Scripture: Matthew 7 v 7: "Ask and it shall be given; seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you."
James 2 v 15 - 17: "If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone."
These simple words hold important keys to effective prayer and deeper intercession. When you seek you will be shown something deeper. You need to know why it is there and how it originated. Its like a surgeon searching out every bit of cancerous tissue and looking for the origin. You are engaged to hunt down what lies beneath and not just what is obvious on the surface.
Why does a man or woman become an alcoholic or a drug addict? Why is illicit sex so popular? Why do wars, disasters, terrorism and kidnapping trouble our planet? We need to knock on Heaven's door for answers. Sometimes personal problems "run in the family". There is a history from generation to generation of alcoholism; insanity; abuse; haemophilia; heart disease; family feuds or ancestral curses.
This is when we need the gift of discerning of spirits of good and evil. You cannot cast out a sickness or disease, and you cannot heal a demon. You need to determine what you are dealing with before you can help. Kind words and sympathy don't help when a family melts down in grief and despair. Its like putting a plaster over gangrene. The rot has set in and radical surgery is needed. Seek and you will find exactly what is at the root.
How many thousands of people go through life with problems that can be dealt with very simply. In these modern times many pooh pooh the existence of demons, which pleases the demons, and their master. We have seen incredible victories after deliverance prayer.
A man accompanied his friend who wanted prayer for healing of a skin disease. They were sitting in my lounge. After I had prayed for him his friend told me he had been boarded from his job and had not worked for 19 years. I asked if he also wanted prayer, he said yes. There was a demon sitting on his back. I bound it and told it to leave. He was totally set free of crippling pain instantly. He returned to work the following week 100% fit. No doctor nor medication could solve a problem that was not visible even on xrays.
In Britain they are troubled by the increasing cases of dementia in their nation. The word actually means "bound by demons". They will spend millions of pounds on research and be no better off because there is no medical cure for demonic bondage. It would cost nothing for those who minister deliverance to set the captives free. However the world rejects a spiritual solution to this problem. We have to be born again to see the spiritual realm, or understand it.
We are spirit beings! We have a separate part called a soul which consists of our mind, emotions and will. These are clothed in a body of flesh. Everything that happens in our spirit will manifest in our soul and flesh. We need spiritual help from those who have the gifts of the Holy Spirit to deal with the invisible enemy who attacks the unwary.
2 Timothy 1 v 7: "For God has not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and a sound mind."
Seek the underlying cause of problems like alcoholism and drug abuse. Every single time you will find hurt, betrayal, abuse, bitterness and memory recall of hurts. No smoke without fire. So let's put the evil fire out. Seek out the reason for "self-medication" through drugs or alcohol. Who needs to be forgiven to release that buried pain? Forgive so that you may be forgiven said Jesus.
Luke 4 v 18: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised." Words of Jesus.
Christ in us the hope of glory! When we are filled with the Holy Spirit Jesus says we can do all the things He did plus greater things than these. This is because we are conscious of the spirit of the people we encounter and have been instructed by Jesus on how to know what we are dealing with.
Seek to know what witchcraft is! Not the mumbo jumbo, spells and curses kind which truly exists and does harm today; but the nature of a witch or warlock. They are demanding, possessive, forceful, controlling, blaspheming, selfish, spiteful, lying, bitter and rebellious people. They are power hungry and use people then reject them. Many people have no idea that their bad behaviour is caused by spirits that gained a hold over their soul through "innocent" games like glassy-glassy or any involvement in witchcraft.
We need to grow our faith to meet the additional needs the pandemic has created. There are destitute families out there who have lost everything. We cannot ignore their plight or that people may exploit them in their desperation. We cannot sleep well at night, well fed and comfortable if there are people we know who are floundering. James says faith without works is dead. Let us show by the way we meet those needs how rich our faith is, and the Lord who loves a cheerful giver, will supply abundantly.
Let us follow Jesus and do the will of our Father in Heaven. Ask for guidance; seek the origin of problems and uproot them; knock on His door for revelation about serious international issues that need strong prayer to bring solutions. Remember nothing is too difficult for Jesus to fix.
Prayer: Heavenly Father we are warned not to worship idols but we need reminding. You are our God and no other is worthy of adoration. Father guide us so that we pray effectively. Steer us through these troubling times, Father, as we seek You we will find answers. In Jesus' name. Amen.