–27) The disciples also understood that having Jesus’ shalom meant having His abundance because they had seen Him meeting the needs of thousands with plenty of leftovers. They saw him feeding 5,000 men (not counting the women and children) with 12 baskets full of leftovers! (Mark 6:34–44) Jesus wanted His disciples to know that His peace was different from the peace that the world offers. His peace would change whatever trying circumstances that beset them. Even if it was a mega storm, it would have to bow to His peace. The Prince of Peace merely spoke, “Peace, be still!” and the winds and the sea obeyed Him. (Mark 4:39) His peace changed the mega storm into a perfect calm. Beloved, that is the kind of peace that Jesus has bequeathed to you. Therefore, believe that His shalom which He has left with you will change all your difficult situations, bringing you from sickness, lack and mental anguish to health, prosperity and total wellness!

Your Sins Are NOT Being Recorded!

By Team JPOn September 25, 2011

              For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.

Hebrews 8:12

I once read a comic book which showed how a man lusted after a woman, then died of a heart attack and went to heaven. In heaven, he saw a big screen showing everyone present a recording of all the sins which he had committed while on earth, including the last one. How embarrassing!

Don’t worry, that is not going to happen to you in heaven. There is no big screen with front-row and circle seats for everyone to sit and watch your past sins. There is no video recorder in heaven recording your sins right now. Because your lifetime of sins has already been punished in the body of Jesus, God declares to you, “Your sins and lawless deeds, I will by no means ever remember!”

This is true even for the Old Testament heroes of faith such as Abraham, Moses and David. If you read Hebrews 11, which was written after the cross of Jesus, you will notice that there is no record of their sins or failures. Yet, their life stories tell us that they were far from perfect.

Abraham lied twice about his wife Sarah. He told Pharaoh, and later, King Abimelech, that she was his sister to protect his own life. Moses killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew, and hid the body in the sand. David committed adultery with Bathsheba and later arranged for her husband to be killed in battle. Yet, their sins were not recorded in Hebrews 11, only their deeds done in faith!

God is showing you that He does not record your sins or failures today. Instead, He records your faith confessions and deeds done in response to what His Son has done for you. Every time you sin, every time you waver in your faith, God does not record it. But every time you believe Him and respond in faith, He records it! That should not make you want to sin more. It should free you to love God more!

So don’t be conscious of your failures. If God Himself does not remember them, who are you to remember them? Be conscious instead of your righteousness in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21), and you will reign in life! (Romans 5:17)

 

Thought For The Day
Don’t be conscious of your failures because God Himself does not remember them.

from: Joseph Prince

God is your defense!

Let The Lord Be Your Defense

Psalm 94:22 22But the Lord has been my defense, and my God the rock of my refuge.

Imagine being a poor widow, a stranger in the land and holding one of the lowliest jobs in society. That was Ruth’s situation, so it would have been easy for her to feel vulnerable and defenseless. But because she trusted the Lord (Ruth 1:16), He placed her under Boaz’s protection.   Boaz, the owner of the field she worked in, commanded his young men saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her.” (Ruth 2:15) What he was saying to his men was this: “She might be a gleaner, but because I care for her, treat her with respect and make sure she is not put to shame.” Boaz is a picture of our Lord Jesus. If you are feeling vulnerable and defenseless right now, imagine Jesus commanding His angels, “Watch over this one who belongs to Me. Make sure he is treated with respect and not put to shame because he is someone I love and someone whom I died for.” God’s Word tells us that if God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31) No one who has set himself against us can prevail because when God is for us, His protection is upon us. That is why I have never answered any of the poison email messages which I have received in the course of my ministry. My attitude is this: Jesus is my defense. If He does not defend me, it means that there are things in my life that are not to be defended, and I would be glad to find out about them now rather than later. On the other hand, because I take the Lord as my defense, and He defends me, what can those who are against me do to me? When you defend yourself, you have only your two hands and your own human resources. But when you let Jesus take up your defense, He defends you with His nail-pierced hands and His legions of angels! The results will be amazing. Beloved, the Lord is your defense and refuge. Trust Him to defend and protect you!   from Joseph Prince

You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus

…the righteousness of faith speaks…

Romans 10:6

Every time you confess, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ”, God the Father is pleased. When you confess that you are the righteousness of God in Christ, it reminds Him of what His Son has done for you to become righteous.

Also, by making you righteous, God is showing Himself righteous — “to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus”. (Romans 3:26)

Each time Jesus hears you confess, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ,” it brings much pleasure to His heart too, because you are laying hold of what He suffered and died to give you.

The Holy Spirit, who now indwells you to convict you of righteousness (John 16:10), also rejoices when you confess, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ.” He is pleased when you flow with Him.

The delight of the Godhead is not the only thing you gain when you declare, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ.” The Bible tells us that when you “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness… all these things shall be added to you”. (Matthew 6:33)

Whether it is food, clothing or other necessities in life, “all these things” will be added to you. They will not just be given to you, but added to you as your inheritance when you seek first His righteousness.

You don’t need to use your faith for every single need in life. You just need to use your faith for one thing — to believe that you are the righteousness of God in Christ, and it will cause all the blessings you seek to come after you and overtake you!

 

Thought For The Day
Use your faith to simply believe that you are the righteousness of God in Christ, and the blessings you seek will come after you and overtake you!

from Joseph Prince 

So while singing today….

So in worship today as the music started flowing and I was feeling the sweet and gentle presence of God flowing throughout the room I was brought back to certain memories.  God was showing me where He had taken me from and where I was now.  He flashed me back to my days of my empty partying life, getting drunk and then ending up in shambles, the days of fear and anxiety where I was afraid to even leave my room at times and I could barely function, the times of near suicide.  I was shown another image of my brokenness as I wept at work in secret, just exhausted and feeling so void of His love and a true purpose on my life.  But He had a plan all along, He knows every hair on my head and my destiny.  Then He showed me how He saved me, how on the rain ridden streets of PennState on a cold day He reached out to me once again and I finally let Him into my broken and dismantled life.  Ever since that moment two years ago nearly now, things have changed beyond my wildest imaginations.  He showed me how He brought me into fellowship with people who really love without strings attached and without agendas.  People who pulled out the gold in me, when all I saw was dirt.  God laid out a plan for me that I couldn’t have ever imagined.

Then in worship I opened my eyes and looked around at where I was.  I was in the midst of hundreds of students in the thick of Gods presence at The Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry in Redding, California.  Every day He is teaching me something new, and encountering me in a new way, and speaking to me and molding me.  So so so lovingly, only the way that He can.  The days of emptiness are over, its now fullness.  The days of shame are now over, I’m a new creation in Christ.  Perfectly righteous, Perfectly holy, perfectly sanctified.  Perfect and loved in the eyes of the Father.  The days of getting wasted with this world are over, I get drunk on The Holy Spirit. Being drunk with heavenly wine is millions times better than the wine of this world.  It’s beyond comparison.  The days of being high smoking pot are over, Gods love filling me lifts me higher then I could have ever imagined. The joy of heaven fills me and is greater than any drug upon this earth.  Fear cannot contain me, the Prince of Peace and I are one.  The same spirit that raised Christ Jesus from the grave dwells in me.  I am in Christ and Christ is in me.  There is safety and love in the arms of Daddy God.  There is nothing I can do to make the Father love me more, and there is nothing I can do to make the Father love me less.  He loves me because he loves me because he loves me.  It is not about what I do, but who I am in.  I’m in Christ and Christ is in me. I am a beloved son of the most high God. Nothing will ever change that.

God always has something better than what this world gives us.  What the world gives is only the counterfeit and a mere shadow of what our loving heavenly Father has for us.   It is so key that I remain focused upon Jesus Christ, the cross, and His resurrection.  It is from that focus that everything will flow.

Paul says in Ephesians, “I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done.  Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.  For His sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with Him.  I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather I become righteous through faith in Christ.  For God’s way of making us right with Himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised Him from the dead.”

My right standing with God is not dependent upon my works, what I do or don’t do. It’s based on faith in Jesus Christ, not works!  For if I could do nothing to work my way INTO the Kingdom of God, then what makes me think I could every sin my way OUT?  Once I was a slave to sin, now I am a slave to righteousness.  I was transferred from one realm to another.   From darkness to light.  From bondage to freedom.  Nothing can change your standing with the Father once you are in Christ.  Your sins; past, present, AND FUTURE were all paid for on the cross.  Let’s look at this, when was Christ crucified?  In scripture it’s before the beginning of time and also physically 2,000 years ago.  When he died ALL of your sins were future. You are free!

Nothing can separate you from His love.  Jesus gives life and life abundant. If you are in Christ,  the Father remembers your sins no more! He doesn’t even remember them!!! So why should you?

So where does it say that God doesn’t remember my sins anymore?

Hebrews 8:12         I will remember their sins no more.

Hebrews 10:17       Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more

1 Cor 13                     Love keeps no record of wrong   (God IS love, so therefore there is NO RECORD of your wrongs)

 

Well……..that went into a whole lot more than I thought I was going to write about!  But, I just kind of kept going!

Basicallyyyyyyy, God loves you!

 

Grace & Peace,

-john

 

Loving Father!

“And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.”

Luke 15:31

Faith is believing that we have a good God, and that He protects and provides for those who trust in Him. Remember the parable of the prodigal son? (Luke 15:11–32) Jesus shared it to illustrate how good our heavenly Father is. The wayward son had squandered his father’s inheritance before he decided to go home to ask his father to make him a hired servant.

But before he could reach home, his father saw him from afar, ran toward him and embraced him. And instead of making him a hired servant, the father turned to his servants and said, “Bring out the best robe! Get a ring and sandals for my son! Let’s kill the fatted calf and celebrate!”

Now, when the older son returned from work and heard about the celebration, he became angry and refused to enter the house. When his father came out to ask him what was wrong, the older son complained, “Look, I’ve served you all these years. Yet, you never gave me a calf to celebrate with my friends. But as soon as this prodigal son of yours comes home, you kill the fatted calf for him!”

Notice what his father told him: “Son, you are always with me and all that I have is yours. We should celebrate because your brother was dead but is alive again. He was lost but is now found.”

Can you see how the older brother perceived his father? He saw his father as a hard and stingy man. He believed that he had to work to get something good from his father. He didn’t realize that he already had an inheritance! He could have killed the fatted calf any time for a celebration!

Like the father in the parable, God has already given you an inheritance in Christ. Don’t fail to enjoy it by doubting God’s goodness or by believing that you must work for it. See your Father’s heart of love and goodness toward you, and celebrate your inheritance today!

 

Thought For The Day
Faith is believing that you have a good Father who protects and provides for His children.

From – Joseph Prince

We’re just like Daddy God! From Joseph Prince

Like Father, Like Son Romans 8:16 16The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, Everything produces after its kind. Dogs give birth to puppies, cats give birth to kittens and tigers give birth to tiger cubs. In the same manner, when you are born again, you are born of God. You are a child of the Most High God. He is your Father and He doesn’t see you in the flesh. He sees you in the Spirit. And His Spirit bears witness with your spirit that you are His child.     So when the devil comes to you and says, “Well, your father died of cancer, his father died of cancer and you are going to die of cancer too, just like your father,” just know in your heart that you are like your Father — your Father in heaven! Declare, “I am a child of the Most High God. He doesn’t have cancer, so neither do I!”   My friend, when you are born of God, you are born to win. Because your Daddy God is a winner, you are one too! When you wake up in the morning, say, “I am a winner because God is a winner!”   When you say that you cannot afford to buy something that you need, you have forgotten which family you now belong to. You have been born again into a very rich family — your Father owns every beast in the forest and the cattle on a thousand hills! (Psalm 50:10) You have a Daddy God in heaven who is well able to supply all your needs. (Philippians 4:19) Even if you don’t have much money now, don’t worry. Just ask God for the supply because your heavenly Father is rich.   When someone talks to you about a problem and asks, “What are we going to do about it?” you should say, “Don’t worry. Let’s talk to Daddy God about it. It is not a problem for Him, so it will not be a problem for us.”   Beloved, even when all around you is going under, your Daddy God is still the same heavenly Father who kept Noah’s world afloat, his loved ones safe and sound, and his possessions intact. Your world will never go under because you are God’s beloved child!

Gods Love For US!!!

I felt I should really re-post this little message from Joseph Prince.  It is so powerful and liberating.

 

Let God Love You Instead

By  Team JP On September 18, 2011I

In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

1 John 4:10

“You have to love God more! You must have more passion for God!” You have probably heard this type of preaching and may have even tried your best to love God, only to fail miserably.

But what is the true definition of love? Let the Bible define it for us: “… this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us…” Yes, it is not about our love for Him, but His love for us!

“Pastor Prince, the Bible says that you must love God with all your heart, soul and strength!”

Yes, that is true according to the law (Deuteronomy 6:5), and even Jesus taught that as the great commandment when He walked on earth. (Matthew 22:37) But that was before He died on the cross. At the cross, He became the very fulfillment of this law for us when He loved us with all His heart, soul and strength, by laying down His body and life on the cross for us.

Today, we are no longer under the law but under grace. And grace tells us that God loves us, not that we love God. Yet, we will love Him when we see how much He loves us. The Bible says that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us! (Romans 5:8) That’s how much He loves us!

Beloved, God has seen you trying your best to love Him. And because He loves you, He wants you to sit down and be still, and let Him love you instead. He wants to love you with all that He is and all that He has. He loves you unconditionally regardless of who you are or what you have done because His love is not dependent on you but on Himself. He will never stop loving you.

So let God love you today. Don’t worry about loving Him. The more of His love you receive, the more you will fall in love with Him!

 

Thought For The Day
God loves you with all that He is and all that He has.