|
Words of Encouragement |
|
|
Praise
Works! by Merlin Carothers _____________________________________ He Needed Help
Dear Pastor Carothers, A man in our office was in trouble, but he didn’t know it. He was very well educated, thought he knew more than the boss did, and frequently made his attitude known to the boss himself. It was very evident to me that the boss was getting more and more disgusted with this man. If he were to be fired, I knew the man would probably fall apart. He had more problems than anyone I’ve ever known. His wife had divorced him and taken nearly everything he had. He was a sexual deviate; his nerves were so bad his hands would shake when he was perturbed about anything; his stomach was upset all the time; he was an alcoholic; and – I could go on and on. I felt very sorry for this man, and I prayed for him daily, but he continued to get worse. He was demoted to a very inferior position, but had no understanding that it was his own fault. Your book, Prison to Praise, was given to me, and I decided to try praising God for this man. I thanked God for the man as he was, and I believed God would use his problems to help him. At this time, I heard the Lord speak to me as I had never heard Him before! He said, “Go to his church, and pray for him.” “But Lord,” I protested, “he is Catholic, and I am Protestant.” “Go to his church and pray.” So, to his church I went. It was the United Nations Catholic Chapel in New York. Everything was very strange to me, but while praying, I experienced a wonderful joy and peace that God was going to help that man. God must have really lit my face up, for the priest sent someone to ask who I was. When I returned to the office, to my amazement I heard the man saying to the boss, “I’m sorry, sir. I made a mistake.” He had never shown any humility in the office before. From that day on, his attitude and conduct continued to change for the better. I’m excited about the idea of praising the Lord for people as they are.
My Comments
We are surrounded with people having every problem we can think of. Our natural reaction is to avoid those who have the greatest needs. They are obnoxious, arrogant, weak, or act as if they do not want our help. But if they come to our attention, God has a specific reason for bringing them into our lives. Seeing that they need help takes no love on our part. If we learn to thank the Lord for them as they are, He will release His love in us that He can use to help them. Please do not turn away from those you dislike. They are God’s gift to you. They will help your own need to learn about Christ’s love. When you recognise the feeling of agitation rising in you, let the power of praise counteract it, and Jesus will use your praise to meet their need, and besides this, your own distress will be turned to joy as you see God working.
Whenever someone gives himself over to rejoicing and thanking God for all things, a remarkable thing begins to happen. Other gifts of the Spirit begin to be manifested in that person in a beautiful way. Praise for and to God literally opens the way for the Holy Spirit to bring new insight and understanding in many ways. In the above case, the writer was given a spiritual insight, which enabled her to know about material things. More and more people are being given wisdom they never had as they praise and thank God. This is the spiritual kind of supernatural knowledge and wisdom that has the anointing of God. It is this kind of perception that the devil tries to imitate when people search for knowledge of unknown things to increase their own ego. Knowledge received through the Holy Spirit by faith in Christ need never be feared or shunned. All of the gifts of the Holy Spirit are good and are to be used for the glory of God.
Every good gift and every
perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights. (James
1:17)
* * *
Praise Works! by Merlin Carothers Ó Copyright 1973 by Logos International, Plainfield, NJ 07060 Printed in the United States of America ISBN 0-88270-060X Used with permission. For more information about the Ministry and books of Merlin Carothers, please visit Foundation of Praise
Praise News ~ Merlin and Mary Carothers’ Monthly Newsletter |
|
Page created
22 November 2007 / Page revised 22 November 2007
Acknowledgement Thank
you to Merlin for permission! Lynne
Coulson 2003-2007
|
