WE MUST PRAY!--AND PRAY!--AND PRAY AGAIN!
--Mama's Plea for Desperate Prayer Against the Attacks of the Enemy
Maria #159 DO 2783 3/92
1. Throughout the years the Family has received quite a bit of persecution, including vilification in the press, arrest, deportation etc. Within the last two years in Spain, Norway, Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina, the Family has undergone intense persecution, which, thank the Lord, He has delivered them from. They have gone through the fire and have come out unscathed due to the Lord's wonderful protection.
2. While previous persecutions may have seemed more serious outwardly, with Family members having to spend days in jail, and in some cases, months under house arrest, we feel in the spirit that the cases in both England and Australia are even more serious. It looks like our enemies worldwide are becoming more unified and strategically situated. They are becoming more internationally linked than ever before with hi-tech communications and thousands of committed enemies ready to do battle against God's children.
3. All Hell is arrayed against the children of God--God's Family worldwide. All the mighty power of the System is being brought down upon those few who would dare to speak or act against it with the truth of God's Word. It's funny how they think they can so easily snuff us out, because of course they see things so carnally in the flesh, and their eyes are blinded so they can't see our mighty God and all His great hosts of Heaven who stand ready to protect and defend us! So no matter how great the fury of our enemies, nor how proud their boastings, nor how clever their machinations, nor how violent and widespread their opposition, their threats and boasts hold no danger for us. They're lying vanities, for we have God's promise, "If God be for us, who can be against us!" (See also "They Can't Stop Our Rain," ML #128.)
"Remind My People to Pray!"
4. We have all these wonderful promises that the Lord has given to reassure us that "I, the Lord thy God, am a mighty God, I will come and save thee," and "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay." "Fear thou not, for I am with thee, be not dismayed for I am thy God." He's promised to give us the victory, take vengeance on our enemies, save our children, make us a witness to the world, and show His mighty power. What more could we want than that?
5. He's told us the battle is His and to stand back and see Him fight. Does that mean we can now just go our merry way and forget all about our enemies? Well, not exactly. The Lord always has a job for us to do, and we work in partnership with Him.
6. After I heard some beautiful, beautiful prophecies and verses and visions that our staff here received, I said, "Well, Lord, it looks like You've got everything under control, and there's not much we could do even if we wanted to. The battle is so intense and so heavy, and it's such a desperate situation that it's obvious that we couldn't do anything to save ourselves even if we wanted to. It would be ridiculous to even try. But is there anything that You do want us to do, any way we can help those who are in the midst of these battles?" And the Lord said, "The main thing I want you to do is to remind My people to pray."
Victory Is Not Guaranteed, Unless We Pray!
7. Somebody made the statement, "The Lord confirmed that it was His will for Pearl and the baby to return to England to fight this case, so of course He's going to take care of them and He's going to save the baby. It wouldn't make sense for Him to send them back there and not protect the baby." I can see how it would be very easy to believe that; however, as I was listening to that statement, the Lord checked me about it and I realized that He would protect Pearl and the baby only if we desperately prayed. Yes, it was His will for her and the baby to go back to England, but nevertheless He would not be able to protect her unless we prayed.
8. Just because something is the Lord's will for you does not automatically mean that everything is going to go your way. Why are we told repeatedly to pray, if everything is all settled and everything is going to automatically be fine? What are we doing spending all of this time praying desperately if it's automatically all okay? We would just be wasting our time if that was the case. He says, "Ye have not because ye ask not." What a sad thing to realize that sometimes the Lord can't give protection, supply, healing or souls because we have failed to pray. As Dad said: "God said to Israel one time that bad things were happening because, `No man stirreth himself to call upon Me'! (Isa.64:7). So the Lord really does leave a lot up to us: If we stir ourselves, then God will stir Himself. An awful lot depends on us, our faith and our prayers and what we want done." (ML #1957:34; See also Good Thots, pg.637, #243.)
9. Doing what you know is God's will does not bring with it automatic protection and provision. For example, you know that it is the Lord's will for you to get out there and witness and win souls, don't you? Of course! The Bible says it, the Letters say it, the conviction of the Holy Spirit tells you so, your leaders say it, it's an established fact, confirmed by many witnesses. Yet, if you go out there to do the Lord's will in the arm of the flesh, not depending on the Lord or crying out to Him in desperation for the help of His Spirit, you can each testify that you are not automatically assured success.
10. "But," you say, "this is different, because the Lord has given us prophecies and verses that He is going to protect and He is going to care for Pearl and the baby. He's not going to let anything bad happen and He's going to take vengeance on our enemies. He has said it Himself." Yes, but do you see why He said it?--Because He knew that we were going to pray. He knows the future and He knows that you are going to take up the commission to fight desperately in prayer for these dear loved ones who are under attack.
11. But we do have to remember that the Lord doesn't automatically protect people just because it's His will for them to do something. It may be the Lord's will for you to go somewhere, but if you do His will without praying for His protection, you may get in trouble while you're on your way.
12. So we have to remember that those two things have to go together: We can be doing His will, but we still have to desperately pray for His protection while we're doing it. So we must desperately pray! The Lord is going to use our whole Family from every corner of the Earth to be the prayer warriors in this fight. We're all needed to uphold the hands of those in battle and help to win the victory!
13. The Lord can fulfill His promises only if we do our part. All these beautiful promises the Lord has given have one condition, that His people far and wide in all parts of the world pray. But He knows you're going to pray, He knows you're going to obey, therefore He was able to tell us the glorious outcome through prophecies. What a wonderful thing to know the outcome and not have to worry or fear!--But we must do our part! (Please see also "The Spiritual Warfare Depends on Us!" ML #2327.)
14. Not only is it our job to pray, but also to fight with the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. We need to not only pray, but we need to use the Word. That's what our people who are directly involved in these persecution situations have to do; they have to actually stand up and give the Word of the Lord to our enemies. They have to give clear testimonies of our life for the Lord and what His Word tells us to do. So the most important ways that we can fight are in prayer and with the Word.
15. In prophecy, the Lord has said what He will do if we are faithful to do our part. What an important responsibility the Lord has given us! He's trying to emphasize to us how important prayer is and what priority we should give it. If you should find yourself in a similar situation, you would want to know that your Family was praying for you. So please don't fail to pray for them. They need you!
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family