My friends, are you tired of praying? You pray and pray and pray to the LORD, God Almighty but you find no answer, you even can't reach Him, all of your prayers seem to be stuck on the roof of your house.
You pray for prosperity, God gives you poverty. You pray for a raise, God gives you financial problem. You pray for deliverance, God gives you problem. You pray for health, God gives you sickness. You pray for miracles, God gives you accident. You pray for children, God closes your womb. You pray for success, God gives you failure. You pray for blessing, God gives you curse.
My friends, if this is your situation now, Bible said, "Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear. For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things (Isaiah 59:1-3).
Some people are in deadly wrong when they think God is testing them by taking all of their possession. They console themselves with the story of Job. In fact, everybody wants to be like Job in the end, where God blessed him richly. My friends, you should know that Job was a righteous man. He was blameless and upright, he feared God and shunned evil (Job 1:1). God was indeed testing him. But you? Do you fear God? If God said to you stop doing immorality, abortion, sex before married, but you keep doing it and when something bad happened to you, you console yourself by saying to yourself "I am in Job's situation, God will recover all my losses with abundant blessing". You are so naive, my friends. You are not being tested, in fact, you have already failed the test and now you are under curse from God (Deuteronomy 28).
Don't get offended too soon. I haven't even started. Bible again said, "When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right (Isaiah 1:15-16)!
My friends, have you ever played with your dice? If you have not, just remember Maths lecture when you were in junior school. If you throw a dice 600 times, how many times you would likely get number "6"? When you answer 100 times, your teacher will give you 100 point, will he not?
Now I am asking you, "When you pray for 600 times, and you got answers only 100 times. Is that from God or from probability theory?" Do you know that God is good even to the sinners? He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous (Matthew 5:45). So, when you think God answered your prayers because you are His children. You better learn more from the Bible.
Bible said, "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective (James 5:16). Jesus said, "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer (Matthew 21:22)." Here is my question: Are your prayers powerful and effective that each time you pray, things happen? How many prayers you prayed left unanaswered or you receive "BIG NO" as answer? Do you receive whatever you ask from God, even though you have put your faith bigger than mustard seed there? Please don't console yourself by saying "God said 'No' to me and I believe that it is for my own good, even though I can't see clearly, but it would be the best for me."
My friends, is that what written in Matthew 21:22, "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." Is Jesus lying when He said so? Will He answered "No" to His children who ask in His name? Prove my if you think I am wrong.
Again, you keep saying "Ah, Alvin. We are not men of God, we are not prophets of old, we are just commoner, publican, yada yada." My friends, let me tell you something. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops (James 5:17-18). Why when he prayed God answered, but when we, so called "children of God" pray, God keep silent? Jesus even said the John the Baptist was greater among those born of women, including Elijah, but yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he (Matthew 11:11). Do you really inherit the kingdom of God, my friends? Want to know the truth?
The reason why when you ask, you do not receive is because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your own pleasures (James 4:3). My friends, stop consoling yourself, be deceived no more, open your eyes of understanding and see. Do you realize that you ask with wrong motive or not? Just think about it, okay? Again, don't be too quick in getting offended. I haven't even started. If you want to learn the secret of prayer, please continue, if not, please leave.
Some people quoting Scripture when they pray, e.g: "Abba, Father, you said if I have faith like mustard seed I can send the mountain to the sea. Now I want to pray with the same faith, give me a new Mercedes at the end of this year" "give me healing right now" "give me miracles" "give me blessing" "give me $10000", etc. Do you know what they get? Most of them getting disappointed, not getting an answer.
There is a story in the Bible. Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: God, I thank you that I am not like other men --- robbers, evildoers, adulterers --- or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get." But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner (Luke 18:9-14). Do you know what Jesus said about the tax collector? "I tell you that this man, rather than the other went home justified before God.
Jesus said, "when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen and do not keep on babbling like pagans, for you think you will be heard because of your many words (Matthew 6:5-7). My friends, when you start babbling like pagans, God immediately hide His eyes from you, no matter how long, how eloquent, how wonderful your prayers, you talking to the wind. Why? Because you are full of yourself, you pray about yourself. Judge it by yourself, my friends. Why your prayers seem to be stuck in your roof. Have you asked God with the right motive?
Why you ask God to give you money? So that you will have love of money more and more? So that you can use it to gratify your flesh more? So that you will love the world even more? You can die trying, my friends. God will not give you, but satan will. Do you know that love of money is root of all kinds of evil? Do you know that the people who eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs (1 Timothy 6:10)? Remember what Jesus said "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God (Mark 10:25)."
Why you ask God to give you the world, the fame, the prosperity? Do you know that if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him (1 John 2:15)? God will only give you prosperity when you walk in righteousness. Devil can also give you prosperity, but don't be surprise if in the next following year, your son die in accident, your home is burned with fire, your money is stolen, your health is terrible. As fast as he gave you, he will also take from you. Use your worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwelling (Luke 16:9).
Why you ask God to give you healing? So that you can be more free in doing sins? You are now sick on your bed, can't go partying. You are now having kidney problems so that you can't be drunk. You are now having heart attack so that you can't work 7 days a week, 16 hours a day, abandon your wife and children. If God release you from that sickness, what will you do, my friends? Will you not come back to your bad habits and satisfy your pleasure again?
Why you ask God to give you power? So that you can rule and lord over people? So that you can be proud and boastful? So that you will be well-known by people around you? Bible said "In his pride the wicked does not seek Him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God (Psalm 10:4). Do you want to play god, be god of yourself with your own power?
Why you ask God to give you souls? To make name for yourself? To get their money? To get title as "pastor" "apostle" or even "super-apostle" so that you will have authority over people? To make them as twice a son of hell as you are (Matthew 23:15)? Do you know that every soul is so precious for God? Do you know that one soul you bring to God, make heaven rejoice? Do you know that God loves those souls more than you do and He will not give them to false hand unless they themselves refuse to know the truth?
Why you ask God to bring people to church? To make them hypocrites and claimed themselves to be "Christians", "Children of God" but their lives even worse than unbelievers, Before you bring people to church, please watch your pastor's life and teachings closely. Many people are lost because they are disappointed by their pastors and the church, and they swore not to enter any church again. One soul is lost because you bring them to the wrong church, the church whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things (Philippians 3:19).
Have you asked God with the right motive? His name to be glorified, that's the only motive God will grant you answers. My friends, He will give you money, prosperity if you use it for God's works. He will heal you if you want to be used by Him greatly. He will give you souls and make church full of believers when you are ready and able to teach the truth from the Bible uncorruptly. He will give you power to destroy all the obstacles, the barriers that captives people if you use it to glorify His name more and more. He wants to be glorified, He is a jealous God, once you act like "god" for yourself, He will send angel to strike you down, like His angel did to Herod King. Remember this: Glory be to God alone.
If you want to know the way to be heard when you pray. Listen carefully. Faith is gift from God (1 Cor 12:9). You will not have faith unless God gives you. Salvation is Gift of God, Repentance is Gift of God and prayer is in Spirit and faith. You can't pray in Spirit if it is not given to you from above.
You can't pray in Spirit if you don't have Holy Spirit inside you. You can't have Holy Spirit inside you, if you have never repented toward God and have faith toward Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21). Bible said, "This gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction (1 Thessalonians 1:5)".
Please do not be misled, my friends. Deep conviction is important, if you never felt it, but you brainwashed yourself by doctrines and deceived yourself by thinking that you have already Holy Spirit inside you. You are having a form of godliness but denying its power (2 Timothy 3:5). Faith + doctrines is a closed system. When doctrines failed you, faith play great role and when faith failed you, doctrines play role. In the end of the day, you deceive yourself more and more. God hardens those He want to harden. He will even help you by sending you strong delusion so that you will perish without remedy and you will just want to believe in lies. It happened because you refuse to love the truth and so be saved (2 Thessalonians 2:10-11).
If you can't pray at all, if your prayers left unanswered, if you can't understand Bible, if you can't sing and praise God will all your heart, if you don't like having fellowship with other believers. Something is wrong with your faith. Your faith is futile. You are a product of "doctrines + faith" is always right. Wanna proof?
Some of us believe that if we jump from 30 floor, we will not die because there was a miracle happened in the old days, people fell from that height but did not die. We believe in this "doctrine" and we try to jump with all of our faith and believe that we will not die. Do you know where you will be afterward? In newspaper, entitled "A crazy man committed suicide by throwing himself from 30 floor." You better be sure that you have deep conviction about your "born again". If right now, your heart start condemning you that you are not genuine Christian yet, I would tell you that it is godly sorrow works repentance to salvation (2 Corinthians 7:10).
My friends, why don't you stop deceiving yourself any longer? Many of those who profess that they are "Christian" are not truely believers. Bible said, "by their fruit you will recognize them. "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' (Matthew 7:19-23).
Some of you will think that this writing is provocative and offend you so much. You think that you know better, this is what Jesus said "If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains (John 9:41). And some of you will realize their condition and ask themselves, "Am I really saved?" "Can somebody help me?" "What should I do to be saved?" There is a hope for you, my friends. Repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21). There is only "Heaven" or "Hell", "Repent" or "Perish", "God" or "mammon", "children of God" or "children of darkness". Your eternity depend on your choice.
Christian life is practical. Jesus said "But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand (Matthew 7:26) Bible also said "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like (James 1:22-24).
You must do what you have understood. You must make decision right now!! Let me share my experience with you, the moment I repented and put my faith to Jesus Christ.
I was a Christian since I was born. I believed in Jesus with all my heart, Jesus is my superhero. I found that the more I grow up, the more I committed sins. But doctrines always consoled me. "I am a children of God" I brainwashed myself. My life was even worse than unbelievers, but I still believed that I will be in heaven because my pastor and the doctrines (teachings of men) said so. My heart always condemned me everytime I sinned, but I consoled myself by saying, "If I don't believe with my "faith" that Jesus has paid the price for me, it would be dangerous for me. I must stick to this faith." Doctrines + faith = closed system and will always be right.
But Bible verse disturbed me, "If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God (Hebrews 10:26-27) and another verse "No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God (1 John 3:9).
I began to confuse, Bible said that children of God can not go on sinning. Bible said that if I deliberately keep on sinning, no sacrifice for sins is left. But why, I, who deliberately sinning claimed myself to be children of God. I am not. But why my pastors never told me about this? God, please help me!!!
My friends, God is awesome. When I cried out will all my heart and surrender all. In that moment, it is not a magic, but it is true. Something started to happen in my life. I became a different person. I am a new creation, I have renewal of my mind, my pleasures are changed from flesh to godliness, from sinful nature to godly nature. My stony heart was changed to heart of flesh. I became to have so much compassion toward people. It happened naturally, I didn't work for it, I didn't follow any law or tradition. It is Gift from God.
I began to share my Jesus to my friends, to my family, to my relatives. Some of my friends left me. They said that I was a different person. They can't feel comfortable anymore being with me. Everytime they said foul words, dirty jokes, etc, I didn't laugh as before, I even rebuked them. My girlfriend left me, some of my best friends too. But still, I can't stop talking about Jesus. I want them to experience the greatest joy in life, encountering God Almighty.
I don't understand why people chose to ignore Jesus until I read in the Bible, "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God (John 3:19-21)."
I tell you the truth. I have been "born again" for more than 3 times. How can it be? Let me explain it. It happened because all of them are fake repentance. Everytime the words from my pastors touch me deeply, I began to repent and ask forgiveness. The first time, I said to Jesus, "Jesus, please save me. Be my Saviour. But I give you 50% of my heart. Allow me to keep 50% for myself." Did it work? No, in fact I continued sinning. The second time, I said again, "Jesus, forgive me, please save me. Be my Saviour. But let me have 25% of my life, you have the rest." Did it work? No, I continued sinning. The third time, "Jesus, I am sorry, please forgive me. Be my Saviour. But I give you 99.99% of my life, let me keep 0.01% for myself." Did it work? No. I kept sinning. Until I tired with all the Bible stuff and become atheist for some years. I did agree with Karl Marx that "religion is the opium of people".
But thanks be to God. God has not sent me strong delusion yet. His words touch my heart deeply, godly sorrow began his work to repentance to salvation. I said to Jesus, "Jesus, I repent with all my heart. Forgive my sins, I am not worthy to be your children. I can't do it alone. I have tried to do it alone but I am tired, my life is a mess. I need Your help. Do what you like in my life. I just want to surrender all. I give you 100% of my heart and my life. You are not only my Saviour but also my King and my Lord. All of me is yours."
Wow...something start to happen. Peace start flowing to the whole my body system. Peace from above, not from the world. I can feel it, it is so real. so great, so wonderful, so awesome. I just want to be in that mood forever. The guilt, the pains, the condemnation, the wrath of God are removed, are erased and remembered no more. My life start refresh again. I see think differently. All things are beautiful. It happened on 15 April 2007 and since that day, people see me as a different person. They saw I start acting differently, I removed all my adult videos, pictures, start reading Bible daily for hours. I myself, can't understand what happened, but I can't hide it. I came to Germany to have a comfort life and find good job, but God gave me burden about my country, Indonesia. He put His will on me. Again, it is Gift from God. Praise the Lord.
Bible proved itself to be true. If my human nature was born in 16 September 1983, my spiritual man also have a birthday. Now I understand why Moses, Abraham, Daniel, David, Paul, Mary Magdalene, etc became different person after they have met God. They can't hide it. I also understand why many people are crazy for Christ, love Jesus with all their heart. They didn't work for it, I didn't work for it. God changed us to be a new creation, heavenly citizen.
What I need to do is to humble myself and allow God to form me as a clay in the Potter's hand. Mold me and make me to be His instrument. Faith start to come, Hope start to come, Joy start to come, Love start to come. All Gift of God fall upon me richly. God is my Father. My friends, I have Almighty God as my Father. Can you imagine that? God loves you too. Don't be like my friends who love to stay in darkness and fear that your deeds will be exposed. God already know your heart, you are always naked in His eyes so what you need to ashamed of when you come to Him?
I begin to be able to pray in Spirit and faith. When I pray, it is not me again who pray, but Holy Spirit inside me. Bible said, "in the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will (Romans 8:26-27)."
I experienced it and once again the Bible proves itself to be true. And the more I ask to be like Jesus, the more powerful my prayers. The more I am selfless, not selfish to God, the more He manifest in me, The more I decrease and the more Jesus increase, the more I have access to every store in heaven and my prayer bring heaven come down on earth. I can feel God's Presence everytime I pray. I just need to open my mouth and words start flowing. Praise the Lord. It is Gift of God. I never learn it. Faith is Gift. Holy Spirit is Gift. Prayer is Gift. Sometimes God moves me to pray for some specific issue, sometimes God wakes me up in the night to pray, sometimes God gives me dreams, and I can see things happen. My friends, I want you to have it too. Put it to practice, don't just want to know, but do it.
Go into your room, lock the door, start pouring out your heart, if you still have so many sins, so many dark secrets, tell Him, there is nothing to be ashamed of, He knows it even though you didn't tell Him. He just want you to be honest to Him, to humble yourself and realize that you are poor, wretch, weak, naked and you need His help. And if you really mean all you have confessed with all your heart. He will show Himself strong and transform you into a new creation. He will put His Law and Commandment into your heart, no more in 2 blocks of stone. And everytime you sinned before God, your heart will condemn you (1 John 3:21) and the feeling is unbearable. You can not go on sinning anymore. You didn't work for it, you didn't suffer for it, for your pleasure has changed. We live by grace.
I can't imagine if my heart never condemn me everytime I sinned. I would have already lost. But God put grace in my heart to always ask His forgiveness everytime I failed Him. You can't stand even one day sinning before Him. Why? Because I lost His Presence. I want to read Bible, I can't understand, I want to pray I can't. I want to sing, I can't. My food is gone, my water is empty. I am starve to death in Spirit. I always need to repent so that God will give me Bread of Life and Living Water again. Everyday, I walk toward perfection. God does His work in me. What I need to do is to allow Him do His own free-style in my life. His will be done. I love living a life like this. In earth is like in heaven. Experience it by yourself, my friends.
But, I want you to understand that Salvation is Gift of God, Repentance is Gift of God, Faith is Gift of God. God will only give this to those who humble themselves. Let me tell you somebody' testimony about a man whose heart is too proud, even to himself. He needed to creep down to the forest nearby his house so that nobody will see him making confession to God. He is too ashamed to be honest with God, but he wanted to be saved. He prayed and prayed, but no respond. He was too afraid with the circimstance. Each time he prayed and something disturbed him, e.g: bird singing, etc, he stopped praying. He really wanted to be saved. His heart is ready, but his mind is always hindering him to be opened to God.
Because of that, God hadn't given him salvation. But he insisted, he kept praying for hours, start to be honest with God, confessing all his sins, his dark secret until God satisfied with Him and finally God show Himself strong. This man's name is Charles Finney. He was the man who bring revival in US in 19th century. One time he entered one of the factory and say nothing, but God's presence came down from heaven to earth because he was a strong prayer warrior. He was a prayerful man. He woke up so early in the morning and prayed till sun has risen high. In that factory, people began to weep and confessing their sins to God.
How about you, my friends? Do you have deep conviction as 1 Thessalonians 1:5 said? Can you pray to God? Remember: Repentance, Salvation, Faith are Gift of God and it comes only to those who humble and meek. Are you sincere enough and choose to be "stupid" enough to do this? For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18).
Some of you who have poisoned themselves with doctrines plus faith (closed system) which denying God's power will think that I am talking rubbish, not agreed with their doctrines or theologies. Those people who use their little, tiny brain more than their humble heart will not understand what I am talking about. For Jesus said ""I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure (Luke 10:21). Christian life is practical and you will never understand it with your brain. If you can understand God with your brain, that God is not God at all, because you can understand Him, you can predict His ways and movements. Stop using your little, stupid, tiny brain, my friends. Start hitting your knee to the floor and confess with your mouth that Jesus is the Lord of lords, King of kings. Allow Him to show Himself strong. Put Him out of your box so that you will see how great the Almighty God is.
This is the secret to have powerful prayers: Be righteous man. Let Jesus rule over you, allow Him to do His will in your life. You have been crucified, you have been bought by precious price. Say to Him, "Lord, I surrender all". Hit your knee on the floor, put off your sandal, see Him as Almighty God whose words created this universe. The more you humble yourselves before Him, the more He will be exalted and the more He will lift you up and He will give you desire of your heart.
Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
My friends, I want to ask you. Who are we? Are we not just a breath? We can't have faith if God does not give it to us. We are so weak, we can't move mountain, but Jesus in us is powerful, He is the One who has faith that can bring heaven to earth. It is all come from God, not our works. We just need to humble ourselves and see how He manifest in our life. He is the One who said "The battle is mine" "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance I will bring you today. The Lord will fight for you, you need only to be still (Exodus:14:13-14).
And if you believe with all your heart that Jesus is able to do that and you allow Jesus to rule over you fully, everything you ask will be given because it is in acordance to God's will. When Jesus inside you prays through you to Father, your prayer will be so sweet, words by words will follow one after another, you will just like singing, Holy Spirit inside you manifesting. Things happen.
When you pray in Spirit and with faith from Jesus inside you. No matter what problem you have, how bad your health is. Say to your problems, touch your injured, your invalid body and ask God to do His will in your life, to make His name be more glorified, miracles, healing, deliverance will come through your own hand. The prayers moved and led by Spirit, the prayers of righteous man is powerful and effective. It is not about ourselves, but God's name be glorified in our life and through us to other people's life.
My friends, if you still praying repetition prayers or just as habits (before you eat, before you sleep, before you go somewhere, before your exams) with the same words, you are not yet children of God. I tell you with love. I want you to be saved. Jesus rebuked Peter, "Get behind me, Satan." It comes from His love, His heart. My friends, I love you and I want you to be saved and experience God by yourself. So, please find a quiet time for you and God and start pray with your heart, begging for His mercy. He will not abandon you. But remember one thing: He sees our heart, don't let any hypocricy hinder you from Him. God bless you and I am waiting for your testimonies, my beloved friends.
