Defend For Yourself

Every part of the world, there are prayer warriors praying for people and different situations. But the question I have for you is what are you praying? Are you shifting the atmosphere in your family, church, relationships, neighborhood, community, your job, and your ministry.

One of my favorite songs is by Jason Nelson "Shifting the Atmosphere." We can change our atmosphere by praying and through worship. My meditation scripture from the Holy Bible this week has been James 5:13-18.

Are any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Are any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well. The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.

Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayers of a righteous man or woman are powerful and effective.

Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again, he prayed and the heavens gave rain. The earth produced its crops. This is a devotional reading from faith to faith. A Daily Guide to Victory by Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, January 24

Do your own praying. Are any one among you afflicted, ill treated, suffering evil? He should pray James 5:13.

The Book word translated afflicted doesn't mean the result of sickness and disease. It means "troubled." If you're in trouble, you need to pray. That's what the Word says. Notice it didn't say your pastor needs to pray for you or your friends need to pray for you. It says you need to pray.

Too often we try to find a quick fix to our problems by asking everyone else to pray for us. There's nothing wrong, of course, with having others pray for you. But you'll never get your life to a place of permanent victory until you begin to pray for yourself.

The biggest church in the world is in Seoul, Korea. It's pastored by Dr. David Cho. The last I heard, it had more than 700,000 members. How did that church grow to be so large? According to Dr. Cho, the key is prayer. Not just his prayers, but the prayers of his people. They have a place called Prayer Mountain where thousands of people come every day to pray. I once heard Dr. Cho's mother-in-law on television talking about the emphasis they put on prayers. She said that when their church members are in trouble, when they have marriage problems or problems in their personal lives, before anything else is done, those church members are told to go and fast and pray for 24 hours.

We need to do more of that here in our church in the United States. We need to quit training our people to run along asking others to pray for them and to train them to do their own praying.

You see, if I pray for God to solve one problem for you, you may enjoy success for a while, but then another problem will come along because you'll still be making the same old mistakes that got you in trouble the first time.

But if you buckle down and do that praying for yourself, if you discipline yourself to start searching out the things of the spirit, you'll get permanent answers. You'll learn how to make adjustments in your life that will keep those problems from cropping up again. If you had made Jesus your Lord, you have access to the throne of almighty God. He has every solution to every problem, you'll ever have and He's just waiting for you to come to him. So, he can give you the answer. It may take some private time alone with him for you to hear it, but He will never disappoint you.

Don't depend on others to do your praying for you. Go personally to the throne of Grace today. I know you're saying to yourself, "What if I don't know what to say to God about my issue?"

Today I am going to cover some areas of how to pray in those situations. If I don't cover your situation, hit me up on my blog. I will answer you promptly. I want to put these nuggets about prayer. When you are praying, things get worse before they get better. That means your prayers are working and the devil wants you to give up.

But know that in your darkest hour, your prayer is about to be answered. Second, God will answer your prayers in the best way. He knows what is best for you. Somethings we can't see on down the road. He could be protecting you from destruction. Just know his will, will be done.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, "plans to prospect you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Normans 8:28 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

It's time to defend yourself!

Written by
Jennifer Johnson

The prayers was written out of the book prayers that avail much by Germaine Copeland. Awesome book.