"Faith Is Specific, Part 1" by Nancy Dufresne

Proverbs 4:5-8 instructs us, “Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.”

     This passage tells us what wisdom will do: preserve, keep, (AMPC – defend, protect), promote you, and bring you to honor.

     To walk in God’s wisdom is one way God protects and defends us. Sometimes people do things that aren’t wise, get into difficulty, then wonder why God didn’t warn them. Wisdom warns us!

     God’s wisdom is God’s mind and thoughts.

     When faced with a need or a test, find out God’s thinking and what He says pertaining to your situation. God’s wisdom will promote us. Having God’s wisdom will promote us into God’s best and into God’s plan for our life, but God’s wisdom will also promote us out of tests.

     If you are doing all you know to do and nothing is changing, you need God’s wisdom – ask Him.

     One minister tells of a time years ago when nearly everyone in the family was sick. They were standing in faith, but nothing was changing. This minister called their dad, who was a seasoned minister, and asked, “Why aren’t we receiving?”

     He said, “I don’t know. But wisdom is the principal thing. Get God’s wisdom. Ask Him why you aren’t receiving.” They did, and God gave them the specific answer of what to do, and when they did what He said, everything changed.

     James 1:2-6 instructs us, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering….”

     This passage starts off talking about tests and temptations we’re facing. Then it tells us what to do if we lack wisdom in the face of tests – ask God! Wisdom isn’t given automatically – we must ask – ask in faith!

God’s Wisdom in a Test

     Recently, there was a threat the enemy kept making. I didn’t know the specific answer to it, so I would answer it generally with the truths of the Word, and it would just stand off. But after a few weeks, that same opposition would return. I would again give a general answer and it would again back off, but it didn’t leave.

     The last time it came, God said to me, “Ask Me about that opposition.” I hadn’t talked to God about it because I didn’t want to touch that threat in my thought life – I didn’t want to turn it over in my mind. But when God told me to ask Him about it, I did. He told me why it was coming. God gave me the specific answer to give to that threat, and when I answered that threat specifically, that devil left and didn’t come back. The enemy’s strategy failed because the wisdom of God came.

     Colossians 1:9 reads, “For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives” (NIV).

     When you resist an attack, but it keeps recurring, it’s because you aren’t yet giving the right specific answer. Specifics given by the Spirit of God are the wisdom of God for your need, and wisdom is the principal thing that gets results every time when we add our faith and obedience to it.

Wisdom Is Specific

     Mark 5:6-9 tells us about how Jesus dealt with the madman of Gadera: “But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.”

     Notice, Jesus had commanded the devil to come out once, and he didn’t, so Jesus asked him his name. When Jesus called the demons out by name, the specific name (the specific thing to say), the demons came out – He got results.

     (In one vision Kenneth E. Hagin had of Jesus, Jesus taught him about evil spirits, and stated that sometimes – not every time – you need to know the name of the demon to cast it out.)

     This shows us that when faced with opposition, we sometimes need to answer opposition with more specific answers and not just general answers, in order to get results.

     If you are having to deal with the same opposition repeatedly, you need God’s wisdom to know the specific answer to give.

     We are to live “Days of Heaven on Earth.” We aren’t to live troubled and harassed by ongoing opposition. Troubling is not to last; it is not to be a way of life for the believer. 

     Ephesians 6:13-14 tells us, “…having done all, to stand. Stand therefore....” We haven’t “done all to stand” if we lack God’s wisdom regarding our situation. We are to ask God for His wisdom regarding a lingering test. To “stand” doesn't mean to just cope. To “stand” involves being fully suited in the armor of God, and it involves standing on the Word with the specific answer of God’s wisdom in our mouth.

     Ask God for His wisdom, which is your specific answer to the test – then when you stand on that Word, you’ll get results!

"Prayer For The Nation" by Nancy Dufresne

On one occasion, Brother Hagin stated that he was concerned about the direction the nation was going, and one of the primary reasons he started Prayer School decades ago on the Rhema campus was to pray for the nation. Just as he saw a need of praying for the nation, we too see a need to continue praying for the nation.

A few years after Dad Hagin went home to be with the Lord, God spoke to me and said, “Brother Hagin’s prayer life held some things in check in this nation, but since he has moved to Heaven, there has been a void in prayer for the nation, and as a result, wrong people have gotten into office. Pick that up.” We in the Body of Christ are responsible to pray for the nation so that there is no void or deficiency.

As we pray, we want to pray in line with the Word and with skill in exercising our authority.

There was a precious woman I knew who was mighty and skillful in prayer. She told of the occasion when she saw two angels in her room talking to each other. One angel asked the other one, “Can we tell her about the political needs of this nation?”

The other angel replied, “Yes, because she doesn’t speak against the nation or its leaders.” They could trust her with revelation about the nation because she didn’t speak against the country or leaders. We may not always agree with our political leaders or with things going on in the nation, but we must be certain not to speak inappropriately against our nation, state, city, or leaders. We must watch our words, for bitter and sweet waters can’t flow out of the same fountain. If we speak wrong, our faith won’t work as it should. Even if we don’t agree with our leaders, we must make certain we don’t harbor any offense against any public official. To have an air of offense about us will hinder our faith from working.

Matthew 6:6 records that Jesus instructed, "...pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." There is a reward for praying. When we pray for our nation, the reward will manifest in our country, state, and city, as well as in our lives.

The Word shows us God’s interest and involvement in the nations. First Timothy 2:1-4 reads,  “I exhort therefore, that, first of all (make it a priority), supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour (God is our Savior, not government); Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”

God would not instruct us to pray for the highest offices in the land if our authority didn’t reach there. Our authority reaches to the highest office in the land, for it stems from the highest seat in existence – God’s Throne. The authority of the elected officials is temporary, lasting only as long as their term. But ours is eternal, for our authority is our birthright, granted at the new birth.

Matthew 16:19 records that Jesus stated, “And I will give unto thee the keys (dominion, authority) of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (This means that heaven will back us up.  – Kenneth E. Hagin) We don’t ask God to do something He has authorized us to do. WE bind & WE loose. God works through us. There are things that won't be bound until we bind them, and things that won't be loosed until we loose them.

Dad Hagin taught us to bind Satan from the economic, political, and social arenas of our nation. I also have included binding Satan from our education system, judicial system, and media.

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PRAYER FOR THE NATION

I Timothy 2:1-4 — I exhort therefore, that, first of all (make it a priority), supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour (God is our Savior, not government); Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

I pray for all those that are in authority on the national, state, and local levels. I lift up the president, vice-president, senate, congress, gov't agencies, Supreme Court justices, judges, governor, mayor, law enforcement officers, military, and all in authority.

For those leaders that are unsaved, I ask You to send laborers across their paths. Satan, you take your hand off their minds, so that the light of the Gospel may shine in.

Father, I ask You to give wisdom to those in authority to govern in a way that fulfills Your will in the earth and blesses the people — that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

I pray that Your anointing be strong upon them to help them accomplish their task. Give them strength for the task, and keep them by Your power to fulfill Your plan. Surround them with the right people, right words, and right counsel, and expose, protect, and deliver them from wrong people, wrong words, wrong counsel, and from all evil. I say that no weapon formed against them, this administration, or this nation shall prosper. I pray that they and this nation be kept by the power of God, and that the angels of Heaven keep them and this nation safe from every harm and strategy of the enemy.

I pray for divine rest, strength, refreshing, joy, and peace for President Trump, First Lady Melania, and their family.

Protect our military, police, and firemen, and help them to be victorious over those causing harm.

II Thessalonians 3:1,2 — Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you: And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.

I pray and believe for Your Word to have free course and be glorified in this nation, state, and city, and that unreasonable and wicked leaders will be exposed and removed from office, and You raise up right men to serve in those positions.

I pray that unrighteous laws be overturned, including the abortion law, and that righteous laws be enacted and upheld. I pray for the hidden things to be revealed. Expose and deliver us from all evil and corruption in our government, judicial system, education system, and media.

I bind the agenda of socialism and any other agenda that would rob this nation of freedom and pray that You deliver us from it, in Jesus’ Name.

You have appointed and anointed men to occupy seats of government, so I pray for victory for all the right candidates in the next elections, that Your will be done. I call for the right men, men of God’s choosing, to come forward to lead, and I seat them in their office. And I remove the wrong ones from their positions. They are dismissed, in Jesus’ Name.

Matthew 16:19 — And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven (dominion, authority): and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (This means that Heaven will back us up. — Kenneth E. Hagin)

Satan, I bind you and command you to take your hands off this nation, off this state, and off this city. Take your hands off the social, political, and economic arenas. Take your hands off the educational system, judicial system, and media. I loose the power of God to accomplish the will of God, in the Name of Jesus.

"Is What You See Greater Than What God Says?" by Nancy Dufresne

I'm reminded of a testimony of healing I heard years ago that I often think about. A woman had gone to the doctor and was told that she had a growth in her breast, so they set up another appointment for further tests. At her next appointment, they did an ultrasound on her. With the ultrasound equipment, the doctor was able to display an image of the lump in her breast on a screen. As he did, he turned the screen toward the woman so she could see the lump.

He pointed to the screen as he explained to the woman what they were seeing. When she saw the lump pictured on the screen, she spoke quietly in her heart to the Lord. “Oh Lord, if only I hadn’t seen it. Seeing it makes it more real.”

The Lord spoke back to her, “Is what you see greater than what I say?”

How that question checked her! She caught herself, realizing her wrong thinking. “No, Lord,” she answered, “what I see is not greater than what You say.”

Then she reminded herself of what He had already said in His Word. Quietly to herself, she rehearsed His Word. “Your Word says that ‘Himself took my infirmities and bare my sicknesses.’ Your Word says that ‘by Jesus’ stripes I was healed.’ ” As she lay on that examination bed, she quietly refocused her attention on the Word instead of on the screen.

As she lay there, continuing to put her attention on God’s Word and worshipping Him for it, suddenly a wide, bright circle of light appeared on the screen. Everyone in the room saw it. Slowly that bright circle of light began to close in and grow smaller and smaller around that lump. As the circle of light grew smaller, it completely encased the lump, and when it did, the circle of light disappeared, and then the lump was also gone off the screen! The lump had dissolved, and she was completely healed!

That miracle happened for the woman because she redirected her attention away from what she was seeing and toward what God said. The Word was greater than what she saw, and when she focused on the Word that was greater, what she saw changed.

How often we are surrounded by circumstances that are so visible, hear things that are so audible, or feel things that are so tangible. Yet, we must always remember that what God says is greater than anything we may see, feel, or hear.

Don’t believe anything more than you believe the Word!

Just because circumstances may be so loud or so tangible, that doesn’t change the truth of God’s Word! His Word is greater!

As Christians, we live by words — God’s words! Those around us are living by what they feel, see, and hear, but not us! We live by words! Since God said it, that’s what we hold to, regardless of all we may feel, see, and hear. Living by what God says gives us the best life. It’s such a joy to know that we aren’t destined and doomed to live by circumstances that are constantly changing, but we get the privilege of living by what God says, which never changes.

One key to enjoying the kind of life that God authored for us involves our attention. When that woman had her attention on what she saw, she was troubled. But when she turned her attention from what she saw to what God said, she partook of the best flow — the flow of the Word, the flow of healing.

We must practice holding our attention on God’s Word when circumstances are so loud and boastful all around us. We don’t get good at anything without practicing – that goes for spiritual things as well as natural things.

Many think they have faith problems when they really have attention problems. Your faith is connected to your attention. Where your attention goes, your faith goes. Some frantically struggle to get more faith, when they really need to discipline their thought life to hold their attention on the right thing instead of on the wrong thing.

Let’s practice every day on the small things of daily life – holding our attention on God’s Word instead of on changing, shifting circumstances.