9/10 Friday faith

The ability of God that was exercised in the resurrection of Jesus belongs to the believer today.

Notice Eph. 1:19-20. Let me give you a somewhat free translation: "I want to show you the exceeding greatness of the ability of God on our behalf who believe. It is according to the working of the strength of his might which he wrought in the Christ when he raised him from the dead and made him sit at the right hand."

We have never grasped the significance of this.

The Father has given to us the ability that He exercised in the resurrection of Jesus.

Then we who have received Eternal Life, have in our possession today the resurrection power or ability of God.

I am convinced that before the Master returns, there will be groups of men and women who will recognize this and take their place and begin to show the world a type of supernatural ability that will startle a sense-knowledge ruled world.

It is no idle thing to have God in you. . . .

The God who raised Jesus from the dead is dwelling in you and He has lost none of His ability or power.
-- E.W. Kenyon, In His Presence

9/9 Thursday thoughts

Prayer should be as natural as breathing and as enjoyable as eating.

Prayer should be as unconscious as our communication with each other.

It should not be the child of need, but should be based on a spiritual fellowship with the Father and with the Master so that our needs are His needs; for we are not our own, we are a part of Him. . . .

So we are laboring together with Him, and what we have considered personal needs are really His needs.

The work that we are doing is His work, so that prayer is not what we have thought it was; but it is a fellowship, a sharing; it is community interest. . . .

Prayer is a visit with our Father.

-- E.W. Kenyon, In His Presence

Some Don'ts of Prayer

Don't have a double confession so that one moment you confess, "Yes, He heard my prayer. I am healed," or "I will get the money," and then begin to question how it is going to come and what you ought to do to get it.

Your latter confession destroys the first.

A wrong confession destroys prayer and destroys faith.

Don't trust in other people's faith -- have your own.

Do your own believing. Have your own faith as you have your own clothes. Act on the Word for yourself.

Don't talk doubt or unbelief.

Never admit that you are a "Doubting Thomas" . . .

Don't talk about sickness and disease.

Never talk about failure. Talk about the Word, its absolute integrity, and of your utter confidence in it; of your ability to act on it; and hold fast to your confession of its truthfulness.

. . . You cannot develop a Prayer Life that is anything but words unless the Word actually has a part in your life.

You live the Word; you do the Word.

-- E. W. Kenyon, In His Presence

Enemies of Prayer: Part 4: Depending on Another's Faith

Another Enemy of prayer is our dependence on other people's faith.

We become unconsciously, spiritual hitchhikers.

To every man God has given a measure of Faith; that Faith came with the New Creation, it came when you received the Father's Nature. That Nature is a Faith Nature.

As soon as it came into you and you became His Child, you began to develop that Faith. . . .

You are now developing your faith by feeding on the Word. (John 15:7)

You begin to live in the Word.

You are acting on the Word.

You are taking advantage of your privileges in Christ.

-- E.W. Kenyon, In His Presence

Enemies of Prayer: Part 3: Praying for Faith

Another Enemy is Praying for Faith.

How many times have we gone to the altar and to the prayer room to pray for more faith. What a delusion that was.

You never heard of anyone getting more faith or having their faith increased by praying for it.

Why? Because the prayer for faith is a prayer based on unbelief.

If unbelief were not your master, you wouldn't need faith, so praying for faith is an absolute proof that you will not get it, and that you are insulting the Father by doing it.

Why, if a child should say to its mother, "Mama, I want you to increase my faith in you. I've been trying all morning to believe that what you said about that trip that Saturday were true." The child is insulting the integrity of his mother.

So when you pray for faith you are insulting the author of the Word. You don't intend to, but you are doing that.
-- E.W. Kenyon, In His Presence

Enemies of Faith: Part 2: Mental Assent

Another Enemy is Mental Assent.

You say, "What is it?" It is mentally accepting the Word as true, but not acting upon it.

It is admiring the Word.

You may have been called a Fundamentalist, and you may have confessed that you believe the Word from Genesis to Revelation; but when it comes to acting on it, you have never done it.

You are like one that knows all the ingredients that are in a certain dish that you have for dinner.

You are able to diagnose every feature about it. But you don't eat it. It does you no good.

The Mental Assenter is a failure . . .

The Believer is a "doer of the Word and not a hearer only."

Jesus described him in that last illustration of the Sermon on the Mount. The Doer was the one who dug deep, went down to the rock and built his house thereon. The Mental Assenter built on the sand.
-- E.W. Kenyon, In His Presence

Some Enemies of Prayer: Hope

Another Enemy is Hope.

Hope is always future. Faith is always now.

Someone comes to me and asks me to pray for them, and I say, "Was the prayer answered?' And they answer, "I hope it was."

Then I know it will not be answered, and I frankly tell them. "No, the Hoper's prayers are seldom answered."

Hope is a beautiful thing when it is about Heaven, or the coming back of the Master, and everything that belongs to the future. But for present-tense practices and present-tense life, hope is a dangerous enemy.

It is beautiful, but it is dangerous!

The Hoper is always a failure. It is the Believer that is a success -- and believing, you remember, is acting on the Word.

-- E.W. Kenyon, In His Presence