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Issue link: http://magazine.kcm.org/i/1533032
make a di erence in the midst of them. Although we might wish we could keep them from coming at all, we can't because they aren't just random occurrences. They're manifestations of the curse, and Proverbs 26:2 says, "The curse causeless shall not come." Catastrophic events always occur for a reason. At the root of that reason is sin—sinful activity in the nation; disregard for God, for His ways and His plan; disregard for innocent life; disregard for Israel; and other violations of God's commands. When all those things pile up, the earth itself reacts. Demonic activity begins to stir up natural forces to do evil. But regardless of what the devil is doing, we as believers still have a covenant with God. We can still walk with Him, stand in faith for what belongs to us, and intercede for others. As we do, God's blessing will continue to rest on our lives and households, and even stretch beyond us through our prayers. Skillful In the Righteousness of God In 2005, after Hurricane Katrina, the Lord said to me, You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21). There is nothing that you cannot prevent, change or overcome. The Lord also spoke to my dad, Brother Copeland, along these lines one time. When it comes to things in your nation, He said, you can change things or stop things some of the time. When it comes to your community, you can change things or stop things most of the time. But when it comes to your house and your family, you have full authority. You can alter what satan has planned against you all the time when you stand in faith. Some of the troublesome things that are coming on this world these days would be extremely di cult to completely stop. But we're still to pray about them. We're still to keep working with God to bring forth His will in the midst of whatever is happening. Even though we can't always prevent some of the storms that are coming on this world, the more skillful we are in the righteousness of God that is ours in Christ Jesus, the more we can alter their impact and the greater help to others we can be. How do we pray skillfully about the di erent kinds of storms that are hitting our communities and our nations these days? you might wonder. One of the primary ways is by praying in other tongues. First Corinthians 14:2 says that one who speaks "in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries." The AMPC puts it this way: "One who speaks in an [unknown] tongue…in the [Holy] Spirit he utters secret truths and hidden things [not obvious to the understanding]." When we pray in tongues, we can pray out details that are unknown to our natural mind! For example, we may be praying about a literal storm, like a hurricane. Whether we're praying before it hits or afterward, we only have a general knowledge of the situation. We don't know, person by person and house by house, all the people in its path. We don't know exactly where they are and what help from God they need. Some of them might be making life-or-death decisions and needing God's guidance. Others may need to be located and rescued. Still others might need food and supplies. The details of each person's situation are mysteries to us. But they are not mysteries to the Holy Spirit, and when we pray in tongues, Romans 8:26-27 says: …the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to o er nor how to o er it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance. And He Who searches the hearts of men knows what is in the mind of the [Holy] Spirit [what His intent is], because the Spirit intercedes and pleads [before God] in behalf of the saints according to and in harmony with God's will (AMPC). So, keep praying both with your understanding as well as in other tongues. Keep using the grace God has given you to work with Him to accomplish His purposes. And remember that as a born-again believer, you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. No matter how stormy this world becomes, you can believe the love of God and say no to fear. You can stand strong in faith and stay strong, knowing that "in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us"! (Romans 8:37). 1 6 : B V O V