7 steps to personal victory Ebook Morris Cerullo

A breakthrough message for victory over unanswered prayer!

  Published by Morris Cerullo World Evangelism

  San Diego, California

  ABLE F ONTENTS T O C

  Recognize That When You Pray, You Are Calling Upon God Almighty. ...........................................................13

  Remember What God Has Done For You In Times Past. .18

  The Secret Of God’s Word. .................................................23

  

  Humble Yourself Before God And Recognize Your Insufficiency To Cope With The Situation. ...............30

  Trust In The Lord; The Battle Is Not Yours, But God’s. ....37

  Have Faith In The Lord And In His Servants. ....................42

  

  Praise The Lord For The Victory. .......................................49

  I N T R O D U C T I O N

  

Step by Step

by Step!

  The Bible says, Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall

  make you free (John 8:32).

  We are not going to sweep the problem of unanswered prayer under the carpet, nor turn our backs on it. We need not fear or make excuses. We just need to understand the truth.

  The truths presented in this revelation message are so closely tied to your reading and understanding the Word of God, that I am reproducing the entire text of the message for you.

  As you read this message, remember that you are reading for a definite purpose. Even if you picked up the book by apparent accident, or if a friend gave it to you, the Holy Spirit has a definite purpose in it for your life.

  Nothing in life happens by chance. God has no accidents! Jesus said, No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent

  me draw him...

  (John 6:44). We often apply this to the unbeliever, but I believe that the coming to Jesus this verse refers to is a continuous experience in our Christian life. And each time we are drawn closer to His Presence, it is for a special, God-given purpose that the Father has for our lives. E V E N T E P S O E R S O N A L

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  The fact that you are holding this book in your hand is a good sign that the Holy Spirit of the Living God is at work in your life.

  I guarantee this to you, after receiving what the Holy Spirit has to give you through this revelation, your life will never be the same again.

  The message of Seven Steps is plain. It is simple and easy to understand. Most importantly, it is easy to begin to apply step by step to the problems that confront you every day of your life.

  Read and reread this message until you have these seven steps committed to memory.

  

Whatsoever Things Ye Desire...

  Just about everything that we receive from our Heavenly Father, both in the natural and spiritual worlds, is based upon our desires. We have to really desire victorious Christian living, or it will never be ours.

  When we are sick, we really have to have the desire to be healed, or divine supernatural forces will not be put into action on our behalf.

  When we are living a defeated, compromising, powerless Christian life, we have to honestly desire the better life that Christ can give us, or it will never come.

  When we have unsaved loved ones, whether they be children, husband, or wife, we have to desire their salvation from the very depths of our being before spiritual forces are set in motion that will change the course of their lives, their thinking, their spiritual insight, and bring them to Christ.

  Wishful thinking is not enough ... The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (James 5:16). Fervent to me speaks of heat, like white heat, the heat of a flame, something moving, that comes from the most innermost depths. Fervent prayer is not just some form or ritual that you mechanically go through.

  Remember this, God wants you to have complete victory in your life. So many people are consumed with the belief that

  I N T R O D U C T I O N something they are going through — which is causing them to lose the victory in their life — is God’s Will, and that it just isn’t their time to live in the power of the Holy Spirit, and to have victory in their lives. This is simply not true! There just isn’t any such thing! God sent His Son into the world that He might destroy the works of the devil.

  For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

  1 John 3:8 Jesus died that you might have the victory in your body, in your soul, and in your spirit: and don’t let the devil ever put the suggestion in your mind that you are suffering and that you are

  The victory I am talking about applies to the greatest crises in our lives, and that may be the very reason the Holy Spirit has placed this book in your hands. This formula for victory will work for you right now and will give you the ability to begin to apply the Word of God today, which will bring you the victory that you need, regardless of how great the problem is that you are facing.

  Even more important for you, this revelation of the Holy Spirit will apply to your day-by-day walk through life and all of its little problems. Most great crises are the result of a buildup of a lot of little things. Crises are the explosions that finally take place as a result of the day-to-day pressures that are not faced squarely and eliminated.

  If the day-to-day items of conflict were handled on a day-to- day basis, even if a crisis did come that appeared to be totally beyond our control, we would have the power within us not only to cope, but to overcome and be more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ.

  In this context, this revelation applies to every born-again Christian. Remember, the Scripture says that it is the little foxes that spoil the vine — those little sly foxes that we will let go by, cover them over, sweep them under our spiritual rug, and try to forget about them. They drain us of the spiritual power that we

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  should be using, not only to keep the victory in our own lives, but also for spiritual warfare on behalf of others.

  May the eyes of your understanding be enlightened as you read this powerful portion of God’s Word, from which the revelation of Seven Steps to Personal Victory will come.

  It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside

the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle Then

there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they be in Hazazon- tamar, which is En-gedi. And Jehosphaphat feared,

_ORD

and set himself to seek the L , and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves

_ORD

together, to ask help of the L : even out of all the cities of

_ORD

Judah they came to seek the L . And Jehoshaphat stood

in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house

_{ORD ORD}

of the L , before the new court, And said, O L God of

our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee? Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever? And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying, If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we

stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name

is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then

thou wilt hear and help. And now, behold, the children of

Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest

not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt; but they turned from them, and destroyed them

not; Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us

out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit.

O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do; but our eyes are upon

  I N T R O D U C T I O N _ORD

  

thee. And all Judah stood before the L , with their little

ones, their wives, and their children. Then upon Jahaziel

the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel,

the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came

_ORD the Spirit of the L in the midst of the congregation; And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the _ORD

  L

  

unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of

this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.

Tomorrow go ye down against them: behold, they come

up the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the

brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel. Ye shall not need to

fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the

salvation of the L with you, O Judah and Jerusalem:

fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them:

_ORD

for the L will be with you. And Jehoshaphat bowed his

head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the _ORD

inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the L , worshipping

_ORD

the L . And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites,

and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise _ORD the L God of Israel with a loud voice on high. And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the

wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat

stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants

_ORD

of Jerusalem; Believe in the L your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed _ORD singers unto the L , and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to _ORD say, Praise the L ; for his mercy endureth for ever. _ORD And when they began to sing and to praise, the L set

ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and

mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they

were smitten. For the children of Ammon and Moab stood

up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay

and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the

inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another. And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold,

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  V they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped. And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in

abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious

jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much. And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; _ORD for there they blessed the L : therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day. Then they returned, every man of Judah and

Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go

_ORD again to Jerusalem with joy; for the L had made them

to rejoice over their enemies. And they came to Jerusalem

with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of

_ORD the L . And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of _ORD

those countries, when they had heard that the L fought

against the enemies of Israel. So the realm of Jehoshaphat

was quiet: for his God gave him rest round about.

  2 Chronicles 20:1-30 This portion of Scripture could be called The Great Power

  

Play, for the enemies of God put on a display of unified might

designed to bring fear into the hearts of the Israelites.

  This same spectacle is being repeated before our very eyes every day. Satan is the master of the power play. He accomplishes this on a collective basis against the Church. Sometimes when I look at the carnal programs of evangelism conducted by our churches, I feel that the world is dictating the path the Church should follow far more than the Holy Spirit.

  If you would stop to truly compare the methods of evangelism used by the Early Church in the Book of Acts with the promotions employed today, you would really wonder if these two types of evangelism represent the same faith.

  I believe in utilizing every means that our technological society provides for the spreading of the Gospel to win men and women to Jesus Christ, but I also believe that the power of the Holy Spirit

  I N T R O D U C T I O N has to remain the foundation of every effort, and must be the common denominator between us, or we are only a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.

  What makes a person or a church body resort to carnal weapons in spiritual warfare? It is FEAR — fear of failure, fear of being the object of ridicule, and fear of being a despised minority. Fear has been stated to be man’s worst enemy, and this has been proven over and over again to be true. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said, “The only thing that we have to fear is fear itself,” and I know he’s right.

  Where does fear come from? The Bible says, ...Fear hath torment...

  (1 John 4:18). We know that this type of fear does not

a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

(II Timothy 1:7). If this kind of fear does not come from God, then it must come from Satan.

  In the scripture text which we have quoted, we see that three nations, (Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir) formed a conspiracy to come against Judah and to utterly wipe it out. Intelligence information of the massive army planning to attack Judah reached Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. The first thing that happened to him was that fear struck his heart, for he knew (in the natural) that his army was no match for the great numbers that were formed against him.

  At this point, fear could have completely paralyzed the nation of Judah, and they could have been utterly wiped out as a nation. You know the ramifications of that result for the Messiah had to come from the tribe of Judah. If there were no Judah, then there could be no Jesus. There would be none that could die for the salvation of the world. As it says in the scriptures:

  And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.

  Matthew 2:6 The immediate results of fear determine life or death, paralysis or victory, for a nation or for an individual. E V E N T E P S O E R S O N A L

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  We could rightly change the words of President Roosevelt to read, “The only thing that we have to fear is that fear becomes an end in itself.” But, even as fear can be our greatest enemy, it can become our greatest friend if we react to it in the right way.

  In every truth there is the negative side, and there is also the positive side. Did you know there is a positive side of fear? Most of us, in our Christian experience, think of fear as our enemy; but fear can also be a blessing in disguise. Can you accept that?

  If fear drives us to our knees to begin to travail and pray with a fervency that begins to move the hand of God that moves the world, then that fear has been channeled to be a positive influence in our life. It has forced us into a closer relationship and

  If fear drives us to the Word of God to seek answers from God, then that fear has accomplished a great work in our life. Sad to say, in many cases fear is the only thing that will accomplish that objective.

  Some people never become interested in the baptism of the Holy Spirit until the fear of being overcome by their problems drives them to seek a deeper meaning to their spiritual experience and spiritual life.

  Here is a tragic but true commentary: Some people will never seek God in a meaningful way until sickness strikes their children, or their loved ones. Let AIDS, cancer, or heart trouble come into the family, and all of a sudden we are searching out of the Word of God and books on more effectual prayer.

  We may live for ourselves all our lives with little or no attention to the things of God, but when tragedy strikes and there is no human answer, then our thoughts and hearts are turned in fear toward God. We start recalling the preacher’s messages and the admonition of our godly parents who, up until this time, we may have considered fanatics and out of touch with this generation. Into the house of God we rush with our petitions, Lord, please help me.

  I N T R O D U C T I O N I pray, God, if it takes tragedy, if it takes fear to drive people to

  

the place of prayer, I pray that You will scare Your people like they

have never been scared before.

  Jesus clearly indicated that it was much better to go through this life maimed than to have our soul cast into eternal hell. How can anyone disagree with that? It is simply common sense.

  Jehoshaphat got so filled with fear that he called a fast. What do you think would happen to our nation right now if every pastor, every denominational leader in America, would be so filled with fear concerning future that they would stand before their congregation next Sunday and tell the people, Whether you realize

  

it or not we are fighting right now in a life and death struggle,

and there is only one way that we are going to survive. There is

only one way to remain a free nation. There is only one way to

avoid a holocaust and sudden destruction, and that is if we all

immediately begin to fast and pray that God shall deliver us.

  Can you imagine what would happen? I don’t think that you can. I know I can’t. I can’t begin to fathom the repentance and the sweeping move of the Holy Spirit that would begin to cleanse and purge and purify our government and religious institutions.

  The scripture declares, Jehoshaphat feared (v. 3), and when he feared he set himself to seek the face of God. Fear acted as a spur to stir him to seek the Lord.

  Many people in the world would never be living for God today if there had not been a circumstance which came into their lives which caused them fear and drove them to the place of prayer. This fear was the spark to setting their spiritual life in order.

  Most people reading this book will fall into one of two general classifications. ONE: You are currently having a crisis in your life, and you know the fear that I am talking about. Very likely, if it were not for this serious problem in your life, you would not even be reading this book. The revelation of the SEVEN STEPS TO PERSONAL VICTORY will show you how to channel that fear that has gripped your

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  life, and you will be able to look back on this experience as the greatest period of growth in your life.

  TWO: You do not have a crisis currently in your life, but you are dissatisfied. You know that you lack victory and power to live for God. Deep down in your heart, you also know that these deficiencies are due to compromise in various areas of your life that you know are not pleasing to God.

  Though not experiencing a dramatic moment in your life, these same seven steps will bring you into a plateau of Christian living that you never dreamed you would attain in this lifetime, and they will bring an infusion of power into your life that will plan for your life. This spiritual formula will be a weapon in your hands to bring you deliverance for body, soul, and spirit.

  Before you go to Step One, I want you to prepare yourself to receive this revelation from God so that you can also receive, once and for all, what you have been praying for and need in your life.

  Put your hand on your head, over your mind, right now, and pray with me: Father, I anoint this mind in the Name of Jesus. God, give

  

it a spiritual breakthrough to comprehend this revelation truth from

Your Word. Take this simple but powerful message and transform

it into the realities of my life to take me past head knowledge into

a new experience of relationship with You. Thank You, in Jesus’

Name, Amen.

  VICTORY IS MINE! Now let us go step by step through this great experience of

  Jehoshaphat’s prayer. In it, we will discover four great steps to victory, and best of all, the knowledge that God answers prayer. In God’s answer to Jehoshaphat’s prayer, we will find the three steps that are keys to our complete and final victory over the problems we confront.

  S T E P ONE

  

RECOGNIZE

HAT WHEN YOU PRAY YOU ARE CALLING UPON

T ,

  

OD LMIGHTY

_ORD

G A .

  ...O L God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven?

  2 Chronicles 20:6 The first step Jehoshaphat made toward the solution of his problem was fully recognizing Who he was calling upon. Jehoshaphat established that the God he was calling upon was the God of heaven, the God of all creation.

  To let the magnitude of that statement really grip you, just step outside on a clear night, look up into the starry sky, and locate the constellation of the Big Dipper. In the bowl of that Dipper, the astronomers now tell us that they can locate over one million galaxies of stars. In the entire universe, they now estimate, there are over one billion galaxies.

  Jehoshaphat remembered the words of King David, who said,

  

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth

his handiwork

  (Psalm 19:1). If you or I had been in Jehoshaphat’s shoes at this moment, with his nation facing sure annihilation, would we simply be recounting the glories of God and what He had done in the past? Or would we be doing something else?

  Many belong to what I call the “Gimme Club.” That is the vernacular for the give me, give me, give me prayers that are so common in the Christian realm.

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  If doom were hanging over our heads, the first thing we would do is cry out to God to immediately destroy our enemy or to deliver us completely from the enemy’s presence.

  But what did Jehoshaphat do? It is strange that he never mentions his problems at the beginning of his prayer! He seems to have gotten hold of a secret approach to this God of creation, the God of his fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. At the very outset he is recounting the power and the glory of his Heavenly Father. He actually is starting out by acknowledging God above all.

  Do you think that he is saying all of this to build God’s confidence in His own ability to deliver Israel? Do you think that he really intends to tell God something which God doesn’t already know? Of course not!

  What Jehoshaphat is saying is for the purpose of bolstering his own faith in order to remind himself to Whom he is really speaking and the potential power of God that can be unleashed on behalf of his people.

  If you really read between the lines here, you will hear Jehoshaphat say, “Here comes Ammon, Moab and mount Seir, but God, I just want You to know something: I’m going to ask You to do something in about twenty minutes from now when I get through praying. I am going to ask You to do something that I know You are fully capable of doing, have done before, and will do again.”

  Never has a man prayed like that man. Instead of coming to God under the heavy burden of those attacking nations, what is he doing? He’s engaging in a relationship!

  Then he continues his prayer, Rulest not thou over all the

  

kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power

and might, so that none is able to withstand thee? (v.6)

  Jehosphaphat exclaims, “You are a God of Power”... but when he speaks of power in this context, he is not referring to something ancient but to an active, moving, living, available, vital power. Not just a latent power that has potential either, but rather a power that is moving and has a proven record of performance.

  R E C O G N I Z E

  

The God we serve is an Unlimited God!

  Go back and repeat that phrase. Say it over and over again until its mighty truth fills your being. Our God knows no limit. Jehoshaphat knew that God was able to open the Red Sea to let the children of Israel pass through. The same God fed the entire nation of Israel in the wilderness for forty years. He is the God that sent down the fire from Heaven. He is the God that caused the axe head to swim and the donkey to talk. The false prophets could not withstand His power, and God’s fire consumed the offering and the altar of Elijah, which was to them an open rebuke. The lion could not withstand the power of God, and Samson conquered it. The Philistines could not withstand His power, and Jonathan and his armor bearer put them to flight. It was His power that shielded Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnance that was heated seven times hotter.

  It was His power that gave the lions lockjaw as Daniel walked among them and spent the night in their den. Sickness could not withstand His power as Jesus of Nazareth went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil. He said to the blind eyes, be opened, and the dark scales fell from their eyes. As Jesus said to the deaf ears, be

  opened, the sensation of sound began to register on their brains.

  As He said to the mute tongues, be loosed, those paralyzed tongues were released by the power of God to begin to function for the first time.

  The natural elements could not oppose the power of Jesus. He spoke to the wind and sea to be calm, and they stopped their tempest without putting up further argument. The devil could not withstand His power as He spoke to the demon-possessed and said, Come out, and immediately they were set free.

  Jehoshaphat is saying, God, I know You can do it. God I know You will do it, God, You will deliver Your people, You will heal me from this cancer. You will deliver me from this rheumatoid arthritis. God, You will deliver my son from the bondage of drugs. God, You will bring my wayward, backslidden daughter back home again. God, You will save my wife, and unite our family once again.

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  God, I know that it is not by might, nor by power that we can ever defeat the enemy, no matter how large our armies are, nor how small the enemy’s armies. Lord, You have shown Israel over and over again that when they had the stronger army by numbers and trained warriors, they were defeated if You were not fighting for them. So God, we know that our answers are not in numbers, but our answer is in Your power to deliver.

  

Think of that for a moment!

  Begin to apply that thinking to your crisis and all the problems that are facing you today. It is not more money that will solve your financial problems; it is the blessing and power of God, active and alive upon that which you already possess, no matter how much it is.

  The answer to the healing of that cancer is not in greater or more expensive medical treatments or drugs. It is in the delivering power of Jesus Christ.

  Jehoshaphat clearly established in his own mind exactly Who he was asking for deliverance and what the potential of that power had for him. Remember in his hour of trial, Jehoshaphat, like a great leader, kept calm; or as our generation would say, “He kept cool.”

  Fear drove him to prayer, but it was not a panic prayer; it was a prayer that came from a sincere heart and mind that knew exactly where his petitions should be directed. As he heard himself recite the declaration of the power and glory of God, genuine faith began to build in his heart to approach God with his real request. When he had reached the point of asking, his faith had risen far above wishful thinking into the realm of positive knowledge of the delivering power of Jehovah God.

  There is a dynamic spiritual secret of knowing how to come into God’s court. Recognize that you are not coming to a man, a vessel, or an instrument that is simply being used by God as a channel for blessing. You are coming to your very own Heavenly Father, the God Who created the heavens and the earth. You are actually speaking directly to Him. You are not saying the Apostles’

  R E C O G N I Z E Creed, or reciting the Lord’s Prayer. You are communicating with the highest, greatest power of heaven and earth. Think of it! God Almighty Himself!

  Take this first step now and begin to put the foundation of answered prayer into place. “O God Thou art God, there is no other God beside

  Thee. You are the Creator of Heaven and earth, and in Thy right hand there is power and might, so that none is able to withstand You. There is no sickness You cannot heal. There is no problem You cannot solve. There is no power You cannot overcome. You are God! Everything in heaven and earth is under Your power. You are above all!”

  S T E P TWO

  

REMEMBER

HAT OD HAS DONE FOR YOU

  IN TIMES PAST W G .

  Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?

  2 Chronicles 20:7 It is important that you know for yourself the records of God’s deliverance in the past, which are recorded in the Bible. It is important for your faith that you know how God has always delivered His people from every physical and spiritual affliction into which they have fallen. Of equal importance is the knowledge of your personal relationship with God. Jehoshaphat recited the historical evidence that God was with Israel in the past. Then he declared that God’s power and presence were not only “past tense.” God was, and always will be, the God of the present, the now, the immediate. God is …a very present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1).

  One of the greatest truths ever written in the Bible is in the 23rd Psalm. King David said, “The Lord is my Shepherd.” Here, we have the personal application that God is not only God, and present at the moment, but He is to David, “my shepherd,” not just any shepherd. God is a personal God.

  Jehoshaphat found the secret of knowing God in a personal way. The historical connection was not good enough. Your mother, father, grandfather, grandmother, sister, or brother can know the Lord, but that is not good enough for you. You could be the descendant of Martin Luther or the great-great-grandson of John

  R E M E M B E R Wesley, but that doesn’t really do you any good in your hour of need unless you can address their God as your very own. This personal relationship between God and man is brought out in so many different ways in the Bible.

  In this present scripture, we not only see man declaring his relationship to the Lord God, but we have much evidence in the scripture for the claim going in the opposite direction. God is declaring His relationship with us.

  In Isaiah, we hear this great promise of the Lord to his people:

  

When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee;

and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when

thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the _ORD

  L thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour...

  Isaiah 43:2-3 Note the personal application here: I will be with thee... it will not be a messenger nor someone appointed (either heavenly or earthly), but God personally will be right there in the midst of your problem to deliver you—not your brother or your sister, but you. You are the one that God will deliver in the times of trouble. The fires may rage, but if you keep your trust in God, you will never be burned. The waters may rise all around you, but God will be right there to see that they never overcome you. You will not drown.

  God does not guarantee that you will not go through tribulation, such as a flood, or have trials that appear to be as a mighty raging fire around you. You may feel the pressure of the rising water or the heat of the flaming fire, but the waters will not go over your head nor will your flesh be burned.

  This is the revelation: God is not only big enough to take care of the entire universe, but He is also, at the same time, able to care for you and is interested in the slightest detail of your life. He is concerned about you personally. Hallelujah!

  Spiritual progress is impossible without a personal relationship with God. In the Old Testament, the relationship was experienced through the symbols of the Temple and the priesthood; but today,

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  our personal relationship with God is directly through Jesus Christ, His Son.

  Before Christ, the relationship had to be through symbols, because the sacrifice for sin was imperfect, and there always had to be a wall or partition, a middleman, between God and man. But we read that Jesus has removed the middle wall or partition, where by we can now boldly enter into the Holy of Holies, where our request and petitions are made known to God in prayer (Ephesians 2:14).

  If Jehoshaphat could speak of the Lord God in such a personal way—and he only knew Him by His acts, and by the symbols of the Temple and priesthood, and the shadows of the law of Moses the impossible?

  Now our relationship is not through an intermediary, nor our salvation and the remission of our sins through the shedding of the blood of bulls and goats, but it is through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ.

  If Jehoshaphat was able to touch God with such a prayer, we have the potential for far greater victories for the Kingdom of God. Jehoshaphat continued his prayer:

  Are not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?

  2 Chronicles 20:7 This is the turning point of this great prayer. The transition is from recognizing who God really was to what the Lord God had really done. Now we are moving from the static to the active. By remembering not only Who God was and what he had done, Jehoshaphat was moving from wishful thinking to positive action.

  It is one thing to wait and another thing to move.

  Your faith can grow by recounting the historical acts of God, which we have already mentioned, but do not stop there, that is only the beginning.

  Look at your own life and begin to recall the mighty provisions of God for spiritual and physical deliverance. Start at the point of

  R E M E M B E R your salvation. Stop for a moment and think about what God has saved you from and the transformation that has come into your life since you have known Jesus as your personal Savior.

  Can you remember something God did for you in the past? That answered prayer, that healing in your body, that financial miracle, or the blessing in your home? Don’t overlook the fact that many of God’s miracles in our lives come about in natural ways! Begin to recall the acts of physical healing and deliverance that you personally, or your own immediate family, have received.

  If you are a newborn Christian, and none of your family have ever had a real born-again experience, then read in the Bible the miracle stories of God’s deliverance. Read what God has done in outstanding miracles in our day.

  Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.

  Hebrews 13:8 Although in the natural you may not have a family member who has had a true spiritual experience with God, you are a part of the great family of man in the earth today. When you read or hear of a miracle of healing that someone else has received, you can rejoice just as if it were your own flesh and blood.

  Realize this: God is no respecter of persons, and what He has done for anyone else, He will do for you in your life right now.

  Don’t forget for one moment that the same nail-scarred hand which was laid upon your sin-fevered brow, which brought you perfect peace, the greatest miracle in all the world, is standing by your side right now to deliver you from the problem that is troubling you today.

  What God did for you in the past, He will do for you again! Remember, remember, remember what God did for you in the past, and you will know what He is going to do for you in the future.

  Why is there such a tremendous interest in the occult, and in particular, predictions of the future in the realm of psychic phenomena, fortune telling, and astrology in this present hour?

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  People have never been more insecure about the future. They want to know what is going to happen—good or bad.

  We don’t need any crystal ball gazer to tell us how to solve our problems and to tell us that the daily astrology chart is the guide of our life.

  I thank God that He has given to His servants the gift of Discernment of Spirits, but, our faith is not in discernment. Our faith is not even in the gift of the word of knowledge.

  Our faith stands on the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God. As we remember what He has done for us, individually as a child of God, and collectively, as a member of the Body of Christ, and universally, as a part of the family of God, then we will know that the waters of adversity that surround us will not overflow us, nor will the fiery trials consume us.

  Only when we forget or allow the clouds of trouble to blot out the mighty deliverances of God in our lives and in the Bible, are we in trouble. As we begin to take these steps, the Holy Spirit will bring to our remembrance those things which He hath both spoken and done in the past.

  What has God taught us so far? ONE: We begin our petition with praise to God and a declaration of Who He really is.

  TWO: We begin to recall what He has done in the past, both in the Bible and through the living testimony of our lives, beginning with our salvation and the other mighty deliverances He has done and is doing in this very hour.

  STEP ONE: Recognize Whom you are calling upon. STEP TWO:

  Remember what God has done for you in times past! And, most of all, remember that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever!

  S T E P THREE

  

STAND

HE SECRET OF OD S ORD

T G ’ W .

  If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.

  2 Chronicles 20:9 We could call this chapter, “Know Your Foundation.” After

  Jehoshaphat declared exactly Who he was praying to and recognized what God had done for him in times past, he then began to recite some examples of God’s power.

  We live in a very power-conscious world. Television and newspapers remind us every day of the power of governments, of military might, or atomic bombs.

  God is going to put such a spiritual foundation under you that when you pray, you will not pray some formula. You’re not coming to a man, you are coming to God, the One who created the heavens and the earth and rules over all the kingdoms.

  The authority in this world is in the hands of Almighty God, and the greatest power in all the world is the power of the Word of the Living God.

  Now we see Jehoshaphat lay the cornerstone of his prayer, declaring that the very basis of his approaching unto God is that he is standing before the house of God that contained the Name of God and the Word of God.

  He resorted to the highest authority known to man, and that is the Word of God.

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  What he is saying is, “Lord, the petition that I am about to make is not based on folklore, mythology, the pagan religions of our neighbors, superstition, witchcraft, or any form of demon power. Rather, I stand here upon Your Word, for You have declared Yourself to be the God of Israel!”

  He stood upon the Word! You cannot make a wishful request if you are standing upon the Word of God. We only deal in wishful thinking in our prayer life when we are not actually sure of what we really want.

  If you really want your prayers answered, then make it a positive request based upon the Word of God. You may say, “Brother Cerullo, isn’t that a contradiction? Why would anyone say prayers if they really didn’t want their prayers answered?” Simply because they are going through a form of self- imposed spiritual obligation.

  “Lord, deliver me of cigarettes!” How many times that prayer has been prayed from an insincere heart that really doesn’t want to give up cigarettes. Record the difference in the tone of their prayer from the time that they are just paying lip service to the habit, until the time they pray when they return from the doctor, and he has just told them that they have cancer of the lungs, and there is nothing that can be done for them. Then we’d hear a prayer from the depths of their being. Then they begin to search out the Word of God to really stand upon.

  We have often heard the phrase, “God answers prayer.” It would be more correctly stated that “God answers fervent prayer. God answers prayer that is based upon His Word.”

  Take the example in the Book of Acts. The Apostles were all gathered together praying that Peter shall be delivered from prison.

  A knock comes at the door, “Who’s there?” Asked those who were in prayer. “It’s me, Peter, let me in.” “Please don’t disturb us right now, we are in the middle of a very important prayer meeting.”

  S T A N D They had a hard time accepting the fact that their prayers were answered.

  So do I. I believe that Peter was delivered from prison as a result of his own prayers and petition to God, for with the stocks about his feet in that cold, clammy dungeon, his prayer had far more fire in it than the sequestered twelve and company in their prayer closet.

  The most powerful words in the Scriptures are, “Thus saith the Lord.” Here is the stamp of divine intervention, and when we are standing upon the Word of God and we are claiming the promises that it contains, we are saying, “Thus saith the Lord.”