/PPP-Manual by Michael Mucklow

Prayer, the Power to Possess What You Already Own

A Ministry Manual for Guiding the Inner Man to the Light By Jaque (Banas) Shank

Visionwriters International P.O. Box 2020 Edgewood, New Mexico 87015 (505) 717-7100

Published by Visionwriters Int’l P O Box 2020 Edgewood, New Mexico 87015

Contents may not be reproduced in whole or in part in any form without the express written consent of the author.

ISBN 0-9614014-8-6

Prayer, the Power to Possess What You Already Own

TABLE OF CONTENTS Orientation

Lesson One - Evidence of Relationship

Lesson Two - Brazen Asking

Lesson Three - Answered Prayer

Evaluation Questions

Other Courses

Prayer, the Power to Possess What You Already Own ORIENTATION Yet the Lord will command His loving-kindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me, a prayer to the God of my life.

Psalm 42:8

This study incorporates the use of a daily journal. On the first page of each lesson you will find words to define and a list of daily scriptures. These verses are your daily assignment for your journals, a record of your dialogue with God. At the end of each lesson you will find lined pages with these same journal references at the top of each page. These pages are yours to use for recording the words that God will speak to you and for the answer you will give Him in return. Day One in Lesson One, for instance, gives you the scriptures 1 Kings 3:5-14 and James 1: 2-17 as the reference God will speak from. Spend time with every verse. Read, consider, meditate, and think about the meaning. Do the word studies assigned and anticipate the presence of God. Faith is the only thing that takes us into God’s presence, so in faith ask the Holy Spirit to write to you through you, the anointed words of revelation about what these passages mean. As the revelation spontaneously unfolds you will recognize the presence of God and the truth that sets you free. Please be sure to read the corresponding lesson in this manual. It will aid your direction and help you see the path more clearly.

The Journal and the Study This study will facilitate the use of keeping a daily journal. We will refer to this practice as “journalizing.” Your journal is a record of the conversation between you and the Lord. To commune with God through the Holy Spirit in this way is to

accelerate the mindâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s renewal. We have confirmed in this manner what many others have learned who have gone before us, and that is, that we understand more in depth from what we write compared to what we simply hear or see. Writing increases learning. You will see this as you participate with it, but this writing is more, because it is interacting with the Spirit of the Living God who is actually doing the teaching.

But as for you, the anointing (the sacred appointment, the unction) which you received from Him abides (permanently) in you; (so) then you have no need that anyone should instruct you. But just as His anointing teaches you concerning everything and is true and is no falsehood, so you must abide in (live in, never depart from) Him (being rooted in Him, knit to Him), just as (His anointing) has taught you (to do).

I John 2:27 AMP

His instruction is revolutionary enough that in this ministry we encourage you to write it down. The scripture confirms this exercise thoroughly. Look up the word â&#x20AC;&#x153;writeâ&#x20AC;? in your concordance and explore this for yourself. Writing gives us the advantage of easy recall and it touches the deeper places within us. Journalizing is the dipper that brings wealth from the wells of the treasure within. We are seeking to tap into this anointing that dwells permanently within us. The Holy Spirit uses this vehicle, this dipper, to draw out the rivers of living water that flow from our inner man, so that we can drink and be thoroughly refreshed. This writing is not a work to be done to complete an assignment, it is an activity of faith. Our faith believes God will speak, and that our Teacher, the Holy Spirit, is here now. Hebrews 11:6 is a key verse for journalizing. It must be done in the faith that God is and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. His reward to us is His goodness through personal communication, the vision imparted when we hear His voice. We desire to hear the words He wants to speak

to us today. Please read Hebrews chapter 4 and remember that it is the word we mix with faith that benefits us. We encourage you to begin each journal with the Holy Spirit addressing you by name. Writing your name will add depth to your faith because it portrays that it is you He is speaking with, not your sister, your father or your neighbor. John 10:3 confirms that He knows your name and that you, having sheep ears, do hear His voice. This shows that this practice is for sheep, or born again Christians. Christians have the ears that hear and the faith that gets the reward. We believe in the absolute integrity of God’s word. Therefore we will submit to the whole counsel of His word while doing this study. All that we write or hear from Him must be submitted to and line up with that counsel. Please plan to become very familiar with your Bible. Plan to read through it yearly and accomplish a portion of this daily, then if you hear and write something that later proves to be wrong, you will understand that it is you, not God, that is subject to error while growing, but don’t be afraid to make mistakes. If your mistakes overwhelm you and you quit, you’ll throw out the baby with the bath water. God is able to reach you with the truth and set you on the right path again in spite of yourself. Don’t allow your “self” to loom larger in your mind than God. You will probably make some mistakes but this won’t topple Him from His throne. Always return to faith and trust in His faithfulness. Remember, it’s quitters who never win, but the children of God are not of a Spirit that quits. If you’ll hang in there, I believe journalizing will prove to be one of the richest rewards of your life. May God’s abundant blessings be yours.

Notes

Prayer, the Power to Possess What You Already Own Lesson One

“The Evidence of Relationship” Define WISDOM:

Define ASK:

Define POSSESS:

Scriptures for Daily Journals Day One

1 Kings 3:5-14, James 1:2-17

Day Two

Matthew 6:31-34

Day Three

Ezekiel 36:37

Day Four

Mark 11:22-26

Day Five

John 14:12-15

Day Six

John 15:7-8

Day Seven

Matthew 7

END OF WEEK SUMMARY

The proof of my relationship to God is found in:

This week I have learned that faith is:

Notes

For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.

Jeremiah 29:11,12

Looking into our study... To have a relationship with God is to know that He loves you. Not to know by mere mental assent but to understand. You need to grasp hold of the fact that God loves you in order to have the grace to pray. If you know that God loves you, you can pray.

Why Don’t People Pray? Often Christians try to pray because they feel guilty if they don’t. Saying mindless prayers, they think about something else while they speak words. Other people only pray in a crisis when they feel helpless, but otherwise they don’t trust that prayer is the best they can do. In a crisis they say, “Oh well, all we can do now is pray.” Feeling they haven’t yet put forth their best effort to change the situation, they think their action to change things counts more than their prayers. To others, prayer is thought to be for those who have time...those who have nothing else to do. “It’s Grandmas and sick people who have time to pray.” Condemnation is another reason people fail to pray. People feel guilty before God due to a lack of abiding in meaningful relationship with Him.

I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me (cut off from vital union with Me) you can do nothing.

John 15:5 AMP

Not one of us is able to pray effectively apart from a responding relationship to God. When we abide in this relationship we are able to live free from condemnation and that freedom enables us to pray well.

Therefore (there is) now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live (and) walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit.

Romans 8:1 AMP

Prayer Means To “Ask” There isn’t a day yet to come that you and I will ever do anything greater than pray. To pray is to invite the One who loves us to come to the very center of the thing. Faithful asking actually brings God into our history. Asking and inviting God is what brings into the seen realm, that which never would have been seen if we had not asked. There will not be new circumstances on earth tomorrow unless we ask for them today. To pray is to understand how things work. Gravity works and on earth it is a fact that what goes up must come down. God works through humans, that is equally a fact, for God is sovereign and He sovereignly chose to do nothing on this planet unless He does it through a person. Man was created for this end - to bring God to the earth. This is accomplished through prayer. It is through our intimacy with God that we learn what to ask for. When our eyes are on Him our hearts fill with the hope that comes from knowing God. Hope knows what to ask for because it’s full of God’s word. Hope is not carnal, wishful thinking but is the hope of God Himself and is in us in Christ. In prayerful relationship with God, man learns to manage the universe with God in the power of God. God moves through man putting the responsibility for change upon him. This is scary. Many people conclude that God has predestined the outcome of everything, that there’s nothing man can do about it, so let’s just 14

accept what is...ca-sera-sera. This feels safe but is deceptive philosophy, for in it man thinks he can escape responsibility. If man is to be responsible, then every choice counts and nothing is inevitable. We can’t blame God for the condition of this earth today. God has sovereignly given to man free choice and He will not violate it. Man is responsible for the state of the world today. He has been in a pact with the devil since the fall, for Adam gave his own title “prince” over to the devil and now on earth, the devil is the prince of the power of the air. Jesus Christ’s coming is all about returning authority on earth to man and overcoming Satan’s rule.

God Came As A Man God came to earth as a Man because He will not do anything on earth but through a man. Jesus as the Son of Man, came to start a new race. A new race who is born of God, on earth to take responsibility and bring God’s kingdom to the earth through prayer. Prayer draws Christ out from within us, for God wants to bring us to the fullest potential of who we are in Him. The idea in prayer is that God asks the first question;

“Prayer draws Christ out from within us...”

“What do you want?” This question is eternally posed to this new species. All men exist at the point of their will. For better or worse, men are what they are today because of what they “want” to be. Some live in great disappointment contesting, “I have no willpower to stop living like this.” The truth of the matter is that willpower in every person is very strong. God’s question to each one is, “What is the focus of your will?” Through prayer we choose to redirect that focus to the will of God where His will causes us to come to the highest and best potential possible. You and I are constantly challenged with a sense of purpose. What are we on earth to do? We have no strength and no power apart from God. If only God 15

can do the things that must be done, how does He accomplish them? He acts through men who humble themselves and pray. Man is upon the earth as a new race, for the primary purpose of prayer. Everything else is secondary. Prayer turns out to be relationship. Man is on the earth to reign as a king, to rule as a prince. If man asks God to intervene here, His kingdom will keep growing, but if he doesn’t ask, it won’t be realized. There will be things on earth tomorrow that otherwise would never be because there are people praying right now. Prayer is the greatest business on earth.

Faith Knows It’s Already Yours One day in a journal the Holy Spirit asked, “Jaque, do you know why the rich get richer?” I answered, “Father, it’s because a rich man knows himself as a rich man. To become wealthy you first have to realize you already are!” A rich man knows himself as a rich man even though he may not have a stitch of clothing on his back or a dime in his pocket. He is rich because of who he knows himself to be, not because of what he has. To “be” or not to “be,” that is the question. When you and I know ourselves to be loved of God, we know we can ask whatever we will and it will be ours...we know we will see it because we already have it. We know ourselves as rich in the kingdom of God. A Christian in responsive relationship to God knows God as the sum of his treasure, he knows he is rich because of “Who” he possesses. “Thou art my God! You are my very own possession.” God sent Himself to earth through the Man Christ Jesus, giving Himself away to whosoever will receive Him. If you have God, you have everything already.

Give Us Our “Daily” Bread In relationship a fellowship is required to keep communion fresh. For this reason prayer is a daily practice. When the children of Israel were in the wilderness they received enough manna for one day at a time, there was no storing up for tomorrow except for one Sabbath day each week. In a praying relationship with God we can’t go to Him one day and get the answers for the week for relationship wouldn’t be relationship if we could “store up” answers. God supplies us with all the questions we need so that He can meet the need with answers. All man’s problems are the result of unknown questions but God’s provision brings a daily salvation. We don’t need to know what’s coming tomorrow in order to experience peace, we need only know His questions and answers for today. If you don’t know the question, ask God. He will give you the question or the need...then you will pray and when the answer comes, you’ll recognize it because you understood what the question was.

Need Versus Supply When God tells His children to ask, He is appealing to our sense of want. He wants us to want Him, to ask Him, to receive Him in the form of our needs met and so He says, “Ask Me.” Picture with me the idea that need is female and supply is male. Now imagine that God Who is Spirit, the Male, sends the supply to the soul, the female, the one who needs salvation. Need is what makes the female the weaker vessel and causes her sense of helplessness. Anyone who isn’t in touch with their helplessness won’t ask. Christ teaches His bride the Church that she is helpless, for apart from Him she can do nothing. She is the negative that calls for the positive. Without her, the positive Male has no open vessel in whom to reveal the supply. She is a container for Supply, the expression of Provision. In a journal the Spirit of the Lord said, “If you don’t ask Me, we have no intercourse - no consummation of marriage, 17

no oneness. The greatest need in you My bride, is that you know I love you, and if you know I love you, you will ask Me. If you don’t ask Me you can’t know Me, for to know Supply you must present a need. I am asking you therefore to define your need in prayer. Your need is treasure, for without it you can never know the Supply. Supply is the mate to need, so put forth your need to Me . . . ask of me and I will do what I have already said. In the Supply that comes, the whole earth shall know that there is a God in heaven Who reveals Himself on earth through His bride.”

Lesson One END OF WEEK RESPONSE QUESTIONS Please answer questions on separate 8 ½ x 11 paper. Double space all lines and leave wide margins on both sides. Be sure to put your name, date and lesson number on the top left corner of the first page and staple your pages together.

1. Share your understanding of the statement that prayer is “the greatest business on earth.” 2. Why does God’s word tell us over and over not to fret or be anxious? 3. In John 15:7 there is a condition put upon our asking. What is it? 4. Please share your journalizing experience this week with regard to heart and frequency. Please attach a copy of one of this week’s journals.

Notes

“Relationship Is Prayer” Lesson One - Day One 1 Kings 3:5-14, James 1:2-17 “In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night and God said: Ask what I shall give thee...” 1 Kings 3:5 Today’s Date:

“Relationship Is Prayer” Lesson One - Day Two Matthew 6:31-34 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33 Today’s Date:

“Relationship Is Prayer” Lesson One - Day Three Ezekiel 36:37 “Thus saith the Lord God; I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them, I will increase them like a flock.” Ezekiel 36:37 Today’s Date:

“Relationship Is Prayer” Lesson One - Day Four Mark 11:22-26 “And Jesus replying said to them, Have faith in God (constantly)” Mark 11:22 Today’s Date:

“Relationship Is Prayer” Lesson One - Day Five John 14:12-15 “I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, if any one steadfastly believes in Me, he will himself be able to do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these, because I go to the Father.” John 14:12 Today’s Date:

“Relationship Is Prayer” Lesson One - Day Six John 15:7-8 “If you live in Me - abide vitally united to Me - and My words remain in you and continue in your hearts, ask whatever you will and it shall be done for you.” John 15:7 Today’s Date:

“Relationship Is Prayer” Lesson One - Day Seven Matthew 7 “Do not judge and criticize and condemn others, so that you may not be judged and criticized and condemned yourselves.” Matthew 7:1 Today’s Date:

Prayer, the Power To Possess What You Already Own Lesson Two

“Brazen Asking” Define POWER:

Define SHAMELESS:

Define PERSISTENCE:

Scriptures for Daily Journals

Day One

Luke 11:1-13

Day Two

Matthew 5:42-48

Day Three

James 4:1-12

Day Four

James 4:13-17

Day Five

Luke 18:1-8

Day Six

1 John 3:18-24

Day Seven

1 John 5:14,15

END OF WEEK SUMMARY

These things I have asked for and believe I already possess :

Notes

If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. But certainly God has heard me; He has given heed to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, Who has not rejected my prayer, nor removed His mercy and loving-kindness from being (as it always is) with me.

Psalms 66:18-20

Looking into our study... In Luke 11 we get a look at the prayer life of Jesus. He was praying and when He stopped one of His disciples said, “Lord, teach us to pray.” The exceptional thing about Christ’s prayers is that He prayed with complete expectation. When heard praying by the disciples like this, they were stirred to learn of Him. After Jesus tells them to pray the Lord’s prayer, He goes on to talk about a man who went to his friend at midnight. This man needs three loaves of bread because he hasn’t any bread at home to feed his unexpected company. Jesus is teaching that this man will not get the bread because he is petitioning a friend, but because of the kind of asking he is doing.

I tell you, although he will not get up and supply him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his shameless persistence and insistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

Luke 11:8 AMP

This man is asking at an inconvenient time, midnight. He knows his friend is already asleep, but he goes to get his three loaves regardless of the time because he has an emergency. The word persistence in the Greek language means shameless, brazen, and uncouth. To ask shamelessly is to have an emergency. In an emergency a seriousness is present that otherwise may not be felt. Notice how he went knowing exactly what and how much he wanted. Notice also that this is a story Jesus creates for His disciples to teach them how to pray! 37

So I say to you, Ask and keep on asking and it shall be given you; seek and keep on seeking and you shall find; knock and keep on knocking and the door shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks and keeps on asking receives, and he who seeks and keeps on seeking finds; and to him who knocks and keeps on knocking, the door shall be opened.

Luke 11:9, 10 AMP

Ask and keep on asking. Do you have a need this morning? Ask. Do you have another need this afternoon? Ask again. You can’t ask for too many things too often. Nothing is trivial with God. If three loaves of bread at midnight is not trivial to God then ask. . . for you will not get what you want unless you ask for it. You have not because you ask not. God also asks. God did not rape Mary, He asked for permission to give her the seed of His Son. Likewise, He comes to show us all what He wants to do for us if we ask Him. Then, like Mary, we can respond, “Yes Lord, be it unto me according to Thy word.”

Confident Asking In order to pray confidently and without shame, it’s very important that a Christian knows who he is in Christ, for it is this knowledge firmly rooted within him that eradicates all shame and the sense of guilt. In righteousness we pray knowing that our Father wants to give us what we ask for. Another truth we need to understand is about the will of God. Following is a journal from James 4:13-17 which says, “You ought to say, If the Lord is willing, we shall live and we shall do this or that thing.”

A Journal. . . “Jaque, if asking Me is your coming to Me for intimacy and is your opening the door to My knock, then this is the place where we consummate our deepest relationship. Doesn’t it stand to reason that this is the area that will be most 38

attacked by the devil? Understand this; the prince and power of the air will stop your prayers if he can cause you to doubt your ability to know My will with this single phrase, ‘If it be thy will.’ “Religious authority has taught this to the Church. It is a crack in the wall where Satan comes in with his harassment and plants questions such as, ‘How can I ever hope to think that I can consistently know what God wants?’ or ‘God’s will is too much of a mystery--no one really knows it, what makes me think I could make a request in line with it?’ or ‘If I ever really knew what God wanted, I’m sure it would be the opposite of what I want. He probably would tell me to go to Africa and feed the natives!’ So why would anyone in their right mind really want to ask for the will of God? “Such ignorance leads to prayers that say, ‘If it be thy will’. Without confidence this person figures he probably missed it

“ If you know My character, you will know My will.”

anyway, so he makes a generalization to cover his mistakes and believes that everything is happening according to the will of God. I am not known through this kind of praying. Nothing changes. It is the evil one who has brought this confusion in order to keep My Church from praying.

“Jaque, if prayer is the way to come into a dynamic relationship with Me, wouldn’t you expect Me to make it very easy for you to know My will?” “Yes Father. If prayer is the only way your will shall be done on earth, I think you would make your will simple to know. Father, haven’t you already made your will known?” “Yes! My will and My purpose is that Jesus Christ be Ruler in the universe through believers. If you know My character, you know My will. Wherever Christ is not named as Lord, My will is not being done. “I am Love. I want My love reigning throughout this world . . . this is My will. . .this is the love that exists for others, this is the love that compels and covers. 39

“Wherever you find someone using another person for his own advantage, that’s not My will. Where there is selfishness, anger, greed, and pride, that’s not My will. My people already know so much about My will. “And what about your needs? Didn’t Christ tell you concerning your food and clothing that God knows your need . . . and all these things will be added to you besides? (Matthew 6) “I want you to be fed, I want you to have a good job, I want you to have clothes and transportation . . . I want you to have a roof over your head. I originated pleasure. At My right hand there are pleasures forevermore. I give to man all good things for his heart to enjoy. Poverty, disease, sorrow and pain. . . these are not My will. Idols and religion keep people away from Me. This is not My will. Religion has said, ‘this is the will of God. . . God is trying to teach me something by putting this sickness on me.’ Then they take their medications and hire doctors to keep them out of the will of God. Religion can’t live with it’s own philosophy! “Satan is the thief. Jesus is the Word. Read the gospel and know My will, for the gospel is the announcement of My will. I love you, I am on your side, I am for you and I have defeated the powers that held you. “Jesus knew My will when He went to Gethsemane, but He wanted to discuss it with Me because He came in pangs as a true human being and as a human He didn’t want it to be the way it was. ‘If there is another way. . . but not my will, thine be done.’ Jesus didn’t sin by discussing this with Me, He kept Me in the center of His heart and won the battle over the human will. Don’t let the devil destroy all your prayers with this discussion at Gethsemane. . . but pray the will of God because you know what it is.”

According To Some of you ask, “But what about the specific will of God?” Here is another journal...

A Journal “Jaque, there are two words that will set you free . . . they are “according to.” According to means in harmony with. If you ask anything in harmony with My will it will be done for you. My gospel reveals My will as I release you in your individuality. I loose you in your choices according to what you want. The specifics are up to you. Wherever you seek to bring a revelation of My light, My love, My provision, I put you in charge of the specifics. “In prayer, in journals, in life, I speak in your mind. I speak through your desires. When you find your mind flowing in a certain pattern and you find a desire coming up over and over again, consider this; Where else will Christ in you make His desires known but through your own desires? Whose mind is He going to use? Is not yours the mind that is committed to Him, to the very will of God? You have the mind of Christ! “Jaque, remember how you and Chuck came to live in the desert? At one time you banished the thought! This was the last place in the world you wanted to be, but in the season appointed, before I ever told you about My plan, I snuck the desire into your hearts to go there. Then at the appointed time you asked Me for permission to go! It felt right inside, it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to you. You and the Holy Spirit decided. My will in specifics was made known to you in your own mind process and since you knew yourself in Christ, you asked and it was given.”

God’s Executive Board We are more important to God than we sometimes realize. We are one with the will of God. It is being done on earth as we ask Him for permission to do those things He has already planted in our hearts. We ask shamelessly because we have an emergency. Our emergency is that we must have God’s kingdom on earth. This is the work of the Lord in our hearts . . . we are a part of God’s executive board.

Lesson Two END OF WEEK RESPONSE QUESTIONS Please answer questions on separate 8 Â˝ x 11 paper. Double space all lines and leave wide margins on both sides. Be sure to put your name, date and lesson number on the top left corner of the first page and staple your pages together.

1. What do you suppose happens to a man who prays for those who persecute him? What happens to his prayer life? (See Matthew 5:42-48) 2. Explain why persistence is greater than genius? (For help see the story in Luke 18:1-8). 3. Why is it impossible to pray true prayers if we feel guilty and condemned? 4. Please share your journalizing experience this week with regard to heart and frequency. Please attach a copy of one of this weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s journals.

Notes

“Brazen Asking” Lesson Two - Day One Luke 11:1-13 “For every one who asks and keeps on asking receives, and he who seeks and keeps on seeking finds, and to him who knocks and keeps on knocking the door shall be opened.” Luke 11:10 Today’s Date:

“Brazen Asking” Lesson Two - Day Two Matthew 5:42-48 “But I tell you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you...” Matthew 5:44 Today’s Date:

“Brazen Asking” Lesson Two - Day Three James 4:1-12 “...You do not have because you do not ask, (Or) you do ask (God for them) and yet fail to receive, because you ask with wrong purpose and evil, selfish motives. “ James 4:2,3 Today’s Date:

“Brazen Asking” Lesson Two - Day Four James 4:13-17 “You ought to say, If the Lord is willing, we shall live and we shall do this or that (thing).” James 4:15 Today’s Date:

“Brazen Asking” Lesson Two - Day Five Luke 18:1-8 “Also (Jesus) told them a parable, to the effect that they ought always to pray and not to turn coward - faint, lose heart and give up.” Luke 18:1 Today’s Date:

“Brazen Asking” Lesson Two - Day Six 1 John 3:18-24 “Little children, let us not love (merely) in theory or in speech but in deed and in truth - in practice and in sincerity. ” 1John 3:18 Today’s Date:

“Brazen Asking” Lesson Two - Day Seven 1 John 5:14,15 “And this is the confidence - the assurance, the (privilege of) boldness - which we have in Him: (we are sure) that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan) He listens to and hears us.” 1John 5:14 Today’s Date:

Prayer, the Power to Possess What You Already Own Lesson Three

“Answered Prayer” Define FORGIVENESS:

Define PERSISTENCE: (again)

Scriptures for Daily Journals

Day One

Luke 18:1-8

Day Two

Psalm 2:8,9

Day Three

Isaiah 43:18,19,26

Day Four

Romans 8:28,32

Day Five

Luke 11:11-13, Psalm 116:1, 2

Day Six

Philippians 4:6-8

Day Seven

John 11:41-45

END OF WEEK SUMMARY

If we do not forgive one another we are not praying because:

Only answered prayer glorifies God because:

Notes

But we will continue to devote ourselves steadfastly to prayer and the ministry of the Word.

Acts 6:4

Forgiveness, The Prelude to Prayer An unforgiving, selfish disposition cannot exist when prayer conditions are filled. Satan will always try to hinder our prayers with feelings of bitterness toward those who have hurt us. Hate is murder and is the sister of jealousy. The results are strife and war, even though the one hated may never know there is a battle going on. Satan knows if he can get us to play past tapes and inner movie reels over again he can hinder our prayers . . . our relationship to God. In this sad condition people get consumed with themselves to the point they can’t ask and if they do, they ask amiss and so receive nothing from God. God is jealous for our love and knows that to hate another for any reason is to have an idol in our heart and to fall and miss the way. Those who feel anger and won’t let an offense go are full of pride. They can’t receive grace, they can’t ask in faith believing, but those who walk by faith are constantly practicing the grace of forgiveness. They are holding onto Christ for all things. It’s easy to resist the devil when you’re holding on to the hem of His garment!

A Journal “Always be willing to forgive. . . no matter what. Come close to Me and I will come close to you. Be willing to be insignificant in your own eyes and I will lift you up and make your life significant. Don’t allow abusive language toward another to come out of your mouth and don’t accuse or speak evil but release them to Me and loose them into My love. Don’t pass judgment or condemnation on another person but love them with My love. Evil actions are already condemned. Learn to keep 61

people separate from their actions. Hate evil action, not the person’s being used to perform them. In this way you can love your enemies while you pray for them.” “Father, I want to see things as they really are, so I ask You to come close to me, that my perceptions may be the same as Yours. I will forgive as an act of my will, trusting that the action to release will bring the revelation of Your love for others. I cannot afford to let anything or anyone separate me from Your presence for any reason. Therefore, I will truly forgive from the heart. You are my God and I will have no other gods before You. Amen.”

Persistent Prayer God answers prayer. To pray is to believe this fact. Not to be concerned about the answer to prayer is not to pray at all. How many wasted prayers have been offered for which no answer is returned, no answer longed for, and no answer expected! Faith, by the very fact that it is faith, teaches us that it is God’s will to answer prayer. The most real thing about prayer is the answer it secures, for it is the fact of the answer that makes the prayer, and which enters into its very being. The Word of God is the basis, the inspiration and the heart of prayer. For this reason journalizing can be foundational to a strong prayer life. Following is a journal from Luke 18: 1-8. Notice how the Lord speaks to us from this story about His resolve to answer all our prayers.

A Journal “Jaque, people often think I am slow and last minute when answering their prayers. This picture portrays Me as one who is so busy with the universe that I barely have time to get around to their request. It’s as if I am like an insurance adjuster who has a desk piled high with files. I know you’ve seen those people. You go into their office to see about a claim and the adjuster just can’t put his hands on your file. You sit in a chair and wait as he scrambles to find it. Plowing through 62

drawers and papers, he finally secures it. It was either stuck on the bottom of the stack or he pulls it out of the trash. ‘Oh!,’ he shouts, ‘It must have been thrown in there by accident!’ “The unjust judge is the image by which I am too often viewed. He is inconsiderate and totally unconcerned about your petty claim, and like the widow who came to him, you think you must annoy Me and wear Me out with much asking so at last I will reply with the answer you need. Who would want to pray having this perception? This judge doesn’t reverence the ways of God, but I am not like this judge. . . I am God. This judge has put your file on the bottom, but I am the God who has your file on top. “This judge couldn’t care less if

“ I am the One who placed in you the desire to ask for what you are praying.”

your claim and petition are righteous. This widow came to the judge because she knew she was right, but this made no difference to the judge. Now if this wicked judge can be persuaded to grant a petition to a tenacious widow who had no husband to help her, no lawyer to defend her rights. . . if this judge who totally disregarded this woman finally gave in to her through her persistence, how much

more. . . how much more will I, the living God, the God of righteousness and justice, attend to your petitions? I am the One who placed in you the desire to ask for what you are praying! I am the One who is spinning around for joy when you make your petition! I am the One whose will you are bringing to earth through your prayer! How much more do I want to do this for you speedily?

I tell you, He will defend and protect and avenge them speedily. However when the Son of Man comes will He find (persistence in) faith on the earth? Luke 18:8 AMP

“Will My bride continue to view Me as an unjust judge or will she know Me as I am and therefore ask and keep asking? And if I indeed give speedily, will she see My answer and therefore move on to the next petition? Persist in asking Me for one thing after another and recognize the fruit of My justice all over the earth.” “Oh God, Revealer of hearts, Revealer of truth, thank You for Your lessons. You are the God who has our files on the top of the stack, we are first with You. The bride of Christ has a husband Who defends and protects, who gives and keeps on giving. We already have in You, the things we ask for. Open our eyes and cause us to see the wonderful inheritance that is waiting to be claimed by our prayers. Amen.”

Lesson Three END OF WEEK RESPONSE QUESTIONS Please answer questions on separate 8 Â˝ x 11 paper. Double space all lines and leave wide margins on both sides. Be sure to put your name, date and lesson number on the top left corner of the first page and staple your pages together.

1. How does a forgiving heart open you to be a vessel for praying true prayers? 2. How does your Father differ from the unjust judge? 3. What has been your greatest prayer experience during this study? 4. Please share your journalizing experience this week with regard to heart and frequency. Please attach a copy of one of this weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s journals.

Please complete the Evaluation Questions on the following page and mail to: Visionwriters International PO Box 2020 Edgewood, New Mexico 87015 Or you may attach them to an email and send to: evaluations@visionwriters.com

EVALUATION QUESTIONS

Please answer these questions on a separate sheet of paper and mail to: Visionwriters International PO Box 2020 Edgewood, New Mexico 87015 Or attach them to an email and send to: evaluations@visionwriters.com

Your name:

Date:

Visionkeeper:

Name of Course:

1. What were your expectations when you first enrolled in this course? 2. Were they fulfilled? 3. Did you participate in this course with a flow of regularity or were your lessons spasmodic? 4. How have you made immediate application of the new truths you have learned? 5. Was this a pleasant and growing experience for you? Why or why not? 6. In what way was your Visionkeeper a blessing to you? 7. Please tell us what journalizing has meant to you. 8. What would you say in a recommendation of this course to others? 9. What suggestions (if any) would you make to help us serve you better?

“Answered Prayer” Lesson Three - Day One Luke 18:1-8 “And will not (our just) God defend and protect and avenge His elect (His chosen ones) who cry to Him day and night? Will He defer them and delay help on their behalf?” Luke 18:7 Today’s Date:

“Answered Prayer” Lesson Three - Day Two Psalm 2:8,9 “Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations as Your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Your possession.” Psalm 2:8 Today’s Date:

“Answered Prayer” Lesson Three - Day Three Isaiah 43:18, 19, 26 “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth; do you not perceive and know it, and will you not give heed to it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:19 Today’s Date:

“Answered Prayer” Lesson Three - Day Four Romans 8:28, 32 “We are assured and know that (God being a partner in their labor), all things work together and are (fitting into a plan) for good to those who love God and are called according to (His) design and purpose.” Romans 8:28 Today’s Date:

“Answered Prayer” Lesson Three - Day Five Luke 11:11-13, Psalm 116:1,2 “I love the Lord, because He has heard (and now hears) my voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore will I call upon Him as long as I live.” Psalm 116:1,2 Today’s Date:

“Answered Prayer” Lesson Three - Day Six Philippians 4:6-8 “Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything by prayer and petition [definite requests] with thanksgiving continue to make your wants known to God.” Philippians 4:6 Today’s Date:

“Answered Prayer” Lesson Three - Day Seven John 11:41-45 “Yes, I know You always hear and listen to Me; but I have said this on account of and for the benefit of the people standing around, so that they may believe You did send Me...” John 11:42 Today’s Date:

NOTES

Visionwriters Courses The following courses uphold walking at a higher level with God than most have probably walked thus far. Life altering, they introduce the daily practice of visionwriting (aka, journalizing) a personal dialogue with the One who lives in the hearts of every born again believer. The practice takes place within a simple structure and fosters Discipline, Accountability, Relationship and Community.

Miracle in the Mirror A Christian’s plague is the sin of unbelief. This course aids the heart to let go of that sin, thus eliminating the ache of a silent God. Miracle in the Mirror will help you know that you can hear His voice and experience His tangible presence every day. You will realize as never before; you are a new creation in Christ. Now go on and live it, walk it out, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind.

Hope and the Purple Onion This course is about vision and purpose; it compares the havers (having everything in Christ) with the have-not-ers (who don’t yet see what they have). “To him who has will more be given but to those who have not, even what they have will be taken away.” Christ is the only hope the Good News offers. Is He growing (exponentially) in your heart? Your need to grasp Him is either met with hope or despair. Everything has a purpose in life, even a purple onion. Let Christ pursue His purposes in and through you and be filled with hope each and every day.

Reflections in Righteousness This course teaches radical, life changing faith in Jesus Christ. Christianity has become a religion of do's and don’ts for many who suffer under the crushing weight of what they "ought" to do for God. This course reveals the Gospel as many have never heard or seen it before, producing radical, life changing faith in Jesus Christ. It magnifies the cross of Christ until we recognize what happened for us before we were ever born into this world. When we see Him, we will be like Him. As a matter of fact, He Himself will be our life.

The Character of God You will most likely start by thinking you know more than you know, but you don’t know what you think you know about God. This course leads us to a higher revelation of God Himself. It’s not about what He did, it’s about who He is. His attributes unveiled will wobble your world, turn you inside out, upside down, and then stand you right side up. Yes, it will shake you to the core as it changes your worldview for good. In the end we think you’ll be glad you walked through this door.

Prayer, the Power to Possess What You Already Own Is there such a thing as unanswered prayer, or is it just aborted? In one of his teachings Jesus creates a story about the faith of a widow who pesters an unjust judge until he gives her what she wants. Then He asks His listeners if, when He returns to the earth, he will find that kind of faith at work in their hearts. (see Luke 18). In this course we learn how continual knocking and seeking are required—not because God can be pestered into answering, but because we have an enemy working to intercept our inheritance before we get it. God’s has already provided everything in Christ; therefore we mustn’t settle for less. As it turns out persistence is the genius of faith.

Love, the Only Diet There Is Thoughts choose emotions, emotions regulate chemistry, and chemistry determines one’s physical condition. Obesity is just one of many possible addictions. In the case of obesity the addiction is to an emotional state experienced by eating certain foods under certain conditions at certain times, all of which are brought on by the focus of the attention.

God said He set be-

fore us life and death, and then He admonishes us to choose life. The first commandment is His invitation to choose our addiction rather than letting it choose us, for we are going to be addicted to something. Let’s get addicted to His love and let it eliminate the ache of an empty life.

God’s Money Highways In God’s Kingdom money has a servant nature; in Satan’s kingdom money has a “gimme” nature. It’s old and new all over again. Have you, as a new creation, renewed your mind in this area and adopted the attitude of a servant, or are you straddling the fence and still struggling to either keep what you have or make ends meet? God’s covenant is clear about how He has increased our riches in glory by Christ Jesus. If you’d like to be free from the “not-enoughmoney” ache, take this course and apply it. You’ll be amazed when you take God’s word as if it’s really true!

The Way of the Visionwriter More keys to eliminate the ache of a silent God, this course will reveal that the keys to God’s kingdom are cloaked in mystery; they are hidden, not from, but for us. You will explore what you do not yet understand and be given keys to open doors until, like the dawning of a new day, you will see Christ in you, and living as you, shining, alive, and as brilliant as the noonday sun! This study employs the use of the acrostic: D.A.R.C. which, during this course, means Detect it, Admit it, Release it, and Communicate it. Keys, keys, and more keys!