Dinner With Jesus

We had a dinner the other night at The Gathering.  As we gathered in Jesus’ name, He was with us.  He showed His presence with a healing, with a sign in the weather, and also with a prophetic confirmation of something that had just happened.  Expect heaven to overflow at your own table when you have people visit for a meal.

We’ve started a church in our home, and call it The Gathering.  We had a special meeting this week, centered on a dinner.  My son would be flying from Michigan to visit, and the group wanted to meet him.  Bonnie felt inspired to bring a Thanksgiving dinner.  Yea, Bonnie!  Thank you, and thanks again…

One man – Randy, one of my four crazy friends, arrived too sick to eat.  “Must have been something bad I ate at a Mexican restaurant,” he explained.

One good thing about a house church is that he could lie down on one of our beds and close the door.  We went on with our meal and invited him to join us when he felt up to it.  But time passed and he didn’t come out.  As we checked on him, he asked for prayer.

So we prayed, doing our best to reach into God’s storehouse of grace.  I remember asking God for a quick enough healing that Randy could get into the goodies that night.  But all in all, there was nothing unusual about the prayer.

“How do you feel?” I asked.  “Better,” he said.  “I might be ready to eat something in a few minutes, but I’m not going to push it.”

So far so good, but what did “Better” mean?  Finally I asked the question a little more precisely.  “If ten the is the stomach upset you came in with, let zero mean no stomach trouble at all.  Where are you now?”

“Pretty close to zero,” he said.

“Good,” I said.  “Nibble whenever you want to, or pig out.  No pressure either way.”

Often, the 0-10 question is a good way to find out if a person is getting healed instantly.  It helps people tell how much better they’re getting.

Sometimes the number drops to zero very quickly.  Sometimes the numbers keep dropping  as we continue in prayer.

There are two mistakes we can make with the first sort of thing.  The first is to fail to appreciate that God has been quick to answer an unremarkable prayer.  It shows the greatness of His love and His care.  So as we make a point of testifying of what God has done, it contributes to a culture of faith.  Our little group begins to realize, that as ordinary as we are, God is in our midst and He’s ready to do things.

It’s easy to forget about testimonies of this nature.  After all, was it a miracle?  It wasn’t a life-threatening disease and no doctor ever checked it out to verify it.  So it isn’t a story that will grab international attention, but we still shared the testimony to invest in our little family’s heritage of faith.

I’m pleased to report that Randy ate a small piece of chocolate decadence pie before he went home.  The pie was very rich, and it was wonderful!!!  I’m glad God touched Randy so he could have at least a small piece of it.

In follow-up news, two days later, Randy took me to a Mexican restaurant for lunch and again we ate well.  Then he gave me a powerful word of wisdom for artists, a word in season for me as I start writing another book.

Stan Smith  ::  © 2011, GospelSmith  ::  http://www.GospelSmith.com

God Is Full Of Surprises

You never know what God is going to say when you soak in His presence.  Over the past few years, God has sometimes spoken to me with a torrent of words, and sometimes with a word of knowledge that would steer me into a divine appointment.

After a busy week, I felt I needed to soak and listen. I felt scattered.  The week really had been hectic.  But it was now Saturday, and I wanted something fresh from God for our next Gathering.  It might be a word to share, or it might be direction about a time of moving in the gifts of the Spirit.

God has often given me the direction I needed at the last minute, so I had no reason to be anxious.  But it did seem that the least I could do was to take time to listen.  So I lay in bed, put on some soaking music, and did my best to hear from God.

Meanwhile, JoAnn was busy in the kitchen, cooking and cleaning to prepare for the next day’s meeting.  As I waited on God, I realized I was hearing nothing.  What’s wrong with this picture? I asked myself.  I’m the one who put a 31-day devotional online, “Learn To Hear From God”,  and I said God is always speaking.  Why can’t I hear anything?

Suddenly I heard this:  “Go help JoAnn in the kitchen.”

Here I was, trying to be like Mary; and suddenly, God called me to be like Martha.  So I went to the kitchen and got to work.  I’m not much of a cook, but I can wash pots.  I started cleaning up behind JoAnn, and making the kitchen presentable for the guests who would show up on Sunday.

As I wiped the counters and washed pots, I wondered if I had been diligent enough to prepare for the Gathering.  But God isn’t interested only in our ministries.  He also cares about our relationships.  JoAnn had been as busy as I had for the last week.  I was grateful that God had nudged me to go to the kitchen and help.

Sunday came, and again the morning became hectic.  It helped that I got up early and started tidying.  Eventually, the house was ready and we had about an hour before people would arrive.  “Go take a nap,” JoAnn told me.  “You look tired.”

So I shut myself in the bedroom and lay down.  Why take a nap in the flesh, I asked myself, when it’s just as easy to take a nap in the Spirit.  So I quieted my heart, focused on Jesus, and heard a clear word.  See Lift Up The Hands That Hang Down.

 

If you want to hear from God, expect surprises.  When I tried to hear something spiritual, He put me to work.  Then when I tried to take a nap, He gave me a ministry assignment.

Some people get exasperated about God’s surprises, but some enjoy the adventure.  This is part of the joy of following Him.  Often we find that He is more down-to-earth than we are.  But He doesn’t confine Himself to our expectations.

His wonderful surprises are one reason we fall in love with Him.  He is always faithful, but never predictable.  Enjoy the adventure!

Stan Smith  ::  © 2011, GospelSmith  ::  http://www.GospelSmith.com

 

A New Way Of Faith

JoAnn and I brought our passports when we came to Las Vegas for two months, so it wasn’t a total surprise when Dennis Walker asked us to be part of a team going to Peru for a week in January.  But we had no money for the trip.

I looked to God and sensed I should send an appeal for donations by email.  We were busy and it took a few days to get everything together, but at last the letters went out and now I wondered if anything would come in.

At this point I decided to soak and hold the trip before the Lord. Sometimes when I soak I simply jot down words or phrases as I sense God directing me, but at other times I write out the full message – I’m simply acting on what I wrote in You Can Hear From God.  So as I waited on God about the Peru trip, here is what I heard:

I am training you in a new way of faith, a way more restful and more productive than what you have known before.  By my Spirit I will show you things to come, and they will be a light to your path.  As you move towards them, they will steer you into divine appointments and opportunities for the overflow of My Spirit.

We shall grow to know one another as you catch these glimpses, for I will show the scenes from your future that will steer you and shape you.  I will select them carefully to direct your life.  I will teach you my ways, and together we will walk in them until they become so habitual to you that they become part of your nature.

This excited me.  As a younger man, I lived by faith as I planted one church and then another.  If a bill arrived, I didn’t know how I’d pay it; I often didn’t know how I’d put food on my table tomorrow.  But I never made my needs known to man.  I prayed, standing on promises and continuing in prayer until I knew the need was met.  God is faithful; my family and I never went without, and we always managed to pay our bills on time.

But I haven’t prayed like that for years.  Now that I needed money for a trip to Peru, did I still have it in me to pray the prayer of faith?  I pondered what God was telling me.  I knew He wasn’t calling me to go back to the prayer life I had years ago.  It was time to step into a new pattern.

So I lay in bed and put on soaking music.  I meditated on Ephesians 2 and our being seated in Christ in the heavens.  Then my thoughts went to Ephesians 1:3, where all spiritual blessings are ours in heavenly places ion Christ.

I decided to look around in the heavens and see what God had already provided.  First, I needed more faith.  That was already there; Christ who lives in me has plenty of faith.  Next I needed eyes to see what God has provided; again, Christ in me has perfect spiritual vision.  So I looked around for the money, and there was an envelope on a table.  I reached out and took it, and sensed my prayer was finished.

But as I finished my prayer I sensed that God wants to give a variety of these experiences before we go to Peru.  The conference theme is “Accessing The Open Heavens” and 40 pastors will be attending.  I need to gather fresh testimonies about the resources we have in Christ, and how to access them.

It was the easiest praying I ever did.  I didn’t try to talk God into anything; I simply tried to dial in to what He had already planned.  I didn’t speak a word, but nevertheless my inner man conducted a transaction with God.  But did it work, or was it just a mystical experience?

In the next week, pledges and donations came in, and we bought our tickets.

The heavens are open in Christ.  God wants to give tangible evidence as we see prayers answered and as He leads us into doing the works of Jesus.

There’s more to this story, but I’ll have to write it in another article.

Stan Smith  ::  © 2009, GospelSmith  ::  http://www.GospelSmith.com

Two Answered Prayers

JoAnn and I took turns praying when it appeared almost hopeless, and God answered each of us in turn.

The first happened when she suddenly developed a problem with a tooth.  The symptoms indicated it needed a root canal; the problem was that she had already had a root canal for that tooth.  So in all likelihood she would have to lose the tooth, and this in turn would cause a succession of other problems. And every step in the process would cost $1000 or more.

But as I soaked, God suddenly told me to go pray for JoAnn, calling for the problem to vanish, the tooth to be saved, and the bills to be minimized.

I was in Korea when she went to the dentist, but we got to talk on the phone and she reported that they took x-rays which showed a fourth root that they had missed when they had done the root canal previously.  She sat in the chair for more than an hour as they completed the work – then they didn’t charge her for it.

I got home from Korea and a severe rainstorm with high winds swept through California.  Suddenly water was dripping through the kitchen ceiling.  I put a pan under it and counted twelve seconds between drips – this meant five drops of water per minute were coming through.

I don’t have the tools for this kind of work, so we called our builder.  He was out.  I decided to walk out in the street where I could see the roof; there I noticed a vent that looked like it could be the cause of the leak.

“I guess I can go to the lumberyard,” I said.  “I think they make a kind of tar you can smear even on a wet roof to stop a leak.”  But as I went out the back door to the carport, the front doorbell rang.  It was the builder.

“That kind of tar never works,” he said.  “We’ll have to wait for it to dry up and I can go up on the roof and see what it needs.”

He left, agreeing to come back as soon as the rain let up.  JoAnn was still concerned about the leak; she had seen the effects of water damage in another property she had owned years ago.

“We’re at the mercy of the rain,” I said.  “Until it stops, there’s nothing anyone can do.”

Then her face changed.  “Yes there is,” she said.  “We can pray.”  So she prayed for the rain to let up and for the roof to be repaired with a minimum of cost and fuss.  She closed the prayer by commanding the drip to stop.  In less than a minute, it did.

I went out.  When I got home, JoAnn told me what had happened.  “The rain let up, and Corky came over.  He was in the neighborhood anyway to put in a bid on another job.  He had everything he needed – went up on the roof – took care of it – and when he came down I asked him how much I owed him.”

“Three sheets of paper,” he replied.

“What?  That’s all you want?”

“Yes, I came over to the neighborhood to do a bid and forgot to bring any paper.”

JoAnn gave him a whole steno book.

God answers prayer.  And it’s good to be writing this down.  Another need has come up, and it’s good to look back at what God has done for us in the past…

Stan Smith  ::  © 2009, GospelSmith  ::  http://www.GospelSmith.com

Pray Specifically

If you want to build a testimony, start asking God for things so specifically that you can tell whether your prayers are answered or not. Paradoxically, stay focused but don’t put all your eggs in one basket.  Then persist in prayer until you see answers.

I was fresh out of school and beginning my ministry, and a prophet spoke over me that “word will get out that God answers your prayers.”  I knew I didn’t see many prayers answered at that point, so I decided I would have to learn how to pray the kind of prayers God can answer.

Most books about prayer tell us that God changes us when we pray, and this is more important than the answers we receive.  Jesus by contrast told us repeatedly that if we ask, we will receive; if we seek, we will find; if we knock, doors will open.

Experience has taught me that both perspectives are true, but I have found it very helpful to keep coming back to the words of Jesus.  He expects us to pray the kind of prayers God can answer.

This is especially useful if you want to enlarge your gift mix.  For instance, I have known many people who wanted a healing gift.  Many have prayed, “Lord, use me in healing.”  And months passed, and nothing happened.

Pray specifically. Things start to move when you start praying for specific people.  It’s not theoretical anymore; its reality.  Use scripture as you pray.  Look for ways to let God have the credit for answering prayer, not yourself.  Be moved with compassion as you pray; faith works by love.

Being specific carries a risk of failure.   What if nothing happens?  Then it’s time to go back to the words of Jesus, who said that if we ask, we will receive.  It’s good to search the scriptures and find what we need to do to clear obstacles out of the way, so we can see our prayers answered.

Stay focused, but don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Sometimes we put all our prayer into a single objective and, if our prayer isn’t answered, we get caught in a spiritual stalemate.  We refuse to move on to pray for anything else; on the other hand, nothing is happening with our first efforts in prayer.

We don’t always know all the issues when we pray, and sometimes there can be hidden obstacle to answered prayer.  I John 5:14-15 says –

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.  And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

Sometimes we know enough scripture to know God wants to heal, but we don’t know everything going on in a person’s life.  It’s best to stay focused in prayer for healing, but don’t funnel all your prayers into just one person.  Pray for many.  For reasons we’ll never understand, some will receive more easily than others.

To build a testimony, don’t pray for just one.  Pray for many people; sooner or later you’ll see God heal someone.

Persevere. Persevere in praying for many, but also persist in prayer for some of the “hard cases” and push through the obstacles that hinder the flow of healing.  This is how you will grow in authority, and this is the kind of prayer that will change you.

Ask God to teach you how to pray.  Whether the issue is healing or something else promised in scripture, God will teach you when to hang on in prayer and when to let go.  He’ll teach you the importance of personal integrity; He’ll teach you discernment; He’ll teach you faith.

As you see more and more answers to prayer, you’ll develop a testimony.

Stan Smith   ::  © 2008, GospelSmith  ::  http://www.GospelSmith.com