quotes on prayer

“To be a Christian without prayer
is no more possible than
to be alive without breathing.”
Martin Luther


"Work as if everything depended upon your work,
and pray as if everything depended upon your prayer."
William Booth


"Prayer will make a man cease from sin,
or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer."
John Bunyan


"The true man of God is heartsick,
grieved at the worldliness of the Church...
grieved at the toleration of sin in the Church,
grieved at the prayerlessness in the Church.
He is disturbed that the corporate prayer of the Church
no longer pulls down the strongholds of the devil."
Leonard Ravenhill


"The Church gives more time,
thought,
and money
to recreation and sport
than to prayer."
Samuel Chadwick


"Are you living for the things you are praying for?"
Austin Phelps


“If we are full of pride and conceit
and ambition and self-seeking
and pleasure and the world,
there is no room for the Spirit of God,
and I believe many a man is praying to God to fill him
when he is full already with something else.”
D.L. Moody


“God sends no one away empty
except those who are full of themselves.”
D.L. Moody


“The best prayers often have more groans than words.”
John Bunyon


“In prayer it is better to have a heart without words,
than words without a heart.”
John Bunyan


“Prayer is a shield to the soul,
a sacrifice to God,
and a scourge to Satan.”
John Bunyan


“The Word of God represents
all the possibilities of God
as at the disposal of true prayer."
A. T. Pierson


“The reason why many fail in battle is because they wait until the hour of battle.
The reason why others succeed is because they have gained their victory
on their knees long before the battle came...
Anticipate your battles;
fight them on your knees before temptation comes,
and you will always have victory.”
R. A. Torrey


“We Christians too often substitute prayer for playing the game.
Prayer is good;
but when used as a substitute for obedience,
it is nothing but a blatant hypocrisy,
a despicable Pharisaism...
To your knees, man!
and to your Bible!
Decide at once!
Don't hedge!
Time flies!
Cease your insults to God,
quit consulting flesh and blood.
Stop your lame,
lying,
and cowardly excuses.
Enlist! "
C. T. Studd


“If your heart takes more pleasure in reading novels,
or watching TV,
or going to the movies,
or talking to friends,
rather than just sitting alone with God and embracing Him,
sharing His cares and His burdens,
weeping and rejoicing with Him,
then how are you going to handle forever and ever in His presence...?
You'd be bored to tears in heaven,
if you're not ecstatic about God now!”
Keith Green


“I have seen many men work without praying,
though I have never seen any good come out of it;
but I have never seen a man pray without working.”
James Hudson Taylor


“I never preach a sermon until I have soaked it in prayer.”
Billy Sunday


"Men are God's method.
The church is looking for better methods;
God is looking for better men.
What the church needs today is not more machinery or better,
not new organizations or more and novel methods,
but men who the Holy Spirit can use -
men of prayer,
men mighty in prayer.
The Holy Spirit does not come on machinery but on men.
He does not anoint plans,
but men -
men of prayer."
Edward McKendree (E. M.) Bounds

what i said in class last saturday

Don't just follow His steps ...

follow His timings too.

quote from Catherine Booth

"I am tired of hearing the words 'I can't'.
Jeremiah said,
'I am a child';
but the Lord didn't pat him on the back and say,
Jeremiah,
that is very good,
I like that in you;
your humility is beautiful.'
Oh no!
God didn't want any such mock humility.
He reproved and rebuked it.
I do not like the humility that is too humble to do as it is bid.
When my children are too humble to do as they are bid,
I pretty soon find a way to make them.
I say,
'Go and do it!'
The Lord wants us to 'go and do it'."

quote from J. Stuart Holden

"There are great marvels in the world to-day.
There is the marvel of the disobedient Church,
which hugs to itself Christian privileges
and neglects Christian obligations."

quote from Albert Einstein

"As a child I received instruction both in the Bible and in the Talmud.
I am a Jew,
but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene...
No one can read the Gospels
without feeling the actual presence of Jesus.
His personality pulsates in every word.
No myth is filled with such life."

quote from William Booth

“The chief danger of the 20th Century will be
religion without the Holy Ghost,
Christianity without Christ,
forgiveness without repentance,
salvation without regeneration,
politics without God,
and Heaven without Hell.”

quote from D.L. Moody

“I prayed for faith and thought that some day faith would come down and strike me like lightning. But faith did not seem to come. One day I read in the tenth chapter of Romans, 'Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.' I had up to this time closed my Bible and prayed for faith. I now opened my Bible and began to study, and faith has been growing ever since.”

quotes from C.H. Spurgeon

“We are saved by faith without works,

but not by a faith that is without works,
for the real faith that saves the soul
works by love and purifies the character.”


“Self-surrender is one of the essential qualifications for a preacher who is to be a winner of souls.”


“We know nothing,
till we are taught of the Holy Ghost,
who speaks to the heart
rather than to the ear.”

another gem from smith wigglesworth

God wants you so full of the Spirit that your whole life is praise.

in spirit and in truth

I've been drawn to spending more and more time in His presence these few weeks.

It could be due to the fact that I've been teaching quite a lot since the beginning of this year, so i needed more time to prepare myself.

It could be due to my spending much time in meditating on healing scriptures.

I've replaced some of my recreation time with reading. I still need to work on this area.

I'm also praying more with various groups - my parents, our pastor and his wife (who married us) and another couple, women faculty members, a group of friends, and of course at prayer school or school/faculty prayer meetings, and with hubby. These different groups have various focuses (foci) when we pray together, but it's always a joy to just pour our hearts to the Lord, as well as pray out what the Holy Spirit shows us to pray.

And i've seen radical changes in the way i teach and minister since the beginning of this year.

1. I'm sensing more strongly the prompting of the Spirit to share certain stories or anecdotes or scriptures, and people testify how that sharing helps them in their walk with God.
2. I'm sensing the flow of the Holy Spirit, and what He wants to do in our lives, and just allow Him to flow and minister through words of encouragement, words of wisdom, tongues and interpretations, song and prayer, yielding our hearts in surrender to His leading.
3. I'm sensing God's desire to heal hearts and bodies - either through a brief, sharp pain in different parts of my body, or just a word of knowledge, followed by the gift of healing flowing through me or just present in the atmosphere we are in. I've seen instant healings taking place in my classes.
   
4. I'm sensing a strong call to obedience and surrender, a deep yearning to rejoice in thanksgiving, and a deeper understanding and awareness on our part of the power and might God has already given us so that we walk in victory in EVERY area of our lives.
   

There's MORE. God shows me THERE IS MORE.

There is a greater need to depend on Him, to spend time with Him in His presence and His Word, in order to allow His power and might to constantly flow through me, and to hear more clearly and accurately His instructions.

I am aware i am the righteousness of God, but i have also become more aware that i need to live out that righteousness.

In James 5:16b (AMP), we are taught that

The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].

Here the word righteous in original Greek is dikaios (pronounced dik'-ah-yos) - Strong's #1342

1) righteous, observing divine laws

1a) in a wide sense, upright, righteous, virtuous, keeping the commands of God

Divine power has been made available to us. As we seek the Lord earnestly in prayer, this tremendous power is dynamic in its working, setting the captives, the oppressed, the sick FREE!

quote from smith wigglesworth

“ A preacher must not tell his audience what he thinks
but what he knows,
and let them do the thinking,”

quote from Watchman Nee

"By the time the average Christian gets his temperature up to normal,
everybody thinks he has a FEVER!"

one sunday last month (part one)

I preached at a church last month. There were about 300 members in the congregation.

I was so touched by the the following feedback from a pastoral staff there:

"Wanted to tell you that many members feed-backed that your message was so simple, clear and so easy to respond to! The people are hungry as it’s been a very long time since we had an extended time of ministry. They were very ministered to and the prayer and ministry people are really looking forward to meet you both again.

There was one lady who also shared to the church during testimony time last Sunday about how you shared about the importance about giving thanks and she in faith gave thanks to God that Sunday for the salvation of her brother (he had been struggling with many issues with no breakthrough) whom she had prayed for for a really long time, and that very Sunday itself, he came to Christ in the church in Malaysia. Our God is so amazing!"

Indeed, our God is amazing! It's His love and His power which reached out to the people!

divine power

As i was meditating on some healing scriptures this morning, i was especially ministered to by the following passage from

II Corinthians 10:4-5
The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Our weapons have divine power to demolish strongholds. God has given us weapons containing His power to destroy and annihilate anything in our path that are from the the evil one, anything in our lives that are not in line with the Word of God, and all that attempt to oppress our spirits, souls or bodies.

This divine power has no equal, and is second to none.

We live in the knowledge that no weapons formed against us shall prosper.

We walk, knowing that we cannot be shaken or moved by any wiles of the evil one.

We act with the understanding that we have the authority to use this power in our lives.

We need to be aware

• of our position in Christ - seated in the heavenly places in Him on the right hand of the Father;
• that we are joint heirs with Him, having as our inheritance every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places;
• that God is our heavenly Father, resulting in our privilege or right to call Him ABBA Father, to come to His throne of grace boldly to find help in time of need;
• that the Holy Spirit both indwells us, so that our spirits are quickened to respond to God; and empowers us, so that we are able to do all that He has called us to do.

This is what we have, what we wield with our prayers and confessions of faith.

Quote from R.A. Torrey

"Ninety-nine Christians in every hundred are merely playing at Bible study;

and therefore ninety-nine Christians in every hundred are mere weaklings,

when they might be giants."

Don't play...be a giant!!

20/20 vision part 4 - discipled: moving forward in the things of God (SW)

It can be the best year of your life if it is your best year spiritually. No matter the circumstances. We follow God.

Being discipled is a process - we go from glory to glory.

We look at Noah who moves forward.

Genesis 8:6

The ark came to rest on Mt Ararat on the 17th day of the 7th month.

God changes the 7th month to the 1st month when He delivered the children of Israel from Egypt. So on the 14th day on the new first month, they celebrate the Passover.

Jesus was crucified on the 14th day of the first month. Three days later on the 17th, He rose from the grave.

When we trust in God, there is REST for our lives.

That very day, the ark came to REST after 377 days!

Noah was ready to move forward.

Ravens - as it was not time yet, the ravens kept going back and forth. We cannot depend on ravens in our lives.

Dove - Symbolic of the Holy Spirit, the dove landed on the space that Noah created. We need to create space for God to move in our lives. We need to have faith.

We need to surrender to God.
It is His grace that enables us,
but it is obedience that moves us forward.

20/20 vision Part 3 - Set Free (RM)

John 8:31-36
Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?” Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

1. It is possible for a believer to be in bondage.
Bondage is any impulsive or compulsive behaviour that restricts you from living in and enjoying the freedom Jesus died to give you. We have to get to the root. Then we get forgiveness and freedom. We need to yield to the Holy Spirit.

Romans 6:15-16
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?

2. It is difficult to admit you are in bondage
Jeremiah 7:8-13
“Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know, and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered to do all these abominations’? Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” says the LORD. “But go now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I set My name at the first, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel. And now, because you have done all these works,” says the LORD, “and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you, but you did not answer,
The Jews could not see that they are in bondage.

Romans 8:33
Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.

We have to know the truth, not just meet the truth. We have to meet Jesus to get saved. We KNOW HIM to be set free.

3. It is easy to be set free from bondage. It does not depend on us
1 John 3:8
He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

Mark 9:17-22
Then one of the crowd answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.” He answered him and said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.” Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth. So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

It is not if God can, it is IF WE BELIEVE.

Mark 5:1-6
Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes. And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him.

The devil could not stop him from coming to Jesus. In setting free/deliverance, the purpose is not to expose the person but the devil!

20/20 vision Part 2 - Healed (RM)

Luke 4:16-19

1. Physical Healing
Exodus 15:26 - God reveals Himself as Jehovah Rapha.
Exodus 23:25 - He takes sickness away.
Deuteronomy 7:15 - take all sickness, not afflict us.
Psalm 103:1-3 - healed ALL SICKNESS!
Isaiah 53:4-5 - bore our sickness and diseases
Matthew 8:16-17 - sickness borne by Jesus

Matthew 4:23
And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.
Jesus healed because He cared for them.

Excesses which affect our beliefs -
1. God chooses who to heal or
2. God has already healed everyone, so if you don't get healed you didn't have enough faith.

There should not be any blame as you teach the word.
We live in a fallen natural world. So we still get sick and we still commit sinful acts. The bible combines forgiveness and healing
1 Peter 2:24
Jesus broke the power of SIN and SICKNESS.

2. Emotional Healing
Oppressed is bruised. Jesus came to set free those hurt - past wounds, hearts broken through various reasons. He came to heal the broken. Coping is not the solution. We need to come to Him, not control situations or people or live in rejection or please people. Most marriage problems can be solved if people get healed and delivered. When someone tries to point out, there is immediate defense when a person is in bondage. We can't just tell them "just get over it". We need to set the spiritual bones in place so they can heal.

20/20 vision Part 1 - Saved (RM)

1 Corinthians 1:18
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Note that it is the present continuous tense for our souls.

1 Corinthians 3:15b
but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

Note that is is the future tense, as it is referring to our body.

Ephesians 2:8-9
⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not of works, lest anyone should boast.

The past tense is used as this refers to our spirit.

Jesus paid the full price for our spirit, soul and body. Sozo - the greek word for salvation is a process of perfection.

1. Salvation is a gift to receive, not a goal to achieve. Romans 11:6
And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.

2. Salvation is eternal life.
1 John 2:25
And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life.
1 John 5:18
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

This eternal life starts when i die to self.

3. Salvation is forgiveness.
Act 13:38
Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins;
Jeremiah 31:34
No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
Psalm 103:12
As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

4. Salvation is justification
Romans 3:24
being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Galatians 2:16
knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

5. Salvation is righteousness - right standing with God.
Romans 4:3
For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness

6. Salvation is redemption
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
Redeemed is to purchase back. So when we are saved, we are no longer our own.

7. Salvation is total commitment.
Luke 6:46
“But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?
Matthew 7:21-23
²¹ “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. ²² Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ ²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Never knew. Never committed. We have to make a decision to submit our will to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. If He is not Lord of all, He is not Lord at all.

the healing anointing

In class yesterday, i was again prompted to preach briefly the Name of Jesus and the authority we have as a believer, even to the extent of admonishing the students to be bold and courageous and take their healing which God had already given them.

The Holy Spirit led me to minister healing to those having hurts, pains or discomfort.

5 people were instantly healed of pain.

1. S's knee injury instantly healed
2. N felt so much better - no more discomfort in chest and stomach
3. C's back pain disappeared. He felt the warmth of God's healing anointing working on him.
4. J instantly cured of headache.
5. Another student had pain in her knee completely disappear.

Praise the Lord!

Set FREE!

We are no longer under the curse of the law. Jesus has set us free. The works He did on earth before his death, burial and resurrection are delineated in the Luke 4:18-19.

“ The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.”

In Galatians 3:13-14, Paul tells us very clearly Jesus' work on the cross.

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

This blessing of Abraham is that we now enter the family of God, the body of Christ - the church. We receive the Holy Spirit Who dwells in our mortal bodies, and strengthens us in our inner man.

We receive all the blessings as outlined in Deuteronomy, and none of the curses, as we seek to please Him in this new life we have in Him!

new door?

I dreamt last night that when i came home from an appointment, i found that hubby had a new door created for our apartment and this was next to our existing one. It was still in the process of being fixed on its hinges. I like surprises and this was surely one as he had never mentioned it to me before. Nevertheless, it was certainly strange as he usually bounces ideas off before he puts them into action. And being a practical man, why would he want to have TWO doors??

Still, i was not upset at all. There was an excitement within me.

As i entered the house i found, i also discovered that he had started painting part of one wall a nice fresh light - almost baby blue. Something like this. Very pretty. That was also unlike him as he prefers white or cream.

Still, i remember liking it...

I woke up for a while and that was the end of the dream.

I slept some more and when i woke up to this new morning, i began laughing. The Holy Spirit showed me that God was opening a new door for us. That was a clear interpretation given.

If anyone reading this gets an interpretation for the painting or the colour baby blue, let me know...

:D

PS. I've read, among other things, that blue represents open heaven.

PS. I'm told that blue represents open heaven...

The Holy Spirit Moves

During a time of worship in the midst of the course i am teaching on the Holy Spirit this month, the Holy Spirit moved in power, ministering to the students in Word and in Power.

1) W testified that the numbness in his right thigh which was there for more than a month was gone in an earlier class on Wednesday (2 Mar).

2) J testified that as we were worshiping, she felt a numbness, a tingling sensation on the back of her head. She believed that God had ministered to her, and received something in her encounter with the Lord.

3) P shared that she was totally lost in the Spirit. Felt intense heat on the right thigh. She heard the word 'Cleansing'. She sensed that God was telling her that she should set aside time to spend with Him since she wanted to have intimacy with the Lord. She felt the need to prioritize her life to focus on hearing His voice. It was an awesome time for her as she received.

4) C was so burdened last night from friends counsel & cried as she did not know what to do. During worship, she heard, 'I had created you as unique person. Don't change the uniqueness in you'.

5) L felt true rest and refreshing as we worshiped. The Lord also spoke about her personal life.

6) R was convicted when the instructor spoke on anger. Recently, her son called her a angry mum. She wanted to change. She read books on how to deal with the emotions, but realized that only the Holy Spirit can help. Today the HS assured her that He will give her His peace, and that her son will never call her as angry mum.

7) F shared how God used her to share Jesus with an old lady in her class: Jesus appeared 2 times to an old lady, once when she fell at her home with no food or drink for 2 days, and just accompanied her till her son came with the police to bring her to the hospital. F showed her how to ask Jesus into her life.

8) K's sister was not well and mum is alone taking care of her in India. In the last few days he wanted to worship, but found it difficult to focus. The worship session in class helped him. He was led to kneel down and cast his cares upon Jesus. And all the words spoken by the worship leader were the confirmations on what the Lord was putting in his heart. He believed that that very moment my sister would have been healed.

9) JM - received Holy Spirit 22 years ago and was asking God what is there for her in this module of the introduction to the Holy spirit. The Lord told her that she will get introduced to the Holy Spirit to a level which I had never been before. The anointing was very strong and she could not contain it. Lord spoke to her to spend time with Him alone and He has lot of things to reveal to her.

10) JJ - was worrying about the future & directions and God spoke to me not to worry about the future.

11) Jh - pain in the shoulders and right buttock and thigh slowly disappeared in the class after the worship session. She had asked and received by faith her healing during the worship sesson.

12) M - just before the class, he found out from his wife in India that his son had a very high temperature and was throwing up. When he was hearing the word and worshiping, he knew in the spirit that his son is healed. During the break, he called his wife and she told him that his son's temperature had come down and he is able to eat and not throw up anymore.

Amen!!! Hallelujah!!!

All glory to God.

(thanks to JM who kindly agreed to record these testimonies!)

Most of the above testimonies took place during a time of worship in the second
hour.

In the fifth and final hour on Saturday, i was prompted to minister to those who had a call to the nations. I kept seeing the word 'nations' almost hovering above the people. As i obeyed, and after a few minutes of trying to check who had a call, I finally asked those who had a call to stand up, and invited the rest of the class to pray with me for the people. The power of God moved, and many received an empowering and a strengthening.

I'm just so amazed at how the Holy Spirit is moving in the classes. There seems to be an intensifying of focus and power as many respond to His love!