All Scripture quotations are from the Authorized King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise indicated.

December 13, 2011

Talk

GOD

Mini-Book

Part 1

Printed for:

HANDS FOR JESUS

P.O. BOX 250494

MILWAUKEE, WI 53225-0494

For more information visit our Web sites at:

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www.handsforjesus.org

2011 by Merle E. Koepke

Introduction

In Luke 18:1 it says, "And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint." Jesus taught "...that men ought always to pray, and not to faint."

What is prayer? Prayer is talking, speaking to someone. Therefore, Jesus taught that people should always "talk to God." Everyday, all day long we should be talking to God. If we are born again Children of God, we should be talking to God all the time.

In Luke 6:12, speaking of Jesus, it says, "And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God." Jesus is our example. Whatever Jesus did we should do. Jesus went up into a mountain to talk to God all night long.

Why was it that Jesus lived here on earth for thirty-three and one-half years and had no sin? Satan had nothing on Him (John 14:30). Jesus never did His own will. Jesus only did the will of God the Father. Of Himself, Jesus said He could do nothing. Why not? Because Jesus always talked to His Father about everything in His life here on earth.

In Matthew 18:3,4, Jesus said, "Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven...Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Little children trust totally and completely in their parents. Little children do not try to do things by themselves. Little children go to their parents when they need something.

This is the way to enter into the kingdom of heaven. It is by trusting totally and completely in God, and not leaning on our own understanding. In Proverbs 3:5,6, it says,

"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding...In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Why have Christians gone about trusting in their own understanding instead of talking to God about everything in their lives?

Talk to God

Prayer is "talking to God." God wants us to talk to Him. In Jeremiah 33:3, it says, "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not." Calling upon the LORD is prayer. When we call upon the LORD God, He will answer. We get answers when we talk to God. When we ask in prayer, He said, "...I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not."

God is waiting for us to call upon Him, that He can do great and mighty things in our lives. God wants us to talk to Him. God wants to be in control of whatsoever we do. God is Love and love does not intervene in what people do without them asking first.

God is waiting for us to ask Him, and He will answer. In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, it says, "Pray without ceasing." Prayer is talking to God. We should be talking to God without ceasing. In everything, we should be talking to God.

In Jeremiah 29:11-13, it says, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end...Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you...And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." When we search for God with all our heart, we will find God. Then we need to call upon the LORD by talking to God. If we will talk to God and ask, He will answer.

In James 4:2,3, it says, "...ye have not, because ye ask not...Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." There is no value in asking God for something that is not according to His Word. If we ask according to His Word we will receive.

Somewhere in late July or August of 2003, a brother in the LORD called me. We went out to lunch after Church one Sunday. While at lunch, he said to me, "Merle, I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't have enough money coming in to pay my bills. I've been in business for thirty-years. I keep up my advertising, I'm doing everything the way I always did, but the work and the money are not coming in." I said to him, "Why don't you go over to John 14:13,14, and ask the LORD to bring in work for you, that you have enough to pay your bills?" He looked at me, and I said, "Just ask the LORD to bring in the work you need, and then thank and praise Him for doing it." I said, "Do this every morning. Thank Him and praise Him, and He will bring in the work you need"!

About two weeks later, he called me and told me, he had all the work he could do, and was making a lot of money to pay his bills. A number of times he told me, the work is coming in and the money is coming and he would say, "And you and I know it's not my advertising."

On January 15th, 2004, He called me and said, "Merle, I just wanted to tell you, I have to pay over $3.000 additional taxes today." He made more money in the last six months than he made all year the year before (2002).

God knows what we have need of, and the LORD told us, "...whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son...If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it" (John 14:13,14).

The LORD is God, and there is nothing too hard for the LORD (Gen. 18:14). Our problem is that the god of this world has blinded our minds to the Gospel of Christ. In 2 Corinthians 4:4 it says, "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost...In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."

How does the god of this world blind our mind? Satan gets our minds programed to believe that we must do everything ourselves. We are taught in many churches, we must do whatsoever the person in charge tells us.

We believe they are right, being that they say they are serving God. They say God called them to that position. The more they tell us about how we must do what they say, the more we get into bondage to walking after the flesh, just as many of them are walking after the flesh. Many of them love the world and the things of this world, and they tell us we are to do what they are doing.

Praise the LORD! Jesus did not say that. In Luke 11:1, it says, "And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples." The disciples were with Jesus when He was praying (talking to God the Father). These disciples knew that Jesus was having great success in everything He did. They may have thought that Jesus surely knows how to pray. Therefore, they asked Jesus to teach them how to pray.

In Luke 11:2-4, it says, "And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth...Give us day by day our daily bread...And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil." We can all learn a lot from what Jesus taught His disciples. The first thing Jesus said to do was to pray to "Our Father which art in heaven..." Jesus did not say to pray to anyone else, but "Our Father in heaven." If we want to receive something worth having, we may as well talk to the One who can give us whatsoever we have need of.

The world cannot give us whatsoever we need. The Devil cannot give us everything we need. The Devil is subject to God. The Devil is already defeated by our LORD Jesus Christ. The Devil is limited to what he can do by what we do. If we do not permit the Devil to do anything, he cannot do anything.

If we let the Devil blind our minds to the Gospel of Christ, we are the ones who will suffer and lack the things that we need. If we need something, we should "talk to God" about what we need. Jesus told us we should pray to "Our Father in heaven."

Then Jesus said we should glorify God, by hallowing His name. Now that Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father, we can also glorify the name of Jesus. Therefore, we should praise and magnify the name of the Father and the Son above all other names, in heaven, on earth, and beneath the earth. There is no other name above the name of Jesus.

In Philippians 2:9-11, it tells us, "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name...That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth...And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." God the Father gets glorified every time we speak the truth in the name of Jesus.

After addressing our Father in heaven, and glorify God in everything, we can ask the Father to "Give us day by day our daily bread" (Luke 11:3). God wants to be the source of all our needs. God wants to be GOD in our lives. God does not want us to have any other god's before Him.

Jesus did not stop in Luke 11:3. Jesus continued by saying, "And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil" (Luke 11:4).

If we want God to give us whatsoever we ask, we must be willing to forgive everyone that is indebted to us. If we do not forgive as our Father has forgiven us, Satan has blinded our minds to the Gospel of Christ.

God the Father sent His only begotten Son into the world, to take away the sins of the whole world for us. Jesus willingly went to the Cross for us. Jesus took all our sins and iniquities upon Himself that we could be free of all sin. Jesus did all of that for us. Therefore, we should also be willing to forgive others. If we want God to give to us, we must also be willing to forgive others, just as God has forgiven us.

Once we have forgiven anyone who has done anything against us, we can ask God the Father to "...lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil" (Luke 11:4).

What a wonderful plan and way to get whatsoever we have need of. It is not who we are, but who God is that counts. It is not what we can do, but what God can do for those who obey the LORD. Our obedience brings blessings. God wants us to receive from Him, "all spiritual blessings in heavenly places" (Eph. 1:3). God has already blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Now it is up to us to receive the spiritual blessings that are already ours. If we do whatsoever Jesus and God the Father tell us, we will receive all that we ask of God.

Then in Luke 11:5-8, Jesus gave his disciples an example, saying, "Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves...For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?...And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee...I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth"

That is not an example of how we need to keep asking and asking God for whatsoever we have need of. This is an example of asking a friend at a time when he is already in bed.

God is never in a position where He cannot stop doing whatsoever He is doing to help one of His own Children in need. God is always ready to give us whatsoever we ask, if we ask according to his will.

Then in Luke 11:9,10, Jesus said, "And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you...For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." Jesus did not make any other requirements necessary to receive whatsoever we ask. Jesus made it plain and simple to receive from God the Father, whatsoever we ask.

It is the god of this world that has blinded the minds of those who do not believe it is that simple to receive from God, whatsoever we have need of.

When we are praying, we should be talking to God, not to people. God is the one that will supply all our needs. The Devil has Christians going around asking everyone else, but, not asking God. If we would ask God, we would not need to ask anyone else. God will supply all our needs, if we do what God says we should do. If we obey the LORD, He will take care of us.

God has made it simple for us, but the god of this world, operating through the knowledge of good and evil has made it difficult for those who do not talk to God about everything.

Praying is talking to God. We should be talking to God everyday. We should be talking to God about everything that concerns us. If we talk to God about everything, God will answer.

The answers we will get from God come in many ways. Many times we will find the answer in the Bible. It is already written in the Scriptures as what to do and how to do it. Sometimes, we will get a knowing in our spirit, that we know beyond all doubt that God is giving us an answer to whatsoever we asked. Sometimes, we will see the evidence of what God did after we asked Him. There are so many ways that God answers prayer, that no one could name everyone of the ways God does things to help those who talk to Him daily. Everyday, we should talk to God and He will answer.

In Luke 18:17, Jesus said, "Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein." A little child trusts totally and completely in their parents. A little child does not try to do things by themselves. Little children go to their parents when they need something.

When Jesus talked about becoming "as a little child," He was not talking about teenagers. Teenagers are not little children, and they seem to want to stop listening to their parents and listen to others instead. That is what happens to a lot of Christians. As they get involved with others who have been blinded by the god of this world and they stop "talking to God," they start doing things on their own without talking to God first.

Our greatest enemy is the Devil, and his demons (who put thoughts in our minds to do it ourselves without talking to God first). The enemy gets us to do things the way the world does things. The enemy gets our attention upon the world and the things of this world, and how we can have what we want if we do it the way the world does it.

When I grew up from a child, my parents belonged to a Church. I believed what I was taught in that Church system. At the age of forty-five I called upon the LORD Jesus Christ to take over my life, and live His life in me. That is when I become born again into the body of Christ.

At that time I was in the Television repair business. I had gone to school to learn how to repair electronic equipment. Like many others, I did what I knew to get the work done.

After I was born again, I found another way to get the job done. I would study the Bible for hours every day. Then at work, I would lay my hands upon the television sets and ask the LORD to show me what was wrong. Many times I would know what part was defective by the time I got the television set opened up to get at the electronics inside. I would replace the defective part, and the television set would work. In many cases, what used to take me two to three hours to find the problem and make the repairs, it only took fifteen to forty-five minutes, and the set was working.

Many times I did what the world does, and kept trying to find the problem, doing everything I knew to do. Finally, after spending a lot of time, I would stop and ask the LORD to show me what was wrong? Within minutes, I knew what was wrong, and made the changes that were needed. It sure made things a lot easier when I would ask the LORD what was wrong?

God knows everything. There is nothing God will withhold from those who walk uprightly In Psalm 84:11, it says, "For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly." It is not difficult for God to show us what to do, when we talk to God. If we ask in faith He will answer.

Many Christians today are having problems in their lives. They are going everywhere, looking for answers. The one place they need to go is to the LORD. The LORD knows all the answers, and how to make all things work together for our good.

Many of the problems in our lives are our own doing. We were following the worlds system, doing what we were taught in the world, and things were not working out to our good.

Most of the time, our problem is what we did that did not agree with the written Word of God. Many times, it is un-forgiveness of others that opened the door for Satan and his demons to afflict us with all kinds of symptoms and problems in our lives. Then, when we pray, we do not get answers.

In Proverbs 1:22-29, it says, "How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?...Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you...Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded...But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof...I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh...When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you...Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me...For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD."

If God does not answer when we pray, what is the problem? Most likely, we have not been studying His Word. We have been spending too much time doing things our way, the way the world does things. Then when we call, He will not answer.

God will not withhold any good thing from them that walk uprightly (Psalm 84:11). But those who go astray, following the worlds system, and those who are deceived by the enemy, may not get answers when they call upon the LORD.

First we need to repent of walking in the flesh and not in the Spirit (Rom. 8:5-8). Then confess our sins and God will forgive us and restore us to His righteousness. Repentance brings forgiveness. Forgiveness brings us back into fellowship with God.

When we are in fellowship with God, He will answer when we call. God will supply all our needs, if we will remain in fellowship with God.

There is a difference between relationship to God and fellowship with God. We become related to God when we become born again of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. Children of God are related to God by a new birth into the body of Christ.

But, children of God who are not in fellowship with God, may not get their prayers answered when they pray. In 1 John 1:5-7, it says, "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all...If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth...But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."

The Epistle of 1 John is written to those "who are born again into the body of Christ." When a person is born again, they are in Christ. They are related to God by a new birth in the spirit.

The Epistle of 1 John is written to Christians, not to those who are not true children of God. Christians need to keep up their fellowship with God. If we keep up our fellowship with God on a daily basis, we can ask whatsoever we will and it will be done unto us. Those who do not "talk to God," and do not walk in the light, may not get their prayers answered when they pray.

Prayer is talking to God. We do not always need to talk to God in our natural language. When we pray in the Spirit, we are also talking to God.

There was a time that I had a growth on my finger. It was there and growing for about two weeks. One day, I was praying in the Spirit, while driving down the road, and out of my spirit came these words, "Why don't you curse the roots on that growth and command it to die and fall off"? I immediately cursed the roots in Jesus' name and commanded them to die and the growth to fall off.

It seemed as though nothing happened when I prayed. The growth was still there. I couldn't see any change. For weeks I continued to change the band-aid I had been putting on it to protect it. One thing I noticed after a week or so, was that it wasn't getting any larger. It stayed about the same size.

About a month later, as I was changing the band-aid, the growth fell off. It come off with the band-aid when I removed it to put on a new one. The words I spoke that day while driving down the road caused the growth to die. It did fall off after about a month. There was not even a mark where it had been.

Praying and talking to God are the same thing. In Ephesians 6:18 it says, "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints" When we are praying in the Spirit, the Holy Spirit helps us to pray (Rom. 8:26,27). When we are praying in the Spirit, it is our spirit that does the praying (1 Cor. 14:14).

It is the will of God that we talk to God about everything in our lives. It is the will of God that we should prosper and be in health at all times. In 3 John 1:2 it says, "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth." How does our soul prosper? It prospers as we continue in the Word of God, talking to God about everything in our lives. When we follow God's instructions in the Bible, we will prosper and be in good health.

If we will be doers of the Word of God, and not just hearers only, we will talk to God about everything. When talking to God, He will answer. When God answers our prayers we will defeat the enemy in every area of our lives.

Satan is a liar. There is no truth in anything Satan says. Satan is the god of this world, working through the knowledge of good and evil. The whole world lives by the knowledge of good and evil. But, Christians are told to live by the Word of God. When we live by the Word of God, we will overcome the world and all the works of the enemy.

It is our faith in God that overcomes the world. In 1 John 5:3,4, it says, "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous...For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith."

What is important to understand is that God is Love. God will keep His Word. Many times, Christians have situations in their lives, and they try everything they know, and it does not seem to work for them.

Christians seem to think there is an easier way to receive whatsoever they need. But, the simplest way is God's way. If a Christian will "talk to God" everyday and commit their ways to follow the instruction God gives us in His Word, God will reveal to us what we need to know and do. If we will talk to God, like a little child talks to its parents, we will get answers.

If we will ask the LORD, what it is that we did, that this condition is still happening in our lives. The LORD will tell us. Ask the LORD, "LORD, what did I do that I have this condition?" Then "Thank the LORD for the answer." If we ask in faith, the LORD will reveal to us what we need to do to overcome whatsoever comes against us.

For more information on this subject, get all of the parts to this series of Mini-Books. For other help, you can also go to our Web sites on the Internet and download as many free books as you desire. Go to: