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Is
it automatic?
Many Christians think that if God said it in
the Bible, then He will do it, and there is nothing we
can do to change it. But there are other Christians
who see verses like Psa. 91:10 that says, “No evil
will befall you, and 91:16, “With long life I will
satisfy you…” and then wonder why missionaries
still get killed, and pastors still die of cancer!!
It
doesn’t matter how good you are, or how busy you are
in the church, or how long you pray. God works by
spiritual laws, and these are in the Bible. He is true to His Word, and will not go against
it. He cannot
go against it. He
would cease to be a Holy and just God if He did! For more on this subject, see my brochure
called, Pentecostal, Charismatic; what’s the
difference?
Three
categories
I have found in the Bible three qualifications
to be protected: We must have a firm foundation, we
must meet the requirements, and we must ask in faith.
We’ll study those and then at the end, give
verses of protection. Use these to build your faith
(confidence) for God’s protection.
Remember, God honors faith!
It’s very important to remember that just as
faith gets God to work, fear gets the devil
to work. Fear
gives him access into your life, so you must not be
afraid. You control your mind and emotions by
bombarding them with verses like those in here,
speaking them out of your mouth. In my brochure How
to use your sword and shield are more directions.
Firm
Foundation
Matt. 7:24-27,
“Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of
mine and does
them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his
house on the rock. And the rain descended, the floods
came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and
it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock
(bedrock). But everyone who hears these saying of
Mine, and does not do them, will be like a
foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the
rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew
and beat on that house, and it fell, and great was its
fall!”
Doing what the Bible says to do-- that is the
firm foundation.
But please notice, obeying doesn’t exempt
you from the storm! The storm came to both houses.
But the doer of the Word wasn’t destroyed by it.
A similar verse is James 1:22-25.
“But be doers of the Word, and not
hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”
Then this goes on to speak as though the Word
is like looking in a mirror and seeing that you need
to comb your hair, but then going away and do nothing
about it. If
you read something that shows where you need to
change, but you close the Bible and do nothing about
it, you are foolish according to Matt. 7 and you’ll
be destroyed by every storm of life.
Must
qualify
Psa.
91:10 says, “No evil will befall you” but to whom
does this apply?
Look at verse one: “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall
abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”
If we need to dwell in the “secret place”
we should know what it is, shouldn’t we?
Look at Matt. 6:6.
“But you, when you pray, go into your room,
and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father
who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees
in secret will reward you openly.” So prayer could
be the secret place!
I
Thess. 5:17, “Pray without ceasing.”
In other words, don’t stop.
Didn’t Psa. 91 say “He who dwells in
the secret place …”?
Live there!
But how do we do that? Practice His presence,
acknowledge your dependence upon Him in everything
you do. Ask God to help you think of Him often
throughout your days.
Train yourself to be thankful.
The more time you spend with Him, the easier
this will be.
A good idea is to personalize Psa. 91 and read it
often. It would begin, “I dwell in the secret place
…”
and “I abide under …”
and verse 3, “Surely You will deliver me …”
Another important factor is to obey hunches or
feelings. That may be the Holy Spirit trying to
protect you!
Ask
in faith
James 1:6-7, “But let him ask in faith with
no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the
sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will
receive anything from the Lord.”
Did you know that begging God won’t get you
anything? Begging
has doubt. Begging
doesn’t know for sure if He will do it.
James 5:15 says “The prayer of faith
will save (make sound) the sick …” Mark 11:24
explains what is the prayer of faith.
“… whatever things you ask when you pray,
believe that you receive them and you will have
them.” If
you haven’t heard much faith teaching, this sounds
crazy. It
is another example of God’s thinking being so
different from ours.
Examples:
The first shall be last, Mk. 10:31; To be
great, be a servant, Mt. 20:26-27; and if you want
more, give it away, Lk.18:30, 6:37-38.
The way to believe you have your request is to
say or read out-loud the verses that indicate that
what you want is God’s will.
The more you hear theses verses, the more
you will believe them.
Rom. 10:17 says, “Faith comes by hearing
…” Hitler
knew this. He
said, “Tell a lie loud enough and long enough, and
people will believe it.”
Verses
of Protection
II Chron. 16:9, “The eyes of the
Lord go to and fro throughout the earth to show
Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are
loyal to Him.”
Psa. 103:2 & 4, “Bless the
Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all His benefits, …
who redeems your life from destruction …”
Psa. 107:20, “He sent His word
and healed them, and delivered them from destruction.
Psa.105:14-15, “He permitted
no one to do them wrong, yes, He rebuked kings for
their sakes. Saying, ‘Do not touch my anointed ones
…’”
Prov. 2:7, “He is a shield to
those who walk uprightly.” (people of integrity)
Isa. 54:14 & 17 “You
shall be far from oppression for you shall not fear.
And from terror, for it shall not come near
you.” and “No weapon formed against you will
prosper…”
Psa. 23:4, “I will fear no
evil for you are with me.”
Matt.
24:6 “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars.
See that you are not troubled.”
An
effective prayer and confession (or affirmation) is:
“The blood of Jesus covers me, Your angels surround
me, and Your word says, ‘No evil will befall me!’
I am protected!”
Rev. 12:11, “They overcame him by the blood
of the Lamb.”
Heb. 1:14, (Angels are here to help us!)
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