Prayer Summary for September 9

The following excerpt was taken from The Balance of Grace and Faith by Andrew Wommack:

Faith Appropriates
Faith doesn’t move God. He has already moved by grace. Faith is just your positive response to what you believe God has already provided. Faith only appropriates what God has already provided by grace. If God hasn’t already provided it by grace, then your faith can’t make it happen. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. Mark 11:23-24

This passage has been taught repeatedly by people who emphasize faith. They say, “We have power and authority, and there are certain things that we have to do to see God’s will come to pass.” That’s true, but it can be taken to an extreme—to the point that you believe you can literally “make” God do anything. “Whatsoever you want, just say it! Believe that you receive, and God has to do it.” You’ll hear people use that kind of terminology as they say, “We’re going to grab hold of God and not let go until we make the power of God flow.”

We see this in the body of Christ right now with much of the prayer and intercession for revival. People believe that God is up there with His arms folded, thinking, You bunch of hypocrites They say, “God isn’t moving or pouring out His power on people to be saved, healed, and delivered because He’s upset with us. So what we must do is get people together to pray and repent. But He won’t listen to just one or two of us. We have to have hundreds of thousands, even millions of people praying. We have to put pressure on God and stay after Him. Let’s get on a twenty-four hour chain and not let go until we just literally badger God and make Him release His power and pour out revival!” They might not use those exact words, but that is the attitude that is prevalent in the body of Christ—that we are making God move and pour out His power. That’s an affront to God! It’s implying that you love people more than He does!

Be a Channel
Earlier in my life, I participated in all of these things that I’m teaching against now. I myself have done them, so I have an understanding and compassion for people who are doing what I’m speaking against. But since then, I’ve grown and matured in God’s Word and I no longer do those things I once did. I remember leading “all night” prayer meetings that never lasted past one or two in the morning. That’s before we could pray in tongues. You can pray for the whole world in thirty minutes if you don’t know how to pray in tongues!

I remember praying so hard that I was literally screaming, yelling, and pounding my fist against the wall. I said, “God, if You love the people in Arlington, Texas, half as much as I do, we would have revival!” As soon as that left my lips, I knew that something was seriously wrong with my theology. I was trying to get God to be as compassionate as I was, which is exactly what many people do in prayer. They say, “Oh God, don’t You care about our country? Oh Lord, why are You pouring Your Spirit out over in Africa? Why don’t we see very many miracles? Oh God, please move here!” It’s like we honestly don’t believe that God loves people as much as we do.
Something is seriously wrong with that kind of thinking.

Whatsoever You Desire
Many people err, trying to force God to do something. They take scriptures like Mark 11:24, and say, “I confess with my mouth and believe with my heart that I can rob a bank and get away with a million dollars without being caught.” After all, doesn’t Mark 11:24 say “whatsoever”? Isn’t robbing a bank a “whatsoever”? Of course, most people don’t believe you can use scripture to get away with robbing a bank, but you need to understand why that isn’t true. Why can’t we use Mark 11:24 to go rob a bank?

A certain woman started a faith-oriented Bible school in Arlington, Texas. What she desired was to be the wife of well-known evangelist and Bible teacher Kenneth Copeland. So she put on a wedding gown and had an actual wedding ceremony where she “married” Kenneth Copeland “in the spirit.” Of course, he wasn’t physically there. But she stood on Mark 11:24 and “married him in the spirit.” She desired Kenneth Copeland to be her husband, so she confessed it and “stood” on this scripture in “faith” for it.

The problem was, Kenneth was already married to Gloria Copeland. This lady in Arlington viewed Gloria as her mountain, so she cursed her and commanded her to die so she would get out of the way. She went ahead and “married” Kenneth “in the spirit,” and she was just waiting for Gloria to die so she could go ahead and consummate the marriage with Kenneth. That was over thirty years ago. This “consummation” hasn’t happened yet, and it isn’t going to happen.

Most people would say that this woman was way off in her belief. That this scripture does not apply to her situation. Why not? The Bible clearly says “whatsoever things you desire.” Isn’t wanting somebody else for a mate a “whatsoever”? Isn’t that a desire? The Word says that whatsoever things you desire when you pray, believe that you receive them and you shall have them. This is a promise. Why can’t you claim another person? Why can’t you curse their mate and command them to die? The answer to this is found in the balance of grace and faith.

Faith only appropriates what God has already provided by grace. If God hasn’t already provided it, your faith can’t make God do anything. The reason you can’t go out and successfully rob a bank using Mark 11:24 is because God didn’t provide for thievery in His atonement. Grace hasn’t already provided the means to steal from others. The reason you can’t curse another person and command them to die and then marry their mate is because God didn’t provide for murder and adultery in His atonement. Mark 11:24 doesn’t make God do anything. It’s talking about discovering what He’s already provided. Then, if you will believe, your faith will reach out and appropriate what God has already provided by His grace. If you could just understand that, it would revolutionize your relationship with God.

Check Your Receiver
Unfortunately for most Christians, their tuner isn’t working. And instead of checking to see if they’re plugged in, turning the power on, or seeing if they have the channel adjusted, the first thing they do is call the broadcasting station. “Why aren’t you transmitting? Please tum on the power and start sending a signal. I want to watch Andrew’s program!”

The first thing we do if we have sickness in our body is say, “God, why haven’t You healed me?” God is broadcasting healing 24/7. If you aren’t receiving healing, it’s not God who hasn’t released it. It’s you who don’t know how to receive it. I’m not saying this to condemn you. It takes time to get educated and learn. But you must start by recognizing that God is not the One who hasn’t healed anybody. He has already healed all of our sicknesses and diseases and that power is already on the inside of us. If we aren’t feeling it—if it isn’t manifest—it’s not God who hasn’t given. It’s us who haven’t learned to receive. We need to start working on our receiver, not questioning God’s transmitter.

Don’t call the station and say, “God, what’s wrong with You? Broadcast! Oh God, pour out Your power. Oh Lord, send revival!” God is not our problem. He’s been releasing His power for over two thousand years now. The reason why the church suffers isn’t that God hasn’t been moving. It’s that we haven’t been receiving. We’ve been ignorant, and Satan has been stealing from us.

Continued praying…

Thank You, Father, for the power of Your Holy Spirit
For the revelation You have giving Andrew Wommack concerning the balance of grace and faith
That he would fulfill Your call on his life – bringing more revelation to the body of Christ
Covering his family and ministry with the blood of Jesus
Lifting Kenneth Copeland ministries – pleading the blood over his whole family & staff
Revelation, utterance by and through the Holy Spirit
Every resource to do what God has called them to do
For strength and wholeness in Jesus’ name
Pleading the blood over our own pastors and their families
Answers – revelation knowledge
Thank You, Father, for the victories that have already been won!
For the victories that we are still to walk out
Religious spirits must leave in Jesus’ name
Holy Spirit, live big inside of us and through the preaching of the Gospel
Steadiness and strength
It has been done and it will be carried out—watching all the way
Demonstrations and supernatural happenings—turnarounds!
Contending and moving into the greater
We expect it—by faith we see it and touch it
Baptisms of the Holy Ghost and fire all over the earth coming forth
Thank You, Father, for an increase of Hunger and thirst in believing for more!
Lifting up ministers that will believe and receive it in Jesus’ name
Today—now is the time!
Jesus, be revealed in the earth—King of Kings and Lord of Lords!
Thank You, Father, for Your presence lighting us up
Internal wellness, joy that brings supernatural strength
Directing and showing us the way to go – thank You so much for it in Jesus’ name

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