"Jesus Longs To Answer Prayer" by Nancy Dufresne

About six months ago, God began dealing with me to tell more about my husband’s and my testimonies, for answers for people’s lives are in our stories.

     In Mark 5, the woman healed of the issue of blood told her story, and people who read it and believe receive answers and are healed today because she told her story. Even though she is in Heaven, we still tell her story and receive answers. What we rehearse, God repeats.

     With this in mind, I want to refer back to a vision Kenneth E. Hagin had of Jesus. It contains answers for us. Dad Hagin told this account in his book, I Believe in Visions, in the chapter titled “I Have Come To Answer Your Prayer.” Dad Hagin wrote the following:

     At the close of my message one night, a spirit of prayer descended upon the congregation and we all gathered around the altar to pray. We prayed for quite some time.
    

After a while I got off my knees and sat on the steps to the platform. I was sitting there with my eyes open, singing in other tongues as the Spirit gave utterance, when suddenly I saw Jesus standing about three feet in front of me. He said, "I have come to answer your prayer."
    

I knew exactly what He was talking about. I had been praying for some time for my wife, who had a goiter. It was growing larger and larger until now she was having choking spells.
    

From the time we were first married, I had sensed in my spirit that my wife would die at an early age, and I thought that perhaps this time was approaching. I prayed the rest of the night about this and said to the Lord, "I have obeyed You and have done Your will. I have left my church and my family and have been in the evangelistic field for many years. My wife has stayed at home and has been faithful to raise our children. I am still a young man (at that time I was in my 30s), and we have been married for many years. Please let me keep my wife.”

     In the vision the Lord said to me, "I have come to answer that prayer. Tell your wife to be operated on, for she will live and not die."

     Although I didn't mention it to my wife, I had felt all along that if she were operated on she would die. She later told me that she had known for several years that she would die when she was operated on for this goiter.
    

But the Lord said to me, "She will live and not die. According to the natural course of events without divine intervention, she would die. But I have heard your prayers and have come to answer them. She shall live…."
    

Then Jesus said something that absolutely melted me, and I have never been able to forget it.
    

He said, "I did this, son, just because you asked Me to. You don't know how I long to do for my children if they would only ask Me and believe Me. Many times they beg and cry and pray, but they don't believe. And I cannot answer their prayers unless they have faith, because I cannot violate my Word. But how often I long to help them if only they would let Me by taking Me at My Word and bringing Me their problems, trusting Me to undertake for them."

     Again He said, "Tell your wife to be operated on, for she will live and not die." With those words He disappeared.
    

Even though the doctors were greatly concerned about my wife's condition, my wife and I had great joy through it all because we knew the outcome in advance.

I want us to look at several of the things Jesus told Brother Hagin.

     Jesus stated that He LONGS to do for His children, but we must ask Him and believe Him. His longing to do for us shows His depth of interest in us and in anything that pertains to us. But for Him to answer us, we must have faith – not just a need. Jesus doesn’t answer needs – He answers faith. Jesus can’t violate His Word just because we have a need – we must also have faith. Brother Hagin had a need for his wife’s healing, but if he hadn’t released faith when he prayed, she would not have been healed. 

     A lot of people pray, but it’s BELIEVING prayer that receives answers. Mark 11:24 reads, “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, WHEN YE PRAY, BELIEVE that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” 

     Jesus stated, “Many times they beg and cry and pray, but they don't believe.” Notice, they’re doing a spiritual act of praying, but without faith, it’s not Bible prayer. Bible praying involves the releasing of faith. Begging, crying, and praying is praying out of the emotions – and that misses the mark. Believe that God’s power goes to work for you the moment you pray – whether you feel it or not, for God’s power isn’t always seen and felt.

     Jesus told Brother Hagin, “I did this just because you asked Me to.” We don’t have to EARN His help – it’s available for the ASKING. We don’t have to beg and cry – just ask. James 4:2 tells us, “...ye have not, because ye ask not.”

     Jesus also told him, “How often I long to help them if only they would LET ME by taking Me at My Word and bringing Me their problems, trusting Me to undertake for them." In this statement, He tells us how to “LET HIM” by: (1) taking Him at His Word, (2) bringing our problems to Him, and (3) trusting Him to undertake.

     Worry is a sign you’re still holding onto your problem and not LETTING HIM undertake for you. If you’re thinking about it, you’re worrying. First Peter 5:7 reads, “Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully” (Amplified). When it’s in His hands, He can work on it. When it’s in your hands, He can’t. Worry is a sign that it’s in your hands – not His. When tempted to worry, say, “I refuse to worry, for I have cast that problem into His hands, and He is working on it right now.”

     Jesus told Brother Hagin, "I have come to answer your prayer." Jesus showed up and worked in response to his prayer. Jesus didn’t initiate the rescue – Brother Hagin did by praying. Because Brother Hagin prayed in faith, Jesus was able to intervene. 

     There are many things that can be changed if we will pray in faith. If we don’t pray, things happen that shouldn’t happen. Jesus wants to work on our behalf, but we must invite Him to work, for He doesn’t force Himself on people. 

     When we pray in faith, that invites Him to move on our behalf – which He longs to do.

"Faith Takes It!" by Nancy Dufresne

Matthew 11:12 reads, “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent TAKE IT by force (by the force of faith).” The Amplified translation reads, “And from the days of John the Baptist until the present time, the kingdom of heaven has endured violent assault, and violent men seize it by force [as a precious prize—a share in the heavenly kingdom is sought with most ARDENT ZEAL AND INTENSE EXERTION].”

     This depicts the earnestness of faith we must exercise to get past the flesh, the world, and the devil – they oppose our faith. Being passive and casual toward what God has made ours won’t be enough to reach past opposition.

     This verse defines “spiritual violence” – TAKE IT, seize it by force, use intense exertion. “Violence” involves the word VIOLATE. Spiritual violence calls for us to violate the flesh, the world, and the devil. God has made His blessings ours – but they are ours for the TAKING, for 95% of what we receive from God will be initiated by us, not by God. It’s faith that activates our inheritance in our lives.

     Luke 18:1-8 in the Amplified translation reads, “ALSO [Jesus] told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not to turn coward (faint, lose heart, and give up). He said, In a certain city there was a judge who neither reverenced and feared God nor respected or considered man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, Protect and defend and give me justice against my adversary. And for a time he would not; but later he said to himself, Though I have neither reverence or fear for God nor respect or consideration for man, Yet because this widow continues to bother me, I will defend and protect and avenge her, lest she give me intolerable annoyance and wear me out by her continual coming or at the last she come and rail on me or assault me or strangle me. Then the Lord said, Listen to what the unjust judge says! And will not [our just] God defend and protect and avenge His elect (His chosen ones), who cry to Him day and night? Will He defer them and delay help on their behalf? I tell you, He will defend and protect and avenge them speedily. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find [persistence in] faith on the earth?”

     Jesus is giving us an example of the kind of faith that pleases God and gets results. If we aren’t getting results, we are using the wrong version of faith. The kind of faith that Jesus condones is an aggressive, bold faith that gets past opposition – a faith that TAKES IT – a faith that violates hindrances. To lay hold of what God offers, you have to have a bold, aggressive faith. Not because God is withholding, but because of hindrances in your way.

     We have to be done with things that have troubled us – FROM THE INSIDE OF YOU, you have to say, “I’m done with that! I’m done living that way! No more!” As long as you play with things that trouble you – talking softly to them – they will stay around. Symptoms, bad habits, addictions, and fear will all stay around as long as we deal with them softly.

     How do we TAKE IT? In Romans 4:17, Paul writes about Abraham’s faith. He “... CALLED those things which be not as though they were.” The more you call it, the more you have it. The less you call it, the less you have it.

     When Abram was 75 years old, God first spoke to him, saying, “...Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 12:1-3).

     It’s recorded three chapters later that the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “...Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless...” (Gen. 15:1-2).

     Abram isn’t saying what God said to him in chapter 12 – he’s calling himself childless – so he’s childless. God may say great things about you – but it won’t come to pass until YOU say it!

     Then Genesis 17:1 records, “And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram....” This is 24 years after the first time God talked to him. For 24 years after God spoke to Abram, the word had not come to pass because Abram hadn’t put the Word God gave him in his mouth – he wasn’t “calling” it. So God appeared to Abram and forced him to put it in his mouth by changing his name.

     “And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee” (Gen.17:1-6).

     Then Genesis 21:5 tells us that Abraham was an hundred years old when his son Isaac was born. Within ONE YEAR of CALLING himself like God called him, Isaac was born. For 24 years of NOT CALLING – nothing happened.

     If we don’t TAKE IT by “calling” it, it won’t come to pass. What God had for Abraham didn’t come to pass until he started “taking it” by “calling” it.

     God told us that 2020 will be our best year yet. We must continue to “call” it.

"Answer The Need With What God Says" by Nancy Dufresne

Psalm 37:18 & 19 (KJV) reads, “The Lord knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.”

    The NIV translation says, “The blameless spend their days under the Lord’s care, and their inheritance will endure forever. In times of disaster they will not wither; in days of famine they will enjoy plenty.”

    The NLT translation reads, “Day by day the Lord takes care of the innocent, and they will receive an inheritance that lasts forever. They will not be disgraced in hard times; even in famine they will have more than enough.”

    Our inheritance (our blessings) from God is forever. As the above verses show us, our inheritance doesn’t fluctuate in evil times, in disaster, in hard times, or in times of famine (times of “not enough”). Our inheritance doesn’t fluctuate with the times. The inheritance that He has made ours belongs to us and works for us, no matter what circumstances surround us. Changing times or difficult times don’t alter our inheritance. We will not be left embarrassed or disgraced. 

    Psalm 107:2 instructs us, “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy.” 

    Since we are redeemed, we have to say it, we have to talk it. We have to say that we are redeemed. Our redemption won’t work for us until we say so.

    We must add our faith to our inheritance; we must mix faith with what God says. Speaking is how we release the faith in our heart, and our faith is what activates the blessings that belong to us – we have to say so!

    In the evil times that show up, days when the enemy opposes us, we have to talk about our inheritance; we have to say that we have an inheritance! During a time of famine, we have to talk about our inheritance. We are not to talk lack, but we are to talk about our inheritance. When we are faced with a need, we must answer our need with what God says REPEATEDLY and CONSISTENTLY. We have to add our faith to the inheritance He provided by talking about our inheritance. 

    Say to your need what God says to you through His Word and by His Spirit. 

    What did God tell you about that home, about your business, or about other things? When it looks like it’s not going the right way, you have to remember what God said, hold to it, and answer the need with what God said to you. When it looks like there’s not enough, you have to tell that need what God said.

   We have an inheritance that lasts forever – our days and our future are to be full of inheritance, so let’s say so!