FireSpeaks (Prayer and Meditation)

When We can't See God’s Work at Hand.

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Charves Pearsall) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:05:00 +0000

When the king of Edom, and the king of Moab, and the king of Ammon, and the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon, and Josiah king of Judah were taken into subjugation under Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon many prophets falsely prophesied the quick restoration and the return of those in exile. But the prophet Jeremiah with a Yoke of wood he wore on his own neck until the prophet Hanniah throw it to the ground and broke it, did not receive this prophecy from God

So God spoke to Jeremiah and said that the yoke that Hanniah broke was of wood, but God had put a yoke of iron around the nations and had given Nebuchadnezzer dominion over all they had, even the beast of the field.

So Jeremiah wrote a letter to those in exile rebuking the false prophecy of the other prophets, and reminding those in exile that even in times of difficulty, God still had a better plan for them. Rather then complain because of their situation, Jeremiah suggested that they should strengthen themselves, in the present, that they may be fully able at the appointed time of God’s deliverance.

Jeremiah 29:11-14 (KJV) For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.

Sometimes we feel that God has left us all alone that he has forgotten us or may not know the severity of our problem. But God want us to know that even when we can only see the evil, He has plans for our good. And when we get serious about finding God and want to be in his presence more than life itself. He will hear our prayers and will not forsake us.

Here is my prayer for such an occasion as this.

My Heavenly Father, in Jesus' Name I come to You in Prayer. Oh God sometimes I get confused Heavenly Father, when I’ve done everything I can and trouble and calamity still follows me. Father you said you will make me the head and not the tail in every situation, but sometimes it just don’t seem that way. Your Word says You’ll never leave me, and that Your Spirit dwells in me, but oh Jehovah Shammah, sometimes I feel all alone.

It’s hard dear God, leaning on You when all my life I have had to do things on my own, make my own way, be my own man. But calamity is all about me; and I just can’t fix what’s broken in my life, I’ve got to depend on You, and You alone to bring me out of my exile, to restore all the vessels that the King of Babylon has taken from me.

Help me God to be strong because I just can’t do this by myself. Father, if you don’t save me, I can’t be saved, if you don’t deliver me, I will not be delivered. If You don’t stretch forth Your Omnipotent hand and snatch me from the grasp of the enemies of this world. They will surely devour me like a roaring lion.

So with a sorrowful and contrite heart I call on You in prayer, hearken Your ear to my supplications; and save me; make the evil which was intended for me to be as a blessing, and let my trials and tribulations, be testimony of Your Glory

In Jesus’ Name I pray Amen

Your Brother in Christ.

in season and out of season

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Charves Pearsall) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 02:53:00 +0000

2 Timothy 4:1-2
I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; [2] Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

God has only required us to give the gospel, at two times; the first is in season, and the second is out of season. But sometimes when it’s out of season we forget the power of the Gospel which makes the time always the right time to reveal Jesus to those that don’t know him.

We think within ourselves, “They don’t want to hear about my Jesus” they will never accept what I have to tell them” But the issue is not does he want to hear about Jesus, it is does he need to hear about Jesus? Moreover Jesus never said to anyone “You good and successful servant” did he?

Psalm 19:7 say “ The Law of the Lord is Perfect is converting souls” what that tells us is that it is not you and I that convert people’s heart to God but God’s law. Therefore we must give God’s word both in season and out of season, taking no responsibility or accolades for getting someone to receive Jesus Christ as their savior. Jesus did not ask us to become “Good and Successful servants, he required us to be good and obedient servants, and that means giving the gospel in season and out season.

Take a moment to look at the video *
(below)of this woman and how she used the word of God to change a life out of season

Also I would appreciate your comments

Looking Away Toward Jesus

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Charves Pearsall) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 22:01:00 +0000

Psalm 36:9 For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.

More times then not men and women who truly love God seek Holiness by their own hands. They say to themselves “Because I love God I must stop (whatever sin they have) and give my life totally to God.” And this is a very honorable desire to give your life for God totally. The problem arise in the misconception that we can consecrate ourselves to God.

One example of this self-consecration is called introspective. With introspective we survey all the events of our day keeping what we think is of God and letting go of the things which are not, vowing to repent from the sins of that day.

The problem with this method is that we leave the knowledge of good and bad to be discerned by our own heart and mind. But psalm 19:12 asks “Who can discern his errors” not one of us, because even if it is our will to do the right thing our heart will not allow us to, it will lie to us, and confuse us into believing we are holy in action when in fact we have become hypocrites in our attempt to be close to God.

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

More importantly when we seek to judge our actions through introspective we are looking inward toward ourselves for answers. But Hebrews 12:2 says “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” the Amplified Bible give a much better understanding of this simple yet ever so powerful verse it says “Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus” Here is the power in this verse looking away from self to Jesus.

Here is a very quick fable that may better illuminate what I'm trying to say.
There was a centipede and a frog talking, when the frog asked “which of your one hundred feet moves first when you walk? How do you know which to move next?” the centipede realized that he did not know which foot moved first and when he tried he could not even move just one foot so he became angry and left. “I’m leaving he said,” but when he tried to leave his mind was on his feet and he was stuck right where he was unable to move forward at all.

The centipede loved to bath in the sunlight on his favorite leaf so when the noon sun came without thinking he ran over to his favorite leaf to rest, completely forgetting to analyze which foot to move first. This is true of us saints when we look toward our situation, circumstances, even try to introspectively analyze the events of the day we get stuck, our mind and heart becomes deceitful beyond cure and we can no longer grow in our walk with Christ.

Oh but when we look away from all that will distract us to Jesus, who is the resurrection, then by his light (understanding from the Holy Spirit) we shall have light .

Psalms 36:9 (KJV) For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.

In the Above verse the fountain is God, (Lord Jesus Christ) as an independent self sufficient spring; a spring by which all creatures of life proceeds. By Him alone are they sustained, and through Him alone can it be perfected, nothing of our own hands. Life is in the creature, but the fountain is only in the Creator.

Therefore the knowledge of God sheds a light on all other subjects, and presents to us an understanding that goes beyond all that can humanly be understood. However in the natural we will never see Jesus, nor obtain any measure of holiness by the light of self, but by the light of all things that are within our understanding in the light of Jesus. No inward introspective of ours deeds will bring about holiness; our heart is an evil and deceptive thing which none can cure, so what we think is good, is left up to our heart to measure. However our heart can not be trusted nor our mind, which has been locked shut by and evil and deceitful heart.

Setting our mind to do anything to attain holiness is foolish; it is our vanity, piety, egotism, haughtiness, and hate will deceive us into believing that we are doing what is right, or what we are doing is God’s Will. Even if we could attain holiness by our own hands how would God get the Glory?

It is the Holy Ghost which lights up the darkest recesses of our heart's ungodliness. If we would but fix our eyes on Christ Jesus then we would, (if it pleases God) obtain one ray of light from the throne of God, which is better than the noonday splendor of illumination created by the wisdom of our own deceitful heart and carnal mind.

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Tears of Intercession

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Charves Pearsall) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 23:26:00 +0000

by Troy Pearsall

I've never been a person to ask anyone to pray for me, I've always felt if a Christian's faith is truly rooted deep into the soil of scripture, prayer, meditation and fasting that when the burning sun of life's trials and tribulation come up against the believer he will not be moved.

In the last four years I can say without doubt that I have not had 2 days whereby life's situation and circumstances has weighed me down so much that I had to ask someone to pray for me. I can say this because my faith is firmly rooted and my knowledge and understanding of God's Grace and Mercy toward me is able to sustain me. Now this does not mean I don't others to pray for me, it means I am confident that my prayers are sufficient to move God to my salvation. I'm saying this because Jehovah Shalom rest in me.

With all this said you can imagine how surprised I was to have my pastor pray for me last Sunday, not that he does pray for others, its that when he asks "Does anyone need prayer?" I never come for prayer. But last Sunday was different, my mother who is a member of another church decided to visit our church and she witnessed my pastor praying for me.

"When Tony (my pastor) prayed for you Sunday" My mother began, "I could tell he really meant what he was praying, it was as if he was begging God if you would only do this for me God" she continued. "I thought of Tony as a mother eagle wrapping her wing around her chicks to protect them from the pouring rain. I could feel it in his voice, I could see it in his eyes, and I know God heard his prayers also"

When my mother said this I thought of a post I wrote about 2 years ago called "Praying to the Point of Tears" This post highlighted the relationship between tears, and truly contrite and fervent prayer. My thought was if praying for yourself to the point of tears was good, how much greater is the intercessor that could pray to the point of tears for someone else? How perfound was this prayer for me?

Below is an excerpt of the post "Praying to the Point of Tears" dated November 16, 2007. I hope you enjoy this post and I hope this advice given will elevate your prayers to the next level. Follow this link (here) to read the original post.

Not until God sees the hopelessness in our life, and we experience the realization our personal situation is solely dependent on God, It's not until we realize we can do nothing but break down in tears crying out to God, in hopeless, that God can hear our prayers. Therefore if we want God to hear our prayers then when we pray, we need to pray in a state of desperation.

Hebrews 5:5-7 (KJV)
So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

Ok I'm going to say it. Sometimes prayer is ineffectual just because there are no tears. This does not mean that tears make a prayer effectual. However if your prayer can not move you to sorrow, and you are doing the praying, how much less is it moving God to want to see that prayer fulfilled? Hebrews 5:7-8 tells us that even Jesus Christ prayed to the point of tears, and when he did the bible tells us that God heard him. But not until we read psalms 56:8 do we get any idea as to why.

Psalms 56:8 (TNIV)
Record my misery; list my tears on your scroll are they not in your record? When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me

Every one of ancient times cried out in prayer to the Lord. I would go as far as to say that it appears to be those that cried the hardest are the ones that did the greatest works in God. Issac cried unto God in prayer, King Hezikiah cried unto God in prayer, King David cried unto God in prayer, Even our Savior cried unto God in prayer, and their prayers were contrite, and their prayers were sorrowful and God heard them.

We must ask ourselves, can we afford to not pray with the same fervor?

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Your Brother in Christ
Troy C Pearsall

Worshipping in Spirit and Truth?

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Charves Pearsall) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:55:00 +0000

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Defending the Great Name of God through Prayer

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Charves Pearsall) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:07:00 +0000

These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes. Psalms 50:21 (KJV)

Maybe because I am a Christian, that I get upset when people speak offensively about Christ my Savior It is these very same people that feel you are invading their space when you tell them about Christ. It is these very same people that have no problem with bragging about their perverted sexual preference, they find it t totally acceptable to boast about how many women they’ve been with last weekend, or how “Pissy Drunk” they were the night before, how many designer drugs they’ve taken before work, and even to some degree, how often they’ve beaten their wives. But Speak against their atrocities in a moral state judged by God and instantly they will have you taken to HR with your job now in jeopardy we Christians, ( I don’t like that moniker “Believer” because even the devil is a believer) are left with no defense against this problem, we are left having our ears blistered with the voice of this world’s perversions, defiled by the words of those that blasphemy the Name of God and Christ Jesus. So what do we do, take them to HR? Maybe, and risk being labeled bible thumper, or Jesus freak, or just plane old trouble maker, moreover we risk being isolated from the rest of the work force. And if your work place is perverted enough ( as the last two places I’ve worked), you, not the offender will lose your job. Some of you may argue that God did not want you there anyway; my argument is maybe God did want you there to make a change, but because of you own discomfort you like Jonah ran from what God had given you to do. (Selah)

The second option is take them to court. To that I simply say no. Paul in 1 Corinthian 6:2 tells us that the whole world will be judge by us and we should not take another brother before an unjust judge. I know your saying but Paul was speaking of one brother against another, and you are correct. But when we the saint of Jesus Christ take any man to court we are saying that the leaders of our church, and the gifting given them by God are not sufficient to judge, we are saying that God himself can not rightly judge the matters of our lives.
There is a solution though it may seem simple to some profound to others it remains the only real solution. What does the bible give us as an example to what we should do?

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high placesEphesians 6:12(KJV)

When Rabshakeh tried to convince the Jews that they had misplaced their confidence in God (2 kings 18:28-35) in silence King Hezekiah dealt with his blasphemy, and placed his letters before God. (2 Kings 19:14) God therefore came into the battle to provide victory a this enemy because he (Rabshakeh) came up against God with his own testimony.

As Christians we MUST use in prayer gainst all the hate spoken by atheist, blasphemers, perverts, hateful people and anyone that will dishonor the Name of God and try to convince us that we have misplaced our faith in God. We can’t simply dismiss their words and actions toward us as “just them”. And those that rise up against Christ, and those that disrespect the son and daughters of the living God, should not have their actions be acceptable. If the prince of England walked into the building where you work right now, even though he has no dominion over you in the United States you would treat him with the honor and respect which is due his title, his heritage. And if you disrespected him, your boss or the government would see to it that you were dealt with. How much more must the son and daughters of the only living God be respected? Who should disrespect or dishonor our heritage? (Selah)

God came to the defense of King Hezekiah because it was God’s will that the Assyrian King would not defeat Judah, and would not take Jerusalem. However God could not come to the aid of Judah until King Hezekiah Prayed (Now get this) THE WILL OF GOD. ……………. Now once King Hezekiah prayed God came to his rescue with vengeance (2 Kings 19:20-34) and God, not King Hezekiah defeated the Assyrians.

This concept of praying for a defeat of the enemy happen all throughout the bible but today man’s morality has made us to believe that it just isn’t right to pray bad on someone. I think in my defense this is not what I’m saying to pray bad on someone for their actions.

But as Christian we must realize that the crimes against Christians, the disrespect and dishonor, the attacks against us because we are Christians are argument toward God for the manifestation of His Will. we must cry with contrite hearts. , "Father see how they reproach the Gospel of Jesus Christ?, They defy You Father, and dishonor Your Son with their hateful words. They speak against Your servants and Your children they detest and subdue. Lift up Your hand and be just toward them according to Your Perfect Will, Make ever mouth which came up against you confess that Jesus is Lord, and every prideful knee bow at the name of Jesus Christ to Your Glory."

My Goal is always Quality and Informative Articles on Prayer and Meditation, If you don't agree with what I write please give your comments, If you do Please tell others. I welcome feedback and comments;to stay up to date join me on Facebook or Myspace

Your Brother In Christ

Firespeaks

When the Spirit Moves You to Prayer

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Charves Pearsall) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 04:08:00 +0000

Ever wonder what your pastor was talking about when he ask you to pray in the spirit?

Immediately we began speaking (praying) in tongues, assuming that this is what is required of us. But is this the right action? Is this really praying int the spirit? And if so, is this the only way to pray in the spirit ?

Praying in the Spirit or Holy Ghost is only addressed three times in the bible, Jude 1:20 “Praying in the Holy Ghost”; Ephesians 6:18 “in the Spirit” and 1 Corinthians 14:15 “pray with the Spirit” However, for some people these three verses are clear instructions for praying in tongues. But, to say that praying in tongues is the only way of praying in the Spirit is to limit the Omniscience mind of Elohiym

What then is praying in the spirit? A very interesting thing comes to light when we read Ephesians 6:18 in the NIV Bible says that we should be praying with “All kinds” of prayer, while the Amplified bible says with “all Manner” though parenthetically. Why is this so important? I think first because it suggests that there are other manners of praying in the Spirit. And secondly because it makes clear that praying in the spirit is not a type of prayer, but rather how we are praying.

Pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit, with all [manner of] prayer and entreaty. To that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding in behalf of all the saints (God's consecrated people). Ephesians 6:18 (Amplified Bible)

Praying in the Natural

Now history has warned us to be mindful, not every man that says he is of Christ is of Christ, this is the purpose of the parable of the sower (Matt 13:3-23; Mk 4:2-20; Lk 8:4-15). Sometimes the actions that we see in men are deceptive, or motivated in their desires. Jesus Said in speaking of Judas Iscariot one of his own disciples “one of you is a devil” (John 6:70) Now Jesus was not saying Judas was Satan but rather that the evils of the devil had already taken his heart. Demas, a first century Christian that who followed the faith, and was even imprisoned with the Apostle Paul in Rome, was one of those seeds sown on rocky ground. The Apostle Paul writes to Timotheos (Timothy) about their mutual friend in his second letter saying “For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world” (2 Timothy 4:10)

For this reason The Apostle Paul warns us to Examine and test and evaluate our own selves to see whether we are holding to our faith (2 Corinthians 13:5a [Amplified Bible])

It is because we can be doing everything that appears to be right as seen from outside, but what motivates us to do these actions, what is behind our actions, or more importantly, what is behind our prayers, puts value in our actions, put values in our prayers. Examine and test ourselves to be sure that our prayers are not for the natural or in the natural, but for the fullfilling of that for which we were called to do.

Glazed Covered Prayers

Like a coating of glaze over earthenware are fervent lips with an evil heart. Proverbs 26:23 (NIV)

Nothing has bothered me more than the expression pray with fervent prayer, not that it’s not scriptural, Rather because men, even our leaders, sometimes associated eloquence of words, or crying during prayers, gyrations, and even speaking in tongues as fervent prayer. But as we can see from the previous examples that a man can pretend to be anything he wants to be. So than can a man say the right words to appear to be fervent, and sometimes he (or she) may even thinks they are fervent in their prayers.

There is no way we can measure the value of a person’s prayers, (how fervent it is) not by what we hear, or what we feel, or even know about that person. What may appears to be fervent to us, what appears to “usher in the Glory” (you choose the terminology) may be backed by personal gains and just hateful ways, only that person and God know what’s on their heart. We must allow the glazed covered prayer to pray right alone side the truly fervent prayers, the wheat alone side the tares, the eleven Apostles right alone side of Judas, because if we try to separate them we will drive away the saints, trying to get rid of the sinners. This is how Jesus dealt with this problem, this is how the bible deals with this problem, this is how we must deal with this problem, because only God can know the hearts of men.

Praying in the Spirit

So to pray in the spirit is to pray in such a way as to be lead by the Spirit to pray. This can mean praying for something or even praying a certain type of prayer. More importantly I would say that praying in the Spirit is the prayer which was motivated by the divine influence of the Holy Spirit.

For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Philippians 2:13 (KJV)

The above verse suggest that God is working in us, God is unctioning us to do what God would have us do. We must realize more importantly, spiritual prayer is as much if not more an action of God as it is of us. Spiritual Prayer finds it origin in God and in our obedience to the Holy Spirit as the Holy Spirit unctions us. As we read the Amplified Bible this simple fact becomes abundantly clear that God is the origin of our spiritual prayer.

[Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight.
Philippians 2:13 (Amplified Bible)

I think this is very important to understand that praying in the spirit is not speaking in tongues because that would mean to those that are not given that gift than God does not want your prayers. It would mean that God has given to only a select few the ability to pray in the spirit, but the bible says that God is no respecter of men.

So with confidence we can say that Praying in the Spirit is not praying in tongues. One can pray in tongues and pray in the spirit at the same time but one is not inclusive of the other. The foundation of Praying in the Spirit has to do with your heart being right with God in prayer, and your ear being mindful of the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. Praying in Spirit means that the Spirit of Elohyim has moved you to come to Yehovah in prayer and you are at least sensitive enough to know it to be true.

Your Brother In Christ

Firespeaks

He will wipe every tear from your eyes.

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Charves Pearsall) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:51:00 +0000

The bible says “The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable” I would contend that the lips

of the righteous know what God has in store. Today at work I was speaking to one of my coworkers about a tribe in Africa that when someone experiences a lost the whole tribe circumscribes her or him and cries with them; their pain becomes part of the community, and everyone works to help them through their struggles, help them cry right through their pain.

Oh how powerful it is to know that someone is there for you crying not because of their personal suffering, but because of your suffering, in anguish because you are in anguish, hurting because of your lost.

When I got home from work I signed on to FaceBook and one of my new friends had posted how difficult it was dealing with the lost of a significant other. I just like him have a hard time dealing with the lost of someone I care for. However even though it seams I’m never one for a lost of words, I knew there were no words that would make the pain go away.

This evening after church I got a phone call, the son of one of our members was in a tragic accident. I could not wait to get home because I know this was one of those times when God himself All Mighty wanted me to pray. However just moments later I got a second call, he was dead.

My mind wandered back to the earlier conversation about the tribe in Africa which boar the pains of its members and I began to think of our Lord Jesus Christ who willing boar our punishment of our sins. And because my Master Christ Jesus took it upon himself to be wounded for my transgression, bruised for my iniquities the weight of my sins are not as heavy.

Oh how wonderful it would be if I could cry the family through their pain on the strength of my prayers. If I could just pray to the point of tears for someone else not just rehearse a quadrangle of spiritual gibber jabber but really be moved by my own prayers for them. What value are my prayers if I am not moved by them, how do I expect God to move because of my prayers? So with clouded eyes I pray;

Oh heavenly Father,

In the name of my Master Christ Jesus I come to you in prayer, that you may comfort this family in this time of bereavement. Lord Jesus, You stood and the door of the grave and cried when Lazarus died, so I know you know the sorrow and I know you know the pain that this family is going through.

Wrap them in the bosom of your peace, strengthen them by the power of Your Holy Spirit; Comfort them in their time of need.

Now Father if there is anything that You would have me to do for them, if there is anyone that You would send in their time of pain, than I am here, send me.

In my life I can not imagine the pain that a mother has when she hears her child has died, nor the sorrow of a father to see his son die in his own arms. what pain for a new mother that has to tell her children "Daddy is never coming home"I know that all things You work for the good of those who love You, But I just don’t understand why the pain has to come, why the tears, why the sorrow and death.

I pray Heavenly Father that you will strengthen the whole family in their faith, let not this bereavement cause them to wander from the hope of Your Salvation. Give them the strength to know that his is just a moment is Your plan. Give them the confidence to know That you have set a time when You will wipe all their tears from their eyes, that there will be no more death, no more mourning no more crying no more pain because these thing of the past are gone forever.

In the Name of Him who is able to wipe away my tears
Jesus Christ I pray, Amen

Your Brother In Christ

Firespeaks

Audacity to Pray

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Charves Pearsall) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 14:09:00 +0000

As Barack Obama takes office as the 44^th president of the United States, his name is in the prayers of many people though out the world. For many people of African-American decent it’s the pride they feel knowing that a man of color can rise to the highest office in the world. For others it’s the Audacity of Hope that maybe this time we will have a president that will remember his fist duty is to serve the people not his own personal gain. For some their prayers are that he does not screw up this great nation or take away what they imagine they already have, and for even others, sadly, anger and hatred, prejudice and bigotry piety and self-righteousness pierce their lips in prayer each night. This from those that who say they are of God.

But no matter what the case this man, Barack Obama whose first name means blessing has been raised to the office of The President of the United States by God Himself All Mighty (Psalm 75:6-7) and has caused men, be it by pride, or by hope, by love, by fear or by hatred, to humble themselves before an All Mighty God in prayer.

Each man has his own reason for praying for our new president, but miraculously in a world of hate and crime, apostasy and hunger, men are coming together for a single cause, praying for the success of our new president and the prosperity of our great nation Matthew 18:19-20

The Bible tells us in Luke 18:1 that men should pay and never give up, get tired, quit, or go faint. In 1 Thessalonians 5:17 we are instructed to Pray without ceasing. Phil 4:6 requires that for everything, we must let our request be known to God. The bible even tells us how to pray for our leaders.

I timothy 2:1-3 The Apostle Paul gives instructions on how a man of God should carry himself concerning prayer, praying for not just his loved one but for all men friend or foe. In Verse 2 he (Paul) lists those in authority that we should pray for; in verse 3 Paul tell us that this type of pray is pleasing to God.

For those that are not sure just how we should pray for our leaders I have written this prayer to guide you biblicaly so that we all may know. This prayer is for all people that love this country, for those that love our new President, and for those that may not. This prayer is for those that wish to be obedient to God, and for those that believe prayer works. But more importantly this prayer is for those that have the audacity to hope for a better future in this United States of America and the whole world. So I give you my prayer for President Barack Obama the 44th president of the United States of America.

Oh Heavenly Father, in the Name of Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior, I humble myself before you in prayer. You Father alone can do all things, know all things, You are everywhere, even in the hearts of men, and there is no thing, no man, nor any circumstance, or situation which can stand against You, for everything that is, is because You made it so. And that which is not, is not because you have not found pleasure in it.

Therefore Dear Father, God of all there is the One who alone is Eternal, I confidently come to You in prayer knowing that You and You alone are able to guide the hearts of men, leaders of all the world, Kings and Princes, Presidents and Prime Ministers, Generals and Soldiers, Adversary and Allies all those that are in authority that we may lead a quite and peaceable, prosperous and Godly life.

With this prayer I do cover all my leaders, those earthly and Spiritual that they may do that which is right in your eyes that you will protect them from the evil one and will bless all the works of their hands which are inline with your will.

I lift of the president of this United States of America, Barack Obama, all his family, all his cabinet and those appointed under him; that they will be successful in fulfilling the needs of this country, be it healthcare, education, the economy, or whatever is needed, That this country will be blessed so greatly that we will pour out this blessing given to us by You unto others less fortunate countries.

I pray that we will put down our guns and lift up our voices in prayer, put aside our differences and accent our likeness, forget our past atrocities, and fill our hearts with the expectations of hope, equality and love.

But more importantly Dear Father I pray that You will guide the hearts of our leaders. So that we will be so much more than just leaders in the world in weapons, and economy, Much more than leaders in technology and science Much more than leaders in agricultural and arts, but that we should lead this world back from the iniquity of apostasy to a true Fear of You; my God.

In the Name of Him that is able to save Jesus Christ
I Pray, Amen

Your Brother In Christ

Firespeaks

the lowercase "i" Fire-Iron-Online.com

Changing the Mind of God

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Charves Pearsall) — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 14:53:00 +0000

I've wrestled with the concept of changing God's Mind for a while and was some what confused about this until I realized that it is not The FATHER that Changes, After all our FATHER is Immutable and therefore never changing.

Malachi 3:6 God Declares “For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.”

Here we see that by his own word that The FATHER does not change. So what does it mean when it says that God repented or changed His mind?

First when we think on immutability we should not think that God does something this way and only this way, but just as a father or mother may treat all their children equal they may not treat them all the same. For some children a stern look is acceptable discipline, for others harsh words, and even others Proverbs 23:14 (Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.)

Like wise The FATHER is the same God never changing in his desires for man. In his awesomeness he may have to do some things to bring us into correction. Just as a child if playing in the supermarket get out of control his/her parent may say "If you don't stop I will spank your behind" THE HEAVENLY FATHER may have to impose what may appear to us as harsh punishments if our actions continue. (Give me a second I'm going somewhere with this.)

Now the written Word of The FATHER says that The FATHER knows the hearts of man ACTS 15:8 so when a man, Moses or Abraham, David, you or even I, come to our HEAVENLY FATHER in prayer saying Merciful God do not do what you said you would do! The Holy Spirit searches our heart and knows if our request is effectual and fervent, if our request is contrite and the actions of The FATHER is determined by the contriteness of our repentance toward The FATHER.

For the simple mind of man this may appear that THE FATHER has repentented or is even mutable, but in fact what has happen is that our repentance from our sin did not dictate in the Eyes of THE FATHER what may have appeared as negative repercussions.

I once heard a pastor say after losing his son to drugs and violence, God has taken everything away, all the distractions that stop me from living my life totally for him. His spiritual knowledge and Understanding of how THE FATHER does what is needed to bring us to a level of spiritual maturation was profound even in his time of mourning for his son he realized that God allowed what had happen to happen so that The FATHER could bring him to a higher place, and He could live up to his full potential that God had for him.

Can God Answer a Prayer for
Something Outside of His Will?

Again we are creature of limited minds and thoughts and therefore we perceive the will of THE FATHER by our own terms. To keep it simple God will not answer prayers for something outside the scope of his will. In doing so THE FATHER would not be the immutable being that the Scripture says that He is. The flaw is in that man with a limited understanding has thought because God says thou shall not kill and later tells King Saul to kill all the Amalekites that The FATHER contradicts himself. This is however a misconception because of the immutability of God is that he does what he does for the best interest of his Children. Always.

This may seem hard to swallow but think on this. The FATHER who is always just, acknowledged for man that all sin must be punished and paid for with blood. therefore because of His immutability, toward justice and man's inability to give good sacrifices, decided within GOD'self "I will manifest myself in flesh, take on the form of sin but being perfect and without sin and though innocent will be propitiation for the sins of the world." So that man may by the name of my son Jesus Christ return back to me unto salvation.

THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ON ALL KINDS OF CHRISTIAN STUFF

Praying the Promises of God

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Charves Pearsall) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 03:23:00 +0000

Praying the promises of God is what we are so often told to do, but in reality most Christian are much too timid to even come to our Heavenly Father with anything but reverence to the Father’s Greatness. Now don’t get me wrong I’m not saying that we should not honor and have reverence for our Father, nor I’m saying come to the Father as if we were His “Running buddies” What I’m saying is that we should know how to boldly pray with arguments and supplications.

For years we have been told to just pray, but I don’t remember even once anyone giving me instructions on what I should say, or even how I should present my request before the Father. No wonder we live in a world today where prayer is an afterthought even for the “devout” Christian. We have regulated prayer to nothing more than a last minute act of desperation to get something, anything to happen in our favor.

Romans 12:12 (TNIV) tells us to: “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.” This statement is a very simple when dissecting the meaning of the verse, it gives us physical instructions to prayer.

So how do we be joyful in hope when we pray? What does it take to be patient in affliction while waiting on answers to prayers? And of course what does faithful in prayer mean? The simplicity of Romans 12:12 is almost shocking. The first two questions are simple; we learn God’s promises and pray them. Here is a excerpt from a previous blog on my FireSpeaks Blog which give a perfect example of how to pray God’s promises.

Sometimes the greatest argument toward God in prayer is God's own promise. When Esau was coming toward Jacob at the brook of Jabbak in Genesis 32:11-12 Jacob prayed that God would deliver him from the hands of his brother, on the foundation of the promise that God had made to his grandfather Abraham. Remembering that the promise to Abraham would have to be manifested from his (Jacobs) bloodline, since he had received the blessing of his father Isaac, Jacob held God to God's word saying "It is through me that you would full-fill the promise that you made to my grandfather Your Servant Abraham," deliver me and I will make my grandfather's seed like the multitude of the sand. (Troy FireSpeaks Pearsall)

When we come before the Father with sound arguments that have their origin in our Father’s Promises, we can be sure our prayers are heard. In Isaiah 41:21 our Father demands that we come before him with arguments; in Numbers 23:19 we read that our Father does not lie. So if He says he will, he will! Now if you knew that you prayer was in line with the desire of the one that created the universe; the one with omnipotent power; omniscience in all knowledge and understanding; and there was a promised made by Him our Heavenly Father, that He would do as He says, would you not have joyful hope of the fulfillment of the promise? Would you not be able to patiently endure the afflictions of this world knowing that your time will come because this has been promised to you by our Father?

Now before we can pray the promises of the Father we must first know the promises, and the only way to do that is to read the bible. Hosea 4:6

The last part of that verse is “faithful in prayer” the Word of the Father in Luke 18:1 tell us to never give up praying, to be diligent in prayer even when circumstances look contrary to our supplication. That we can have victory though Jesus Christ by our obedience, and the understanding that prayer is not a privilege of the saints but a responsibility of the saints. Therefore let us take our responsibility to god seriously with diligence and knowledge of the promises of our Father.

Spiritual Vindication

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Charves Pearsall) — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 21:50:00 +0000

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Spiritual Vindication

praying until the burden is gone
by Troy C Pearsall

Well you knew it was coming, eventually I would be back talking about prayer. This installment though is a little different in that I'm trying to give you a different reason to pray. Not because you should, ( and you should) not because it will build a better relationship with God. None of that is the motovation of this blog. This blog addresse suggest that you pray because… well if I tell you, you wouldn’t read the blog would you? let get started.

Prayer for me was very difficult at first; now I pray even when I have no idea what to pray about, I pray. But it was not always that way. I had to study to show my approved to God. I had to learn how to pray and nothing has been more enlightening than Matthew 26:36-46 ( in blue below) in this prayer I found not just how to pray but some of the power that came with prayer. let's go over it for a moment and see .

Matthew 26:36-46 (KJV) Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.

And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.

And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy. And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.

Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me.

In the above verse we see that Jesus prayed three times in the garden of Gethsemane at which time, when his prayers were heard he stopped praying. Now this does not mean that we should pray to God three times and stop but it teaches us that we should pray until we know God has heard our prayer.

I once heard a minister say that he prays until he get a stop from God, a feeling from God that his prayer has been heard. sometime that stop take only a moment, sometime it take years to get that stop. But each time he get that stop, he knows God has answered his prayers.

2Corinthians 12:8 "I besought the Lord trice that it might depart form me"

What is being given to us here is the instruction that we should pray until we are confidence in what God's will is concerning the situation for which we are praying. We should pray until the burden of the situation has been removed!

In his book "Powerful According to God" Watchman Nee suggest that even in prayer meeting (corporate prayer) we pray one for the same thing until all are confident in God's will concern this thing.

Let's assume for clarity of subject that Sister Jones is sick, we should not assume that since one member has already prayed for Sister Jones that there is no need to pray for her yourself. Sometimes we say within ourselves that since Brother Smith has prayed and I am in agreement with him there is no need for me to likewise pray for her. But it is very important to understand that there most be a contrite heart in prayer and it is that burden (need that only God and fulfill) that is on your heart that brought you to prayer in the first place. (See my blog concerning prayer to tears.) This being so we pray until we have released that burden which brought us to prayer. In this case our compassion for Sister Jones' health, and then we can say confidently that God has heard our prayer.

Lets think on the judge which is sought by the widow to avenger her against enemy (Luke 18:1)
Why does he avenger her? Was it for justice? Or for her righteousness? No the judge says to himself I will avenger lest she wears me out from continual coming.

There is real power in this parable in that it gives perfect instructions in our to pray for answers. You see when that Judge said to the women I will avenge you her burden was removed. She no longer had to come to the judge for that problem with her enemy. The judge had removed the burden of getting what were rightfully her possessions.

In Verse 7 Jesus says "…and shall not God avenge his elect that cry to him day and night"? This is instruction to pray continually, because in that we are accusing our enemy before God (I'm going to use this word again) continually! Because you can believe that the enemy is before God
continually to accuse us of our transgressions.

Revelation 12:10 (KJV) And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night

This is spiritual vindication for all that the devil does to us, therefore as the devil treat us before God so shall we treat him. Therefore oppose the devil before God until the release of the burden, with prayer and supplication that we may have a true victory in Christ and trod upon the devil with our feet. Pray until you are confident that God has heard you and all your worry will be gone. Then you can just like Christ Jesus, take up your cross with no fear of the passion to come. and live your life as a true son or daughter of the only live God

In the name of my Lord and Master Christ Jesus

Be Blessed.

THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ON ALL KINDS OF CHRISTIAN STUFF

Why We Should Keep a Prayer Journal!

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Charves Pearsall) — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 13:22:00 +0000

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Exodus 17:14-15 (KJV) ¹⁴And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. ¹⁵And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi:

When I think of Prayer Journal the first thing that comes to mind is the above verse form Exodus 17 chapter. It gives clear instruction for keeping record of God’s dealing with us.

I have heard people over and over say they keep records of their spiritual growth through a prayer journal, and others say they keep record of God fulfillment of prayers in a prayer journal, all of these are very admirable but if you ever come to my house you will find many years of prayer journals in the book shelves. My bookshelves are filled with little marble notebooks that record everything from how I felt when I prayed, to my actual record of prayer, and even instances of God speaking to me, through revelation, dreams, or other encounters.

But if we can go back just a little to the end of verse 14 of Exodus chapter 14 you will read God’s reason for us keeping record. “Rehearse it in the ears of Joshua; for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.”

See the real reason for a prayer journal is as an Ebenezer of God’s promise to you. What has god promised me? This may seem a bit confusing for many people “they say God hasn’t promised me anything” there is a reason, you have spoke with him enough!, you haven’t read and studied his word. You haven’t had any real dealing with God and so you have no idea what God’s promise to you is.

Now don’t get me wrong you can find many of God’s promises in the bible but you prayer journal is for your personal revelations of God’s promises.

It’s so you can go back over these promises and see where you stand with God, it’s your record of what God wants from you, and for you. Anyone that says that a Prayer journal is about their spiritual growth is forgetting the simplest thing it’s not about them; it has to be about God always.

Then it is the knowledge of this information (past promises and dealings that God has with us through past prayer) that we later use for the composing of arguments in (future) prayer. Isaiah 41:21 (TNIV) says "Present your case," says the LORD.
"Set forth your arguments," ….. When we can compose argument in prayer that is founded in our past dealing with God this prayer has meaning to you and God, it become personal in that it moves you (and God) this is the real spirit of a Fervent Prayer as defined by WorldNet online dictionary.

So am I saying that we can only have fervent prayer by keeping a prayer journal? Of course not, what I’m saying that those that keep a prayer journal, are more likely to have prayer from a contrite and sorrowful heart, by keeping a prayer journal you are bale to go back and see how God has delt with you ( revelataion) concerning past issues and get a better understandig of how God will deal with you in furture.

So start kkeping a prayer journal for 30 days, record not just your prayers but also your answers, yout trials, your thoughts and feeling and I promise you after about 30 day you will have developed a deeper relationship with God than yo ever thought was possible.

So write the things of God in a book and rehearsh them in your ears to know how God is dealing with you.

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THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ON ALL KINDS OF CHRISTIAN STUFF

Composing Arguments in Prayer

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Charves Pearsall) — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 11:43:00 +0000

By Troy C Pearsall

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Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat! I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.Job 23:3-4 (KJV)

In my last installment “Filling You Mouth with Arguments” I tried to break down Charles Spurgeon’s sermon on Effective Prayer, we addressed Job’s desire to come before God with fully scripted arguments and present them in a way to invoke God to intercede for him.

We also tried to show how this method of invoking God’s Name was not an isolated incident, with examples of Abraham and King David. In the last paragraph we talked about the power of God’s grace and the need for a contrite heart, before even coming before God in prayer.

In this final installment I will address the need for arguments, the different type of arguments, and the power of praise and thanksgiving toward God. As you may know this is an exegesis of
Charles H Spurgeon’s Effective Prayer sermon and just as in the first part, I will be quoting him
throughout this blog.

Why Arguments?
First I want to commend anyone that has read this far in my blog and have not already decided to end their subscription or delete me from their MySpace friends. I know after reading the blog myself the first thing that crossed my mind was “Does this guy think that arguments in prayer can convince God to do something that God would not have done otherwise?” If I said yes you would call me some kind of witch doctor, especially with me using words like invoke, that’s always a very evil word. And of course if I said then your question maybe “Then why should I even bother to read further?”

Well its not because God need to be reminded of what we need, God is Omniscience he know all things; It not because we are forcing God to do something God is Omnipotent and all power and
force comes from God. The reason we compose arguments in prayer is because it attaches value and importance to that thing for which we pray for. Further it shows that we have humbled ourselves before God, and are unworthy to come before God with just our unsubstantiated desires. This is a requirement of God that we plead with him with sorrowful (contrite) heart and tears for what we desire. In Isaiah 41:21 God demands that we bring forth our arguments before him.

Consider argument in prayer very much like tithing, God does not need you money however, when we pay our tithing even when the rent is due or the gas payment or even groceries are needed fro the house we are saying that “ I put my trust that God will take care of the problem, if my heart is right with God and I am obedient to God’s word.

We argue not to convince God of anything but build within ourselves a confidence in God through the argument. Let consider some of the foundation by which we can build an argument to God in prayer.

The Attributes of God
When Abraham invoked his cause before God for Sodom in Genesis 18:24-25 he founded it not in God’s grace but in God’s attribute of justice. When we have studied the Word of God
and have prayed and meditated on God we have put enough ground work whereby we can know what the Attributes of God are, and can therefor use this attributes as foundation for arguments in prayer.

God's Promise
Sometimes the greatest argument toward God in prayer is God's own promise. When Esau was coming toward Jacob at the brook of Jabbak in Genesis 32:11-12 Jacob prayed that God would deliver him from the hands of his brother, on the foundation of the promise that God had made to his grandfather Abraham. Remembering that the promise to Abraham would have to be manifested from his (Jacobs) bloodline, since he had received the blessing of his father Isaac, Jacob held God to God's word saying "It is through me that you would full-fill the promise that you made to my grandfather Your Servant Abraham," deliver me and I will make my grandfather's seed like the multitude of the sand.

The Great Name of God

Proverbs 22:1(NIV) A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.

In 2 Samuel 7:25 King David's prayer of thanksgiving his argument rest on God's promise. Though at first this may seem a bit too bold, fact is that for every honest man this is a legitimate argument "Do as Thou hast said." where is the value you have put in your own word? A man of honor will do as he has said, If we can use this as a legitimate argument toward man, how much more will God uphold His Word?

A man of statue honors his word at every chance he can, But God will never fail his word!. If God says he will do it, he will. In Numbers chapter 14 When the Children of Israel came against Moses and God was angered with them as said to Moses "I Will Smite Them With Pestilence And Disinherit Them..." but Moses composed his argument toward God for their salvation on the grounds of God's Name ( verse 15-16) and on God's promise (verse 17) on God's grace ( verse 18) and God's mercy (Verse 19) Wow! Then in verse 20 God said " I Have Pardoned According To Thy Word" This should be a revelation of how to pray to God since it perfectly demonstrates how to compose arguments toward God in prayer and bring forth positive results!

When Rabshakeh tried to convince the Jews that they had misplaced their confidence in God. In silence King Hezekiah dealt with his blasphemy, and placed his letters before God. God therefore came into the battle to provide victory against this enemy because he (Rabshakeh) came up against God with his own testimony.

As Christians we MUST use in prayer all the hate spoken by atheist, and those against Christ, all the crimes against Christians and humanities together, as argument toward God for the manifestation of his Gospel. we must cry with contrite hearts.

In that we can therefore pray, "Father see how they reproach the Gospel of Jesus Christ?, They defy You Father, and dishonour Your Son with their hateful words. Lift up Your hand against them, that they may know that You are God. Show them the strength of Your Arms and do not let their actions go unpunished!

The Sorrow of God's People
In Lamentations 4 Jerimarah talks of all their griefs and straitnesses in the siege. He calls
upon the Lord to look upon the suffering of Zion; and before long his his supplications are made true. Whenever it seems that nothing in life is going correct, and the world is against you it is at that time you need to pray to plead with moanings and with tears, setting an argument before God as to why god should rescue you of all your conditions.

The Past

Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and he called the name of it Ebenezer [stone of help], saying, heretofore the Lord has helped us.
1 Sam 7:12 (Amplified Bible)

For the mature man or woman of God there is power in the knowing how to plead the past to God. I think of the old gospel hymn by Stuart "Russ" Hamblin, Its no secret, what God can do what he's done for others he'll do for you. What God has done for you in the past God can and will do for you again.

We must learn to pray to God in such a way that it praises the great thing in our life he has done for us in the past. We must pray to God saying " You have never failed me Father not even once. I have set up my Ebenezer in Your Name. I know that if You intended for me to fail You would not have brought me this far. You are an Unchanging God and what You have done in the past, I know you can do in the present.

The Merit and Intercession of Jesus Christ
What does it really mean when we ask God to do something in Jesus' name? What we are asking is that because Christ loved us, and died on the cross while we were yet waddling in our own sin; because we have made Jesus Christ head of our lives; Christ has given us the authority to come to You and ask with the confidence that You Heavenly Father will give what we ask on the name of Jesus Christ alone.

John 14:14 (KJV) If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

We are saying that Jesus Christ boar all our afflictions, all our sickness, all our sin by the weight of his passions. But the devil wishes to make us believe that Jesus's death was in vain. When we plead before God in Jesus name we are saying by his stripes we are healed by his blood we are forgiven by is passion we ar reconciled back to You!When we plead the name of Christ there is no need to speak with fear and trembling, we can be strong in our faith, because we are pleading the name of that shakes the gates of hell, We are pleading the name that every angel in heaven must obey, we are pleading a name so great that God himself almighty feels the power of our
supplication.

Praise and Thanksgiving

I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.(Psalms 81:10 (KJV)

When we open our mouths, are we filling it with the will of God? Ask yourself when last you open your mouth was it full of arguments of prayer to God? or when you awoke this morning was it full of complaints, and criticisim? Survey your heart and ask, is it the Holy Spirit which fills your mouth with arguments? Or is it filled with the bitternes of this world that prevails you not?

Matthew 12:36 tells us "That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment."

The question then becomes what idle word will you have take account of in the day of judgment? Charles H Spurgeon, in his sermon on effective prayer says that "The man who has his mouth full of arguments in prayer shall soon have his mouth full of benedictions in answer to prayer." I understand this to mean that by effective use of prayer, God will give answers, and these answers will result in your desire to give testemony of God's greatness in your life. "Let us then open wide our mouth when we have to plead with God. Our needs are great, let our askings be great, and the supply shall be great too."(Charles H Spurgeon)

Your Brother In Christ

Troy Pearsall

Filling our Mouths with Arguments in Prayers

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Charves Pearsall) — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 16:29:00 +0000

by Troy Pearsall

"Oh that I knew where I might find Him! that I might come even to His seat! I would order my cause before Him, and fill my mouth with arguments." – Job 23:3,4

Char le s Spurgeon in his sermon on Effective Prayer, and then again John Piper as an exegesis of Psalm 143 in his sermon titled “How to argue with God” Both sited Job 23:3-:4 as a starting point for their tremendously powerful sermons on prayer.

Where the goal of Charles Spurgeon’s was to develop in the members of his church, an effective prayer life, John Piper’s goal, seemed to be to teach on how to argue with God

So powerful in fact are the lessons taught by these two men that I wanted to address this most complicated and off-times ignored practice of “filling our mouths with argument to God”. In fact a deeper understanding of filling our mouths with arguments is naturally the next level of intensity concerning this subject.

Filling our mouths with arguments to God is not the same thing as arguing with God. I was always taught and I’m sure that most people will agree that arguing with God is foolish! God is right. You (or I) are wrong, argument complete.

In the above passage (Job 23:3-4) it is the intentions of Job to order his cause before God, to give reason for God to intercede on a situation or circumstance in his life, much like we would order our cause before a judge in court. Preparing our arguments (reasons) why the judge should see things our way or make a favorable decision for us.

Filling our mouths with arguments, are prayers of lament, and anguish, with contrite heart, when the passion of our desire in prayer is so great, and the need so important that we beg that God will provide our salvation.

Now at first you may say that this is foolish to think that we can reason with God but to a limited extent this very thing is taught in today’s churches. We are taught to “give God’s word back to God in prayer” for example we say in prayer “ God your word says you will not forsake me…..” or “Jesus says that what ever we ask in his name…..” All of these are acceptable methods of reasoning with God.

Take a minute to ingest the level of the arguments Abraham put before God concerning Sodom and Gomorrah where his nephew Lot and his family lived.

(Genesis 18:24-25) Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?

In this passage the patriarch wrestles with God’s will by pleading his case, in a desperate effort to save his nephew. Abraham “orders his cause before God” and fills his mouth with arguments, saying if there be fifty righteous will you destroy the fifty unjustly for the sake of the wicked? That is not the attributes of the creator of the world to do judge unjustly.

When we are filling our mouths with arguments we have after seriously assessed the situations and are pleading with God with passion with fervency, with the knowledge that unless God help us there is nothing or no one else that can help us, we are falling at the feet of God to show his Grace toward us.

Charles H Spurgeon in his sermon o Effective Prayer says “The best prayers I have ever heard in our prayer meetings have been those which have been fullest of argument. Sometimes my soul has been fairly melted down when I have listened to brethren who have come before God feeling the mercy to be really needed, and that they must have it, for they first pleaded with God to give it for this reason, and then for a second, and then for a third, and then for a fourth and a fifth, until they have awakened the fervency of the entire assembly."

In Psalm 143:2 we have David giving his argument to God for not entering into judgment against him.
In verse 5 and 6 David argues that his past servitude to God was upright and unquenchable; this is important in that David understood that these things he had done in the past were pleasing to God and therefore were good argument on the quality of his love for God.
In verse 11 David place the hope of his arguments on the promises of God resting his faith on the scriptures (Numbers 23:19) and God’s faithfulness to God’s word, and that God Grace and love for him will be and additional argument for interceding in David condition.

I think we must understand in the end its about God's Grace which must be the foundation of all arguments, a successful arguments toward God are always founded upon God's Grace. If we think for a moment that we can stand on our own merit we will fail before God. When we come before God with a contrite heart, fully aware of our unworthiness, of our sinful state, our realization that without God we will spend eternity in hell; then we can began to understand the intense lifesaving importance of God's Grace, and that by Grace alone and nothing of ourselves that we obtain anything from God and our heart becomes contrite and our arguments become acceptable unto God.

Don't miss Part 2; Composing Arguments in prayer

Your Brother In Christ

Troy Pearsall

Praying Without Ceasing

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Charves Pearsall) — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 18:58:00 +0000

By Troy Pearsall

In his letter to Rome, the Apostle Paul instruct the new followers of Christ Jesus to “be constant in prayer" One very unique thing about most of the epistles of Paul is that they start with prayer or the acknowledgement of other in his prayer.

In Romans 1:8 Paul start addressing those called to be saint with
“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you”

In 1 Corinthians 1:4 Paul states
“I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which
is given you by Jesus Christ;”

In fact in all of his epistles (letters) Paul either speaks directly to praying continually (unceasing) or alludes to doing so. It’s very important that we see prayer as not just something we do, but something we do with God. Prayer is how we commune with God, without prayer there can be no relationship with God through Christ Jesus.

At this point we see prayer as important but not Omni-important, but this should quickly change, in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Paul writes very distinctly “Pray without ceasing” Now if we really seek to develop an understanding of this we must have at least once questioned after reading this said to ourselves “How do I pray without ceasing?”. It is this question that brings revelation into what (on a spiritual level) Paul was trying to say to us.

My mind immediately goes to Bryon Cage’s song “Breathe” in that prayer must be that very thing for us, it must come to us as simple as “the Air We Breathe” We must find ourselves praying when we walk down the street, when we seat waiting for a bus to get to work, even while praying, we must find our mind wondering to seek communion with God in prayer.

Please understand this is not a exercise in discipline where we say I’m walking I must pray, I have free time I should be praying, its much more, This is a state of mind in your spiritual life where prayer comes natural, without thought without conscious efforts, as if it was the very Air you Breathe.

You see the question isn’t how we can possibly pray all the time; the question is what is praying all the time? To pray without ceasing is not praying or thinking about God instead of spending time with our families. To pray without ceasing does not mean to think about God in contrast to thinking about other things in life. To pray without ceasing means living our entire life in the presence of God. It's not instead of spending time with your family, it spending time with your family while being in the presence of God.

Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31) KJV

Praying without ceasing is eatting in the prescence of God, sleeping in the presence of God, reading in God's presence, It is living in the state of mind in which you express God in all that you do.

My Goal is always Quality and Informative Articles on Prayer and Meditation,

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Your Brother In Christ

Troy Pearsall

When the Enemy Attacks Your Prayers!

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Charves Pearsall) — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 03:56:00 +0000

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people. Ephesians 6:18 (TNIV)

Often times when we are on our knees Satan seek to take control of our very thoughts. A mind that was perfectly clear of outside thoughts is now while we are in prayer being interrupted with thoughts of Monday's meeting at work, or the phone bill, or even weather we've forgotten to turn off the lights in the basement before you came up to pray. This is just another way the Devil seeks to prevent you from spending time with God. This is how he, Satan, intercepts your supplications for the healing of Sister Jones at church, or the request of the salvation of a family member or friend on drugs. You see a prayer heard by God is a victory for you and a testimony of God faithfulness, so when your drop down on you knees to pray you become enemy of the devil, and he will do all he can to make you fail at prayer.

There was a time when I would get deep into my prayer or would become passionate in meditation when the phone would ring, or the dog would bark and my mind would instantly be lost to all that I had accomplished up to that point.

There was a time when I would fall asleep while in prayer? At the most intimate time with God my mind wanders from my relationship with God to next month’s gas bill. I began to think to myself “Why am I not more focused in the things of God? Do I really Love Christ the way I said I do?” what I did not realize is that this is what the Devil wanted.

Paul suggests that there is or may be something that can happen to us while we are in a state of prayer. Paul warns us be alert , but what is it that we should be alert to? Let me give you a spiritual backdrop for a second. Prayer is a service, which we do to achieve many things.

1. We speak the will of God in prayer
2. We get to know God though prayer
3. We confess our sins to God though prayer
4. We even thank God for his blessing and tender mercies, loving kindness, salvation, forgiveness of sin, and his son Jesus Christ through prayer.
5. But most importantly we develop or strengthen the relationship we have with God through Prayer.

However, the Devil does not want us to do these things; Satan especially does not want us to develop our relationship with God. So he interjects the thoughts of the world into our prayers. Into our mind while we seeking intimacy with God.

So what do we do? We can entertain these thoughts and loose our relationship with God, or we can try to just not think about these worldly thoughts and go on with our prayers. If we entertain these thoughts then we give the devil power. His only goal was to come between you and God, to break that relationship. Now if the devil can break that relationship while you are in prayer, he most surely can come between you and God when you are having trying times.

The other option is to just not think about these things and go on praying. This may sound like the best move but its not. You see if I said right now when you read the word “happy” in this article you must never think about a purple frog. Than every time you read the word “happy” you most surely will think about a purple frog. There is no way to stop it. This is our dilemma but there is an answer.

"who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men"Philippians 2:6-7(NASB)

If we read Philippians 2:6-7 we read what Christ did in the obedience to God even as he was God. Verse 7 says “he emptied himself taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.” From this we get instruction on how to deal with these attacks on our prayers. We must empty our minds of this unwanted thought, but there is more then we must put in our minds the thing we desire.

It is impossible to empty our mind and leave it that way, so we put into our mind the things which are of virtue. And let them occupy that space where the devil sought to attack our prayers. In Philippians 4:8 Paul instructs us “if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” The simplicity of this is that we can not think on two thinks at a time. So if our mind is fixed on the things of God we have already built a wall of protection against the wiles of the devil.

Now once you have developed a strong wall against the devil attacks on your prayers. Once you have stopped letting your mind wander in prayer, once you have stopped looking up to see who just called your cell phone, once you have stopped responding to the house phone, the door bell, the dog bark, the TV, and even your grand daughter nudging you trying to wake you up. Once you have lifted up your prayer to such a level that the only thing more important than completing your prayer is the house burning down (and that depends on what side of the hose the fire started) then Satan starts to use the hardcore attack on you.

At this point the devil seeks to maneuver other things in our life in front of prayer, and place prayer on the back burner. Even things that may appear to be for the edification of God's kingdom the devil will use to interrupt the time we have for prayer.

Ministry and fellowship becomes more important that obedience and prayer. We find it easy to be enthusiastic when it comes to making it to Christian concerts, and ministry meetings, bible study, Sunday school, and even Church, but something always comes up when it time to pray.

Faced with all the tribulations of life we say things like “This is the type of thing that only prayer can solve" yet we talk more about it, we worry more about it, we contemplate more about it, we scheme more about it, we
seek after our own solutions more about it, we do all these thing more than we pray about it. Basically we put everything in front of prayer. Prayer is always last on our list of things to do. And even though we have matured in the things of Christ, through bible study, and church, Sunday school and retreat we still don’t have a clue what it means to have a move of the spirit, to consecrate ourselves, before God. We are still doing all things that we did before we confessed Christ as our Lord and Savior.

Because our relationship with God, still in it’s infancy, is being slowly torn apart by Satan because we have yet to put prayer first in our lives. Sadly, not one of us can say we have gone to God enough in prayer. We all have committed the sin of neglecting prayer, and sought our own devices to answer our problems. We all have placed prayer on the back burner for something else more important.

We have to realize that it is God's will that we pray, and we say we love the God, and we place Christ as Lord over our lives. We can’t put anything before that time to commune with God.

Even, Billy Graham spiritual advisor to many presidents, whom have arguably preached the word of God to more people than anyone else on this planet. As of 1993, more than 2.5 million people had stepped forward at his crusades to "accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior at his revivals. Even this great man of God has admitted to being so motivated with doing the Work of God that he has forgotten to do the Will of God! Now don't go around telling people I said Billy Graham don't pray, the point I'm trying to get across is that we can put things, even the things of God ahead of the Will of God. The South African Minister Andrew Murray wrote "If we do not set a given time to pray, we will not pray" I would add also that we pray that out prayer time is never snatched away by the manipulation of the Devil.

Set a Time to Pray

Set a time to pray two or three times per day, and let nothing come between your prayer times not even the works of God. But even though you have a set prayer time you should still pray whenever you have a few minutes to yourself. For instance while waiting for a bus, you can pray, or sitting in the doctors office waiting
for your name to be called are both excellent times to pray.

Stay Single-Minded

Before you pray, pray! Pray that God will keep you single-minded, that your prayer will not be obscured by any of the Devil's devices. And when or if your prayers are interrupted by disturbing thoughts, weakness, or just human junk, speak them out or your life. In Matthew 16:23 when Simon Peter tried to convince Jesus not to take up the cross, Jesus answered "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns." (TNIV) This allowed Christ to remain single-minded toward the things of God.

Remember that the mind is the Devils play-ground; he attacks us in the mind causing us to question our faith, and even intercepting or interrupting our prayer with God. So before you pray put on the Helmet of Salvation so that the mind is protected against the evil devices of the enemy!

And Get before God as much and as often as you can because you can be sure the devil will be before God to accuser you of your sins!

…for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.Revelation 12:10b (KJV)

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Praying to the Point of Tears

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Charves Pearsall) — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 01:14:00 +0000

by Troy Pearsall

Nothing has hindered the blessing or the manifestation of blessing in the life of urban men today like the concept that it is unmanly to cry.

With time, as believer in Christ we learn to mature beyond the inundated precepts of a society motivated by the whiles of Satan's pride. Those bit of society that tell us men should not cry. However for some the need to restrict crying is never released; not in public prayer, not even in secret pray with God. Some men never realize that tears are not a sign of weakness but the expression of compassion. And because of this they never reach the full application of the compassion of Christ.

One of the things God desire in our life is that we learn to lean on him for all things in our life. However this to may seem like an admission of weakness, our pride says to us "I don't need nobody" This is how the God of this world interject his poison into even our prayer and our relationship with God.

We listen to society telling us that we are self-sufficient, But the man or women of God is not self-sufficient in fact the very opposite is true. If we believe we can do anything ourselves, we have no God in us. Not until God sees the hopelessness in our life, and we experience the realization our personal situation is solely dependent on God will for salvation, there is no man or women, no job or circumstance, when we get to that point in life when we can do nothing but break down in tears crying out to God, realizing that in God's hand alone is our salvation. Then God can smile on us and hears our prayers.

So when we pray we need to pray in a state of desperation. If the need is not important enough to more us, how can we expect it to have the power needed to move God? The bible is full of scripture where the tears shed in prayer are heard by God.

2 Kings 20:5 (KJV)
Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD.

Hebrews 5:5-7 (KJV)
So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

From the above verse in Hebrews we see that even Jesus Christ would pray to the point of tears. But not until we read psalms 56:8 do we get any idea as to why.

Psalms 56:8 (TNIV)
Record my misery; list my tears on your scroll are they not in your record? When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me

Ok I'm going to say it. Sometimes prayer is ineffectual just because there are no tears. This does not mean that tears make a prayer effectual. However if your prayer can not move you to sorrow, and you are doing the praying, how much less is it moving God to want to see that prayer fulfilled?

Every one of ancient times cried out in prayer to the Lord. I would go as far as to say that it appears to be those that cried the hardest are the ones that did the greatest works in God. In Paul's letter to Timothy he writes

"I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day; Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy;" 2 Timothy 1:3-4 (KJV)

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Just give God the glory

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Charves Pearsall) — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 02:17:00 +0000

After all the hoopla about Peyton Manning and The Colts, Tony Dungy and his faith I am as Christian very confused about why.

We live in a world where we are told to put more faith in God in all parts of our life. In our daily life, when things go well as well as when they go bad. However, as soon as a notable person says he/she has put their faith in God in public they are condemned for the very faith they profess.

I dont' think for a momment that God gives two wooden nickles about which teams wins the Superbowl but the bible says the "For the Lord take delight in his people and he crowns the humble with victory" So we humble oursleves before God.

Is it possible that the faith of one man or one team had some favor in God? If not actually than in the mind of the man with whom the faith was displayed. Really what difference does that make?

The goal of this post is not to create a debate but rather toask the question " Is it so bad that a team of men want to give God the Glory?"
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What so Wrong?

noreply@blogger.com (Troy Charves Pearsall) — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 05:18:00 +0000

Tony Dungy's and Lovie Smith's skin color, they've got a stronger bond than being the first African-American head coaches to lead their teams to the Super Bowl. The bond of their common Christian faith is becoming increasingly evident as media scrutiny intensifies surrounding the nation's highest-profile sporting event.
"The Lord set this up in a way that no one would believe it," Dungy told reporters after his Indianapolis Colts beat the New England Patriots to qualify for Super Bowl XLI. "The Lord tested us a lot this year, but he set this up to get all the glory."

This is common for winners of sporting events to quote “ Give God the Glory” but my question is how much do we really feel God has to do with the results or the outcomes of events.
Is there a level of hypocracity when prayer is done in ther locker room? And if both teams pray what if any part does God play in the events outcome?
Last, if God does not play in part int the events outcome what is the purpose for prayer?

Here is on response I got from another Blog

Not all Prayer is Good or Done for the Right Motives.

(Matthew 6:5) "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full."

(Mark 12:40) "They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely."

I find that there is also a tendency by many Christians to treat God as though he were a cosmic Santa Claus. They are being taught by "name and claim" preachers that God is supposed to shower them with selfish material blessings at their request. Because they pray, they expect God to make them rich, but what did Christ say to the rich young man?

(Matthew 19:21) Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

None of these "name and claim" preachers seems to want to talk about the warnings in the Bible about the deceitfulness of riches. No one seems to like this particular verse:

(James 4:3) "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts."

Make me rich, give me everything I want, take all these obstacles from my path, remove these trials, tribulations and burdens from me. What did James say?

(James 1:2) "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

I find it sad that people will pay big money to sit on an icy cold bleacher to watch grown men wrestle over a pig skin. You can't get most of them to sit on a warm padded pew to hear the word of God for free. Even sadder, if they actually choose to go to Church, the Preacher probally won't teach them to pray for repentance, for character development, for the weak, the sick, the abused, the down trodden. It is much more likely that he will tell them they should pray for wealth and by the way don't forget his 10%.

I can think of many things to include in my prayers but honestly I think that the outcomes of sporting events are trivial in the grand scheme of things. When there are children starving, souls being eternally lost, Church's and their leaders fallen and corrupted, paedophile Priests, and a thousand other weighty issues to pray about, why should I concern myself with the outcome of games? Are there not more urgent and important things for us to petition God over?
Here is a link to an article I wrote recently called The Power of Prayer.

Brother In Christ

Troy Pearsall