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The Bible says in Psalms 33:6, "By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all their host by the breath of His mouth." Verse 9 says, "For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast." In Genesis, Chapter 1 the Bible tells us how God created the Earth, the light, the firmament, etc. It says that He spoke these things into being. For instance, in verse 3, God said, "Let there be light;" and there was light. In the original Hebrew language, this passage says that God said, "LIGHT BE," and light was. God spoke to light and commanded it to be and light had no choice but to be. Light is still being. God spoke it in the beginning and it is still happening. God does not have to tell light to be every day.He spoke it THEN and we are still enjoying the effects of His spoken Word! I know this is true because the Bible says that God rested on the seventh day. If God had to command light to be every day, He wouldn't have been able to rest, or the seventh day would have been dark. The waters would have run together and there would not have been dry land on that seventh day.
I'm sure that you understand the point I am making. I am illustrating how alive the Word that God speaks really is. The Bible is not just a book; it is God's Word! Hebrews 4:12 (Amplified Bible) says, "For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power-making it active, operative, energizing and effective; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and spirit, and of joints and marrow, exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart. GOD'S WORD IS ALIVE!
Jesus said in John 14:10-12 that He didn't speak His own words but He did what God told Him to do. He spoke God's Word. He then went on to say that if we believe in Him that we will do the same works and greater works than He did. Jesus gave us the authority to speak God's Word. We can speak God's Word in prayer knowing that it will work for us just as it did for God in the beginning and for Jesus in His earthly ministry.
Jeremiah 1:12 says that "God is alert and active, watching over His Word to perform it." When we pray God's Word for a situation, we know that He is watching over what we pray to make it come to pass! We can return His Word to Him in prayer knowing that, according to Isaiah 55:11, "His Word will not return void, but will accomplish that which He pleases and purposes, and will prosper in the thing for which He sent it." God sent His Word about healing to heal. His Word about salvation was sent to save. His Word about meeting all our needs, (spirit, soul, body, financially, socially and emotionally), was sent so we can have all our needs met. There is an answer in the Word of God for every need. He is so good!
Many people have asked me if praying God's Word over and over is praying like the people Jesus was talking about in Matthew 6:7, "And when you pray do not (multiply words, repeating the same ones over and over, and) heap up phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for their much speaking " (Amplified Bible). He did not say not to repeat them over and over, He said not to repeat them over and over in the same way the Gentiles did. He explained what made their praying vain. He said that they thought they were being heard for their much speaking. In other words, they thought that if they said it often enough, their gods would finally hear them. We know that God hears us when we pray because He said His ears are open to the prayers of the righteous. We have been made righteous through Jesus, so there is nothing wrong with praying God's Word over and over as long as we pray in faith, knowing that He is the one who is making it come to pass. I pray the Word over and over because faith comes by hearing the Word of God. When I pray the Word of God for a situation, I begin to see that situation the way God sees it, through eyes of faith. Then, my faith is released and I can believe for the answer. At the same time, the Sword of the Spirit, which is God's Word, is wrestling successfully against the despotisms, powers and master spirits who are the world rulers of this present darkness. It is very capably thwarting their strategies against the people I'm praying for.
I want to share some prayers, taken straight from the Bible, to help you learn to pray with God's Word. These prayers are not to be substituted for the Word of God, but to share some confessions on various subjects with you. As you read your Bible, be alert to find scriptures that cover needs that arise in life, and pray them as you go. You will find that your scripture list will grow very quickly as you add the scriptures you find. Remember, Hebrews 11:1 says that our faith is the evidence of the things we can't see. Don't be moved if the situation looks the same after you pray. It has to get in line with God's Word! "Having done all to stand, STAND" according to Ephesians 6:13 & 14. REMEMBER: PRAYER MIXED WITH FAITH, CHANGES THINGS.
When we confess the Word of God over any situation, He is able to perform what His Word says about that situation. His Word is His will; when we pray the Word, we know that we are praying in agreement with His will. Mark 11:23 & 24 says that we are to believe that we receive the things we pray for WHEN WE PRAY, not when it looks like we've received them, and that we will have what we say. When we say what the Word says, it will come to pass in the natural realm.
In the name of Jesus, I confess that as you pray these prayers for your loved ones, and yourself, your confidence in God's willingness to answer YOUR prayers will grow, and you will know that if you were the only one on the earth praying for a certain situation, God would hear YOU and answer YOU because He told YOU to pray. I believe for tremendous results in your life through praying with God's Word.
Praise the Lord!
Kathy Palmer
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