We have been recently talking about how praying for people can lead to people being healed. We have more proof of this. Here is a prayer for someone who had breast cancer. This is just one prayer of many prayed in faith.

We are happy to report that this lady has been healed. She went through lots of treatment through the NHS, and has pulled through and cancer is no longer present in her body.

There is a scripture in Romans 13 v 1, here it is.

“13 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.”

We give thanks to the Lord who has established the NHS a governing authority in health. He has gifted us with the knowledge of health treatments, medicines and lots of methods that lead people to healing.

We have seen many healings here at Canton Community Church through prayer alone. If you want to learn more about the goodness of God and how He heals including all of Jesus’ healings in the Gospels, then pop in and come and ask us about it. You will be warmly welcomed.

Here is a journal entry written down a few years back. A lady preacher prophetically said the church was going to grow in a certain area. The prophetic message did not come to pass.

Does this make the lady preacher a false prophet. Probably not, it is just that she got it wrong on this occasion. However, through the prayer journal you can test prophetic messages by recording them, then when you hear from the same preacher again, you know you must be careful, and test everything that preacher is saying from the pulpit, because it could be unreliable.

Here is a scripture from Deuteronomy 18 v 21-22.

“21 “But you may wonder, ‘How will we know whether or not a prophecy is from the Lord?’ 22 If the prophet speaks in the Lord’s name but his prediction does not happen or come true, you will know that the Lord did not give that message. That prophet has spoken without my authority and need not be feared.”

When someone has spoken a false prophetic you have absolutely nothing to fear as the scripture tells us in Deuteronomy. They have spoken without Gods authority. We have recently spoken about the pulpit and how we want to hear from God and not man through innuendoes. Well, the prayer journal is a great discerning tool where you can test prophecy, was it from God or not? Are we hearing from a preacher who is communicating what the Lord is saying? Or are they preaching what they have been told to preach by man.

Sadly, in church organisations politics exists in the background. It can affect the authenticity of the pulpit because pastors are fighting battles in the background, and using the pulpit as a communication tool to get messages out to their adversaries, and the congregation is oblivious to how they are being manipulated, hearing from man and not God, and are part of deeper issues that again are oblivious to them.

A good news prayer journal story

Prayer journaling can help you have a deep and intimate relationship with God. Not only can you test prophecy you can pray for people to be saved. Here is a prayer and 4 days later lead to a salvation. God is so good.

Prayer journaling is a joy. It can help you in so many ways with your walk with the Lord. But not only helping you, but also helping others like leaders when we pray for them.

Conclusion

Always pray for the authenticity of the pulpit and the sermons you hear from them. Ask God to ensure the pulpit is a place where we do hear from Jesus, and that the word is 100% authentic. We are more than confident that God will help those leaders who are battling church politics and are not relying on God for protection but are using the pulpit as a means to communicate with adversaries, fighting battles in their strength and not in the Lords.  

We have talked about the pulpit and how we can hear human views rather than hearing from God. The pulpit can be an appetising place for someone wanting to look important. Especially people who love their politics. Ask your leaders this. Have they ever stuck their neck’s out in campaigning to safeguard people? Have they ever actually rubbed shoulders with politicians to stand up for the most vulnerable? Have they actually been at the heart of the murky world of politics to bring change? Have they experienced Gods love in those moments?

Yet they like to run to X formerly known as Twitter and give their views about politics. But they don’t stick their necks out, they have no fruit in that area of shaping policies that help protect people. Taking all the risks.

Off the pulpit leaders will tell you to go and fight injustice at great risk to yourself. The Lord comes through and wins the battle in safeguarding people, and then the spiritually abusive leaders want to jump on that victory, to make themselves look good and to tell people God blesses our church that we lead. It is not for their glory, it is for GODS.

When you attend a church pray about everything you hear. Make sure it is from God what you are hearing. It is ok for spiritually abusive teachers to tell you to go out and fight injustice, while they are protected on their high salaries and luxury lifestyles, and do not take the risks themselves.

We recently have written about prayer, and you must pray. A spiritually abusive leader could well lead you into something where there is great danger. You should only go into a battle when the Lord tells you to go into that battle, because the battle ultimately is the Lords. Don’t go into a battle because a leader tells you to, always pray it out with God first and ask Him what His will is and to protect you throughout.

We recently talked about spiritual abuse and what it looks like. We would like to go a little deeper with this and explain one of the tactics a spiritual abuser will use specifically.

We all should know the pulpit is a place where we want to hear from God. However, it has become a place where we no longer hear from God as much as we would like. There are leaders out there that use the pulpit and platform to speak their own agenda to protect their interests.

They also use the pulpit to attack people they feel are a threat to them. They provoke people. They use scriptures to provoke people. They use scriptures as we said before to manipulate people, instead of talking directly to a person they use the pulpit for innuendo.

What does the Bible say. It says that if a leader or even a friend or person in whatever situation sins, you should point out their fault just between the two of you. In other words, sit down, have a chat, and try and work things out. Here is the scripture in Matthew.

Matthew 18:15

“If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over.”

However, leaders often do not want to debate if someone has sinned or try to sort a situation out. They have made up their mind without that important first step. So, what their tactic is to do, is to go to the pulpit and give their message and corrupt the purpose of the pulpit, which is to hear from God, they use the pulpit and abuse the power they have to push their own agenda to protect their own interests, putting themselves above God.

In short leaders are so scared to debate things; they use the pulpit to give their answer. They may have felt they needed to give an answer when nobody was chasing them. They make the mistake of provoking a person when nobody was chasing them. Here is a proverb.

Proverbs 18:6

6 “The lips of fools bring them strife, and their mouths invite a beating.”

The leaders inadvertently open old wounds that had been healed. Provocation invites trouble when nobody was chasing them. They bring more trouble to themselves. Here is another proverb.

Proverbs 15

15 “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”

Spiritually abusive tactics such as the pulpit being mis-represented, not hearing from God, but hearing an ungodly message or an innuendo from leaders because they haven’t got the strength in God to meet face to face, as outlined in Matthew 18v15, they instead use heavy spiritually abusive tactics to stir up anger from the pulpit.

As Jesus said on the cross forgive them, they know not what they do. When leaders scheme in the background with ulterior motives, they must know that God always knows the heart and why a spiritually abusive leader do what they do, acting through fear, more than likely, being led astray.

Conclusion

There is still time to come before God and ask Him to help you with your fears, because likely, nobody was chasing you, but now you may well have provoked somebody into anger and it is inviting trouble. To show love, reach out and make amends and practice what you preach. That love is the only way. The door is always open. If not, then the cycle of fear will always get the better of you turning to spiritually abusive tactics rather than turning to God for protection, to help you in your weakness giving you strength to have that face-to-face meeting.

We cannot stress this enough. Pray and pray some more. Pray about everything! Praying is simple, so keep it simple. Christianity is in decline in the UK. We can only ponder why? Is this because Christian leaders are more concerned about their self-importance, luxury lifestyle or their stature of how much they know about the Bible, they like to be intellectual or academic to impress the big wigs to keep their salary prospects high, however, a homeless person comes along and asks for help, but they are shooed away. The church is CLOSED, now move along.

Here is a telling scripture.

1 John 3:17

“But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?”

1 John 3:17 is a great scripture for people to check their hearts, this includes Christian leaders, as scripture is there not just for the congregation but for the leaders to. Who did Jesus come for? Let’s take a look in Luke 4 v 14-20.

Luke 4:14-20

14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15 He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

  because he has anointed me

  to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free,

19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

We love Jesus. Thank God that He sent His Son to help the poor. If you are a Christian leader and you are genuine, this article will not bother you, but if you are a leader, its niggling at you and there is a conviction then the good news is you can confess your short comings to the Lord. The process of letting Him start ironing out the creases in the heart muscle (that we all have) can begin. Just in case you forgot here is that wonderful scripture in 1 John.

1 John 1v9

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Back to the main point

If you have been hurt in a church and put down. We are calling on people to pray and to keep it simple. Have a relationship with God in prayer and ask all kinds of things and that He help the poor as a central theme.

You may well be in a situation where a leader pulls rank on you saying you need to know this about the Bible and that, don’t lose heart, or get upset, go straight to God in prayer and have a deep relationship with him in prayer, keeping it simple. You will see fruit flow from it. Praying and being diligent in prayer is an education in itself.

Why do we say it is an education in itself? Check out this scripture in Psalm 119 in one of the stanzas, specifically in verses 98 and 99.

Psalm 119

98 “Your commands are always with me

and make me wiser than my enemies.

99 I have more insight than all my teachers,

for I meditate on your statutes.”

God does not need a Bible college to educate you about the Bible. By keeping your walk with God simple in prayer, spending time with him and meditating on His word, it can lead to you knowing more than your teachers. The Psalmist is not boasting pridefully, he is simply saying he has spent so much time with God in prayer and His word it has been an education for Him.

Conclusion

Again, pray and pray some more. Pray about everything! Praying is simple, so keep it simple and pray and enjoy a deep intimate relationship with our Father in heaven thanks to Jesus, and let the fruit flow from it glorifying our Father in heaven.