Kenneth Copeland Ministries has been publishing the Believer’s Voice of Victory magazine for more than 40 years. Receive your positive, faith-filled magazine FREE each month, subscribe today at www.freevictory.com.
Issue link: http://magazine.kcm.org/i/838861
How can you tell whether you’re praying in faith or not? Faith calls things that be not as though they were. It sticks with God’s WORD and refuses to be moved by contrary evidence. Faith doesn’t sit at the dinner table grumbling about the evening news. It doesn’t get mad and say things like, “I just don’t know what this is all coming to. Those knotheads in Washington are going to ruin this country for sure.” No, if the news reports become bothersome, faith just shuts them off. It does what The LORD told me to do a while back. I had the TV on and I was getting irritated, judging everyone from the politicians to the reporters, and He said, 'Kenneth, you can’t be trusted with news broadcasts. Quit watching them.' I said, “Yes Sir, amen,” and did what He said. I turned off the bad news and tuned in to the good news. I got back over in faith and love, cast the care of this nation over on The LORD and started rejoicing in Him. “Brother Copeland, how can you rejoice when there’s so much trouble and turmoil in this country? Don’t you care?” No, I don’t. I used to. I used to care heavily, but I’m not carrying that care anymore. I’m obeying The WORD instead. I’m acting on the command in 1 Peter 5:6-7, which says, “Therefore humble yourselves…under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you, casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully” ("Amplified Bible, Classic Edition"). Turning the care of this nation over to Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and believing He’ll do something about it, is the most responsible thing I can do for this country! Not only does it align me with the will of God, it brings exaltation—and that’s what the U.S. needs. She needs to be exalted by the hand of God. I’m not saying, of course, I’ve given up praying for this nation. I haven’t! Although I’m not carrying the care of it, I still pray for it every day—for the most part in other tongues. Why do I pray for it primarily in tongues? Because I don’t know exactly what to pray as I ought. In the natural my knowledge is limited. When I pray in tongues I rise above those limitations. The Holy Spirit takes hold together with me and prays “according to and in harmony with God’s will” (Romans 8:27, "AMPC"). Each time I pray in tongues for this nation I know I’ve prayed the perfect prayer, so when I’m finished I make sure to release my faith. I say, “Thank You, Father. I believe I receive.” I also ask The LORD each time to further enlighten my mind by giving me the interpretation of what I prayed (1 Corinthians 14:13). Since Jesus said, “Every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth” (Matthew 7:8), I expect when I’m seeking the face of God about this nation to find out something about it—and I always do. That’s how I found out God had a plan for this nation to be born again! The Prayers That Make All the Difference “Yeah, but Brother Copeland, you’re a prophet. I’m not.” That doesn’t matter. You don’t have to be a prophet to receive insight from God. You can get it just because you’re a believer. You can get it because you have the Holy Ghost living in you, and He’s been sent by Jesus to “teach you all things” and “guide you into all truth” (John 14:26, 16:13). You can find out anything from God if you’ll pray in tongues long enough! He’ll give you all kinds of wonderful revelations. You just have to position yourself to receive them by praying in the spirit, listening for the voice of The LORD, and releasing your faith. As I’ve already said, prayers of faith are what this nation needs most right now! It needs the confident prayers of Christians who believe God’s WORD, are free of strife and walking in love. It needs intercessors who are clearheaded and tuned in to the voice of God so that when the Holy Spirit calls on them and says, “I need you to pray right now!” they’re quick to hear and respond. How much difference can the prayers of such believers make? All the difference in the world! Abraham proved that in the Old Testament. When he found out from God that the city of Sodom was about to be destroyed because of its sin, he interceded for it. He asked God if He would spare it for the sake of 50 righteous men. Sure enough, The LORD agreed to do it and said, “‘If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.’ Then Abraham answered and said…‘Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous; would You destroy all of the city for lack of five?’ So He said, ‘If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it.’ And he spoke to Him yet again and said, ‘Suppose there should be forty found there?’ So He said, ‘I will not do it for the sake of forty’” (Genesis 18:26-29, "New King James Version"). Abraham kept on interceding and standing before God on his covenant authority until God eventually agreed He would save the entire city of Sodom if He could find just 10 righteous people there. Think about that: 10 good people could have turned the destiny of that place. Certainly the U.S. has a lot more than 10 righteous people in it! There are multiplied thousands, even millions, of believers living in this nation. There are churches all across this land full of born-again people and Jesus has said to every one of us, “If two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 18:19). It’s no wonder God said this nation is in the process of being born again! He not only has a Body of faith-filled believers agreeing in prayer for it to happen, He has a bunch of people like you and me who are eager to be part of it. He has an ever-growing group of WORD-believing, tongue-talking Christians seeking Him for ways to be a BLESSING—in their neighborhoods, their communities and their workplaces. 8 : BVOV