The processes of Faith

We have talked about putting the Faith into practice and using the principles of the Faith teachings found in the scriptures. I now want to turn your eyes to Chapter 15 of the Gospel according to Saint Matthew, beginning with Verse 21.

There is a woman there who for me is a woman of Faith. Just as we have talked about Ana, we have talked about the Parables of Christ of the friend at midnight, we have talked about Bartimaeus and many other characters of Faith: Mozafath, etc. I want to talk to you about the Syro-Phoenician woman.

That wasn't his name, thank God; We don't know his name but he was from the area of Phoenicia, Tire, Sidon, a pagan region north of Galilee. This region no longer belonged to Israel, it still does not belong to Israel. It is in the part of Syria right now, which are enemies as they were in these times as well.

This woman belonged to an enemy nation, as still two thousand years later, she is an enemy of Israel. A staunch enemy, by the way, of Israel, just as she was at that time, too. So this woman had no right to receive anything from Jesus, because she belonged to a nation spiritually inimical to Israel.

But the Lord went in that direction and met this woman.

How interesting! that many times in Scripture, the people who receive from God, like the widow of Zarephath, were people who were not inside, they were outside. People who did not have... like the young man, the prodigal son, like the Samaritan woman, like Zacchaeus, Bartimaeus, they were outsiders, they were not inside the circle, they were not religious people. They were not people who would seem entitled to receive anything from Jesus. And the heart of Jesus always went towards those people who were somewhat doubtful in terms of their ability to receive.

Something that reminds us that it is not due to merit or self-righteousness, but rather it is by Grace, Amen, that we receive anything. And in the name of Jesus going to the right person and through the merits of Jesus Christ.

Matthew 15:21. This woman of Faith, focus on the Faith of this woman, look for where Faith is in this story. It says: 'Leaving Jesus from there, he went to the region of Tire and Sidon and, behold, a Canaanite woman who had come out of that region, cried...'

He cried, remember Bartimaeus who cried, too? The Lord likes people who yell, he likes loud people, he likes people who take their needs seriously. They do not come there with a request, there, for warm water wipes, but, they have truly defined their need, they know what they want, they know what they are looking for, they know where they have to go and they are not going to accept "NO" for an answer. They are determined, they are clear. The Lord likes clear people.

What does the Word say in Santiago? It says that: 'The double-minded man is unstable in all his ways,' he says, 'Whoever asks should not wait for him to receive anything from the Lord, but ask with Faith, not doubting' -says Santiago- 'because the man who doubt is similar to the waves of the sea, which is carried from one place to another' and says 'whoever asks in this way should not think that they will receive anything from the Lord'.

The Lord likes people who are clear, determined, focused and who know that the Lord is a rewarder of those who seek him, as the Word says. And this woman 'cried', she is a determined woman. She cried out saying: "Lord, son of David, have mercy on me. My daughter is seriously tormented by a demon." There is the specific request of this woman.

She clearly told the Lord what her condition was and implicitly what she needed from Him: to have mercy, to heal her daughter; and even why her daughter was affected and what intervention she required from Jesus.

But something interesting arises, Jesus did not answer him. Interesting.

I invite you to look at three levels of obstacles that this woman encountered on the way to her answer; what i needed Three stages of obstacle, conflict, impediment that she had to overcome in order to receive.

We have said many times that Faith does not understand obstacles, Faith persists, Faith remains focused on the goal, Faith continues, Faith goes through desert times, Faith prevails over refusals, prevails over doubt even to reach your goal.

But look here at three levels of objection and difficulty that this woman had to overcome in order to receive the answer she needed.

The first thing is that the Lord does not answer him. How many of us have encountered the silence of God at some time in our lives? We have asked the Lord and there is no answer. The Heavens are made of bronze, our prayers bounce and fall inert to the ground. The days, the weeks go by, we ask the Lord and there seems to be no answer and what is our temptation? To say “You know what? we stop persisting.

We have to remember, brothers, many times the silence of God has an intention behind it. And that is what I want you to understand.

This woman strikes me because she is something interesting about Faith. Faith is a process. Say with me "Process"

Faith is a process, Faith has stages, Faith has zigzags, Faith has complexities. Many Christians sin of a tragic simplification regarding matters of Faith. Faith is often a drama. We often want, "I asked and okay, we want the answer right away and let me go to something else"; but God has other intentions, God is an intentional God.

What I want is for you to see here that prayer is a process and in prayer there are two, at least two protagonists. Sometimes there are three, the devil, he is also a protagonist in the prayer process. But there are at least two: the person who asks and the God who hears the prayer.

Sometimes we forget about that and just as we speak, God also sometimes speaks and we have to be attentive to God's intentions; that God sometimes wants to get something out of us through waiting. God is not interested in simply giving us, because He can do that at any time, an answer He can give you in an instant.

But God likes that through our prayers, we learn things. Always remember that when you come before the Lord, not only are you asking and addressing God, but God also wants to say things to you. And sometimes your silence is part of your response.

Sometimes, do you know what God's answer is? "Wait," that's God's answer. Sometimes he's going to say, "You know what? No." But sometimes he's going to tell you, "no, but I'm going to give you something else." There are many ways that God responds, it's not just by giving you the lollipop you want.

Sometimes God says: "You know what? I'm not going to give you the palette, but I'm going to give you a little dish of spinach with a little bit of green oil because that's what you need." Depends. God is an intentional God, God does not want spoiled children who open their mouths and then the food comes into their mouths and parasites are created. No, God wants interactive people, people who know how to deal with their principles, mature people.

And many times prayer is the process that God uses to intervene within us and operate surgically on our spiritual sensitivity and its silences, its waits, its "No", its substitutions, its consolation prizes God teaches us that He is Sovereign, He is Lord. He knows what He is doing. Our part is to submit to His will.

Not being spoiled children that "I asked you for that and you didn't give it to me, well, I don't want anything". That's not the attitude. And sometimes God decides in the heart and He knows that this is the attitude with which we come and says: "You know what? I'm not going to give you anything until you learn your lesson" And he puts up with us there.

So prayer is a process, prayer is an interaction between God and the person who asks. And sometimes there is a third party that is the devil who is struggling to prevent even our prayers from reaching the Throne of God; and sometimes or to prevent God's Blessing from reaching us.

You will say "Wow! That is scandalous. Pastor Miranda has already become a heretic." No, it's Biblical.

Do you remember a prayer of Daniel, when Daniel prayed? and what happened? Twenty-one days he was praying to the Lord for his people and nothing happened. Until on the twenty-first day an angel appeared to him, not just any angel... an Archangel... Archangel Michael I think it was... and the Archangel said to him: "Daniel, servant of God, since you prepared yourself to pray and fast your prayer was received at the Throne of God. But the Prince of Greece interposed me and until now I have been able to give you the answer to your prayer ".

The Bible does not tell us all the details, but there is an implication here that there was a spiritual battle in the air between the angels of God and demonic spirits who wanted to prevent a very powerful Revelation from being given to this man of God. But it came to the end. Daniel persisted, some issues had to be resolved in the spiritual dimension but finally the answer came.

Many times we do not understand that in our prayers, behind them, there is spiritual warfare. There are many things.

The Word says for example: 'If you are going to ask for something and you have something against your brother'... What happens? Do you have to settle with your brother first? right yes? Before asking the Lord -because you are not going to receive anything while you have resentment with your brother or your sister- that is why forgiveness, reconciliation is so important. When there are clouds, when there are resentments, interference between us and our fellow men, that prevents God's Blessing from coming.

There are processes; and sometimes we have to arrange one thing with the other. It says: 'If you have a problem with your brother and you come to offer your sacrifices to the Lord,' put your sacrifice on hold, hold it, settle it with your brother and then come and offer your sacrifice. How many know that this is Biblical? Amen.

There is also another, to men he says: 'Men, do not be harsh with your women, so that your prayers do not have an impediment' Wow! Another reason for... many times our prayers are impeded because we are being abusive, oppressive to our wives.

I imagine that it will also be with the wives, because there are wives that are also oppressive. How many know that? How many can say amen among men? Amen. In other words, not only the women, here, don't think that Pastor Miranda only has a whip that says "men" here, no, that goes both ways, so that everyone is upset with me.

The fact is that the oppressive attitude, the abusive attitude can often also establish... and until these things are resolved there may be an impediment and there will be a process, there will be controversy, there will be contortion in the process of prayer.

That is, prayer is a science, prayer is very complex and here we see something interesting because this woman is in a process. The Lord does not answer him, the Lord remains silent and continues on his way. It's not the first time He did that. With Bartimaeus the same, He kept walking and Bartimaeus kept insisting "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me." He didn't give up. The silence.

This woman could have said, "You know what? This guy is rude, I'm not going to pray anymore, this is an Evangelist who thinks he's the best and he's not paying attention," so she could have given up right there. but she insisted. She knew that the Lord had the answer.

Keep insisting even if you don't receive an answer immediately, continue, persist, continue, day after day... day after day until you receive an answer from the Lord.

Then 'Jesus did not answer him a word. Then approaching his disciples begged him saying: "Send her away because she cries out after us."

Second obstacle: the disciples.

Do you know that many times even the children of God can be an obstacle in your spiritual life? Many times your family, many times the people in the church when they do not share your vision, when a person does not know what God has put in your heart, many times what they see is madness, fanaticism, obstinacy, lack of understanding and they go away. to say: "Stop that, don't continue, now, it's good".

But one has to truly discern "is this that I feel, this call, this impulse, this need, this challenge that I feel in my heart, is it from God or is it from man? Or is it from the flesh?" If it's from God, then I have to persist, no matter what.

Because many times, with good intentions, people who do not understand the vision that God has given you... will impose it... because many times the things of God seem crazy to those who do not share.

Do you remember Ana praying? Because he needed, he wanted a son and Eli -a man who lacked understanding despite the fact that he was a Shepherd, a Priest- told him: "you are drunk, woman, get out of here and digest your wine". He told him: "No, Lord, it's that I have a passion in me, I want a son."

People who do not understand will often oppose your visions and where you see opportunity they will see danger, they will see obstacles, they will see obstinacy, lack of discernment. Now when you have discerned that things are from God, look, even if it is the Pastor - from time to time, once in a while I have made a mistake in my life, brothers, very rarely but I have made a mistake - even if it is the Pastor , you persist in your vision. Even if he is the person you love the most, the spiritually wisest old man, if God has spoken to you and you know it is from God, go ahead and ask the Lord for wisdom and confirmation.

That's all I ask.

But there are times when you have to be desperate, you know? Here the disciples opposed her, they told her, "Lord, now, get rid of her, she has had enough of us already. This woman is yelling too much" and she could have said, "You know what? Look, if these are the disciples of this man, if those are the ones He chose, this man can't be a true Prophet. So I'm not going to go on. If these are the Christians I don't want to hear from them."

How many people leave churches because a Christian did something and they lost their blessing? The problem is theirs, of course, the Christian who behaved badly will also be prosecuted. But don't believe it, the person who leaves for illegitimate reasons will also have to pay the consequences.

Don't let people take away your Blessing, no matter what you see; Hey, experiment in the church... go ahead. People who go to church can sometimes be the biggest obstacles to a person's spiritual growth.

With pain in my soul I say it. But you, whom have you believed? Have you believed God, the Pastor or the people who are...? Set your eyes on Christ, stay focused, no matter what people tell you, no matter what they do, you have believed in Jesus and the church is for everyone, I say.

Many times people say "Ah! So-and-so did this to me, and I'm leaving the church," and I say "Well, come here. Yes, because so-and-so did it to you... well, if the Pastor had done it to you perhaps I could understand and still not even. But who is so-and-so? So-and-so is not Christ, so-and-so is not the Church. Why do you allow yourself to be scandalized by one more person from the Congregation?"

That is the roots of bitterness that are in the heart and that is why the person cannot receive like this, he will be inconstant. If God has told you: "This is your place, you go on" and you keep looking for God, set your eyes on the Lord, set your eyes on Jesus Christ. Do not allow them to take away your Blessing. Persists. Keep looking for God.

And then finally comes a third obstacle and this time it is dangerous because it comes directly from Jesus Christ. He answering said to him: "I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Then she came and prostrated herself before Him. She insists. Here it came as a "turn up the volume" to his Prayer. First he said to him "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me", but now he is thrown in front of him, he prostrates himself.

Sometimes you have to fast, you have to cry out, you have to look for that final entrance to the heart of God. Fasting is important, crying out to God, sometimes you have to throw yourself on the floor and throw a dog in front of God. Sometimes you have to shed tears before the Lord, sometimes you have to come desperately, if God does not listen to you, keep knocking on his door. Play him harder, yell harder, cry out, cry, fast. Do what you have to do, stand upside down for three days, whatever, but emphasize to God the urgency of your need. Don't be discouraged, keep going, persist in the name of the Lord.

God likes those desperate gestures.

Ana: "If you don't give me a child, I'll die." God sometimes honors desperate requests. He prostrated himself before Him saying: "Lord, help me," responding He insulted him: "It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." What was He saying to her? You are a bitch, a bitch, excuse the expression so strong, I don't even want to say it.

This woman was from Tire and Sidon, she was a Canaanite, enemies of God. The Lord is saying, "You know what? My mission is not to the Gentiles, it is to the children of Israel."

Now I know that...

Does anyone around here have a phone? If you could help me with the cell phones please. They take my concentration away. Turn it off or put it on vibrate or say sorry. Sometimes one forgets but, please...

Okay, brothers, again, where was I? Yes, this woman did not deserve to receive anything. The Lord even insults her by saying "Look, I am not called but the Jews."

Now I think that was, how should I say? It was to test it. Do you know why? Again process.

Many times God gives you answers to see what you are going to do with them. Many times God is silent to see if you are going to give up. Many times God even comes up with something totally scandalous in your life to see if you serve him for the loaves and fish or because He is God and where will we go if only You have the Word of Eternal Life?

I think of those young people we prayed about this morning, we ask that God keep them here, but what if those young people have to go to their country? I hope it is not so.

What happens if they are deported? What's happening? What is the attitude that these young people have to have? Brothers, after praying, after crying out to ask the Lord, if they have to return to their country - something that would absolutely be a tragedy for them - will they be able to serve the Lord where they are? Could I in a situation...?

I always have to ask the Lord: 'Father, if You give me a scandalous answer in my life to a request, would I have the courage to keep loving You, to kiss Your hand, to keep praying to You, to keep crying out, to keep believing in Your Mercy and in Your Goodness? It does not matter that. To continue, then, asking for an answer when everything seems to have closed? Are we prepared for God's scandalous responses? God's insulting answers in our lives? Are you willing to listen from a doctor who tells you: 'You have a terminal illness'? Are you willing to hear from a hospital emergency office, 'A loved one was in an accident and is here on their deathbed'?

Are we ready for a letter that says, "Sorry, you haven't been accepted to your dream college"? Are you ready for outrageous responses from God and for you to continue forward in your prayer life? We have to prepare ourselves because no one knows where, what God has.

Many times, remember, however, that God's scandalous responses are temporary, then comes the Blessing, then comes consolation, then comes growth. God never simply gives us a destructive word to destroy us. Many times it depends on what we do with that word, what we do with that decree of God. We can turn it into glory, we can turn it into a step to go to another level of growth and spiritual maturity. No one ever grew unless they have been through situations where God gives outrageous answers. Where God tells us, "No, and get out of here," and then He waits to see if we say, "Okay, Lord," and kiss his hand and say, "I'll wait for another day."

That is the heart that God loves and responds to.

May the Lord in our hearts be willing to say, "Father, even if you kill me, I will continue to love and believe you" as Job said to the Lord, "even if he kills me, I know that my Redeemer lives and that I will see him," and God listened and Job defeated the devil and Job earned God's blessing and could be a blessing to multitudes and generations throughout history because God's scandalous response was received with meekness. It is important that we are willing to receive God's scandalous answers with humility, subjection and total surrender to what he wants.

That, brothers, has an absolutely overwhelming power and that is the mark -I would say- true of a Christian. He keeps praying, he keeps asking, he keeps insisting but ultimately he knows that God is sovereign. God is Lord and He knows why he does the things he does.

This woman, when the Lord gave her the scandalous answer, she said -27-: "Yes, Lord, yes, Lord." We have to say like this "Yes Lord, yes sir". "But even the little dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." Wow!

She took the insult of the Lord and turned it against Him in a sense. He used spiritual judo, he used judo, he uses the strength of the opponent to knock him down and defeat him. She took Christ at his word and said, 'You know what? I'm going to take that word. But, you say that it is not good to throw the children's food to the puppies? But you know what? Even a little dog, children sometimes drop a crumb and that's enough for them.'

So what was I saying to him?: "Lord, I believe in you so much that even if you don't give me the main food, a little crumb of yours is enough to heal my situation." She glorified Him, praised Him, turned His word into an opportunity to adore Him and to declare her Faith in Him and not give up.

And that Word that she declared was enough and, the Lord then said, “then Jesus answered and said: O great woman is your Faith! Be done with you as you want and her daughter was healed from that hour." She took the word of the Lord.

I wanted to share something with you - and I'm going to finish with this - about that aspect of our prayer life: taking a word from God and standing on a word from God. Stand on something that God says and use that as a legal argument in his presence.

I am writing a book about the life of Josaphat and there are many things in it that God has opened to me about the life of Josaphat. When Jehoshaphat finds himself invaded in Israel by a multitude of terrible army coming to invade Israel, Jehoshaphat stands before the crowd, summons all of Judah and they say a mighty prayer. They pray to the Lord, they cry out to God and say that Haziel was among the crowd, a prophet of God, who stopped when Josaphat had finished praying and told him a word that was very revealing to me and that I write about it in the book and Haziel tells him: "Stand up, stand up, stand firm and see the Salvation of Jehovah." "Stand up, stand firm and see the Salvation of Jehovah."

I say, brothers, that many times we have to stop on the word of God. That 'stop' has many implications. But one of the implications about standing is what this woman did: she stood on the word that Jesus said and she stood on a word that Jesus' word inspired her.

Listen to this, there is another way to interpret this call from God to "stand up." In the journey of Faith there are occasions in which the believer has to look for what I call 'the spiritual axis', the point of scriptural support, from where it is possible to settle down to start the battle that is ahead from there.

It can be a text from the Word of God, it can be a promise we have received, it can be a prophetic word. However, as we have said before with regard to prayer, it is important that the believer seek and discover God's specific statement for whatever battle he has to fight and learn to stand on what God has said concerning his particular situation. .

Note that here the Lord says -in another passage that is in Mark, Chapter 7- the Lord tells that woman: "Because of this word that you have spoken, go. The devil has come out of your daughter."

When that woman said to Jesus: "If the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the table." That word was the one that healed his daughter. It wasn't even the Lord Jesus Christ. That word spoken through Jesus healed this woman's daughter.

It is important to find that word to stop us. That statement, that prophetic impulse that God has put in our hearts and we stand on it. And make leverage with that word that sometimes God gives us. So, he continues here by saying: "That is why it is so important that you learn the word of God well and that when you are faced with a challenge in life or take on a struggle, a journey, a spiritual adventure, you can find that specific word in the Bible." It has to do with the personal drama you are experiencing.

And when God gives that word, row your spirit, receive it and make it your banner. Make it your battle motto. Meditate on it constantly, present your requests in terms of its content. Saturate your spirit with the images that emanate from it. Repeat it over and over again until your spirit has soaked in its message and has extracted from it all the spiritual nutrients it contains."

On occasions God has spoken to me like this, while I have been reading the Bible, a particular text has sort of taken on relief in my inner being and has acquired three dimensions within my spirit. And God has told me: "That is the text that I want you to use to unleash and channel the power of My Spirit in this specific journey that you have undertaken."

The Syro-Phoenician woman approached Jesus with a desperate request: her daughter was seriously affected by an unclean spirit. Could He deliver her from her affliction? he asked. The Lord responded to test her with a discouraging and even slightly insulting Word. Her nationality disqualified her, it was not good to give the children's food, the Jews to Gentile dogs like her and her daughter. "Yes, Lord", she answered very humbly, "but even the little dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs". Shocked by such an astute, specific, and faith-filled response, the Lord told her: "Because of this word, go. The devil has left your daughter."

The woman found the specific word that released the healing power of Jesus. He stood on that answer and rephrased his case using the same image that the Lord had used to reject it.

The Master had no choice but to reward the forceful spiritual argument that she put forward with an affirmative answer.

The processes of the Faith are similar in many ways to the legal processes we know in the secular world. In a judicial process, the defense attorney carefully investigates the Legal Code to find the specific argument, the most appropriate defense angle to extract the desired verdict from the Judge. In the same way, sometimes, the Spirit gives us the specific way that we must use to approach God.

To how many of us has it happened to us that in a moment of prayer we have formulated a request with words so unexpected from our mouths that they left us surprised? Has that ever happened to you? Have you prayed and something has come out of your heart? and says, where did this come from?

However, we dimly understood that those strange and unusual words were precisely what were required for our prayer to hit its mark and unleash the response we were needing. Perhaps this is the best way to explain the mysterious words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 8:26, concerning the intercessory Ministry of the Holy Spirit on our behalf. The Apostle Paul says there: "And in the same way the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For what should we ask for as is appropriate? We do not know, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with unspeakable groans. But he who searches the hearts knows which is the intention of the Spirit. Because according to the will of God, he intercedes with the Saints."

In other words, sometimes we don't know for sure what we should ask for, or how we should ask for it. Our mind does not know how to properly formulate our request before the Heavenly Court and the expert guidance of the Holy Spirit is required to help us use the specific language of Heaven; to provide us with the specific word on which we can stand when we present our request before God.

Like a good lawyer, the Spirit commands us to be silent while he substitutes himself for us and presents our petition before the Heavenly Judge, according to God's will.

In other words, using the language that God needs to hear and harmonizing our requests with God's will.

When young Samuel -in a passage from the Bible- hears the voice of God for the first time, he is totally inexperienced in discerning the things of the Spirit. God calls him three times in the middle of the night and three times Samuel thinks that it is he, Eli, who is calling him. The third time, Eli understands that it is God who is trying to communicate with the young prophet. Eli instructs Samuel on the specific way to respond to Jehovah, saying: 'Go and lie down. And if I call you again, you will say: "The LORD speaks because your servant hears."' Eli tells him exactly what he has to tell the Lord.

In other words, there are times when we are spiritually awkward and don't know on what terms to communicate with the Lord. In those cases we need the Holy Spirit to instruct us and to provide us with the precise words on which we must stop to present our petitions before God.

This woman stood on what the Lord said to her and what she replied: 'Ah! Are you telling me this?' A word that came out inspired by the Holy Spirit from her, Christ's refusal was designed to get out of her a specific, forceful, accurate word that would mobilize the grace of God and she found that word: "Yes , Lord, but the little dogs still eat the crumbs" and He said to her: "Do you know what woman? By that word healing has to be given in the life of your daughter".

And that is what I want us to focus on, brothers, the prayer processes are designed to extract from us that level of specificity, of power, of exactitude so that we can receive what God wants to give us. We have to lose the "baby fat" as they say in English, the innocence regarding prayer and we have to know how deep, how complex are the processes of God.

Some time ago when we began the effort to build a new Shrine for our Congregation, I was involved in an arduous process of negotiation with various groups and organizations of the community, with a lot of influence to determine whether or not the city would give us the necessary permits for the construction. . That was a couple of years ago. At times there was resistance, questioning of our motivations, and even outright hostility from individuals who did not want to see a Christian church expand in the neighborhood where we were.

Our community is highly politicized and extremely liberal and very contrary to everything our church stands for morally and theologically. There were tense and unpleasant meetings. The future of our project was in jeopardy. During that process, God gave me - I call it that - Psalm 144 and on that page of my Bible I wrote a note that says - look, I have it here -: 'Psalm of my battle for the construction of the new Temple.'

Psalm 144. Among other things that Psalm declares:

"Blessed be Jehovah my rock,

Who trains my hands for battle

And my fingers for war.

My mercy and my castle.

My strength and my deliverer.

My shield in whom I have trusted.

He who holds my people under me"

The Holy Spirit was leading me to frame my effort in terms of spiritual warfare. Take a battle stance and declare the Lord's strength and empowerment over my life, which is Verses 1 and 2. That Psalm goes on to declare that men and social and governmental agencies are under God's rule.

It says here: "O Jehovah, what is man that you think of him? Or the son of man that you esteem him? Man is like vanity, His days are like a passing shadow."

Man is subject to what God wants to do. It also invites the Lord to take control and assert his dominance over human affairs. Verses 5 to 8: "O Jehovah bow down your heavens and come down, touch the mountains and they smoke, fire lightning and dissipate them, send your arrows and turbalms, send down your hand from on high. Redeem me and take me out of the many waters, out of the hands of strange men."

He continues to use praise as a way of affirming God's protection over his servant as he goes into battle. Verses 9 to 11: "You, the one who gives victory to kings, the one who rescues David his servant from the evil sword, rescue me and deliver me from the hand of strange men whose mouth speaks vanity and whose right hand is the right hand of lies.

And finally that Psalm culminates with a prophetic declaration of Shalom and God's prosperity, descending from the people of God who dwell safe and confident under the generous gaze of their Almighty Father.

“Let our sons be like plants grown in their youth, our daughters like corners carved like those of a palace, our barns full of all kinds of grain. Let our cattle multiply to thousands and tens of thousands in our fields.”

These words gave me strength and confidence during that difficult time. These words actually encouraged me to keep going in the battle. I was fighting an arduous and exhausting war, but I felt that God was saying to me: 'Appropriate that declaration and go with it to the field of war.' I made the content of that Psalm my own and made it the motto of my fight.

You're done with this.

Obviously that text captured all aspects of my drama at that time. It was a beautiful picture of my spiritual journey with powerful elements that I could use to flesh out my prayers and gain encouragement and hope in times of struggle and heat. God finally gave me victory in that aspect of the battle, and every time I come across that Psalm in my Bible and the note I wrote on that page I rejoice and thank God for his guidance, his love, and his guidance. fidelity to me

On occasions when God activates a text of Scripture to apply it in some way in my life, I mark that text with a comment and a Date in order to remember it and use it as a guiding force during the various processes of my personal spiritual pilgrimage.

This resource has been a great blessing for my life, especially when I have seen the content of one of those texts carried out over time and I have been able to verify that it was not a mere emotional impression or a projection of my flesh.

Brothers, I share this with you, because again I want to let you see how sometimes in the scriptures we have to appropriate... in the journey of Faith, one of the most important things -I have discovered- is to find the specific word, find the foothold, find the right image of God.

Sometimes God will appear before you as a warrior with a mighty sword of fire in his hand and you have to use the image of the warrior that is before you. Sometimes he will present himself as the shepherd who says: "I will lack nothing as long as I walk with Him". Sometimes God will appear as a cloud that will cover your life in times of sun and burning in your life.

Sometimes God will appear as a mother who will want to lull you into her arms when you are scared, sad or defeated. Sometimes God will present himself as the one who illuminates you, the one who gives you wisdom in times of confusion and need and not knowing what to do.

There are different ways, God has different names: Jehovah Rafa, Jehovah Giré, Jehovah Nissie, many names that represent different incarnations of God. The Bible is full of promises, it is full of supporting points and that is why it is important that you and I know the word of God to use those supporting points.

May the word of God speak to us, hear from God! Sometimes God will want to tell you: "Look, stop asking me and listen to something I am saying to you."

But we are so involved in what we are asking that we are not listening to what He.... "Look, I want you to approach me this way." The Kings have ways for people to approach them, there are protocols. And God is a God who likes us to approach Him in certain ways, but He wants us to ask the Holy Spirit: 'Holy Spirit, teach me how to approach the Father. Teach me how to formulate my sentences. Show me the word of support that I stand on and God says: you know what? For that word that flatters me so much, receive what you have asked for,' and that can only be done by the Holy Spirit illuminating you and you willing to listen.

Prayer is process, Faith is process. God not only wants to give you what you ask for, God wants to teach you to be a warrior, a man, a deeper woman, more understanding of his heart.

This Syro-Phoenician woman teaches us that important principle of searching, searching, touching, arguing until we find the precise word that can open the heart of God.

Let's stand up. We are going to ask the Lord: "Father, help me to be a man, a wise, understanding woman, a discerning man of the Spirit, that I understand that this is not Arithmetic, this is very deep, very vast things. The Universe of the Spirit, of the prayer of Faith and God wants wise men and women. Father in the name of Jesus, we ask, enlighten us, give us your understanding, Lord. Make us men and women understood in the things of the Spirit.

Teach us to find the right word, teach us how to unleash Your power, how to speak to Your Father's heart, how to arrive early to where You are sitting and hear from You the next stage of the journey, Lord. We want to be people of the Spirit, people of understanding, people who know your heart and who know how to approach your grace, Lord.

Thank you, because you not only call us to pray but also teach us how to pray, through those groans that the Holy Spirit gives. I ask that this people be guided, Lord, each day towards deeper places in their walk with you.

Thank you, because You are a God who always answers, you always answer, Lord, even if it is with silence but you always answer. We adore you and we bless you. Thank my Lord. In the name of Jesus. Amen and amen.

May the Lord continue to bless you, my brothers. Amen, amen.

Sermon by Dr. Roberto Miranda recorded May 24, 2009 at León de Judá Congregation

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