PRAYER PAPER FOR PHILOSOPHY

To my fellow readers, I just wanted to post this paper I wrote and submitted to my philosophy class. I am taking philosophy at my college in 2009 and I by the empowerment and boldness of The Holy Spirit, been preaching to my class concerning the things of Jesus Christ. At first I tried keeping my mouth shut to listen and I do, but when the fire of the Holy Ghost rises shoots up in my bones due to His Word in me, I truely find it hard to contain my self. I feel that I do an unjustice by keeping the truth of our Lord Jesus Christ just to myself in class. However thank God Jesus is the vine, the resource and we are (The Church, called out ones) the branches! That can do absolutely nothing, unless we are connected into Jesus our Sourse of Life and Truth!

The paper I had to submit was birthed from a given question..." Can prayer be a supplement to or a replacement for, medical treatment?" and it had to be in our own opinion. There is so much more to say in this paper, but for length specifics, which my teacher required, I had to keep it to 4 pages. I did 4 1/2.

Now just about every paper I submitted in this class and my religion class I had last semester, I never got back from my teacher. Everyone else did, except for me. However I did get an outstanding passing grade in my religion class. My teacher that I have had for both my Religion class and Philosophy class is proclaimed Islam, who is from India, grew up in the Hindu belief and went to Catholic school through out her childhood. However, no matter the background, I am believing she will come to submission to Jesus The Lord!!!

Here is the paper I submitted...

Prayer

James 5:16 The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

There are two types of praying. Type one is religious (dead) prayers which is philosophical. Type two is relational quality prayers which no one can understand without true revelation given by The Holy Spirit through salvation in Jesus Christ.

All types of prayers that fit in the category of religious is due to the fact that the belief itself is indeed dead giving into man’s order to utilize his own understanding and vanity in own power. There is absolutely no LIFE given or promised whatsoever in today’s definition of religion. When I speak of relational, that means one on one relationship with God and man. Religion is man trying to reach God on his own ability, but relationship is God coming to man and liberating the man’s heart by true repentance, so that man can live a new life in a relationship with God. Religion is noted to be dead because it consists of things that possess no true power to transform, satisfy or offer you any true assurance of eternal life. What about the sense of true purpose that you were born to know and to possess? That eternal life which is a quality of relationship with God, which only our risen Savior Jesus Christ offers can never be found in “dead” religion. Just as sure as the body of Jesus could have never been found in the grave after three days.

If you have a relationship with God only through Jesus Christ, not only will you inherit eternal life, but you can live life in constant fellowship with The Lord Jesus Christ, who is God. All dead religions idolize false dead gods or people like Buddha, Muhammad, Mary, Joseph, Rama, and the list goes on, however only Jesus is alive this day and forever!

Dead religious form of praying does not help at all as a supplement to medical treatment. First of all in a religious matter the person praying is calling upon a dead, non living entity for a super natural healing or miracle. That is like praying to a pencil and asking it to write on its own, your school essay papers. It can not happen. Religious praying however comforts people in troubled times. It has no effect on God, but rather on the person. Religious praying comforts a person’s emotions and conscience to a false belief that a DEAD entity will perform whatever they ask. Religion is only ‘I’ centered and not God centered.

Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Prayers that are in fellowship with the true and only living God, Jesus Christ, are very supplemental to any medical treatment. Now thank God for doctors, they are a help, however they are limited in their ability to treat a person to complete wholeness in many areas. Jesus is limitless! I can think of countless testimonial stories of when I myself had to go to the hospital or doctor’s office and before I was in a relationship with Christ my family and friends, those who followed Jesus and had their own relationship with him, prayed on my behalf and I was healed! Those also include many more times that I never made it to a hospital or doctor, and Jesus just healed me on the spot. God only answers to one thing and that is to prayers from those who He calls righteous, which are those who are in a relationship with him.

One can asses the will of God through prayer. When you are set free in the joy and free gift of salvation through Jesus, your life becomes transformed only by praying to Him. Because when you desire to be in a relationship with The one and only who saved you, Jesus, you immediately communicate with Him in fellowship, which is prayer. When I gave my whole heart to The Lord and submitted to His will for my life, I spoke to Him out of my heart and believe it or not He spoke back. He spoke back in liberation, in restoration, in authority, and in power. Jesus is after your heart first.

II Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.

After being transformed in Christ by His Holy Spirit which results in constant fellowship (prayer) with Christ you realize because He is greater than anyone and the only one who can save, you start to just pray for His will to be done in any and every situation that arises. Remember dead religion is only ‘I’ centered concerning the motive of the heart, but to be saved and in a relationship with Christ, you become very “God’s Will” centered. One would realize that absolutely nothing happens without The Lord first knowing and allowing it. When it comes to prayer in situations that press upon the necessity of any medical treatment, one must realize that all things happen for a reason in which that reason is according to God’s will and plan. We may not understand in that moment why or for what reason the circumstance (medical and all) we are facing has to due with the plan of God. That is why we must be saved and in fellowship with Jesus! Most likely even as a believe Christ wont tell exactly why something is wrong, but He wants us to trust in His nature, which one can only come to know by being in a relationship with Him.

Speaking in tongues is an unlearned, heavenly language. It is a language that is a result after divinely being baptized and filled with The Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ. It can in no way be replicated. Speaking in tongues is proof, among many of other things that indeed the Lord filled you with His Spirit. One can expect from the Baptism in the Holy Spirit; Boldness and Authority (Acts 4:31-33), Spiritual Gifts (I Corinthians 12:8-10), Spiritual Fruit (Galatians 5:16-22), Spiritual Rest (Isaiah 28:11-12), Praying in the Spirit (Jude 20, Romans 8:26-27, Ephesians 6:18), New Realms of Praise and Worship (John 4:23-24, Ephesians 5:18-19), Being taught by the Spirit (John 14:26; 16:13, I John 2:20-27), Spiritual Guidance (Matthew 4:1, Luke 4:1, Romans 8:14), Having Spiritual understanding of the Will of God (Colossians 1:9), Spiritual Power to put the works of the flesh to death (Romans 8:13), Quickening Power (Romans 8:11), Kingdom Life (Romans 14:17), Supernatural Joy, especially during times of affliction and persecution (Acts 13:53, I Thessalonians 1:6), and Spiritual Weapons of Warfare (II Corinthians 10:4, Ephesians 6:12, 18).

Acts 1:8 (KJV) But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

The Free gift of the Holy Spirit is for all who so desires it and believes. It's of God's will for all of us who are called by His name to be filled with Him, filled with His Spirit! In order to experience the fully dynamic of an intimate relationship with Him and be lead by Him! By His spirit residing within us, we can hear, feel, and see Jesus literally and spiritually! Consider the wind. Many can not see the wind, it appears to be invisible, yet you can hear it, feel, smell it, and even see objects moved by it.

Jesus had to die on the cross, resurrect, and ascend to the heavenly realm to take His rightful place on the right hand of God first, in order for all believers to receive the free gift of the Holy Ghost. John 15:26 (KJV) But when the Comforter (Holy Spirit) is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he (Holy Spirit) shall testify of me (Jesus Christ):

I Corinthians 3:9 For we are labourers together with God:…

When you are in a relationship with someone, communication is need in order to both function together. In the Bible, Christ calls us to be co-laborers with Him. He is the chief laborer. He is The Pilot; we are to be His co-pilots, like a chief surgeon is to his nurses and staff, so is Jesus The Chief Surgeon over us! Even the doctors have The Chief Surgeon (Christ) that they must submit to, whether they believe in Him or not. The times that doctors realize they have to submit to The Higher Authority is when they themselves realize that they are limited and can do nothing with out the order and healing touch of Life Himself who is Jesus. John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life…

It’s a true fact that, when man through the occupation of a doctor makes on his own any supplement “medically” that it may be able to own it’s own seem to have helped a symptom, but it does then also open a door for another perhaps “undiscovered” disease to take root in the patient which trusted in the man’s supplement. However, when man resorts to and utilizes that which God has first given in its natural originality, likely hood of whatever is need to fix any problem will in fact be the best cure. I am not saying, just resort to all natural use. I am saying use the natural that God has given and ask God to put His never ending power behind it, thus making it super natural. Only God puts the super to our natural.

It is like the story that was shown on television concerning a heart surgeon. As the camera view the procedure being performed by this heart surgeon, you can hear the chief surgeon in the background explain the process and his mindset behind the surgery. When he and his staff of nurses came to the end of the surgery and were about to close the human heart in stitches, they had to empower the heart back to its pumping function. This procedure of empowering the heart is what determines if the surgery was or was not successful. They non-hesitantly turned to a machine that has the ability to stimulate the heart by triggering the heart’s nerves with a type of electric shock, in hope that this will bring the patient’s heart back to life. Well, as the Chief heart surgeon and his staff was quiet and anticipating success while performing this conclusive procedure, it didn’t trigger the heart. After a few attempts this machine couldn’t get the heart to respond. As I am sure hearts dropped in quick disappointment, the Chief heart surgeon resorted to one more option. This option created even more hope for success in the patient’s heart to come back to life. This is when the doctors and nurses had to submit to something beyond their natural ability in machines. The Chief surgeon stood above the dead patient and reached in with his hand, into the chest cavity completely removing the heart out of the body. As he held the fist sized heart in his hand and he lifted his other hand right over the heart, and bringing his finger tips together to form a tiny fist he began to knock on the dead heart. As the doctor kept knocking on the heart, the heart finally responded and came back to life!

So how do we get God to heal? Pray and ask God, already realizing everything is in His hands, just pray for His will to be done. God’s will is His nature. In modern terms, God is obsessed in His own Will, which is His purpose, which is His pleasure. God’s nature is to heal. He will heal the broken hearted, the lame, the deaf, blind, He can heal any disease and so on. God is the giver of LIFE! Till this day Jesus is still healing people, raising up the dead, literally growing back severed limbs from humans. How can that happen? Well, it’s because He is still alive and healing through others. Now just because God can heal anything, doesn’t mean He has to. When we are not in proper alignment with God, meaning when we don’t obediently subject ourselves to God who has fully glory in Authority and Power, then He won’t respond to us by our prayers.

God is looking for a people, over whom He will be their God. Not to get confused that God is Lord over all the heavens and the earth, but He is looking first for one who will admit and submit to His Lordship and reign over their own heart and whole being. Why do we try to lug around burdens that perhaps retain hurt, affliction, need of healing and so on, when Jesus will take it all and give us joy unexplainable, restoration, liberation and unique fellowship with God through His Holy Spirit? The patient of the story I mentioned earlier could have carried on in life not having surgery and allowed their heart to die on its own, but they person decided to see the Chief Heart Surgeon. Oh how successful it is and liberating to see the Chief heart Surgeon, Jesus Christ! To submit to Him in His caring hands our dead sinful heart, in exchange for a new heart in Him! A new heart in Life! We should submit to His knocking on our heart. We have nothing to loose, but death and gain new life in Him. The great thing is, is that we don’t have to wait to die in this world in order to enjoy a life eternal, but by His desire to fill us with His Spirit, we can experience a glimpse of heaven on earth. To be connected to a whole other world, that’s not of this world, which is The Kingdom of God. It’s not in repeating a specific prayer, but it’s only first by humbly coming before The Lord with a repentive heart and just start fellowshipping with Him from your heart.

John 14:26 (KJV) But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost ( Holy Spirit), whom the Father (God eternal) will send in my name (the name of Jesus), he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I (Jesus Christ) have said unto you.

John 14: 10-11 (KJV) (10) Believest thou not that I ( Jesus) am in the Father (God), and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but of the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. (11) Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake (miracles).

I hope this paper encourages you my fellow reader as well.

God Bless