God’s word always has two sides. There is paradoxical grace within the Word of God and the will of God. In other words, although we may have to go through tests, suffering and difficulties, there is God’s will which He desires to teach you. We call this a paradox. Even though there may be tests waiting for us, but within the tests, there will be the will of God which we will need to find. There will be mercy within the suffering and also God’s wrath . When suffering, tests, and tribulation come our way, do not just look at itself but you must remember how God desires to lead us through the suffering, tests, and tribulation. God’s guidance is in the difficult situations. There are times we need to pray for a long period in order to find out the will of God. But also, there are many times that we need to face the certain situation and actually go through it to find out the will of God . We need to pray a lot and at the same time, we need to go into the reality. When you are fired at a job due to your mistake and wrong doings, do not say to yourself, “God does not want me to work.” In order to be recognized by any type of organization whether it is your workplace or the church, you need to learn on how to admit your fault, wrongs and mistakes.
God desires to speak to us through two ways, Logos and Rhema. There are times when God desires to speak to us through the way of Rhema. God desires to teach His feeling, impression, and will. But there are many people who knows a lot of word and theory but they are weak when it comes to the spiritual senses. Many people say the days of the holy gifts and direct revelation had ended. The church of Rhema manifests the holy gifts, revelation, glory and power. Logos and Rhema must work together for the good of the church. The churches need a healthy Rhema.
Daniel and his friends had prayed since they were teenagers with a united will and mind. In Daniel chapter 1:8 “But Daniel was determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king. He asked the chief of staff for permission not to eat these unacceptable foods.” (다니엘은 뜻을 정하여 왕의 진미와 그의 마시는 포도주로 자기를 더럽히지 아니하리라 하고 자기를 더럽히지 않게 하기를 환관장에게 구하니)
Daniel and his three friends were determined not to be defiled. They knew the food were offered to Idols. They had refused. Daniel and his friends were favored by God. If we want to be favored by God, what would be the our motive? There are conditions. There are things in which God will do and we need to do. What do we need to do? We need to keep our faith, virtue, keep away from drinking, smoking and other things of flesh. Also, we need to continuously pray and live by unshakable faith. If we fulfill the conditions, God will favor you. The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. He is still looking for those who are fully committed to him. The Lord hovers around to find the people who will carry out His will according to His desires.
Then God found someone who prays. This person has lost his nation. He was dragged as a captive. Daniel’s situation looked hopeless. But Daniel and his friends prayed. They were determined to pray. Praying becomes a habit to them. Daniel prayed for the restoration for his nation. Israel was forsaken because they were prideful and when they became prideful, they went over the line and had sinned. When they had sinned, God brought judgement and struck them. Through other nations God disciplined Israel. Through the pain and suffering, Israel repents. When they repented, God had restored them. Pride, sin, punishment, repentance and restoration, this was Israel’s vicious cycle. God is trying to properly raise His children but His children do not listen. His children have a strong self will and therefore they want to do according to what they desire.
Daniel was not a person who already had his spiritual eyes opened but when he continuously prayed, his spiritual territory was gradually expanded . There are many things we need to wait for as we wait for a long period of time. As we pray and wait, we come to know God’s will. When Daniel had prayed, at first, he did not know how the answer of God will manifest. But as he continuously prayed, the answer of God began to manifest. When it comes to God’s power and prayers being answered, we need to fulfill conditions and pray. The person who fulfills the condition of prayer will receive prayers answered, power, and favor. You will be granted and come to know a greater power from God as you face greater tests. Do you have a problem? Pray!
“God! I have such and such a problem! But I know that you are much greater than those problem, so I will pray even more powerfully!!”
Then God will come and destroy those problems. When difficult circumstances are created in your lives, God desires us to be determined and powerfully pray as we proclaim with positive words staying innocent and pure! Ever since Daniel began praying, something was forming. God allowed Daniel to know His revelation of the spirit and God spoke about the last days to Daniel. Because Daniel was a praying person, he even advised on many things to the king Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar was amazed and proclaimed that Daniel was very wise and there is no one like him. Through praying christians, God will grant wisdom, knowledge, revelation, and interprets dreams.
In order for our mental and physical statuses to be restored, our spiritual status need to be restored first. But in most cases, christians live soulish lives. Because many live soulish and carnal lives, these people do not know what kind of spiritual condition they are in. In order for us to obtain the promises of God, we need to pray. Then God will work and manifest. God’s unlimited riches can be ours if we pray. To the people who prays, God will entrust some kind of a role. There are many churches in the world, but the people of the holy fire ministry is called to spread the fire all throughout the world in the last days. People who prays and properly believe in Jesus can change the future and policy of their nation. Before the future and the policies of a nation can be changed, we must repent first. Most of the times, the common christians do not like praying. Even pastors do not like praying. Many churches are not praying. The church that does not pray is not the church anymore. This means, christians who do not pray may not be considered a christian anymore. Christians are not to gather just to do a meditating type of prayer. You need to make yourselves to enjoy praying. Yes, it is difficult to enjoy praying initially, but as you pray more, the more you will know that praying is very important.
As Daniel continuously prayed, he began to see the spiritual territory. Then he realized that there is a pathway to spiritual realm. A pathway to the spiritual is through the consciousness. What are you conscious about as you live your daily lives. Through consciousness we can contact the spiritual realm and we may receive the energy from the spiritual realm. Through consciousness, the spirits come to us as well. If you are conscious about praying and determined to pray, the Holy Spirit who is also the spirit of prayer will come and make a spiritual pathway. What is the common pathway that forms consciousness? It is when you look with your eyes, hear with your ears, speak words coming from your mouth. Depending on what you see, hear, and speak, you need to really be careful not to complain, grumble and speak many negative, twisting, and piercing words. These things can be energy that will tempt and delude you. These things can provoke your thinking and shake you. It will be great if we are all provoked by the power of the Holy Spirit and the grace of God. But people do things without consciousness and thinking. When people turn on the television without thinking and watch sexually lustful scene, then the pathway of the lustful evil spirits will be formed . If we look at things in which we are not suppose o, then the evil spirits can boldly come into our bodies. These evil spirits will seize the person’s soul and mind. When a person’s soul and mind is seized, the body will be seized as well. The result of the person will be living a life of “I don’t care, I will live as I wish.” And when this person dies, that will be the end of it, they will go to hell.
If we are not careful of what we see, hear, and speak, the evil energy will take away our energy of faith. In the spiritual realm, what you think and feel will be the spiritual substance. You need to choose. When we are negatively affected, we will feel the negative spiritual energy. In fact the feeling of it is very vivid and persistent . Then we need to know that the evil spirits are presently attacking us. When this happens, you need to perform the warfare prayer and cast it out. The words you speak through your mouth will become energy, power, and faith. So when you pray as you proclaim, the Lord will work and manifest for you. When you feel some kind of evil spiritual energy from the spiritual realm, if you do not cast it out, you will suffer the consequences. When you like some particular thing, you will ideally receive or accept it. When this happens, without one realizing, one’s spiritual territory will be determined. This could determine your lifetime destiny. We need to possess the power of the Holy Spirit because the power of the Holy Spirit can change our destiny and lives.
We need to discern if what we feel, experience or encounter is from the territory of hell. Our spirit and soul can become strong, weak, and sensitive. When the power of your spirit and soul becomes weak and when you are lacking in the word of God and prayer and if you are exposed to the filthy spirits, you can be changed negatively in an instant. Therefore, you need to be really careful of what you see, hear, and speak. We are spiritual beings. Whether you feel it or not, whether you realize it or not, you are surrounded by spiritual circumstances and spiritual beings. This world is the spiritual battle field. Among all the battles, the battle in our soul and mind is the most fierce. Once your soulish area such as the mental area is seized, the body will be seized as well. Once the body is totally seized, that person can be easily led to commit suicide. But because the Lord came and died on the cross, we now have hope of eternity.
Even though all the christians are placed in the spiritual battle field, so many of them do not know that they are in the spiritual battle field. Attending a church is not the end of it. We have been granted the ability to create the destiny of our faith within our daily lives. A newly created destiny can be made through our fervent prayers. There are all kind of blessings within your fervent prayer such as in finances, material things, marriage and so on.
When it comes to praying, sometimes it may feel easy or it may feel difficult. Everyone desire to possess faith. Most of the people believe that they possess faith. Normally people think their prayer is going well and they are a person of prayer. But in the eyes of God, there is faith that God approves or recognizes and there is a faith that we believe is faith. One’s belief of faith comes from one’s carnal mind and stays within one’s mental area. But genuine faith is when you focus your prayers on your spiritual areas. This will be considered real prayer and real faith. Faith and prayer will give us a different point of view in our lives.
In the book of Hebrews and chapter 11, talks about the faith that pleases God. Hebrews 11:6 (AMP) 6 But without faith it is impossible to [walk with God and] please Him, for whoever comes [near] to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He rewards those who [earnestly and diligently] seek Him.
Determined Prayer
When Daniel first prayed, I don’t think he prayed to have his spiritual eyes opened. He had began a prayer life since his youth. As he continued to prayed, his prayer went deeper and his prayer soared higher as the time passed. As he continuously prayed, the territory of his prayer had become larger. When we continue to pray, our thinking process will be changed as we are graciously blessed through our prayer. Through prayer, our bodies, words, and spirit will enter into God’s grace. When this happens, we will continuously spiritually change.
When I was in the basement church, God once spoke to me. “In the future, you will encounter days where you will be very busy, and therefore, you will not even have a day to rest.”
But in reality, my family and I were living under the basement of a building. I was was thinking, “Well...it does not look as those such days will come..”
I had thought in such a way because when I looked at myself and the circumstances, there was no way I could have possibly thought I could be used in such a way. But later on, the more I prayed, I had realized that I had trapped God’s work and power within my thinking. When I prayed, my heart became peaceful and the worries disappeared. When I don’t pray, worries and my own thinking attacks me but when I prayed those things disappeared. I was a spiritual battle within myself. I had a friend who is also a pastor. We both prayed a lot. We were like competing. But the one who did not use too much of their brain or thoughts won. You have to put all yourselves into prayer. The more we pray and through our prayer, our soulish and carnal areas will be sorted out. Although many christians confess that they have faith to carry out their prayer lives, most of them are carrying out their faith lives in the midst of carnal circumstances . Most of them are performing carnal prayer. Carnal prayer does not head toward the spiritual. Until we enter deep spiritual prayer, we will have to go through fierce battles of mind, spiritual and flesh. We need to fiercely fight with ourselves. But when your prayer lives become weak and the quantity of your prayer time decreases, other things will begin to fill your heart. Whatever you see will fill your heart. Whatever you think will fill your hearts. Whenever you meet certain types of people, their words will influence you and settle in your heart. If anyone hurts you, that hurt will easily settle in your heart. When you meet someone, you will need to know how to create the spiritual atmosphere. If you are not able too then you have to know how to cut it off certain people and places. You have a life in society and you need to work (job) as well. Then you need to build the wall of faith as you pray and need to know what areas you need to be cautious.
Before God desires to give us some type of grace, He would make us pray a lot. Praying is not easy for a person who just begins to pray. When it comes to the Word of God, we would think about applying it but when we say, “No, no.. I think that’s too difficult”, we are the one who actually blocks the Word of God to come into our hearts. When our thinking, faith and prayer is uncertain, and when we have a difficult time making a decision, then we will never enter into the realm of God’s power.
Depending on your current condition, God will make a new plan for you. God will say according to your attitude, “I understand your situation but I see that you have come to realization. Although you used to speak negative words now I see that you are only speaking the word of thanksgiving. You wanted to curse but now, you keep your mouth shut and shout Hallelujah” God sees all our words, thoughts and actions.
Proverbs 16 (EXB) People may make plans in their minds [hearts], but only the Lord can make them come true [ from the Lord comes a responding tongue].
God will see the our fruit of words. Speak these words. “Thank you! God bless you, I can do it and hallelujah!”
Even if you made many mistakes and troubles, if you only try and devote yourself to the Lord with joy, God will pleasingly receive you. The difference between a person who is thoroughly trained and a person who is roughly trained will be distinguished when a war breaks out. Whatever areas you are prideful, God will fail you in those areas.
Sometimes, you need to do as you have learned, but sometimes you need to adjust your action according to each situation. Your faith needs to be precise. Your prayer must be solid. If your spiritual skills are not properly equipped, when you encounter crisis, you will panic and be frustrated.
Daniel prayed and fasted for three weeks. When tests, suffering and problems occur, the genuine faith of a person’s faith will be revealed.
The Angel Gabriel came and spoke to him. Arch Angel said, “When you had prayed, the crisis came”
When we pray, instead of power being poured upon us, crisis come first. The more you continue to pray, the more you will receive power. The more you pray your spirituality will be opened and the forces of darkness will come and try to hinder you. When you continuously head toward the power of God connecting the power of God, the spirituality will be opened. But at the same time, you will encounter some difficulties. Your household may encounter storms. You may experience difficulty in finance and spirituality. When people decide and determine to pray, a sudden discord between husband and wife will occur and become extra sensitive over nothing. The unseen forces prevent people from coming before God to pray. But we need to reconcile and pray. Satan will try to make you discouraged, frustrated and provoke you to get the last word. We need to wake up. When you overcome all these, you will have smooth prayer lives. When you have to adjusted in faith, spirit and prayer, you need to be careful of how you speak, and you need to speak as your foundation is of thankfulness and faith. When you overcome crisis, you will have another level of crisis. These crisis or problems are like mountains that you need to overcome.
When Daniel prayed and fasted, nothing happened to him during the twenty one days. But on the day twenty first day, the Archangel Gabriel came and explained to Daniel. When it comes to faith, the process is very important.
Daniel 10:12 Then he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words.
But in the heavenly realm, a spiritual warfare had occurred. The prince of kingdom of Persia, satan tried to block Archangel from going to Daniel. But the chief prince, Michael had come and helped Gabriel. Gabriel had explained how the prayer answered comes regarding Daniel’s prayer request and how God had pleasingly received his prayers as a beautiful aroma and so on. God makes us pray and He rewards us with answers.
The Babylonian king made idols, and the king of Persia made idols as they exalted themselves. And when everyone had bowed before the idol/king, Daniel did not bow. Therefore he was thrown into the den of lions and had to go through many hardships. But he overcame all the hardships through the strength that came from prayer. Strength that comes from prayer is very significant. When we fervently and faithfully pray and have a faith, God will test us. Prayer requires test. If you have the proper faith, and when you try to live by faith, you will be tested. When the test began and if you are able to stand unshakeably firm, God will powerfully with you.
Psalm 91:7-8 (AMP) 7 A thousand may fall at your side And ten thousand at your right hand, But danger will not come near you. 8 You will only [be a spectator as you] look on with your eyes And witness the [divine] repayment of the wicked [as you watch safely from the shelter of the Most High]. 9 Because you have made the Lord, [who is] my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, 10 No evil will befall you, Nor will any plague come near your tent. For He will command His angels in regard to you, To protect and defend and guard you in all your ways [of obedience and service]. 12 They will lift you up in their hands, So that you do not [even] strike your foot against a stone. 13 You will tread upon the lion and cobra; The young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot. 14 “Because he set his love on Me, therefore I will save him; I will set him [securely] on high, because he knows My name [he confidently trusts and relies on Me, knowing I will never abandon him, no, never]. 15 “He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. 16 “With a long life I will satisfy him And I will let him see My salvation.”
These verse are applied to Daniel and Daniel’s three friends. God is saying, “You will see. I will make you go well before the eyes of the wicked people.”
These verses speaks of complete protection from God. When the people begin to pray gathering themselves to the Lord’s Church to live spiritually, the devil attacked them. There were casualties. The casualties were the people whose faith was not solid and the people who lived according to their thoughts. The people who lives soulishely. The people may have thought they had a faith. But when these people were exposed to tests, their thoughts were deluded and had become the target of satan and were eventually deceived. As long as you live according to the will of God and as long as you pray, satan cannot touch you. The Lord will protect you. In the spiritual battle ground, God will protect us. This is why it is such a happiness that you must live spiritually, by faith and continuous pray. With the precious Word of God, please overcome and obtain victory.
Pastor Kim Yong Doo
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