James 5:16

Then ask yourself, "AM I RIGHTEOUS?" Don’t ask yourself if you are a Christian, or if you have had a salvation experience. Ask yourself if you are living in a state of right thinking and right attitudes as well as right behavior. Ask yourself if all your relationships with others have God’s seal of approval on them.

Scripture says: "He which doeth righteousness is righteous!"(John 3:7 KJV)

The man who does wrong is not right! and if an attitude is not right then it is wrong!

The Bible says "that those who turn away from hearing the laws and principles of God, even their prayers shall be an abomination." (Proverbs 28:9)

So, you see, God does not honor prayer by itself. He HONORS the right heart attitudes of those who come to him in prayer.

So, maybe you need to repent of some wrongness in your life before you keep badgering Him with words of prayer alone.

REPENT! NOW! IN SIX MINUTES!

Impatient people often expect immediate repentance. They want the truck driver to turn his rig around in the same space that a bicyclist would turn. When he can’t do it...they begin to criticize and condemn.

No wonder people get discouraged and turn back away from God. They can’t live up to such insensible expectations.

In the Book of Revelation, it says that God gave Jezebel SPACE TO REPENT. Maybe we ought to do the same for others.

People need time to grow. They need to be allowed to make partial commitments to God. In the book of Acts (4:36) Barnabas sold some land and came and gave the money to the Apostles.

Somehow...Ananias and Sapphira thought they had to do the same thing. We all know how they died...but they didn’t die because they weren’t willing to give 100%. They died because they conspired to lie to God by deceiving his servants.

Peter told them, "The land was your own, and after you sold it, the money was still yours."

WE JUST NEED TO BE HONEST

I met a man who came to Christ during a lay witness mission. He was taught to commit himself to Christ in this manner, saying,

"Lord, I commit as much of myself as I can to as much of you as I can understand."

When he first said that, his commitment was slight...but in time it grew. eventually he was giving away much, much much in the way of time, talent and money.

If you are honest with yourself, that’s probably the way it has worked in your own life. Did you come into the kingdom FASTING AND PRAYING AND TITHING AND GIVING A HUNDRED PERCENT OF YOURSELF TO GOD? I doubt it. Most of us have held on to petty grievances...personal habits and lots of selfish behavior.

GUIDELINES FROM GOD

I really believe that God is telling me that no one should be forced or intimidated into any commitment of service to God. The key words are FREELY AND WILLINGLY.

We are allowed to share and make invitations, but it is the work of the Holy Spirit to choose who the workers are going to be.

So if you feel any inclination to respond...remember this: YOU ARE AT LIBERTY. You are free to commit little or much or nothing at all.

At all times, in every way, BE AT PEACE WITHIN YOURSELF! We are serving the PRINCE OF PEACE, who will lead us beside STILL WATERS...as He guides us with quietness and confidence.

Las Vegas! He was really in Las Vegas. What’s an average American man doing in Sin City, U.S.A.? Well, let’s see!

He wanders around on the streets for a while - going into this little place and that. Slot machines are everywhere - in the restaurants, the bus station and the barber shop. Everybody wants a little bit of the fool’s money - and they get it.

Now, this man said he wasn’t a fool when he just arrived. His mother had told him, "A fool and his money are easily parted." So he determined to keep his money.

Well, not all of it! Breakfast here and five minutes on a slot machine there. A souvenir would be nice - and a shoe shine too. one chance on the roulette wheel! Well, maybe two. Look! Look at what she won. Well maybe three. Four won’t hurt. Five might be the lucky time.

So it went all day long and into the night. It was late, maybe he should quit. All night he tossed and turned. he came with $500.00 dollars and barely had enough to pay his motel bill and his expenses back home.

He had made a hundred percent commitment of his money to this greedy city. But, not all at once, it was little-by-little and a little more again. When talking about God - some people say - "If He can’t have your all - He doesn’t want anything at all!"

But, that’s not true!

There is a time for all-out surrender. And there are some who can "supposedly" make the 100% sacrifice or commitment.

God expects people to walk from one degree of surrender to another. he expects it because he knows human nature and he knows that most people don’t do anything with a spontaneous and complete abandonment.

He takes everything into consideration - He sees the doubts, fears, reservations, hesitancies, questions and opposing desires.

Some people recklessly ABANDON ALL to follow Christ - and later turn back because they didn’t know what all-out surrender would involve. Some others give God only 10%, but later add another 10% commitment.

They learn to trust Him and dare to give Him more of their life. The more becomes more and more until the end result is that they have committed a hundred per cent to Him, and these were the people who were once despised by the guy who is now a drop-out!

Judas sold Jesus for money. He lost his power to be an influence for good because he loved money and what it could do. He got his reward and sold the power to receive endless rewards.

Jesus "ever lives to make intercession". A disciple of Jesus - ever lives to make intercession. To be a disciple is to learn to be like Jesus, to take His life within you and pass it on!

If you give your mind to bitterness and unforgiveness, you sell yourself SHORT. The Bible says, "Give no place to the devil" (Ephesians 4:27). If you let spirits of resentment and hatred hide in the closet of your inner self, you sacrifice all that is Holy to that which is evil. You crucify the life ambitions of Jesus again and again and again. He came to die for the sins of the world, so that they could be forgiven, cleansed ad made new, and you refuse to let His life flow through you to those that have hurt you.

You want to "intercede" for people who have sinned against others - but the privilege of intercession begins where you are - on your own TURF OF TEMPTATION.

If Jesus had not forgiven those who wounded and hated Him, He would NEVER have been accepted in the heavens as an intercessor.

He could have pressed charges against 2,500 people who personally contributed to his death and could have seen them HANGED, PUNISHED AND CRUCIFIED for their wrongs against Him. But, then He would have lost his position of being a MEDIATOR, A PEACEMAKER, A HIGH PRIEST, AN INTERCESSOR!

What can we say? There are thieves of every kind which want to come into your mind and life and thus crowd out the Lowly Christ!

You want to lust and seek your pleasure now. Then crucify Christ with impure thoughts. Invite Him into your life - the pure Son of God - and then nail Him into helplessness with impurities and uncleanness. That’s O.K. He died in the world and rose again to live in the heavenlies and in others. Let Him die in you and He will rise again and find life and satisfaction elsewhere. That’s O.K. He’s used to it. But, when you do that - you LOSE all the benefits that come from living for Him.You may want to do good, in prayer, but, if you keep giving your life and power to other things which defeat your own desire and fruitfulness, you desire in vain and deceive yourself.

Does this sound rough? Well, it is. Because we don’t want you to be deceived. We are committed to making you an effective, prayer intercessor.

The Bible says "If two of you shall AGREE as touching ANYTHING on earth, it shall BE DONE of my Father which is in Heaven" (Matthew 18:19)

IN PRAYER

People often talk about The Power of Prayer! But, there is no power in Prayer. Heathen people pray endlessly in chants and wailings and repeated prayers of many kinds. But to no avail and without results. Many Christians pray without getting what they want, either. That’s a fact! Many books have been written about "Unanswered Prayer".

A Believer is a battery that has been gradually losing all of ITS own strength and power and energy and chooses to be joined again to an ENDLESS POWER SOURCE!

But it is not God’s desire to give the wicked an endless opportunity to keep doing bad things. If they keep choosing to use their present power to do evil, then He will let them keep going like they are until they run out of time and power. At that time, He will refuse to renew their power or give them any more time. They will be like a dead batter without hope of ever being recharged.

God is a God of Love. Those who refuse to use their present energies to love others are deceiving themselves. They are cutting themselves off from their source of power. Increasing love means increasing power. The Bible says "FAITH WORKS BY LOVE". (Galatians 5:6) GOD HONORS FAITH. GOD ANSWERS FAITH. But FAITH WORKS BY LOVE.

A mind filled with hate loses its natural power to create good things and cuts itself off from the creative power of God.

Believers who begin to love and forgive, begin renewing their relationship with God, the Power source of the universe. When they repent and turn around - they are given the hope and promise of an endless life and unending power. When a hater dies - his energy time is over. He has no life in himself anymore, but when the true believer dies - he enters into a realm of even greater power and life than he has ever known before.

If you are not joined to the Spirit and nature of Jesus Christ, something is wrong. You are coasting on natural love and that love is getting smaller and smaller. If a man refuses THE WAY to be joined to Divine Love - Eternal Love, then his end is SURE> Jesus said, "I AM THE WAY"

When He loved us enough to die for us, He showed us DIVINE LOVE. But when He died, He didn’t die, He was still connected to the power source and that power source gave Him a New Life in the heavens forever. He did all that to show us THE TRUTH. Those who dare to Love - Decide to Live.

Those who believe, also FORGIVE and in forgiving they learned to live again and live forever. Why not read the New Testament again. This time, read it with the INTENTION OF BELIEVING IT! Read it to get more HOPE. To build your confidence to convince you of God’s willingness to HELP YOU. Read it to receive FAITH. Then, use that FAITH to tap into HIS POWER and remember, FAITH WORKS BY LOVE. You can’t effectively use faith without exercising some kind of LOVE. TRY IT AND SEE!

That’s a lie! A stinkin’, rotten lie!

When the strong protect the weak, the weak can survive, too. When the rich provide for the poor, the poor can survive, too. When the intercessor prays for someone, that person can make it, too.

Jesus said, "If two of you agree as touching anything on earth, it shall be done for them by my Father in heaven." (Matthew 18:19). If you want God’s help and strength in your life you can have it, because we want the same thing for you. If we both agree while we are praying, God will answer our prayers!

In another place, He said, "Whom the Son makes free is free indeed." (John 8:36).

If you hide from the TRUTH you will never be free. We have discovered the power of the truth which is in Jesus Christ.

We know there is nothing impossible with God. He can do beautiful things with your life.

Everything He does Begins and Ends in TRUTH! He said, "I AM THE TRUTH" and He also said, "Without me, you can do nothing." (John 15:5)

DON’T ASK FOR FORGIVENESS!

We know you need to be forgiven, but there is a way to be forgiven without asking for it.

The Bible says: "If you CONFESS YOUR SINS, God is faithful and just to forgive you and He will cleanse you of everything that is not right and good. (1 John 1:9). As you start to pray,

Let your own mind tell you what you’ve done wrong in life. Then quietly admit to God that you have done wrong.

Nobody is trying to condemn you. In fact, as soon as you confess the truth about any wrong thoughts, wrong attitudes, wrong words and feelings or wrong things you’ve done, you are forgiven.

You may not feel like you have been forgiven, so you will just have to BELIEVE GOD’S WORD! He said, "If you confess-He will forgive" And He even promised to take the power of the bad things out of your life. That means He will actually change you on the inside.

SAY "THANK YOU"

God can’t lie. He said if you confess, He will forgive. So just Thank Him for His Mercy and Forgiveness. Thank Him that you are still alive and able to come to Him. Thank Him for giving you Hope that things will get better. Thank Him for loving you.

Everything in your life is not going to change overnight. So Thank Him for being patient with you while you are trying to change.

Thank Him for the extra forgiveness which He is going to give you tomorrow and next week and next month. He doesn’t want you to keep doing wrong, but He knows how long it takes to get a life TOTALLY turned around.

WORSHIP HIM

Think of Him as a Powerful King...as a King who deserves HONOR and PRAISE and RESPECT. Tell Him how great He is. Bow your knee to Him! Why? Well, try it! Get down on your knees and see how hard it is to fight someone like that. That means you don’t want to fight against His will anymore.

Have you ever tried to run away from someone while you are on your knees? It’s hard to do. So, by bowing down, you are telling Him that you don’t want to Run from Him anymore. You are tired of running aren’t you?

then, why not come on Home to Him and get some rest. Bow down and tell Him that you give up, that you surrender, and that you are willing to be changed.

BE SILENT BEFORE HIM!

One scripture says: "Be still and KNOW that I AM GOD." (Psalm 46:10). Silently repeat those words in your mind. Say them over and over. As you do, relax. BE STILL! Let a calmness come over you.

As you become quiet before Him say to yourself, "It’s all right, everything is going to be O.K.", "It’s all right - everything is going to be O.K."

Now, You’re ready to ask for some favors. Remember, you have been your own worst enemy. So don’t ask God to change anything, except you. Later, we can ask for those other things.

But first....

Tell God that you want to know Him, to REALLY know Him.

Ask Him to show Himself to you. Ask Him to come into your life and be a REAL God to you. Tell Him that you don’t want "just religion." Tell Him that you need to know the LIVING GOD in all of HIS POWER and LOVE and GLORY!

Ask Him to CREATE in you anything you need to please Him.

The Bible says, "WITHOUT FAITH, it’s impossible to please Him." (Hebrews 11:6), so ask Him to CREATE faith down deep inside of you. The Bible says, "Faith works by LOVE", so, ask Him to fill you with Love, His kind of Love!

Pray whatever comes to your mind! you don’t have to say everything just like we tell you, we are just trying to help you. A true prayer is a prayer that comes from deep inside, a prayer that you really mean from the heart.

But don’t forget to pray every day. Think your prayers as soon as you wake up in the morning. When everybody is around you, let a strong silent cry rise up to God. God hears thoughts. He hears the STRONG DESIRES of those who are seeking Him. In your mind, keep thinking, JESUS-JESUS-JESUS!

When you can pray out loud, do it. But don’t ever stop having strong prayers in your mind. They help! (More than you can know).

When things don’t change right away, don't be discouraged. Help yourself by saying,

"God IS helping me! God IS changing me! I BELIEVE! I BELIEVE! I BELIEVE

God has waited for me for a long time, I can wait for Him for a little while.

He is helping me! He is helping me!

Hang onto that faith. Hang on like a bulldog. Don’t let go until you see it all coming true. God is not going to disappoint you.