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Archive for May, 2009

What Is Prayer by Kenneth Copeland

29 May

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Prayer is not an emotional release or an escape valve. It is much more than just asking God for a favor. Most important, prayer is not a religious exercise.

You should be getting results each time you pray. God responds to faith. So just repetition and beautiful words do not get the ear of God. Jesus said in Matthew 6:7, “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.” Let me give you an example from my own experience.

Not long after I became a Christian, I asked a minister to pray for me. I was expecting to hear a long, beautiful prayer—one that would cause people to fall on their knees in repentance before God! What I heard was just the opposite. He laid his hand on my chest, bowed his head, and said, “Lord, bless him. Meet his every need.” He then turned and walked away. I was left standing there thinking, How could he do that to me? I have big problems. It should have taken at least 20 minutes of hard praying to cover everything.

The major difference separating that minister and me was the degree of faith at work in our lives. He was operating in faith, praying exactly what he meant. I was a baby Christian, looking for a physical manifestation of some kind.

The length of time or how hard you pray makes no difference. When you pray in faith, you have confidence in God’s willingness to use His power to answer your prayer. The man who has confidence in God is very difficult to defeat. He knows, regardless of what comes, he can pray and God will move in his behalf. The key then, to success in prayer, is expecting results. Many Christians think, I’ll pray and maybe something will happen. They say, “I’m just hoping and praying.”

If you are only hoping to get results, you will never receive from God. “Hoping to get” is not the same as “believing you receive.” The promises of God bring hope in hopeless situations.

However, hope has no substance by itself. “I hope to get healed someday.” You hope to receive someday, but someday never comes. Faith brings hope into reality and gives it substance. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” The object of hope becomes a reality through faith. Hope is always in the future. Faith is always now.

Faith causes you to receive from God. The believer who is operating in faith believes God’s power went to work the moment he prayed.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

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Praying for Results by Kenneth Copeland

21 May

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The major cause of failure in Christian enterprises is a lack of prayer.

Whether your goal is to witness to one man or to preach the gospel to nations, you will succeed or fail based entirely on your prayer life. One percent of your time spent in prayer will produce only 1 percent results. Eighty percent prayer will bring 80 percent results. This formula works every time. The obvious question is, “But how can I expect to receive 100 percent results? I can’t spend all my time in prayer.” Yes, you can!

Prayer is an attitude. It involves more than just making requests. It is communicating with God. You can live in an attitude of prayer every moment, being in constant communion and fellowship with your heavenly Father.

In order to get results in prayer, you must be convinced that God wants to answer your prayers. In fact, He is as ready and willing to answer you as He was to answer Jesus during His earthly ministry. This may be difficult to believe, but it is true.

I remember how amazed I was to learn about God’s willingness to answer my prayers because I had always thought of myself as unworthy. Why would God bother to answer my prayers? Ignorance of His Word kept me from receiving His best in my life.

Once I realized the importance of the Word of God, my attitude changed. I realized God does not see His children as unworthy. Notice how Jesus prayed: “…that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me” (John 17:23). Just think! God loves you and me as much as He loves Jesus! We are worthy!

Knowing God is ready to answer your prayers will make you serious about your prayer life. Because you are a child of God, you have an open invitation from Him to come into the throne room at any time.

Never take this prayer privilege lightly. You do not have to enter His presence crawling on your hands and knees. You can boldly stand before God without a sense of guilt, shame or condemnation. Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

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Fellowshipping with God by Kenneth Copeland

13 May

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Jesus said, Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: For without me ye can do nothing…. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples (John 15:4-5, 7-8).

Bearing fruit is doing the works of Jesus, consequently pleasing the Father. Hebrews 13:20-21 says, “Now the God of peace…make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight….” This is a clear example of God’s will for every believer.

Notice Colossians 1:9-10: “We…do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and piritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.” The better you know God, the more fruitful you become through His power working in you.

Fruit bearing comes through prayer. Jesus always separated Himself from people to spend time in prayer. Spending time with the Father in fellowship and prayer kept Him in tune with the Holy Spirit.

Set aside time each day with your heavenly Father. Make the decision you will not allow anything to interfere with your quality time alone with Him. The more time you spend in God’s presence, the more you will act and think like Him. He has already given you His nature. Fellowshipping with Him will cause your desires, attitudes, actions and beliefs to line up with His. Then, when you pray, you will simply be voicing His will. The reality of God will burn into your consciousness. You will not be crying out to a God who is 92 million miles away. He will be right there—closer than a brother. As you draw nigh to God, He will draw nigh to you ( James 4:8). No danger, no circumstance, no problem in this world can come near you with God Almighty by your side!

Fellowshipping with God will give birth to a deep, strong faith and trust in His ability. Your prayer life will take on new meaning. As a born-again believer, you have everything you need to succeed in this life. God is a winner! You are His very own child. You have been born again to win! When you pray in faith and confidence, all of heaven’s resources are at your disposal! Determine in your heart you will maintain consistent, intimate fellowship with God so your prayer life will be based on personal knowledge of Him.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

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Prayer and Fellowship by Kenneth Copeland

06 May

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It pleases God to answer your prayers. But He can only manifest Himself in the earth through the believer who is operating in faith. Faith makes prayer effective and it pleases God (Hebrews 11:6). However, there will be no strong faith without deep and intimate fellowship with the Father. This is the very heart of a successful prayer life.

Fellowship is the mother of faith because you can only put your faith and confidence in God to the extent you know Him. Just as in any relationship, spending time in fellowship with your heavenly Father is the only way to become personally acquainted with Him.

Your new birth into the family of God has given you the right to expect your prayers to be answered. You have come into a Father-child relationship. Relationship without fellowship, however, is like marriage without love. In a loveless marriage, two people are related but don’t really know each other.

If I never spent quality time fellowshipping with my son, anyone could tell him lies about me and he would believe them. The same thing applies to a husband and wife, an employer and employee, business partners, etc. Lack of fellowship causes lack of trust. If this can happen in human relationships, it can happen between you and your heavenly Father.

When I don’t know my heavenly Father, Satan can lie to me about Him—trying to convince me He is my problem, or the One making me sick to teach me something. It would be easy to believe him, but my trust (faith) in my Father causes me to refuse Satan’s lies (called doubt or unbelief). Isaiah 26:3 says, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”

The more you fellowship with God, the more you will know He is not your problem. He is for you and wants to use His power in your behalf. Galatians 1:3-4 says, “Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father.”

The No. 1 priority in God’s heart is to spend quality time with us daily. We need to be able to hear His voice and follow the promptings of His Holy Spirit. We have the command to resist anything that does not come from Him (James 4:7). He does not want us lacking in any area of our lives. Let’s look at 1 Corinthians 1:4-9: I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; that in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: so that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

When you heed the call to fellowship, you will find out for yourself that God is faithful. Your life will be enhanced by Him. You will not come behind in any area. When you know Him through fellowship you will operate out of your spirit, where the faith and power of God reside. Operating in mere head knowledge of the Word, or “mental assent,” will keep you from tapping in to the power of God. Mental assent simply agrees that God’s Word is true. But revelation knowledge resulting from consistent and close fellowship with God brings you to a place where you know that His promise is good. Nothing can take revelation knowledge away from you! All fear and doubt is dispelled and you will bear abundant fruit in your life.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

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Posted in Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Copeland Ministries, gloria copeland, kenneth copeland ministry

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