Rodney Howard Browne North Miami Beach » Amp

PRAY, BELIEVE, FORGIVE AND RECEIVE

rickvan — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 23:44:58 +0000

The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]. James 5:16b AMP

Rodney Howard Browne teaches us to pray sincerely. When a righteous man prays a continued, earnest, heartfelt, prayer, there is a tremendous power that is released – a dynamic active power that effectively goes to work – producing the desired result. If you want your prayers to be answered, there are a few things that you must do to ensure the desired result – you must walk righteously before the Lord, you must pray sincerely and fervently and you must pray according to God’s will.

12 Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. 13 And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. And when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.” And His disciples heard it. Mark 11:12-14 NKJV

Jesus spoke to the fig tree in the presence of His disciples. He cursed it and walked away.

20 Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. 21 And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.” Mark 11:20-21 NKJV

The next morning, Jesus passed the fig tree without a second glance. The disciples on the other hand, noticed that it was dried up from the roots and they were shocked and surprised. Jesus was not surprised. Jesus did not even stop to see if anything had happened to the fig tree since He spoke to it. As far as He was concerned – He had spoken and He had faith in the fact that whatever He said came to pass. He had not one doubt about it at all. He did not have to look at the fig tree to see if His faith was working – as far as He was concerned if He spoke it, it was done!

11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:11 NKJV

God’s Word always accomplishes what He pleases and prospers in the thing for which He sent it. God’s Word always comes to pass no matter what! Believe His Word, speak His Word, stand on His Word, and receive the fulfillment of His promise in your life.

22 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. 23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will come to pass, he will have whatever he says. 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. Mark 11:22-24 NKJV

Before you pray – have faith in God. Believe that His Word is true.
Believe your word – that what YOU say will come to pass.
Speak to the mountain.
Don’t doubt.
When you pray – believe that you have received the answer right then. You are not waiting for it – you have it already.
Continue to thank God for the answered prayer.

God’s Word says that if you speak to your situation and command it to change and you do not doubt in your heart, but you believe that what you say will come to pass – then, and only then, will you have whatever you say.

25 “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. 26 But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.” Mark 11:25-26 NKJV

Rodney Howard Browne teaches us to forgive freely. If you want all your prayers to be answered then, when you are praying, don’t forget to deal with your own attitude. You don’t want anything to stand in the way of your faith. Remember to forgive anyone who has offended you, so that God can also freely forgive you and answer your prayers.

ENCOURAGE YOURSELF IN THE LORD

rickvan — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:31:19 +0000

For even when we arrived in Macedonia, our bodies had no ease or rest, but we were oppressed in every way and afflicted at every turn – fighting and contentions without, dread and fears within [us]. 6 But God, Who comforts and encourages and refreshes and cheers the depressed and the sinking, comforted and encouraged and refreshed and cheered us by the arrival of Titus. 7 [Yes] and not only by his coming but also by [his account of] with which he was encouraged and refreshed and cheered as to, while he told us of your yearning affection, of how sorry you were [for me] and how eagerly you took my part, so that I rejoiced still more. 2 Corinthians 7:5-7 AMP

Rodney Howard Browne teaches us to deal with negative emotions. We can all find reasons to be sad or depressed or angry or bitter with life, with circumstances, with other people or even with God. Even Paul went through some moments of discouragement and of feeling sorry for himself. Some people fall into depression very easily, but even normally very positive people experience a certain amount of mental and physical pressure in their daily lives and can be tempted from time to time to think negative thoughts and to begin to feel depressed. It is easier to feel better and have a more positive outlook when you are refreshed, when your body and mind have had some rest and comfort. However, when you have had no opportunity to rest and refresh yourself, when you are pressured from every side, fighting and contentions without, dread and fears within – if it isn’t one thing it is another – then it is not hard to become really discouraged and depressed.

In their discouragement, depression and despair, many people even become angry with God for their circumstances. This is because we don’t think that it could have anything to do with us at all and we choose to find fault with someone or something outside of ourselves. We think – wrongly – that God is our servant and that He is supposed to line everything up in our lives in a way that should always benefit us. We are fine until something goes wrong, or until we are inconvenienced and then we throw our little tantrum, we blame God and everybody else for our problems, and we sink into feeling sorry for ourselves and into discouragement and depression. Many times, the depression and discouragement we feel involves a fair amount of ungratefulness. We do not consider nor appreciate God’s blessing upon our lives.

Rodney Howard Browne tells us that we need to remember that God gives us a choice of good and bad, death and life, cursing or blessing. We live in an imperfect world and are subject to that world system. We need to remind ourselves that God is not our problem, but He is our answer. Stuff happens, but God is our way out. It is God, Who comforts and encourages and refreshes and cheers the depressed and the sinking! If you are a child of God then it is God Who is the One Who is on our side. God is the One Who is for us not against us. When we remember that God is the answer, then we will begin to be grateful for His blessings and we will become encouraged once again.

So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives. 4 Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep. 5 And David’s two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. 6 And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God. 1 Samuel 30:3-6 KJV

The NKJV says, “But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.” And the NIV says, “But David found strength in the LORD his God.”

The Israelite men were grieved at the destruction of their city and the loss of their wives and families. Then they became angry and bitter and they looked for someone to blame. David was as upset as they were, plus he felt the pressure of being at the receiving end of the wrath of his men. Then David did something that was key to his survival and key to his prosperity and the blessing of God upon his life – he turned to the Lord instead of from Him. Many times we take the tragedies of our lives as a sign that God doesn’t like us anymore, but that is not true. Many times, we trust in the strength of our own hand, but at times like these, God is the only One we can turn to and He will come through for us.

David was successful, because he chose to encourage himself in the LORD his God. David strengthened himself in the LORD his God. David found his strength in the LORD his God. When we feel discouraged, disheartened and depressed, we need to remind ourselves that God loves us, He is on our side, He is working for us not against us, and He is the way out, the answer to all our problems and the source of all we need.