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Knocking on heaven's door
knocking on heaven's door
Category:
Religion
Publisher: Booklocker.com
ISBN-10: 1626468729
Type: Non-Fiction
Pages: 218
Copyright: 1st of Februrary 2014
ISBN-13: 9781626468726
Price: $9.27 (eBook)
A simple guide to prayer!
Knocking on Heaven’s Door invites everyone to learn the art of praying simply, effectively and to enjoy the experience. Often prayer is perceived as complicated, only to be embraced by experts! However true heartfelt prayer should be simplicity itself and of great interest to beginners also. It is an indispensable guide detailing what prayer is, how it works and the magnificence of its different aspects. Whether you are simply curious about prayer or seriously considering adapting it as a way of life, it is a handy manual that will equip you to achieve personal victory in all areas of your life.
You will learn how to:
Achieve success using specific strategies
Understand conditions for answered prayer
Become familiar with the full armour of God
Fight effectively and gain victory in spiritual warfare
Receive revelation and guidance from an unlimited God
Excerpt
CHAPTER ONE
WHAT IS PRAYER ANYWAY?
I have found prayer to be one of the things that has enriched my life the most. It has been an unpredictable
journey very much like a treasure hunt often only with vague clues to follow. The many treasures that have been
unravelled through prayer have proven time and time again, how powerful and worthwhile it actually is. You just
never know what will happen as a result of your prayers!
James Chapter 5 Verse 16
The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with.
It has been my experience to date that prayer can change anything where everything else has failed. One of
the reasons it is so successful is because it begins at the most important place. It begins with us! Prayer deals with us and changes us first of all. It often changes our perspective, and therefore inevitably our thoughts and
feelings about things. Prayer can help us become more balanced and compassionate human beings. This is a
very good and vital place to start.
There have been many times when I have wanted to be a better person, or just wanted to do things differently.
However in spite of all the best intentions in the world, I have often found myself utterly powerless to achieve anything.
Learning to pray about all areas of concern has become a major key for dealing with the most challenging things! I have found this has given me hope and enabled me to take courage, instead of becoming so discouraged
that I just fainted in despair and self loathing. I have had countless issues that have arisen in my dealings with
other people. Many times my relationships have
challenged the very core of my being, and exposed the imperfection of human nature, in them and in me. This
has often not been pretty. The only solution I have found that makes any difference has been the power of prayer.
Every time I have taken an issue to the Lord, he has always helped me to take an honest and objective look at myself. As he has dealt with me I have been able to see that the problem has not necessarily been everyone else,as I originally thought. Actually at times the problem has been more me than perhaps I would have liked to admit!
Heartfelt prayer however has been powerful enough to bring about a definite change. It has enabled me to see myself as an imperfect human being with faults, just like everyone else. The revelation is not given by the Lord to discourage me, rather it is given to motivate me enough to want to co-operate with him to bring about the necessary
changes in me! Praise God as he changes me to be more like him every day! I now know and believe that prayer
changes us into his image, and our hearts towards others.
I have seen the Lord do incredible things that I thought were impossible, and it is so exciting to discover
that there really is nothing that he cannot do! As well as changing me he can and often does change others. He
can change any given situation or circumstance at any given time. He is not limited or bound by the limitations of humanity.
The thrill of experiencing answered prayer has spurred me on to pray more, and to put into practise all that I have learned and continue to learn. It is these things that I would like to share with you. If you can learn to pray
well and effectively, and experience the joy of answered prayer, I truly believe with all my heart it will change your
life forever! It is impossible to have prayerful communication with Almighty God, and there be no effect on you and your life, as well as the lives of those for whom you pray. I have witnessed and experienced my own life changed beyond all recognition, simply because of the power of prayer. I have witnessed the changed lives of countless others, as the power of prayer has taken hold
of them and those they have prayed for.
1st Thessalonians Chapter 5 verse 17
Pray all the time.
We are encouraged never to stop praying, so why do we as God’s people often pray so little? Perhaps it is
because we often fail to realise the incredible power residing within a ‘praying Christian!’
I am reminded of Moses and the problems he ran into when trying to bring the children of Israel out of Egypt.
Just when they thought they had escaped from all their hardships, they looked around and saw that Pharaoh their
enemy was pursuing them. They became trapped between Pharaoh behind them, and the red sea in front of them. There was no apparent way out and they had run
out of options. They began to panic and speak foolishly, as we often do when we are afraid and under pressure. It
could not have been easy for Moses to lead such a people anywhere. To make matters worse because of fear, the people became aggressive and turned on him. They blamed him for the situation they found themselves in. How typical of human nature! Wisely, Moses went to
God for help with this new development and dilemma. He desperately needed an answer, and he knew it was not
likely to come from anywhere else.
Exodus Chapter 14 Verse 15 – 16
God said to Moses : Why cry out to me? Speak to the Israelites.
Order them to get moving. Hold your staff high and stretch your
hand over the sea: Split the sea! The Israelites will walk through
the sea on dry ground.
It appears that God did not hand Moses the answer on a silver platter, nor did he allow Moses to indulge in a
‘wet fish’ attitude! The answer he gave him came instead in the form of a challenging question. Moses was
encouraged by God to take a step back and look at what he had available to him. In order to be able to see clearly,
Moses had to focus rather than panic. This was no time to be unable to see the wood for the trees! Only then was he
able to locate the (peace deep inside himself) and to calm his raging emotions! Only then was he be able to see that he did actually have God’s presence and therefore God’s
anointing (equipping) to do the job at hand.
Moses and the Israelites were no different from you
and me. For a while they seemed to completely forget what they had access to as the people of God. This led
them to become distressed and afraid of what they could see from a natural point of view. How many times do we allow ourselves to become overwhelmed by ‘unfavourable or inconvenient’ circumstances? How many times do we
allow ourselves to be overtaken by fear as we imagine the worst possible thing happening to us? I have lost count how many times I have done exactly that and then found that fear was happy to dominate me!
The Lord had to remind Moses that he had a rod in his hand, symbolic of the power at his disposal. Thankfully
we have the end of the story recorded for us. We know that once Moses remembered who he was in God, and
used the rod that God had given him, he was able to take charge and control of the situation. He no longer stood
around helplessly being controlled by his circumstance.
As Christians we are not ‘helpless’ victims unable to enjoy life, or make a real difference to the people around
us. We need to see prayer as a powerful ‘life changing’ rod in our hands that will part any Red sea before us.
2nd Chronicles chapter 7 Verse 14
If my God-defined people, respond by humbling themselves, praying, seeking my presence, and turning their backs on their wicked lives, I’ll be there ready for you: I’ll listen from heaven,
forgive their sins, and restore their land to health.
The Lord God himself tells us that if we his people, will allow ourselves to become a people of prayer who are
walking right before him, he will hear and respond to us, doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves.
We only have to turn on the television, radio, or pick up a newspaper, to see that the world in which we live in
is behaving as if everything is out of control. As Christians, we need to ask ourselves whether we are we willing to rise to the challenge to pray until we see much needed changes, hope restored, and the perfect will of our God done on this earth, even as it is done in heaven.
In my experience I have found prayer to be a beautiful and rewarding experience, and one that I thoroughly recommend. The key is to keep it simple, be persistent, and allow it to be interwoven into the very fabric of your lifestyle. I guarantee you will have no regrets, because the Lord is faithful and will meet you at the point of your need, even as he promised in:
Jeremiah chapter 29 verses 12-13
When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I’ll listen. When you come looking for me, you’ll find me. Yes
when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed. God’s
decree.
The Lord himself will equip us to become a ‘spiritual force’ to be reckoned with! Have you ever felt closed in by circumstances and wondered which way to turn? Have you ever felt as if a dark cloud has come over you and is
trying to suck the very life, joy and peace out of you?
Personally I have felt like that so many times, I have literally lost the will, motivation or energy to believe there
could possibly be any light, at the end of this particular tunnel. I’m delighted to be able to say that I have however
survived each ordeal. Prayer always provides the means to go forward as well as the answer to the problem!
Please however don’t take my word for it though, try it and see for yourself.
Matthew chapter 7 verses 7-8
Keep on asking and it will be given you, keep on seeking and you will find, keep on knocking reverently and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who keeps on asking receives, and he who keeps on seeking finds, and to him who keeps on
knocking, the door will be opened.
We are encouraged to bring to God all the things that worry, bother and concern us. When we open our heart to
him and share these things with him, we have the promise that we will find the answer we are looking for. We are not
to allow life to beat us down as we face it all alone. Instead we are to pray, (involving God and inviting him
into our situation, no matter how challenging or scary). As we do this we will surely see the difference it makes as he works it all out for us. Do you have a problem pressing you in on every side? Does this problem refuse to go
away by wishful thinking? Child of God….. What is that in your hand?
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