“Jackie, I know the Bible says that you can ask anything in His Name and He will give it to you. It really tries your faith when we feel it is a necessity, and it doesn't come about. I guess He is saying, ‘yes, no, or not yet.’
Any insight?” (A statement and question in an email sent to me.)

My Reply:
     Yes, I have some insight on that: “The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want (lack)” (Ps.23.1). Just like it’s God’s will for your sins to be forgiven, it’s God’s will for you to prosper in every way. It’s all in the package of benefits the Bible calls “salvation”. It’s yours. Let’s just hear the Word to see how we can operate these benefits in our lives. God is not holding them back.
    The simplest thing to do for this insight is to look to our example, Jesus.
1. How did He move? 2. How did He speak? 3. How did He believe? 4. How did He ask? 5. How did He receive? We can look at how He operated and see how we are to do it. The life of faith is not following a mechanical formula for success. It is following a man, duplicating what He did, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
     1. We see that Jesus moved as a Son in close fellowship with the Father at all times. He told us, “The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do…I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgement is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me” (Jn.5.19,30). By being born again, we also are sons of God, joint-heirs of Jesus Christ, seated together with Him in heavenly places. You have the power to move in the earth as a son in close fellowship with the Father, just as did Jesus—“as he is, so are we in this world”—1Jn.4.17.
    Read out loud Rom.8.17; Gal.4.6,7; Eph.2.6; 1Jn.2.6. Hearing the Word causes faith to come into your heart and life (Rom.10.17). Power is released by speaking the Word of God (Rom.10.10).
     2. Jesus lived in close fellowship with the Father, so He spoke the words that the Father gave Him to speak. “I speak that which I have seen with my Father” (Jn.8.38; 12.50). By hiding the Word in your heart, you, too, can “see” what the Father is saying, and your words can agree with what the Father is saying. That’s the way Jesus did it, as He said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matt.4.4). You, too, can live by faith in the Word of God, by feeding on the Word as your daily sustenance and by speaking it into your life. In that way, the Word becomes one with you, just like food that you eat becomes one with your body.
     3. Jesus believed what the Word said. He said that the scripture cannot be broken: “Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken…” (Jn.10.34-36). Since God has placed us in a position of dominion in Christ, then we are to believe that and carry out our life accordingly. The Word says we are kings and priests in Him (Rev.1.5,6). We are to see ourselves as God sees us, and rule accordingly. It’s an attitude of being a king, and speaking accordingly.
     4 & 5. Jesus asked things of the Father boldly, and boldly received in faith, by giving thanks to the Father, based on the written Word. Jesus knew the Old Testament scriptures. He was the Word incarnate. His prayer of John 17 is totally in line with the Old Testament prophecies, and, as He prayed according to the Word, He prayed and declared BIG. Did He see it all fulfilled instantly? No. But according to His Mk.11.22-26 teaching about speaking in faith, HE KNEW HE HAD IT THE MOMENT HE SPOKE IT. HE RECEIVED IT INSTANTLY IN THE SPIRIT BY GIVING THANKS TO THE FATHER. That’s how faith operates by the Holy Spirit.
    So, if Jesus operated this way, so can we. Jesus made it duplicable for us. We are born of the same Word and Spirit. We are a son of God. We have the same dominion as He has by virtue of our position in Him. We are here to rule and reign unto righteousness—and sickness, poverty, lack, mental pressure, etc., is not righteousness. The devil came to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus came to give life and life more abundantly (Jn.10.10). So we are to speak the unrighteousness out of our lives, and speak righteousness into our lives. God has given us this way to rule and reign—by making decrees over our adversities, then giving ourselves to do what we have in our hand to do.
     “For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ” (Rom.5.17).
     We have received abundance of grace in Jesus Christ.
    Grace is the unlimited life, power, gifts, abilities, and nature of God imparted to us by the power of the Holy Spirit, through faith in the complete righteousness and the finished sacrificial work of Jesus Christ on our behalf, because of His love for us and His mercy toward us, to enable us to do all the will of God on earth here and now, with a victorious spirit of excellence, praise, worship, and thanksgiving unto God, thereby overcoming all things in order to go make disciples of all nations.
    This is my definition of grace. Let it soak in. Notice the italics. Realize that you have all this now in Christ. As we learn to work with grace, we enjoy it’s fruits
    We have received the gift of righteousness. We are as righteous in God’s eyes as Jesus Christ Himself—because it is Jesus Christ who God sees on our behalf. We are righteous in Christ, so we can come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (1Cor.1.30; 2 Cor.5.21; Heb.4.16).
    We, as kings, are to rule and reign (Rev.1.5,6). Kings rule by the decrees they make, by the words they speak. As we continue to declare the Word of God into our lives, the gates of hell cannot prevail, they cannot stand up against it. They have to crumble, and those good things which God has ordained for us, are given to us to the glory of His name (Isa.55.11; Jer.23.29). “The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matt.11.12).
    So, my insight is this. As a lifestyle, immerse yourself in the Word, and like a .45 Magnum, load your tongue up with the Word, and start blasting away at the strongholds that are trying to hinder your life in any way—spirit, soul, body, family, finances, socially, or in any other way. We are set in agreement with you and with the Word in your life, and where two agree, it’s a done deal (Matt.18.19).
    Now, don’t counteract the power of the Word by negative confessions and declarations. That’s like shooting yourself in the foot! That will cripple you up real quick. No, keep that Holy Ghost .45 cal. aimed at all the negatives with praise and thanksgiving, and just “blast away” and watch the glory of God manifest in your life. You’ll be marvelling like those folks did in John 2.10,11, saying, “Ummmm, you’ve kept that good wine until now”! (when Jesus turns the water into wine).
    So just get drunk on the goodness of God by faith! Just get slap happy by speaking the Word in faith and just start laughing by faith in the name of Jesus at everything that seems to be against you. You’re the King’s kid. Carry on like it.
    Our pastor in Broken Arrow has a saying, “Never meet the devil with your mouth closed.” He is referring to meeting your adversities with declarations of what the Word says about who you are and what you have in Christ.
    You are the head and not the tail, above only, and not beneath. You are more than a conqueror in Christ. Keep speaking the Word, and see things turn around for the better (Deut.28.13; Rom.8.37). And, you’ll be the first thing to change.
    The more our words and our ways are lined up to the will of God by faith in the Word, the more we see our prayers and declarations have a direct effect. First, we receive it by faith, then, it becomes manifested in time as we continue in faith with thanksgiving and praise.  Never give up. Another saying our pastor has is, “I cannot be defeated, and I will not quit.” If the dog won’t go away with a threat, start throwing rocks at him, and keep throwing them until he’s gone.
    This is the way Jesus did it in the wilderness temptations. When the adversary came against Him, He blasted him with the Word in His mouth (Matt.4.1-11). Round one, round two, round three—the devil’s gone—and the angels came and ministered to Jesus.
    So load that Word in your mouth and start blasting away. When the smoke clears, you’ll see the angels ministering to you all those good things out of that inheritance that already has your name on it—healing, finances, and favor in every way. It’s all yours because Jesus got it for you.
    “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich” (2Cor.8.9). Now, there’s a Word you can stand on and declare. Amen?

1.“Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
2. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
3. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
4. Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
5. Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6. The LORD executeth righteousness and judgement for all that are oppressed.
8. The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
17. But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children; to such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
19. …his kingdom ruleth over all
20. Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. (excerpts of Ps.103)
    What a benefits package!!!
    So don’t look back, nor to the left nor to the right, but look unto Jesus the author and finisher of your faith. The Word says you have the faith of the Son of God in you (Gal.2.16,20 KJV). Be bold with the Word of God in your mouth, and blast your way right through the adversaries into the glory of God (Ps.149.6-9). The angels hear that Word in your mouth and go about ministering for you to bring about that Word in your life (Heb.1.14).
     He has given you the land. You are not a beggar.
    Go now, and take the land!
 
Jackie and Becky Calhoun
www.gotoallnations.org