Hebrews 11:4By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaks.
5By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
6But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
7By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved by fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
Here are a few examples of faith. Did prayer save Noah? Noah was saved from the flood because he heard God to build a boat, and he obeyed. Did prayer save Lot? Lot was saved because Abraham trusted God and by faith went to get Lot.
Please here me. Noah's family wasn't saved from the flood because Noah simply prayed, "Lord, protect my family." His family was saved because Noah heard God and obeyed. There are those of you today DESPERATE to see God move in your life. You need a miracle. You must GO BEYOND just prayer alone to see your miracle. Did the walls of Jericho fall because Joshua stood at a distance a prayed, or did they fall because God told Joshua what to do and he obeyed? They fell because Joshua obeyed. Did God save Jonah out of the belly of the whale because he asked God for help, or did Jonah agree to OBEY GOD and after his repentance God delivered him from the whale. God delivered him AFTER he agreed to obey God.
There are people today that are asking God to deliver them from the circumstances that have swallowed up their lives, but they are not willing to do anything more than just pray. They are still living in the same sins, doing the same things that they have always done. They have NO INTENTION of obeying God's word, and they deceive themselves into thinking that if they ask God for favors he will do it, even if they are walking in disobedience to God. Well, it doesn't work that way. It has never worked that way. It won't work that way, and that is why some people pray and pray and nothing changes. Nothing is going to change until YOU change. God expects us to obey his Word.
We have done a lot of door to door witnessing, and one thing we have noticed in Kentucky, nearly everyone prays to God. If prayer alone would move heaven to intervene and change things here on earth than Kentucky would have been a garden of peace, wealth, health and paradise a long time ago. We found that young and old, rich and poor, sinner and saint, nearly everyone claims that they pray to God each and every day. I don't doubt that they pray, yet, prayer if not accompanied with other things will not accomplish the task of seeing the hand of God manifest in your life.
Let's look at one of the most well known scriptures on prayer and seeking God, a scripture where God promises us that he will heal out land. If there has ever been a time when we need a healing in America, now is that time.
2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
God's promise here is to his people, called by his name. Here in Kentucky, nearly everyone in our small town claims to be Christian, they all claim the name of Jesus. So, he is talking to each of us that names Christ Jesus as our Savior. What does he want from his people?
He wants his people to humble themselves and pray. Well, I can tell you 100 percent that Columbia, Ky has done that for sure, people everywhere are praying. But He ask us to go beyond praying. He said, and seek my face. If you want to seek the face of God, it will take more than a 10 minute prayer. Seeking his face means to have relationship, fellowship with God, to spend time with him, not just talking to him. And then he says to turn from our wicked ways...
People will cuss one minute and than swear to the Pastor the next minute that they pray everyday. People will sleep around, live with another that they are not married to, drink and do drugs, hate and gossip, slander and lie...and then turn around and ask God for favors. We have to do more than just pray and seek the face of God, we must turn from our wicked ways. It is not OK to live in sin. God is not Ok with that.
God says once we have turned from our wicked ways THEN he will hear from heaven and heal our land. Yesterday we talked about disobedience and doubt is what caused the Israelites to miss the promises of God. It is the same today. Disobedience and doubt will tie God's hands so that he cannot help us when we pray. People everywhere are praying, and they think they are waiting on God. But, God is waiting on them to repent of their sins and TURN from their wicked ways.
I have people ask me all the time, "what can I do to make my prayers more effective?" The answer is simple, add an act of faith to your prayer. An act of faith means you hear God and obey what God says. It doesn't matter how long you pray, or how well you chose your words, or how scriptural your prayer is, most of the time it will take an ACT OF FAITH to activate YOUR miracle.
It is faith and obedience that brings miracles. People everywhere are praying for miracle in their lives everyday, miracles are not birthed through prayer alone, it takes faith and obedience to God to see a miracle in your life. Start thinking outside the box and realize that you must add faith and obedience to your prayer if you really want to see God move.
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