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    Crazy Prayers from     Refreshing Hope Ministries on     Vimeo.   

Over the years, I have spent a lot of time praying with others. For example, we led an intercessory prayer team for a while. We also volunteered at the healing rooms, where we would anoint people with oil and pray for them one by one. I spent forty days on the road with a prophet, catching the people before they hit the floor. We have continued this tradition at Refreshing Hope during our live services and pray for each person individually. 

During my journey, I have heard some prayer requests that made the hair on my neck stand up. I thought, obviously, they do not want me to pray that... They must not realize what they are asking for. 

We once heard a brother praying for God to humble him. I cringed. Not long after, his business tanked, the landlord seized all the inventory, the bank repossessed his house, his car broke down, and he quit coming to church. In the end, he was humiliated, but there were better methods. Fasting will bring humility without bringing destitution.

Let's take a look at another example of prayer:

(1 Chronicles 4:10 NKJV)  And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, "Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!" So God granted him what he requested.

There is nothing selfish or arrogant about seeking God's blessing. In fact, we ought to desire His blessing in our lives. What kind of witness is it of God's power and goodness when Christians can't pay their bills? That is not His perfect will for you in the long term, for God rewards those who seek Him.

 (Hebrews 11:6 NKJV)  But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

David was a young shepherd boy when the Lord called him, but at the end of his life, David left Solomon 5.7 billion dollars in today's currency to build the temple out of his personal treasury ($5,766,227,350: 1 Chronicles 29:4). 

The Lord had richly blessed David, but blessing and obedience often go hand in hand. After David had an affair with Bathsheba, the Lord sent the prophet Nathan to tell him this:

(2 Samuel 12:8–9 NKJV)  I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! Why have you despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in His sight? 

God can make you prosper under any circumstance. Isaac sowed his field during a famine and reaped a one-hundred-fold return:

(Genesis 26:12–13 NKJV)  Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the LORD blessed him. The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous;

God has no shortages except when it comes to obedient people. He can make numbers go up or down. Consider what He told the Israelites who were neglecting His house:

(Haggai 1:5–6 NKJV)  Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: "Consider your ways! "You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, Earns wages to put into a bag with holes."

(Haggai 1:9 NKJV)  "You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?" says the LORD of hosts. "Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house."

Will the Lord play with your finances? Maybe pull on them a little to get your attention. Absolutely! Obedience combined with the right prayers is amazingly powerful. When God blesses you, you are truly blessed, for He can surpass your imagination. 

(James 5:16–18 NASB)  Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.

Here are some examples of good prayers:

* Solomon prayed for wisdom to do his job, and the Lord made him the wisest man ever (1 Kings 3:5-14). 

* Hannah prayed for the Lord to give her a child, and He gave her Samuel (1 Samuel 1:10-20). 

* Hezekiah was near death, but he prayed to the Lord and wept, and God added fifteen years to his life (2 Kings 20:1-5).

Here are some bad ideas. They are not exactly prayers but examples of people saying the wrong things and suffering the consequences:

* Jephthah vowed to sacrifice the first thing that came out of his house if the Lord allowed him to return from battle victorious. Tragically, his only child came running out to meet him when he got home.

* The Israelites murmured and complained in the wilderness and were struck by severe plagues and fiery serpents that bit them (Judges 11:30-40). God told them, just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I shall do to you (Numbers 14:28). 

* Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Apostle Peter about a piece of land they had sold, wanting to appear more generous than they were, and acted as if they had given all the proceeds to the church. The Holy Spirit struck them both dead. 

Pay attention to your prayers and the things you promise the Lord. Don't make rash vows like Jephthah or whine and complain like the Israelites in the wilderness. Do what He tells you and pray for His blessings on your life like Jabez. 

You can pray this with me if you like: 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain. May the blessing of Abraham come into my life. Let me win every battle like David. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!