August 2020 Fasting and Prayer Message — Saturday AM
This is a summary of the message from the August 2020 fasting and prayer weekend led by Pastor Praveen and held at our church. We had four sessions, Friday morning and evening and Saturday morning (posted here) and evening. During our fasting and prayer sessions, it is usual for the Holy Spirit to speak to us through Pastor Praveen.
Introductory Comments
All glory belongs to God – we must praise Him always. Only by His grace can we do anything. Without health, we cannot work. Without knowledge and wisdom, we cannot study. We are nothing and without God we can do nothing. Only He can lift you up, bless you, deliver you, heal you, and make a way for you and your children. The newer generations think they know everything, but they know nothing, or only foolish things. We need to teach them, “’Not by might nor power, but by my Spirit’ says the Lord.” (Zechariah 4:6). Only God can lift you up, bless you, deliver you, heal you, and make a way for you and your children. He is the way maker, the way and the truth and the life (John 14:6). We can teach our children but we cannot follow them, always walking behind them. They need to fear the Lord and obey.
We also must repent and bow before our Savior, Jesus, who died for us because of our great sin. Love Him with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength and worship Him in spirit and truth. We must ask God for cleansing each day. Otherwise we can do nothing. Today’s power, knowledge, and wisdom is not enough for tomorrow. Each day, by His grace, He will renew the strength of those who are depending on Him and open new doors for them. Each day, you must experience the presence of God. It doesn’t matter how many days you have been worshiping Him. What is your life like today?
Similarly, God helped Jacob when he was running from his brother Esau (Genesis 28). He was afraid his brother would kill him. Although Jacob knew that he had blessings from God, he felt like he could not go forward. He was in the wilderness – but the one who blessed him was faithful. God opened the heaven over Jacob. The One who opened the heaven for Jacob will open the heaven for you, your children, your church, this community. Jacob said, “This place is not Luz, it is Bethel.” He changed the name to Bethel, meaning “the gates of God.” God can change Luz to Bethel in our lives.
Remember, if you are a child of God, you need persecution in your life. The Christian life is not easy, because the darkness always fights against the light. The darkness will never prevail because Jesus, the light of the world is in you. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. His light is in us – we are covered by this light. John 1 says, “In Him was life and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not understood it.” (John 1:4-5). We are filled with and covered by His light and clothed with His power. Wherever you go, you will shine in that area. But you have a battle. The darkness does not want to see light.
The apostles were always rejected by people because they were performing signs and wonders by the Spirit of God. But remember, the battle is not yours, but God’s. He will fight for you, your family, children, community, country. He is a great fighter. We must be quiet and give him a chance. Believe and trust in Him – let Him be the captain of your boat. The captain knows how to rebuke the winds and waves. If He is in our boat, everything is under control. We will reach the right place.
Pastor Praveen’s Message – Paul and Barnabas
Pastor Praveen spoke about challenges faced by Paul and Barnabas in their ministry. Acts 14:1 says that at Iconium Paul and Barnabas “spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed.” The people listened to them and followed them. But the Jews who refused to listen made trouble and poisoned the minds of the Gentiles who had not believed the message. We will face this kind of situation in our Christian walk. Sometimes, people will poison the minds of others against us. But we need to understand that God’s power is above everything. His name is above all names. We have authority over the enemy – over the poison.
God spoke through Mark 16:15-18 saying that those who believe will drive out demons, speak in tongues, pick up snakes in their hands, and when they drink deadly poison they will not die. When they lay their hands on the sick, they will be healed. This is the authority God has given His children – the authority to trample snakes and scorpions and overcome all the power of the enemy. If the enemy poisons anyone’s mind against you, your family, or your boss, it will be temporary. But the one who has called you and is in you will rebuke that kind of poison because He loves you.
By the power of God, Paul and Barnabas continued to perform signs and wonders among the Iconium people. This was a sign and a testimony – proof that they were children of the living God. We should not be frightened by the enemy’s plan. We need to make the enemy frightened by the power of God. That is our calling. We, as Christians, have thorns and stones in our walk. However, a living crown is waiting for us. We must go through this process. The type of crown you receive depends on the type of persecution you endure. Pastor Praveen says he does not worry about the persecution he may face because heaven is God’s throne and the earth is His footstool, so he is always at God’s feet. Why should he worry?
We need to understand who we are and what our calling is. According to Acts 13:1-3, it was not the disciples who decided to set apart Paul and Barnabas for ministry. It was the Holy Spirit who called them to serve. We also are called by God. Those who try to poison minds against us are never going to prevail. We will win because God is a victorious God.
Because many Jews and Gentiles at Iconium planned to stone them, Paul and Barnabas moved on to another city (Acts 14:5-6). There, they encountered a bed-ridden man who had never walked. While Paul was speaking the word of God, the man was listening earnestly. Paul looked at him and understood by God’s Spirit that he had faith to be healed. He did not even pray for the man, but filled with the Holy Spirit, Paul said, “Stand up on your feet.” The man jumped up and began to walk. (Acts 14:8-10)
This means that when you are listening to the word of God earnestly with your faithful heart and you need healing, deliverance, blessing, or breakthrough, that word will touch you in your heart. It will heal you, deliver you, or bless you because the word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword.
Pastor Praveen said that if someone was going through a difficult situation, maybe facing rejection in their family, workplace, or community, God was speaking to them. “Stand on your feet and walk! I will uphold, help, strengthen, and honor you!”
After this great miracle, people again rejected Paul. They stoned him and dragged him out of the city, thinking he was dead (Acts 14:19-20). Did Paul say, “They stoned me! Always persecution. I don’t want this ministry anymore!” No. Because it is a great privilege to serve our God. He will take care of your thousand generations.
Remember, when Jesus was carrying the cross, he turned and saw the women crying. He said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not cry for me; cry for yourselves and for your children… For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?” (Luke 23:28, 31). If the word is in you, you will have persecution, but more so you will have great blessing and a special house and a special crown in heaven.
Personal Testimony
On Friday evening, Pastor Praveen shared a personal testimony about how rejection turned to blessing in his life when he was ministering to a small church in India. This morning, Pastor Praveen shared a testimony about rejection after preaching at another church in the same area. He told us that while he was in bible college he was invited to preach as a guest speaker at a local Apostolic church. A fellow student had arranged for the invitation. He agreed to preach, but he prayed to God that before he even began to preach, He would pour out His Holy Spirit on the people. He wanted to see this kind of powerful act by God as a confirmation of his calling. When he stood up in the pulpit, he held up his hand and said, “Receive power in the name of Jesus!” All the people were filled with the Holy Spirit and started to speak in tongues. People who had never engaged actively in worship were filled with the Spirit and glorifying the Lord. Pastor Praveen wanted to preach at least a short message, but the Holy Spirit said no, He was doing His work.
Pastor Praveen observed that the wife of the church pastor was speaking in tongues too rapidly. We need discernment to know what we are hearing. By grace, God told Pastor Praveen that what she was doing was from the devil. She was not speaking in tongues – she was copying. Pastor Praveen wanted to rebuke her. But the Holy Spirit told him not to. It was not the time.
After two months, the same pastor called Pastor Praveen to preach again at the request of the people in his congregation. The same thing happened this time – the power of the Holy Spirit fell on the people. God released His anointing because the people had asked for Pastor Praveen to return. Again, the wife of the pastor was speaking too rapidly in tongues and screaming. She wanted to show the church that she was better than others in worship. This time, God told Pastor Praveen not to rebuke her, but to convey a message to the pastor to take care of his wife. Otherwise he would be in trouble. In obedience to God’s direction, Pastor Praveen asked his fellow student who had arranged for him to preach to pass this message to the pastor. Before this incident, the pastor always had high praise for Pastor Praveen. But when he heard Pastor Praveen’s prophecy about his wife, he said, “He’s not a good man.” He rejected Pastor Praveen and poisoned the minds of others against him. When Pastor Praveen heard about his change he felt badly, but he laughed in the Spirit – because he knows his God.
After one year, a woman who was in bible college with Pastor Praveen and who attended the Apostolic church asked him for help. She wanted to bring someone to him who hoped to hear a prophecy. Pastor Praveen explained that he can’t just prophecy whenever he chooses, but that if they would come to church on Sunday, the Lord would speak to them through the word of God. However, the woman pleaded and begged Pastor Praveen to meet with the man.
Finally, Pastor Praveen agreed and arranged a time that they could come to his sister’s house, where Pastor Praveen was living. However, Pastor Praveen fell at the feet of Christ and asked Him to please not let the people show up. He felt uncomfortable because he did not know who the woman was bringing and because the Lord had given him a fearful word to prophecy to deliver. But the Lord firmly told him that he must obey and speak the word given to him. Pastor Praveen was obedient, but still afraid.
On the morning of the appointment, Pastor Praveen opened the door and saw that the woman was bringing the pastor from the Apostolic church. He was crying and screaming and asked Pastor Praveen’s forgiveness. He told him that his wife had left him. She had misused God’s name and the church had fallen apart. His ministry was gone. All that God had prophesied through Pastor Praveen had happened.
If the pastor had listened to the prophecy and controlled his wife, it never would have happened. Now, he wanted a word of prophecy to know whether he would have a future ministry. Pastor Praveen told him he could not prophecy what he wanted to hear. He told him that his ministry was broken because of his and his wife’s actions. If he wanted a ministry, he could go to North India somewhere to hide and speak the gospel. He would never again have a ministry in his own city because he had lost his testimony. A few years later, Pastor Praveen received word that the pastor’s wife died. The pastor himself later died in an accident.
Pastor Praveen has had many such experiences of rejection in his life. Many people will not accept him because the cornerstone is in him. He is obedient to the Lord. He prophesies what the Lord gives him and nothing else. Likewise, if you are a child of God, you will have persecution because the light is in you. The great blessing and calling is upon you. The one who called you will not leave you nor forsake you. He will lift up your head before your enemy and honor you.
When people lift you up, they will put you down again. But when God lifts you up He will never put you down, because we are His children. When God is with you, no one can stand against you. Think about your bright future and do not be distressed when people oppose you. Continue to love your enemies and God will work for you.
Concluding Remarks – Depend on God like Daniel
Pastor Praveen told us that God blotted out everything the enemy had written about his life. A Hindu priest had written that Pastor Praveen’s life would end in 1995. But his Father in heaven, Jesus who died for him, told him that He would blot out whatever the enemy has written against him and would inscribe something new for him beyond his imagination. Similarly, God will blot out the enemy’s plan for your life and write something new for you, your family, your children. Believe it – God has no favoritism.
What do we need to do? We need to depend on God like Daniel (Daniel 6). Daniel had a good connection with the king, but he did not depend on the king. Daniel was the king’s good friend, but some of the king’s officials poisoned his heart. They forced him to write a decree against Daniel, his close friend. We must remember, when people try to force us to do something – don’t listen.
What did Daniel do? He just went home and prayed like he always did with the window open toward Jerusalem. He knew that he rose to his position in the palace not through his own knowledge and wisdom. The one who brought him inside the palace was able to protect him. He did not ask the king for help, but knelt down before His God, the King of kings. Then God sent his angels to shut the mouths of the lions. We must understand, our God is the Lion of Judah. He will shut the mouth of your enemy. The worldly lion cannot touch you or your family. The Lion of Judah is in us. His name is Jesus.
Let God protect what He has given you. He will put a wall of fire around your blessings. If you try to protect your blessing, you will lose it. Daniel proved to the king who his God, the Lord of lords. After that, the king decreed that no one was to speak against or harm Daniel at the risk of death. We must understand, we have persecution and trouble, but should not be discouraged or nervous. Stand firm. Then God will give you the opportunity to prove Himself to those opposing you. Then they will speak, “He is really a child of God.”