By Mary Lindow

Hello to all of you who are listening via podcast today or who are reading this message!

I just finished being a part of our weekly prayer gathering this evening, and I have to tell you, the presence of the Father was so absolutely strong and evident in our time together! I am literally to the point that I anticipate all day long on Thursday evenings, getting together with the group that we pray with. 

We have been blessed week after week, month after month with the sweet and strong presence of God as we intercede for our nation, for the globe, and for so many other things that the Lord lays on our hearts to pray about.

I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THE PODCAST THAT I HAD TALKED ABOUT EARLIER. I am still trying to get it to compile and come together and I know that if I rush this, I will not share it in the light of how the Lord wants it to be presented properly.

BUT, I HAVE BEEN HAVING ANOTHER MESSAGE AND WORD FROM THE LORD STIRRING DEEP WITHIN MY SPIRIT, AND SO THAT IS WHAT I’M GOING TO SHARE WITH YOU TODAY.

Hearing God accurately in the mess and chaos that the world is in right now, is of huge importance!

 May the Lord continue to use you all to proclaim and speak truth, no matter what the cost. It is so worth being called a servant of the Lord during hard and challenging times.

TODAY, I’M GOING TO TALK WITH YOU ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS TO BE IN A PLACE OF SAFETY, A PLACE, OR A “HAVEN” OF BEING SHELTERED BY THE LORD. Especially during very, very difficult and hard times.

I’ll share how to discern and hear His voice in the chaos of the nonstop noise the dark world bombards us all with. It’s ratcheted up to crazy levels, and shouts loudly to attempt to distract us from discerning the times, and hopes to discourage us and knock us off balance with fear, and then rob our peace.

IT’S OBVIOUS THAT THE EARTH IS IN ONE MASSIVE UPHEAVAL, AND NO MATTER WHERE YOU TURN RIGHT NOW, THE CRISES CONTINUE TO MOUNT AND BOIL! And so, people begin to put aside spending time in the word of God, and certainly in his presence, to spend time with the love of the Internet and scrolling through their telephones through social network information and high charged doomsday podcasts and videos.

This can absolutely create stress and anxiety, and it also creates a terrible problem with comparing ourselves to other people and where we are at in life.

PRAYER IS NOT A BORING HARD THING WHEN YOU REALIZE 

THAT YOU ARE FACE-TO-FACE, OR LITERALLY, 

“PRESENCE TO PRESENCE” WITH THE FATHER.

A tremendous man who walked daily in the Presence of God, Andrew Murray, said in a book that he wrote, 

“It’s one of the terrible marks of the diseased state of the Christian life in these days that there are so many that are content, and remain passive and content, without the distinct occasion of having experienced answered prayer. They pray daily, but know very little of direct, definite answers to prayer as the rule of their daily life.” 

Psalm Thirty verse four says,

“I sought the Lord and he answered me.”

We must understand that it’s the Father’s will that WE SEEK HIM OUT to daily have dialogue with his will, and it’s his will to have his children to listen to him and then, he listens to his children and agrees to their requests.

It’s his will that we should come to him day by day, with specific requests, and he will every day, do for us great and wonderful things!

What we ask sometimes might be a case where the specific answer is that he refuses our request, but our Father lets us know when and why he can’t give us what we request. It’s like his Son Jesus, and so we will withdraw our petition or our request.

When did Jesus do that?

Jesus said in the Garden of Gethsemane, “If this cup could pass from me, but not my will, but your will be done.”  He said this to the Father.

WHETHER OUR REQUEST IS ACCORDING TO GOD’S WILL OR NOT, GOD WILL BY HIS WORD AND BY HIS SPIRIT, TEACH THOSE OF US WHO ARE TEACHABLE, and he will give us time to withdraw our requests if they’re not according to God‘s mind or purposes.

LET’S PRESS IN.

LET’S JUST STAND FIRM UNTIL THE ANSWER COMES! PRAYER IS GIVEN TO US TO OBTAIN AN ANSWER!

It’s in prayer and its answer, that the exchange of love between the Father and we his children takes place.

MY QUESTION IS, “ARE YOUR  PRAYERS BEING ANSWERED?”

During the last hours of the age that we’re in, there will be two opposing groups or alliances in the world. 

The First group are those whose hearts are absolutely overwrought with bitterness, resentment and hatred.

The Second group is those whose love has actually increased, and are experiencing the power of the Kingdom of God, now!

Jesus told us about this in Matthew in chapter 4:10-13.

He said, “At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 

Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.”

And then in Matthew 24:14 he added,

“This gospel (good news) of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations and then the end shall come.”

SO, THE BIG QUESTION IS...

...“WHAT IS THIS GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM?” 

It’s the whole truth Jesus came to bring, not only that part that saves us from our sins, but also that part which creates us in his image!

It’s the full message, the full good news with all its requirements and all of its rewards! 

It’s is the full price for the full power!

It’s the most glorious pearl that a person can possess. The presence of God in His glory, revealed, made known within and among us!

IF WE WANT TO GAIN THIS GREAT LOVE, WE WILL CONTINUALLY BE FORCED TO MAKE CHOICES TOWARD MERCY, OR, TOWARD UNFORGIVENESS, and if we don’t walk in a forgiving attitude, we will certainly become prey to an embittered spirit, if it’s in fact, God‘s plan to allow wickedness and holiness at the same time,  so they grow to full maturity.

We must guard our hearts ahead of time from reacting in bitterness or unforgiveness because the increasing anarchy will certainly give us occasions to lose love, with the attempt to make us hard so we can survive in this cruel world.

WE OFTEN WITHDRAW FROM THE GENUINENESS OF PURE LOVE!

We can’t choose cautious, selective love, and also walk in the power of God’s kingdom, my friends! To defy pain, we sometimes unconsciously shut down our love, because after all, its love that makes us vulnerable.

GOD WANTS US TO BE A PEOPLE WHOSE LOVE IS GROWING HOT, NOT COLD. Jesus didn’t say that we had to trust our enemies, but he did say that we had to love them anyhow. You might be asking why! 

One reason God allows difficulties is to test us!

( I know! I know! We don’t want to hear that! )

He wants to see if our Christianity is just an intellectual pursuit or just thoughts and feelings of the mind, or if following him is truly the highest passion of our hearts. So, he tells us in Matthew 5:44 , “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Wow! 

SOME OF YOU HAVE GONE THROUGH REJECTION AND BETRAYAL MOST LIKELY.

The Lord says to you today,

“You did not fail, you have continued to love, and although you went through great pain, yet you have forgiven, those who have hurt you.” 

My friends you have passed the test.

THERE ARE HOWEVER, SOME OF YOU LISTENING OR READING THAT STILL HAVE CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS IN YOUR LIVES THAT YOU HAVE NOT FORGIVEN, AND WHOM YOU DO NOT LOVE.  Maybe you’re right, they don’t deserve your forgiveness, but what you don’t realize is the consequence of your anger.

You see, as long as we refuse to forgive, a part of this is trapped in the past where you will always be reminded of your pain, and until we forgive, we will not be fully released to go on with our life.

Even the time of year in which you were hurt will bring depression.

THERE’S ONLY ONE WAY WE CAN HAVE TRUE FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD AND THAT IS IN THE HERE AND NOW, RIGHT NOW, LIVING IN THE PRESENT. But if our mind is in conflict with others, we’re neither here nor in the present. When we live in the past, we are cut off from God! What people did to us to hurt us is over! It’s done; it doesn’t have any real existence or life of its own, except in your mind.

SO THERE WITHIN US, THE DEED CONTINUES TO LIVE AND FESTER AND AS LONG AS IT LIVES, WE’RE STILL BEING HURT BY IT. The person or the people who wounded you may have long since died. They can’t be blamed because it’s us who keeps our wounds alive. Not only is the quality of our spiritual life affected, but often our physical health pays a price as well!

As long as we keep holding onto the burden of what someone has done to us, every time we think about it or think about that person, the stomach acids start to churn and anxiety increases, and then of course our body is continually put under stress.

If we don’t forgive those who have hurt us, we lose a measure of our capacity to love and whether they deserve forgiveness or not, we deserve a better life!</