This past week our congregation joined other churches around the world for five days of prayer and fasting. We met each night for a time of worship and corporate prayer while we drew close to God and one another.  Naturally, the emphasis was on the goodness and faithfulness of God and his willingness to answer our prayers. We had great testimonies of answered prayers and celebrated with those individuals.   When we do something like that, however the question always comes up about why God has not yet answered someone’s prayer who has been petitioning God for months or maybe years.  That is a legitimate question and one I thought I would respond to in this blog.

There is not just one answer, of course, but several possibilities.  One interesting element can be found in Daniel 10.  In that chapter, the prophet is given a revelation of a terrible war.  He is troubled by the vision and is unclear about who the war will involve.  Rather than pulling out a book on the interpretation of dreams, he begins to petition the Lord for the understanding of the revelation.  And so, he begins to fast and pray while waiting on his answer.  On the 21^st day of his fasting, an angel comes to him in a vision.  

The interesting part of the angel’s response is that he was dispatched with the answer to Daniel’s prayer the very first day he began to pray.  He explained that while he was in route, a demonic prince, the prince of Persia, confronted him and they battled for twenty-one days.  The angel who came to Daniel explained that he was only able to deliver the message because Michael, one of the chief angels of God, had come to take up the fight so that Daniel could receive the interpretation he had asked for.

We learn some important things from this.  First of all, things don’t just automatically happen in the spiritual realm.  Many times, angels are dispatched to come to us and facilitate the answers to our prayers.  Sometimes, they face demonic opposition that is not just swept away.  We have no idea how much demonic opposition may stand in the way of our prayers for someone’s salvation, the success of a business that will give generously to the kingdom, or for a nation. Paul declared that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual powers and principalities in the heavenly realms (EPH. 6).  We usually have no idea what is involved in the answer to our prayers in the unseen realm.  This chapter of Daniel draws the curtain back just a bit.  

Secondly, n a microwave world, we want everything instantly, but in many cases, there must be an element of persistence and endurance in our prayers.  I think anther important question is what would have happened if Daniel had quit praying after two weeks assuming that his prayer was not going to be answered?  Would Michael have come to take up the fight?  Would the angel have been able to complete his assignment?  I believe Michael came because Daniel continued to pray and petition God.  As we pray and declare God’s word over situations, more power is directed to that situation. If we stop praying, a prayer that has been approved may not see its completion because we faltered on our end. We hear lots of testimonies about rapid answers to prayers.  We need more testimonies about answers to something that has been prayed about for years.

Faith endures.  Remember Abraham.  God personally promised him a son in his old age.  Abraham was excited as well as Sarah, but the promise did not come quickly.  In fact, it was twenty-five years before Isaac was born and each passing year made the promi9se seem all the more impossible.  God encouraged him for time to time that the promise was in the pipeline but it had to be hard to maintain faith and keep praying into the promise. In a moment of weakness, Abraham and Sarah tried to see the promise fulfilled in the natural way through Hagar but that was a disaster.  But still, the wittier of Hebrews assures us that they both continued in faith (some days more than others) until Sarah herself conceived.  Twenty-five years was a long time…but their prayers were answered.

In Matthew 7, Jesus taught, “seek and you shall find, ask and it shall be given to you, knock and the door shall be opened.” The verb tenses in that verse are present progressive which means they can and should be translated as “keep on seeking, keep on asking, and keep on knocking.  Again, we love overnight answers to our prayers, but some will require persistence and endurance.  

Even when God says yes, there may be demonic opposition.  In addition, hearts have to be prepared, character needs to be matured, pieces have to be moved on the chess board so that outcomes are orchestrated without violating anyone’s free will.  That all takes time. I have known several people who prayed to be married, prayed for an amazing job, or prayed for a leadership position who would have scuttled the marriage, gone after worldly wealth and fame with their, or would have damaged an organization or a church if promoted too soon because they were not ready to steward the answers to their prayers.  God wasn’t saying no, he was just saying not yet.

The lesson is to pray with faith, but be willing to continue to pray until there is breakthrough or until God shows you something else.  The patriarchs were commended for their faith because some died without seeing promises fulfilled for their children, but still believed God would answer their prayers even after their death.

Bottom line…pray with faith, celebrate the prayers answered quickly, but then be prepared to continue to pray for weeks, months or even years if the desire is from God and worth pursuing for long time.  Some of us stopped praying after a while because we thought answered prayer came soon.  We may need to pick that prayer up again, dust if off and pursue it again with faith.

As you know, many of us fall into the trap of projecting our experience with earthly fathers onto our relationship with our heavenly Father.  If you had an amazing father who encouraged you, was affectionate, and who displayed patience and unconditional love, you had a rare experience and you probably have a very positive and warm view of God..  Most of us had an experience with fathers that fell short of that and it is not unusual for us to carelessly slip into a tarnished view of God from time to time by seeing him as our earthly father. When my view shifts in that direction, my faith falters a little, my prayer life cools, and my security wobbles because I begin to doubt God’s love and care for me since my earthly father was not so kind, loving, and available.

Satan has worked overtime to damage fathers all over the world and to malign the idea of fathers in general. Somewhere along the line, we exchanged the idea of the wise Jim Anderson of Father Knows Best (50’s sitcom) to fathers being made in the bumbling image of Al Bundy in the more recent sitcom Married with Children.  Now fathers and men, in general, are characterized as inept, abusive, or toxic.  The Woke movement is working to make sex (more likely men) irrelevant and unnecessary.  Even the new Barbie movie subtly pushes that agenda. Although this is a strategic move to destroy the family as God designed it and to weaken culture across the board, it is more insidious than that.

Because we tend to first understand our Father in Heaven through our experiences with earthly fathers, this cultural movement to vilify the masculine gender is actually designed to alienate us from a heavenly Father. One of the essential parts of the ministry of Jesus was to reveal the Father to us.  In the gospel of John, Jesus declared, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me” (Jn. 14:9-11).

When I begin to drift in my view or my affection toward my Heavenly Father, I need to go back to Jesus who came to demonstrate the heart of the Father.  Where the Son had compassion, the Father had compassion.  When the Son was excited to heal, the Father was excited to heal.  When the Son expressed unconditional love, the Father was expressing the same.  When the Son rebuked or warned, the Father also rebuked and warned.  If we are going to love the Father, most of us will first need to love the Son.  He is more real, more concrete, and was immersed in the things we are immersed in.

One of Job’s complaints to God in the midst of his suffering was, “Do you have eyes of flesh? Do you see as a mortal sees? Are your days like those of a mortal or your years like those of a man” (Job 10:4-5).  In other words, Job was arguing that God could not fairly judge us because he did not know what it was like to be a man, to be mortal, and to contend with the flesh.  After Jesus, we cannot make that argument. Jesus is our great High Priest who knows what it is like to live on this planet and to suffer at the hands of wickedness.  He knows wat it is like to face temptation and the attacks of Satan.  He knows what it is like to be tired and hungry, hot and cold, disappointed and betrayed. But now…if he knows then the Father fully knows as well.  

So, if I begin to see God as an angry or distant father who doesn’t truly care about the things I am suffering, I need to go back to Jesus.  If I begin to see him as a score- keeping God who is waiting for me to earn his love, I need to go back to Jesus. The more I know Jesus, the more I know the Father.  They enemy has worked hard to distort our view of the Father through the lens of our broken fathers on earth.  Jesus is our reset for that distortion.  When you begin to doubt the Father, spend more time with the Son.

AS Christmas slips by and we are moving toward the beginning of 2024, the year already holds a great amount of uncertainty. The election year will undoubtedly be raucous and it’s a good bet that even after the election there will be months of divisive turmoil…no matter who wins.  China is an ever-increasing threat to us both economically and militarily.  The conflict in Ukraine goes on and Israel is still at war.  The financial guru’s in America are predicting everything from a stock market boom to a crash landing for the economy in 2024.  Some new variant of Covid is wreaking havoc in China again and will inevitably find its way around the world.  On top of all that, every time I hear a news flash or read a report, I wonder if I can trust the source to be telling me the truth.  Sometimes life feels like a ship tossed back and forth in a storm in open sea being driven every direction by wind and waves it cannot control.

More than ever, life needs an anchor to tie us to something unchanging and true.  We need a north star by which we can check our compass each day as we feel blown of coarse by every news broadcast and dire warning that comes across social media.  I believe that anchor will be needed more than ever in the year to come.  Christmas reminds me that we have such an anchor in Jesus Christ…God with us.  I was struck this year with the Christmas carols that I heard once again, remembering that they have been sung for centuries now. Their story is not the latest fad or crafted narrative,   The story of the Christ child was prophesied in the days of Isaiah and has been told over and over for 2000 years. 

History has not swept this story away or changed it’s essential truths although some have made great efforts to do so.  On the other end of Christmas, Easter stands in the same way. “God with us” being tortured and killed and then rising on the third day to take his place next to the Father in heaven waiting to return and clean up this giant mess we call earth. That coming feels more imminent every day now.  No matter what spins around us, the Word of God is truth.  Jesus is truth.  He is our anchor for every storm.  But here is the thing.  A casual relationship with Jesus won’t hold in the storm.  A vague knowledge of God’s truth will not steer you through a dark night.  

When we think about drafting our New Year’s resolutions to get in shape, be more financially responsible, make a career change, laugh more, live in the moment more, etc., we need to put more Jesus, more prayer, and more Word at the top of the list. Do it with someone and hold each other accountable.  When the storms blew on Galilee, Jesus slept because he had perfect trust in the Father. When our seas get rough this year, we can rest if we have perfect trust in the Son who has power to command the storms in our life. Make him your greatest priority.

I have often considered the differences between Judas and Peter. Both betrayed Jesus, but one, filled with guilt, stole away and hung himself while the other wept bitterly but clung to the other apostles and Jesus. We all know the story. Judas went to the high priests and promised to lead them to Jesus for thirty pieces off silver. Peter swore he would never deny Jesus under any circumstances but only a few hours later denied him three times.

Perhaps, the great difference was that Judas acted out of greed while Peter acted out of fear. Many believe Judas felt betrayed because Jesus was not fulfilling his role as Messiah and the deliverer of Israel as Judas and many others had imagined. Perhaps, Judas had Imagined himself in some very significant position in the government that Jesus would establish after he revealed himself, overthrew the Romans, and launched his kingdom. As Jesus began to demonstrate surrender to Roman power and Jewish politics, some believe Judas began to doubt who Jesus was or hoped to force his revolutionary hand when he faced arrest.

Some think he felt betrayed by Jesus and so returned the favor. Whatever his motives, he chose to betray Jesus and pocket the money until he saw the outcome of his actions. Then in a fit of guilt, despair, and self-loathing he took his own life. Interestingly, both John and Luke record that just before Judas betrayed Jesus, Satan “entered into him.” One thing is certain, throughout the gosples you never have a sense that Judas drew close to Jesus or loved him or that he drew close to the other apostles. For Judas, the relationship seemed like a means to a personal end. His selfish ambition seems to be the open door for the enemy. People today, can still serve God purely out of selfish ambition…what God can do for them.

Peter, on the other hand, certainly loved Jesus. It’s true, he was impetuous, had an inflated view of himself at times, and ultimately in a moment of crisis gave into his own fears and denied knowing Jesus at all. Satan came after him as well. Luke records Jesus saying, ““Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers” (Lk.22:31-32). Peter did not leave the little group of believers and humbled himself before Jesus when Jesus appeared to them after his resurrection.

I think, perhaps, the biggest difference between Peter and Judas may have been their view of God. Even though Jesus had demonstrated mercy to sinners over and over again and clearly said he was the living embodiment of the Father, Judas seemed to view God as an unbending, merciless God with whom he would not be able to find mercy or forgiveness. When Judas failed, he seemed to have no relationships to which he could turn for solace and forgiveness. His personal ambition probably made him view the other apostles as competitors rather than brothers.

Peter, however, had received the lesson of the woman at the well and the woman caught in adultery. In him was hope that the immense love and mercy he has seen in Jesus might now be directed toward him. He also had come to view the other followers of Jesus as spiritual family who, though disappointed in him, would receive him back like the prodigal Jesus had taught about.

Our view of God is of major importance. We will all fail him from time to time and in our own ways deny him. If we see God as the unbending, merciless father who requires perfection from his children, we will distance ourselves when we have failed … not only from him but also from our spiritual family. If, however, we see him as the father of the prodigal, longing for our return and quick to forgive, we will continue to hold onto him and our family. There we can find hope rather than despair. Life rather than death.

It might be good to evaluate our view of God because a faulty view can have disastrous consequences. Jesus told us that if we have seen him, we have seen the Father. If we struggle with our relationship with God, we should look at Jesus more closely…and Peter. I’m thankful for Peter’s failure because it shows me the way when I have failed.

God has a heart for reconciliation. The word doesn’t appear that often in scripture, but when it does it is profound.

For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Romans 5:10-11.

His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Ephesians 2:15-18

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God… 2 Corinthians 5:18-20

To reconcile means to restore a relationship by recreating a state of harmony that existed before. Jesus died that we might be reconciled to God. In order for reconciliation to be on the table, we had to have once been in a state of harmony with God and then that state had to be ruptured so we were then alienated. This, of course, takes us back to the Garden when Adam and Eve were in a perfect relationship with God until sin caused Adam and Eve to be driven from the Garden and from the physical presence of God.

Suddenly, in an act of rebellion, man found himself at odds with God. Where intimacy and peace had reigned before…tension, animosity, distrust, distance, and alienation became the norm in man’s relationship with God. Like the prodigal son, we turned our backs on the goodness of our Father and chose to go our own way, even to the point off denying the existence of God or giving our hearts to other “gods.” God didn’t leave us, we left him. He had every right to write us off and never give us another thought, but our God has persistently pursued reconciliation with us even at the cost of his Son. It is the nature if God to reconcile if at all possible.

God hates division. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, gentleness, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Those qualities are the fruit of the Spirit that arise from the nature of God. It is his desire that our relationship with him reflect those qualities. It is also his desire that those qualities reflect our relationships with other people. God is always working toward reconciliation and restoration of relationships. He is serious about us doing the same.
since Covid, we have had a noticeable uptick in funerals in our community…many of them for relatively young people. But what I have noticed is how many have died alienated from those they should be closest to.

Some have been suicides, others overdoses, others “wildfire” cancers in relatively young men and women that took them in weeks or few months rather than years, others car wrecks, and so forth. All unexpected. When death has come, and reconciliation has not occurred, it leaves the survivors with guilt, regret, and anger as well as grief. That is not God’s will for his people.

Jesus taught, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” (Mt.5:21-24).

Notice that God is so concerned about us reconciling our differences with others that he instructed us to reconcile our relationships before even attempting to worship. If our hearts are full of unforgiveness, bitterness, anger, blaming, or pride, it will hinder our prayers and our worship. He instructs us to make every effort to reconcile damaged relationships as a top priority in life. We cannot control how the other person responds to our efforts to restore harmony to the relationship, but God wants to make sure that we have made a genuine effort to do so.

God wants us to extend to others what he has extended us. He has offered peace and reconciliation to us through his Son and wants us to have the same heart toward those who have wounded us. He also wants what is best for us and will bring the greatest blessing. As I have watched the tears roll and seen the regret at numerous funerals where alienated family members never resolved their relationship, I know however much effort it took to reconcile would have been worth it. If we are going to be godly or godlike, we must be reconcilers. It is much easier to do that at the beginning of a hurt rather than after years of resentment and bitterness. Let me encourage you. If you have broken relationships and have not tried in good faith to reconcile, do so. It is God’s will for you and you will be blessed because of it. Pray for wisdom, pray for courage, pray for peace and reach out.

In Amos 3:3, the prophet asks the question, “Shall two walk together unless they are agreed?”  The idea is that you cannot walk with someone unless you are going in the same direction.  Another perspective is that if we are in agreement with someone, we are walking with that person in one form or another. In addition, if we come into agreement with someone, we may well grant them influence or even authority over us.

For instance, if an abusive parent finally convinces a child that he or she is weak and worthless, and the child has come into agreement with their evaluation, that agreement will rule that child’s life for years to come.  The parent’s evaluation will continue to control the child even into his or her adult years. When Adam and Eve came into agreement with Satan’s view of God in the Garden, they submitted their “worldview“ to him.  Once they submitted, he was able to continue to direct their steps because he directed their view of reality.  

We keep encountering believers whose lives are in shambles because they have come into agreement with Satan in significant parts of their beliefs. Although they believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died for their sins, they do not agree with God in other significant issues.  Sometimes they know what God says about a matter but continue in the sin because it gives them pleasure.  That is simple rebellion. If we live in rebellion we are certainly walking with Satan. 

Others simply decide they can’t help themselves, continue to sin, and hope to cash in on God’s grace.  To believe we “cannot help ourselves” is also a belief that God cannot help us or won’t help us. That is simple unbelief that denies the character and the word of God.  Satan constantly whispers that God will not or cannot provide for us, protect us, or deliver us. He whispers that God is always angry and displeased with us like an abusive father.  If God delays an answer to prayer, the enemy whispers that the answer will never come because God cannot be counted on.  He constantly reminds us of our failures and weaknesses and paints us as defective people unworthy of God’s love, God’s blessings, or God’s use of us in significant ways.  The question is whether or not we will agree with these lies. If we do not constantly monitor these lies, they will grow like weeds in the garden until they begin to choke out every desirable plant…or in this case, God’s truth.

Agreement gives the enemy a great deal of legal access to our lives for control, torment, and oppression.  Jesus said that the truth will set us free. The corollary is that lies will keep us in bondage. Any unbelief regarding the character of God and his promises, constitutes agreement with Satan and gives the enemy a right to stay, even when commanded to leave, because we are “walking together.”

From time to time, we see demonized believers seek deliverance without success.  The demon may clearly manifest or the evidence of demonization is abundant, but when commanded to leave, the spirit stays.  The believer may be tormented or oppressed and sincerely wants deliverance, but nothing exits. In some cases, it is because the believer does not truly want to give up the particular sin that the demon promotes in their life. He or she wants the sin but not the consequence. Their desire to hold onto the sin is their agreement with the enemy.  

At other times, we may find the believer has fallen into agreement with the enemy about God’s “indifference” toward them or his “unwillingness to answer their prayer” or that he is the one visiting sickness or torment on them.  In these cases, more discipleship is often needed before deliverance can be affective. Part of our transformation comes from the renewing of our minds (Rom. 12:2) … which means we align our thinking with God’s truth rather than Satan’s lies. These individuals must commit to give more authority to God’s word than to their own emotions or the lies of the enemy which they may have been subjected to for decades.  We always want a quick fix for those who come to us in pain and oppression, but that is not always in their best interest.

Part of our problem in the contemporary church is that we get people saved but then fail to disciple them so that they can stand against the attacks of the enemy.  We fail to firmly ground them in the truths of scripture. Because of that, they continue to be double-minded people who agree with God on some things while agreeing with Satan about other things…more out of ignorance than rebellion.

The word of God is the sword of the Spirit and we have not taught God’s people how to fight. We have not taught them who they are in Jesus and have not equipped them to stand in the authority they have.  When the enemy shows up, they don’t understand and when they are afflicted, they feel as if God has abandoned them or is angry with them.  Just as Israel had to learn to fight to enter their promised land, we need to learn to fight to secure the promises God has given to us. God has a purpose for this conflict. Fighting and hardship makes us strong. Wise gardeners put fans in green houses because the young plants need the wind to blow against them to strengthen their stems and root systems.  Otherwise, they will not survive when placed outside the greenhouse.

Agreement is a huge issue in the spiritual realm.  It defines whose team you are on.  All of us need to check our thinking regularly to see if we have come into agreement with Satan in any areas of our mind or behavior.  If that agreement continues, it becomes an open door for the enemy.  Paul commands us in 2 Corinthians 10:5 to tear down every enemy stronghold of thought within us and take every thought captive to make it obedient to Jesus.  That simply means that any thoughts or beliefs bouncing around in our heads that are not aligned with the commands, perspectives, motives, and choices of Christ must be discarded.  The goal of every believer should be that every thought we have, every word we speak, and every belief we hold will be totally aligned with the Word of God. Be careful about your agreement.

The current resurgence of anti-Semitism and the outpouring of hate towards Israel should not surprise us.  Since the days of Abraham, God has promised to bless the world through the descendants of the patriarch.  Though Jewish scholars, scientists, and artists have blessed the world in many ways, the primary blessing would be the Messiah coming into the world through Jewish bloodlines.

It is clear from scripture that Satan, although not fully aware of God’s plan has been threatened by the thought of a savior or redeemer coming into the through Israel.  If he cannot reign in heaven, he certainly wants to reign on the earth.  The first coming of Messiah and the return of Messiah are ultimate threats to his “kingdom” here on this planet and his future. 

We know of at least four attempts Satan made to derail God’s promise of blessing.  I believe he incited Pharoah to order all the Hebrew sons killed in the days of Moses.  I believe he incited Hamon in the days of Esther to have all the Jews destroyed in Persia. I believe he prompted Herod to have all the Israeli boys under two years of age killed in the vicinity of Bethlehem at the time of Jesus’ birth.  I believe he drove Hitler to kill millions of Jews during the second world war and I believe he is inciting the Arab nations to “wipe Israel off the face of the earth” in this season. All of this is an attempt to somehow delay or cancel the return of Christ and the ultimate defeat of Satan.

God promised Abraham, “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Gen. 12:2-3).  Scripture is clear that anyone who truly hates Israel is probably under demonic influence and is subject to the curse God declared over those who would curse Abraham and his descendants.

As Christians, especially, we should be a source of blessing to Israel.  This does not mean that we have to approve of everything Israel does.  I don’t approve of everything America, my church, my family, or even myself do, but my heart is still with all of these. Our spiritual roots are in Israel.  Paul reminds us that we, as wild shoots, have been grafted into Israel (Rom. 11:27).   We may also have to be reminded that Jesus was (or is) Jewish as well. Prophecies regarding the return of Christ center on Jerusalem.  In Revelation 20, John speaks of the nations of the earth surrounding Jerusalem to destroy it in the end times, and God describes Jerusalem as “the city he loves.” Romans 11 strongly suggest that God is not done with national Israel and, in the end, many Jews will come to faith in Jesus.

In the New Testament, we are often told that the world (the systems of the world) will hate us because it hates Jesus.  It hates Jesus because it is still under the influence of Satan who still wants to see Israel destroyed thinking that the return of the King will somehow be thwarted if Israel is destroyed. The world-wide uprising against Jews is evidence that Satan still has a hold on much of this planet.  Satan hates what God loves and the world loves what God hates.  In the same way that the “world” hates Jesus and his followers it will also hate his chosen people. 

As followers of Jesus and as “spiritual Jews,” we must pray for and stand with Israel. Those who bless Abraham will be blessed.  I hope during this season of war and protests against Israel that our hearts will be conditioned by the Spirit and not by the tide of events or the propaganda we see on television. I hope you will pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Ps. 122:6) and that God will use this season to open Jewish and even Arab eyes to the true Messiah. 

Well…it’s nearly Thanksgiving so it seems appropriate to say a little about giving thanks. As children, some of us were taught to always say “thank you” for any gift or courtesy. Apparently, not everyone was taught that bit of etiquette, but God certainly wants his children to say, “Thank you.”

Paul wrote. “Rejoice always,  pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Th 5:16–19). Three directives are set out here for God’s people – rejoice, pray, and give thanks. The directives point to a lifestyle, not just an occasional moment of rejoicing, praying, or being thankful. Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances.

Interestingly, these are also keys for mental health. At a recent conference in South Africa, a breakout session on mental health emphasized that the practice of “intentional gratitude” was a bedrock of mental health. The idea of intentional gratitude is the art of learning to look for things in your life for which you can be grateful and then expressing gratitude for those things on a daily or even hourly basis.

I have met with many, many people through the years who, at least from my perspective, had significant things to be thankful for, but had become focused on one issue in their life that was not what they wanted it to be. That negative focus on the “one thing” created a kind of tunnel vision that kept them from recognizing all the other good things in their life. As a result of their constantly negative focus, they became depressed, bitter and resentful. They typically took offense at God for not answering that one prayer and took no notice of the thousands of others prayers he had answered.

Without doubt, some of the “unanswered prayers ” were related to real tragedies – the death of a child, a divorce, a longing for marriage that had never been fulfilled, the loss of a business, a crippling disease that had yet to be healed, and so forth. These are real things that impact individuals and families. But God has never promised us passage through this life that does not include loss, pain, and trouble. He simply says that he will walk with us through the valley of the shadow of death.

The truth is that we must accept that we may experience deep pain and disappointment in this world. The promise that God will wipe away all tears is for the next world. But intentional gratitude will alleviate much of the pain in this world that may be self-imposed. Thanksgiving is a spiritual discipline that keeps us from losing our balance and that keeps us from forgetting that we are loved by God. If we practice that discipline between the hard seasons, we can remember to look for his love and blessing even as we stand beside a grave. That is what gives us hope.

I have heard this verse misquoted and, I believe, misunderstood. Some say we should thank God for all circumstances. But, he says in all circumstances. The difference is significant. If I thank God for my cancer or for the death of my child, I am saying these things come from him. If I thank him in that circumstance, I am thanking him that he is with me, shall sustain me, and will bring me into a place of comfort once again. That is my hope. Because of Jesus, he shall turn my mourning into dancing.

I believe our ultimate question is whether God loves us or not. Every blessing, every encouragement, every meal, every healing, every person who cares about us is an expression of God’s love. If we evaluate his love on the basis of one tragedy, disappointment, or loss, then we miss the reality that he is still loving us and caring for us in a myriad other ways.

Giving thanks in all circumstances is a key to mental, spiritual, and relational health. As we come into this season of Thanksgiving, we may want to begin to be more intentional about perceiving his love and acknowledging it through prayers of thanksgiving to him…for the big things and well as the smaller things of life. It is his will for us in Christ Jesus and his will always brings a blessing.

For the past eighteen years, freedom ministries have been my primary area of ministry. For us, Freedom Ministries are those ministries that help God’s people heal and find freedom from every kind of bondage.

Our cornerstone passage for this ministries is Isaiah 61:1 – a prophetic passage pointing to the coming Messiah. Prophetically, Isaiah declares, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair ” (Isa. 61:1-3).

In Luke 4, Jesus read that very passage in the synagogue and declared that the passage was being fulfilled in him. The mending of broken hearts and the setting free of captives is for those in Zion. It is God’s people who need the healing and freedom. Certainly, those outside the covenant need it as well, but God’s first concern is for his children.

Over the past three weeks I have had the privilege of beeing part of three Freedom Weekends. The weekends follow an eight weeks of classes that prepares God’s people to receive their healing and freedom and to maintain it after they are healed and set free. Freedom Weekend is an all day event in which God’s people experience emotional healing from past hurts and experience deliverance from tormenting spirits. These spirit range from fear to shame, from heaviness to arrogance, from lying spirits to condemning spirits, and even from spirits of witchcraft and sexual immorality. The change in these men and women after Jesus ministers to their hearts and souls is remarkable.

Most of the American church is unaware of the spiritual realities that afflict them or are unwilling to wade into these unknown waters. Many simply dismiss the idea as something that occurred in the first century but not today or take the stance that Christians can’t be demonized because the Holy Spirit is in them. However, scripture no where declares that Christians cannot be afflicted by demons. Instead, it offers many warnings about demons and the devil’s schemes against believers. If believers are immune, then these warnings are irrelevant. Certainly not everything we face is demonic. Not everything Jesus faced was demonic but much was and much is.

Typically, on the Sunday following these Freedom Weekends or Freedom Saturdays, most of the participants come together to celebrate and share what God has done for them over the past eight weeks. The recurring story over and over again is trauma as a child that has followed them into their adulthood with tormenting beliefs that they are worthless, alone, unloved, and unlovable. They believe they must protect themselves because no one else will. These individuals are high on control which the damages their relationships and even limits what they will allow God to do in their lives. Many of God’s children are haunted with fear, depression, anxiety, doubts, and recurring thoughts of suicide. They have medicated these wounds with every kind of addiction: drugs, alcohol, sex, food, compulsive shopping, etc. and some have looked into occult places to find solutions.

Many have been to counseling, asked for prayer multiple times, and shared their struggle with their churches – only to be rejected. If not rejected, they have been sent to counselors who have not found a solution for them either because demonic spirits are at the root. When we send our people to professional counselors outside the church, the message may be that Jesus doesn’t have a solution for them. Remember that Paul declares our struggles are not against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces arrayed against us (Eph.6:12) and declares that we face strongholds in our lives that can only be dismantled by divine weapons (2 Cor. 10:3-5).

What I get to see every year and over the past three weeks is God’s people truly healed and set free from decades old wounds and affliction. No where does scripture suggest that healing and freedom can only be found after years of professional counseling or drug therapies. There is power in the kingdom of God and it should be wielded on behalf of God’s people. It is always exciting to see what Jesus does on these weekends and even through the eight weeks of classes. Hope is restored to the hopeless. Pain ridden hearts feel the balm of his healing. Freedom is experienced by those who have been in bondage and torment and Jesus is glorified.

The teams that leads these ministries are amazing people who thrive in seeing what only God can do. We (the teams) are all people who also have been broken and in bondage and have been set free. This is not “super-spiritual stuff,” but basic Christianity walked out by those who believe in the power of the cross and the authority of Jesus Christ. It is lead by people who believe that freedom is every believer’s birthright and simply hunger to let others experience what they themselves have received from God.

If you are among the hurting and broken who have not yet been able to gain victory over your wounds and bondage, there is nothing wrong with you. You simply need to be ministered to with divine weapons and the power of the Holy Spirit. Ask the Lord to lead you to that church or those people who simply do what they see Jesus doing in th scriptures. If you don’t know where to go, you can contact me and we will help you find that church or group that can help you is discover your birthright of healing and freedom.

tom.vermillion@midcities.org

The spiritual realm frequently interacts with the natural realm. 0ne effects the other. Throughout scripture, we see the spiritual realms impacting the natural realm as demonic spirits clearly afflict humans through temptation and even “possession.” In the book of Daniel, we are told that demonic principalities sometime rule over nations. influencing them to follow the ways of Satan. Angels clearly impact the lives of individuals throughout the Bible…protecting them, delivering messages, leading them out of prisons, and executing God’s judgments at times. James even warns us to be careful how we treat strangers because some of those we interact with may be angels operating in the form of men. In the other direction, prayers, praise and commands in the natural realm move things in the spiritual realms.

More often than we are aware, we experience spiritual atmospheres in the natural realm that are generated by the presence of spiritual beings we cannot see. Christians often talk about feeling the “presence of God” or the “presence of the Holy Spirit” in a church service, conference, or small group setting. Angels often are present in churches during worship and contribute to an atmosphere of peace, praise and expectation. It is also true that demonic spirits can produce an atmosphere of fear, anger, heaviness, hopelessness, distrust, and oppression in other settings.

Several years ago, we received a request from a lady who attended another church asking us to pray for her and her family. She had remarried a good man and her teenage son from her previous marriage lived with them. He and his “stepfather” had gotten along well for the first year or two of their marriage, but after moving into a new home (new to them) the relationship became combative and even physically violent between the son and stepfather. The woman’s husband travelled with his job, so was gone from time to time. The atmosphere in the house was such that she had put a dead bolt on her bedroom door and kept it locked out of fear that her son would try to hurt her or even kill ear with the stepfather away.

She invited us over while the son was at a school event and her husband was out of town. As we asked about her experiences, she noted the agitation and anger had only become apparent after they moved into their current house. She also noted that if they were traveling as a family, the son and husband got along as they had in the beginning, but as soon as they pulled into the driveway, the anger and agitation erupted again. This woman did not attend a church that talked about the spiritual realm and certainly not about demons, so she made no connection between the anger and violence in her home and the spiritual realm.

Several of our team members had gifts of discernment so they immediately sensed the presence of a spirit of anger and violence in the house. We prayed over the house, commanded the spirit to leave and never return and went on our way. She said she never told her husband or son that we had prayed over the house, but their relationship quickly returned to what it had been in the beginning. In that case, prayer and commands in the authority of Jesus changed the spiritual atmosphere of the home.

There are times we will feel the atmosphere of a home, neighborhood, city, or church. Sometimes, these places will feel peaceful or full of life if the Spirit of God is present. If there is a strong demonic presence, it will feel dark, heavy, evil, foreboding, or angry. I have visited several cities where witchcraft was openly practiced and on a clear day, the sun seemed dim in those cities as if there were cloud cover when there was none. Those atmospheres affect not just the sky but the people who live there as well. The people themselves reflect the spiritual atmosphere of their city.

In Mark 4, Jesus told his disciples to get in a boat and head across the sea of Galilee to the region gf the Gadarenes. As they made their way across, a great storm suddenly blew up. Jesus was asleep in the boat while the disciples were in full panic mode. Remember, they were crossing the sea to encounter a totally demonized man who lived among the tombs, whom Jesus would set free. The disciples shook Jesus awake and announced that they were all about to die. Jesus rebuked the storm and it ceased immediately.

Many commentators believe that the storm had been stirred by demonic forces and, in essence, Jesus had commanded the demons to cease their activity. They were attempting to keep Jesus from setting the man who lived in the tombs free from demonic bondage. If this is true, Jesus discerned the demonic atmosphere charging the storm and by his commands, changed the atmosphere.

Other things can change the spiritual atmosphere of a location as well. We are told that when an evil spirit would torment King Saul, David would play a harp, and the spirit would stop the torment. Psalm 149:6 instructs God’s people to enter into battle with the praise of God in their mouths. We are also told that God inhabits the praises of his people. Praise attracts the presence of God and the presence of God disperses the enemy. Prayer also attracts his presence and praying out loud for the presence and power of the Lord to overcome the enemy can also shift the atmosphere of a home, room, church, business, etc.

Many people are affected by spiritual atmospheres without being aware of what is going on. They simply find themselves feeling hopeless, depressed, agitated, angry, or fearful for “no apparent reason.” There may be an atmosphere of conflict in a home or business where couples or kids or employees seem to fight incessantly for no good reason. These individuals or families should act intentionally to change the atmosphere of the home or business. Praying out loud, playing praise music in the background all day and night, an audio Bible being played, or direct commands for spirits to leave (or all the above) can change the atmosphere instantly or over a few weeks.

Paul told us that we should not be unaware of the devil’s schemes and negative or toxic spiritual atmospheres can certainly be one of those strategies to bring down individuals, families, businesses and even churches. When you feel the presence of God, stay there, When you feel or see the evidence of demonic activity, take action to change it.