He continued on to say "AND"...

*Part 3 on Prayer for "Simply Prayer" 30-day Challenge:  Pray for Missions in Asia.

Jesus did not stop with verse 24 in Mark 11.  He continued on to say "AND"...

Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.  And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.  Mark 11:24-25 

Why?  Because prayer and your faith will not work in unforgiveness.  Unforgiveness allows the devil to enter in and play with your mind, even causing guilt and condemnation that draws you away from your Heavenly Father.  

Unforgiving is defined as "Not willing to gorgive or excuse people's faults or wrongdoings."  This means forgiveness is a choice. We make a conscious choice to forgive others.  

"But, you don't know what they did, I can't forgive that."  According to the definition and according to God's Word, you can forgive them.  It is as much of a choice as it is to choose to love someone.  

Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.  Col 3:13

Why is this so important in prayer?

His Word is clear.  To be in willing obedience to God, we must make the decision to forgive, otherwise we are not forgiven of our sins.  

"If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land."  Isaiah 1:19

According to Isaiah choosing not to forgive (being unwilling and disobedient) prevents us from receiving "the good of the land."  This prevents us from receiving the desires of our hearts that we pray.

Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.  And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.  Mark 11:24-25  

"Therefore....."

*Part 2 on Prayer for "Simply Prayer" 30-day Challenge:  Pray for Missions in Asia.

"When you see a 'therefore' in the bible, stop and see what it is there for."  Kenneth Hagin

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 which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.  Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.  Mark 11:23-24  

When you pray believe that you have what you prayed for.  Notice this says, right at the moment that you are praying, BELIEVE that you received what you have prayed for.  

"But I don't see it, I don't have it.  I need to keep praying for it." you may think.  We walk by faith, not by sight.  God's Word says to BELIEVE you have received WHEN you are praying for it, at that moment.  

When you pray, and when you believe that you have received as you pray, faith begins to work.  If you believe you have the answer you do not ask for it again.  Rather, thank Him for giving you the answer to your prayer.

How to Pray in the New Covenant

July 15th -August 13th, 2013 is the 30-Day Challenge:  Prayer for MIssions in Asia .  To aid those who find it difficult to spend time in prayer or have not really checked out what God's Word has to say about prayer, the next month of posts to Discovered Treasures Bible Study and .Who Am I?  DailyDevo will focus mainly around prayer, how to talk to God.  

Where to we learn how to talk to God?  The same place we learn about His character, His likes, His dislikes, what pleases and displeases Him.  In His Word.

There is one thing I want to point out in the Word before we go further into the Word on prayer.  

The bible is divided into two covenants, the Old Covenant (before Christ died on the cross and rose again for us), and the New Covenant (after Christ died on the cross and rose again.)  This is very important, because many people go to scriptures like the Lord's prayer to learn to pray.  There is nothing wrong with praying what is in the Lord's prayer, however, if you will note, it was a prayer example prayed before Christ had died.  

When people prayed before Christ died, they did not have the Holy Spirit within them.  This did not come until Christ died and rose again.  It was not until Jesus died that the curtain (veil) that separated the Holy of Holies from man (Mk 15:38, Mt 27:51, Lk 23:45). It was not until then that we could become temples of the Holy Spirit. You will see this in Acts 1 while the disciples were in the upper room and they were filled with the Holy Spirit.  

Prayer before this event, was not guided prayer by the Holy Spirit directly to the Father.  Rather there were rules of the Law to follow, sacrifices to be made, and a representative (the priest) just to talk to God and get right with Him.  

In Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4 the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray.  And He did.  But this is not the New Covenant Church praying, it is the Old Covenant Church.  Jesus had not yet died and rose again.  The Holy Spirit was not given to them to renew their spirit and dwell within them, they had no authority over satan yet.  Why?  Because man hand not yet been bought and paid for by the precious blood of Jesus Christ at that time.  

You will notice that they did not yet pray IN THE NAME OF JESUS in that prayer.  Why?  He had not yet paid the price for sin of mankind.  We did not yet have authority in the name.  

 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 16:23-24

At the end of His ministry, just before he died on the cross, Jesus changed the way they were to pray.

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

By praying "In the name of Jesus" we are going to the Father with authority given to us by Jesus.  Through faith and by grace we are saved (Eph 2:8), we receive a new spirit man making us an adopted child of God, and we can boldly go before the throne of God in prayer "in the name of Jesus Christ."

prayer in an attack

One of the many things we face on the mission field in a country where Christianity is forbidden, is the enemy.  Of course, all Christians face him on a daily basis in their walk with God.  However, in a country like this, once the enemy sees a ministry is taking ground from him, he tends to get a bit frustrated, and begins to focus an attack on the ministry and all those involved.  Of course, (if you have read the end of the Book) he has already lost and is fighting a futile battle.  We have already won and are victorious.  But we still have to take our stand and use our authority in these situations.

Due to the seriousness of the attack on this ministry at the moment and all those involved in it, I have chosen to take the whole day and spend some precious time in the presence of my Heavenly Father in prayer and fasting and praise and worship and thanksgiving.

In every battle there are times that require a retreat.  Not a surrender, but a retreat.  When troops retreat, they do not go home, they seek a safe refuge to regroup and strengthen, to refuel, to load back up on ammuntition and supplies.  They use this time to go over their battle strategy and see where it needs improvement or maybe another plan altogether.  They look at what the enemy has done and work out offensive and defensive strategies.  They boost the moral of the men and get them ready for return to battle.

This time spent in God's presence with my undivided attention is a time much like a retreat in war.  Times of prayer and fasting give us a chance to put ourselves in a position to be strengthened in the safety and refuge of our Father.  Prayer and fasting puts us in a place where we are so focused on Him that we can hear Him clearly.  We receive the directions we need, the strategies for the next phase of the battle.  We line up with His plans during this time and let go of ours own.  It is during these times that we are aware that it is in HIm that we "live and move and have our being".


He is a Good God.  Always.   ---Joy  

Back in the saddle...

   I am headed back again soon.  Stay tuned for the date, after the travel arrangements are made.  Keep things in prayer.  I will also be continuing the drawing classes online, working directly with the teacher by way of scans and email.
   For those who support by way of prayer groups and intercession, I will begin sending out letters out with updates for specifically for you in February.  And for all those who are financially supporting, newletters will be going out in mid-Feb.
   There is also a website available for prints of drawings to purchase as I draw a visual journal of the next 12 months or so.  http://www.chinajoy.artspan.com/ .