August 2020 Fasting and Prayer Message — Friday 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 (posted here) and evening and Saturday morning and evening. During our fasting and prayer sessions, it is usual for the Holy Spirit to speak to us through Pastor Praveen.
Introductory Remarks – God’s Faithfulness to His Children
Pastor Praveen told about two incidences of the Lord’s faithfulness in defending His children. The first instance involved a disagreement between Pastor Praveen and a neighbor. The second was about a recent flash flood in the mountains of India.
A Parking Dispute
Pastor Praveen’s neighbor was in the habit of parking in front of Pastor Praveen’s house, even though there was ample parking in front of his own house. Frequently, Pastor Praveen would come home and have no place to park. Pastor Praveen eventually approached the neighbor and asked him nicely not to park in front of his house so that his own family could part there. But the neighbor would not listen. Pastor Praveen had often been kind to this neighbor and had even driven him to the hospital and sat there with him when a family member was ill.
Things came to an impasse when Pastor Praveen arrived home after a morning fasting and prayer session in June. He was on the 39th day of a 40 day fast and was quite tired. Again, his neighbor had parked in front of his house and he had no place to park. The neighbor was standing outside talking with his son and a second neighbor with whom Pastor Praveen was not acquainted. With a painful heart, Pastor Praveen asked the neighbor, “What is this?” He reminded him that as neighbors they should respect one another. The neighbor did not respond, so Pastor Praveen found somewhere else to park, and went in his own house and to his prayer room.
Then, the second neighbor, the one the first neighbor had been talking to, come over and knocked on the Praveen family’s door. Pastor Praveen’s daughter saw him knocking but didn’t answer. She didn’t want to interrupt her father’s prayer time. The man knocked several times before going away. The entire situation left Pastor Praveen feeling quite distressed.
However, the difficulty soon resolved without any more action by Pastor Praveen. The man who had knocked at Pastor Praveen’s door suddenly moved from the neighborhood. Pastor Praveen saw him moving his things from his house and was surprised that the man looked at him with fear. Also, the neighbor who had been parking in front of Pastor Praveen’s house, has never parked there again. In fact, whenever that neighbor sees Pastor Praveen, he looks afraid and hurries away. Pastor Praveen does not know why.
Pastor Praveen wondered about all this and asked God why the second neighbor had moved. God answered him, “He knocked on the wrong door. That is the reason I removed him from this community.” The man was causing trouble for Pastor Praveen and God did not want him to have trouble. God also told Pastor Praveen that the man’s house would not sell anytime soon. It would sit there for a couple more months. There is still a “for sale” sign in front of the man’s house.
The point of this story is that people don’t understand about God’s children. We look like ordinary people, but God is in us. If anyone comes and “knocks on your door” unnecessarily, they will be in trouble. We can come before the Lord with a fearful heart. He paid for us and nothing is impossible with Him. We are the clay and the potter is always holding the clay. We cannot imagine how much He is loving His children. Don’t think that you have no one. The one who created the world is with you and will honor you among your city, family, and friends. He is the lifter of our head.
God is always speaking to His children, “Be still and know that I am the Lord.” Moses spoke to Israel when they were crying – the Red Sea in front of them and Pharaoh’s army behind. “The Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still.” Although Pastor Praveen was distressed by his neighbor, he remained kind to him and asked the Lord to bless him. If Pastor Praveen had not remained still before the Lord in this way, God would not have fought for him.
If you have an innocent heart – innocent in deeds and thoughts – The Lord will fight for you. No one can stand before you. You need only to be still. Keep quiet. The problem is we do not give Him time to work in our lives. We are always complaining and disturbed in heart. That is the reason for delays.
A Flash Flood
The faithfulness of God in defending His children can also be seen in a recent disaster in the mountains of India. A flash flood came and swept away several Hindu families, houses and all, as they slept. However, several Christian families living in the same area were miraculously spared.
The Christian families were living apart in three rows of houses. They were very poor, low caste people who were working as laborers on a tea plantation. The Hindu people, also low caste, were living nearby in another 5 or 6 rows of houses. A pastor went once a week to preach to the Christian families. Always, the Hindu people would attack them.
One night there was a great rainstorm on the mountain that caused torrential flood waters to run down the mountain. However, before the flood came, a huge tree fell and landed right behind the homes of the Christians. When the flood waters ran down the mountain, they headed straight toward the believers’ houses. But the tree acted like a wall. It protected their houses and diverted the water towards the Hindu homes that were suddenly swept away in the middle of the night. The searchers could not even find the bodies. God protected His children by a tree while he removed their attackers by a flood – this is the faithfulness of God.
If there is a situation in your life, some trouble analogous to a great tree falling behind your house, don’t ask, “Why did the tree fall.” It is for your protection – God is doing something in your life. Surrender before His tender love, grace, and mercy.
Praise and Worship
During our time of praise and worship, Pastor Praveen spoke on the love and faithfulness of God. He said we can give our life into the hands of God and ask Him to fill us with His love and power. Without a sincere, innocent love – the way God loved us – there is no power. God is not expecting anything from us – only a pure heart. He wants to fill our lives with His love and power. That is why He is always asking us to be holy. Then, through us, He can transform many people’s lives. We must open our hearts like Jesus. When He fills our lives with His love and power, our character will become like Jesus.
When you love someone with power, it will touch their heart and change their mind and attitude. God is love – His name is love – and we are His children. People want to see the love of Christ in our lives. It is a sign to them. They will recognize you as a child of God by your “accent” – the way you talk, your expression, and such. Strangers often ask Pastor Praveen, “Are you a Pastor?” Because they see the love of God in Him. Remember, Peter denied Jesus three times. Still, people knew he was with Jesus because of his accent.
Pastor Praveen also reminded us that we are the church. The church is not a building, it is the people. The mighty Savior is in you – the mighty healer, deliverer, protector, and defender, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the lifter of our heads. He is living in us, His church – the temple of the Holy Spirit. Why should we worry about tomorrow? And He is coming back for His own. If Jesus is living in our hearts, we will go with Him.
We must give Him a chance to live in our hearts and be the captain of our lives. Give Him more room in your heart. If He is living in your heart, you do not have to study how to go to heaven. He will never leave us nor forsake us. When we see Him face-to-face, we will worship Him. This hope is the only thing giving us peace in our lives. This world is temporary. We came with an empty hand and will go back with an empty hand. Nothing belongs to us. Everything belongs to God – family, children, everything.
Pastor Praveen’s Message – The Stone the Builders Rejected Has Become the Cornerstone (Psalm 118:22)
Pastor Praveen spoke on Psalm 118:22. When Peter and John were brought before the Sanhedrin (Acts 4), Peter said, “Jesus is the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.” (Acts 4:11). Jesus is the cornerstone. Without Jesus, we cannot build anything in our lives. If we build with our own knowledge and wisdom our family life will fall apart. Without unity, love, and power, the wind will come and everything will collapse – everyone will go their own way. But if Jesus is in the life of the family, nothing can touch it. God’s mighty hand will be upon every blessing He has given and He will be a wall of fire around the family. Zechariah 2:4b-5 talks about God as a wall of fire: “’Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the great number of people and animals in it. And I myself will be a wall of fire around it,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will be its glory within.’”
Pastor Praveen posed the question, “Why did they put Peter and John in prison?” Because the religious leaders did not want the Cornerstone, the Word of God, and the testimony of Jesus. If you have the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus in your life you will face trouble because the world will not accept or respect you. The Sanhedrin asked Peter and John, “By what power or what name did you do this?” (Acts 4:7b). Peter replied, “It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead.” (Acts 4:10a).
Similarly, why did the Roman Empire exile John to the island of Patmos? Because of the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ (Revelation 1:2, 9).
Why did the Angel of the Lord ask Joseph, the husband of Mary, to escape to Egypt with the boy Jesus? (Matthew 2:13). Because the power of God was with the baby Jesus. Herod knew who had been born and he wanted to kill Him. He knew the baby was the one who was to rule the nation. So he rejected Him.
This means that if you are really a child of God, you have a battle before you because the Cornerstone is in you. The world is never going to agree with you or respect you. People will dishonor, insult, mock, and criticize you and give false testimony against you. Why? Because the Living Stone, the power of God, is in you. But understand this – there is great reward.
You may go through a type of Patmos situation because you are worshiping the true God. You will become a living testimony. However, people are often unwilling to accept a testimony that differs from their own experience. For example, Pastor Praveen said that people sometimes object when he tells them he has heard the voice of God, because they have never heard the voice of God for themselves.
Remember, if you are going through a Patmos situation, you are not alone. The one who anointed you, who is living in your heart, and who opened the heavens for John is with you. On Patmos, John could look around and see many dry bones. Maybe he thought this was the end – some animal would be eating him. After everything he had done to glorify Jesus’ name, maybe he was thinking “Why did I come here?” But if he had not gone to Patmos, we would not have gotten the book of Revelation. Revelation 4:1 says God opened the heavens over the dry bones and John heard God’s voice, “John, come up!” Pastor Praveen said maybe God told John, “You are my faithful servant. I love you so much. I want to give the world something new through you. That is the only reason I brought you to Patmos.” Jesus told John, “I will show you what must happen after this.” He told him about the future of this world.
If you are facing a Patmos situation, God will not leave you or forsake you. He wants to give the world something new through you. Do not look at the dry bones around you. They are none of your business. God loves you more than anything. If you are going through some great distress, God is speaking to you. He is going to open the heavens for you, your family, and your children beyond what you have expected or asked. In that way He will bless you and honor you before your family, relatives, community, and city. You can tell God, “thanks for this great distress in my life.”
Sometimes there is a delay, but God will fulfill His plan through His Son. Matthew 2:15 says, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” This event was in fulfilment of a prophecy given to Hosea many years before (Hosea 11:1). Likewise, the blueprint of your entire life was written in heaven before you were born. Before the foundation of the world, our names were written in the book of life. The enemy can only temporarily threaten against you – your health, blessing, job, family, children, or whatever. The one who brought you out of the darkness into the wonderful light will bring you out of the enemy’s plan. Then He will open the heavens for you and your children. The darkness will always fight against light, but the darkness is never going to prevail.
Personal Testimony
Pastor Praveen shared a portion of his personal testimony of salvation and service to the Lord. He told us that he was born and raised in a wealthy Hindu family. They even had their own family temple. However, Pastor Praveen set out on his own as a young man, moving to Saudi Arabia. It was there that Jesus appeared to him in his room and saved him out of the darkness into the wonderful light. When he returned to India, he was exiled by his own family. They told him, “Get out. Don’t enter in our house. You are spoiling our family name.” Why did this happen? Because the Word of God, the Cornerstone, was in Pastor Praveen and he had the testimony of Jesus, the living God.
If God is with you, who can stand against you? When you go through distress in Jesus’ name, you will not be alone. He will be with you – the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. Your relatives will not be able to understand, but when they see the power of God in your life, then they will realize. Those who rejected Pastor Praveen when he became a Christian were the first to repent and receive salvation through his ministry. They were baptized into the name of Jesus by his hand. At first, they rejected him, but then they saw the living stone in his life. As long as the living stone is in you, nobody can stand against you, because you are standing on the rock – His name is Jesus.