(By: Ceci Sullivan)

LACK OF PRAYER IS A NUMBER ONE CAUSE OF FAINTING!!! Luke 18:1-2, “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.”

Prayer is our way of picking up the phone and calling on God. Staying connected to Him through prayer is how we abide in Him to bear good fruit. Fainting is really a carnal, sensual way of responding to life's problems. One of the signs of people who TRULY are WAITING UPON THE LORD and HEARING AND OBEYING HIS VOICE is seen in Isaiah 40:30-32, "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

Jeremiah 49:22-24, Concerning Damascus. Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: (the evil tidings are the thoughts that we don't bring into the light of prayer to the Father and openness with others to see things the way they really are). Bringing our dark thoughts into His light is part of the normal Christian life that we should be practicing. We really should all want to know if our "deeds" in the hearts of others are pleasing to God. (Aramaic Plain English John 3: 19-21)

Psalm 32:3, “They are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea; it cannot be quiet." The enemy of our soul has a plan for us to abide in his vine, so we won't bear fruit. His trap every day is to help us live in the land of fainting. In the Lord's prayer, to be delivered from evil, is to get understanding to the whiles of the devil. The value of praying is we are not just left with our thoughts. Prayer opens the door to hearing God's thoughts. “The pure in heart shall see God”,

They are the ones who will see the answers to prayers. The bible says, “A double minded man shall receive nothing from the Lord.” It also says, “you shall seek me AND FIND ME, when YOU SEARCH FOR ME WITH ALL YOUR HEART.” I know these truths to be true because I lived not truly caring about pleasing the Lord. My prayers were about pleasing me for several years and the heavens were brass, as the Bible puts it.

We have a problem being sensual, carnal, and living according to our senses, not God's word. When we are inactive in prayer we will be given over to the lust of the flesh. Therefore, letting our passions, emotions, appetites, and desires sit on the throne of our heart. In Lamsa Aramic Bible Proverbs 18:1 says, "When a man is inactive, he imagines lust and mocks good instruction." In other words, when we are inactive in prayer, we will be given over to our lusts whatever they are, and not overcoming them. It’s sincere prayer that opens our eyes to hear THE HOLY SPIRIT, and walk in love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)

The Holy Spirit helps us see into the spiritual dimension of life to keep from conceiving "unholy" spirits. Psalms 7:14, “Behold, the [wicked and irreverent] man is pregnant with sin, And he conceives mischief and gives birth to lies.”

Through the prophecies that have gone on before us, the Words God has given us because we pray, we are to make war! Jesus dealt with the devil in the wilderness and kept His heart and flesh from fainting BY speaking and believing THE WORD OF GOD! The WORKS of God are to believe in Jesus, and when we let unbelief creep in, we'll faint. The father of lies lurks about like a lion waiting to see what unholy things we'll let him whisper to us to make us faint. When we tell on the devil, God will help us overcome Satan and cast him down.

1 Thess. 5, "The day of the Lord is coming like a thief in the night." When the world says Peace and Safety, then sudden destruction will come upon them, as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape. But you are not in the darkness, that, that day should overtake you as a thief. You are all the children of light, and the children of the day, we are not of the night nor of darkness. THEREFORE, LET US NOT SLEEP AS DO OTHERS, BUT LET US WATCH AND BE SOBER. PRAY AND NOT FAINT!"

For they that sleep, sleep in the night, and they that are drunken, are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be SOBER, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Quench not the Spirit (through sin and disobedience and obeying the lust of the flesh). Don't despise prophecies. We can pray, hear His voice, obey Him, love Him, and follow Him, if we REALLY want to. And we all get tested to see what is in our hearts to do. None escape. And He makes a way of escape from the snare of the devil to all who call upon Him.

Pray without ceasing, rejoice evermore, in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you! Prove all things, hold fast to that which is good. Abstain from everything that looks evil. And the very God of peace, sanctify you wholly, and I pray God that your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it!

When we give into fainting, we are exalting Satan, his kingdom, his power and giving him the glory. We have to set our will and have faith God will strengthen us in the battle. What good is a solider in a war who has fainted?

Do you remember the last word Jesus spoke to you? Are you walking in it? If you're not faithful in the little things, how do you think you'll be faithful in the big things?

DON'T GO TO SLEEP REGARDING THE THINGS JESUS HAS SPOKEN TO YOU! WATCH!! BE SOBER!! .... That we would LIVE TOGETHER, with Him!!

Putting away childish ways, behavior, fainting, etc., is our reasonable service. When He comes back will He find FAITH or fainting ON THE EARTH IN YOU? What matters, what will be judged by God in our motives, is how we have applied faith, hope and love in all we touch in our lives. And the greatest thing we have to give, the greatest power is Love! Jesus was hated and killed for His love!! So how much are we like Jesus? Does the power of our love, expose the lack of it in others? When we love others unselfishly, it exposes darkness. Light does expose darkness, and we are called to be the children of light!

Not fainting is the only way we can battle the enemy of our souls. Deuteronomy 20:2-4, "And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, YE approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be YE terrified because of them."

God chooses the unfearful, and the unfaintful to do His work. Now I personally was a fearful fainter, but I confessed my sin and had faith Jesus who has power to clean our conscience, could change my fearful, fainthearted soul, and he did, and still does. Deuteronomy 20:7-9, "And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart faint as well as his heart.” I am a repentant fainter, and I changed my mind about being a fainter. Fainters make God sad. (Is.8 Amplified) And it’s His GOODNESS to lead us to repentance.

Fainting is a sure sign of lack of fearing the Lord and fearing man instead. Deuteronomy 25:17-19, "How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God."

When we fail to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, we faint. Hebrews 12:2-4, "For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest YE be wearied and faint in your minds." Psalms 27:12-14, "I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living."

When we rebel against God's chastening we will faint. Isaiah 1:4-6, "Why should YE be stricken anymore? YE will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint."

If we ask for God's Holy Spirit which He promises to give us, we will have the fruit of the asking in our lives. Otherwise God would be guilty on the day of judgment. He promises to give us His Spirit when we ask. Isaiah 40:27-29, "Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary! There is no searching of his understanding.” This is so powerful. God can give you a right spirit and a free spirit, all it takes is prayer, sincere prayer.

Isaiah 40:28-30, "He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength." One of my friends was out walking one day and praying. Praying about how she was bitter, critical, always throwing rocks at others in her mind and it was giving her a wicked heart of unbelief doing that. She realized that God gives bread to those who ask because they want to prove they love God by feeding His sheep. All she had to do was pray Is.51, and now her life is about "teaching sinners in the way they should go,” He answered her prayer to have a right spirit and free spirit. Like he did me, and many others I know who prayed and had faith God could circumcise their heart.

Forgetting the Lord in our ways is a big cause of fainting. Jonah 2:6-8, "When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into Thine holy temple." He quickens the spirit of those who ask sincerely, but double minded askers get very little from the Lord. He hears sincere prayer, and the lives of those who pray sincerely prove the Lord hears prayer.

"Give us this day our daily bread." Not getting our manna from heaven every day will cause us to faint. (We will end up living by the wrong bread.) Also, when God's children don't have good shepherds in their lives, they will faint. Matthew 9:35-37, "But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd." (See 1 Corinthians 10:21)

If we are walking and fulfilling God's calling in our lives, we won't faint. 2 Corinthians 4:1-2, "Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not.” Job prayed to be eyes to the blind. (Job 29) We pray and ask the Lord to help us wash feet and take grave clothes off. He loves His children and wants to use us to help them. Not accuse them. We pray to see the log in our own eye, so we can have a twig ministry rather than live offended, and bitter. (Matt. 7:5)

How do we “follow peace and holiness with all men, for without this you will not see God’s salvation”, WITHOUT prayer? Prayer is the key to walking this out, all the way to heaven one day.

When we don't see the greater picture and have our eyes on our kingdom, our power, our glory, WE FAINT! 2 Corinthians 4:15, "For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many abound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory!" When we are in the fire, WE PRAY to help us find the "gold tried in the fire." Rev 3:18

When we get weary in our love and don't ask God for His strength in our weakness, we faint. Galatians 6:8-10, "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."

When we despise His chastening in our lives, WE faint. Hebrews 12:4-6, "And YE have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him."

The mark of the "real church" is written of here. Revelation 2:2-4, "And hast born, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast labored, and hast not fainted."

I did faint because I failed to believe to see the goodness of God in the land of the living. I lost the color in my eyes; I was so depressed. I had no life in my bones. I agreed with His word, "unless your judgments had become my delight, my soul would have perished in my affliction." That's where I was at, I prayed and told Him the truth about my agreeing with His word, and my failures, and asked for a new spirit. In my prayers I handed him over my rocks, (lies, accusations, excuses) and He opened my eyes to His truth. When I found myself singing the wrong song, and asked Him for a new song, HE gave me the joy of my salvation. I had to admit what I needed to be saved from. I stopped murmuring and complaining. Ps. 40:3, “But I have only known this to work for those humble enough to admit they are singing the wrong song and pray to the God who has POWER to put a new song in our heart.”

OUR LIFE should be a prayer, worship. Through keeping the words of our mouth and the meditation of our heart acceptable to God. He hears the words of our mouth, He sees the meditation of our heart, so why not talk to Him about it. God told Solomon in1 Kings 3 to ask Him for anything. Solomon asked the Lord for understanding and good judgment to go in and out of the hearts of His people in a right spirit. That is what we should pray about the most. That we exercise our conscience to keep it void of offense toward God and man, that God would give us love where we have fear. Acts 24:16, "Lord I believe, help my unbelief.” Jesus talked to the disciples about forgiving 7 times 7 times a day. They cried out, Lord we believe, help our unbelief. Help us forgive that much so we don’t walk offended. Pray so the Lord can show you what to do when you get offended. He shows me how to help when I pray; He will you too.

Mark 9:24, Pray to heed reproof and correction so you will be "the path of life" for others to follow. He makes known the paths of LIFE to those who pray. (Do a bible search on "the path of life". It's the narrow path that many are not on because they don't pray. The normal Christian life for every Christian should be A LIFE OF ANSWERED PRAYER. The children of Israel lived from fear to fear, for they would not pray and let God deliver them from their fears. Ps 34:4, "I sought the Lord and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears." I was totally tormented with fear having a fake fine pretentious religious spirit. When I prayed BEING HONEST with the Lord, wanting to hear from Him, He did and keeps on delivering me. I now know the way of peace. I told Him the truth about my strife and self-will, and He opened my eyes to see wiles of the devil to entrap me. When I started telling God the real truth, rather than what I thought He wanted to hear, my prayers reached the heavens, and signs, wonders and miracles began following me.

God cares most about the saving and keeping of souls. He wants to help you LOVE HIS CHILDREN. And your ability to do what is right in the lives of others is ONLY A PRAYER AWAY. Always praying that YOUR KINGDOM, POWER AND GLORY would be revealed in our lives, for we are praying and not fainting.

Dear Reader - are you at peace with God? If not, you can be. Do you know what awaits you when you die? You can have the assurance from God that heaven will be your home, if you would like to be certain. You can even have that assurance RIGHT NOW! Either Jesus Christ died for your sins, or He didn't (He did!). Are you prepared to stand before God on the Judgment Day and tell Him that you didn't need the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross to have your sins forgiven and get in right-standing with God? We plead with you...please don't make such a tragic mistake.

To get to know God, to be at peace with God, to have your sins forgiven, to make certain heaven will be your home for eternity, to make certain that you are in right-standing with God right now ... please click here to help you understand the importance of being reconciled to God. What you do about being reconciled to God will determine where you will spend eternity, precious one. Your decision to be reconciled to God is the most important decision you'll ever make in this life, because in Christ, it is impossible to put a value on the worth of your soul in light of eternity.

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Remember: All that we do in this life comes back to our God-given purpose which is to serve and glorify God. The money and assets we accumulate, the fame and power we've attained or seek to attain - all of the things of this nature will one day pass away, but those lives of others we impact for Jesus Christ will last for eternity, and we will be rewarded for the part we helped play by impacting those lives ... for eternity. (Matthew 6:19-20 is our assurance)