Geraldo & Iliana
The boy in Geraldo's lap isn't part of Geraldo's family but wanted to be in the photo. The oldest son is Jimmy and their daughter is Leslie who is in Iliana's lap. I have been discipling this family for over a year now. They have had a lot of struggles as you can imagine that every family does. About 6 months ago, they lost their baby at 9 months and it has caused a lot of pain in their lives but Christ is helping them through this tough time in their lives. When one dies in Costa Rica, usually the body goes to the house of the family so that they can have one more day with them and receive friends to console them. I had the opportunity of attending this reception which was very sad to say the least.
I have seen Spiritual growth in Geraldo & Iliana as they have a strong desire to know the word of God. They ask plenty of questions the which keep me on my toes. They have been praying that Jesus would bless them with another baby but have become discouraged because it seems to them that God is ignoring them. Last week I went to them to do a bible study on "The Door" but it wasn't meant to be as Iliana asked me if "declaring" in prayer was right or wrong. So we looked at a few places in the Bible.
I have seen Spiritual growth in Geraldo & Iliana as they have a strong desire to know the word of God. They ask plenty of questions the which keep me on my toes. They have been praying that Jesus would bless them with another baby but have become discouraged because it seems to them that God is ignoring them. Last week I went to them to do a bible study on "The Door" but it wasn't meant to be as Iliana asked me if "declaring" in prayer was right or wrong. So we looked at a few places in the Bible.
1 John 5:14,15
14 And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, he heareth us:1 15 And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him.
14 And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, he heareth us:1 15 And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him.
When we pray, our prayers have to always be according to His will. When one declares something to be done then they think they know better than God and they seek to pray according to their own will which is not biblical.
James 4:13-17
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
So weather you are praying for a home or a healing of a sickness or whatever, you should never "declare" something to be done as if you know better than God in the matter. We should pray that the will of the Father be done in the matter. It's possible that God has given one a sickness as to increase the faith of the individual or he wants them to go to seek assistance from medical staff so that they can witness to them. There are many reasons why God might allow one to become sick and He doesn't always want to immediately have that sickness cured through prayer. Always pray that Gods will be done and don't try and force the hand of God to what you think is better. You can pray that if it is Your will Father God then please glorify yourself by healing this infirmity.
Acts 21:12-14
13 Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 14 And since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, “Let the will of the Lord be done.”
13 Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 14 And since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, “Let the will of the Lord be done.”
Luke 22:42
39 And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. 40 And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” 41 And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”
39 And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. 40 And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” 41 And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”
Jesus taught us from this text, to seek the will of the Father.
Mathew 6:9-13
9 Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be Your name.1
10 Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,2
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,3
12 and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.4
9 Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be Your name.1
10 Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,2
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,3
12 and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.4
Jesus taught us how to pray and there is nothing here in the text about "declaring anything to be done". What we see is a prayer that seeks God's will because He can see a bigger picture than we can and he simply knows better than we do.
After I finished this study on not declaring but seek God's will, I could see a big sigh of relief and peace come over Geraldo & Iliana. We then finished the bible study with a proper pray for a new baby by asking for God's will to be done in this matter and in his timing. Please pray for God's will in Geraldo & Iliana's life because they would love to have number three come into their family.