Prayer 2021

Discover the transformative power of storytelling in this enlightening podcast episode. We delve into how effective narratives can engage audiences, foster connection, and inspire action. By examining various storytelling techniques and their applications, listeners will learn how to craft compelling stories that resonate with their target audience. Additionally, we explore the emotional impact of storytelling and how it can serve as a catalyst for change in both personal and professional contexts. Join us as we unlock the secrets to becoming a more impactful storyteller and harness the potential of your own narratives.Takeaways: The importance of authenticity in storytelling cannot be overstated; it connects us deeply with our audience. Utilizing personal experiences in your narrative can enhance relatability and engage listeners more effectively. Consistency in content creation is crucial for building a loyal audience and maintaining interest over time. Effective communication requires not only speaking but also listening to your audience's needs and feedback. Incorporating humor into your content can lighten the mood and make serious topics more approachable. Leveraging social media platforms strategically can significantly expand your reach and promote your podcast effectively. Links referenced in this episode:faithcasteracademy.com

Scripture of the Day:   Ephesians 3:!4“For this reason, I kneel before the Father…” Cast Your Cares Upon Him pt 2When I started out in ministry, I was part of an Independent Baptist church and we were part of the Central Texas Independent Baptist Association of Churches. I used to preach in our church, at least once per month…but we would hold monthly conventions where all of the preachers would gather and hold a couple hours of sermon teaching and prayer time.  I would be invited to go and speak in their churches, hold revivals, etc. I was an evangelist and thought I knew a lot about the Lord and the Bible, etc. This would have been about 1995 or so.  But then, something happened.  I was exposed to the Pentecostal way of worshipping the Lord. I had been Baptized with the Holy Spirit the night I was born again on January 25, 1992. I had spoken and praised God in tongues…I knew what it was. But the Independent Baptists did not do that and, I was trying to fit in, so I did not do it either… In those days, if you were “one of them tongue talking preachers,” you were booted out of the fellowship… But the longer I stayed in that group, and compared the results they were seeing and praying for compared to what I was seeing amongst those that DID believe in speaking in tongues – I couldn't believe the differences!  It was almost like night and day. Then, the opportunity came, through a person I was associated with in my secular business, to meet Dr. Vernard Johnson. He is known as the “World's Greatest Gospel Saxaphonist.” He was really, REALY popular at the time, especially in the COGIC circles. Through the process of meeting him, talking with him and even helping out at a few of his concerts and getting to know him a bit on a personal level, he offered me an opportunity to have my first real, paid, ministry job by helping him organize and promote his concerts. I mentioned this to our little group, trying to get them to come out to a “Soul Winning Concert” that would be in the area. After all, that is all they talked about was “winning souls for the Kingdom.” Don't you know, THAT VERY NIGHT, they shunned me! Nobody would talk with me. Nobody would sit with me at the same table in the fellowship hall. When I left that building, I asked God, “Why?  They don't want anything to do with me just because I want to win souls for the Kingdom?”  The Spirit of God spoke directly to my spirit and said, “Don't worry about, they don't want anything to do with me either…” How tragic!  An entire group of probably 20 churches that just refused to admit that the Holy Spirit was real and that speaking in tongues was a way to communicate with God and have God communicate with you.  I never was invited back to speak in any of those churches ever again.  I found out later, several of those churches had to close their doors. Many only had a handful of people attending their services – even after 20 years. For many of them, the only new additions was when someone would have a baby.   What does all of this have to do with the subject of “Cast Your Cares on the Lord?”  Because that night, I did just that. I had been trying to “please men” by pleasing those preachers. To be accepted. But when I decided to put the Kingdom first, to win souls for the Kingdom by helping another ministry that “was not part of their clique” – I was shunned. At first, I was devastated. “Was I wrong?” “Should I go back and apologize?” But the more I prayed about it, the answer from the Lord was clear, “Leave those things behind and continue to press towards the mark of your high calling in Christ.”  Praise God! And do you know when that download came to me?  While praying in tongues! Bless God! At that point, I cast the entire thing over onto the Lord and have never looked back again. And now, our ministry is thriving and almost every

Scripture of the Day:   2 Corinthians 13:9“We are glad whenever we are weak but you are strong; and our prayer is that you may be fully restored.” If in Doubt – Then You're Out!If you are a saved, born again child of the Living God, then you are never supposed to doubt the Word of God. You are never supposed to doubt ANYTHING you read in His Word. Every single word, every single letter, every single punctuation mark has a specific purpose if it is in the Bible. Amen. When you believe that with all of your heart, spirit, soul and every fiber of your being, you will never quake in the devils presence. Ever!  Why? Because GREATER is HE that is in you than he that is in the world. Amen! When the devil tries to get you off of your game plan – which is to trust 100% in Jesus and all that He accomplished for you, if the devil can get you to doubt just ONE PART of God's Word, he has a foothold in your life. You may be one of those that do not believe speaking in tongues is for today… Guess what, you're right! Anything to do with speaking in tongues and the benefits you will gain from it – are worthless to you. You get zero benefits. That moves over into receiving your prayers as answered as well. You will not see any resulting answers to your prayers… Period. That also concerns sickness in your body…no healing for you… The devil will have free reign to take sniper shots at you anytime and anywhere he chooses to do so… Have you ever felt like, just as things start going good, SOMETHING bad happens? Have you ever noticed that, just as soon as you start to get a little bit ahead financially, the car breaks down or the TV goes out and now you have to spend even more money and “Back into debt” you go…maybe even deeper in debt than you were two weeks ago? Have you ever noticed anything like that? Why does that happen? When I hear people talk like that, one of the first questions I will ask is about their prayer life.  Are they praying every day? Consistently?  And do you know the response I generally will receive? “Of course, brother Bob. I pray every day (and then – they add the qualifier)…BUT, I only have time to pray while I'm in the car or it may only be for a couple of minutes…” And, as bad as that is…it will still WORK if that is all the time you truly have.  My next question is something like, “You don't have a lot of time? You can't pray 15 minutes a day? What are you doing at 4:30am every day?” 99% of the time it will, “Sleeping?”   Then I hit them with what Jesus asked His disciples, “Why are you sleeping? Couldn't you pray one hour with me?” But, IF (and this is a BIG IF), they do respond with they are praying, I will the ask, “Are you praying in tongues?”   THEN I get the “deer in the headlights” look. They begin to stammer and stumble. Some will even come right out and say, “I don't believe in that stuff. It's of the devil” Or “It's not for us today” or some bogus thing like that… Folks, if it is IN Bible – and especially IN THE NEW TESTAMENT – it is for us today in the church age! Glory to God.  What other benefits are there for praying in tongues? In 1 Corinthians 14:2-5, we see the Apostle Paul telling us that God is speaking to our spirit man directly through His Holy Spirit. This builds up the power of faith that works within us. This gives us direct information that our spirit man can pull on throughout the day. This is given to us in a way the devil cannot understand the secrets God is sharing with us. This is a way for God to give us warning about plans the devil is devising and God's plan to counter the attack. BUT – if you are one of those who refuses to believe…If you DOUBT – then you are OUT! So, I want to pray for you right now. I want to pray that your spirit man would become sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. I want to pray for you to renew that power that is within you – and you do that

Scripture of the Day:   I Kings 8:35“When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and give praise to your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them…”Worry IS A SinI remember when God first began to deal with me about this issue of worry. I don't know if you have ever thought about the sin of worry in connection with faith and receiving answers to your prayers. But worrying and being hindered in your faith go hand in hand together. You see, prayer, faith and answered prayers are all tied together. I know some people think it's their spiritual duty to worry about things. “Well, brother Bob, if I don't worry about it, nobody else will…” type of attitude.  But that is 100% spiritually wrong. Amen. Sometimes, people worry about getting sick. Then they worry if they will get well. Then they worry they will infect someone else. Then they worry….and worry…and worry… Then, when they are healed, they worry they will get sick again. It is just one vicious cycle. A never ending merry-go-round of worry.  Some people just WANT TO WORRY. They enjoy it! As twisted as that seems, it's true. It cannot be more opposite the Bible, but it is still true!  We have studied in Psalms 37:5 where the Word of God says, “Commit your way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and HE shall bring it to pass…” The margin of my bible says, “Roll you way upon the Lord.” The words, cast, roll and commit are all the same meaning. We are to cast our cares, our worries, unto the Lord. Just roll the entire care over to Him. Commit our way to Him and let Him guide our paths. That is what the Word of God is trying to tell us to do – continually. Notice, as we have said before, GOD is not going to TAKE AWAY your worry. He is not going to TAKE AWAY your cares. He is not going to TAKE AWAY any of those things. YOU have to give them to Him. You have to do something about your cares and worries by CASTING them over UNTO Him! Amen!   Some people will ask me to pray that “God will lighten my load.”  God is not going to do that! The Lord has already TOLD US what to do with problems. CAST THEM OVER ON HIM. Amen! I'm telling you this, folks, it the most humble way I know how… If you hold onto your thought patterns of worry and doubt, your prayers will NEVER be answered.  Jesus said, in Mark 11:24 “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe you will receive them, and you will have them.” Notice here you have to believe with your heart, your very innermost being, your spirit man believing that God has heard your prayers and, in 1 John 5:15, “If we know He hears our prayers, then we can know He will grant us the petitions we desire of Him.” If you will simply cast the care of whatever you are worrying about over on Him, THEN God can work in your behalf and the things you have been praying about will be taken care of. BY HIM!  You usually won't hear this good of preaching in your church today! Praise God!  For those of you that might live in an area where you can actually GO to church in this day and hour. Bless God, thank you Father for the Internet where we can BOLDLY Proclaim the Word of God around the world in the twinkling of eye – Praise God! I want to pray for you right now. I want to pray that you will hear the Word of God plainly. So plainly that it will make complete sense to you to CAST YOUR CARES AND YOUR WORRIES OVER ON HIM!  Never to take them up again! When the devil tries to bring these things to your remembrance, you just tell him, “Ah…go talk to God about that. He's taking care of these things. I don't have a care in the world about this anymore. Go talk to God.”  Bless the Lord…did you get that? Praise God! Let's pray! Until next time, this is Pastor Bob...

Scripture of the Day:   Numbers 11:2“When the people cried out to Moses, he prayed to the Lord and the fire died down…” Cast Your Cares on Him Yesterday, we talked about how much God LOVES US! Praise the Lord! And when someone loves you so much, so much they are willing to die for you…that is unconditional love! Amen! Whether they receive the love back from you or not will not affect how much they love you. We can see that in kids that become estranged from their parents and run off to “do their own thing.” It breaks their parents heart (in most cases). They do not agree with the immoral lifestyle their children may be leading. But the love of the parent is still there. It is still strong. They are praying. They are believing that “one day” their child will come back and receive the love they are offering, in the Name of Jesus. That is God's kind of Love. He died for us while we were yet sinners. He died for us with no guarantee that His Love would be returned, reciprocated from us back to Him. Amen. But He did it anyway. Not just saying we love Him, but by living like we love Him. And that includes giving Him our cares and worries and thoughts and anxiety. He can handle it. If we give it all to Him. After you have prayed and committed your particular situation to the Lord, if you are still trying to “figure out the answer,” then you have taken back upon yourself the problem!  If you are staying up all night worried about the problem and what to do and how YOU are going to fix it, your prayers will not work because you are telling God, “I got this.” Which means you “got this” and not Him! Amen!  If that is where you are at, if you haven't cast ALL of your cares upon the Lord, you CAN do something to change your situation. I want you to notice something in this verse, particularly in the Amplified translation of the Bible, from First Peter 5:7… “Casting the whole of your care – all of your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, ONCE AND FOR ALL – on Him…” This is not something you do every day. This is a “Once and for all time” proposition! Praise God!  In other words, when you obey THIS SCRIPTURE and cast all of your cares upon Him ONCE AND FOR ALL, that gets rid of them right then and puts them over into His hands! Amen! Once you make that type of commitment and purpose in your heart NOT to carry those burdens anymore, the next time the devil tries to bring it up in the front of your mind again, REFUSE to take the thought! Right now, I am convinced there are some people, right now, who will refuse to do this. They do not want to get rid of their cares. They may say they do, but they don't.  Is that you? There are some folks, watching or listening to me right now, that WILL NOT DO THIS because they would not have anything to talk about anymore!  Think about it…if they got rid of their cares, they would not have any way to generate some form of sympathy from other people! They have become so accustomed of getting sympathy from others, they do not know how to act any other way. So, in their minds, if they cast ALL of their cares over on the Lord and refused to touch them again in their minds – they would have nothing to talk about!   Let's Pray! Until next time, this is Pastor Bob Thibodeau reminding you from 1 Thessalonians 5:17 in the Living Bible to “Always Keep on Praying!”  Be blessed in all that you do! Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com/ (https://podcastersforchrist.com). And while you are at the website, download the free resource I have for you… it is free and is called, “How to Start a Christian Podcast.” It will bless you – go and download it today. You can also WATCH these session on our Facebook Playlist at this...

Scripture of the Day:   Philippians 1:9“And this is my prayer, that your love may abound more and more in the knowledge and depth of insight…” True Love on Valentine's DayLove. This is the day when most nations of the world will celebrate, what has become known as “Valentine's Day.” A day when loved ones share cards expressing how much they love the other person. But, how did “Valentine's Day” actually get started. For this, I will quote from a very good article from the website, rosesonly.com that gave a great, historical analysis of Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day is named after Saint Valentine, a Catholic priest who lived in Rome in the 3rd Century. There are many stories about St Valentine and over time these stories grew into the legend we know today. At the time of Valentine's life, many Romans were converting to Christianity, but the Emperor Claudius II was a pagan and created strict laws about what Christians were allowed to do. Claudius believed that Roman soldiers should be completely devoted to Rome and therefore passed a law preventing them from marrying. St Valentine began to marry these soldiers in secret Christian ceremonies and this was the beginning of his reputation for believing in the importance of love. Eventually, Valentine was found out and jailed for his crimes against Claudius. While imprisoned, Valentine cared for his fellow prisoners and also his jailor's blind daughter. Legend has it that Valentine cured the girl's blindness and that his final act before being executed was to write her a love message signed ‘from your Valentine'. Valentine was executed on 14 February in the year 270. It wasn't until more than 200 years later that 14 February was proclaimed St Valentine's Day. By this time Rome had become Christian and the Catholic Church was determined to stamp out any remaining paganism. A pagan fertility ritual was held in February each year and the Pope abolished this festival and proclaimed 14 February Saint Valentine's Day, thus establishing this feast day on the Catholic Calendar of Saints. The poet Chaucer in the Middle Ages was the first to link St Valentine with romantic love. This was the beginning of the tradition of courtly love, a ritual of expressing love and admiration, usually in secret. This custom spread throughout Europe and stories grew about a High Court of Love where female judges would rule on issues related to love on 14 February each year. Historians believe that these meetings were in fact gatherings where people read love poetry and played games of flirtation. The practice of sending love messages developed into people sending special cards expressing their affection. These cards were beautiful creations handmade by the sender and individually designed to show how much they loved the recipient. Cards would usually contain sentimental verse, proclaiming the beauty of the receiver and how much they were loved. While Valentine's Day is celebrated in most countries, different cultures have developed their own traditions for this festival. In some parts of the world Valentine's Day is observed as a day for expressing love between family members and friends, rather than that of romantic couples. Some traditions include leaving lollies and gifts for children and others include acts of appreciation between friends. Valentine's Day is most commonly associated with romantic love, with millions of Valentine's Day cards being exchanged each year. Gifts of flowers or a single red rose are sent with romantic messages to loved ones and couples spend special time together.  Many couples choose to celebrate Valentine's Day with dinner, a picnic or special home-cooked meal. Many restaurants offer Valentine's Day dinner promotions and food is often presented with symbols of love like hearts and flowers. Another popular Valentine's Day activity is to indulge in a luxury hotel stay in a beautiful location, allowing a couple to get...

Scripture of the Day:   Philippians 4:6“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Don't Be Anxious About the OutcomeWe've been talking these past few days about rolling your cares over on the Lord. He is more than able to handle your situation. Amen. No matter how bad it may seem to you – He is able to make it go away and deliver you from all your troubles. Glory to God! When we roll our cares over on Him, we are demonstrating that we have Faith in His Word. Since Jesus IS the Word, we are demonstrating that we have Faith in Him. Amen! A verse in Psalm 37 helps us to see what Peter was talking about in our verse of the day just a little more clearly. It says: “Commit your way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass.”  AMEN! The words “roll” or “cast” or “commit” are all the same root words which means to TRUST him. Amen. Isn't that what the Bible is saying in these verses? To just TRUST HIM? Notice God is not going to TAKE your cares away. It does not say that at all. YOU are going to have do something with them. You can either cling to them and hold onto them – and be completely responsible for them…or you can GIVE THEM TO HIM. Some misguided people will ask me to pray that “God will help me get through this.” That is the wrong attitude to have. You should be praying that God will deliver you from this. Not get you through it. You should be praying that you are giving the care of this situation to God and then you thank Him (in advance) for the deliverance.  If you insist on worrying about your situation, whatever it is, then you are telling God that He is not in charge – YOU ARE. And God will not TAKE anything from you. Not even your cares.  Think of it like this… When you got born again, what did you say? In some form or fashion, if you truly asked Jesus to be your Savior, you probably said something to the effect, “Lord I give you my life.” Am I right? What good will your sin filled life do for Jesus. NOTHING. But, when you GAVE HIM your life – He became responsible for it. And the only way He could save you from your sinful self was to destroy that sinful person and then give you a NEW LIFE – a rebirth – a BORN AGAIN spirit that is the NEW YOU. But it did not happen until what? Until YOU gave HIM permission to do it! Glory to God! Don't shout me down when I'm preaching good. Amen! Is all of this starting to make sense now! I pray it is. I pray a light of revelation just switched on inside your spirit man. Glory to God. I want to pray for you right now…Let's pray that this new light of revelation will allow you to begin to walk with the Lord with no cares for this world, no cares about your life, no cares about whatever is plaguing you right now. Let's pray for absolute deliverance from all of your cares and all of your troubles. Why? Because He says you can do that! Amen! Let's Pray! Until next time, this is Pastor Bob Thibodeau reminding you from 1 Thessalonians 5:17 in the Living Bible to “Always Keep on Praying!”  Be blessed in all that you do! Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com/ (https://podcastersforchrist.com). And while you are at the website, download the free resource I have for you… it is free and is called, “How to Start a Christian Podcast.” It will bless you – go and download it today. You can also WATCH these session on our Facebook Playlist at this link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtKWeKtmv-BwgkquBTsSh-GznbmuUp_R2 (https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtKWeKtmv-BwgkquBTsSh-GznbmuUp_R2)

Scripture of the Day:   Proverbs 15:29“The Lord is far from the wicked, but He hears the Prayer of the Righteous” Don't Pray About What is in the BibleYou don't have to “pray about the Bible.” The Bible IS the Word of God. Jesus is the Word of God. Therefore, Jesus IS the Bible!  Praise God! How many of you just got a revelation right there! Amen! You don't have to pray about whether something you read in the Bible is scriptural. Whether it is something you should believe – even when you don't understand it – or if it is something you need to get “pastoral advice” about. If the Bible says it – then it is in the Bible and is a fact that cannot ever be disputed. Amen. You just need to accept God's Word and believe it. The Bible is true, through and through. You will read it and it says the exact same thing before you pray and after you pray. It never changes. Because God never changes. Amen!  If you would just believe the Bible and do what it says, you would not have to do all of that praying about “what to do.” You also would not be experiencing some of the things you are going through, either. Amen. Some way or another, it seems people get helped temporarily or just by acknowledging the fact that God knows more and understands more about whatever you are going through than you can ever understand. But yet, they still hold on to their cares. They still worry. They still talk about their worries and their cares. And that just reinforces the power the cares have. God wants to deliver you from your cares and your afflictions. But in order for God to help you, you're going to have to cast ALL of your cares over on Him. Believe me, He's big enough…He can handle whatever you cast over on Him. Amen! He cares for you! Glory to God.  If you want to receive total and complete victory and deliverance, it is not enough just to know that God knows and that God understands and that God cares. It's not enough. We must go on from knowing that He knows and we need to start to act on what we find in His Word. If we start to act on what we find in His Word concerning our situation, that demonstrates FAITH on our part. Faith in His Word. Which means Faith in Him. Amen! God wants us to cast ALL of our cares over on Him. All of our anxieties. All of our worries. All of our concerns. Cast them ALL over on Him. That is the Prayer of Commitment when you do that. In fact, I want to pray with you right now about whatever situation you are facing. Let's roll the entire care of it over on God, right now. Just say this prayer with me… Let's Pray! Until next time, this is Pastor Bob Thibodeau reminding you from 1 Thessalonians 5:17 in the Living Bible to “Always Keep on Praying!”  Be blessed in all that you do! Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com/ (https://podcastersforchrist.com). And while you are at the website, download the free resource I have for you… it is free and is called, “How to Start a Christian Podcast.” It will bless you – go and download it today. You can also WATCH these session on our Facebook Playlist at this link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtKWeKtmv-BwgkquBTsSh-GznbmuUp_R2 (https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtKWeKtmv-BwgkquBTsSh-GznbmuUp_R2)

Scripture of the Day:   Isaiah 1:15“When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood!” Worry Will Stop Your PrayersSome people are praying about certain situations and are not seeing anything change in their life. It's as if their prayers are not being heard. Nothing is changing. One of the reasons they may not be seeing any answer to their prayers is because they are not praying in line with God's Word. They are not doing what God said to do about their cares, anxieties, worries and concerns. It is not going to do you any good to pray something concerning your cares and such, unless you are willing to do what God tells you to do about them. Amen! In other words, there are some things you have no business praying about! Some things that God just EXPECTS you to not need to pray about. And if you ARE praying about those things, it shows Him that you are not really studying His Word the way you're are supposed to be doing either.   This surprises some people. They will say, “Well, brother Bob, I thought you were supposed to pray about everything… That's what the Bible says…” Yes, it does say that. But you are taking that out of context. It doesn't mean you have to pray about what God already has told you to do. There are many things you don't have any business praying about. These are things that God has already said “DO THIS.”  He expects you to do them…not SAY you are doing them. Not saying you DID THEM. Just DO WHAT HE SAYS TO DO! No asking about “if” you should do them. Just do them. That puts you in Good Graces with God. Do you remember the parable Jesus taught in Matthew 21 about the man who had two sons. Let's look at that really quick because it emphasizes the point I'm trying to make. Mathew 21: verse 21-32: But what do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first one and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.' ‘I will not,' he replied. But later he changed his mind and went.https://biblehub.com/bsb/matthew/21.htm#fn (i) Then the man went to the second son and told him the same thing.  ‘I will, sir,' he said. But he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?”  “The first, they answered.  Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in a righteous way and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him. Why did Jesus say the tax collectors and prostitutes would enter the Kingdom before the Pharisees and other religious Jews? Because they were trusting in their prayers and rituals. The tax collectors and prostitutes KNEW they were lost and when Jesus said “only believe” – they DID! They then went about SHARING the Gospel – the GOOD NEWS – that Salvation was for those who did one thing – BELIEVE ON JESUS! Praise God! I hope you are getting this!  It does you no good at all to go into your prayer closet and pray for one hour or more every single day, asking God for the exact same things you have been asking Him for during your hour long prayer sessions for the last 17 times, 17 months or 17 years.  IF you can find a situation in the Bible where He answered someone else's prayer about any situation that is similar to yours, USE THAT to build your prayer of petition (which we will get into how a prayer of petition works later). If God said DO THIS and you are not doing it – WHY would He answer your prayer requests when YOU are not doing what He already said for you to do? Yes, we do need to ask God continually for answers to our prayers. “Pray continually,” is in the Bible…but not “pester continually.” If your kids comes every 5 minutes wanting an cookie, do you give it to them?  NO. Why? Don't you want...

Scripture of the Day:   Revelation 8:3“Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God's people, on the golden altar in front of the throne.” When the Glory Shows UpDid you ever stop to think about WHEN the Glory of the Lord filled the Temple? It was when all the people were praying and singing praise to God, out loud, in one accord. The Glory cloud filled the Temple so the priests could not even stand and minister. That is what united prayer can do! Amen! In 2 Chronicles 7:2, this is immediately after King Solomon had finished his prayer and the Glory cloud descended and filled the Temple in verse 1, verse 2 says, “And the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord, because the Glory of the Lord had filled the Lord's house.”  When God shows up, nobody, and I mean nobody, can stand in His presence. Amen! When you are in trouble and you call on the Name of the Lord, He hears you. And when He shows up, no devil in hell is going to be trying to fight you. Every demon from hell will tremble and fall prostrate before the Lord of Hosts – or flee before He arrives. That is why Jesus said in Luke 10:19, “Behold, I have given you…(notice this is PAST TENSE)…I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions and over ALL the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you!”  Praise God – that's shouting ground right there! Glory to God! If you are facing down a demon that is tormenting you, you have nothing to fear! If that devil says, “God isn't going to deliver you this time…” – just remind that devil that he IS a liar and there is no truth in him…so that means if he says “God isn't going to deliver you” – that is a lie and it means you  have already been delivered! AMEN! Then, remember what Jesus also said in John 14:14, “Ask ANYTHING in my name, I will do it!” Now that is a promise you can bank on! Glory to God! Just ASK in the Name of Jesus and watch the Glory fill your house! Amen!  No devil in hell will stay within the confines of your house when God is on the scene…and let me go one step further… Your body is known as what? THE TEMPLE OF THE LORD! Amen! So if sickness is invading your body – there is no sickness in God. So it must be a lie of the devil.  Based on what we learned today, what should you do? Call on the Name of Jesus and ask for the GLORY TO FILL YOUR HOUSE – your body! Amen! “Well, brother Bob, I'm still sick. The doctor says I'm going to die.” Let me ask you, who do you believe more? Your doctor or Jesus?   Trust the Word in all circumstances – even when the doctor is telling you there is no hope. What is the absolute WORST that can happen in that situation? “Well, I could die!”   That's right! And since that is the WORST – anything else is better, right? Maybe instead of passing away in 3 weeks it's 3 months. But what happens if you die like the doctor said? Absent from the body means you are now present with the Lord!  In HIS GLORY!  Amen! Folks, it's a win-win situation no matter how you look at it! Amen!  You just need to maintain your Faith in God that HE WILL do what His Word says  He will do! God is not a man that He should lie. God WILL DO what HIS WORD says HE WILL DO! That is all you have to rest in. Period. End of story!  And end of today's episode as well. Amen! Let's Pray! Until next time, this is Pastor Bob Thibodeau reminding you from 1 Thessalonians 5:17 in the Living Bible to “Always Keep on Praying!”  Be blessed in all that you do! Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com/ (https://podcastersforchrist.com). And while you are at the website, download the free resource I have for...

Scripture of the Day:   2 Chronicles 7:1“When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from Heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the Glory of the Lord filled the Temple.”Usher in the GloryDid you know it is possible for believers today to usher in the Glory of God in our church services? Absolutely! I've been involved in one such instance myself. I'm telling you – it is something that you will never forget! In Old Testament times, the Bible says the Glory of the Lord would fill the Temple where the people were praying. We can read all about this instance in 2 Chronicles 5:6-7 & 11-14. But, in accordance with what we have been teaching on these past few days about united prayer, I want to look at verse 13 in particular… 2 Chronicles 5:13, “It came to pass, AS THE TRUMPETERS AND SINGERS WERE AS ONE, to make ONE SOUND to be heard in PRAISING AND THANKING THE LORD, and when THEY LIFTED UP THEIR VOICE AS ONE with the trumpets and cymbals and music and praised the Lord saying, “For his is good; for his mercy endures forever…” That THEN the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord.” AMEN! And, at the end of that service, not only was the House filled with the cloud and Glory of the Lord, but FIRE fell from Heaven and consumed the sacrifices, as we read in our scripture of the day! Praise God! Have you ever experienced that? NO?  Really?   Well, I wonder why not? Like I said, I've experienced a couple of times. Only a couple. Not the fire coming down from Heaven part – but the Glory Cloud coming into the sanctuary.  The first time was at our Bible School and a great man of God named Dick Durbin was teaching. He was teaching on the Altar of the Lord and these scriptures. It was almost a week he was there as a special guest. And the last service is when he was teaching on this and about the burning of incense and the praise and music as we just read about… Well, our praise team was singing, the band was playing and the students were in reverent worship…and then…almost imperceptible at first, but you could see “something” was happening… A cloud started to descend from the ceiling down towards the altar of incense that was a representation of the real altar (obviously it was not THE Altar…amen). But it visibly descended and surrounded the altar and then started to slowly spread out through the auditorium and within about two minutes, people were sobbing and crying out praises to God…and it continued for about 30 minutes. It was the most awesome prayer experience I had ever, and I mean EVER, experienced in my life!  I get goose bumps just talking about it. To be in the actual presence of the Lord like that… The second time was several years later in a conference. We did not have a duplicate altar or anything like that in the conference I was in. But the praise and worship and the united prayers that were being offered were similar in nature and…unexpectedly, the same type of cloud started to descend from the rafters and did the same thing. It seemed like “fingers” of the cloud just sought each person out – me included.  The results were the same…Some were praising God while others just fell to their knees and sobbed, not sorrowful sobs…but repentant sobs and gratifying sobs of KNOWING they had been forgiven…it is so difficult for me to explain in words…but the experience is unforgettable. I imagine, just thinking of it right now, that must  have been something similar to what the disciples experienced in the Book of Acts on the Day of Pentecost. Something to think about anyway… My point I'm trying to make today is that UNITED prayer can bring God's presence on the scene. It may not be a physical experience as described here in 2 Chronicles chapter 5 or chapter 7. It may not be the type of experience I've described to you that I've been a part of. Those were only two instances where I experienced an physical presence

Scripture of the Day:   Acts 4:31“After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” Prayer in the Early ChurchWhen you get to the place where you can get serious with God…when you get the place that you don't care who sees you, hears you praying or hears about you praying – THEN you will begin to see the results. Amen! We've been studying the past few days about God shaking the places the disciples were praying from. Prisons, rooms with other believers, etc. But I want to look at what actually caused Peter and John to get in trouble in the first place. In Acts chapter 3, verses 6-8, you can read the story about how they healed, in the Name of Jesus, the crippled man at the Gate Beautiful. And how this was done openly, publicly and word spread quickly that this notable healing had occurred. This word soon got back to the Pharisees who sent the Temple Guard to bring Peter and John in for questioning.  They wanted to beat them and lock them up…but someone reported this news had already spread all over town. It could not be swept under the rug or denied.  So, they decided to threaten Peter and John before they let them go.  This happens in our society today. If you preach against homosexuality or transgenderism or anything the left says is normal but the Bible calls an abomination – you will be threatened… I was preaching up in Canada a few years back and was told by the pastor, “Please don't say anything about the gays. The government will shut down our church.” This cancel culture syndrome is now in the United States – especially with this administration that is running the show now. Anyway – we are here to talk about prayer and the power of prayer, amen! We covered yesterday Peter's reply from verses 19 & 20 about “whether it is right in the sight of God to obey you or Him, you decide, but we are going to keep on preaching…” Glory to God (that was my paraphrase, by the way). We also covered how they went back to their own church members and reported what had happened and then they all prayed TOGETHER, verbally and in one accord and how God shook the building they were in… He did not send an earthquake to the area. He did not shake other buildings. He did not destroy anything. He simply shook the building and answered their prayer for BOLDNESS. Amen! That's what they asked for in verse 29 – BOLDNESS as they were determined to keep on preaching and teaching, despite the threats. Amen! In verse 31, we see God immediately answering their prayers with a confirming sign! The shaking and the filling with the Holy Spirit to have a spirit of BOLDNESS! The exact thing the Pharisees did not want to happen is the thing that did happen!  They told two disciples to shut up and go home… Those two told their friends and they all started to pray that ALL of them would receive BOLDNESS to preach the Gospel – and God granted their request and answered their prayers. Now, instead of two bold disciples of Jesus – there was a whole ROOM FULL of disciples hitting the streets, declaring the Name and Power of the Name of Jesus and healing all sorts of manner of diseases – all in the face of the Pharisees! Glory to God! Don't shout me down when I'm preaching good! Amen! We will pick it up there again tomorrow. I want to pray for you to receive that kind of BOLDNESS in the Name of Jesus! Amen! Until next time, this is Pastor Bob Thibodeau reminding you from 1 Thessalonians 5:17 in the Living Bible to “Always Keep on Praying!”  Be blessed in all that you do! Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com/ (https://podcastersforchrist.com). And while you are at the website, download the free resource I have for you… it is free...

Scripture of the Day:   Acts 4:23“On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.”When Believers PrayIn Acts chapter 4, we read an account of a company of believers in the Early Church who lifted their voices in united prayer and received an immediate sign their prayers were answered. Peter and John had healed the cripple man at the gate of the Temple called “Beautiful.” This offended the hierarchy at the Temple and they had Peter and John arrested. When they were questioned by the Pharisees, and it was determined that nothing could be done against them because the miraculous healing was now public knowledge, they threatened Peter and John and to never teach anymore in the Name of Jesus. In verse 19 and 20, Peter replied, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge yourselves. As for us, we cannot but speak about the things we have seen and things we have heard.” AMEN! After they were threatened again, they were released and our scripture today says, they immediately went back to their own company and told them what happened. It is good to be with friends and like minded believers when you are in trouble and having a hard go of it. It is also good to be around those of like precious faith in troubling times, too. Amen! If this would happen today (and it is, believe me, it is AND it will become more prevalent in today's society as well with this cancel culture now running the government)… if Paul and Silas would go running back to most church pastors today, things would be different from the Church in the Book of Acts. Most churches would form a special committee and research whether Peter and John had, indeed, broken some local ordinance. They may even try to make an appointment with the local officials to work out some kind of arrangement where they could pray for sick folks inside the church and not out in public or some other such thing. These Pharisees were religious. They just did not accept that Jesus was the Messiah.  These leaders believed in the same God. They believed in the Power of Prayer. They believed God could heal someone miraculously. They just did not believe Jesus was the Messiah. Amen! The believers in that home church did not pray for the destruction of the Temple or for something bad to happen to the leadership. No. Not at all. They prayed that God would give THEM BOLDNESS!  Boldness to continue preaching in the Name of Jesus! Amen! Then, look at what happened. I'll just mention it here and we will look closer at it tomorrow… Verse 31: “And when they had prayed… the place was shaken where they were assembled together and they were filled with the Holy Ghost and spoke the Word of God with BOLDNESS.” Amen!   Two things I want to point out here and then we will close… Just like with Paul and Silas – this place was SHAKEN. Amen! No other reports of buildings damaged or any major earthquakes, etc. JUST WHERE THEY WERE PRAYING. Amen! AND – their prayers were answered!  The Holy Spirit imparted to them BOLDNESS to keep on preaching! Amen! Glory to God! We need to pray like that too. We need BOLD preachers today! We need BOLD BELIEVER's today! Amen! Let's pray for BOLDNESS to be imparted to us by the Holy Spirit. Until next time, this is Pastor Bob Thibodeau reminding you from 1 Thessalonians 5:17 in the Living Bible to “Always Keep on Praying!”  Be blessed in all that you do! Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com/ (https://podcastersforchrist.com). And while you are at the website, download the free resource I have for you… it is free and is called, Podcasting for Christians. It will bless you – go and download it today. You can also...

Scripture of the Day:   Acts 16:25“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” When Is Your Midnight?As we started to share yesterday, Paul and Silas had been beaten and thrust into the inner prison with their feet put in stocks, all for preaching the Gospel. But instead of griping and complaining, they lifted their voices together in united prayer and praises to Jesus and to God. Amen! What about you? Would you be praying and praising in those circumstances? When it looked in the natural like your life could be over. If not physically, at least freedom wise? But look at what happened. As Paul and Silas prayed, in united prayer, lifting their voices so loud all the other prisoners could hear them, God brought a mighty deliverance. Verse 26 says an earthquake shook the very foundations of the prison and all of the prison doors were opened, physically popped off the hinges. But that was not all, every single shackle has been loosed!  That should not have happened because of an earthquake! But it did! Amen! As I related  yesterday, I found it interesting that there is no historical references of an earthquake destroying anything in that area at that time. None. Not in the Bible and, as far as I have been able to determine, nothing historically either. But, praise God, that jailhouse was shaken! Amen! When the prisoners realized what had happened, you would have thought they would have made a run for the hills as quick as possible. Some had probably been their quite a while and probably had lost all hope of ever being free. Here was their chance.  That is what the jailer thought, too. That's why he was going to kill himself. If he allowed the prisoners to escape, it was on him to suffer their punishment.  But Paul told him to stop because NOBODY had ran away. NONE! Not one person left the prison!  Why? Because every prisoner in their knew it was from God. They felt the presence of the Holy Spirit and they witnessed the Power of God this Silas and Paul had been talking about. They did not want to leave that presence! Amen! They wanted MORE! Glory to God! The Jailer knew he had witnessed a miracle. The prisoners knew, too. The results was the entire family of the jailer was saved that very night. And the Philippian church was formed that night, too. With the jailer as the pastor of those inmates. Glory to God. That is what happens when you cry out to God in prayer and praise in YOUR midnight hour! Amen! There are a lot of people today just sitting around doing nothing…waiting on God to do something. Something FOR them.  They will say, “Well, if God wants me to get out of this mess, He will just have to do it, I guess…” But that is not true, not in any sense of the Word. Amen. If it was true, why did Paul and Silas have to sing, out loud? Why didn't they just say, “Well, Silas, I guess this is where the Lord wants us at right now. That's why this happened. So let's just accept our fate and see what else the Lord can do…” No, they prayed in one accord and sang praises to God! And notice their situation did not change UNTIL they prayed and sang praises to God! Amen! Did you get that! As a result, God moved! Glory to God! We need that kind of praying going on today. We need to start shaking things up in this nation and around the world. It is time for the TRUE, born again Christians to take their rightful place, publicly and visible for all to see and start praying and singing praises to God! Amen! You see, a shaking like that would cause some people to come to church! To get born again! And that same shaking will cause some who are not truly committed to the Word to leave the church. Those who don't want to pray and be shaken, well, they won't be there long. They are not Spiritually mature enough to stand the shaking, let alone benefit from it.  But that's ok. Because...

Scripture of the Day:   Acts 21:5“They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.”Group PrayerWhen I first started to attend Full Gospel services, I was not used to this idea of everyone in the building praying out loud, some in other tongues, some in English, praying at the same time for about 5 minutes or more.  That just seemed weird to me. Even when I was a Bible School, some instructors would come in and we would do this. I didn't like it. Not at all. But, I was at least willing to acknowledge that “I did not know everything” and, after all, I was at Bible school to learn, right?  I also understood that true Church was meant to be fashioned after the FIRST CHURCH – which was the Church in the Book of Acts.  In the Bible, it is called the “Law of first mention” and if the Church of Acts was the first church that the Holy Spirit set up after the ascension of Jesus and the Day of Pentecost, it must be how He wants it to operate  (despite man's best attempts at doing otherwise). So, I decided to study this out for myself. And when I did, I found this verse and others like it (Acts 2:1; 4:24: 16:25 and others) that showed me there was POWER in the unity of prayer like that! Praise God! I was onto something! These scriptures referred to “THEY lifted their VOICES…” This was not one man praying out loud and everyone else remaining silent… Now, don't get me wrong. I love my one on one time with the Lord in prayer. I tend to receive Wisdom and Inspiration on matters that I lift to Him in my private prayer time. But there are times when we need to be united in prayer and everyone “lifting their voice in one accord.” Amen. Another example is when Paul and Silas were praying while in prison. This scripture also references they were praying, out loud, together, at the same time. Amen! Don't shout me down when I'm preaching good!  What happened? An earthquake hit that opened every single door in that prison…but nobody escaped!  That was unheard of – back then and today! Amen! But what else happened? The jailers entire family was saved!  And don't you know the reason none of the prisoners escaped? All of them were born again, too! They didn't want to leave that prison because, for the first time in their lives – they were TRULY set free! Glory to God! And, for further proof of that, Paul wrote a letter to the “Church of the Phillipians.” This was the church the jailer founded – with the prison inmates! Glory to God! What else happened?  I'll get more into this aspect tomorrow… but I want to zero in on one more thing as an example of the power of a united prayer – out loud in front of everyone – and how God responds… The Bible says an earthquake occurred that opened the doors to the prison, right? Did you ever notice there is no record in the Bible of an earthquake shaking anything else except the prison? Right where Paul and Silas were praying? How's that for answered prayer? Nobody except those who were praying received that kind of answer to their prayers!  I believe some of the prisoners, hearing Paul and Silas talking and then singing and praising God and praying out loud – I believe some of them joined in as well. This is what brought God on the scene! Amen! If He did it for them, what does the Bible say, He will do it for you! For God is not a respecter of persons, Amen!  Glory to God. So – YES – a united group prayer is important. It is effective. It does work. But, as with everything else, DO NOT make this a doctrine or a religious activity. That will never work.  But when the inspiration of the Holy Spirit says to do it – then GO FOR IT!  Amen! Let's Pray! Until next time, this is Pastor Bob Thibodeau reminding you from 1 Thessalonians 5:17 in the Living Bible to “Always Keep on Praying!”  Be...

Scripture of the Day:   Acts 21:5“When it was time to leave, we left and continued on our way. All of them, including wives and children, accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray.” United PrayerThere is power in unity. In the natural and in the Spirit.  In fact, that is where unity in the natural obtains it power!  It is based upon Spiritual principle. Matthew 18:19 says, “Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.” When two people agree on earth, in the Spirit or in the natural, their power is multiplied. This can be for the good of the people or, unfortunately, evil can use the same principles for the destruction of the people (like we see happening politically today). Leviticus 26:8 says, “Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.”  This clearly illustrates the more people you can win to your cause, the more powerful your cause will become.  How do you think the Gay Pride and LGBQT or whatever they are going by today was able to destroy the fabric of American life so easily? Because the Democrats were looking for a new voting base and sold the soul of America to the devil in exchange for political power. Why do you think “suddenly” there is this cancel culture chasing down anyone who even hints the Conservative values are important to the survival of America? It is because evil now reigns in American government.  There are so many Biblical passages that clearly indicate we are on the precipice of destruction in America. Everything we were founded on is either already destroyed or in the process of being destroyed. Anyone who speaks out against the flood of demonic forces is identified and tried to be silenced. But, we are to trust in PRAYER. And that is the purpose of this year long series on teachings of prayer.  It would be too easy for me just to invoke 2 Chronicles 7:14 and say “all will be well with the world.” Because it won't be. We are too far gone as nation.  But, I'm not too concerned about it!   “What? How could you say that, brother Bob?” Because the Bible is very clear that all these things must come to pass just before the return of Jesus! That means, as we see these things happening, YES we need to resist them. YES, we need to pray for deliverance. YES, we need to come together collectively as believers and try to stop these political forces… But we need to also keep our prayers going for the soon return of the Lord. He will be the ultimate deliverer for us and for the nation and for the world and for all believers everywhere! When Jesus comes back, which is going to be very soon, He will be the one who destroys the works of the devil, and his followers who are now in charge, with only ONE WORD from His mouth! Praise God! There are too many things for me to try and share with you in this short teaching on this very important subject. But the bottom line is “we are not without hope.”  We also need to work together, praying in unity, gaining that power that comes from praying and working together in unity – and achieve total victory! If you want to join me in this, let's pray right now for Power from on High to be imparted to believers everywhere. Power to resist. Power to overcome. Power to endure and most importantly, Power to pray in UNITY and get even more people to become Born Again before Jesus returns. Amen! Let's Pray! Until next time, this is Pastor Bob Thibodeau reminding you from 1 Thessalonians 5:17 in the Living Bible to “Always Keep on Praying!”  Be blessed in all that you do! Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our...

Scripture of the Day:   Acts 12:12“When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying.” The Power of Praise pt 2Yesterday, we talked about how the Power of Praise worked for the people of Judah when they were about to be attacked by the combined armies of four of their enemies. We talked about how, the king, their leader, called for a prayer meeting. I believe our leaders today would fair so much better by acknowledging God and calling for national days of prayer – instead of gathering their advisors, wringing their hands and deciding “they know what's best” for the country.  Anyway – they don't. But God does! Glory to God! Amen! If we would just walk in the light of the Word and continually be in an attitude of praise and thanksgiving, we would be a witness to other people for the Lord. Amen! People would see our continual gladness of  heart and would desire to experience that joy and gladness for themselves. They would actually start to seek YOU out and ask, “How do you do that? Why is God answering your prayers all of the time?” This is just one area in which being baptized by the Holy Spirit will help us. Although a person can have joy and have a thankful heart because of the new birth, being born again – it is the Baptism in the Holy Spirit that helps us to Praise God in times of trouble and to be a powerful witness to the power of God in any situation. Amen! I remember, now this was many years before I was born again, but a person lived across the street from us back in the little town of New Llano, Louisiana. He was born again and filled with the Holy Spirit. I would talk to him sometimes when we both happened to be outside in the front for whatever reason. I noticed he had a habit of always saying something like, “Praise God” or “Amen” or “Praise Jesus” when we were talking. It seemed that every time I would say something positive that was happening, maybe, “I finally got my old truck running again,” he would say, “Praise God! That's awesome…” I just thought he was a little weird. I'm just being honest here, folks. Remember, I said I was not born again at the time. But, for him, it had become a habit of giving God praise for all of the little things. Amen! I thought it was weird, simply because I was not in a relationship with the Most High God like he was – through Christ Jesus! Amen! Now, as I was preparing to teach on this today, I realized I had developed the same, “habit.” Amen!  Because I received Jesus on January 25th, 1992 in a little empty apartment in Columbus, Georgia at 1135pm ET while in the midst of despair and contemplating suicide – GOD SHOWED UP AND SHOWED OFF in my life! Amen! And my life has never been the same since! Praise God! That one night changed my life, changed my destiny, forever. I was born again AND Baptized in the Holy Spirit all at the same time!  It was not long before I realized “I was praising God” like our neighbor was doing!  That is why I am emphasizing here, over the last several days about praying to God about the little things – well, in addition to praying about the little things, you need to PRAISE HIM about the little things! Amen! Praise the Lord!  (there, right there…did you catch that? I can't help but Praise Him!)! Amen!  Don't shout me down when I'm preaching good! You need to praise God in the little things and in the BIG THINGS! You need to Praise Him when things are going great and when things are looking bad. You need to praise Him in the closet and Praise Him on the roof top! You need to praise Him in the car and Praise Him in the shower! You need to Praise Him church and Praise Him in the Hospital and Praise Him in your job…you need to develop a continual PRAISE from your lips to His ears! Praise you Jesus! AMEN!  Did you catch that? There it was again! Thank you, Lord! (there it...

Scripture of the Day:   Acts 20:36“When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed.”The Power of Praise pt 1When you praise God, especially when you sing praises to Him, things will begin to change. They may be dramatic changes that make you say, “WOW!” But, more often than not, it is the little things that begin to change. Small things that most people are not even aware of -  unless you are looking at them spiritually instead of in the natural. If you are truly in tune with God (and the only way you can be in tune with God is THROUGH His Word and spending time in prayer), YOU will begin to pick up on the little, subtle changes that are beginning to change. But, what about those situations when there is an immediate need for God's Presence to be on the scene? An immediate need where, if God does not do something NOW – there may not be a tomorrow?   Let me give you an example of how Praising God change bring swift changes to your situation, whatever that may be… In 2 Chronicles chapter 20, King Jehoshaphat and Judah went out to fight their enemy, the combined armies of the Ammonites, Moabites and the people of Mount Seir. These combined forces had banded together to destroy Judah.  In the natural, Judah had no chance against these combined enemy forces. Things were looking pretty grim in the natural. It's amazing to me that almost everyone, when their back is against the wall and they have exhausted all of their ideas on how to fix any particular problem, only THEN do they turn to God and ask for His help. If we would just reverse this process, things would always go so much easier… Well, in this situation, what did the king of Judah do?  He called for a prayer meeting. Praise God! At least he still had enough sense to do that!  Instead of “run for the hills, every man for himself,” he said, “Let's run to God and ask for His help in this situation.” Praise God, Amen! Well, the Holy Spirit moved on a young man who then stood up and began to prophesize. To save time, I will not read all of the verses here. To summarize what was prophesized, was, that the Lord told the people they have nothing to fear. (That was a shock to some of them standing there, I'm sure…). They were told, “To go out to the battle, but it is not your battle, it is the Lord's battle.” The next morning, they all woke up and started to put themselves in battle formation to go out and fight the enemy. But instead of putting their best soldiers (in the natural at least), they put the choir out front. How do you think those choir members felt?  “What? You want us to go out in front? With no weapons? No training? You just want us to walk about there and start singing?”  I'm sure those thoughts were running through their minds… But let's look at what happened… They sang and praised God as they were going forth. The ministered to the Lord and sang praises to Him right in the faces of the enemy! This is just like Paul and Silas singing in prison, amen!  But look at what happened… As the choir was singing “Praise the Lord, for His Mercy endures forever…” (and notice, there are no other verses indicated here. To me, that says they sang that one verse over and over and over. That tells us they were FOCUSED on what they needed and WHO they were Praising and WHO they were expecting to help them. Amen)! So, what happened as a result of PRAISE? The enemy armies began to fight amongst themselves!  They started to attack each other!  As Judah's army crested the hill and prepared to engage in battle, all they could see, as far as they could see – were dead bodies! The enemies had fought each other! Praise God (excuse the pun)! Amen! Judah then went in on a mop up operation and just gathered all the spoils that were left behind! Amen! That is what will happen to YOUR enemies that YOU are facing – IF you will start Praising God

Scripture of the Day:   Acts 10:4“Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked. The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.” Your Giving Captures God's AttentionCornelius had been praying. Scripture tells us he was a believer in the God of the Hebrews. He was doing his best to help the Jewish nation and the people he was in charge of. As a Centurion, he had control, militarily, over that region. But, he was also a person who believed in prayer. And he was praying to the God of Heaven. Amen! As part of his prayer life, he would give financially to the support of the local synagogue. And he was not a cheap giver either. He wasn't just giving a pocket full of quarters in the Salvation Army bucket at Christmas time. No, he was KNOWN for being a giver. That is why, later, when the people he had sent to get Peter to come back to his home, they testified to his Faith and how much money and support he had already provided to the Jews. They were saying, basically, “This guy is for real.” But here, I want you to notice, the angel said, “Your PRAYERS have come up as a memorial before God.” (Yes, I know, I misquoted – but stick with me here, I'm making a point). Cornelius was a praying man. This is what God's attention. Does God ONLY hear the prayers of the righteous? No. He hears everyone's prayers! “Wait a minute Brother Bob, God hears everyone's prayers?”  YES – absolutely! He heard your prayer when you prayed to receive Jesus as your Savior, didn't He?   “Well, yes. Of course.”  Well, before you prayed that prayer; before you received Jesus as your Savior, were you righteous or unrighteous?  Were you still in your sin when you prayed to God? Of course! So that is proof, right there, as well as other scriptures, that says God hears the prayers of the righteous and the unrighteous. So, first and foremost, Cornelius was a man of prayer. THAT is what caught God's attention. But, Cornelius went one step further than simply praying. He put money where his mouth was, so to speak. He became such a giver, that his GIVING also caught God's attention.  There is a difference between someone who prays because they know they need to pray – and someone who prays and then GIVES SACRIFICIALLY because of the prayers. In addition to the prayers. Who puts FAITH to work by sowing sacrificially into the works of God. Amen! If you want to get God's attention, it really requires you to do THREE THINGS. “Three things, brother Bob? I thought you were talking about prayer and giving here?” YES…but what needs to come first, as I've been teaching for about a month now on this program, is this… You need to spend time in God's WORD on a daily basis. For yourself! Not relying on someone else to read the Word for you and tell you what it say (hello! Like so many of you do when you fail to read the Bible or even take the Bible with you to church and only rely on your pastor to tell you what it says… Don't shout me down when I'm preaching good!) When you spend time with God – IN HIS WORD – and then spend time TALKING TO GOD in prayer and then you back up all of that with sacrificial FINANCIAL GIVING – with your prayers over the seed you are sowing – you can't help but GET GOD's ATTENTION!  Amen!   And we see that is what happened right here with Cornelius.  What was the result?  The first gentile convert to Christianity! Praise God! And it did not just bless Cornelius and him alone. It says his “whole house, family, friends and servants” were Baptized in the Holy Spirit. AMEN! The study of the Word of God doesn't only impact you… Praying on a continuous, daily – all-day long basis, doesn't impact only you… Giving, financially and sacrificially to God's work – doesn't impact only you… IT IMPACTS OTHERS ALL AROUND YOU!  So, what do you need to do today? I'm so glad you

Scripture of the Day:   Acts 7:59“While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”Faith WorksHave you ever faced an extreme circumstance where you were facing death in the face? I have. My time in the military and a few instances as a police officer, I have faced the prospect of “this could be it.”  How do you react in those situations?  By FAITH.  You see, faith WORKS every single time it is put to the test. Every single time. If you believe you will fail, guess what – you will. If you believe you will persevere – you will. That does not mean you can say over and over, “I believe I win; I believe I win; I believe I win” and then, miraculously, the enemy just dies of a heart attack right before you very eyes. It could happen, but that does not mean that.  What I'm talking about is this… In those situations I was describing, I had to rely on my training. I had been trained for those exact situations. I had received the best training available. And the exact situation I was facing at that time, in my mind, though it was real, the training I had received kicked in. That is why the military trains so much!  We used to say in the Cavalry, “We train today just as we will fight tomorrow.” We had another saying that “we train to be wet, cold, tired and miserable. And we are experts at it.” Amen! But, when you are facing death in the face, you need to rely on your training. Then, something called, “muscle memory” kicks in. I was trained in martial arts in my military days. That training served me as a police officer a few times.  I remember one instance, this person loved to fight cops. I did not know it at the time of the traffic stop. But our dispatch did as they were running the tags. I heard them call another unit to come to my location and they gave a code word that meant I had a dangerous subject stopped.  I did not react to the radio call to the other unit. They called me on the radio with the code word, I just reached up and said, “10-4” and continued talking in a normal tone to the driver. He had no clue that I knew what was about to happen. As the other officer arrived, I asked the driver to step out of the car. He did so, and I informed him he was being placed under arrest (I'm not going into details as to why, that's not important here). But, when I grabbed his arm to turn him around, because of my martial arts training, I felt him tense up and begin a move to break my grip… Because of my training, and muscle memory, I immediately countered his move and he ended up in an arm bar on the ground. The other officer was only about four feet away and did not even have a chance to move in and assist! That is how fast my reactions were. Now, I credit that to my training. I had trained hundreds of times, at least, for that exact situation. So, when it happened, I did not have to wonder what I was going to do. I did not have to ask for assistance. I did not panic. Muscle memory took over and I did what I had been trained to do. What does that have to do with this scripture of Stephen or you facing a life or death situation? The point I am making is, just as we have been talking about all week, you MUST KNOW the voice of the Holy Spirit concerning the situation you are in.  I've heard stories from Navy Seals, one in particular I'm thinking of, when he and his buddy were pinned down and it wasn't looking good. His buddy started to panic and yelled over, “This is it…what are we going to do?”  Scott looked over at him and said, “You're a Christian, right?” The other guy said, “Yes!”  Scott then replied and said, “So what you worried about? We do what we're taught and we win either way!”  Then Scott jumped up and began to fire and the other guy did the same and did what they were taught to do and won.” Stephen, sensing, “This is it..” did what he was taught to do. He had heard how Jesus, as He...

Scripture of the Day:   Acts 3:1“One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon.” Pray for Others You MeetI remember way back when I was in Bible School at Jerry Savelle Ministries, Bible Institute and School of World Evangelism. One of the requirements was that we had to witness to people and pray with them. We were to keep a record of that and turn it in every week to receive credit. I believe, if I'm remembering correctly, we needed three such instances every week. Anyway, I'm not positive on that so don't hold me to it. But it was more than one anyway… I made it a point to look for people that needed physical healing. And, truth be told, they are all around us. Just look at how many people are in wheel chairs, walkers or canes when you go to the grocery store. They may not be wheel chairs, but using those little carts, right? Well, back then, they didn't have those little carts everywhere like they do today. So I would look for people in wheel chairs. I would not interrupt their shopping or anything. But if they were sitting outside (probably having a cigarette, they could do that back then), I would zero in on them. My wife would see them about the same time I would and she would just step back because I would make a pivot and go into witnessing mode. Praise God! I would walk up and say something to the effect of, “Excuse me. As I was walking by, the Holy Spirit of God urged me to come over here and ask you if there was something I could pray with you about?” Usually, I would say 8 out 10 times anyway, they would say, “YES” and then tell me what they would like me to pray for. Sometimes it was their health, sometimes it was their family or finances, etc. That is what we are reading today from our scripture. Peter and John are walking into the Temple area to pray and they see this man at the gate. He's been there a long time. They've seen him on several occasions. He's not new to the town. But this day, something is different. Something about the man is different. Something about Peter and John is different, too. They sensed that God was about to do “something.” They did not know what it was. But they “knew” in their spirit – just like Simeon and Anna did when Jesus was being dedicated at the Temple, as we covered a few days ago. As they were walking up to the gate area, here is this beggar and he is doing what he did everyday, begging for alms. Begging for dollars.   Peter and John didn't have any extra money on them, but when the beggar looked into their eyes, the Bible says he looked, “Expecting.” It was like the Holy Spirit had prompted this man to identify these two strangers out of the crowd. It was like the Holy Spirit had told him (he probably did not know it at the time, but sensed it), that these two men were going to bless him with a tremendous gift that day! The Bible says he looked up at them, “expectantly.”  Most preachers will say, “expecting them to give him some money.” That could very well be the truth. But let's look at it from this angle and it makes a lot more sense. He is EXPECTING. Peter and John can “see it” in his eyes, the Bible says. And then, you know the rest of the story.  Peter says, “Silver and gold, we have none. But what we do have, we give to you. In the Name of Jesus of Nazereth (which this man must have heard about or it would not have activated Faith on the inside of him), GET UP AND WALK.” Praise God! But notice, Peter and John did not just “pray” for him and walk inside. No, they ASSISSTED HIM. They reached down, the Bible says, and grabbed his arm and yanked him up to standing position. As they did so, his ankles were strengthened and he walked and jumped up and down, etc. These were all things he had never done. He was lame from birth. He had never walked or jumped before! Amen! Well, the point I want to make – I could go on preaching on this for an hour – but the...

Scripture of the Day:   Acts 1:24“Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone's heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen.” You Will Know What to DoWe've been talking about praying constantly, in the little things. As you continue do this on a consistent basis, you become more and more sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.  As you ask for His guidance in choosing what clothes to wear or what to fix for dinner or what route to take to work, it becomes easier and easier for the Holy Spirit to speak to your spirit man. This allows your spirit man to connect to your mind and give you the advice the Holy Spirit is providing. In turn, your mind becomes more accustomed to following the directions – actually making the decision, to follow the Holy Spirit. Amen! As you continue to practice and implement this process on a daily basis, several times per day and then, ultimately, continually all day long – your FAITH will begin to increase. Why? Because you KNOW God is talking to you when you ask Him a question. You become sensitive to His voice through the Holy Spirit.  Think of it like this. You take your children to the mall and, while distracted for just a moment, you six year old wanders off.  It was only two minutes, maybe – but where are they? You start to scan, quickly. You don't see them. You call their name. But there are hundreds of people and their kids near you. But you HEAR one voice. One voice stands out from all of the rest. It's your child!  You call again and zero in on their location and find them just twenty or thirty feet from you around the corner in another aisle. RELIEF! Praise God! But, how did you recognize your child's voice from all of the others that were talking in your immediate area? How did your child recognize YOUR voice from among all of the others in the area? Simple. Familiarity!   You have been communicating with one another on a daily basis for, in this example, six years. You both have become accustomed to the others voice. So when you called out, your child picked up on your voice. When they responded, you picked up on their voice. Despite all the noise of other voices speaking at the same time, you were able to distinguish each others voices and connect quickly. Amen! Now, it works the same exact way with the Holy Spirit and you. If you become accustomed to listening to the promptings of the Holy Spirit in the little things, it gets easier and easier for you to “hear” God's promptings in the serious situations (such as you child that was lost in the mall). Then, when you truly NEED God's guidance in a major decision, such as changing careers or moving to a new town or a huge financial investment, like a new home or car, etc. – you will hear HIM and pay attention to HIM and not all of the noise of other voices speaking at the same time. Think of it like being in mall. What is the purpose of the mall? Basically, to separate YOU from your money, right? Do you really need that $300 jacket or $250 pair of shoes?  Do you really need that 84” flat panel HDTV?  Your 64” at home is working just fine… If you pray in situations like that, you will hear God's voice telling you what to do. It may just be a “peace” that comes over you or it could be a prompting of “NO.”  Some of the best advice I ever received concerning this method of making a decision came from my mentor in the Faith, Dr. Jerry Savelle. I was talking with him one time and asked him that direction. “How do I know I'm making the right decision.”  His response was, “Peace. If I pray about something and I have complete peace on the inside of me, I know I'm in the Will of God. But if there is “something” on the inside of me that is causing an unsettling, anything at all, I do not move forward. I may move forward later, perhaps the timing wasn't right. But I will not move unless the Peace of God is on the inside of me...

Scripture of the Day:   John 17:1“After this, Jesus said this, He looked towards Heaven and prayed, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may Glorify you.” Your Faith Can Get You In TroubleHow many times have you had an opportunity to witness to someone, but didn't?  Come on – don't lie!  We all have faced that situation at one point or another… Why didn't  we go ahead and take a stand for God at that moment in time?  Usually, because we feared the repercussions. Right? It could have been someone whom we did not want to offend. It could be someone that we know would not react pleasantly. It could have been in the office and we did not want to cause a scene. It could have been in the office and the office has a policy that you will not talk about religion, etc. in office. It could be for a variety of reasons, right? And every single one of them amount to NOTHING as compared to how great the Gospel of Salvation is in Jesus Name. But yet…. We failed to do so…  WHY? It's because we feared the reprisals of man. It is because we were fearful – full of fear – as to how our message would be received. It was because we FEARED MAN rather than FEARING GOD. “Well, brother Bob, I need this job. I need it. And if I make someone mad, if I take a stand for God in the midst of this wicked work environment, I know I'd be fired…” I understand… I really do… I've been there myself! Amen!   But, let me let you in on a little secret…  In the grand scheme of things – you may have been given that job and that position and are in that office RIGHT NOW – just to be the witness to the ONE PERSON!  God had foreordained every aspect of your life before the foundation of the world. He knew exactly where you would be before you were even a twinkling in your father's eyes. Amen!  He also knew, that there was a person that would spiritually be ready to receive a Word from God at that particular moment in time, in that office. And He manipulated your life and the events in your life so your path would cross with that other person at that exact moment in time. Do you see what I'm getting at here? Let's look at the BIG Picture here… What would have happened IF you witnessed to that person? What would have happened IF you took that stand for the Bible and Biblical values and refused to sign that new work policy of supporting gay rights or whatever they were trying to push down your throat? WHAT IF you did what GOD TELLS YOU TO DO – even in the face of the coming backlash? “Well, brother Bob, I'd have lost my job!” OK…what else? Hmmm? Do you believe that GOD would reward you openly for supporting HIM openly? Isn't that what Jesus said would happen? IF you would have done what God wanted, in that little thing…and IF you would have lost your job…let's just look at what COULD HAVE HAPPENED… God would see He could trust you because you trusted in HIM. Amen! You did HIS WILL – KNOWING the ramifications that could happen. Do you think He is going to leave you homeless? NO! Of course not!  In fact, He will make SURE you get another job – quickly! And probably with a pay raise to boot! Amen!  It may not happen the same day or the next day…because He is going to make sure you get into a position that is going to be a blessing to you – and to the Kingdom of Heaven. I did that. I took a stand and lost my job. But, I had applied to be a police officer. I had not heard yet if I was going to be selected or not… But the company I was working for and was hoping to continue to work for IF and UNTIL the offer to attend the police academy came – decided my services were no longer required and I was shown the door with no notice. I went 5 months with no job. Everything I applied for never materialized. I was almost out of unemployment when the phone call came. I was in! Amen!  And that job was a BLESSING to...

Scripture of the Day:   John 17:15“…My Prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.” Stay in the World – Don't Let the World Stay in YouYesterday, we talked about the importance of staying on constant state of prayer. Praying about the big things, yes. But also praying about the little things. What to wear. What to eat and things like that. The purpose, is to train our spirits to remain sensitive to the leadings of the Holy Spirit. And the only way to do that is be doing a couple of things and doing them consistently. First, read the Word of God every single day. A couple times per day, if you can. But at least start with once per day. Amen! Even if it is only for 15 or 20 minutes.  That will begin to give God access to your spirit through His Word. Amen The second part of that is praying. Actually taking the time to pray to the Father, in Jesus Name. Ask Him to guide you throughout the day. Ask Him to show you what do. Ask Him to make you sensitive to His promptings. Then, the third thing, is just like we talked about yesterday, PRAY. But not just the big decisions you are facing. Pray about the small stuff. What to eat, what wear and things like that. If you start to pray and seek His guidance in the small stuff, you will begin to actually “hear the Holy Spirit” as He is speaking to you and guiding you – in the small stuff. What this does, is it prepares you to immediately hear His voice when the big decisions are needed. And, many times, He will talk to you when you least expect it. Some of those times, you will not even know it was God speaking to you, prompting you or guiding you until after the fact. Have you ever done something and you felt that, “Don't do that” down on the inside of you? Many people say it is your conscious. But it is your spirit man reacting to a prompting of the Holy Spirit. Want proof?  If you went ahead and did what the prompting said NOT to do – and the results turned out bad – what is it most people usually say?  “I knew I wasn't supposed to do that…” or something similar, right? I mentioned you will be able to react immediately to the big things. Even when you do not comprehend it is God guiding you. Let me tell you a quick story… On September 11, 2001, 911, Pastor Dan Stratton was pastoring a church right across the street from the World Trade Center towers. On his way into the office, he usually arrived at 8am, the Lord brought to his remembrance that one of his parishioners had been sick and unable to attend church for a few weeks. So, he “decided” to stop by this brothers home on his way into the city just to check on how he was doing. That one decision, kept him away from the tragedy that would have happened soon after he was scheduled to arrive at his office.  See what I mean? Dan did not think, “Oh Holy Spirit, thank you for warning me not go into the city today because of this great tragedy that is about to happen…”  No, he simply obeyed a prompting of the Holy Spirit that did two things. One, he was able to check on a parishioner that had been sick, and two, it kept out of harms way. But Dan was not the only person that happened to that day. There were parents that “DECIDED” to stop at McDonald's and have breakfast with their kids that morning (something that they rarely did). Even though it would cause them to be late for work by a few minutes.  There were others that had flat tires that morning that caused them to miss their subway ride into the city and they would be late by about 45 minutes. There are stories after stories like this. The death toll should have been close to 20,000 people in those towers – or more!  But instead, tragic as it was, only 2600 perished.  That is what I'm talking about… amen! Now, Jesus told His disciples, and us, that His desire was NOT for us to be taken “out of the world” – because that would mean we could

Scripture of the Day:   Luke 2:37“…and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshipped night and day, fasting and praying.”Stay in PrayerWe covered yesterday where we should pray. The answer was everywhere. Amen. I hinted that we need to pray in the little things we face during the day. The routine, mundane tasks. Buying dinner, choosing what to wear, etc. The scripture today refers to Anna, an 84 year old widow woman. The scripture tells us, after she was widowed, “she departed not from the Temple, but served God with fasting's and prayers night and day.” She wasn't just hanging out there for a few weeks, either. She had been RESIDING there, night and day. She was in constant prayer and service. Based upon Jewish historical records, assuming she was married at about age 16, you can figure she was widowed at about age 23 or 24. So we can figure she was in constant prayer for well over 50 years…closer to sixty years or so!  What did this do for her? She was so sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit that she KNEW something important was happening in the Temple. Nobody told her to hurry over the Temple because the Messiah was there!  She KNEW IT in her spirit!  AMEN! Luke 2:38 says that as she was coming in, which, by the way, was immediately after Simeon had finished prayer and prophesying about Jesus being the Messiah (he was told by the Lord that he would not die until his eyes had seen the deliverer – and he explained that to Mary and Joseph), Anna came in to the room in that exact moment and started telling Mary and Joseph, scripture says, “giving thanks to the Lord and spoke to everyone about Jesus that were there and looking for redemption in Jerusalem.” PRAISE GOD! Nobody told Simeon who Jesus was. Nobody told Anna who Jesus was. I should say, nobody BUT the Holy Spirit! Amen! Matthew 18:19 says, “If two of you shall agree on earth, as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father in Heaven.”  Whether Simeon and Anna knew it or not, they were both praying for the same thing and they were both praying in agreement! Amen! They were both intercessors. They were both praying people. They were both seeking the Messiah's appearance. And they both sensed Jesus was He right at the exact same moment. PRAISE GOD! They became so Spiritually sensitive because they STAYED IN PRAYER.  And they did this for years and years.  Am I saying you have to live at the church night and day for 50 years. No. Of course not… What I AM saying, is, as we have already described, you should stay in a constant state of prayer. You need to start seeking the Lord in the insignificant things and sensing His leading. “Lord, turn right or turn left?”  As you continue to do so, you will get better and better at hearing His voice. Just like Simeon and Anna did. Then, one day, you might just sense that someone needs you. When you go to where the Lord instructed you to go – I can guarantee you – you will arrive right on schedule and either have a Word from the Lord for someone (as Simeon did) or confirm the Word of the Lord for someone (as Anna did). Amen! Let's Pray! Until next time, this is Pastor Bob Thibodeau reminding you from 1 Thessalonians 5:17 in the Living Bible to “Always Keep on Praying!”  Be blessed in all that you do! Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com/ (https://podcastersforchrist.com). And while you are at the website, download the free resource I have for you… it is free and is called, Podcasting for Christians. It will bless you – go and download it today. You can also WATCH these session on our Facebook Playlist at this link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtKWeKtmv-BwgkquBTsSh-GznbmuUp_R2...

Scripture of the Day:   Isaiah 37:14“Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the Temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord.” The Place of PrayerWhere is your place where you go to pray to the Lord?  Go ahead and answer…I'll wait…. Where do you pray to the Lord?  Some people will say, “In my prayer closet.” Or “In my bedroom” or wherever… But those answers would be wrong. Maybe not wrong wrong, but let's just say INCOMPLETE. What do I mean by that? 1 Thesslonians 5:17, our theme verse for this year, says “Keep praying continually.” That means, at all times, in all situations, in all places. Notice that – at all times, in all situations and in all places. I told the story of Smith Wigglesworth, a mighty man of God, where someone asked him, “How long do you usually pray?”  He responded, “I don't pray more than 10 or 15 minutes.” That amazed the person who asked, but then Smith added, “But I rarely go more than 10 or 15 minutes without praying.”  AMEN! Did you get that? That does not mean that every 10 minutes or so, Smith Wigglesworth would drop to his knees in the middle of the street, blocking traffic and making a spectacle of himself while calling out to God. No. That is not what he meant and that is not the way we are to pray… What Smith Wigglesworth was trying to say, is that he would pray about EVERYTHING!  And he would seek the Lord's guidance in every decision he would make during the day. For example, now, I TRY to do this…but even Brother Bob is still in the developing process…OK.  But, I've gone into my dressing room to get ready to go preach at a church service or conference and I have to choose which suit I should wear. What shirt I should wear with the suit. What color tie to wear.  These are all things that Smith Wigglesworth is referring to.  PRAYING and ASKING for guidance in all things. You may be at the grocery store buying supplies for dinner that night. You went in there with a few things in mind, but then you see something else is on sale. You think, “Hmm. Maybe this would be a better dinner tonight..” What you are really asking is, “Will my family appreciate this for dinner tonight?” Well, what you SHOULD DO, is PRAY in that situation. “God, should I fix this for dinner tonight?” “Brother Bob, come on! God is far too busy answering real prayer requests to bother with what I should fix for dinner…”  Really?  You think God is not interested in what you put inside your body? Do you think God is not interested in what you are putting into the body of your kids?  Or your spouse? If you are like my wife – she take special interest in what goes into my body! Amen! That's why I've lost 65 pounds in the past two years. Glory to God. But if my wife cares that much about me – what makes you think God is not even more interested in what goes into my body! So, that is just one example. But you should do that in the route you take to work or on the way home. You should do it with all things, every decision you make during the day. Small things. Insignificant things.  That does not mean you do not make any decisions unless you “hear” from God. Because if that is the case, the devil will try to insert himself into the equation. One way you could do that, using the example of the suit I was using earlier…would be, “God, I think I'll wear the blue suit, with the purple shirt and white tie tonight. What do you think?” And, as I'm starting to prepare those things, my wife may walk in and say, “No, wear the tan shirt tonight.”  If I had not called her into the room, she just “felt the need to walk in at that moment” – can you say that God did not put it on her heart to walk in at that exact moment? That is the type of thing I'm talking about. Amen! But, if you do not get into the habit of asking – then you will never develop the...

Scripture of the Day:   Nehemiah 2:4“The King said to me, “What is it you want?” Then I prayed to the God of Heaven,” What Do You WantTo be effective, our prayers need to be specific. I covered this in detail in a prior teaching, so I won't go over those same points I made back then.  But, in order to receive answers to your prayer requests, God has to know exactly what it is you want! I know, I know the scripture says, “God knows our needs before we ask Him,” but let me ask you this… If you have a child and you know your child wants some special favor or something…you know it is on their mind and heart, do you just pop up and say, “Here, I know you've been looking at this bike (or doll or whatever)?”   No…you just go along, watching them admire the bike or doll in the store. You know they want it, but you are waiting for them to ASK.  And, when I say ask, I do not mean DEMAND!  You know, “MOM or DAD – I want that bike and I want you to buy it NOW.”  Yeah – with me, that was one sure fire way to guarantee my kids were NOT going to get it now… amen! But, if they were looking and looking and hinting and hinting…finally, one day, my daughter may ask, “Dad, do you think I could have that doll?”  I'd say, “Sure, I was just waiting for you to ask me.” Have you done that with your kids? Well, I'm here to tell you, God is an even better Heavenly Father than I could ever be and far better than you could ever be, mother, father, grandparent, aunt, uncle, whatever. God is FAR better than we are. That would be a good place for you to shout AMEN, right there. Glory to God! Just go to the Father in the Name of Jesus and make your request be known. Amen. Then, just believe you receive once you have asked Him. You do not have to keep taking this same prayer request to Him every single morning. Just start PRAISING HIM that He is already taking action to answer your prayer request. Start PRAISING HIM that the answer is on the way and you are thanking Him in advance. Praise God! As you are praying to Him about your request, though, find some specific scriptures that deal with your request. If it is provision, find some scriptures where God provided provision for someone. If healing, where Jesus healed someone (and there are a lot of those in the Bible, amen)! Finally, be patient. Psalm 37:7 says, “Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him.” As long as your prayer is in line with the Word of God, we  have His promise that He will answer! Amen! But it will come in HIS TIME, not yours. There is an old Gospel Hymn that Vernard Johnson used to play when I was working for his ministry back in the late 1990's that said, “God may not always come when you want Him, but He is always RIGHT ON TIME!” Praise God! Remember, specific prayers receive specific answers. Always remember, as I've stated several times over these past few weeks, 1 John 5:14-15 says, “If we ask anything – that means ANYTHING – according to His WILL, He hears us. And – if we KNOW God Hears us – THEN WE KNOW – we receive whatsoever we desire of Him.” Praise God! Amen! I want to pray for you right now, that God would hear your prayer request and answer your prayers in miraculous, mighty ways that will SHOW YOU that He is your Heavenly Father, amen! Do me a favor…can you leave a comment down below and I would greatly appreciate it if you would leave a rating and review over on iTunes. All of this helps us to grow and to “Get the Word Out” into all the earth. Be sure to visit our website at PodcastersForChrist.com and download our free resource, “Podcasting For Christians.” It is free and it will bless you immensely if you have or are thinking of starting a podcast of your own. Until next time, this is Pastor Bob Thibodeau reminding you from 1 Thessalonians 5:17 in the Living Bible to “Always Keep on Praying!”  Be blessed in all that you do! Please subscribe to this podcast,...

Scripture of the Day:   Psalms 84:8“Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty; listen to me, God of Jacob.” The Open DoorAs you praise God in your prayer time and speak of all His marvelous works, your faith will begin to rise up on the inside of you. This opens the door to receiving the Blessings for God into your life. If you honor God with the words of your mouth, Faith grows. Your faith grows. This means, as your faith grows on the inside of you, the POWER of FAITH starts to become more active in your life. What does that do? You begin to walk in the power and authority that Jesus gave to you. In Luke 10:19, Jesus told His disciples (and us), “Look, I've given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.” Now, I don't know about you, but I believe if Jesus said something belongs to ME – then it belongs TO ME and no devil in hell is going to stop it. Amen!  That's what that verse says, doesn't it? The question then becomes, “How do we walk in that authority?? Through the development of the POWER OF FAITH within us. Let me ask you this question… If you wanted to bench press 300 pounds, and you have never lifted weights before, how successful do you think you would be the first time you tried to lift those weights? Not very, right? What do you do? You start with lower weights. A LOT lower…maybe 100 pounds (if you have to). Every day, or every other day, you continue to lift those lower weights. Maybe 10 reps the first couple of times is all you can do. Then, you notice you can do 15 reps. Then 20. Then 30. What happens then?  You increase the weight, maybe to 120 pounds. Then, you can only lift 10 reps again. You continue at this weight until you see the number of reps go up and up.  You repeat his process, on a consistent basis. After a while, you find you are lifting 200 pounds. Then 250 pounds and ultimately, after working at it for some time – you hit your goal of 300 pounds! Praise God! Well, folks, this is the same way it works in building your Faith and the Power of Faith that works within you. You cannot just go charging in to fight a bunch of demons with no training behind you. Now, don't get me wrong, just like if someone broke into your house and it was up to you to defend yourself and drive them out or something bad could happen to you or your loved ones, you do what you need to do…right?  So, YES, you could find yourself in a situation where you need to charge in after that devil, in whatever situation you find yourself – and trust in your Faith that God will deliver you the victory. Just like a 120 pound mother lifting a 2000 pound car off of her baby – adrenaline kicks in and you can do “mighty works,” amen! But, go back to that mother a week later, a day later or even an hour later – and she will be unable to budge that car.  That's what I'm talking about.  Training.  You need consistent training to develop the Power of Faith that works within you. And you do that by consistent time in the Word and in prayer. And in PRAISING GOD for the mighty works He is doing within you. All of these things, working together, will make you into a mighty warrior of God. All of these things, working together, will keep those open doors of blessings flowing in your life and you will be able to impact those around you in Godly ways. Amen! I want to pray for you right now to begin your daily workouts in Faith. This study in prayer is just one element of, what should be, your daily routine of working out, in and around, and with the Word of God. Amen! Until next time, this is Pastor Bob Thibodeau reminding you from 1 Thessalonians 5:17 in the Living Bible to “Always Keep on Praying!”  Be blessed in all that you do! Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website

Scripture of the Day:   2 Chronicles 6:26“When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and give praise to your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them,” When the Heavens Are Shut UpNothing we see happening in the world and in this country today is taking God by surprise. Not the election of unholy people to office. Not the trouble and turmoil and wars and rumors of wars. Not the economy. Not the pestilences. Nothing has taken God by surprise, except that the believers just accept it. The believers have failed God by not taking a righteous stand for HIM in the face of adversity. All of these things have taken a lot of people by surprise. It may generate a lot of resentment. But if you remember this – GOD is the one who sets up kings and the one who removes kings.  So none of this surprised Him. And if He is the One truly in charge – then we need to let God work out His plan for whatever reason we now see the unrighteous in charge. It may just be the way God is going to usher in the soon return of Jesus. I believe that…but that discussion is for a different day… Yesterday we read from verse 24 from 2 Chronicles chapter 6. Today, I want to look at verse 6, “When the heavens are shut up and there is not rain because your people have sinned against you…”  Let's stop there for a moment… A lot of the turmoil that is happening right now is because we, the people, the Christians in particular, have turned against God. I'm not saying we have forsaken our relationship with God or anything like that… What I am saying is the Christian base in this country FAILED to stand FOR GOD and WITH GOD in the face of adversity. Instead, we just kind of bowed out of the requirement of taking an inflexible, unwavering stand against the evil in this land. Now, because of that in – it seems as if the “Heavens are shut up and there is no spiritual rain coming forth” – simply because we have failed God and sinned against Him… But there is good news here… “When they pray (the Christian believers)…When they pray towards this place (we don't have to bow to the east and pray towards Jerusalem – we look Heavenward and pray to God) – when they pray towards HEAVEN (I'll say), and give Praise to your Name and TURN FROM OUR SIN because you have afflicted them…” There you go…all that you see happening right now in this land is culmination of decades of Christian believers refusing to take a stand for God and the Word of God in this nation. We were afraid of the persecution. Of being labeled. Of being berated. So, we just said, “We don't like this…but if that is what you want to do – that is up to you…” Now, this nation is in turmoil because GOD allowed this situation to come upon us.  But there is hope – IF the Christians will just start to PRAY TO GOD and recognize our responsibility for this mess – and ASK FOR FORGIVENESS of decades of allowing sin to thrive in this nation. IF WE, as a Christian people, will do this – THEN 2 Chronicles 7:14 starts to make a lot of sense. Right?  “If your people, called by your name, will humble themselves, pray and seek your face and repent of our sins, THEN you will hear their prayers, forgive their sins and turn again and heal their land.” BUT – if you do not do the first step – God will not be moved at all. We are witnessing that effect right now. Amen. So, Let's pray that the Holy Spirit will ignite a Holy Fire in this land that, not just brings revival – but a Third Great Awakening. Because that is what is needed right now.  Let's pray… Until next time, this is Pastor Bob Thibodeau reminding you from 1 Thessalonians 5:17 in the Living Bible to “Always Keep on Praying!”  Be blessed in all that you do! Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit

Scripture of the Day:   2 Chronicles 6:24“When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you and when they turn back and give praise to your name, praying and making supplication before you in this temple.”When God's People PrayKing Solomon in praying at the dedication of the Temple of God. His is a long prayer – but powerful. And God honored his prayer. I mean the Glory of God descended into that place and the Spirit of God was so heavy that the ministers could not even stand to do their work. Praise God. But what I wanted to share with you today is this part… Many people in this nation, the United States of America, are feeling down today. Evil, immorality and criminal influence is running rampant. OK – we understand that. But WHY? We've already seen massive backlash to conservative values. We've seen massive, anti-godly laws being propagated and forced on this society. Anyone who speaks out from the Bible in condemn this immorality is labeled, ridiculed or worse… I know many preachers will quote 2 Chronicles 7:14 in these situations, but I want to give context to what chapter 7 and verse 14 actually means. And to do that, we need to understand what King Solomon was actually saying here, in chapter 6. Think about this verse today. Let's take it one statement at a time… “When your people (The Christians in this nation) have been defeated by an enemy (the socialist left in America is THE ENEMY of the people and of this land)…but WHY were we defeated?  Let's keep reading… “When you people have been defeated by an enemy BECAUSE they have sinned against YOU – well, there is the answer right there. We, as a nation, have sinned against God. “Brother Bob, I'm not in agreement with these laws that have been passed. I'm not the one who has sinned…” Yes, my friend, you are. So am I. We are all at fault. HOW? Because we, the Christians in this land, could have organized and risen up and put a stop to all of this ungodly and immoral stuff that has been coming out of the Congress and out of the courts for almost 40 or 50 years. But, instead of rising up against it – we just “went along to get along.”  Hoping that, “maybe – if we just give them this one little bit – then they will be happy and life can go back to normal.” But that is not how the anti-godly plays the game. You give them one inch, they want three. You give them three and they want a foot. You give them a foot, they want the football field, then the city, then the state and then the country.  And the Bible is very clear – after that, the world. Back to Solomon and his prayer… “When your people have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you – and WHEN they turn back…WHEN THEY TURN BACK – who is required to take the first action? God's People!  CHRISTIANS.  When the Christians turn back – that means stop going along to get along. When you are moving with a crowd, everyone going in the same direction, your travels are with the flow of the crowd and the going is easy.  But when you turn back and start pushing against the flow of the crowd – the going gets tough. But if you want to get back to where you started – you must fight through and push through. Amen. So the first action is YOUR responsibility – to turn back. But that is not all… “When your people have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you – and WHEN they turn back…AND GIVE PRAISE TO YOUR NAME… We covered this previously. When you give Praise to God – you release God to act in your behalf. We covered a few days ago that PRAISE equates to STRENGTH. So when you start to praise God, as you are going against the crowd – you receive strength to keep on going. Strength from God that no demon from hell or demon possessed politician or political group can stand against. Amen! You give PRAISE TO GOD and PRAY, making supplication to God. AMEN. I'm all...

Scripture of the Day:   Psalm 54:2“Hear my prayer, O God; listen to the words of my mouth.”In His PresenceWhen you Praise God for things that have not happened yet, you are doing so BY FAITH. Your needs do not move God. Your wants do not move God. Your begging does not move God. The only thing that moves God is FAITH. Amen. So, if you are facing a terrible situation where you are crying out to God for deliverance, you cannot go into His presence begging Him. You need to go into His presence PRAISING Him! You need to pray and act like the answer has already occurred. That is called Faith. “Well, brother Bob, it sounds like wishful thinking to me. I mean, after all, if I did not receive the answer, if I'm still sick, if I'm still broke, if I'm still without a job or whatever – and I start acting like everything is great – I'm a hypocrite!” Well, my dear brother or sister – you are a hypocrite.  I'm sorry to say – but you are. “AM NOT!”  Oh – yes you are… you just exposed your true self… You are moved by feelings, emotions and the five physical senses.  You are acting on the Faith of doubting Thomas – not Faith in God and definitely not in the Faith of Jesus.  Hold on a minute – don't lose sight of what we are here trying to do. I want to help you get your prayer life off of the natural into the Heavenly realm of reality. Amen! One thing you need to realize is that praise is not dependent on your emotional situation at the time. It is only based on GOD. You need to praise HIM whether you feel like it or not. Amen! In Hebrews 13:15, the Word says, “Let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God CONTINUALLY, that is the FRUIT OF OUR LIPS giving THANKS TO HIS NAME.”  David is the perfect example of someone who could praise God even when his own family was trying to kill him. He would constantly start praising God when it looked like all hope was lost. And God would turn things around. Amen! In Psalm 56:11, David says, “In God I will Praise His Word. In God I have put my trust. I will not be afraid of what man can do to me….” AMEN!  That is how we need to pray! Glory to God! I'm excited just teaching on this today! Shout amen somebody!  The Bible says that God inhabits the praises of His people. The Bible says the enemy is turned back, falls and perishes at the presence of our God. Amen! Praise is a powerful weapon against the forces of darkness when you bring it into your prayer life. It doesn't matter what you are facing our up against. Praise God brings you into the courts of Praise and into the presence of the Lord – and God takes notice. When God takes notice – the devil knows he is in trouble. It's like a burgler trying to break into your house in the middle of the night. He's sneaking around…and then he hears you calling 911.  What's that burglar going to do? FLEE. You were not talking to the burglar. You were not confronting the burglar. You were talking on the telephone to someone that the burglar wanted nothing to do with. And that burglar knows that help is being dispatched right then! Amen!  It works the same way. You don't have to deal with the demon bothering you. Just get on your PRAISE LINE and get God's attention. Help will be dispatched immediately. Daniel was told that the angel was sent as soon as he started praying. Amen! Let's pray right now. I want to help you connect your 911 line directly into God's dispatch center. Amen!  Let's pray and let's PRAISE HIM. Until next time, this is Pastor Bob Thibodeau reminding you from 1 Thessalonians 5:17 in the Living Bible to “Always Keep on Praying!”  Be blessed in all that you do! Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com/ (https://podcastersforchrist.com). And while you are at the...

Scripture of the Day:   Psalm 17:6“I call on you, my God, for you will answer me; turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.”The Courts of PraiseThanksgiving and prayer are very important parts of prayer. When you believe you have received the answer to your prayers (which is how you should be praying – not begging as if it has not happened yet), you can't help but begin to Praise God! Amen!  Praise was ordained by God for a purpose. Psalm 8 and Psalm 9 point out some things about praise that you need to understand. Psalm 8:1-2 say, “O Lord our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth! Who has set your Glory about the Heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, you have ordained strength because of your enemies, that you might still the enemy and the avenger.”   Now, I want you to notice something here. Jesus, in Matthew 21:16, is quoting this scripture. You do understand that HE IS the WORD OF GOD, right? So, His interpretation MUST BE accurate… Can I get an AMEN on that one? I mean, Jesus, when quoting the Word is talking about Himself. So when He says something in the Word or from the Word – I think we can all agree it must be True, right? Because He also said “The Word is Truth.” Anyway, I could continue to farther along that line – but the point I'm trying to make is this… In Matthew 21:16, Jesus, quoting from Psalm 8:1-2, said, “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings YOU HAVE PERFECTED PRAISE.”  Jesus is equating STRENGTH with PRAISE. From these scripture which we just read, we can see that GOD ORDAINED PRAISE for the purpose of defeating His enemies. Praising God will stop the enemy, the devil and any demon, right in their tracks! It is like having a tank pull into position and the enemies small arms fire just starts bouncing off the hull…then, the Holy Spirit spins that turret around and when you start PRAISING GOD – BAMMM!  That big tank gun goes off and the enemy is defeated…and all his little demon buddies take off running! Praise God!  No really – give God some Praise right now! Amen! Psalm 9:1-4 says, “I will praise you, O Lord, with my whole heart. I will show forth all of your marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in YOU. I will sing praise to your name, O you, the Most High God. When my enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at your presence. For you have maintained my right and my cause. You sit on your Throne judging right.” Now, notice – this says WHEN your enemies are turned back. Not IF they will be turned back. Folks, these may seem like small things as you read them – but IF YOU BELIEVE exactly what the Word of God says – they make a world of difference. Amen! We are not wrestling with flesh and blood, but against demonic forces. When you Praise God in advance for the victory – you are praying in the Will of God. When you start to enter His Gates with Thanksgiving in your heart – you are entering the Courts of Praise and your victory is guaranteed. Amen! Let's pray right now and give God some Praise for answered prayer. Whatever it is you are going through right now – just start praising Him for the victory… Until next time, this is Pastor Bob Thibodeau reminding you from 1 Thessalonians 5:17 in the Living Bible to “Always Keep on Praying!”  Be blessed in all that you do! Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com/ (https://podcastersforchrist.com). And while you are at the website, download the free resource I have for you… it is free and is called, Podcasting for Christians. It will bless you – go and download it today. You can also WATCH these session on our Facebook Playlist at this link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtKWeKtmv-BwgkquBTsSh-GznbmuUp_R2...

Scripture of the Day:   Genesis 25:21“Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.” It's Time to Upgrade Your Prayer AccountHave you been struggling in your prayer life lately? Have you been noticing that some of your prayers just are not being answered?  I can tell you from experience, it is not God's fault. It is your fault!   Now, before you switch me off, here me out. Amen. God's answer is always YES and AMEN. He has said over and over and it has been emphasized by Jesus Himself, that if we ask ANYTHING according to His Will and in the Name of Jesus – God will grant us the prayers we have asked Him. And if it is impossible for God to lie – then He will do what He said He would do. But, I can guarantee you from the Word of God, He will ONLY answer prayers that are in accordance with His will. That's in 1 John 5:14. Amen.  If you are experiencing a dry season in your prayer life – check yourself. Get back into the Word. Get back into agreement with the Word. Get back into an alignment with the Will of God and then you will start to see a change in the results of your prayer life. Amen! You cannot know what the Will of God IS unless you know His Word. His will is His Word. So the first thing you need to do is start to study His Word in more detail. You should be reading it on a daily basis. If you are not doing so – there is a big red flag right there! Amen! Next, you must renew your mind. When you get into God's Word on a consistent basis, it will transform your life. And it all starts in your mind. Remember, you are a Spirit. Your Spirit man was created the instant you were born again. That's what the term BORN AGAIN means. The Old you died and you became a new creation. Created in the image of Christ who is the image of God. So you are created in God's image – and that makes you His Child. A Child of God. Amen. But your mind, your will – notice I said YOUR WILL and your emotions – are your soul. All of the bad things you've ever done are still in your memory – your mind. This can make you sad, angry, feel condemned, or whatever. WHY? Because you know you sinned. But – you must remember, if you are born again, that has been forgiven… But, the devil will try to bring up those things you've been forgiven of. Those thoughts are housed in your memory. So you need to transform your MIND. Allow God's Word to purify your thoughts.  I've done things, before I was born again and yes – even after – that I feel absolutely terrible about. Things I would never do now. But, the good news is – I've been forgiven! Praise you Jesus! Amen!  And the good news for you is – if you are born again – YOU have been forgiven, too! Can I get an AMEN on that one! Praise God! So, although those thoughts are there, you need to start speaking the Word against them. You can only do that IF you know the Word. And you can only do that by getting INTO the Word.  Once you start to realize this, you become more noticeable of what God's WILL really is as it concerns situations you are facing. And once you know what God's Will IS in any given situation – that is what you need to start praying and walking out. As you do that – VICTORY comes! Amen! Victory in JESUS – Praise God!   All of that comes simply by YOU renewing your mind. When you realize that – you will realize that YES – you need to “upgrade” your prayer account and your prayer life. Shout Amen Somebody! Let's pray that God will help you to make the time in your schedule to start getting into His Word. Begin the process of upgrading your prayer account by transforming you thought life with the Word of God. Let's pray… Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our...

Scripture of the Day:   Ezra 9:6“Ezra prayed…I'm too ashamed and disgraced, my God, to lift my face to you, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens…” Are You Ashamed of Your Country?Ezra had been working hard to teach God's people how to obey God and worship Him. But the people did not listen. They continued to go about their own business. Not paying attention to the teachings of God or the preaching of the prophets. They basically forsook the Biblical way of doing things and had turned their backs on God. This brings about Judgement folks!  You have heard me say that the United States has opened the door to Divine Judgement by embracing lifestyles and ways of life and attitudes that dishonor God and dishonor our Godly heritage. And we have nobody to blame for what is going to happen except ourselves. If we do not repent and do so quickly, it will be too late. Ezra found out about lots and lots of people who were choosing to disobey God as well. He was so hurt! But what does Ezra do? He prays!  Ezra begins his prayer by saying to God that he was too ashamed and humiliated to even lift up his face to Him. He declared, “Our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has grown up to the heavens.” Here, right from the beginning of his prayer, Ezra poured out his heart to God, telling Him exactly how he felt.   And it is interesting that throughout the prayer, even though he had not participated in the sins of the people, he demonstrated by using the words “we,” “our” and “us,” that he identified with their sins and even felt the guilt of their sins.  This is how it is for us in the world today. Even though, as Christians, you may not have participated in abortions or homosexuality or supported a particular political party that encourages such actions – you are still here. You are still in this nation that is deserving of judgment. Here, in this nation that is starting to experience judgment… Ezra goes on in his prayer saying all the great things God had done for the nation. He was not doing this to remind God of these things, but to bring to remembrance what God had done to the minds of the people all around him.  Then, in verse ten, Ezra says to God, “What shall we say after this?” So here (in my words) he is praying, “Now what have we done for all of Your kindness and blessing upon this land? We have turned our backs on You and forsaken Your covenant. You told us not to do these wicked things, but we, as a nation, have done them anyway.” Folks, this prayer should be prayed by believers everywhere right now. You may not have been participating in the wickedness of the sins of this nation. But you permitted them to be practiced anyway. “How did we do that, brother bob?” By electing public officials who supported, endorsed and then passed and enforced laws that went contrary to God's Word and God's Will. And then punished anyone who spoke God's Word against those wicked practices. Closing his prayer, he said in great humility, “Here we are before You, in our guilt, though no one can stand before You because of this!” Ezra was putting it all on the line. He told God, basically, “Your judgement is what we deserve. We do not deserve your Mercy any longer.” And it was true. But, this prayer got the attention of those around Ezra. And repentance began. And judgement was averted. God heard Ezra's prayer and granted Mercy. What do we deserve as a nation or as a world? I can tell you in one word – Judgement. But God – it is only because of His Mercy that we are still breathing today. But God! It is time to repent for where YOU have sinned against God. It is also time for you to PRAY like Ezra prayed. Maybe, just maybe, you can influence those around you to repent as well. Then and only then, will the impending judgement be delayed. Let's pray for YOU to be able to influence others...

Scripture of the Day:   Jonah 2:1“From inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the Lord his God…”Do You Only Pray When in Trouble?Most people are familiar with this story. God had commanded Jonah to go to Nineveh, the NYC of its day and proclaim that Judgement was coming and coming soon.  Jonah did not want to do that because he knew that, if they repented, God would not destroy the city (the Bible does not say “HOW” Jonah knew this, but it was evident he did). IF that happened, it wasn't just that Jonah would have sparked repentance in the city of Nineveh, Nineveh was HATED by the Jews. They were like Iran is today to Christians. OK? He would rather see God destroy the entire land and its people for all that they had to Israel. He did not want to even give them a shred of a chance at repentance. So – he went in the complete opposite direction! Amen! Ultimately, Jonah was tossed over-board from the ship he was on, once it was determined it was his fault for the ship being in jeopardy. Jonah was ok with that, too! You can tell from the conversation in scriptures.  He basically had the attitude that, “I'll be dead and ushered into paradise…and Nineveh and all of it's inhabitants will still not have a chance to repent and God will still destroy that wicked place! That's good all the way around!” But – God had a plan. And sent a fish to swallow up Jonah as soon as he was tossed in the sea. Now, we do not know what kind of fish it was…but you can pretty much determine it was a whale. Why? One, it was large enough to swallow him whole.  Two, a whale just inhales water and brings the krill into its mouth in one might rush of water and then, down into the stomach the food goes… But, in this instance, Jonah was detoured. He probably was not sucked into the stomach, or else the acids would have started in on him. Instead, he became, let's say, stuck in the esophagus of the whale. Why do I say that? Because the whale must surface to take a breath of air, right? So, Jonah had to have a fresh air supply. The esophagus, just like ours, splits off to the stomach and to the lungs. And there was Jonah, stuck in the throat of the whale. God then directed the whale to start swimming towards the destination He wanted Jonah to go. After three days of being stuck in the dark, fighting to stay in place as the whale kept swallowing more and more krill, then catching some fresh air as it surfaced, only to dive down again…Jonah had enough. He prayed… Well, about that time, the whale was back on the beach near where God wanted Jonah to be in the first place. The whale, now delirious because he could not get whatever it was stuck in his throat out – suddenly vomited and spit out Jonah…right on or near the beach. And Jonah decided it might be in his best interest just to go ahead and do what God told him to do in the first place. And you can tell from the rest of the story, he did not like it. But you have to give him credit, at least he obeyed. The question I have for you is this… What has God told YOU to do that you have not done yet?  It doesn't have to be anything BIG like go to a foreign land and become a missionary…it could be – but it doesn't have to be… It could be something simple, like giving extra money in offerings. Or witnessing to your coworker. Or just taking the kids to church.  But, whatever it is, if you have not done it yet, what is it going to take? Do you only pray to God when you are in trouble? I know a lot of people like that. When all hell breaks loose around them, then they call…”Can you pray for me?” Folks, do not be like Jonah. Pray every single day. That is what this teaching series is all about – to bring you into a closer, deeper relationship with God through prayer. Amen! I want to pray for you right now to have that type of closer relationship with your Heavenly Father… Let's pray… Do me a favor…can you leave a comment down below and I would greatly...

Scripture of the Day:   Matthew 6:6“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray toyour Father, who is unseen. Then, your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Do Not Pray to Be Seen Praying  These verses in Matthew chapter 6 are talking about doing things for immediate rewards. Recognition. Public recognition like “Oh, he or she is such a saint,” type of recognition. Later, in verses 19-20, Jesus teaches us, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasure in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” We are not to do things for earthly rewards or treasures—getting immediate results from our actions. Instead, we should do things for Christ and lay up treasures in heaven. We may not get results right away, but everything good done for Christ will eventually be rewarded. Should we be satisfied with earthly rewards, or should we desire rewards in heaven for the cause of Christ?  Now let us apply this principle to what Jesus said about prayer. Should we pray to be seen and praised by people who will be amazed at how “spiritual” we sound? Or should we pray to praise God and let our requests be known? Obviously, praying for the sake of being seen by others focuses on earthly rewards.  Jesus is not saying if we should pray in public or not. He is saying we need to understand the reason we are praying. Is it to get results or is it to be seen? When Jesus told His disciples to pray privately, He was emphasizing the need to pray when nobody else even knows we are praying.  Why would someone do that? Because they are spending quality time, alone, with the Creator of the Universe. Who just happens to be our Heavenly Father. Do you think God cherishes that time with His children?  Imagine if your child would only honor you and talk nice to you when you were out in public or you had company over…the rest of the time, they either demanded stuff from you or ignored you altogether. How would that make you feel?  But, if your child truly honored you, if your child truly spent time with you when they could be doing other things – not to get something, but just to be in your presence…how would that make you feel? Good, right?  And then, if one day, your child came to you and said, “I really need your help with this…” and laid out a problem they were having – would you move to help them? Immediately? Of course you would… But, if your child was one that neglected you, abused you, ridiculed you, except when they could be observed by others and everyone thought they were the best kid in town…they are fooling everyone… and then the kid comes in and say, “Hey, I need your help with this. Give me, give me, give me, give me…” The first couple of times, you might help them. But with no change in their attitude, there will come a time when the answer is “NO.” Then, the true colors of the child come out!  “You don't love me? I hate you! Etc. etc.” Right?  So, if that is how YOU are – imagine how God is feeling when His kids treat Him the same way. That is what Jesus is saying here… SPEND TIME WITH GOD ALONE. With nobody else around. Not to pester Him and beg Him for STUFF…but just to be in His Presence. Do it when nobody else is around. Then, when there is a need – He will reward you and will do so OPENLY. That means you really do not even need to ask. He knows your needs before you ask Him, scripture says. And when He blesses you openly like that, then others will see it and ask you, “WOW – That was a big blessing” and you will respond with, “My God blesses me…” It is a testimony to your relationship with God! Amen!  I want to pray with you right now… Let's pray for forgiveness for neglecting our relationship with God, our Heavenly Father, and for His Wisdom in how to

Scripture of the Day:   Matthew 21:22“If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer…” Pray for ResultsHave you ever heard someone finish a prayer and say something like, “for Jesus sake, amen.?” That is so foolish. We are praying for our sake – not Jesus sake. AMEN? We are to pray to the Father – IN THE NAME OF JESUS! We are to pray for RESULTS. Jesus said if we believe whatever it is we are asking God for, that God WILL answer our prayers…if we believe that – THEN we will receive our prayers as answered. DO NOT DOUBT. Amen! How can you believe in something you do not know? In order to receive your prayers as answered, you must believe they will be answered. To believe they will be answered, you must base them on the Word of God. How can you base them on the Word of God if you do not know the Word of God? Quick answer – You can't! So, first, you must READ what God's Word has to say about your situation. Whatever it is!  If you need healing, go to the Word and look up – AND READ – every single scripture that deals with healing and Jesus healing the sick. “Well, brother bob, that would take a lot of time…” I didn't say you had to do it one sitting. But you should spend at least 30 minutes scriptures. And, in my opinion, if you truly are in need of healing, do it three or four times per day! “Three or four times per day?”  I don't have that much time…!  Really? What are you doing at 5am every morning?  “Well, brother bob, I'm sleeping…I work all day…” Look at where I am right now. It is 5am and I'm doing this every single day. WHY? Because I need a deep dive in prayer. And I'm in the Word every single day. But I needed to FOCUS on prayer. And the Lord impressed upon me to share this study with you. That is what I'm doing. But I have been getting up between 5 and 515 am for years, just to spend the first few minutes of each and every day with the Lord. In His word and in prayer. Some people want to do that at the end of the day. That's ok too. But you need to make it part of your daily schedule. Not something you do when you remember. It has to be part of your routine. Amen. And, if you need an answer to something in particular, like healing – then you need to spend 30 minutes reading healing scriptures. Over and over and over. If you need an answer to financial pressures, read about finances. What to do, sowing and reaping, giving and receiving, etc. Tithing…hello! The point is – when I said three times per day, if you were truly sick and the doctor told you to take these pills and go for a half mile walk three times per day for the next six months and you will be healed – would you do it? Most people would say yes! Even if you had a job. You would wake up 30 minutes early and go for your walk before work. At lunch time you would go for a walk instead of McDonald's or whatever. Then after work you go for your third walk. You would find a way to fit it into your schedule because your doctor said if you would do it – you would be healed… So why won't you believe the one who gave the doctor's their wisdom? Why won't you believe the One who created all things, including your body. Why won't you believe the One who created all the silver, all the gold and all the cattle on a thousand hills? Do you think He who did all that is incapable of helping you? Then start believing and asking for specific prayer, like we already talked about – and, as we are talking about today – PRAY FOR RESULTS and then, as our scripture says today – BELIEVE YOU RECEIVE those prayers as answered. Amen! I want to pray for you right now, that you would take this seriously. So seriously that you will repent for not doing so before…so seriously that you will start to spend at least 30 minutes each day in God's Word. So seriously that, if necessary, you will get up 30 minutes earlier to start your day with God in His Word.  IF you will do that, THEN you will see...

Scripture of the Day:   Matthew 6:7“And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words…” Don't Waste God's TimeWhen you read this verse, and some others that Jesus taught on, it sounds like He is telling us to keep your prayer brief and to the point. That may sound harsh to some “religious” folks who want to follow Solomon Paul's advice in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, where he tells us to, “Pray without ceasing.” I mean, if you take that one literally, you would be talking to God every single waking second. That would be a lot of words and, honestly, you would be doing a lot repeating of your prayers. So, which is it? Keep it brief or keep it long? I know some people that make it a point to pray 2-3 hours every single day. They do not feel right if they do not spend that much time in prayer. I know some people that say about 2 minute prayer and they believe they are good to go. So, which one is in good standing with God and which one is not? The answer – BOTH. “Both? Brother Bob…Both what? In good standing or not?” Yes – that is correct. Both! It kind of sounds like I'm in the Abbott and Costello “Who's on first” comedy routine, doesn't it? But, you have to understand, if one person wants to spend a couple of hours at one time in the presence of God…If that is what the Lord has put on his or her heart to do – then that answers the question!  That person needs to be there.  However, if they are doing that in attempt to berate God into finally answering their prayers – they are wasting their time. Jesus taught the parable about the unrighteous judge in Luke 18:5-7. This widow woman keeps bothering this judge to help her until finally, in verse 5, the judge says, “…yet, because this widow keeps pestering me, I will give her justice. Then she will stop wearing me out with her perpetual requests. And the Lord said, Listen to the words of the unrighteous judge. Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He continue to defer their help?” That sounds pretty much like Jesus is telling His disciples to be like the widow woman and just keep pestering God until you finally wear Him out and He will cave in to your prayer request. But when you match that up with our scripture verse of Matthey 6:7 where Jesus don't keep pestering God with all of your meaningless words – we have two opposite sides of the equation. So, what should we do? I'm so glad you asked! Jesus is say that if you have a need, keep it before the Lord in prayer. Every time the devil brings up the situation that you are facing, financial, health, family members or whatever, every time the devil brings it to your remembrance, just give the Lord praise for the answer to your prayer request.  But don't go to your prayer closet 29 times a day and spend 30 minutes crying out the Lord every single time. If you have a financial need that is so urgent, you need a miracle, you take it to the Lord. IF HE tells you to sow a seed and help someone else, do it. That is what will open the door to your miracle. You helping the need of someone else. If all you have left is $20 and you need $200 or $2000 – and as you are driving to work and see that homeless person on the corner, is that $20 going to help you? No. But it will help that homeless person. SOW IT!  That will be a HUGE blessing to that homeless person. That will now open the door for the Lord to have someone else sow HUGE into your life. That is just one example and we will teach on the laws of sowing and reaping later on in this study. But the thing I want you to see is GOD WILL ANSWER YOUR PRAYER. He may use other people to do it. Especially where it comes to finances. All the finances in the earth are based, basically on precious metal that God created when He created the earth. He is not going to rain $100 bills down from Heaven and He is not going to...

Scripture of the Day:   Jeremiah 29:12“Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.”Guard Your Mind and God Will AnswerIn order to receive the answer to your prayers, you need to believe that God WILL answer prayer. We are told over and over and over that God “hears us” and “delivers us” and He “will answer” our prayers. But even with all of the promises of God on this subject, doubt still creeps in “this time.”   Questions like, “Will He answer – this time?”   Or “I know He answered my prayers before – but will He do it “this time?”” We need to be on guard against any thoughts that come into your mind concerning whether or not God will answer your prayers. You see, thoughts are actually governed by observations. You then associate those observations with what your desires are. “Are these things lining up with what I expect?” “Are these things I see, are they God's way of answering my prayer?” The Bible says we are to cast down our imaginations that try to exalt themselves against the Word of God. That's why you need to stay away from all places and things that do not support your affirmation that God has answered your prayers. Your thoughts are governed by your actions. That means, sometimes, you will have to stay away from the kind of churches that can put more unbelief in you than they do faith. I'm not speaking bad about any churches or their pastors – but you know as well as I do there are some well meaning pastors that walk, unknowingly, in unbelief in certain areas. For example, some pastors do not want to teach on prophecy because they feel it just makes people fearful. They do not want to make their people afraid – despite the fact the Book of Revelation clearly states that those who read or in other words, STUDY, the last the book of the Bible – will be BLESSED.  There are those pastors who refuse to teach on Divine healing. They don't want to get people's hopes up. They don't know how to teach on the subject of “walk by faith and not by sight.” They acknowledge that Jesus healed. The Apostle's healed. But they don't believe ANY of that is for today. They will admit that “sometimes” God will Divinely intervene and they give Him praise in those instances. But they will not willing teach on it nor are they willing to stand in agreement with YOU for your healing. It is better to leave those churches, despite your friendships, despite your loyalty to “the pastor” and stick to your loyalty with GOD. Studies have shown that you are the sum total of the 5 people you most hang out with. If you are a business person and you want to take your business to the next level of success, you need to start associating with those who are at least one step ahead of you, preferably three of four steps ahead of you. WHY? Because they KNOW what you are going through. They understand the processes you need to take in order to achieve your desired goals. But, if you just hang around with those who are on the same level as you are – all you do is talk with one another about “someday.” But nobody really does anything to move up the ladder of success and make “someday” equal TODAY. Even worse, is to start associating with those who are not as successful as you are and taking input from them and, the next thing you know – you have regressed down to the level they are at. Folks, if you are needing healing – you need to associate with ministries that BELIEVE God still heals today. Not those that believe it stopped with the Apostles. Amen! If you need a financial break through – you need to associate with ministries that operate on the financial success principles. If you need to learn about PRAYER and “How to get your Prayers answered! “ You need to associate with ministries that believe God still answers prayers today! That is why we are teaching every single day this year. That is why you are here! Amen!  God has Divinely brought us together for...

Scripture of the Day:   Mark 14:39“Once more he went away and prayed the same thing.”Stay Positive and Resist DoubtIn order to receive the answer to your prayers, you need to let every single thought about the subject of your prayers to remain positive. Call it as already done – in Jesus Name. If you are believing for a financial answer to prayer, stay positive, even in the face of negative reports. If you are believing for a healing, same thing. Stay positive, even in the face of a negative report or feelings. How you feel does not affect the Word of God. Amen! After you pray in Faith, according to God's Word…you MUST stand on scripture at all times – NEVER allow a picture of failure to try and replace that Word that is LIVING on the inside of you. We are talking about receiving answers to your prayers. Once you have prayed and asked God for something…and when I say “something” I am not being a generalist here. It has to be SPECIFIC. But I don't know what you need or what you are praying for – so I have to be general as I'm talking to you today through this platform. For example, if you need $1,314 dollars to meet a financial obligation, don't just say, “Lord, I need a break through here. I need to see an increase in my finances…”  If you walk out to the parking lot and found a $5 bill on the ground, wouldn't that be an increase your finances? So God answered your prayer! “Well, brother bob, He knows what I need…”  YES – He does!  More so than you do…  “What do you mean by that?” Let's talk about praying for finances for a minute. This is a unique form of prayer because God is not going to rain money down from Heaven like manna. He has already put “all of the silver, all of the gold” into the earth at creation. They don't make that stuff anymore. And God isn't making it anymore either.  So, for Him to answer your prayer for financial increase, he has to get it from someone who already has it. When you say, “God I need $1,314 and I need it now” – God knows what you really need.  I know, I've had this conversation with God. I was praying a prayer like that a few years ago when God arrested me in the Spirit and said, “No you don't.” That shocked me!  I said, “Yes I do” and He replied again, “No you don't.”  Then He said, “If I give you this money now, next month you will be right back here asking for more.” And you know what, He was right. Then He showed me in His Word, that living by debt instead of Faith is wrong. It goes against Biblical principles. And with this pandemic, you can see why… People have been living for the here and now instead of saving. They should have been saving for an emergency fund that experts say should have a minimum of six months expenses and preferably an entire year. Most people do not even have one month of expenses in savings. I was the same way. But several years ago, as I was praying for a miracle in order to keep the bills paid, that is when God said “No, that's not what you need. What you need is to do stop borrowing and living on credit and start saving and paying cash.” When I did, man – life got better. Yes, we went several years without vacations. We went several years saving for an emergency. But, during this pandemic, when everyone was panicking around us, we were secure. That's just one example. But the point of what I'm sharing today is not how to live secure financially. My point was to stay single minded and focused on your answer to your prayer request.  In my example of asking God for increase and you finding $5 on the sidewalk, that was increase. You cannot say God did not answer your prayer. But, if you are praying specifics, “God, I need this amount of money by this day. I now SOW a seed to someone else…because your Word says to “Give and it shall be given back to me, a good measure, pressed down, shaken together and, RUNNING OVER, men shall give into my bosom.” But you...

Scripture of the Day:   Luke 17:20“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those that will believe in me through their message.”God's Word is the ONLY Truth Yesterday, we talked about praising God in the face of negative talk about you being to sick to get better. We discussed that, if you truly believed God's Word, you would rejoice! Because either God is the only one who will get your praise when you are healed HERE – or He will be the only one to get your praise when you are in His Presence THERE. Praise God… I have had my times of what could be called “miraculous healing” myself. I've had them happen for several people that I have prayed for. I've witnessed numerous others as other men and women of God have prayed for people. This is real, folks. Those naysayers that refuse to acknowledge that Jesus is the Great Physician are only doing so because they do not have the Faith to believe. I've received healing myself, from colds to severe injuries. I remember several years back I was participating in officiating football games. I still do today, but this was several years ago and I was new to the experience. Anyway, I made a mistake in my positioning and ended up getting taken out by a several 200 plus pound football players making a tackle. I got back up, I stayed on the field and finished the game, but I was hurt and I knew it. I prayed – and got through the game. When I finally drove home, I could barely walk. My left leg was hurt and hurt bad. I knew it. The next day was even worse. Thank God I had a week until my next scheduled game. I prayed and stood in Faith. Literally – stood – in faith.  The next weekend, I went back out. I was hobbling, but able to function. I could not run as fast as I had, but I was able to do my job and get through the game. Then the next and the next, etc. A about two years ago, I was having problems with my right knee.  This was from an on the job injury I suffered many, many years ago as a police officer. And my doctor decided to get an x-ray. They took an x-ray of both legs. When I returned to the doctor for the results, he asked me, “When did you break your leg?” “Excuse me? I've never broken my leg,” I replied. “Yes you did. It was a pretty good break, too. But it was reset and has calcified over. The reason I asked is because you did not put that down as a prior injury.” I told the doctor, I do not know when that could've happened. He said that, from the x-ray, it had been about three years or so from what he could tell. But, as I was thinking about it, the ONLY time that could've been the case is with that football game. That is the only time something like that would've happened. I did not go to the doctor. I PRAYED. I did not go the ER. I went to God's Word. I knew what the Word said about healing. Was it instantaneous? As far as I was concerned, No. I mean it took me several weeks, maybe even a couple of months to run and everything like before. But was it instantaneous? According to the doctor, it must've been. He said it had been reset! Amen! I prayed, Jesus answered – and I went about doing my normal business and activities. It was not until several years later that I found out what actually happened to me that night. Praise God. That is just one example. I knew “something” was wrong – and prayed for healing. I knew I had been healed – I just did not know to what extent until this doctor asked me “when I had broken my leg?”  Praise God. But that is what I'm talking about. I believed God's Word. I believed God's Word was TRUE and I stood, literally, on God's Word. And I received my healing. Now, if you would've asked someone who seen me walking or attempting to run on the sidelines a week or two weeks or even three weeks later, they would say I was not healed. If you had asked me and I told you how I felt, I would say I was not healed. But I was standing in God's Promises and I said, “By His stripes, I WAS...

Scripture of the Day:   Luke 22:45“Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”Demonic Truth versus Spiritual Truth As we continue our study in prayer, I want to emphasize over and over for you the importance of BELIEVING THE BIBLE over believing what any other person has to say. I don't care if your doctor tells you that you only have a few weeks left to live.  You should just ask him, “So there is nothing else you can do?” When he says no, then state a Spiritual FACT – “Then I trust God to do what HE says He will do…”  Then start quoting some healing scriptures… Praise God! “Well, brother bob, that actually seems a little silly, don't you think? I mean, after all, that doctor is trained in this field. He knows when there is nothing else that can be done… I'd look like a plum fool to say I was believing God for my healing when the best doctors and medical sciences says I'm going to die…” It is belief like that which probably got you into this predicament in the first place. Maybe, just MAYBE, if  you would've gone to God and His Word at the first symptoms – you wouldn't be in this mess right now.  BUT NOOOO – you sought the best advice from MEN rather than God. Now, don't get me wrong. I love doctors and modern medical technology. If it were not for doctors and other medical staff – so many people would've died before they even had a chance to get born again. Amen. But, let's look at from a natural verses spiritual perspective for just a moment. Who came up with all the latest ideas and concepts in modern medical breakthroughs? I guess a better question would be, who GAVE these people the IDEAS of the concepts and the WAY they would work on the human body?  That would be GOD, right? Who created these bodies in the first place? God… Who contaminated these bodies so they would start to die in the first place?  Satan… Who established death in the body and death in the earth?  Satan… Who overcame death in the body and death in the earth?  JESUS… Who triumphed over Satan in all things?  JESUS… Who took all the authority Satan had in this earth?  JESUS… Who gave US that authority over Satan?  JESUS… In whose name can we pray and watch every demon flee?  JESUS… In whose name can we pray and believe sickness must flee? JESUS… Do you start to see a pattern here? Amen! There are two kinds of truth at work here.  Natural truth, based up on natural laws and consists of things we can see, touch, hear, taste and smell. Things that pertain to living in this fallen world. Then, there is God's Spiritual Truth – which supersedes natural truth. Supersedes natural laws. Supersedes what your five senses perceive and operates on a Godly plain that only God's children can operate in.  His Truth is contained in His Word. “Thy Word is Truth.” Amen. So, when you are faced with bad news like that…go ahead, ask the doctor, “So there is nothing else you or anyone else can do?”  When they say NO – Praise God! Tell them, “So, I've been praying for years that when I die, I will get to see Jesus. You're telling me that day is approaching! That's Good News!  And, you know what is even better, Doc?  I'm still believing God for my healing – so when it happens NOW – it ain't because of YOU – ALL PRAISE will be His. Bless God! This is exciting!  And, what's the worst that can happen, Doc? I die like you said and immediately step into Glory with Jesus and I'll be healed forever! Praise God! Now, I'm telling you right here, you will not be able to say things like that unless you truly believe them. Because when you start praising God like that, the devil doesn't like it. He will probably move immediately to shut you down by having the doctor start to intercede, “Well, now…I wouldn't get all...

Scripture of the Day:   1 Kings 8:28“Yet give attention to your servant's prayer and his plea for mercy, Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day…”NEEDS verses WANTSYesterday, we talked about “believing you receive.”  And I gave a couple of examples that your NEEDS are given priority over your WANTS.  This is especially true when it comes to prayer. You could have been praying for God to deliver you from financial oppression. And, truth be told, if you are honest, if your debts are out of control as compared to your income, it is usually because you lived beyond your means. You were spending today based on tomorrow's income…and something happened to tomorrow's income. The pandemic shutdown your business or you lost your job. But the debts are still there and they debtors want their money. Whose fault is it? Don't blame the economy or China or the government. They did not tell you to incur the debt. If you did not have the debt, yes, you might not have that 84” flat panel TV to watch the Super Bowl on… but you would not have the debt for it either. I'm not saying this to condemn anyone. I'm using it as an example of NEED verses WANT. You WANTED the TV.  Now, you have a NEED for income to pay for it. If you would have saved $100 per month for several months, and then, if you still wanted it, you could have paid cash for it. But, you took immediate possession based upon several months of income in the future, which is now no existent. OK, enough on that…on with my example. You need a couple of thousand dollars of income – Immediately – or the lights are being turned off and you will not have any food to feed the family. That is an immediate WANT. You may think you NEED it (and you do). But in reality, it is your fault you are in that position, right? Now, let's say you are out on a walk with your family and group of thugs surrounds you and is threatening to kill all of you.  They pull out their knives and they are getting ready to go to town on your family. You cry out to God… How would you like it if God answered, while you are about to be attacked, with, “Ok – I'm going to give you what you want. Once you get home, there is a $1000 check waiting for you in the mail box… It took me several weeks to get the right people to finally wake up and send it…but it's there.” That's what you WANTED right? The $1000? OR – would you be praying for God to do an IMMEDIATE answer to a very REAL NEED that you have concerning the safety of your family?  Which one would you rather have God answer? THE NEED for immediate deliverance, right? You're crying out to God, “PLEASE GOD, HELP US!” And about 5 seconds later, a police car just happens to turn the corner.  The thugs see and start running. Now, the police are in pursuit…you and your family are safe. Would that be God answering an IMMEDIATE NEED or your WANT based upon past mistakes you've made? Which one would you prefer God answer? I think everyone would agree the immediate need would be priority. You still WANT the $1000 and it is needful…but as far as BELIEVING YOU RECEIVE WHEN YOU PRAY – are you seeing the difference as far as how quickly God can answer a NEED and how the WANTS will come… it will come… in due time. Again, God can answer immediately in all things. I'm not saying He will not answer. I have personally seem Him deliver me in a financial need. I don't have time to go into here, but there was a check in my mailbox that was desperately needed.  My wife and I went to the store and when we came back, out of habit, I looked in the mailbox and there was the check. There was not even a postage cancellation stamp in the corner!  Then, about 30 minutes later, the mail truck went by putting our daily mail in the box… I believe God sent an angel who grabbed that check as soon as it was printed and that angel came and put it...

Scripture of the Day:   Mark 11:24“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”Believe You ReceiveWe spent the last few days about how important it is for you to identify what you want, exactly, before you start to pray. We talked about the importance of knowing specific scriptures you can quote when confronted with a demonic attack. I want to look now, at receiving answers to your prayer requests to God for the things you want. You can do this by simply believing the scriptures and the prayers you said actually worked. Notice I used a past tense on worked. Not that “they will work.” Not that “they are going to work.” But, when you prayed – they WORKED. The job was done. “Well, brother bob, what if I don't see the results.” Let me ask you this.  Are you saved?  “YES” How do you know? “Well, Jesus said I was when I asked Him to forgive me and come into my heart…” Did you SEE any change your body? Did money start raining down from Heaven to help you financially? Did life suddenly become all sunshine and roses? “No – but it did get better over time…” EXACTLY! That is my point! YES – some people will see an immediate event or change. Someone they prayed for will instantly be healed. Someone you pray for to be healed will die. Did God answer your prayer? “No – they died…” But – where did they go? Once they died, where did they go? If they were Christians, they went to Heaven, right? So they have received a Glorified Body and they will never be sick again! “Yeah, but – I wanted them healed here…” First, “don't' Yeah, but – God. Ok. Second, what YOU want – was it backed up by scripture?  Did you find a scripture that said, “So and so will be healed and stay here?” The answer is NO. “But I don't understand. You said to believe we receive and we could have it. I prayed and they died. I didn't get what I wanted for the answer.” This can quickly turn into a very indepth teaching…and I'm trying to keep this teaching short. We will go over this more in upcoming sessions. But let me say this… Notice what you just said in regards to this example. I wanted… I wanted them healed.  Now, let's go back to our scripture references. Remember, we are focusing all of our requests on scripture, right? That is the purpose of this training. Matthew 6:32 says, “…your Heavenly Father knows you NEED all of these THINGS.” Ok. So there are THINGS YOU NEED. Notice that… He is telling us to ASK FOR THE THINGS WE NEED… He expects us to come to Him in prayer, in the Name of Jesus, and ASK FOR THE THINGS WE NEED… One more time… NEED.  Notice the words you uses in the example I provided… WANTED. There is a difference between a NEED and a WANT. I want a million dollars.  But do I NEED a million dollars?  Or would $1,000 meet my need that I'm faced with right now? See the difference?  In the example I used about praying for someone who was sick and they died and went to Heaven. They are healed in Heaven and never will be sick anymore.  You said you WANTED them Healed. But did you NEED them healed?  I'm not being cold and hard hearted here. Nobody wants a loved one to die. Even if they are 90 years old. Nobody wants that…but yet, these bodies and these lives are meant to terminate in the natural. Some in a matter of days, unfortunately and some many, many years later.  That is why it is so important to get people born again and into the Kingdom of God and the Body of Christ. That is why it is so important for Christians to learn how to pray, what to pray and when to pray. If you were shooting cocaine for 30 years and then, on your death bed, become a Christian and ask God to heal you – can He?  Yes. He can. WILL HE?  Maybe…if there is a mission you can accomplish for Him. But what is the most likely outcome?  Your body, due to...

Scripture of the Day:   Ephesians 6:17-18“Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  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.” The Sword of the SpiritIn order to fight the good fight of faith, you must learn how to use the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Fighting the good fight of faith is speaking the Word out of your mouth that you believe in your heart. This is why it is so important for you to keep up with this series on prayer. Every single day for an entire year, we will be building up the power of this Sword inside your spirits. You have to have the Word of God in your heart and be ready to use scriptures against demons when they try to attack you. You do not have time to say, “hold on a minute, let me get my bible…” If a thief was breaking into your house, it's too late to run downstairs in the basement and start lifting weights to build up muscle tone and strength you can wrestle him out of your home. You should have started preparing for that kind of attack years ago. It is the same thing in the Spirit. You cannot go into battle without the proper foundation.  My time as an officer in the Army Cavalry, we continually trained as if we were in war. Every time we would go out on field exercises, it was conducted under battle field conditions. If it was raining and storming, we still conducted the operations as planned. We used to say that we practices to be wet, cold and miserable – and became experts at it. Amen!  Seriously though, spiritual warfare is not a “fair fight.” There is no such thing as a fair fight. Not in battle. Not as cop. I learned that if someone was trying to fight me on the streets of Baltimore, when I was wearing all of this gear, it was because they were trying to kill me. Period. If someone was trying to fight me that bad, I was now authorized to take any and all actions to protect myself, eliminate any threat to my life and those around me. If that involved discharging my firearm, so be it. The point I'm trying to make is this, in the Spirit, the devil wants nothing better to do than to kill you. That way, you can go on to Heaven, and he doesn't have to worry about you anymore. But if you stay, if you keep on living, you are a threat to his kingdom. You are a threat to the works of darkness in this earth. So, if he and his demons get a chance, they will try to take you out. If you are not skillful at wielding the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, you will be like a boy scout running onto Normandy Beach on D-Day with only your pocket knife. In other words, the devil and his demons will take you out. But, if you are skillful in using the Word of God against the devil and his forces, it will be like calling in a tactical nuke on the devil's position. They will FLEE and flee quickly.  In the military, and as a cop, we had a “basic load” of ammunition that we carried with us. This ammunition and our weapons were always at the ready. They could be put into action in a split second. If a threat popped up, we could engage it in seconds. Literally.  That is the way you need to be with scriptures. You need to be able to respond to any threat of the devil or any demonic power with a basic load of scriptures, that begins with “Devil, IT IS WRITTEN…and then blast away!” Praise God! You need to have several scriptures at the ready for various situations. Healing, finances, torment, casting out evil spirits, whatever the Lord puts on your heart for your situations. Listen to Him, He will prepare you. Again, that is the purpose for these daily teachings this year. Amen! Let's Pray! Until next time, this is Pastor Bob Thibodeau reminding you from 1 Thessalonians 5:17 in the Living Bible to “Always Keep on Praying!”  Be...

Scripture of the Day:   Genesis 10:7“Now return the man's wife, for he is a prophet and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return  her, you may be sure, that you and all who belong to you will die.”Fight the Good Fight of Faith It takes a little time sometimes to build the Word up in your spirit man. That is one of the reasons why we are doing this study on prayer each and every day this year. But you need to make sure you pray each and every day. It will, little by little, increase the POWER of FAITH that is within you. If someone came to your home and was going to kidnap your family, hopefully – you would fight them! With everything you had inside you. You would use whatever weapons you could find and if you had none, you would use your hands, your feet and bite them in necessary. You FAITH works the same way. Abraham was walking by Faith. He was going where he was being led by God and, in that day and time, there were marauders and kings would kidnap beautiful women for their harems. And Abraham was worried about that.  Now, without focusing on Abraham's weakness in asking his wife just to claim she was his sister, look at what actually happened here.  Did Abraham put up a fuss? Did he take matters into his own hands? Did Sarah say anything? NO. Why? Because they were trusting God to take care of the situation.  Do you think Abraham was talking to God about this? What about Sarah? I believe both of them were doing a lot of praying. Probably not the loud, obnoxious prayers you see people do “OH GOD – OH GOD” type of prayers… No… But I can almost guarantee you they were praying.  And look at what happened, God answered. God intervened. God moved. God went straight to the king and said, “Hey buddy…just what do you think you are doing with this man's wife?”   You see, if God says something belong TO YOU – it belongs only TO YOU.  If God did not intend for you have what He promised you – then He would not have promised it to you. God said Sarah was going to have a baby by Abraham. That should have been an end to any argument right there. I could continue down this path, but that is an entirely different sermon for a different day. What you see in this example is someone, Abraham and Sarah, that are praying and they are trusting God to take care of this situation. Abraham was operating in fear, he was worried if the king found out Sarah was really his wife, the king would act quickly and kill him in order to take  her. But, by saying she was his sister, it bought him a little time. Time to pray. Time to take this matter to God. And he did. When God intervened, notice He just did not convince the king to let him go. He made him a promise as well – IF you do not do this – every person in your family will be killed.  How's that for an attention getter for a king?   Not only did the king give Abraham his wife back, but gave him riches to pay for his trouble. INCREASE. Notice after this that the Bible says he became RICH in the land with cattle, silver and gold and servants, etc. Amen! When GOD answers prayer, it isn't like convincing some old geezer to give you a cough drop. Amen!  When God answers prayer, He not only provides for that need you are requesting, He is setting you up for future victories at the same time. You could say that the troubles you are going through that have caused you to pray – are actually training you to handle greater things later on. But you will be facing them with confidence because you have seen God come through before. Amen! I want to pray for you right now. I want to pray for things you are going through and let's ask God to fix the situation and provide for future needs as well. Amen. Let's Pray! Until next time, this is Pastor Bob Thibodeau reminding you from 1 Thessalonians 5:17 in the Living Bible to “Always Keep on Praying!”  Be

Scripture of the Day:   Luke 1:13“But the angel said to him, “Zechariah, your prayer has been heard. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son and you shall call him John.”God Answers PrayerFirst of all, let me emphasize, that God is not a respecter of persons.  What He does for one person, He will do for every person….we have His promise on that.  So, why doesn't He answer the prayers of every person…?  It is up to US to get our Faith “tuned into” His Word.   Despite what you may have been taught by well meaning Christian people, God is FOR you and NOT against you!  So many people for far too long have been taught wrong.  I had heard from as far back as I can remember that God was out to “get you” if you messed up!  That is totally, one hundred percent opposite the truth! Where money is concerned, Christians have been taught that poverty is God's way of humbling us.  That people in the ministry have taken a “vow of poverty.”  That if preachers do “get” anything, they have to give it away.  We have been taught that Jesus was so poor, he did not even have a home to live in (Luke 9:58 “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head”). Jesus came to show us how to be Blessed!  Poverty is under the curse!  Jesus came to fulfill the Abrahamic Covenant.  Abraham was RICH!  Job was RICH!  David was RICH!  Solomon was RICH!  So why would Jesus be poor?  And, if he was so poor, why did he have a treasurer?  A poor man does not need a treasurer – a RICH man does! Judas must have been giving A LOT of money AWAY!  Because at the last supper, when Jesus told him to “do what you need to do,” Judas got up and left.  The other disciples thought he was going out to “give money to the poor.”  So he must have done that so often that the other disciples did not pay much attention to him leaving.  This was after Jesus told them that one of the disciples was a traitor!  So any unusual actions by any disciple would have raised immediate suspicion. But Judas' departure was just a natural part of their dinners, the other disciples did not think it was odd! Christians have been taught for so long that “money is the root of all evil.”  But the scriptures do not say that. “The love of money is the root of all evil.”  (1 Timothy 6:10). It costs money to preach the gospel. Just ask your Pastor the next time you see him!  If you are not on the church Board of Directors and just think you can show up and all is well…and you give your little offering thinking “others” will give and that you need the money more than the church does…you are WRONG! Granted, God will make sure that ministries which are doing God's work will be taken care of.  But, the responsibility falls to us!  God holds each of us responsible.   We have been taught that God allows sickness, disease or calamities to happen in our lives in order to “teach” us something.  That is not scriptural.  Sickness, disease and calamities are covered under the curses – and we have been redeemed from the curses! (Galatian 3:13-14). We have been taught that our children ran from God because of something we have done in our past.  We have been taught that our children must “find their own way.”  Both of these concepts are not scriptural.  It is our responsibility as parents to pray for our children and teach them that God loves them and is there for them when we cannot be. We have been taught that we can “never know what God will do.”  But the Bible says the Holy Spirit will show us all things! (John 14:25-27). We have been taught that sometimes God answers our...

Scripture of the Day:   Luke 22:46“Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”Be SpecificFirst of all, let me emphasize, that God is not a respecter of persons.  What He does for one person, He will do for every person….we have His promise on that.  So, why doesn't He answer the prayers of every person…?  It is up to US to get our Faith “tuned into” His Word.   Let me explain it using this example.   You have a radio sitting on your desk.  It is turned off.  You hear nothing over the radio.  Does that mean there is NO radio station broadcasting?  NO.  It just means you do not have your radio turned on.  Radio stations are continually broadcasting over the airwaves.   Now, you turn your radio on.  But all you get is static.  Does this mean there are no radio stations broadcasting?  NO.  It just means you have to “tune” into a station to hear the broadcast.  If you tune into a station that is broadcasting “Rock” and you wanted to hear “Country and Western,” you will be disappointed.  You MUST tune into the station you want to hear. Do you listen to “Rock” and “Country and Western” at the same time and on the same station?  NO.  Each station has a particular “band width” they are broadcasting on.  You must “tune” into the appropriate “band width” in order to hear what you desire to listen to. The same thing happens with God.  God is here, talking to us through His Holy Spirit, all of the time.  We just have to “tune in” to what He is saying.  If we leave our spiritual “ears” turned off – we miss what He is telling us to do in order to be Blessed.  If we are listening to the devil or the world instead of listening to God, we miss what He is telling us to do.  We are tuned into the wrong station! How can we be sure we are listening to God?  How can we KNOW He hears our prayers?  Keep listening – I am about to take you through what I consider to be one of the most profound teachings on getting our prayers answered that you have ever heard.  I believe, with all of my heart and soul, that this teaching will “tune you into” God.  And, we have the promise of God, that if “we know He hears us, then we know we have the petitions we desire of Him.”  I think we have gone far enough for today. I do not want to start the next section and then have to stop after just a few minutes. But we will pick it up here next time. What I would like to do now – IS PRAY! Amen! I want to pray for YOU today… I want to pray for YOU to become a Prayer Warrior in the Kingdom of God. Amen! Until next time, this is Pastor Bob Thibodeau reminding you from 1 Thessalonians 5:17 in the Living Bible to “Always Keep on Praying!”  Be blessed in all that you do! Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com/ (https://podcastersforchrist.com)

Scripture for Today:   Acts 6:4  “We will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the Word”Ask – Don't Beg About 10 years ago, I published a book on prayer. It is called “7 Keys to Answered Prayer.”  A lot of this training will come from that book. It was written as a way to help you come to a realization that you CAN have your prayers answered.  Have you ever wondered if God really “hears” your prayers?  I mean, how many times have you prayed and wondered if you said the “right” thing?  You have heard preachers say, “ask according to God's will.”  So, if you do not get the answer you are looking for, does that mean you asked “out of God's will?” Can you go to God and ask Him to save your loved ones?  What about healing?  Is it possible to pray for healing?  Will God answer your prayer?  Can you ask God to Bless your finances?  Will He Bless your finances?   Is asking for money or prosperity “wrong?” Why does it appear that others get their prayers answered, but you don't?  Are they doing something different?  Do they have “greater Faith” than you do?  Does God love them more than He loves you? I have found that God does answer prayer.  Sometimes, we just need a little help in seeing “how” He answers our prayers.  Sometimes we need a little help in “formalizing” our prayers.  That is not to say there is a specific formula that guarantees results.  But, if we can get our thoughts lined up with God's Word, then that allows our Faith to activate.  And when we activate our Faith in God's Word to do what it says….we are on our way to getting our prayers answered. What you need to do is be SPECIFIC in what you are asking God for in prayer and then stand continually on the promises you find in His Word concerning answering your prayers. This sounds more difficult than it really needs to be. But this is the purpose of our training. By the end of the year, and I really do not believe it will take you that long to learn this, but it will be reinforced throughout the year, but there will come that AH-HA moment when it all clicks. You will be a spiritual powerhouse of prayer. A prayer warrior, if you will. And that is where we will pick up tomorrow.  Simply deciding what it is you want from God and then finding the scriptures that promise you those things. It is so important for you to understand what God has to say about your needs being met. But more importantly, how to approach Him in getting those needs met. Amen! Let's Pray! Until next time, this is Pastor Bob Thibodeau reminding you from 1 Thessalonians 5:17 in the Living Bible to “Always Keep on Praying!”   Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com/ (https://podcastersforchrist.com). And while you are at the website, download the free resource I have for you… it is free and is called, “How to Start a Christian Podcast.” It will bless you – go and download it today. You can also WATCH these session on our Facebook Playlist at this link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtKWeKtmv-BwgkquBTsSh-GznbmuUp_R2 (https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtKWeKtmv-BwgkquBTsSh-GznbmuUp_R2)

Scripture For Today:2 Chronicles 7:14“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” Conclusion – Trust in the LordThis last year, I've shared with you each and every day another aspect of prayer. The Lord had put on my heart to begin a daily prayer study on the different aspects of prayer and to conduct it each and every morning in 2021. I've obeyed. There were days when I did not feel like doing it.  There were days when I may have been discouraged and wondering if anybody out there was listening. There were days when I was busy. There were days when I couldn't wait to turn on the camera and microphone. There were days when I couldn't turn it OFF fast enough! The point I'm trying to make is this… Our job, not “my job” – but “OUR JOB” as believers and as children of “The Most High God,” is to pray and believe – and, most importantly, to OBEY. When the Lord says, “Do this…” whatever “this” is or may be… it is our job to OBEY. I learned that lesson many years ago with the radio station, “Evangelism Radio” (http://www.evangelismradio.com/ (www.evangelismradio.com) ). The success of the radio station astounded me. The format and layout and how it was all supposed to work was given to me by the Lord. And once we launched it, within two years, it was rated #1 in the world in the Christian Talk Genre by SHoutcast. com.  I asked the Lord, “Why? Why me?” because I was getting invited to speak at churches about it, etc.  His response was, “You were not my first choice…” That shocked me… I felt offended at first… but then He continued and said, “You were simply the first to OBEY.” I learned then, just like 1 Samuel 15:22, “To obey is better than sacrifice and to heed is better than the fat of lambs.” So, there you have it, to OBEY what the Lord says to do is better than your offerings. You cannot just “give money” and hope that everything will turn out alright. You need to OBEY what the Lord tells you to do. You good intentions mean nothing when you are not doing what the Lord says… This nation, at one time, was the most blessed and prosperous nation on the face of the earth and in the history of man kind. But no more. Why? Because we left from following the Lord as our God. We left our first love. We stopped lifting up Biblical values and holding elected leaders accountable to God. Instead, we started worshipping THEM instead of demanding THEY worship God. We have allowed secularism and every other kind of “ism” to have prominence over the Word of God and Christian values. Is there any wonder why our inner cities are over run with crime, drugs, violence, murders and ghettos? Is it any wonder why the same politicians who promise to change the world do nothing once they are elected, except make the same promises to the same people over and over again. And then are elected over and over again – but yet nothing changes for the better but only gets worse? This nation is on the verge of destruction. If we are not soon taken over by our external enemies, Russia or China, we will be destroyed from within by our own internal policies that lift up everything except Biblical values. To me – I don't care. I really don't. I have my future secure with Christ. I've lived my life. As the Bible says in Psalm 37:25, “I was young and now I'm old and I've never seen the righteous abandoned or their children begging bread.” Think about it… this nation is about to experience the most climatic destruction any nation on earth has ever witnessed. The devil is about to over play his hand. I don't know if it will be through nuclear warfare or just simply the loss of the freedoms we have enjoyed for 240 years or so.  To me – it really doesn't matter. But, if YOU want to make a difference, your only hope MUST BE JESUS.   Our...

Scripture For Today:Daniel 6:10“Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.”As This World Gets DarkerThis last year, I've shared with you each and every day another aspect of prayer. We've had some deep dives into what prayer is, how and why it works, how and why the Lord will honor your prayers and how and why you can expect to receive victory in your prayer life. In a nutshell – it's a communication method where human beings, you & I, can talk to, on a personal basis, the Creator of the Universe. Amen! And, it is much more than that.  Imagine if you were adopted into the Rockefeller family. But instead of being treated as an “additional family member” and looked at differently than their natural children, you were totally and unconditionally loved by the father. So much so, that he left you an equally share of the entire estate upon his death. Imagine, if you will, that you could walk in, at anytime, with no appointment, straight into the inner sanctum of his office complex. Imagine you could just walk in and talk to him, share your problems and ask for advice; or just sit down and talk about how wonderful it is to be part of the family. That's how our relationship with God truly is – all because of Jesus. But, it also goes much, much deeper than that example… Jesus told us in Luke 21:10-28: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines, and pestilences in various places, along with fearful sights and great signs from heaven. But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. On account of My name they will deliver you to the synagogues and prisons, and they will bring you before kings and governors. This will be your opportunity to serve as witnesses. So make up your mind not to worry beforehand how to defend yourselves. For I will give you speech and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you will be put to death. And you will be hated by everyone because of My name. Yet not even a hair of your head will perish. By your patient endurance you will gain your souls.  But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, you will know that her desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country stay out of the city. For these are the days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers! For there will be great distress upon the land and wrath against this people.They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all the nations. And Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.  There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among the nations, bewildered by the roaring of the sea and the surging of the waves. Men will faint from fear and anxiety over what is coming upon the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.  When these things begin to happen, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”  We see this being played out each and every night on the evening news. Earthquakes, wars, pestilence, COVID, riots, murders, arguments over politics, arguments for and against vaccinations. Families actually split because of these disagreements…  Never in the history of mankind, never in the history of the United States, has this nation been so divided. We are more