Word Teaching from the Lord Jesus
‘This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.’ (1 John 5:14-15 NIV).
Given to some experiences and teachings we received from the Lord, I would like to highlight some important things, why some Christians fail to receive a breakthrough in their lives. The points we consider below might not be an exhaustive list, but it will open your spiritual senses so that you may concentrate on the most frequent things the Lord emphasized and taught us. Having said that, the Lord said that every word of encouragement marks a change in a Christians walk with Him, and it is our every intention to contribute Christ-like in your life. Also we would like to keep the articles concise and to the point to allow for maximum digestion. We have also noticed that there is much activity on this website, and this is very pleasing to the Lord! Some people here have a true hunger for God’s Word, and we are equally encouraged to serve you with the Word of God, and so we pray that the well or fountain of grace refreshes you so that we provide you with a well-watered Word experience.
For your interest, the Lord’s many messages to us are and were short, the longest being about a five to six sentence message. We can assure you, He used no unnecessary words. But He always expressed His messages with excellent phrasing. By drawing importance to something, the Lord will pronounce a word loudly and in a Thunderous voice. The effect thereof, Charis would feel the Lord’s mood. Whether, the Lord sounded sad, angry, disappointed, compassionate, encouraging or excited (Ephesians 4:30; Jeremiah 32:41; Matthew 9:36).
Seeking a Quiet Time with God
We cannot emphasize enough that every Word of the Lord was uttered with creative force and intend to accomplish God’s will (Isaiah 55:11; Hebrews 4:12). Therefore, no teaching in the Word of God was or will ever be wasteful. The intent of the scriptures is to give an understanding of the will of God, the Supreme Ruler of the universe, and man as His subject has an obligation to fear and obey Him. Therefore, self-will must be made subject to God’s will Christian or non-Christian (Romans 14:11; Philippians 2:10).
Now, our Lord Jesus said, “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Matthew 6:6 NIV). This particular verse points to a separation and a quiet time with our Heavenly Father. We may recall that our Lord Jesus Christ often separated Himself from the crowd and went praying in some private and quiet places away from any disturbances (Luke 5:16). In like manner, Daniel and David knew the value of quiet time with the Lord (Daniel 6:10; Psalm 23:1-3). I would like to emphasize, that the conception of the beautiful prayer, Psalm 23 was prayed and composed in a quiet and stress-free atmosphere. In a place where God’s love and peace were present. This is clearly evident from David’s appreciation. By the tone of the prayer, we do not notice any pressure or the demand of man nor the confusions of his mind, but the touch of God’s Holy Spirit lifted his soul.
Equally, Paul and Silas decided to forget about their wounds and sufferings, so with hearts of worship and adoration during the quiet moments of the night they cried out to God in prayer and worship (Acts 16:25). Guess what? God heard them, for they forgave their attackers and God displayed an acceptance of their prayers in power (Acts 16:26). From this experience of Paul and Silas, we learn that complaining is fruitless in trying times. The secret is, we should quietly and confidently accept the cup of suffering, for the power of God is displayed therein, and the breakthrough was given (Luke 22:42; Daniel 3:16-26).
Anxiety Affects Our Prayers
Briefly, anxiety is the thief of peace and often many Christians, and non-Christians fall prey to this spirit. If it were not so, the scriptures would not have warned us against the dangers and existence of this spirit (Philippians 4:6-7; Luke 12:24-34; Matthew 11:28-30). When we pray asking the Lord for something and yet have the slightest doubt, (anxiety drives doubt), we would have prayed having no peace and God would not answer our prayer(s). In other words, the condition of an anxious person’s heart is not right before God (James 1:6). Doubt yields no conviction but only confusion!
Let me share a short experience, one evening we met as a family to pray and read the bible before going off to bed. We discussed and agreed on something that Charis should ask the Lord on behalf of the family. That evening when the Lord appeared to her, she lacked conviction and did not in faith present our request to Him. The Lord knew what worried her and He said, “Your discouragement (anxiety) affected your faith” and we did not receive an answer.
For clarity, I am not trying to say that God is answering our prayers through the mediation of others. The Bible says we must have faith and confidence to approach the throne of grace ourselves (Hebrews 4:16). However, because Charis received the gift (1 Corinthians 12:10) of hearing and seeing the form of the Lord (discerning of spirits), He allowed us and others this grace as an encouragement. God has often spoken to the people through His prophets (Jeremiah 21:2; 2 Chronicles 34:21) and the revelations we received from the Lord is a testimony to the gift the Lord gave her.
Being Sinful and Not Praying Enough
In some of our previous articles, especially our Prayer I and Prayer II we stressed the point that the Lord taught us to receive certain things and breakthroughs we would need to pray very hard and persistently until we receive our request (Luke 18:1-8). It is true, the Lord do provide an answer on certain things immediately for immediate needs (Matthew 6:11), however for some things, we are going to require a committed faith and we will have to remain in the pocket prayerfully (1 Samuel 1:7-12). Hannah, Samuel’s mother, prayed year after year, and her patient persistence was duly rewarded (1 Samuel 1:20).
Let me share a short testimony for the benefit of this heading. During 2012, we earnestly needed a prayer house since we had to leave our children in the care of others while we were busy praying. The late evening services was not working out well for our children. Since we had this need, in August of 2013, one of our neighbours moved out leaving her house vacant. I shared with my wife and our ministry people to trust the Lord with me to bless us with the house next door (our neighbours) since our local authorities put a moratorium on all land in our area. We prayed and trusted the Lord to bless us with this house and as a ministry, we went on a three day fast. After our fast, the Lord gave Charis, Jaydeen, my wife and myself individual messages through visions that He has heard our prayer and that He was going to bless us with the house next door. This was the Lord's promise to us, and as humans we thought it was going to be immediately, however the Lord had other plans. He took us through a three year test filled with every kind of delay and attacks from the devil. With our focus being on His promise, we considered Him Faithful and so we rallied and made the prayer house a daily prayer for more than three years. After a financial loss the devil inflicted on us and with some ministry members giving up and going back to their former ways, my family and I persisted until the Lord came through for us and in May 2016, an Angel of the Lord appeared to me during a one day fast we undertook and he told me in a vison while standing in the yard of the prayer house, "Glenn, the Lord has given you this place" (Acts 27:22). The next morning, I encouraged my family on the strength of this vision. On the day of acquiring the property, Satan blocked off all entrances out of our area through violent protest (We took pictures of these events on that day, which we hope to share when I expand in detail on this testimony in a future article). Anyway, every word and promise of the Lord was fulfilled on May 26, 2016 when we managed to find favour in His side and we received answer to our prayers. Glory to the Lord! The experience was not pleasant, but the Victory through Christ was humbling.
Now, since the launch of our online ministry some four years ago, we have received many emails from people around the world with the various request. In some instances, the Lord would give an answer to some brethren especially when He have seen their walk of obedience and purity before Him (Psalm 15:2; 119:1). And on some occasions, He would provide a rebuke and an encouragement saying that the person ‘does not pray hard (meaning persistently without ceasing) enough’. As a ministry, we have learned to employ the biblical tools of faith, prayer, submission and obedience to receive an answer to prayer and personal breakthroughs.
In conclusion, we would like to emphasize to you dear brethren, that the Lord will not give breakthrough if we have personal ambitions aimed at gratifying the desire of self (1 Corinthians 13:5; Romans 2:8). Instead, our breakthrough lies in us seeking His will (Matthew 6:10; 26:39; 1 John 5:14-15). Thus, human will always strife to represent needs of self, but God’s will in us will represents the good of others, and others will see God in our actions and give Him Glory!
We would like to extend an invitation to anyone who does not know the Lord Jesus yet or is not born again, to pray our suggested prayer in this link
by faith and follow the Lord (Matthew 4:19). You may also contact us for any questions or comments about this article or our ministry.
Blessed love in fear of Christ
Brother Glenn
