BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

WORDS OF FAITH WORDS OF FAITH W "God never intended for us to pray scattershot prayers. He never meant for us to just shoot a bunch of general requests heavenward, hoping maybe some of them would do some good. No, those kinds of hit-or-miss prayers don't satisfy us or God, either one." —Kenneth Copeland Jesus never said that when we ask God for something, sometimes the answer is yes and sometimes it's no; He taught that God always gives us what we ask. (Matt. 7:7) As long as you're asking in line with God's WORD, you can know in advance He will say yes to you. (2 Cor. 1:20) Don't wait until the answer to your prayer manifests to believe you've received; release your faith when you pray. (Mark 11:24) No matter how you may feel, when you ask God for something in prayer, say, "It's mine now, in Jesus' Name." (Rom. 1:17) Faith works by love, so before you fi nish praying make sure you've forgiven everyone you need to forgive. (Mark 11:25) B V O V : 2 5 army, Moses appealed to God and God said a remarkable thing. He said, "Moses, why are you crying to Me? Speak to the children of Israel. Tell them to go forward. You lift up your rod and stretch your hand over the sea and divide it." That's what we need to do too. We need to hush up our complaining and rise up in faith. When we do, the same thing will happen to us that happened to them. God will give us His plan of action, and He'll deliver the power to carry it out. If you'll determine to go forward with God, He'll tell you what steps to take. Moses didn't know what to do in that impossible situation. But he did know how to rise up. He knew how to tell the children of Israel, "On your feet. We're going on." You see, the hard part of walking with God is not the miraculous. Moses didn't have to know how to part the Red Sea. All he had to do was lift up his rod and speak the command. God did all the rest. I'll tell you what the hard part of walking with God is. It's learning to give Him your time and attention so you can come to know His voice. That's where the labor comes in. If you're going to march forward in victory toward your promised land, doing what God says for you to do, you're going to have to know what He's saying. You're going to have to learn to hear His voice. The hard part for Moses was not that moment at the Red Sea when he lifted up his sta and commanded the waters. The hard part was the time of preparation, that time when nothing signifi cant seemed to be happening. That time of learning about God, of learning to trust Him, so Moses would obey His voice and know His ways. What if, during those preparation days, Moses had said to himself, I don't know about all this. I've failed so much already. I don't think I can ever learn to know the voice of God. What if he had let his past, his opinions or his self-image stop him? Thank God, he didn't! And you don't have to either. It doesn't matter if you think you've failed or succeeded, or what you think you've done with God in the past. Remember, it doesn't matter who you are...it matters who is with you. So don't look back. Today is a new day. Determine that you are going to rise up in faith. To throw aside that fear. To throw aside the unbelief that has kept you from taking God at His Word. Determine to rise up and go forward. Don't put it o any longer. Your promised land is closer than you think.

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