Prevailing Thought and Prayer July 1st 2024

PREVA'ILING, definition, present tense Gaining advantage, superiority or victory; having effect; persuading; succeeding. 1. adjective Predominant; having more influence; prevalent; superior in power. Websters 1828

In a vast, multi - directional, quick, stressed out world it is increasingly important to discern our thoughts, and attitudes, and define our life and morality from the God perspective.

Hebrews 4:12 KJV says, "For the Word of God is sharp, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." AMPC -"exposing, sifting, analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart." This isn't something one can accomplish overnight, but one can start the journey. After all walking with God is a life's work of discovery, weighing the differences between your ideas and the world's, and agreeing with the conclusions you now see by the Word of God. Definitions are important to everything and by simply defining words we can gain discernment. 

What are some of the current prevailing thoughts of the world around us, of carnal men, of people in general who tend to live by everything that comes into their mind, good or evil?

Websters 1828 says, "The love of money and the love of power are the prevailing passions of men."

How about the use of negative descriptions to jokingly describe your life and person. Like “I don’t think of myself as an ugly person. I think of myself as a beautiful monkey! “I try to avoid things that make me fat, like scales, mirrors, and photographs.” “I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.” - Groucho Marx 

Thoughts not expressed - How you might see yourself- I'm awesome, bad, lazy, average, short, nice etc. How you view the world - beautiful, great, mean, evil, dog eat dog, oppressive, scary. 

Thoughts behind sickness and spiritually rooted diseases: Re-living trauma, living with rejection, fear controlling our thoughts, bitterness ruling our thoughts.

Thinking of the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things (entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful) (Mark 4)

My observations: Men of our day and age are proud, narcissistic, deceivers, followers of doctrines of devils, (such as the abortion doctrine it's not human), or God is not real, but you are 'god'. The commandments are archaic, not valid today. 

Not discerning good from evil and choosing evil with a small portion of good to flavor the conscience makes one temporarily happy, maybe, but yields fruit which one does not want.

If life is so great without God, why are suicide rates so high, stress through the roof, way more drug use than 40 years ago, an increase in selfishness, more people leaving church than joining, crime is fashionable for the rich?

I guarantee if your prevailing thoughts involve any of the previous listed, your life maybe dictated to by demons and cannot be helped without a conversion to Christ. If you are a Christian and find yourself caught in sins or worldly pain, there is a way to right the ship before it starts sinking. The path to holiness comes as we surrender our thought life to God and determine to live by truth from the ancient text of scripture. You have the mind of Christ and also access to that. The Holy Spirit is within you and will help you. All the wrong relationships which damaged you can be forgiven and your broken heart healed. You following the Holy Spirit will lead you to new and healthy thinking patterns which will produce something called the fruit of the Spirit Galatians 5:22 KJV- …"love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and faith." Isaiah 55:7 "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."

Sometimes, biblical ideals are espoused by worldly folks and speak truth regarding thoughts and their outcome.

These truthful statements,  do they convey a continuity with scripture? Let's see…

"Be aware, the content and focus of your prevailing thoughts is critical to the result you experience "- William Buhlman  Proverbs 16:3 "Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established."

"Your current thoughts are creating your future life. What you think about or focus on the most will appear as your life." - Rhonda Byrne -

Proverbs 16:3 "Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established." Proverbs 21:5 "The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness."

"Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own thoughts, unguarded." - Budd A   Jeremiah 6:19" Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it."

Concerning your results in life, which thoughts do you want to prevail? Life and blessing or death and cursing? We choose.

So if we think of something we have thoughts, correct? If we think something in our heart then the thoughts of our heart produces either life or death, blessing or cursing. Deuteronomy 30:19

Matthew 15:19 "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:" You can have it your way or  God's way. If our heart thinks an evil thought then it is our responsibility to do this…

2 Corinthians 10:5 "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;"  You might have to muster some serious obedience just to get a handle on some thoughts.

Say this after me if you would. "In Jesus name, I cast you down, you foul thought(s) and imaginations, and high things. I will not allow you to exalt yourself against the knowledge of God in my mind, and I bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." Amen!

Hebrews 10:22 "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water."

We draw near first with Godly thoughts. But we have to identify the negative influx and stop its' influence' These things are the original influencers!

Now it is time to establish right thoughts and imaginations! How do you do that you might ask. I find it easier to use the subject line on the Bible Gateway app to search out those things which God has promised. Then fill your mind and imagination to full, until it tilts, with all the goodness of God! Become your own influencer! Write down the promises you need fulfilled. And the scripture you have to back it up. Then repeatedly look at the words of scripture until you can say them by memory. Now that you have them in your mind, start thinking about the possibilities in your life when God brings that to you in the natural. This is how change happens, over time.  So start today, you can do it!

What just happened? You just created new prevailing thoughts in your life! You tossed the old ones! Welcome to freedom in Christ!

Prevailing thoughts can lead to prevailing prayers. I have a short excerpt from  the George Mueller story I would like to share, which is an example of what can be if we walk in faith and trust God to supply every need.

George Mueller was born in Germany in 1805 and lived until 1898

He attended the University of Halle and had a friend named Beta who invited him to a Bible study. They talked of a loving God and knelt when they prayed. Müller's heart was touched and it was the start of a new life for him. He started his ministry as a pastor at Teignmouth with 18 members attending.

In his early ministry he had four objectives. 1. To assist Sunday Schools, Day Schools, and schools for adults and to start new ones. 2. To sell Bibles and Testaments to the poor at low prices and even give them away if the person could not pay. 3. To aid missionaries 4. To circulate tracts in English and other languages (5.) (Caring for the orphans became the fifth and foremost objective.) At the church where he preached, the people rented the pews where they sat during the services. Müller thought this was unfair to poor people who could not afford to rent a good seat. He discontinued the pew rents and put a collection box at the rear of the church. More money was collected through free-will offerings than by renting the pews. After two years Henry Craik asked Müller to move to Bristol to work with him. In the 1800's orphans had no one to care for them and had to beg for or steal food in order to survive. People did not have pity on them, and the government put the children in work houses where they worked long hours under the harshest of conditions. Charles Dickens' story of Oliver Twist brought the plight of these unfortunate children to light. In 1835 there were only a dozen orphan homes in all of England and Wales, but they charged fees to care for the children. Poor children who became orphans had to move in with relatives or were sent to work in the workhouses. Müller began to pray about starting an orphan house. Money began to come in even though he didn't solicit money from people. His vision was for the orphan home to be for children who were truly orphaned, having lost both parents. None would be turned away due to poverty or race. The children would be educated and trained for a trade. "God will provide", he said. He talked with people about the need for caring for these waifs. Gifts of furniture, money, dishes etc. began to come in. Müller kept a detailed record of every gift. People showed up offering to teach and work in the orphanage. He found a place to rent. Everything was ready, but they had no orphans to care for. He had forgotten to ask God for the orphans. He prayed again and they started coming. The first house he opened was for 30 girls, then he opened a second and a third house. The first two years went well, but the next seven years were hard. Sometimes mealtime arrived, but there was no food. They would pray and at the last minute food would be brought for the children. During Müller's lifetime he gave away $700,000 that had been given to him for his personal needs. He spent hours every day studying the Bible and praying. He felt that God was calling him to care for even more orphans. After five weeks of prayer he determined that God wanted him to build a large facility. It would be expensive, $18,000. That's the equivalent to $1,000,000 in today's money.

In 17 years George and Susannah (his wife) traveled 200,000 miles, visiting 42 countries urging people to read their Bibles, pray, and rely on God. Two years later in 1849 the first building was completed to house 300 children. Over the next 21 years four more homes were built in which over 2,000 children would be cared for.

He and Susannah traveled to America, visited Washington D.C. and met with President Rutherford Hayes at the White House. They told him about their work in Bristol. Müller spoke in many places in America. Susannah died when she was 73 years old. George Müller passed away on March 10, 1898 at the age of 92. Thousands of people lined the streets to honor him. Two thousand orphans were in attendance.

George Mueller 5 conditions for prevailing prayer.

1 Entire dependence upon the merits and meditation of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the only ground of any claim for Blessing. John 14: 13,14

2 Separation from all known sin. If we regard iniquity in our hearts, the Lord will not hear us, for it would be sanctioning sin. Psalm 66:18

3 Faith in God's Word of promise as confirmed by His oath. Not to believe Him is to make Him both a liar and a perjurer. Hebrews 11:6,13-20

4. Asking in accordance with His will. Our motives must be Godly. We must not seek any gift of God to consume it on our lusts. 1 John 5:14 James 4:3

5. Importunity in supplication.( Pressing solicitation; urgent request; application for a claim or favor) There must be waiting on God and waiting for God, as the husbandman has long patience to wait for the harvest. James 5:7 Luke 18:1-8 

story and prayer from Mueller.org