It’s hard to believe that the stores are gearing up for Christmas already. We’re getting close to the time of year where many people are asking for things. As believers, we understand that it’s not about things, but Christ.
Still, there are things that I’ve asked God for. One question that many people ask is; how do you receive answers to prayers? Many look to God like a big Santa Claus in the sky. We pray for things, and then get upset if we don’t get what we prayed for.
I believe that God wants to give good things to His children. Over and over in the Bible it says to ask anything and it will be given to you. Actually, if you read the Scripture, there are 8 requirements to asking anything and receiving what you asked for from God.
1. Your asking requires faith.
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Mark 11:24
This is the one we all seem to know about. You need to trust that God is able to perform what you’re asking. This is not an “I hope so” kind of faith. It’s knowing that God is big enough to take care of your need.
2. Your asking requires the right motives.
When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
James 4:3
This is an important point. Why am I asking God for this? Many times it’s because I want the pleasure it will bring. Life is not all about me. I live for God. It’s about pleasing Him, and fulfilling His call on my life. Is that my motivation? To get answers to prayer, I need to check my attitudes and desires.
3. Your asking requires lining up with God’s will.
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us — whatever we ask — we know that we have what we asked of him.
1 John 5:14-15
This one is only met with maturity. I need to be seeking God’s will. This will only come by time in the Lord’s presence. I have to lay my will on the altar and seek His ways. Allowing the Holy Spirit to work in me is how I have the assurance that I’m asking according to His will.
4. Your asking requires agreement.
“Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.”
Matthew 18:19
This is an important part. I’m not talking about getting someone to agree to pray with you.
“You pray with me for a new house and I’ll pray with you for a new car.”
It doesn’t work like that. It means coming together in unity with others who know the Word of God. Then, based upon the Word, they agree with you on the above three points. They see by your witness that you have the faith to trust God for it, your motives are correct, and it’s God’s will for your life.
In my next post I’ll give the final four keys to answered prayer.
Question: Do you have some testimonies of answered prayers?
© Nick Zaccardi 2013
Tags: Agreement, answered prayer, asking in prayer, faith, God's will, motives, prayer, praying, receiving, receiving answers from God
I’m posting about being the “John the Baptist Generation”. I believe we are the last generation before the return of Christ and we need to live it out.
In my last post I said that we need to be hearing a Word from God. This is essential for the end-time church.
But the key is that John didn’t just hear a Word. He walked in it. Our generation must walk out what we hear in God’s presence. Hearing from God is only half of the equation.
Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
James 1:21
This is talking about the engrafted word of God. It’s not just reading the Bible or hearing a sermon, even thought it might start there. It’s when you know God has spoken to you.
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
James 1:22-24
We’re told not to simply hear a word from God. We’re good at saying that God spoke to us.
“I know what I need to do.”
The problem is that years later there’s no change. God is looking for an obedient people. He wants someone who’ll not only speak for Him, but live for Him.
Sometimes I think that’s why we don’t listen – we don’t want to do what God might tell us.
I’ve been feeling more spiritual pressure on me lately to hear and obey the voice of God. When I look at John’s life I see the insight I need to do what’s required of me.
John was born at that time for a purpose. He could have said, “It’s not fair. Why can everyone else do what they want?” But by his obedience, he changed the course of history.
History Makers don’t get to just “do what they want.” That’s our calling because of the generation we were born into. Like it or not we were placed here to be a part of the greatest move of God the world has ever seen.
Instead of running from it, or hiding in the distractions of the world, we should embrace it. It’s time for the people of God to let the Word shine through us. I believe this will initiate the great end-time harvest of souls into the kingdom of God.
Question: What do you see as the greatest hindrance of us fulfilling this end-time call?
© Nick Zaccardi 2013
Tags: Christ's return, end time, engrafted, God's presence, hearing, history maker, Jesus, John the Baptist, John the Baptist generation, last days, living for Christ, obedience, purpose, return of Christ, second coming, spiritual pressure, walking in the word, word of God
In my last post I started talking about the end-time generation. We looked at the Scripture which told us that if a man cleansed himself from wrong purposes, he would be ready and equipped for good works.
This is where we are in time. I believe that this is the final generation before the return of Christ. We are the “John the Baptist generation.”
He was one man sent to a nation. Now there’s a small group sent to a sleeping church. Either you’re the one calling, or the one needing to wake up.
We must respond to God’s call for equipping. God is now equipping a people for the end-time ministry.
But there was another part to John’s ministry.
During the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Luke 3:2-3
He heard and he went. Our generation must hear a Word from God. God is speaking the same message throughout the body of Christ today.
“Listen to Me!!!”
God is trying to get our attention. He wants to speak to a church that is largely enamored with what the world has to offer. We don’t want to take the time to hear from the Holy Spirit.
The enemy knows this. Never have there been more distractions.
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.
Romans 10:17
We seem to have lost sight of this truth. That verse literally says, “Faith comes out of hearing and hearing through the rhema of Christ.” Rhema is the Greek word that speaks of the word we hear in our spirit.
That’s one of our biggest failings. Not listening, and therefore not hearing God’s voice speaking to us.
We want to just go out and minister with the power of the spirit. We want to go to work, watch TV, play basketball, and heal the sick. We want formulas – quick, easy ways to walk in the spirit.
The spiritual authority that we’re looking for starts in hearing from God. John went out into the desert and didn’t minister until he heard a word from God. People actually flocked to him in the desert. Today, we find it hard getting people to our meetings in the middle of a city.
What’s wrong? I believe that the answer is clear – we have no word from God. If we want to be the end-time church, prepared for Christ’s return, then we need to be listening to the Holy Spirit.
Question: Are you willing to take the time to hear a word from God?
© Nick Zaccardi 2013
Tags: are you listening, distractions, end time generation, equipped, equipped for good works, hearing from God, John the Baptist, last days, listening to God, ministry, return of Christ, rhema, second coming, spiritual authority, wake up, word of God
I’ve been talking about the connection between revival, repentance, and forgiveness. I believe that’s what’s necessary to usher in a revival in our nation.
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 12:21
Is this verse true? Can evil be overcome with good? The answer is a resounding YES! The principles of forgiveness bring victory over evil. Look at the example of Scripture.
In the early church of Jerusalem thousands of people a month were being saved. Jesus was being preached. Also during this time the apostles were arrested and brought before the religious leaders for questioning.
Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
Acts 4:18
This was the outcome of their meeting. Does it sound familiar to you? It should. This is the attitude of society in the United States today. They tell us that we can do whatever we want – just don’t mention Jesus.
What was the response of the church in Jerusalem to this kind of attitude? Did they go out and preach some more? Hold a Jesus concert? Put a referendum on the ballot? Absolutely not.
They called a prayer meeting. This is what they brought before the Lord at that time.
“Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
Acts 4:29-30
Considering that they were told not to use the name of Jesus, here’s their request. First, they asked for boldness. Then they asked for healings, miraculous signs and wonders. But the important point was that they wanted them accomplished in the name of Jesus.
They didn’t just want to preach in His name, they wanted the world to see the power of the name of Jesus. This is the forgiveness principle at work – it’s the power to arrest and destroy sin. It’s all done by the power of the Spirit.
That brings me back to the verse I first started with at the beginning of this series.
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14
Do we want our land healed? Then sin must be forgiven – removed – arrested and destroyed. The only way this will happen is for the church to get on our knees. There needs to be intercession made for our nation.
Not praying for a better president or leaders. Not praying for new laws. We must cry out God to give us the boldness to speak His Word. We must intercede for the Lord to send miracles, healings, signs and wonders. All of this so that the name of Jesus can break sin.
After all, it’s so much easier to win the lost if the battle is won first in the heavens.
Questions: Why is it so hard to get people to intercede for our nation? Are you willing to pay the price for revival?
© Nick Zaccardi 2013
Tags: boldness, Christ, forgiveness, healing, Holy Spirit, intercession, Jesus, miracles, name of Jesus, overcome evil with good, power, power of God, power of the spirit, pray for revival, repentance, revival, revival in America, victory
I’ve been posting about the link between forgiveness and revival. I think that it’s clear from Scripture that the spiritual battle is not only fought on the ground. There’s a higher aspect to it.
In my last post, I talked about Daniel’s prayer while in Babylon. As he was praying and interceding on earth, the angels were warring in the sky. If we want a breakthrough in our nation, then there must be a spiritual battle.
As in any war, it requires strategy. It’s not just about politics. It’s not even about me sharing the Gospel with someone. We’re in a spiritual war.
Another lesson that we need to learn is that it’s not just up to individuals. In an army, soldiers don’t just wake up and say, “I’m going to go out and fight today.”
“I’m going to do warfare today.”
That doesn’t work in the natural, so why do we think that it has a lasting effect in the spiritual?
Understanding forgiveness will give us a view of the whole war. We are so intent on our individual fight. When that happens, we get self-absorbed and that’s the exact opposite of being humble.
In warfare it’s imperative that I know what the enemy’s objective is in attacking us. What’s our objective in the spiritual war, as the body of Christ?
Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
John 20:21
Jesus said this to His disciples after the resurrection. “In the same way that the Father sent me…” Jesus’ objective was to destroy the works of the evil one. How can we do that? There’s only one way – the same as He did.
And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
John 20:22-23
The victory comes through the power of the Holy Spirit. Then, there needs to be forgiveness – the picking up and removal of sin. Sin is that which misses the mark. We are to heal society by forgiveness principles. The principles of sin removal.
In actuality, the word, forgive, is not in second half of the above verse. The word used is seize, take hold, dominate, or arrest.
When we deal with society, sin and people in sin, there are two objectives. The first is to remove sin. This means getting someone saved and/or healed. It might even be getting a godly law passed.
The other objective, if people refuse the Good News, is to arrest sin. We can take dominion over it in the Name of Christ.
“This far and no further.”
Then, we can push it back in the spirit. In my next post I’ll wrap up this subject showing what I believe is God’s way to overcome evil and bring about revival in our nation.
Question: What are the evils that need to be arrested and pushed back in our nation?
© Nick Zaccardi 2013
Tags: angels, destroy the works of the evil one, forgiveness, good news, Holy Spirit, missing the mark, politics, power of the Holy Spirit, revival, Scripture, sharing the Gospel, sin, society, spiritual battle, spiritual warfare, strategy, war in heaven
I’m posting about the link between revival and forgiveness. In my last post we looked at II Chronicles 7:14, which said that God’s people have the responsibility to pray and seek the face of God. Then God would hear, forgive, and send healing and revival to our land.
Yes, revival really is up to us. The Bible says, “If my people, called by My Name will do what’s necessary.” Then we would see the healing of God on our land. This is an important concept for us to learn.
The land and God’s people are linked. This has always been true. When Israel was going into captivity, God told them pray for Babylon to prosper. If things go well for the nation that we live in, then they’ll go well for us.
It’s a very selfish thing for us to only seek God’s blessing for ourselves. We need to care about the people around us. We are the only ones who can intercede for our nation. That’s where revival starts.
We need to understand the principles of how forgiveness relates to revival. Daniel understood the concept.
“Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.”
Daniel 9:18-19
This kind of repentance takes humility. Daniel was righteous. He wouldn’t eat the king’s meat and he kept himself pure. Of all Israelites, Daniel had the least to repent of. Yet he is crying out for forgiveness. We have to understand that he wasn’t asking for people to be forgiven, but for the nation.
Nations need forgiveness. I’m not talking about the people, but the nation itself. Throughout the Bible we see that God treats nations like people.
Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves.
Romans 14:22b
Nations are judged by what they allow or don’t allow. Just because a nation says something is legal, doesn’t make it right. So if my nation is allowing things to be done that are evil, then God’s people need to intercede for forgiveness. This is where true revival is birthed. It comes to pass when we take responsibility for our nation.
It’s up to God’s people to pray for forgiveness for their nation. This is where the battle for the USA will take place. It’s in the place of prayer. We need to be interceding for our nation. Then we’ll see the hand of God moving on the hearts and lives of those around us.
Question: What do we need to repent of for our nation?
© Nick Zaccardi 2013
Tags: America, America needs forgiveness, blessing, blessing of God, forgiveness, God's people, intercede, intercede for our nation, intercession, our land, pray for forgiveness, pray for revival, prayer, responsibility, revival, take responibility, true revival
America needs a spiritual revival. That’s beyond question. I believe that it’s coming. But we as God’s people need to prepare ourselves for it. I want to take a few posts to deal with an issue that I think is important for us to understand in this generation.
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14
The outcome of this verse is to forgive their sin and heal their land. Sometimes we lose sight of the fact that these two concepts are linked with each other. If we want to be positioned for revival, then we must grasp how the forgiveness of God figures into it. In this post I want to talk about some principles of forgiveness.
Forgiveness was God’s idea. Human beings would have never come up with this concept. It was God who first approached us and told us that forgiveness was possible. Only after seeing His example, could we try and forgive others in the same way He forgave us.
True forgiveness is freedom. When we sin against God or another person, we place ourselves under the curse of divine judgment. My sin has a penalty that must be paid.
We have watered down the scope of forgiveness. Forgiveness ends the demand for the penalty. Then it goes even further and frees us from the payment of that penalty. Then, because of what Christ did on the cross, that sin is totally and permanently removed from my record! Now that’s freedom!
Forgiveness is a process. There’s a definite flow of events in order for forgiveness to take place. First there is the sin that brings the need for forgiveness. Then, forgiveness itself must be purchased. In our case God purchased it by the precious blood of Christ.
The next steps are on my part. First, I have to humble myself, admit what I have done, and turn from my sin. That’s what true repentance it.
Next, I have to receive the forgiveness that was purchased for me. This is probably the most overlooked step of the whole process. Only when all of these things are accomplished can I step into the freedom of forgiveness.
There’s a link between revival and forgiveness. Sometimes we miss the blessing because we don’t see the big picture. America is in need of a great change. We need revival.
We think the problem is that when we tell others about Christ, they don’t want to listen. We need to see the scope of revival. In the verse above we’re told that it comes when God’s people pray.
Revival comes when the church humbles itself. Literally this Scripture says we need to search out, seek, and strive after the presence of God. Only then will forgiveness and revival break out.
In the next posts I’ll deal with how and why forgiveness and revival work together.
Question: How often do you specifically pray for revival in our nation?
© Nick Zaccardi 2013
Tags: America, America needs revival, coming revival, forgive, forgive their sin, forgiveness, freedom, heal their land, humble, penalty of sin, positioned for revival, pray for revival, receiving forgiveness, repentance, revival, revival forgiveness connection, USA
Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm…
Job 40:6
From time to time I try to get away to the wilderness and get alone with God. A couple of weeks ago I felt a prompting of the Spirit, so I spent three days hiking on the Appalachian Trail in New Hampshire. I’m glad that I did.
The presence of the Lord was very real during that trip. I had some great prayer times with Him. But there is one thing that happened that I want to share in this post.
My plan was to start out early and park my car at the ending point of the hike. I had made arrangements with a taxi company to meet me there and take me to where I was to start. As I sat in my car, waiting for the cab to arrive, it started to lightly drizzle.
According to the weather, it was only a 20% chance of rain first thing in the morning, then clear skies later. Since there was no cell phone reception to call off the taxi, and I figured it would clear up soon, I decided to go forward with my hiking plans.
I put on my rain gear and took the taxi to the start of my hike. It started off fine. Under the cover of the forest, the slight rain didn’t even make it down to where I was walking.
However, the further I hiked up the mountain, the less cover there was. Then it happened – the sky opened up and I found myself in a torrential downpour. I had to scramble across slippery rocks, on the edge of a cliff, in the rain.
At one point the trees cleared for a bit giving me an incredible view. (That’s the picture I took at the top of this post.) It was at that moment that the Spirit of the Lord became wonderfully real to me. I had no choice but to stop, right where I was and worship God.
As I looked around, standing on the rocks on the side of a mountain, dripping wet in a rainstorm, I had the funniest thought. I told the Lord, “God, You even make rainstorms magnificent!”
It was an experience to remember. The sound of the rain and wind in the mountains. The sight of the clouds racing past me as I stood level with them. The expanse of the mountains and trees around me.
It all combined to inspire awe toward my Creator. I realized in that moment that I was experiencing something that few people ever will. Actually, few people would ever choose to be there!
In our Christian walk, if you desire to do great things for God then you will go through a spiritual storm. But in the middle of that challenge, know that the Holy Spirit is with you. If you turn the downpour into a chance to praise God, you’ll know the wonder of His presence with you.
Questions: Are you going through a spiritual battle at this time? Will you choose to give God praise during the tough times?
© Nick Zaccardi 2013
Tags: Appalachian Trail, awe, challenge, hiking, Holy Spirit, mountain, praise God, praise Him in the storm, praising God in the storm, presence of God, presence of the lord, rain, Spirit of the Lord, spiritual battle, spiritual challenge, spiritual storm, voice of God, wilderness, worship God
I’ve been posting about how Christ walked and ministered in the power of God. It’s all about how He positioned Himself to receive it.
A good example of this is found in a parable that the Lord told to His disciples. We usually call it the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax-collector. They were both in the temple praying next to each other. The Lord lets us in on what they were saying.
The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men – robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.”
Luke 18:11-12
We read this, but we don’t take it to heart. We know how it ends and who the Lord commends. But do we really listen to the prayer of the Pharisee. If we look closely at it, it sounds like a prayer that a modern Christian would offer up, filled with good confessions.
“I thank you that I’m the head and not the tail, above only and not beneath. I thank you that because I tithe you will rebuke the devourer and open the windows of heaven so that I cannot contain your blessing.”
His prayer was filled with good confessions and it was all true. He was different than the tax-collector. He did fast and tithe. The problem was that he had no power.
But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
Luke 18:13
Which prayer produced life changing power? Christ was clear about it.
“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Luke 18:14
It’s obvious, from the Lord’s perspective, that the person who dealt with relationship tapped into God’s power. The Pharisee was focused on self. The tax-collector was dealing with that which separated him from God.
Is the power of God about what I’ve done or what the Holy Spirit wants to accomplish in and through me? When I go before God, my telling Him what I’ve done doesn’t impress Him. It will never move Him to work through me.
It’s only as I work on my relationship with Christ that I’ll see the changes necessary. If you want to flow in the power of God, then your relationship with Him is the positioning agent. It’s not about what you’ve done, but what He is able to do in you.
Questions: How well are you positioned for the move of the Holy Spirit? What do you need to do to make it better?
© Nick Zaccardi 2013
Tags: Christ, good confessions, Jesus, life changing, ministry, Pharisee, position, positioned to receive spiritual power, power, power of God, power of the spirit, pray, prayer, praying, publican, receive, relationship, self, sinner, spiritual power, tax-collector
I have been posting about how Christ was tempted in the wilderness. By the power of the Holy Spirit, He overcame all the assaults of the enemy. But there’s more to the story than just the devil’s defeat.
When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.
Luke 4:13-14
The story goes on. After the devil had done everything he knew to do, he was finished. The enemy had totally drained his battery. He had to leave for a while to recharge.
Jesus, on the other hand, didn’t miss a beat. He’d been fasting in the wilderness for 40 days. Then the Lord experienced a spiritual battle the likes of which we’ve never seen in our lives.
Was He drained? Did he have to recuperate? Absolutely not! Jesus Christ came out of the wilderness experience just as powerful as when He entered 40 days before.
We need to walk in this kind of power. But in order to do this we must let go of our reliance upon the promises and start acting like spiritual adults. We need to truly tap into the full potential of the power of the Holy Spirit who is at work within us.
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being.
Ephesians 3:16
Without a doubt, this is the key – the Holy Spirit living within us. Being led by the Spirit is the earmark of a son. We must remain in Christ if we are to access this potential. Christ is our example.
I don’t know why we’ve turned it around and made it all about us. As if we have the power to change anything. We think that if we find the right promise or confess the right Scripture verse, then a miracle will happen. Maybe if we put together the correct formula of words in a prayer the power will manifest.
What’s the secret of how Christ consistently walked in the power of the Spirit? It wasn’t confessions or formulas. It was the time He spend remaining in the Father’s presence. He prayed, He listened, and He obeyed.
It’s time for us to learn this lesson. We need to stop looking for an easy way to tap into the Spirit while continuing to live for ourselves. I need to submit to the Lord’s agenda for my life. Time in the presence of God is the only thing that will bring about this transformation.
Question: What would have to change in order for you to spend more time in the Lord’s presence?
© Nick Zaccardi 2013
Tags: Christ, continuing in power, devil's defeat, Father's presence, Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit within us, Jesus, listen, obey, power, power of God, power of the Holy Spirit, pray, promises, remain in Christ, spiritual adults, time, transformation
It’s hard to believe that the stores are gearing up for Christmas already. We’re getting close to the time of year where many people are asking for things. As believers, we understand that it’s not about things, but Christ.
The Spirit and the Word 