Pray What God Says

Pray What God Says

by

Christine Brooks Martin

Copyright 2010 Christine Brooks Martin

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

For information or to contact the author, write to:

CHRISTINE BROOKS MARTIN

P.O. Box 1172

Lakewood, CA 90714

[email protected]

www.praywhatgodsays.weebly.com

Unless otherwise noted, all scripture references are from the King James Version of the Bible.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dedications & Acknowledgements

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1 The Cry

CHAPTER 2 The Lie

CHAPTER 3 The Truth

CHAPTER 4 The Word

CHAPTER 5 Prayer

CHAPTER 6

Topical Scriptures to Pray What God Says

SPIRITUAL GROWTH

Honoring the Glory of God

Righteousness

Anointing / Presence of Holy Spirit

Obedience to God’s Will

Know and Do God’s Work/Labor

Putting God First

Thanksgiving/ Praise/Worship

Serving the Lord

Deliverance

Restoration

The Inner Life

Consecration

Growth

Strength

Trust

Forgiveness

Resisting Satan's Lies

Fruit of the Spirit

Knowledge

Wisdom

Understanding

Confidence

Commitment

Diligence

Acceleration / Elevation

Perseverance / Patience

Steadfastness

Victory

Favor

Power

Spiritual Gifts

Purpose

Vision

Courage

Attainment / Possessing the Future

FAMILY

Husbands & Wives

Singleness

Families

Children

Orphans / Children of Singles / Widows

FINANCES

Financial Growth

Abundance & Increase

Blessings

Prosperity

Direction / Guidance

Making Decisions

Possessing Property

Overcoming Indebtedness

CAREER

Career Decision

Employment

Faithful in Service & Stewardship

Career Success

Working Senior

STUDENTS

Students

Focus / Concentration

Success

HEALTH

Physical Liberty

Breaking Strongholds

Deliverance

Health and Healing

Mental and Physical Strength

Rest

Barrenness

Transition

Self-esteem

Peace

Fear

Rejection

Mistakes

Guilt

Persecution

Addictions and Compulsions

Discouragement

Sadness

Bitterness

Emotional Damage

Frustration

Insecurity

Intimidation

Jealousy

Loneliness

Anger

Pride

Weariness & Burdens

Comfort

Walking in Love

Offenses

Temptation

Ungodly Relationships

Abuse (Physical / Emotional)

INTERCESSION

Overcoming Strongholds

Watchfulness

Revival

Unity

Church Growth

Nations

Leaders & Those in Authority

Missions

The Unsaved

The Backslidden

False Accusation / Slander

People in Crisis

The Bereaved

Hospitalized

Legal Matters

Evangelism

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

DEDICATIONS

Pray What God Says is dedicated to the memory of:

Bessie Pennington

John & Mae C. Brooks

Dollie Lee Martin

Mother Lavonia Verner

Bishop David Tillman

&

Ocie Jeff Jefferson

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I thank my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for my sons, Fontay, Kevin and David; my grandchildren – Treveon, Javon, Jason, Sophia and Joshua. Chavilla, my daughter-in-law and prayer partner, you are precious to me, so thank you for our Naomi/Ruth relationship.

A special thank you to my best friends:

Cheryl Tillman-Lee, for praying and waiting 13 years in faith for me to say yes to salvation;

Dr. Daniel Horton, for your love, encouragement and the inspiration to write that chapter;

Sandrah Green, your wisdom and consolation kept me out of the corner;

And Edward Wilson, for always demonstrating joy in the high and low places.

I love you!:

To my mother, Annie Mae Straughter, your sacrifice of years without me directed my path to Jesus, who brought us back to one another;

To Prosperity, my mentor and spiritual mother;

My first co-pastor Estella Tillman, who handed over the reins of Wednesday morning intercessory prayer to my charge;

Dorothy Daniels, thank you for introducing me to fasting, travailing prayer and shut-ins;

Apostle Dr. Robbie Horton, my pastor, for coaching and arming me for new realms and dimensions of faith;

Dr. Marea Channel, associate pastor, for your motivating grace;

To my trenches and prayer wall partners, Minister Daisy Martin-Bell, Prophetess Monique Hurd, Evangelist Charmaine E. Wright and Evangelist Sheryl Hamilton.

And to my church family at Anointed Connection (A.O.C.O.) International Ministries.

Dr. Garon Harden and Dr. Bettye Jean Harden of Greater Open Door C.O.G.I.C., I appreciate your tender love and wonderful instruction for my life upon my return to Los Angeles.

INTRODUCTION

Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.

Mark 10:15

Just before my sixth birthday, my father passed away one evening while watching his favorite television program. In the days to follow, I was bewildered by my first encounter with death, then overwhelmed with fear that my mother would succumb as well after witnessing multiple fainting episodes and her inconsolable grief.

I slipped into the comfort of self-imposed silence and isolation. In the height of the day, I could be found sitting in the backyard swing pondering the whole situation while gazing at cloud formations. In the evening I staked out the sixth rung of the foyer staircase. From there I could peer into the living room and see my sleeping father. For two days he had been laid out for viewing at our home so family, friends, and co-workers could come to pay their last respects. I felt it was of benefit and necessity to maintain the vantage point from the stairs until bedtime in the event he was to awaken. I dared not miss what was inevitably unrequited expectation.

The day before dad's funeral, my mom’s friend who we called Aunt Bessie decided to break my solitude by joining me in the backyard. She quietly watched me swing for what seemed like hours. Finally, I broke days of silence by asking her why my father could not wake up. I simply wanted him to wake up so mom would stop crying and we could be happy once again.

She said it was my father's time to go to a place called heaven and live with someone named Jesus Christ. And it was possible for everyone to do the same when it was their time to go, she added. Immediately, I thought of my grieving mother and worried about her leaving me all alone so she could join my father. But Aunt Bessie reassured me that it was not her time yet and she would eventually get better. The most comforting thing I heard however was that Jesus was taking care of my beloved father and this Jesus would be watching over me from heaven like a father, for the rest of my life.

Immediately, the floodgates burst open with many questions. I had a knack for intense interrogation (which my granddaughter has inherited). Aunt Bessie answered what she could sufficiently enough though, for me to become enamored with Jesus Christ. He could not be seen, she said, but I could talk to Him at any time.

Instantly my perplexities about death and fear for my mother's life, was gone and I could not explain the happiness that engulfed me. Although I missed my father and realized I would never experience his demonstrations of love for me again, I was no longer sad or afraid. My adolescent heart had experienced what I now know was inexplicable joy and peace.

I didn’t know it at the time, but I had just been introduced to the tangibility of God and the rudimentary elements of prayer. With child-like faith I entered the gate of His kingdom by embracing the words I heard from His vessel of love, Aunt Bessie.

I grew into adulthood, living a self-pleasing life for most of it. But, it was in the living room of a dear friend (who eventually became my spiritual mother and mentor), that I was radically transformed. I was baptized by the Holy Spirit during a prayer accepting His salvation. An insatiable hunger to commune with God through His Word and times of prayer marked my new life.

As it is possible for anyone, through wisdom, knowledge and understanding garnered from the scriptures, prayer and life experiences, I have received the progressive inculcating, reality, benefits and power of prayer. The details of that process and progress would fill more journals than I could possibly write.

The intent of this guide however, is to reintroduce just one of many keys to effective prayer. That is simply to Pray What God Says. I have found that availing yourself to this prayer key can and will gain you access to a divine response. That response will yield a greater relationship with God the Father, through His Son Jesus Christ, with the enabling assistance of the Holy Spirit. It will yield the nourishing and strengthening of the spirit man; the release of blessing, healing and deliverance for yourself and those for whom you pray; and much more. The much more is the perpetual release of divine preparations that eyes have not seen, that ears have not heard, nor has entered into the heart of those who chose to love God. And my heart says Come Lord Jesus.

This once enamored child is continually maturing--through praying what God says--into a woman in love, heart, mind, soul and spirit, with my Heavenly Father.

CHAPTER 1: The Cry

For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

Romans 8:15

Throughout Genesis 1, as God was creating all things and man, He said it was good. We have yet to observe or experience every expression or facet of goodness and beauty that was designed by our Creator in the heavens, on and in the earth, or through the animate and inanimate.

God created man in His image. He formed man’s body from the dust of the earth and breathed into him the breath of life. Man became a living soul with a God-given spirit, designed to be in direct and constant communion and relationship with his Creator.

Because of the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, we are all born with an Adamic (or sin) nature. Therefore, our soul is governed by the sensual realm. The soul is the mind, will and emotions. The five senses--see, hear, smell, touch and taste--influences and governs our soulish and behavioral responses. Our response to our senses are played out or evidenced through what we think, what we say and do, and how we feel.

There is an expression that says that the heart is the seat of the emotions. As our emotions are touched in various ways throughout life experiences, each one of us will express joy, hope, gratitude, affliction, fear, sickness, anger, disappointment, brokenness, etc. In concert with these expressions is a corresponding cry or sound from our spirit that will command or demand a response from something or someone greater than ourselves. God, who is the source of our spirit, desires that greater to be Himself.

Throughout the scriptures there are diverse ways this cry or sound is expressed.

1. To cry is to weep, shed tears, sob, bawl, whimper, whine, moan, groan, lament, grieve, mourn, or wail:

Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the LORD. 2 Chronicles 34:27

Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were. Psalm 39:12

For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. 2 Corinthians 5:4

Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. John 16:20

Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly. Psalm 31:9

Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me. Isaiah 38:14

2. To cry does not have to be caused by sadness or negative feelings as in the previous examples of scripture. It also means to sing out, or praise with joy or excitement:

And He said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear. Exodus 32:18

And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the LORD: therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing. Genesis 29:35

Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. Revelations 19:5

Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced: for God had made them rejoice with great joy: the wives also and the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off. Nehemiah 12:43

But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee. Psalm 5:11

And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost. Act 13:52

3. To cry means to utter with spontaneous expression:

When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry; Esther 4:1

Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and He cried. Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. And He wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard. And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence. Genesis 45:1-3

4. To cry means to proclaim, announce, shout, to mobilize or motivate:

And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. Leviticus 25:10

Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever. Jeremiah 3:12

5. To cry means to call out or call to:

The righteous call to God--

A Psalm of David. Unto thee will I cry, O LORD my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit. Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle. Psalm 28:1-2

I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me. Psalm 57:2

By reason of the multitude of oppressions they make the oppressed to cry: they cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty. Job 35:9

Even wicked people cry out but to other gods--

Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more. Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation. Judges 10:13-14

The Word says that everything created cries out--

Such as animals (beast):

And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged. Isaiah 13:22

He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry. Psalm 147:9

The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness. Joel 1:20

But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Jonah 3:8

Inanimate things cry out:

And He answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. Luke 19:40

Devils and unclean spirits cry out:

And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And He rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that He was Christ. Luke 4:41

For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. Acts 8:7

Cities cry out:

And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know. Genesis 18:20-21.

And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven. 1 Samuel 5:12

Even virtue cries out:

Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice? Proverbs 8:1

6. There is a cry in supplication for an immediate need, to implore, beg, plead, beseech, solicit, or entreat:

If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, for thy name is in this house, and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help. 2 Chronicles 20:9

And He said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. Exodus 33:18

I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how