Prayer before Restoration

This episode focuses on Prayer before Restoration. 

• Luke 8:11
• Luke 6: 43-45
• Job 42:10

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome back to Ashes to Beauty, Beauty to Ashes. I am so thankful and grateful to be able to record today's episode. I am just in a place of gratitude, in a place of being thankful and overjoyed with everything that God is doing in my life. Even the space and time and opportunity that He has blessed me with to be able to record this podcast. This for me has been such a long time coming. It has been lots of prayers, lots of tears, lots of patiently waiting for God to continue to open doors and the space and the opportunity to be able to do this. And so as I start today's episode, I just want to give all the praises, all the honor, and all the glory to my father for affording me the opportunity to be able to do so. So today's episode, I asked, why do people look at your material possessions to determine your relationship with God? Why do people look at your material possessions to determine your relationship with God or your status with God? And I know that it is natural for a person to peek into someone else's life and automatically judge whether or not that person is blessed or walking with God strictly based off of what they see. But one of the things that I want to bring to the forefront is that the word states in Luke 8 and 11 that the seed is the word of God. In Luke 8 and 11, it states that the seed is the word of God. And I know in scripture it talks about a tree being known by the fruit that it bears. But one thing that I do want to point out today is that that has nothing to do with material possessions. And so if Luke 8 and 11 states that the seed is the word of God, and we know that a tree is known by the fruit that it bears, that means that whether or not a person's relationship with God or status with God, whether or not they have a relationship with God or not, it has nothing to do with their material possessions. So a tree being known by the fruit that it bears has nothing to do with, again, material possessions. But it has everything to do with the type of word that's on the inside of someone's heart. And so there's two types of word. And many people are being led astray in today's time because of different religions and false prophets and false teachers and pastors that are sowing a word that is false and that is contradictory to the word of God. A word that they are sowing contradicts the word of God. So we can't examine a person's material possessions to determine if they are blessed or if they are walking with God. And a lot of times when people obtain wealth and material possessions, titles, positions, the first thing that you often hear them say is that God did it. Oh, the Lord bless me. And yes, God can open doors. Yes, God can bless people beyond measure. But your material possessions and your status in society does not determine whether or not you have a good or a bad relationship with God. I read a status the other day while on social media of a woman stating that she could not bring herself to go to church because pastors are always preaching struggle and she cannot relate. And although Jesus has commanded us to bring all of our problems, all of our burdens to the altar, every sermon that a pastor preaches or teaches on cannot be the center of struggle, especially when the Holy Spirit is speaking, especially when prophecy is unfolding, especially when there is a word that God is commanding us to release in this season. And so I understand what she was saying. However, we cannot use that as an excuse not to be in community, not to be in community with God's people, not to be in fellowship with God. We can't use that as an excuse. And what that simply means is that when that is happening, you just need to ask the Holy Spirit to lead you to a church that is um spirit-filled. And when I say spirit-filled, they are teaching the word of God, they are teaching the truth, they are teaching in a way that does not add or subtract to God's word. They are teaching with um revelation, they are teaching with understanding in a way that it helps God's people to understand the truth. They should not be twisting God's word, not using it in a way for any other purposes other than to draw people to Christ, not to be manipulative, but teaching God's word in a manner that the truth is revealed. God brought me to Job chapter 42 the other day, and Job's friends had spoken, well, they had not spoken the truth concerning God because of all of the bad things that was happening to Job. And as I was reading this, it was very eye-opening. It really resonated with me, and it was also very disheartening because I can remember on my journey the people that I was the closest to being very judgmental because of everything that I was going through and enduring in my life. And a lot of times when your life, you are going through a transition when you are when God is transforming you, it may appear as though like your life is falling apart, but in actuality, it's actually everything is actually falling into place. And people can know that you're walking with God, they can they they can know that you're in faith, they can know that you are constantly praying and believing God, and that you are drawing close and near to God in every situation through every obstacle, and when your life appears as though it is falling apart, they can judge you for that. And so when I read in Job chapter 42 about Job's friends, it really resonated with me. Job's friends even wanted Job to repent of his many sins because, you know, surely a blessed man would not be punished in the manner that Job was. But Job was the one that was accused, the one who had faced so much persecution. Job was the one who um had to pray for the very people, his friends, that had abandoned him. And that really, it really took me to a place of just being like, wow, Job has faced all of these trials, all of these tribulations, he's lost so much, and the people had accused him of being wrong. But the last thing that Job needed to do before God restored him, Job had to pray for his friends. Go with me to Job chapter 42, and we're gonna take a look at verse 10. Job chapter 42, verse 10. It says, After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. Amen. So God gave Job double. God gave him twice as much as he had before. But before he could do that, he had to pray for his friends. And sometimes when you when it appears as though everything is falling apart, you often look to the people that you are the closest to, the people that you consider to be friends and family to be there for you. And when you're looking for those friends and family to be there for you, to uplift you, to encourage you, and to stand in faith in you, to stand in faith with you, and they don't, that can be so disheartening. But always remember in all of that, you still have to stand firm in your faith. You still have to stand firm even when people are abandoning you, and it may feel as though everything is falling apart, but again, in actuality, when you're standing in faith, it's actually falling into place. But just because people are criticizing you, just because people are talking about you, just because people do not have the same faith as you, do not believe what you are believing God for, it does not mean that you become angry or have a hard heart towards them. You pray for them, you pray for them. The very people that had abandoned Job, he had to pray for them. And so even if you find yourself in those situations, even if you feel as though people are that you love, that you trust, that you expected to be there for you, even if those people, if you feel as though those people have abandoned you, have abandoned you, you pray for them. And so again, we should never look at someone's material possessions or their status in society to determine whether or not they are blessed or they are walking with God. Sometimes people, sometimes God takes people through a season of pruning, a season of transition, a season of transformation. And just because they are losing everything, what a it it appears as though they are losing everything. That they are. Look at their position. When opposition is coming their way, look at their position. You look at how they stand firm on that foundation of Jesus Christ. You look at how they are praying without ceasing, and then you watch how God restores them because of their faithfulness. God is faithful. You watch how God restores them and give them double than what they had before. Thank you.