HomeARC ML 2783
WE MUST PRAY!--AND PRAY!--AND PRAY AGAIN!
--Mama's Plea for Desperate Prayer against the Attacks of the Enemy Maria #159 DO 2783 3/92
1. Throughout the years the Family has received quite a bit of persecution, including vilification in the press, arrest, deportation etc. Within the last two years in Spain, Norway, Venezuela, Brazil & Argentina, the Family has undergone intense persecution, which, thank the Lord, He has delivered them from. They have gone through the fire & have come out unscathed due to the Lord's wonderful protection.
2. While previous persecutions may have seemed more serious outwardly, with Family Members having to spend days in jail, & in some cases, months under house arrest, we feel in the Spirit that the cases in both England & Australia are even more serious. It looks like our enemies worldwide are becoming more unified & strategically situated. They are becoming more internationally linked than ever before with hi-tech communications & thousands of committed enemies ready to do battle against God's children. "It Could Happen This Year!" (Part One, ML#2738; Part Two, ML#2739) may be partially fulfilled in us, as some of our Family Members enter the "Great Tribulation" of these court cases as they battle for their children & their ministries & their freedom in both England & Australia, & if our enemies have their way, in other parts of the World before the year is over.
3. All Hell is arrayed against the children of God--God's Family worldwide. All the mighty power of the System is being brought down upon those few who would dare to speak or act against it with the Truth of God's Word. It's funny how they think they can so easily snuff us out, because of course they see things so carnally in the flesh, & their eyes are blinded to see our mighty God & all His great Hosts of Heaven who stand ready to protect & defend us! So no matter how great the fury of our enemies, nor how proud their boastings, nor how clever their machinations, nor how violent & widespread their opposition, their threats & boasts hold no danger for us. They're lying vanities, for we have God's promise, "If God be for us, who can be against us!" (See also "They Can't Stop Our Rain", ML#128.)
"Remind My People to Pray!"
4. We have all these wonderful promises that the Lord has given to reassure us that "I, the Lord thy God, am a mighty God, I will come & save thee," & "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay." "Fear thou not, for I am with thee, be not dismayed for I am thy God." He's promised to give us the victory, take vengeance on our enemies, save our children, make us a witness to the World, & show His mighty power. What more could we want than that?
5. He's told us the battle is His & to stand back & see Him fight. Does that mean we can now just go our merry way & forget all about our enemies? Well, not exactly. The Lord always has a job for us to do, & we work in partnership with Him.
6. After I heard these beautiful beautiful prophecies & verses & visions that our Staff here received, I said, "Well, Lord, it looks like You've got everything under control, & there's not much we could do even if we wanted to. The battle is so intense & so heavy, & it's such a desperate situation that it's obvious that we couldn't do anything to save ourselves even if we wanted to. It would be ridiculous to even try. But is there anything that You do want us to do, any way we can help those who are in the midst of these battles?" And the Lord said, "The main thing I want you to do is to remind My people to pray."
Victory Is Not Guaranteed, Unless We Pray!
7. Somebody made the statement, "The Lord confirmed that it was His Will for Pearl & the baby to return to England to fight this case, so of course He's going to take care of them & He's going to save the baby. It wouldn't make sense for Him to send them back there & not protect the baby." I can see how it would be very easy to believe that; however, as I was listening to that statement, the Lord checked me about it & I realised that He would protect Pearl & the baby only if we desperately prayed. Yes, it was His Will for her & the baby to go back to England, but nevertheless He would not be able to protect her unless we prayed.
8. Just because something is the Lord's Will for you does not automatically mean that everything is going to go your way. Why are we told repeatedly to pray, if everything is all settled & everything is going to automatically be fine? What are we doing spending all of this time praying desperately if it's automatically all okay? We would just be wasting our time, if that was the case. He says, "Ye have not because ye ask not." What a sad thing to realise that sometimes the Lord can't give protection, supply, healing, or souls because we have failed to pray. As Dad said: "God said to Israel one time that bad things were happening because, `No man stirreth himself to call upon Me'!--Isa.64:7. So the Lord really does leave a lot up to us: If we stir ourselves, then God will stir Himself. An awful lot depends on us, our faith & our prayers & what we want done." (ML #1957:34; See also, Good Thots, pg.637, #243.)
9. Doing what you know is God's Will does not bring with it automatic protection & provision. For example, you know that it is the Lord's Will for you to get out there & witness & win souls, don't you? Of course! The Bible says it, the Letters say it, the conviction of the Holy Spirit tells you so, your leaders say it, it's an established fact, confirmed by many witnesses. Yet, if you go out there to do the Lord's Will in the arm of the flesh, not depending on the Lord or crying out to Him in desperation for the help of His Spirit, you can each testify that you are not automatically assured success.
10. "But," you say, "this is different, because the Lord has given us prophecies & verses that He is going to protect & He is going to care for Pearl & the baby. He's not going to let anything bad happen & He's going to take vengeance on our enemies, He has said it Himself." Yes, but do you see why He said it?--Because He knew that we were going to pray. He knows the future & He knows that You are going to take up the commission to fight desperately in prayer for these dear loved ones who are under attack. I believe that the Lord, in His foreknowledge, was able to have Pearl come back because, since He knew we were going to pray, He knew that He would be able to protect her.
11. But we do have to remember that the Lord doesn't automatically protect people just because it's His Will for them to do something. It may be the Lord's Will for you to go somewhere, but if you do His Will without praying for His protection, you may get in trouble while you're on your way.
12. So we have to remember that those two things have to go together: We can be doing His Will, but we still have to desperately pray for His protection while we're doing it. So we must desperately pray! The Lord is going to use our whole Family from every corner of the Earth to be the prayer warriors in this fight. We're all needed to uphold the hands of those in battle & help to win the victory!
13. You need to have these very serious desperate matters constantly on your mind, repeatedly brought to your attention. We need to tell you in LNFs, we need to present it to you in Prayer Lists, we need to tell the story in the FSM, we need to call a Fast Day, we need to do our part!
14. The Lord can fulfil His promises only if we do our part. All these beautiful promises the Lord has given have one condition, that His people far & wide in all parts of the World pray. But He knows you're going to pray, He knows you're going to obey, therefore He was able to tell us the glorious outcome through these beautiful prophecies. What a wonderful thing to know the outcome & not have to worry or fear!--But we must do our part! (Please see also, "The Spiritual Warfare Depends on Us!" ML#2327.)
Fight in Prayer with the Word!
15. Not only is it our job to pray, but also to fight with the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. We need to not only pray, but we need to use the Word. That's what our people who are directly involved in these persecution situations have to do; they have to actually stand up & give the Word of the Lord to our enemies. They have to give clear testimonies of our life for the Lord & what His Word tells us to do. So the most important ways that we can fight are in prayer & with the Word.
Wonderful Prophecies!--For All of Our Children!
16. We are printing in FSMs 215-219 many of the prophecies which we received as a result of our initial request for our Offices to pray first for Pearl & her baby in England, & later for Lamb & her children in Australia. One reason we are repeating many similar prophecies or visions that the Lord gave is to show you how different people separated by great distances have gotten the same things, & the Lord has certainly confirmed it in the mouth of two or three & sometimes more witnesses. Another reason we are including so many is that in the midst of a hot & heavy battle, each Word from the Lord is so encouraging & so precious, & it seems like each one adds strength to our conviction & our resolve to keep fighting & to know the Lord is going to win the battle. As we go from verse to verse & prophecy to prophecy, we go "from strength to strength." (Psa.84:7.)
17. What the Lord is going to do for Pearl's baby is symbolic of what He is going to do for all our children worldwide. When you read these prophecies, you will see that this baby is very special to the Lord & very dear to His heart. The Lord is trying to show us through these promises that this is the way He sees each of our children, as His very special jewels & treasures. It's not only Pearl's baby that is so very special to the Lord, but all our children are very special to Jesus. So what He has said about this dear little boy, Samuel, is what He would say to & about all our dear children. Pearl's baby is symbolic of all our children.
(Note: Since the time Mama gave this talk, the Lord has given many wonderful Words of love & promises of protection for Lamb's children as well, which are also symbolic of what the Lord would say to & about all our dear children.)
Please Don't Fail to Pray!--They Need You!
18. In these prayer sessions, the Lord has said what He will do if we are faithful to do our part. What an important responsibility the Lord has given us! He's trying to emphasise to us how important prayer is & what priority we should give it. We are including in the following pages some of the prophecies that we received from around the World confirming the importance of prayer & how the outcome of this battle depends on our prayers!
19. If you should find yourself in a similar situation, you would want to know that your Family was praying for you. So please don't fail to pray for them. They need you!
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family
