GOING A LITTLE FURTHER

Pastor Bill Marks, Christian Fellowship, Potchefstroom, (018) 293 1608 or 079 311 6515 Just the other day one of our friends from Edenvale contacted us on a Saturday morning and said that they were coming through to visit family. They asked if they could come and say "hello" to us. They arrived with their third child, a precious little girl, three months old, who had a hole in her heart. I laid hands on her and dedicated her to the Lord. We all prayed together and trusted God for a miracle. Not long after their visit, doctors operated and sealed the hole in her heart. We received an SMS from them urging us to keep on praying. We continued to pray but later we received news that her kidneys and bladder had stopped functioning. We kept on praying and then heard the good news that the kidneys and bladder started working again. The doctors also said that they have not seen any other child come out of ICU so quickly. We give God all the glory! During October the Holy Spirt spoke a word of comfort to me - a promise from God's Word: Luke 11:9 - "Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you." In this passage Jesus was urging His disciples to persist in prayer. Have you been praying and it feels as if the answers to your prayers are not coming through? Do not believe the lies of the enemy, because Jesus gives us the assurance that God does answer prayers. Luke 11:10 - "For everyone who asks receives." According to the Wall Street Journal, Corporate Leaders and others in high stress jobs are turning to yoga, drugs and Chinese chants. The man written about in Luke 11:5-8, persisted to ask his friend to lend him three loaves of bread, because he had nothing to offer a friend of his who had arrived at midnight. Because of this man's boldness, his friend got up and gave him as much as he needed. How are we to prepare for the end times? 1 Peter 4:7 states: "The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray." Peter is saying, 'Be sober minded, stay calm, for there is no need to panic. Instead, keep on praying'. At this moment in time, world events are moving so fast that nobody can keep up with them. But in Matthew 6:8 it says, "Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask Him." God knows and cares and that is all that matters. Luke 11:11 - "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?" How much more will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him? The Lord gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him. Your release must come by faith. So, if you desire to go a little further, pray that the Holy Spirit will kindle your fire, help renew your faith and draw you closer to God's heart. BELIEVE THAT ASKING IS RECEIVING!