“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou may observe to do according to all that is written therein; for then thou shall make thy way prosperous, and then thou shall have good success.” (Joshua 1:8)

Meditation in the Word of God is the surest way I know to build a foundation for a victorious prayer life. There must be knowledge of the Word of God as well as a knowing in your spirit of the Word of God. There is another principle equally important, that is the use of the mouth. I believe the mouth was actually created to articulate the Word of God as we fellowship with our Father. A large part of the Bible consists of overlapping quotations, in other words, they were always repeating another person’s words, words inspired by the Holy Spirit.  They spoke them, they lived by them, it was the breath from heaven that their spirit man needed.  Example, Peter in Acts 2:16 quotes Joel 2:28-32. In first Peter 2:24 there is a direct correlation to Isaiah 53:4-5 that tells me the writers of the Bible kept their word level up. If we are to be successful in life, our word level must be, “always on the increase.”

Now, back to the subject of prayer, specificity is important, if you don’t have scripture to stand on you have real problems. It is always good to be specific when you pray or fellowship with God. Have the Word of God handy. Example – scriptures that speak of Healing, Peace and Blessing need to become a part of your vocabulary. A small concordance is very handy to have with you at all times, most bibles have a small concordance in the back. One thing demons particularly like to say to people is, “It may be not the will of God.” Devils were never known to be very smart, just persistent. Demons accuracy, when it comes to the Word of God, is somewhat lacking and distorted.

There is a simple text in the Bible found in Matthew 4:1-11. It recounts Jesus’ battle in the wilderness with the devil, (v: 4) he said, hey, Jesus you can turn stones into bread. His response was, man does not live by bread alone, but by the Word of God.  Now look at verse seven, the devil got it wrong again and Jesus said, thou shalt not tempt the Lord your God.  And (v:10) says,  Again the devil got it wrong, Jesus said, hey ugly get out of my way; it is written, God’s Word says, “thou shalt worship the Lord your God and Him only shalt thou serve."

Notice what happened next – The devil Left Him!

Pastor Danny

After Him was Shamgar rhe son of Anath, who killed six hundred men of the Philistines with an oxgoad; and he also delivered Israel. (Judges 3:31)

How would you like a name like Shamgar?   Well, he only got mentioned in two verses of the Bible.  However, confronted with 600 Philistines, he chose an ox goad, of all things, for a weapon and with the Lord’s help he killed the whole lot of them, to the saving of his country.

Shamgar is the representation of the spirit of faith and victory in a Christian’s life.  An ordinary guy taking a stand, he took events that came to him and by faith turned them into glorious victories.

Pastor Danny

As a young man I remember singing an old hymn in church. Some of the words went like this, “I have a friend in Jesus, He is everything to me, He’s the fairest of ten thousand to my soul.” In my study this morning, I was reading Ephesians 1:15-18 and I learned something about friendship with God. When meditating on these words, I thought, if we worked only half as much at being a friend of God, as we do with human relationships we might hear God say, as He did when he referenced Abraham as being “a friend of God.”

• Abraham believed God and it was imputed unto him for righteousness and he was called The Friend of God.” (James 2:23)

Paul mentions faith in God and love of the saints. He prays that we might know all the good things that God has for us. In Ephesians 1:15-18 he is praying to the Father, he is asking that, “The eyes of our understanding be enlightened so that we might know all the rich blessings that have been provided for us in Christ.”  He speaks of our Father’s power and He wants to work through us as we believe and accept His Word as truth. (v.19)

I thought to myself, friendships nurtured will grow; friendships neglected will dissipate and disappear. Friendships valued are those that mean everything to you, like the hymn speaks of, they are “the fairest of ten thousand.”  They may just be the friend of a life time. Jesus is the friend of a life time as well as a friend throughout eternity. We know this; friendships that are meaningful, valued and cherished will grow. If you will allow me to use the terminology, every-time you meet a special friend there seems to be a revelation. Jesus is that kind of person, the more you know Him the more He is revealed to your spirit. (Eph. 1-17)

Pastor Danny

“If any man of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that gives to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:5-8)

I have noticed in talking to people I meet that they will try to say things that are positive or filled with hope, however, the longer they talk the more negative their words become.  I am reminded of James when he said a double minded man is unstable in all of his ways. It is hard to keep two minds on the same course moving the same direction.  Two minds may cause a certain hesitancy in our lives, always wondering what must I do next, how can I please the other. Hesitancy may give our enemy, the devil, more time than we should to create confusion in our lives or the lives of our family members.

“For truly, let not such a person imagine that he will receive anything {he asks} from the Lord, {For being as he is} a man of two minds – hesitating, dubious, irresolute – {he is} unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything (he thinks, feels, decides)."   (James 1:7-8 Amplified Bible)

The Amplified Bible is particularly good here. It states that a person with two minds hesitates, is dubious and irresolute. The word dubious means dishonest or suspect, irresolute means indecisive. A person who can’t seem to settle things in his mind is unstable and unreliable. In the gospel of Luke 8:22 there is a wonderful story that will help us here. Jesus said, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” They got in the ship and set out. Jesus went to sleep and a storm came and the boat was filling with water. They woke Him up and said, Master we perish. I have noticed in life, there are times when Jesus just doesn’t seem to be doing anything. Don’t be fooled, He may be asleep, however, His word is filled with enough power to accomplish exactly what He said. His word will take you to the other side, no matter how bad the storm might be. Notice what happens when they thought Jesus was asleep. Fear came in and their perception of the circumstances that surrounded them was not what it should have been. They were frightened and despairing of life. The enemy of our souls will try to convince us that God does not care or that there is something wrong with us. If that is so and there is something between you and God, take heart. He said if you ask of Him forgiveness He is faithful to forgive and restore you. He will get you on the right track.

When Jesus is in your boat and says go to the other side, you will get to the other side, whatever the other side is. Let me go further, He may have been asleep, however, His Word was still working.  His plan was still in the process, He had a purpose and may I say – you may not think that God is doing anything, but God is at work.  He has a plan for your life. He has a purpose that you will only understand after you get there. He is processing His will through your life in a way that will bring glory to the kingdom of God.

A side thought is the fact that He did calm the storm and the raging water.  When life gets to be more than you think you can handle He is there to make sense out of life.

Pastor Danny

“Lord, only you know," was Ezekiel’s response as he walked through the valley of dry bones. The Word says that there were many dry bones, not just a few, but a whole valley full.  There are dry bones all around us today: neighbors, friends and business associates; so dry there is no victory, joy or hope left in their lives, only desolation.

Then God asks the question, “Can these bones live?" Ezekiel was no optimist!  All he could muster up was, “Lord, only You know”. This was NOT the place to stir up a revival.  Only God could cause revival in THIS place! Even where the imps of hell have left such desolation, God says there can be revival !

The Lord told Ezekiel, “Prophesy upon these bones and say unto them: Oh you dry bones, hear the word of the Lord God.  Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live." (Ezekiel 37:1-8)

Ezekiel gave the word of the Lord and as he did, there was noise and shaking and the bones started coming together.  Revivals are always a little noisy.  When God starts moving, things get “shook up”. Bones start getting meat and muscle and coming together.  We can be the instigators of revival in our church and in the world.  How do YOU answer the question, “Can these bones live?"

Pastor Danny