—By Maria Maria #295DO 30136/95

[This GN contains an addition to the Fundamental Family Rules!]

1. (Intro from Mama:) Recently, the Lord has been impressing upon us the importance of loving Him more, praising Him more, and spending more time with Him.—Not only hearing from Him and letting Him talk to us through His printed Word, as well as through the direct voice of His Word in prophecy‚ as well as through the "whispers" in our heart and mind, but also taking time to speak to Him and tell Him of our love for Him and our thanks to Him‚ praising Him for all the wonderful blessings He has so abundantly poured out upon us.

2. Any relationship is very one-sided if it involves a lot of taking, but not much giving. He certainly doesn't mind our taking all that He has for us, but in return He looks for our thanks and our appreciation, our acknowledgment that we are pleased and happy with all the gifts that He has given to each of us and that He dispenses with such care, making sure that they are exactly what we personally need—tailor-made just for us! He is thrilled to give them to us, but He waits to see if we like them. Part of His pleasure is receiving our thanks and gratitude for the special things that He plans so carefully for us and prepares with such great love and tenderness.

3. Often we are so busy that we pretty much just keep taking and taking and taking all the showers of blessings that are falling upon us! We are almost so busy gathering up all our blessings that we don't have time to thank Him for them! The courteous, polite thing to do when one receives a gift is to sit down and write a thank-you letter—to take the time and effort to acknowledge your gratitude. When you take this special time to voice your appreciation‚ the sender then knows that it meant something to you. However, if he hears nothing, or maybe just a "one-liner" stuck in the middle of another barrage of requests, he figures that his gift must not have meant very much to you. He also can quite legitimately figure that giving you all the other things that you are asking for will be met with the same lack of gratitude.

4. Therefore it's a little difficult for the Lord to keep pouring out His gifts when you don't take time to properly acknowledge them, showing your gratefulness and thankfulness by stopping and formulating your "letter of thanks" to Him for the wonderful gifts that He has sent you—in this case, God's priceless gifts, treasures so rich and so valuable they can only come from His hand!—Blessing upon blessing of the Words of David, of a loving Family, of the gift of healing, of the gift of hearing from Him directly, of the gift of being able to intercede in prayer for our brothers and sisters, of the gift of being able to share His Love with others, of the gifts of protection and provision, of understanding and peace and freedom from fear, of the gifts of understanding of the Endtime and of heavenly things, of the gift of being able to still have Dad helping us directly!—And the list goes on and on!

5. We all know that no matter how much we would like to do something, if we don't schedule it we usually don't do it! We have scheduled devotions, scheduled meals, scheduled get-out, scheduled nap time, scheduled prayer vigil, scheduled meetings—not because we want to regiment or make everything so "letter of the law," but just because human nature being what it is, if things are not scheduled they usually don't happen, or else they take place very sporadically or inefficiently.

6. When the leaders at Summit '95 were praying about their own personal walk with the Lord, the Lord laid upon their hearts that they would have to schedule more time with Him or it just wouldn't happen. He told them that they were going to have to close up their computers, put their "do not disturb" signs out, and reserve a time when they could be alone with the Lord, completely away from all the hubbub of the daily activity and heavy demands on their time and energies.

7. When the Lord started laying the burden on my heart that we as a Family needed to praise Him more, I started wondering how to accomplish this. How could we put it into effect, practically speaking? The Lord reminded me of what He had told the leaders about the need to schedule their time with Him, and I began seriously praying about whether He was trying to tell us the same thing about praising Him. How else could we make sure that we stop to thank Him for His many blessings? We have united devotions, but it's for the reading of the Word. We have our prayer vigils‚ but that is for interceding for others and asking for His help. Then we have personal Word time, but that is for Word study.

8. There is nothing scheduled for praising Him and showing our love for Him by thanking Him for giving us "all things richly to enjoy" (1Tim.6:17). I thought‚ "But, Lord‚ we already have so much in our schedules‚ they are full to the brim! How can we include anything else?" And the Lord spoke to my heart and said, "Well‚ there are minutes wasted throughout every day that could be used to praise Me. If the Muslims can stop and give Me their attention in prayer five times a day, how much more should you, upon whom I have showered such marvelous blessings and special gifts, be willing to take a few minutes a day to praise Me?"

9. At the Summit meeting someone had gotten the picture of Daniel stopping three times a day to pray (Dan.6:10). The Lord reminded me of that picture and said, "If Daniel could do it, as busy and as important a man as he was‚ why can't you? If Daniel scheduled his prayer time, why shouldn't you schedule your praise time?" I thought of the verse‚ "Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and He shall hear my voice" (Psa.55:17). There are so many minutes throughout the day that we spend in activities much less important than praising the Lord‚ and surely we can give the Lord these few minutes of our time.

10. But still, we had some questions as to how this would work and exactly when we would do it. Would we mandate specific times for the worldwide Family, or would we let them choose their own times? So as usual when we have questions, the Lord says to take them to Him and ask Him! The making of a special time for praise was a burden that the Lord was laying upon my heart, but I wanted to get His confirmation on it, and also any further details or instructions that He might have for us. Following is my prayer, and then the answers the Lord gave. Thank You Jesus!

Mama's Prayer—Asking the Lord for Confirmation if We Should Schedule Our Praise Times!

11. (Mama prays:) Thank You Jesus! Thank You for the good nap we just had. Thank You for having given us such a good time to sleep, when we were so tired and needed it so much. Like You said, You're giving us the time to do what we need to do. Even if we don't have any of our own strength, You give us the strength for what we need to do. You give us the strength to pray and to seek You, which is the thing You want us to do, evidently, and the most important thing, even if we don't have strength for anything else. After all, as leaders of this so great people, what better thing could we do than hear from You? What of our own things could we do that would be better than getting Your Words and Your answers?—And in order to get them, we have to ask You for them and take time to hear them!

12. It doesn't take much time, Lord, but it produces the most amazing results! The blessings of Your Words and wisdom that You shower upon us are priceless, and worth much more to us than anything else we could be doing!—Although we do have to do these other things as well, because You've shown us to do them. But whatever investment in time and effort it takes, it yields greater dividends than we can put into words. Thank You Jesus! Thank You Lord! Hallelujah! Thank You for giving us all these beautiful Words and wonderful answers!

13. And now, Lord, as we're entering into Your gates with thanksgiving and into Your courts with praise, and as we're being thankful unto You and blessing Your name, we also come seeking Your help in knowing how to do this even more! We know that You want us, as a Family, to please You more by praising You more! You've been so sweetly letting us know that You miss it when we don't spend more time in praising You and loving You, taking time to thank You and to tell You how much we love You and we need You and we appreciate You. It's not that we don't want to spend this time with You, Lord, it's just that we're so busy with so many other things to do. It's not that we don't read Your Word! It's not that we don't pray! But we don't even have enough time to do those things‚ much less take additional time to spend praising You and loving You! So‚ Lord, if You want us to take extra time praising You, how do we accomplish this? How are we going to fit this in when there's always so much to do and the schedules are so full and everybody is busy rushing around?

14. We can't help but think that if we don't have a special time allotted solely for the purpose of praising You, we just won't do it, because there are so many other demands on our time! The only way people are sure to get their Word time and their devotions and their get–out and their prayer vigil is to put it on the schedule, to make it a rule so that people feel obligated to do it. Likewise, we think that we'll have to schedule this time for praise, to make sure that it gets done. Lord, You know we don't like to "legislate" righteousness, but we know that most of Your children really do want to spend more time praising and loving You; it's just that they don't know where they can find that time. They want to please You and make You happy, but they just need someone to help them stop and do it!

15. Scheduling five minutes three times a day doesn't seem like much; in some ways it seems like just a token, and like it might not accomplish very much. But it would be a start‚ and it would be a sign of our desire to make You happy!

16. If we would at least set aside specified times for praise, maybe we could get more in the habit of praising You, so that we would be able to do it more spontaneously at other times as we go about our daily work and activities. However, even if some never get past the five–minute scheduled time, at least they would know that they would have these special little periods three times a day to stop and acknowledge You and to acknowledge that they love You and that they need You and that they want You, and that they thank You for how much You have done for them.

17. In some ways it may seem inconvenient‚ Lord, but on the other hand, from what You've told us, the benefits and the rewards of stopping to praise You and to love You would so far outweigh any inconveniences and disadvantages that it will seem like nothing to do this! It will also make us be known as people of prayer and will show that we practice what we preach! Even if it is only a few minutes a day‚ at least it is something that will show that we are trying, that we are making an effort, and that we are taking time to remember You wherever we are. In public or at home, we will be known for this practice.

18. Just as they know that we believe in having a lot of children and that we live communally and that we preach Heaven and the Endtime, they will know that we stop and we praise three times a day! Lord, You brought all these things to our mind when we were praying about this: The example of Daniel stopping three times a day to pray, and about the Muslims and their prayer five times a day. It seems as though You are serious about having us implement a special time of praise.

19. Lord, we really would like to know if this is good, and we would like You to confirm if this idea is what You want and if this is what You mean by scheduling it. We need to know what would be best. We have discussed three possible ways of scheduling it: either scheduling all three times ourselves; or letting the individual Homes schedule all three times themselves‚ on an individual basis; or we could set the time for one of those five-minute periods and let the Homes schedule the other two times themselves according to each Home's individual desires.

20. We thought the best thing would be to take only five minutes each time: everyone dropping what they're doing and just praising You individually or in little groups with a song or two, or verses, or a little prayer. Wherever they are or whatever they're doing, they would just drop everything and praise You! If a secretary is by herself typing in her room, she would just stop what she is doing and sing and praise You right there. If the cooks are cooking in the kitchen, they would stop (unless they need to continue stirring what is on the stove!), and sing and praise You right there. Even the one who has to continue working can sing. If a teacher is with the tiny tots, they can all stop together and learn to praise You together. If the provisioner is out talking to a provisioning contact, he can tell him politely that in our Family we have a practice of stopping to praise You, Jesus, three times a day, and ask him if he would like to join in! Of course, we understand, Lord, that we may need to wait a while on introducing praise time to our contacts until after we have gotten to know them a bit and they are familiar with the Family and our basic beliefs.

21. If the Muslims can take their prayer mats out of the trunks of their cars and put them down in the parking lot of a busy city and kneel down right then and there and pray as an act of obedience to You, Lord, and a witness and testimony to their faith, how much more should we be willing? Ours doesn't have to be a ritual prayer, but just anything that we feel led to do!—A spontaneous prayer or a chorus or some praise verses—or we can make up our own songs.—Just something that would show You that we love You and appreciate all the blessings that You have given us. Help us not to be embarrassed to lift up our voices to You in song, even if we feel like a croaking frog. You've said our praiseful spirit is what counts, not the quality or beauty of our singing voice.

22. Lord‚ we don't want this just to be our own idea or some whim of ours, something new and different just because You said it is a "new day"! We really want it to be Your plan and Your idea and what You really want—not just another thing for the Homes to do! They already have so many things to do as it is. There is so much to do that we don't want to give them more burdens, more things that they have to schedule‚ but we really want it to be Your idea and something that will actually make their load lighter and give them inspiration and help them to be obedient, and in that way gain Your blessings and Your power and Your anointing because they are praising You and they are stopping to acknowledge You!

23. So, Lord, please help us to know‚ and please, if this is Your plan and Your will, give us confirming words on it and tell us as much as we need to know about it in as specific a way as possible. And please help us to know how we should schedule it. Should we here schedule the whole thing? Or should we let the Homes do some of the scheduling? Having at least one time together at the same hour of the day worldwide would be a real sign of our unity, everybody knowing that they were going to do it at the same time! So please‚ Lord, show us Your will, show us what You want. And if this is not Your idea, please tell us what is. If You have another idea, we certainly don't want to go on our own ideas.

24. Maybe You have a better idea on how to schedule it or how to get this time in that You continue to tell us we need‚ and that we need to take with You. This little scheduled time isn't much, Lord, and it's probably not enough, but at least it would ensure that people would do something, anyway. Even though it is a ritual for many of the Muslims, You probably bless them for it because they are acknowledging You, and they go to the trouble to do it worldwide. It's just part of their life and their acknowledgment of You and their witness that they serve You.

25. Even if it doesn't mean that much for some of them, it means something to the world, to others who know that they are a praying people. If anybody knows anything about the Muslims, that is the thing that they understand the most, that the Muslims pray five times a day. That is probably one of their most outstanding characteristics! We're sure You've blessed them for it‚ and we want You to bless us too! If we are to be known for anything—after our love for You and for each other and for the lost—we want to be known as prayerful, a praying people who are in tune with You—praising You and loving You in our prayers.

26. Those are just some ideas‚ Lord, and if they are not Your ideas, please tell us what are Your ideas so we can try to do what You want us to do! You are asking us to praise You and to love You and to lie in the bed of love with You. Well, Lord, we don't think this would exactly be interpreted as "lying in the bed of love with You," but we don't know how we can exactly schedule that one! But for the time being, if we can just put these little praise times into practice, that would be a big step forward and we think it would please You.

27. You've told us what to do, but we have to try to find the practical means to do it‚ and the time, and to be able to stop everybody and get their attention and get them to do it. So, Lord, if You could tell us how to do this, we would appreciate it so much. We love You, Jesus! We love You so much and we need You and we want to show You that we do!

Affection Time Prophecy!

28. (Peter's tongues are different this time, sounding almost like a muezzin calling the Muslims to prayer.) (Prophecy:) "Hear ye the voice, My voice, calling unto you from the minaret as it says, `Come ye! Come ye to pray!' These of the East have learned the importance of coming before Me every day throughout the day, acknowledging Me. Why does their kingdom expand, while the kingdom of My true children lies dormant?—Because these seek Me and cry out unto Me! And, oh, I would that ye would be an ensample unto My true children, an ensample of prayer.

29. "As a husband and a wife have their time of deep lovemaking, of holding‚ of kissing‚ of caressing‚ of being united as one‚ so do I expect to have time like this with you. But such a couple does not reserve all of their time of touch for only the bed, but throughout the day they hold and they kiss or speak precious words of endearment. So do I wish that ye would be with Me. For the times that ye stop and speak words unto Me—of thanksgiving‚ of love, of praise—these are times of affection between you and Me. I would not reserve all of our love just for the bed of love, but I desire that we would have times of affection throughout the day.

30. "How is it that the children know that their mother and their father love one another? They are not there to watch them in the bed of love‚ but they see them throughout the day speaking sweet words one to another, or holding or kissing. And so shall ye be an ensample and show forth our love together, not just to your children, but to My children everywhere.

31. "So set these times that ye unitedly will be affectionate with Me—times of praise and of thanksgiving. I desire that ye would come before Me, morning, noon and evening, just for a pause‚ for a bit of affection with Me. This shall be a sign of your love unto Me. This shall be a sign unto others of your love for Me.

32. "If a child knew that at certain times of the day he could go to see his father, and that his father would dispense into his hand a special gift, the child would be faithful to go unto the father day by day at the specified time. And though ye see not the gift that I will bestow upon you, ye must come in faith, believing that I will bestow upon you that which ye need. For as ye show your love unto Me, so will I bestow upon you My blessings and all that ye need!

33. "I have many blessings to give unto you, tangible blessings that ye will see—blessings of support, of contacts, of friends—and blessings that ye see not—blessings in the Spirit, spiritual gifts, blessings of peace, blessings of wisdom, blessings of understanding, blessings of miracles and of the power of My anointing.

34. "Though this may seem a sacrifice unto you, to come unto Me and to take a few minutes in praise, in thanksgiving‚ in adoration, in worship and in affection of the Spirit, I will be well pleased. And it will be My pleasure to give unto you the blessings of My Spirit.

35. "For I am trying to teach you, My children, the importance of your relationship with Me. For I know ye have given your lives unto Me, and now I am asking that ye would give unto Me your love, your will, your spirit. As you give these unto Me, I will bestow upon you that which ye seek, the power and the anointing to become the vessels of God that I wish for you to be.

36. "I am asking for your love, I am asking for your time. I am asking that besides time spent with Me in the bed of love, in earnest communion with Me, that ye spend time with Me in periods of loving affection as a testimony of your love unto Me, and as a testimony of the blessings of God poured out upon those that take the time with Me.

37. "For as the neighbors know not of the time that a man and a wife spend in the bed of love, so do those that look upon you know not of the intimacy that we have together. But as they look upon the couple loving one another by being affectionate with one another, thus do they know that they have this love for one another. And so I wish for all to see your love for Me, and thus will they understand when I pour forth My blessings upon you.

38. "So come, let us be affectionate one with another! Think it not a sacrifice. I would that it would be a token that ye do all together: mid-morning, noon and evening. And I will bless you and I will pour forth My blessings upon you, and it will be a testimony of your love for Me, and of My love for you.

39. "So hear the voice of My Spirit saying unto you, `It is time to pray! It is time to pray!' And stop, take a moment, hug Me in the Spirit, kiss Me in the Spirit, praise Me in the Spirit.—And ye will create a vacuum for the blessings of My Spirit!" (End of prophecy.)

The Blessings Will Come Down As the Praise Goes Up!

40. (Mama:) Thank You Jesus for that marvelous confirmation and explanation! We understand even better now why this time is so important to You. You have shown us so many good reasons for it! But most of all, Lord, we want to do it because You want and need our love!—You, Who have given us everything, are just seeking a little recognition and appreciation, just a little love and affection in return. How ungrateful we would be if we didn't want to please You in this way!

41. That was an extremely significant statement the Lord made about why the Muslim kingdom has been expanding!—Did you get what it was? He said that it was because they seek Him and they cry out to Him. Even if it is only a ritual for many of them, it is a sincere ritual and one that they think is pleasing to God—as He has just told us it is! Probably one of the greatest reasons for that is because it is a wonderful witness and testimony that they believe in a higher power and that they are not depending upon their own strength, but that they are seeking God's strength and His will!

42. Just as He is presenting the Muslims to us as a good sample for us to follow in this respect, so He wants us to be a good sample of praising prayer to the rest of His children worldwide. He wants to get plenty of mileage out of this!—He doesn't want it "done in a corner!" Since we are a Christian group who can be expected to be in the news at any moment‚ due to the controversy that surrounds us, the Lord wants to make us the greatest testimony that He possibly can! He knows that we will be publicized and He wants us to be prepared to show His ways to the world. He wants us to be the very best sample of what true Christians should be like, because we will be seen and heard!

43. When our voice is heard, He wants it to be a clear, resounding signal of the truth in every way! Just as we are an example of communal living; of going to any lengths to win a soul for Him; of the value of human life in our many children; of our message of Heaven and the Endtime; of our laying down our lives for the needy in our "consider the poor" ministries; of our active witnessing worldwide; so He wants us to be an "example of prayer—praiseful prayer," as well as loving Him with all our hearts!

44. He explains that there has to be more to a relationship than just sex in the bedroom, or it won't last very long or be very fruitful. Our interaction with our loved ones needs to be loving the rest of the time as well. Just as Peter and I acknowledge each other and our other loved ones throughout the day with a pat or a little hug or a kiss as we pass by each other—as all of our loving One Wife Family should do—so the Lord wants us to take this kind of affection time with Him in the Spirit.

45. The Lord says that this display of public affection for Him is the way that others will know that we love Him, since they can't see us making love to Him behind closed doors. This is the way we should all be loving each other—with affection toward each other—as we go through our day. This not only assures us of each other's love, but it is a sign to our children that their mothers and fathers and aunts and uncles really do love each other! This is the same thing that the Lord wants us to show the rest of His children about our love for Him in the Spirit. Since they can't see how we love the Lord in the privacy of our own quarters‚ He wants them to be able to see it in our affection times together—when they are visiting us in our Homes, or we are visiting them in theirs, or wherever we are, that we can witness our love for Him.

46. The Lord says that if we knew of the priceless gifts that we were going to receive by merely taking these few moments of time daily to acknowledge Him by loving Him and praising Him, we would be full of enthusiasm and looking forward to it every time it rolls around! He promises us a wealth of blessings if we will just show forth His praises to the world and to our children. Go back again and see what they are! You'll be amazed!—They are so wonderful!

47. Now what is He doing in all this? Besides making us a witness of prayer to His children everywhere and our children, He says He is trying to teach us the importance of our relationship with Him. We have given our service to Him‚ now He wants our love and our will and our spirit. He asks for our love and our time in the bed of love, and also in these short times of affection. To the world, both Christian and non–Christian, it will not only be a great testimony of praising prayer as we lift up our prayers to Him in song and word, but it will be a testimony of how His blessings are poured out upon those who take time to praise Him.

48. He wants people to see you taking this time with Him‚ and then He wants them to see you receiving the blessing! He wants to make us a witness to them at the same time as He is fulfilling His promises to us. It sounds like a tremendous plan, doesn't it?! He's got to bless us, not only for our own sakes, but for the witness that He wants it to be to others.

49. He's pretty clear that He wants us to do it three times a day: "Mid–morning, noon, and evening!" And He wants us to do it all together‚ for He says, "So set these times that ye unitedly will be affectionate with Me—times of praise and of thanksgiving. I desire that ye would come before Me, morning, noon and evening, just for a pause‚ for a bit of affection with Me."

50. Don't you think that 10 in the morning, 12 noon and 5 in the afternoon would be good times to set for your affection times where He says to "hug Him in the Spirit, kiss Him in the Spirit, and praise Him in the Spirit"? At 10:00, most everybody should be up and finished with devotions. At noon you probably won't be eating lunch yet, but even if you are, it is only five minutes and lunch should be able to wait. At 5:00 most people should be done with their naps, so it seems like these might be appropriate times. The Muslims not only prescribe set times, but they have very rigid requirements which include exact procedures on how to wash before prayer, the laying out of the prayer rug, the position of the body, and the wording of the prayer.

51. Our only requirements will be that it should be three times at specific hours of the day for not more than five minutes each time, and confined to only praise and love words and songs to Jesus (not intercessory prayer or making requests of Him). The reason we must limit these to five minutes is not that we would not like to praise the Lord more; it is just that many of us, once we get started praising, like to keep going and could get very carried away, when there are many other important things to do for the Lord as well! Therefore, we will have to keep it to five minutes.

52. So how does that sound? Will you try it? If you have any doubts after all that the Lord has said, I am sorry!—But why don't you just try it and prove the Lord herewith, and see if He will not pour out the blessings that He has promised! Everyone can participate, even the babies and toddlers! Isn't that wonderful? We can teach our babies from the very beginning the importance of taking special time for praising Jesus.

53. Please understand that in giving you these three specific times—10 A.M., 12 noon and 5 P.M.—it's not to say that you couldn't modify these occasionally in a given situation. For example, it may not always be appropriate to stop for praise time when you're in the middle of hearing from the Lord in a prayer and prophecy session, or if you're on the phone, or while giving a speech to the Lions Club—just because it's 10 A.M.! The main reason we're setting these appointed praise times is simply that by scheduling these times, we can all get into a good habit of praising the Lord! If you can't hold your praise time at one of the scheduled times because it's not possible or isn't appropriate for some reason, just have it earlier or later when it is possible and appropriate.

54. We told you in the Charter that we'd let you know when something is a new rule. (See Responsibilities of WS Leadership and Publication Homes, section C, pg. 73.) We feel that having these praise times three times a day should be added to our Family Love Charter under the Required Meetings and Activities section. You can start with these wonderful new praise times right away! (See Charter Amendment #8, LNF 234, coming soon.) Praise time will become an official Fundamental Family Rule with the publication of this amendment. However, you can begin this wonderful new practice as soon as you have received this Letter and have read and discussed it together as a Home.

55. I learned a little song when I was a tiny tot in Sunday school. It goes:

Daniel was a man of prayer,

Daily prayed he three times.

Till one day they had him cast

In the den of lions.

Even then, in the den,

Fears could not alarm him.

God just shut the lions' mouths‚

So they could not harm him!

56. Test Him, and see what praiseful prayer will do for you! See if it won't shut the mouths of the lions in your life, so they won't devour you! But most of all, do it because you love Him and because you want to make Him happy!—Because it pleases Him! Amen? Will you do it? Thanks! I love you and I'm proud of you!

Confirmation from Dad to Schedule Our Praise Times!

57. Now here is a special surprise!—Get ready for a new MO Letter! Shortly after receiving the above prophecy and discussing it with others who still had some question about whether we here at the top should set your praise times worldwide, or whether we should let you schedule them yourselves, we decided to pray again about this question to make sure we were getting it right and we were interpreting correctly what the Lord had told us. In other words, we wanted a clarification on what the Lord had said about the scheduling of the times in the above prophecy. So Peter and I prayed again and here is what we got:

58. (Prophecy, Dad speaking:) "I wrote plenty about praising the Lord, because I knew it was important. My mother was always faithful to praise, and to impart to me the need to praise. I tried to impart that need to you, too, and I tried to praise the Lord all through my life because I knew it was important‚ I knew it was uplifting. I knew it did me good, and I was sure the Lord appreciated it and loved me for it. But being on this side I see much more how important it is and how much it means to the Lord and how pleased He is with it!

59. "It's very important Here in Heaven‚ for we praise the Lord all the time! It's very natural. It's part of being Here, it's what we do. When you see it from this side, you see how important it is and how much you want to do it. It's beautiful to hear the praises of the Lord that people give. It's beautiful to hear the many ways to praise the Lord Here‚ and to see that all things praise the Lord. It's beautiful! It's wonderful! I can't even explain it.

60. And as you praise, you partake of this heavenly atmosphere, the atmosphere of praise that we have Here! You partake of it and you participate in it. It's a link between you there and us Here.

61. "So though I said in my time there that praise was important, I say now it is even much more important than I told you then! I had a glimpse of it‚ I knew the need‚ but now I see much more the strength and the power that lies in praise.—Not only the power to give you victory and to uplift your heart, but the power that it has to draw power from the heavenly realm. It's as if praise opens the channel to the heavenlies that allows the heavenly blessings to pour down, so that you don't just praise your way to victory, you also praise down the blessings of God!

62. "When I was with you and wanted to get something done, I just said, `Do it!' I said, `Do it now!' I demanded it, because I knew that if I just left it up to everyone, it probably wouldn't get done. I know you're not exactly doing things that way now, and that's fine; in fact, it's good, because the Lord is moving differently with you. But there are some things and some times when you just have to put your foot down and say, `Do it now!’ Or, `Do it this way,' to make sure that people will do what they really need to do.

63. "So my advice to you is set the times and do it now!—Because the sooner there is more praise, the sooner there are more blessings! The channels of blessings will be open as the voice of praise rises into the heavenlies! So sing those praises‚ pray those praises, praise those praises, pour forth those praises unto the Lord, and you will see the blessings of God come down upon you in new ways, in manifold ways, in abundant ways!

64. "In unity there is great strength. In unity, in unison, there is yieldedness. And in praising at the times appointed, there is greater testimony of the unity and unison of the Family.

65. "I am so happy to see my children becoming children of praise and children of prayer and children of love, praising and praying and loving the Lord just like I always wanted them to! And as you praise and pray and love Him, He will love you in return and pour forth His blessings like you've never seen before!

66. "So join us Here with praises unto God! Join us Here as you tell Jesus of your love, and as you thank Him for all that He has done. And He will join us as we help to pour forth blessing upon blessing unto you!" (End of prophecy.)

67. (Mama:) Thank You Jesus! Hallelujah! Thank you, Dad! What a wonderful blessing that was! Family, aren't you thrilled that Dad would speak to us like this? What a treat! What a privilege! He is still around just like he said he would be, and he is still leading the Family just like he said he would! Whew, what a relief! From his vantage point, he sure can do a much better job of it than anyone here could. He did a great job when he was here, but he can do an even greater job now! It's just wonderful the things that he can show us!

68. I guess we wondered how we could ever have anything more wonderful and more exciting than what he had already shown us in the Letters when he was here! They are treasure chests upon treasure chests of inestimable value! But now he is showing us even more marvelous and amazing things! Now he is seeing by sight, and not just by faith! His faith "sight" was very good, but now his "face to face" sight is even clearer and we get such a wonderful benefit from it as he continues to love us and teach us and guide us from There. Oh, the marvelous, marvelous plans of the Lord!

69. Dad says here that he praised the Lord all through his life because he realized the value of it, he knew it was important. He knew that it did him good, and he was sure that the Lord appreciated it! Now being There and actually seeing how things work behind the scenes, he is seeing how much more important it was than he ever dreamed or imagined! He says, "It's very important Here in Heaven, for we praise the Lord all the time. It is very natural. It's part of being Here!—It's what we do!"

70. Now that is quite a statement! So if you don't like to praise, you won't be happy in Heaven! Well, it may feel a little uncomfortable now, but as you step out by faith and do it, you'll feel better and better and you'll be getting more and more prepared for the major activity Up There. Dad says there are so many ways to praise the Lord There. Everybody and everything praises the Lord! It is so beautiful and wonderful he can't even explain it to us, but he says that when we praise, we partake of the heavenly atmosphere and we participate in it! It's an actual link between us and the heavenly world and the heavenly inhabitants! Amazing, isn't it?

71. Just think‚ you can have a real connection with Heaven through your praise‚ and you can be part of the lives of those There! Not only that, but Dad says there is so much strength and power in praise! Not only do you get the victory when you praise‚ but you get the blessings of God in so many ways!

72. Then Dad starts answering us on our question about the scheduling of the praise periods. He says that when he was here with us he would just tell us to "do it now" because he knew it was the right thing and he would have to just put his foot down if he wanted to make sure something got done! If he had left it up to us, it might not have gotten done, or at least not so quickly. But he says now this is a new day, and says it's fine not to be doing things in that way any more; in fact, it's good, because the Lord is moving differently with us now in having people make more of their own choices and be responsible for their own actions.

73. But Dad says that in this case, we, your leaders, need to make the decision‚ and that there are some times when we just have to put our foot down. When we know that something is good and something is needed and something is very important, we just have to issue the proclamation. If we know for certain what the Lord wants, we simply have to tell you what it is! We don't decide it, neither should you decide it. It's the Lord who decides it‚ and we all need to obey what He says without questioning‚ without voting, without argument!

74. Dad says that not only should we set the times, but we should do it now, because the sooner there is more praise, the sooner there will be more blessings! And listen to this!—He says that in unity there is great strength, and in unity there is yieldedness. It's like "one can chase a thousand, two can put ten thousand to flight‚" and many more than one or two are an army that can't be defeated! In working together we are yielding to one another. In doing what the Lord asks together, we're not only yielding to one another, but we are yielding to the Lord. Having our praise time worldwide at the same hour of the day will be a testimony to others of the unity of the Family.

75. And isn't it wonderful to hear that Dad is happy with us! Aren't you happy that you are making Dad happy? Isn't that the desire of your heart? Because you know that if you're making Dad happy‚ you're making the Lord happy, because Dad only wants you to do what the Lord wants! And you know if you're making the Lord happy, you're making Dad happy. Dad says it makes him so happy to see you becoming what he always wanted you to be!—Children of praise, children of prayer, and children of love, praising and praying and loving the Lord just like he always wanted!

76. He asks us as a Family to thank Jesus for His love, and praise Him for what He has done for us, and Jesus will join with Dad and our other heavenly helpers Up There as they help to pour forth blessing upon blessing on us! Hallelujah! Thank You Jesus! Praise the Lord!

77. You are wonderful, Lord, and we love You so much and we want to praise You! We want to thank You, we want to love You! We want to sing love songs to You! We want to sing praise songs to You! We know it doesn't matter to You if we don't have much musical ability and we can't sing very well, because we just want to please You. We want to make You happy, and we want You to delight in us! We want You to take pleasure in us and be thrilled with us, because we delight to do Your will! Hallelujah! Help us not to disappoint You, Jesus, but to do it with all our heart and soul and might! Thank You for giving us this wonderful way to praise You and to be a witness to the world of our love for You and Your love for us!

Lifting Our Arms to the Lord!—Is It Important?

78. In the above prophecies the Lord and Dad have been explaining to us how important praise is, and urging us to start taking more time for it.—Assuring us that we will be richly blessed and our rewards will be great if we will take more time to give Him the honor, the glory, the credit, the appreciation, the thanks and the love, hugs, and kisses that He deserves.

79. Besides our singing songs to Him and our saying praise words to Him‚ there is another part of praise that we very often neglect‚ and that is raising our hands to Him. We may do it sometimes, but if we do, it's often because we just think that's what we're supposed to do‚ not really knowing why we're doing it. Well, maybe now you have some idea of the reason for it, because we talked about it in "Just Say Yes to Jesus!" (See ML #2989:80-83, GN 630).

80. But perhaps you still wonder why it's necessary for us to stick our hands up in the air. What good does it do? You've probably been given the verse‚ "Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and bless the Lord" (Psa.134:2)‚ and maybe you've read in the Bible about how Moses and the Children of Israel were winning the battle as long as Moses had his hands raised to the Lord. But when he got tired and put them down, the Israelites began losing the battle, so Moses' helpers held up his arms for him. As long as they continued to do this‚ the enemy continued to be defeated, and as a result, God's people finally won the victory. (See Exodus 17:11,12.) It was symbolic, but he had to literally do it to symbolize their dependence upon the Lord.

81. You say‚ "Well, I don't think the Lord expects us to sit around holding up our arms in the air all the time. We would never get anything else done!" You're right, you couldn't; and you're right, He doesn't expect you to keep your arms up all the time, and I don't blame you for your question. Even after the Scriptural examples and what I told you in "Just Say Yes to Jesus," I still wondered about it myself!

82. I wondered too if this lifting our arms to the Lord was really important to Him, or if it was just something we do as part of our ceremony or tradition. It seemed like a nice symbolic gesture, but maybe it was optional and not really necessary. Maybe it was one of those things we could take or leave. So even though I knew the importance of it when I talked to you in "Just Say Yes to Jesus," I still wanted more confirmation, a further explanation.

83. I wanted to have more conviction to know that when I was raising my hands to Him in praise, it was really significant! The Lord had inspired me with some of the answers when I talked to you about it then, but I needed a confirmation. I wanted to have a clear explanation of the significance of raising our hands to the Lord.

84. So I prayed, telling the Lord that I didn't want to be guilty of neglecting to do something that would bring His blessing if it was going to really help us, and if it was important to Him, and if it was something that He looks for, and He really wants us to do‚ and it will make Him happy. If it really was important, I didn't want to pass it off as something we could take or leave and just say it is a nice symbolic gesture. I asked the Lord to show us its meaning and show us if it was something that He wanted us to put more emphasis on. Following is our prayer and what the Lord said:

85. (Mama prays:) Lord, when we are raising our hands to You, it gives us a feeling of surrender. It also seems to signify a need for You and that we can't do things without You. It's like a reaching up for You. It's just a little physical thing, but apparently little physical things are sometimes very important to You. It's like the words that we say—they're so important. Just hearing and mentally assenting to something doesn't usually seem to be enough, we have to say those things with our mouths to You. Your Word says, "With my mouth will I make known Thy faithfulness" (Psa.89:1). And Dad often said, "Say it out loud!" He said to praise out loud and do it in the physical, and then that brings on the resultant spiritual blessing.

86. We may lift up our hands in praise when we are all in prayer together or hearing from You together, but do we really think about the significance of it and what it means? Well, Lord, You can help us to understand so that we will be more motivated to do it. (Peter: Yes, Lord, we really do want to know, because we want to praise You with all of our being, and if this will help us to do a better job, that is what we want to do! Please, Lord, show us how to love You more, teach us what to do. You did say to ask. You said, "Ask and it shall be given." Mama loves asking!)

87. (Mama:) I am asking You, Lord, and I'm turning on the faucet, because I want to sprinkle the faucet water all around! (Peter: Mama's got such faith, Jesus, she just puts the glass under there and somehow or another she thinks that if she turns the handle something is going to come!) (Mama: ) You said it would, Lord‚ and we believe it! (Peter: And You honor her faith‚ Lord. Thank You Jesus! Hallelujah!) (Mama: ) Hallelujah! Speak to us, Lord! We love You, Jesus! (Peter: We come before You‚ Jesus, and ask that You please do speak to us. I'm so tired and weak, but that doesn't matter because I'm just a channel.—Please give me a clear one‚ Lord! Rebuke any disturbances or distractions and help us to hear Your voice.)

Beggar Prophecy!

88. (Prophecy:) "The fathers of old understood these things better because of the times that they lived in. But if you were to walk down the street and on the side there was a beggar just sitting‚ looking down, you might notice, but you might just pass by. But then you come upon another beggar whose arms are outstretched. She is sitting below and you are walking above, so her hands are raised, and she is saying, `Oh, please, give! I need! Supply for me! Help me!' She is vocal and animated and has her hands stretched upwards, and you would notice and you would give, for you would see her desperation and her need‚ and you would hear of it. Her hands would be there and you could not miss seeing her. So are ye when ye raise your hands unto Me. For ye are seeking and ye are asking and ye are begging.

89. "Moses had to hold his hands up because he was seeking and begging Me for the victory. As Solomon in the presence of all Israel knelt down and raised his hands unto Me, he was saying to all, `I am but a beggar. I am nothing. (See 1Kings 8:54.) I am desperately seeking the help of the Lord our God.' It is a sign of submission unto Me. It is a sign that ye are but beggars, and I am as a rich man that can give you all that ye ask for, all that ye need.

90. "But it is also a sign of your love. For as you spread forth your arms, ye are also saying, `Come to me! I want You! I want to wrap my arms around You and hold You!' Ye stretch out your arms and ye beg for Me to come, and I will come unto you. Ye stretch out your arms and ye beg for the things that ye need, and I will pour forth unto you. For I look at it as a sign of your humility, your obeisance, of your honor unto Me, of your acknowledgment that ye are nothing and I am everything. It is a sign of your desire for Me, that ye want Me.

91. "It is also a sign of your joy when ye see Me and know that I am coming, as a little child who sees his father coming and stretches out his arms and runs and says, `Daddy! Daddy!' and holds him and hugs him as the father grasps him in his arms. It is the sign of a lover who lieth on the bed of love and calleth to her loved one and sayeth, `Oh‚ come, let me hold you! Let me ravish you, for I want you!'

92. "In each of these, it shows a sign of need: The lover on the bed with arms outstretched saying, `Come to me‚ I need thee!’; the little child running to the father saying, `Daddy‚ I need you! I need you to hold me. I need to feel your hug, your embrace‚ your strength!'; and the beggar on the street saying, `I need your help, for I am desperate!'

93. "So lift up your arms and hands in praise unto Me‚ and lift up your arms and your hands in need unto Me, and lift up your arms and your hands in love unto Me! I will always come unto you and answer you. For I love you and I need you and I want you, but I like to know that you need and want and desire Me.

94. "I love your signs of humility, because not only do ye humble yourself in My sight, but ye humble yourself in the sight of others, and he that humbleth himself, I will exalt.—With My answers and with My Love and with My strength and with My power!

95. "For ye all are as children‚ and it is difficult for you to understand the things of the Spirit without the things of the flesh. So I give you these little tokens, these little gestures, these little movements and motions to better help you to understand and to partake and enter in. For if your mind and your heart and your body partake, all three, it is much easier to be enveloped in the things of the Spirit. The actions take on meaning and they help you to enter in more and to give yourself—heart and mind, body and soul and strength—unto Me.

96. "For if your heart praises but your mind wanders, it is more difficult for Me to hear your cries. But when your heart praises and your mind is focused and your body participates with arms raised, as the beggar on the street, I notice and I hear and I come!

97. "So be not ashamed to humble yourself in My sight. Be not ashamed to do these little motions, just like little children are not ashamed when they learn a song and you give them motions‚ as it helps them focus on the song and keep their mind on it, and helps them enter in more. It helps them to be in unison with others, and they like it. So it is with you.

98. "Just be humble and raise your hands unto Me. As I pass by the beggar on the street and see the hands outstretched, I will reach down and take the hands and pull and lift the beggar up into My arms, and she shall become a beautiful woman, and I will hold her and I will love her and I will ravish her with My Love! This is a transformation from beggar to beauty, from rags to riches, from death to life!

99. "For this is the story of My Love—love that renews, love that regenerates, love that recreates! And this is what I wish to do with My children, to lift them from the rags of beggardom to the riches of bridedom!

100. "Those that seem in themselves to be rich and increased with goods will look in wonderment and say, `How can this beggar woman be transformed into a queen? How could He choose this one, this offal of society, when we are beautiful and jewel-studded, and when we are held in esteem and in honor?'

101. "Ah, but that is the mystery! Ye are raising your hands unto Me and begging, and they are rich and increased with goods. Ye will call Me with arms and legs outstretched on the bed of love, and they are just gathering together and ignoring Me. As I said, love begets love. So does the beggar love dearly the hand who feeds and the hand who gives. So does it draw My love, and we two become one." (End of prophecy.)

102. (Pictures that came with the prophecy:) The beggar was dark and wrapped in beggar rags, but when the Lord lifted her up, she became filled with light, with a white filmy dress. The little boy who came running to his daddy was about 2-1/2. He heard his daddy down the hall and he put out his arms and ran to him with all of his might!

103. (Mama prays:) Oh, Jesus!—Thank You for giving us such a wonderful answer! You didn't have to explain everything so thoroughly. You didn't have to give us those beautiful little pictures that portray so clearly why You are pleased with our praises. But thank You, thank You, thank You for answering us in this way and giving us these beautiful illustrations that we will never forget!—That we will remember each time we raise our hands to You! Jesus, You're so wonderful! We love You so much!

104. You always give us so much more than we could ask or think! We ask You for something and You fill us to overflowing! These little word pictures are so vivid and they're such love gifts to us! They help us to understand, and they motivate us to want to do what You want us to! They help us to see things the way You see them. You don't make us blindly do things just because You say we should do them‚ but You explain to us so clearly and patiently and simply why things are important. You're such a good sample to us, Lord, of the way we should be with others, so patiently explaining things to them.

105. You want us to know so we'll be more eager to please You. When I talked about this to the Family‚ I was on the right track (see "Just Say Yes to Jesus," GN 630), but thank You for filling in the details! Thank You for showing us more clearly why You want us to praise You, and how. Thank You for showing us the importance of it‚ and thank You for Your encouragement to do it. Thank You for understanding that it will be hard on our pride, that it is humbling, but that's the way we show our love for You, by expressing our need to You and not being ashamed to let others know that we need You. Thank You Jesus!

106. You're so wonderful, Jesus! Thank You for revealing these precious things to us, Your beggars. Instead of just reaching down and dropping some pennies into our pot‚ You have chosen to reach down and take hold of our outstretched hands and lift us up to You, transforming us and making us into Your beautiful queen! Oh, Jesus, only You would do that! Only You would have love enough to do that! Instead of just filling up our little need, You do so much more than we could've ever imagined! How wonderful of You, Lord, to pick us up and take us into Your house, and into Your room, into Your bedchamber, and into Your bed, and into Your arms and into Your heart and into Your body! Thank You‚ Jesus, for loving us so much! It's so wonderful, Lord! Such a miracle!

Cry Out to Him as His Desperate Beggar, His Desirous Lover, His Expectant Child!

107. Doesn't that make you want to praise Him even more, dear Family? Doesn't that make you love Him even more? Look how much He loves you!—He has such a need for you and He wants you so much that He's doing everything He can to make it easy for you to love Him in return! If He can humble Himself by asking for your love—the great God of the Universe wanting and needing you so much that He's willing to do everything possible to get you to love Him—how can your heart not be completely melted and completely won by such unfathomable love? I know mine is! I just can't understand how He can have such love for us, but I know He does. He shows it. You see it right here in these wonderful Words.

108. Long ago in "God's Beggars" Dad said, "Even the Lord's a beggar: He begs you to get saved, He begs you to love Him‚ He begs you to give your life for Him! He has to beg you to save you from Hell, think of that!" (ML #1885:59, Vol.15). Dad understood the great love and humility of Jesus! The Lord is asking us to show our need for Him by begging Him for His help, but He doesn't ask us to do anything that He hasn't done. He's humbled Himself to beg for our love!—Amazing! He says He needs us and desires us, and He asks us if we will please show Him our need for Him by praising Him with our whole hearts and minds and spirits and bodies.

109. Isn't it just absolutely thrilling to hear from Jesus like this? We not only have yummy new MO Letters, but we have these tremendous Letters from Jesus! It's so much love that it's just pouring all over us, so many special gifts of love because He loves us!

110. What things stood out to you the most in the things that He said above? Well‚ I'm sure we'll never forget those three word-pictures that He painted so vividly: The beggar on the street, reaching out her hands saying, "I need your help to live! I'm desperate!"; the lover on the bed with outstretched arms saying, "Come to me! I need thee!"; and the child running to the father, reaching out his arms and saying, "Daddy, I need you! I need to feel your hugs, your strength, your security."

111. Sometimes we're like a beggar on the street who's desperate for survival; sometimes we're like a lover in need of her lover's love; sometimes we're like a child in need of his father's security and strength and protection. But in each of these things we are seeking and begging: begging for our daily necessities, begging for the love we need from Him, begging for His security and assurance.

112. He says that when we plead with Him to help us and we stretch our hands out to Him, He will notice us and He will give to us because He will see our desperation and our need and He will hear us calling out to Him, and He will see our hands outstretched. We will be saying, "I am but a beggar‚ I am nothing. I am desperately seeking the help of the Lord our God!"

113. What does the Lord say that raising our hands to Him is a sign of? Number one, it's a sign that we are poor and needy and that we have nothing. Number two, it's a sign that we are begging for His help. Number three, it's a sign that we know that He is rich and can give us everything we need. Number four, it's a sign of our surrender, yielding ourselves fully to Him. Number five, it's a sign of our love and desire for Him! We're saying to Him, "Come to me! Come, I want You! I want to wrap my arms around You and hold You!" Number six, it's a sign of our humility. Number seven, it's a sign of our honoring Him. Number eight, it's a sign of our joyful expectancy as we reach out to receive His hugs and kisses.

114. So He says, "Lift up your arms and hands in praise unto Me, and lift up your arms and hands in need unto Me, and lift up your arms and hands in love unto Me! I will always come unto you and answer you. For I love you and I need you and I want you, but I like to know that you need and want and desire Me."

115. In our lifting up our hands in praise we are saying that we need Him and we know that He is everything and we are nothing; in our lifting up our hands in need to Him we are saying that we can't survive without His supply; and in our lifting up our hands in love to Him we are telling Him that we need His love.

116. Now‚ similar to what I mentioned above about praise times, there may be times when it's not appropriate nor needed to raise your hands in praise; for example, if it's 10 A.M. and you're walking down a busy city street! Please don't feel bound by the law of having to raise your hands every time you praise the Lord, especially if circumstances are such that it would appear strange to outsiders. I'd much rather that you praise the Lord in your heart in sincerity and love rather than put off praising the Lord out loud with arms outstretched when conditions would not warrant such an outward show of devotion! Just don't be too proud to praise the Lord openly when circumstances do permit!

117. He says that this sign of humility is something that He loves, because it not only shows Him that you need Him, but it shows others that you need Him. He says‚ "He that humbleth himself‚ I will exalt.—With My answers and with My love and with My strength and with My power!"

118. He has given us these beautiful illustrations of the beggar, of the lover, and of the child‚ so that we can better understand our need for Him, and so that we can more fully participate in begging for His help. He wants us to praise Him with our whole body‚ as well as our mind and heart. He says that if we are not fully focused on Him and giving Him our complete attention‚ it's harder for Him to hear our cries for help. If you're just praising in a half-hearted manner, you're not going to be able to get His attention as well as if you are participating with your heart, your body‚ your mind and strength.

119. If you're praising Him with your lips and your mind is focused on Him and your hands are raised, He says "you can more easily be enveloped in the things of the Spirit." He says that "the actions take on meaning," and they help you to enter in more. He says if you praise Him with all your heart and body and mind, He "will notice and will hear and will come."

120. He says again, "Be not ashamed." There's nothing to be ashamed of! Little children aren't ashamed when you give them motions to go along with a song. He says‚ "Just be humble and raise your hands unto Me." As He sees your hands outstretched to Him, He will reach down, take your hands and lift you up into His arms, and you will become a beautiful bride and He will hold you and will love you!

121. And now He gives us the most amazing picture of what happens as a result of our willingness to humble ourselves and to lift our hands and call out desperately for His help. He says that as we do this, a transformation will take place—a change from beggar to beauty, from rags to riches, and from death to life! He says His great love will recreate us, it will renew us, it will regenerate us, and we will be lifted from the rags of beggardom up to the riches of bridedom!

122. And again, as He has in other prophecies, He makes mention of many in the church system with all their wealth and confidence in their righteousness. He says they will look upon us with wonder and say, "How can this beggar woman be transformed into a queen? How can He choose this one?" They call us the "offal of society," which means refuse, waste stuff. The Lord says they can't figure it out because it's a mystery, but He says, "I'm telling you the answer!: It's that you are raising your hands to Me, and you are begging and acknowledging that you're nothing and you need Me desperately, while they are rich and increased in goods. You are not too proud to call Me with arms and legs outstretched in the bed of love, while they're just gathering together and ignoring Me."

123. As we stretch out our arms to Him and call out for Him, so He will meet our need in abundance, and so we will love Him dearly for feeding us and giving to us. And as we love Him more, He will love us more, and we two shall become one. Thank You Jesus! Thank You Lord! So precious!

124. So don't be afraid to be God's beggars! It's a wonderful position to be in, it's a wonderful privilege! Because then He can reach down and raise you up and transform you into His beautiful bride! It will be a glorious transformation from beggardom to bridedom, from rags to riches! So be willing to raise your hands and cry out to Him as His desperate beggar, His desirous lover, His expectant child, and see what happens. You won't be disappointed!

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family