"As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations, before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were." Romans 4:17 KJV
Now, let's look at that same scripture in another version: "We call Abraham "father" no because he got God's attention by living like a saint, but because God made something out of Abraham when he was a nobody. Isn't that what we've always read in Scripture, God saying to Abraham, "I set you up as father of many peoples"? Abraham was first named "father" and then BECAME a father because he dared to trust God to do what only God could do: raise the dead to life, with a word make something out of nothing. When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn't do but on what God said he WOULD do. And so he was made father of a multitude of peoples. God himself said to him, "You're going to have a big family Abraham!"" Romans 4:17-18 The Message version
This scripture has become a major stepping stone in my walk of faith. For years, I had heard the paraphrase "speak to those things that are not as though they were." And the key part of Romans 4:17 is the last word of the KJV ... "WERE" - that's past tense! Meaning; you put your God faith to work and you BELIEVE that it already happened. Wow! What a Rhema moment in my life!
"What?" you ask, "does this have to do with a blog about chronic illness?" Well, let me tell you. See - I went into remission from Lupus last July. But before I even saw the doctor, I had already decided to BELIEVE that I WAS healed. I prayed scripture over myself (and I still do). One of my favorites to pray over myself is "And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. 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." Mark 11:22-23 KJV The part I say is "I say to this mountain (change that word to whatever I am facing), be removed from me and fall into the sea. In Jesus name." That, my friends; is how you can pray scripture over your own lives. You just take scripture and make it personal (1st person), SPEAK it, BELIEVE what you say, use God faith.
I hear so many people begging God (and I too have spent my time in the begging position), God does not want us to grovel at his feet. He is not a dictator. He loves us and He cares about us. Look at it from this perspective: How much do you love your children? You would go to the ends of the earth for them, right? Well, imagine this - He loves you MORE than that! He wants us to have health and happiness. Prayer is super simple - Speak His Word, pray His will and BELIEVE what you say!
I also know that there are so many people who will say "I prayed for this" or "I prayed for that. And nothing happened." My answer to that question is: Are you sure you prayed for His will? Do you Believe what you spoke? Was there even a shred of selfishness in that prayer? These are always good questions to ask yourself before you pray. Because if you are praying for something outside His will, it won't happen. If you don't Believe what you spoke, it won't happen. If you were praying selfishly, you might as well shut up before you even start.
I am still praying God's will in my life and I have new mountains all the time, but I now look at those mountains as stepping stones (lessons) on my journey to the fullness of His blessings in and over my life. (Example: I love puzzle games that have levels and chapters. I play one called Mosaic World: I have to click on the correct squares within a grid, using correlating numbers, in order to reveal a picture. There are a set number of picture puzzles to solve within a chapter to earn my way up to the next level. And each picture is more difficult to solve within a chapter.) I see the Word and my walk with God in much the same way. Each lesson is a little more difficult than the last and sometimes it takes a lot of backing all the way up and starting over. But ohhhh the joy and celebrating that goes on when I finally get the revelation!
In a nutshell: If you prayed God's will, you Believe what you spoke and you are not praying selfishly - then He heard you. Your job is to keep the faith. God answers prayer in HIS time, not ours. Sometimes prayers seem to be unanswered, simply because there is a lesson that we haven't quite grasped yet. So keep reading His Word, keep speaking to the mountain and most importantly BELIEVE that you will receive the answer. Faith is an action word, a verb, a tool (someone very close to me, just showed that to me recently). You exercise your faith. Use it to get you through until the prayer is answered! (and sometimes, you got the answer; it just doesn't look like what you expected.)
Don't leave your faith in the toolbox - USE IT!