​​Welcome  to    Joy By Surprise

The power of YaHuWaH is limitless. He can do anything He pleases. Nothing is too hard for Him and no one is able to prevent Him carrying out His will. With Elohim all things are possible - all things! This fact is repeated several times in Scripture.

Notice how, in this last text, though all things are possible, the Father didn't do what the Son asked of Him; simply because that was not the Father's will.

Prayer is harmonizing one's mind with the mind of Elohim. Prayer is not simply speaking to YaHuWaH or even listening to Him. It is 'tuning to Him.' Believers are at their most powerful when they are 'in tune with Elohim; that is, when they are 'praying.' By prayer we harness the limitless power of the Almighty! To be sure most, if not all of us, believe that YaHuWaH can do anything, absolutely anything, even the seemingly impossible! But few of us believe that He will do impossible things through us. And yet that is the high spiritual goal this article is about; YaHuWaH working in and through US; through YOU and through ME!

I will now list seven mandatory parameters (compulsory components) needed to help you achieve your spiritual goals. Remember that the more real these are in your life, the more successful will be your prayers.

First: we must stop sinning. That is, we must express our faith in obedience. We must keep Elohim's commandments. The Bible says:

Second: we must ask, seek and knock. The Almighty will not allow anyone to stumble upon His treasures. You must ask for them, seek them and knock on the door of heaven. Only then will you receive. In His Sermon on the Mount, YAHUSHUA said:

Third: we must check our motives. The human heart is self-deceiving. So pray for wisdom and insight to check your own motives. Be ruthless with yourself. The Bible says:

• The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jer:17:9)
• Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. (James 4:3)

Fourth: we must ask in YAHUSHUA's Name.

• And 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)
• Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in My Name, He may give it you. (John 15:16)
• And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My Name, He will give it you. (John:16:23)
• Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My Name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. (John16:24)

NOTE: 'In My Name' doesn't mean that we will receive everything we ask for if we tag the name of YAHUSHUA on to the end of a prayer. What it does mean, is we should ask in accordance with the Savior's will; for something that will bring us into harmony with his character and which will spiritually benefit others and ourselves. The name YAHUSHUA means 'He will Save His people (that's us) from our sins.' The main objective of our prayers should therefore be, to overcome sin; first in our own lives and then in the lives of others. Pray with this sacred objective in mind, to overcome sin - within and without!

Unbelief (another name for doubt) acts like a contraceptive. It can neutralize even the most fervent prayer.

Sixth: Soak up Elohim's Word. Let it rule your life. Measure every action against its doctrine and live as you would in the very presence of the Almighty YaHuWaH.

Seventh: Forgive. After all we are preparing to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Misunderstandings, petty grievances, insults, etc. are nothing against the backdrop of eternity.

In addition to the seven essentials listed above there is yet another, which in exceptional circumstances, calls for attention. It is fasting. Fasting demonstrates to the Almighty the earnestness of a believer; that he/she is willing to set appetite aside in order to achieve a spiritual goal.

The Bible gives many examples of when YaHuWaH 's people were in grave danger their prayers were answered when accompanied by fasting.

• Esther 4:3 And in every province, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
• Esther 4: 15: Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer,
  16: Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.
• Dan.9:3: And I set my face unto Adonai Elohim, to seek by prayer and supplication, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
• Ezra 8:21 Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our Elohim, to seek of Him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.
  22: For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our Elohim is upon all them for good that seek Him; but His power and His wrath is against all them that forsake Him.
  23: So we fasted and besought our Elohim for this: and He was intreated of us.
• Neh.1:3: And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.
  4: And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the Elohim of heaven,

In every one of the above instances, prayer and fasting triggered a Divine response and YaHuWaH 's people were rescued and abundantly blessed.

Of course, fasting is not something only Israelites and Christians do. Many, if not most, pagan religions teach their devotees to fast. No doubt you have heard of even political prisoners fasting in an effort to gain some objective or the other. Hunger strikes are a common occurrence these days. Never a month passes but someone somewhere is fasting to gain attention to some cause or the other. There are examples in Scripture when fasting, important as it is, proved fruitless simply because it was not accompanied by the requirements mentioned previously. Examples of futile, self-righteous fasting, (when sins are not forsaken) are as follows:

As we can see from the foregoing, acceptable fasting goes far beyond the matter of abstaining from food and drink. True and acceptable fasting is first the self-denying attitude of mind and second, denial of the body. Fasting is a spiritual process which has as its goal the will of Elohim and the welfare of others. True fasting is putting self last. Like faith, true fasting is a mental activity, a divine frame of mind. True fasting is self-sacrifice. The combination of true fasting and prayer will succeed when everything else fails.

Nothing is too difficult for the Almighty Elohim. All things are possible with Him.

In view of this fact, every prayer which meets the conditions listed above and which is in line with His will - will be granted - every prayer! That is the truth, the hardly conceivable reality which this sermon is all about. The more I think about it the more ashamed I become at the smallness of my own faith. But I have decided to take YaHuWaH at His Word by asking Him:

1. To completely annihilate sin from my mind and body.
2. To teach me to know what to ask for, where to look and how often to knock.
3. To teach me to recognize my own motives for what they really are; because I dare not trust my own judgement of myself.
4. To cause me live the reality of what 'In YAHUSHUA's Name' means.
5. To strengthen me to believe that what I ask for will in fact be granted.
6. To lead me to abide in Him and to open my mind to His Holy Word.
7. To enable me to forgive others as I myself have been forgiven.

This spiritual specification I make a matter of prayer; not forgetting the need to fast when my prayers are not answered. I trust that ALL who listen to or read this sermon will join with me in this holy enterprise in order to take the Everlasting Gospel to the WHOLE WORLD!

"An impossible task? Not really, because