Jul 10
6
SECRET FOUR (Part B)
In order to get more faith – exercise what you already have.
Measure your Faith.
Let’s take the version found in Matthew of an incident that happened with Jesus and his twelve closest followers and talk about how we can begin to exercise the faith we already have – faith that many of us don’t realize we have.
A man brought his young son to Jesus and said, “Please help my son. He has seizures that cause him to fall into the water and even the fire. I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn’t cure him.” Jesus responded by hollering at his own disciples. In the original language he called them (literally) a bunch of faithless perverts. He called them this because they had not been practicing what he had taught them. The narrative states that Jesus then rebuked the demon causing the seizures and the boy was immediately healed.
Later, the disciples went to Jesus privately and asked why they were unable to cast this particular demon out. Jesus’ answer in the original language is really quite simple, “Because you don’t have enough faith!” Then Jesus went on to give a phenomenal promise – “If you do have enough faith nothing will be impossible to you.” Then he tells them (and us by extension), “However, this kind of demon responds to your words only if you have gone through a sufficient time of preparation through much fasting and prayer.”
Part of Jesus’ instruction in the original language, about how to pray, and indeed how he said he prayed, is to persistently and impudently demand what we want to come into existence on the physical plane while pounding on our one and only perfect Dad’s door. We are to do this UNTIL what we are demanding comes into existence. If you are tempted to argue with what is stated in this paragraph, may I gently remind you that these instructions did not originate with me, they originated with Jesus.
I write a lot about the fact that the word “ask” is often translated from a word in the original that can mean “command” or “demand” depending on the context. The following is a limiting belief so often stated in so many ways by religious teachers: “You cannot demand anything from God.”
Here is a simple rule that I follow. I DO NOT DEMAND ANYTHING FROM GOD UNLESS I KNOW THAT WHAT I AM DEMANDING IS GOD’S WILL. If I have clarity about God’s will concerning any particular thing, then I can and do demand it with an air of impudence because I know that I am agreeing with God. Here is the key… when I know something is God’s will then I know it has already been provided. If it has already been provided, why don’t I already have it?
What I am demanding is something that Jesus so clearly taught in the original language, but obscured in the translation to English. I am demanding that the obstacles, to my getting what God has already decreed to be His will, get out of the way. I am demanding that the enemy’s agents get their hands off what already belongs to me.
Does he know God's will?
How do I find out what is God’s will for any particular situation? Let’s step back for a moment. There are two things I already know that God wants for me. One, He wants my life to be guided by His own SPIRIT. A bit of digression is in order here. Since we know that God is Spirit (“to be worshipped in spirit and in truth”) I recognize the redundancy in saying, “God’s own Spirit.” Another reason I have decided to form the habit of referring to the many facets of what is generally expressed as G.O.D. as “the SOURCE” or “SPIRIT.”
I also understand the preconceptions in the minds of many people – and this phraseology (God’s own Spirit) seems to make the transition from religious preconceptions to a deeper understanding far easier. The second thing I know the SOURCE wants for me is that I live in HER/HIS/ITS perfect will. Reminder: Jesus said, “There is no male or female in the kingdom” and “God is SPIRIT to be worshipped in Spirit and in truth” – therefore, our gender fixation on G.O.D. and SPIRIT as a “her” or a “him” is ludicrous… the reason I have referred to “HER/HIS/ITS” is simply to remind us of that truth.
What has been revealed to me is that the primary reason to demand that I want SPIRIT or the SOURCE to take increasing control over my life, moment by moment, day by day and that I want only the will of the SOURCE, (by whatever other term or name) …is to serve notice to my mind and the entities in the spirit (or unseen) realm that I mean business about this …and it SHALL BE (and, in fact already IS!
Then I take Jesus’ instructions seriously and literally (my hang-up is that it works for me and therefore is just for me and anyone else who wants to give it a try) about knocking on my Dad’s door and impudently demand that I be in His will and have MORE of His own Spirit – UNTIL I clearly know His will and sense the increase of His Spirit upon me. I realize that this is all quite subjective, but as I have shared several times in other articles, it allowed me to respond to the following question from a young lady in a group of students at a college humanities class at which I was sharing, “Why should I listen to whatever you say about praying?” My answer, after a few moments of silence: “Because when I pray I always get what I am praying for” (because I never pray for anything until I know that it is God’s will).
So, specifically what I do is to physically knock, tap, tap, tap, on the floor, the steering wheel of my car, the side of the bed, my desk, or anything else that is handy and tell my Dad that I want more of His Spirit and to know His will about a particular situation. I continue to tap, tap, tap, (the answer may take days or it may come in a flash of instant insight) and I continue demanding that I get more of His Spirit until I have clarity and know how and what to pray.
It really is that simple. Up next: Part C
In Freedom,
Brad
To listen to the podcast for this post click here and scroll down to Podcast 8 Seven Secrets Pt 4 – B