Note: I wrote this post back in 2008, when we were still praying and standing in faith for a new, larger church sanctuary to be constructed. I fully believe the fundamentals in this article to be completely applicable today! Read on. – Bob

Your Seed Shall Be Prosperous

Recently, I’ve been teaching on prayer; which happens to be one of my favorite topics.

Why? Well, it’s in prayer that we:

• fellowship and commune with God
• build our relationship with Him
• begin to see things from His perspective
• receive revelation
• bring our petitions before Him, and
• decree Heaven’s purposes here on earth.  

Without an ongoing sustained prayer life, we limit ourselves to this earthly realm where we are temporary residents.  Our natural surroundings and circumstances would try and convince us that they are the superior realm; however, it is the heavenly realm – the Kingdom of God – which is the superior reality.  

When we pray, our spirit is open to the strategies, direction, and revelation from heaven that we need here on earth.  We now have the opportunity to bring Heaven to Earth through that which has been revealed.  

A Zechariah 8:12 Moment

For example, in the beginning of March, the Lord spoke to me, “You are living in a Zechariah 8:12 moment.”  I quickly grabbed my Bible, looked up this verse, and read:

For the seed shall be prosperous, the vine shall give its fruit, the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew— I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these.

My faith soared for financial provision as the Holy Spirit breathed on this passage!  For weeks now I have been declaring this over our family and church, and God is honoring His word.  It turns out that in 2005 God began to challenge me to “sow seed into India, and watch for the sanctuary building I will give you!”  

As a church, we were already in need of a larger sanctuary building in 2006.  In the “natural”, it would have seemed prudent to set aside extra finances for a new building, rather than spend thousands on outreaches to India.  However, we decided to take God at His word and during 2006-2008, I made 4 trips to India ministering to thousands in crusades and leadership conferences.  Thousands came to Christ, thousands were healed, miracles were released, churches were strengthened and leaders received additional training and equipping.  Additionally, in 2007 we also sponsored the construction of a concrete church building in one of the Indian villages in the Andrea Pradesh region.  

He Watches over His Word

So, when the Lord spoke to me this year that “the seed shall be prosperous,” I knew by the Spirit that this applied to the resources we gave to India the last few years, and that God would perform the word He spoke to us and provide for the new sanctuary building that we are building.

God had revealed His will during times of prayer and communion with Him; it then required faith and action on our part to be obedient to what He had revealed. Romans 10:17 says that

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

Faith arose in my heart as I “heard” or “understood” what God was revealing.  There was an imparted gift of faith for giving into India and imparted faith to believe that the finances previously given would produce a harvest during this season.  Our church family is now watching as God has worked a miracle in funding our new building construction during a time in the “natural” of economic difficulty.  You see, in the Kingdom of God, there is neither lack nor recession.  When we live in Kingdom economics, we receive from Kingdom resources.  Truly, the “seed shall be prosperous!”

The Grace of Faith

Faith is an imparted grace to the heart of the believer by Christ. We can believe in the word of God, in God’s promises, or in what He has revealed to us in prayer and still not be able to see the answer to prayer that we desire. Why? Believing in a promise is not the same as having the faith to appropriate it.

The Lord spoke to me recently that “belief is an assurance of the mind, yet faith is an assurance of the heart.”  Romans 10:9,10 says

that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Notice that salvation and righteousness are imparted when the “heart” believes or has faith.  Having a “mental belief” that Christ died for your sins is good, but only when believed upon from one’s heart can a person truly be born-again and come into a salvation experience.

The disciples believed that Jesus had commissioned them to heal the sick and cast out demons, but in Matthew 17 they were unable to deliver a demonized boy.  Jesus gave the child the freedom he needed, and then explained to the disciples it was their unbelief that primarily caused them not to see the breakthrough in prayer.  They had the mental assurance (belief) that they could move in God’s power and heal the boy, but they did not have the heart assurance (faith) that it would be so.  

Faith is Spiritual

You see, faith is not intellectual, but spiritual.  Faith is of the heart, not of the mind.  This is why consistent times of communion with God in prayer will enable His written word and spoken word to us to become living and active in our hearts, not just a promise we memorized in our minds.  Once revelation is received and believed upon in the heart, it now becomes a seed of faith that can change impossible situations.  

Know that it Has Been Accomplished!

Ever since God spoke to my heart that “you are living in a Zechariah 8:12 moment” I have faith that the “seed shall be prosperous.”  I know that it is an accomplished fact in the heavenly realm.

Now, as I come to the Father in prayer concerning the provision for our new building, I’m simply reminding Him of His promises, “Father you said, that if we sowed seed into India, that you would provide for us a new sanctuary building.  Father I thank you that we are living in a Zechariah 8:12 moment, and that our seed shall be prosperous and yield heaven’s increase!  Father, I thank you for your provision and for this new building – Amen!”  

Both of those words were “seeds of faith” given by the Lord.  They imparted a grace for faith and confidence to pray those words knowing that it is the will of the Father.  I want to encourage you to wait upon the Lord, commune with Him, and simply ask Him to provide revelation and faith for that which you are praying (Jer. 33:3).  Once received, agree with God and declare heaven’s decrees here on earth and watch what He does!

Here are some recent photos of our church family worshipping in – you guessed it – our God-provided church sanctuary.

 

With God, all things are possible!

Blessings,

Bob