I remembered the conversation I once had during my prayer time today. Jesus Calls Ministries at Chennai is a ministry that had God’s special anointing on it because of that great man of God, Brother D.G. S. Dinakaran, its founder whose love for Jesus is so well known all over Chennai and the world. Hundreds of thousands of people come to Jesus Calls through their Prayer Tower all through the day and night throughout the year. They come with their cries to the prayer warriors to intercede for them with Jesus for all their problems. Of course Brother D.G. S has now gone to be with the Lord. His son Paul who was trained for long is now the managing director. During one of my prayer requests for a special need, the prayer warrior at the other end of the phone line asked me “Is there any unforgiveness in you that is hampering you from having your prayers answered? You say you have prayed for this need long enough and still you don’t see the results. Please check your heart for not forgiving anyone for offending you. And come back to us again. We will pray with you in agreement then.” So there it is friends. All of us pray, some of us even in tongues, we meditate in the Word, and we sing hymns in praise. And then we see that the results we were expecting for long go unanswered still. How many of us have laid hold of this spiritual principle called ‘Forgiveness?’ Not many. I’m sure. In fact, it is a vital element in the process of our growing up as a good Christian. Certain demonic forces are released in the life of a Christian who refuses to forgive. And in order not to miss this essential element, God uses people who offend us to teach us how to forgive. We can only remind ourselves about the price of blood that was paid on Calvary by Jesus. His body was wounded beyond repair and His blood was spilled all over. Why? We know it was only for the forgiveness of our sins. This was a price that can never be compared or reached. It was the blood of Jesus that forgave all of us. So it follows that we too forgive those who sin against us. In Mathew Chapter 6: 14 and 15, Jesus says “If you forgive those who sin against you, … [Read more...]
Learn how to hear from God, Our Father
I was a witness to an interesting conversation recently between one of the members of our congregation and our pastor. Pastor was saying “God told me to tell you...” This member was looking at the pastor with scepticism as he said “You mean God really speaks to you?” To which our pastor replied “Yes, He sure did. He told me what you did yesterday afternoon in your bedroom, just a few minutes before you started talking to me now.” The distinguished member had nothing more to say after that. He was convinced that our pastor had in fact heard from God! There is not even a semblance of doubt in my mind that hearing from God is the most precious gift a born - again Christian can hope to ever have. As children of God, the outcomes of our actions depend entirely on hearing God’s instructions on what to do and what not to do. We see countless church goers who go to their church week after week, take part in the sacraments, and even receive communion regularly without fail. But even then most people when they pray, they fail to hear or understand what God had to say to them. As a result they do things that are not in line with what God wanted them to do. It takes practice, patience and complete diligence over a period of time to hear from our almighty God. One never failing way to hear from God is to build a pure and genuine relationship with the Holy Spirit. Let us not forget for a moment that the day we made Jesus the Lord and Saviour of our lives, that was the day the Holy Spirit quietly began to live in the inside of us. For then we started living ‘not by sight but by spirit’. The Holy Spirit is one real person just like you and me. He is so real He starts breathing in our spirits. The Holy Spirit is the guiding Spirit who is supposed to direct our paths (see Proverbs 20:27) By studying the Word, by maintaining a daily awareness of Him as we go about our daily lives, by fellowshipping with Him in prayers and supplications, we increase our chances to hear from Him. All of this takes time, ladies and gentlemen, to hear from God. And when He does! He gives you a clear set of instructions – we just have to … [Read more...]
