Study in Prayer

We have been studying what the Apostle James had to say about prayer. We have been studying the verses from James 5:13-18:

“Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any Merry? Let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the Name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

 Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it did not rain on the earth by the space of three years and six months! And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit.”

Yesterday, we focused on verse 16, “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

We learned that if a person is sick, possibly dying and needing prayer, we can and should go over and pray for them. Remember the first part of this scripture, we learned that a believer, if able, should be praying for themselves. But we are talking here about someone, believer who is incapacitated or unable to pray – or an unbeliever who doesn’t know the first thing about praying effectively.

We studied that this person needs to repent of his or her sins before the anointing oil and/or prayer is made for them. God is not going to bless what is already cursed. It just does not work that way.

There is no way they will receive their healing with unconfessed sin in their life. They must confess it before the Lord, in private to you or the pastor or the elders – this IS NOT a public confessional meeting as some religions profess is needed – amen!

But it will not matter WHO prays for you or for a person who is lost and in this condition – if they refuse to admit they are a sinner before the Lord. It just will not work. They will not receive their healing…

Now, I guess I should pause here and say, “YES – anything is possible with the Lord.” I’m not going to say Jesus will not answer our prayer and heal them. But, let’s just say that God is not obligated in any way to answer their prayer because they REFUSE to confess their sins FIRST.

They must do their part in order to trust God to do His part.  Amen!

And that goes for believers, too!  Don’t just shut down unbelievers in this way. Amen!

It would do us all good to examine ourselves every now and then to see if we have any unrepented sin still clinging to us in our lives. If so, we need to get rid of it because, as we’ve learned, “God cannot bless what He has already cursed.”

He is not going to bless you financially just so you can kick back, watch TV and eat chocolate bon-bon’s all day long. Amen! 

If He blesses you financially, it is so YOU can be a financial blessing to someone else. Period. He is simply using you as a distribution channel so the Gospel can be shared with others. Don’t get greedy or tight handed when it comes to giving finances. Amen!

I think that would be a good spot to end today. I’ll just let you ponder that last thought until tomorrow. Amen!

Let’s Pray!

Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com. And while you are at the website, download the free resource I have for you… it is free and is called, “How to Start a Christian Podcast.” It will bless you – go and download it today.

You can also WATCH these session on our Facebook Playlist at this link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtKWeKtmv-BwgkquBTsSh-GznbmuUp_R2

We have been studying what the Apostle James had to say about prayer. We have been studying the verses from James 5:13-18:

“Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any Merry? Let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the Name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

 Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it did not rain on the earth by the space of three years and six months! And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit.”

Yesterday, we left off the importance of making yourself available to pray for those who are incapable of praying for themselves. Be it sickness, on their death bed or perhaps addicts of some kind that request prayer. If they are able to ask, then they are able to receive. Not just receive healing but able to receive Jesus! Amen!

And that is the whole purpose of praying, interceding for others, etc. The purpose to get them to the point where they are able to say, “JESUS SAVE ME!”  Amen!

Jesus doesn’t need you here for any other reason than that. Period!

You can’t save anyone. You can’t recreate the earth. You can’t handle wars and rumors of wars. You cannot do ANYTHING for Jesus EXCEPT represent Him to others and pray for them.

That takes me to the next part of the verse, in verse 16: “Confess your faults to one another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed…”

Do not take verse 16 out of context! Many people think it is referring to public confessions sin. But you don’t go to church to have a confession meeting! You can’t find that anywhere in scripture!  I know there is religion that has made it – they made it – a religious duty of some sort. But it is UNSCRIPTURAL in nature.

What James is talking about here is if a sick person sends for the elders of the church to come and pray for him, if he has sinned, he will have to confess it TO THE LORD.

The sick person cannot just pick and choose which parts of this verse they want and what parts they don’t. He or she must obey the part about confessing their sins TO GOD!  Amen!

If a person is asking for prayer for healing, but has unconfessed sin their life, they will not receive their healing just because somebody, the elders of the church, came and anointed them with oil and prayed for them. 

When you combine this with the prior verses, you can see it, plain as day: 

“And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray on for another, that you may be healed...”

So James is saying, go ahead and call for the elders of the church to come and pray for you – but confess your sins and get rid of them, and then, when they pray for you, you WILL BE HEALED and God shall raise you up from that sick bed! Amen!

The opposite of that is also true. If you do not confess your sins to God, then He is under no obligation to answer the elder’s prayer and heal you. You will remain sick because YOU did not do what YOU were supposed to do.

Oh, praise God. I’m out of time for today… We will take it up here again tomorrow.

Let’s Pray!

Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com. And while you are at the website, download the free resource I have for you… it is free and is called, “How to Start a Christian Podcast.” It will bless you – go and download it today.

You can also WATCH these session on our Facebook Playlist at this link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtKWeKtmv-BwgkquBTsSh-GznbmuUp_R2

We have been studying what the Apostle James had to say about prayer. We have been studying the verses from James 5:13-18:

“Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any Merry? Let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the Name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 

Confess your faults one to another, and pray on for another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

 Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it did not rain on the earth by the space of three years and six months! And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit.”

Yesterday, I left off with a discussion of weak Christians who feel the need to call everyone in the prayer chain for mild ailments that they should have the Spiritual authority to take care of through praying by themselves! Amen!

When you look at verse number 14, James clearly says that if a person is unable to pray for themselves, if they are so sick, etc., THEN you call for the elders of the church to come, anoint the person with oil and pray for them.

If you read this verse with that intent, it makes complete sense. And it clears up any misunderstanding of needing other people to intercede for you and for you to keep bother others every time you have a headache. Amen!

If you continue reading, James says, “let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the Name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.”

That does not mean the person is sick because he committed some serious sin. It could be – but it does not mean that.  James is simply saying that the reason SOME people are sick is because they have been living a life of sin.

Think about drug addicts, etc. They get all sorts of diseases because of the life they choose to live. When their body actually starts shutting down, they get desperate and may actually call a believer who has been witnessing to them before to come and pray for them.

If that’s you, then you go over and pray – in Faith with no doubting. And when the Lord raises them up, do you think that you will have their attention?  Of course!  That is the time to start witnessing to them and telling them the rest of the verse…

“…if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 

Confess your faults one to another, and pray on for another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

You then have an opportunity to lead them to the Lord in prayer. Amen! Isn’t that what it is all about to begin with? Amen!

“Well, brother Bob, what if they go back out and sin again?”

First, that is between them and the Lord.

Second, your only job is to be tool in the Lord’s hand.

Third, if you do your job and the Lord does His job – and the person still falls back into sin, at least they MAY have actually meant the prayer when they prayed it. And that is all it takes.

We have all sinned and come short of the Glory of God – even after we were born again! I know I have…and I know you have, too. Amen!

Look, this is already getting long for today, so I’ll wrap up with this…

The true Spiritual condition of any person is none of your business. Period. It is between them and the Lord. Your only job is to witness and pray and be there for them as Jesus’ representative when they need you to be.  It is not up to you to berate them, argue with them or condemn them for sin they do. That is between them and the Lord. He knows how to reach them. 

Just lift them up to Him in prayer and let Him be God, not you. It works out so much better that way.

Let’s Pray!

Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com. And while you are at the website, download the free resource I have for you… it is free and is called, “How to Start a Christian Podcast.” It will bless you – go and download it today.

You can also WATCH these session on our Facebook Playlist at this link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtKWeKtmv-BwgkquBTsSh-GznbmuUp_R2

We have been studying what the Apostle James had to say about prayer. We have been studying the verses from James 5:13-18:

“Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any Merry? Let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the Name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 

Confess your faults one to another, and pray on for another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

 Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it did not rain on the earth by the space of three years and six months! And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit.”

We studied the first part, “Is there any among you that is afflicted.”  We studied the second part last time, “Is any Merry?”  Today, we will study the last part, “Is any sick among you?”

What does James say if you or someone you know is sick? He’s very specific. He says, “Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the Name of the Lord.”

What the intent here, is that if someone is sick, but able to pray for themselves, they should. We covered that under “Is any among you afflicted.”  What James is saying here, is if a person is so sick, they are unable to pray for themselves, THEN you call for the elders of the church to anoint the person with oil and pray for them.

This does not mean, what some Christians think, that if you have a headache, you must activate your church prayer chain, call the pastor and have him come over and anoint you with oil and say 12 Hail Mary’s or whatever, dance in a circle and then baptize you six times in the bath tub!

You may laugh, but there are people out there, listening to me right now, who want to call their pastor for every little thing that ails them.  “Oh, won’t you pray for my big toe? I stubbed it on the chair!”

 That is not what this verse means!  Your congregation will wear your pastor out if every person called for every little thing and expected him to come running over with a bottle of oil. Amen!

I can hear pastor’s right now saying, “Amen, brother Bob – preach it!”

I’m just going to stop right there for today.  WHY? Because I want to talk a bit more on this topic and if I get started right now, well, we will be going way over.

So, instead, I want to PRAY FOR YOU right now. Yup! Here’s your chance!  If you have a stubbed toe or a headache, I’m going to pray for you and you will experience something you never thought possible!  That’s right!

What is it? YOU will learn that it is YOUR responsibility to pray for yourself and your loved ones when something minor like that ails them. It may shock you!  It may offend you!

But guess what – it’s what James says YOU are supposed to be doing! Amen!

Let’s Pray!

Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com. And while you are at the website, download the free resource I have for you… it is free and is called, “How to Start a Christian Podcast.” It will bless you – go and download it today.

You can also WATCH these session on our Facebook Playlist at this link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtKWeKtmv-BwgkquBTsSh-GznbmuUp_R2

We have been studying what the Apostle James had to say about prayer. We have been studying the verses from James 5:13-18:

“Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any Merry? Let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the Name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 

Confess your faults one to another, and pray on for another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

 Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it did not rain on the earth by the space of three years and six months! And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit.”

We looked at the first part, “Is any among you afflicted?”  Now, we will look at what James had to say next. “Is any merry?”

The rest of that verse says, “…let him sing psalms.”

That’s easy! I don’t think I have to go into an in-depth teaching on what this portion of the verse means. At least I hope I don’t! 

Everyone finds it easy to sing when you’re happy, right?  The issue is WHAT TO SING!

Don’t go singing worldly songs that cuss or talk down to your spirit man. Sing worship songs! Sing THE PSALMS – just like James said! Amen!

Everyone knows at least a childhood Bible song, like “Jesus loves me this I know, because the Bible tells me so…”

Some may say something like, “I don’t want to sing that song, it’s for kids…”

But the Bible says we are to have what? “Child-like faith!”  AMEN!

To be truthful, Brother Bob sings that song often!  Several times per week!

I might be driving down the road to the store or something and I’ll start humming in my head and the next thing I know, I’m sing the entire song out loud! Amen!  Right there in my car - because if I sang it out in public, I’d probably be asked to stop… not because it’s a Bible song, but because of my voice. Amen! 

But even those of who can’t sing with great ability can definitely make a joyful noise unto the Lord, right?  

And trust me, when you can break forth into spontaneous singing of praises to our Lord – He does enjoy it! Despite how it sounds to us or others around us. I can guarantee, that when you sing songs of praise – even child-like songs of praise – to the Lord – HE ENJOYS IT!  Amen!

Remember, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” So when you start to notice that you are singing songs of praise the Lord, you can know it is pleasing in His ears. And He will bless you even more for it. Amen!

Let’s Pray!

Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com. And while you are at the website, download the free resource I have for you… it is free and is called, “How to Start a Christian Podcast.” It will bless you – go and download it today.

You can also WATCH these session on our Facebook Playlist at this link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtKWeKtmv-BwgkquBTsSh-GznbmuUp_R2

We have been studying what the Apostle James had to say about prayer. We had been studying, quite extensively, what the Apostle Paul had to say about prayer, but now I want to expand that into what other Apostle had to say – and we started with James, the brother of Jesus.

We left off yesterday about the importance of praying for yourself and not always relying on the others to pray for you! When you learn to do your own praying, that is when you will move over into greater and greater victories. Amen!

Every time you pray for yourself and you see your prayers as answered – your Faith grows exponentially! But if you depend on others to pray for you, YOUR faith actually gets weaker!

Why? Because you are not exercising your faith!  

Think of it as working out physically for a minute…

Let’s say you know you should be working out, lifting weights and all of that, but you’re just too busy. You really don’t have the time. You have so many other things to accomplish, you just cannot afford the 30 minutes every day you know you should be working out.

Then, one night, an intruder comes into your home and threatens your family!

You tell him, WAIT HERE, I have to go call the police! Or, WAIT HERE – and you run downstairs and start to lift some weights so you can become strong enough to fight him!

Either one of those scenarios will not play out very well for you – OR YOUR FAMILY! 

They were depending on YOU to protect them!  And you let them down!

Now, think about what would have happened IF you had been working out on your own for a few years before that night when an intruder came into your home…

You could have resisted him and, seeing he could be in trouble trying to fight you – he would flee!  Amen!

What does the bible say, “Resist the devil and he will what? FLEE!”  Amen!  And guess who said that?  JAMES!  Praise God! In James chapter 4 verse 7! Amen!

But, if you never worked out – the moment you needed that physical strength, that moment your family needed you – you would have been weak and unable to perform your duty to protect them.

The same can be said for Spiritual strength!  If you never work out yourself Spiritually, you will be WEAK when it comes time for you to pray for yourself or your family member. And that is not how it is supposed to be!

Amen!

I want to pray for you that you will begin to take your prayer time with the Lord seriously! This is not just a “check the box and done” type of thing. It can be, literally, a matter of life or death for you or a member of your family. 

Let’s Pray!

Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com. And while you are at the website, download the free resource I have for you… it is free and is called, “How to Start a Christian Podcast.” It will bless you – go and download it today.

You can also WATCH these session on our Facebook Playlist at this link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtKWeKtmv-BwgkquBTsSh-GznbmuUp_R2

Yesterday, we started to look at what the Apostle James, the Lord’s brother, had to say about prayer. We looked specifically at James 5:13-18, which reads:

“Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any Merry? Let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the Name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 

Confess your faults one to another, and pray on for another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous availeth much.

 Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it did not rain on the earth by the space of three years and six months! And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit.”

We left off discussing one of the big areas Christians today fail to do, not all Christians, but enough that we can clearly see some are lagging behind in their Faith. That area was the first one James discussed, “If any among you are afflicted? Let him pray!”

We learned that many Christians today do not do that! They would rather pick up the phone and have someone else do their praying for them!  But according to James, if you are going through a test or trial – which is what we discovered that word “afflicted” means (it does not mean a sickness or disease), WE – YOU – are the one who is supposed to pray for yourself. PERIOD! 

That does not mean we are not supposed to pray for one another! I am not saying that at all. But God clearly wants us to be Spiritually mature enough to pray for ourselves FIRST! 

When you learn to do your own praying, you will begin to experience greater and greater victories in life! Why? Because you are building and strengthening YOUR FAITH.

When you have to depend on others to do the praying for you, you are putting your faith in THEM – not God!

And when you habitually become accustomed to asking others to pray for you, you actually weaken your faith and become an easier target for other attacks from the devil. You will continue to need the assistance of someone – a person – to do your praying for you. 

And there will come a time, when nobody will be immediately available and you will not be able to pray yourself out of a wet paper bag!  Something as simple as sneeze could end up having you fall down stairs and break your leg or your neck!  That may be an extreme example, but you understand the importance of what I’m sharing here, right?

God wants YOU to triumph in EVERY situation and circumstance you could find yourself in throughout your life. He did not design you to fail. Far from it!  He designed you to be the VICTOR!  To have VICTORY in, by and through Christ Jesus!

And just as Salvation is between YOU and the LORD, so is your prayer life! 

So when you find yourself facing a test or trial, no matter what it is, an ingrown toenail to something absolutely horrific and dangerous, do not, let me repeat – DO NOT – go to others for prayer first.

YOU do YOUR PRAYING – FIRST!  Start to exercise that Spiritual authority YOU have – FIRST!  You may be surprised how powerful your prayer life will be!  So much so – others will start calling YOU!

Amen!

Let’s Pray!

Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com. And while you are at the website, download the free resource I have for you… it is free and is called, “How to Start a Christian Podcast.” It will bless you – go and download it today.

You can also WATCH these session on our Facebook Playlist at this link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtKWeKtmv-BwgkquBTsSh-GznbmuUp_R2

Scripture For Today:

For the last several sessions during the past month, we studied what the Apostle Paul taught us about prayer. That does not mean other Disciples did not teach about prayer. I did not want to infer that at all. So, let’s see what some others have taught us in the Word about prayer.  We will start with the Apostle James, the Lord’s brother.

In James 5:13-18, we read:

“Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any Merry? Let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the Name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 

Confess your faults one to another, and pray on for another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous availeth much.

 Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it did not rain on the earth by the space of three years and six months! And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit.”

Notice here, what James had to say about prayer. He asks three separate questions in this passage of scripture.  First, he asks, “Is there any of you afflicted?”  Next, he asks, “Is there any of you that are merry (or happy and blessed)?  Finally, he asks, “Is there any of you that are sick?”

James was talking about three different thing. For example, “afflicted” and “sick” are not the same thing. These two words as used here cannot mean the same thing because James gave two different sets of instructions, one for each of those words. He gave one instruction for the “afflicted” (Let him pray) and a different instruction for someone who was “sick” (call for the elders of the church to pray for him).

The Greek word for “afflicted” in James 5:13 is not referring to illness. It is not referring to, what we call “physical afflictions” at all. “Afflicted” in this verse means “to suffer trouble.” In other words, this type of affliction is a test or trial of your faith. 

James was saying that if YOU, as a believer, are being tested or tried by what we call the “storms of life,” YOU are to do YOUR OWN PRAYING. 

But far too many Christians are so weak knee in their Faith, they call for others to pray for them over every little thing. Most Christians, when they are facing a test or trial of some kind, instead of going straight to the Lord in prayer; instead of taking Spiritual authority over the situation using their own Faith, they call for OTHERS to do their praying FOR THEM!

Notice here, James did not say one word about getting someone else to pray for you if YOU are afflicted, tried or tested. Not ONE WORD AT ALL. 

Did you ever stop to think about that?

I’m going to stop there for today. I want you to ponder – and pray – about what we learned today. This will revolutionize your prayer life!  

As we said before, when you start to pray according to how the BIBLE says we are to pray – you will begin to see the results the Bible says you will have. It’s amazing how that works, right?

Let’s Pray!

Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com. And while you are at the website, download the free resource I have for you… it is free and is called, “How to Start a Christian Podcast.” It will bless you – go and download it today.

You can also WATCH these session on our Facebook Playlist at this link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtKWeKtmv-BwgkquBTsSh-GznbmuUp_R2

We’ve been studying about praying for your food, sanctifying your food according to God’s Word and not following the doctrine of devils.

I left off yesterday discussing the importance of praying for your food, especially when you are eating out at restaurants and such.  I shared how you don’t know if the food was handled properly. You don’t know the cleanliness of the back kitchen area. You don’t know where the food came from in the first place. You don’t know the people who handled your food or cooked your food. That is a lot of unknowns as compared to cooking your food at home.

Now, I want to emphasize, I am not saying we should not be concerned about eating healthy for our bodies. Lord knows I love a good steak and baked potato smothered in melted butter. But, I also know, if I ate that every day, or more than every now and then for that matter, it would not be healthy for my body. Amen!

We need to use wisdom in this area. I’m simply saying that we need to sanctify our food with the Word, through prayer and the giving of thanks. When we go out to eat, I pray over the food, I pray for those handling the food and preparing the food. Amen. I cover all those bases – and then give the Lord thanks FOR the food itself. Praise God!

That is sanctifying the food with thanksgiving. Amen!

Now, we’ve been talking specifically about 1 Timothy chapter 4. This chapter is talking about meats, which the Bible says, “…God has created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.”

However, this principle applies to ALL food we eat. We should sanctify all of our food, not only the meat, not only when we go out to eat – but all of it. And, I have to admit, my wife is a lot better at this than I am. She has to remind me sometimes to “pray” – especially if I’m hungry! Praise God!

Now, I’m not preaching on this to be mean. I’m doing it out of love. I believe Christians should come to know the truth regarding this subject. And where can we find the truth? In God’s Word! Amen!

Sometimes, someone will tell me, “Well, I can’t eat this or I can’t eat that, it makes me sick.”   I usually don’t say anything to them, but I really wonder why they don’t sanctify their food. If they did, they wouldn’t get sick! They will find out that most of the foods that were bothering them before won’t bother them anymore. Amen!

We just need to believe God and obey His Word in this area of our lives. 

I want to pray with you right now that you will begin to do just that!  If there is food you enjoy eating but it’s been making you sick so you have been avoiding it, PRAY!  Sanctify it before you consume it! Trust God and His Word in these matters. Walk by Faith concerning the food you eat – and reap the benefits. Amen!

Let’s Pray!

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We’ve been studying about praying for your food, sanctifying your food according to God’s Word and not following the doctrine of devils.

Yesterday, I left off discussing what to do when someone approaches you and says it is sinful to eat pork or any such thing. Crabs, shrimp, etc. could be included in that list of “bad foods.” Amen!

I explained that you can eat whatever you want if you will pray and sanctify it according to God’s Word.  Some people will then tell me, “Well, I can’t do that.” 

Now, is this a personal decision of something they do not want to do because of a religion or religious issue, health issue or just a personal choice? Yes, it does matter.

I have one daughter who will not eat meat of any kind. I also have a grand-daughter from my other daughter, I have two daughters and seven grandkids, and she does not want to eat meat or fish. Those are personal choices they make. It’s not because papa told them they shouldn’t. It’s not because they believe they will go to hell if they do so. It’s simply a diet they have chosen to follow. And I’m ok with that.

Neither one of them try to influence any other member of the family, their friends or anyone else NOT to eat meat or anything like that. If they did, they would in the wrong. But if it is a personal choice, it’s ok.

But what about these cults and even some believers who delve into these areas of food and diet and God’s will and going to hell if you eat the wrong foods? We need to be careful of getting too far off into any ditch on either side of the road in any area of life, including diet. Amen!

Let’s just continue to heed the scriptures. “For every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving.”  That’s in 1 Timothy 4:4.

I think the Bible speaks for itself and makes it very plain for us to understand. Amen!  The Bible says, “…nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving.” Amen!  Receiving the food you eat – with thanksgiving, makes a difference. It also sanctifies the food because of the Word and of prayer. That’s why it is so important to pray over your food – especially when you go out to eat. Amen!

You don’t know several very important factors concerning food that is prepared for you when you go out to eat. 

You don’t know if the food was handled properly. You don’t know the cleanliness of the back kitchen area. You don’t know where the food came from in the first place. You don’t know the people who handled your food or cooked your food. That is a lot of unknowns as compared to cooking your food at home.

That is why, whenever we go out to eat, we make a point of praying over our food, publicly and out loud, too! Praise God!  We want to sanctify every bit of food that we are about to eat. From the bread sticks to the main course and to desert. Amen!  We receive it via prayer and with thanksgiving. Amen!  

We are about out of time for today, but I want you to realize, that when you do that, the food you eat will not hurt you or make you sick. Nothing I ever eat hurts me. Why? Because I’m a doer of the Word. I obey what I read. Amen!

I want to pray for you that you will begin to pray over your food when YOU go out to eat. If you do, and pay attention, you’ll notice you do not get those gastro-intestinal problems like you usually get. Amen! Because the food you are now eating has been sanctified by the Word of God!

Let’s Pray!

Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com. And while you are at the website, download the free resource I have for you… it is free and is called, “How to Start a Christian Podcast.” It will bless you – go and download it today.

You can also WATCH these session on our Facebook Playlist at this link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtKWeKtmv-BwgkquBTsSh-GznbmuUp_R2