The Biblical Time of Sorrows

The Biblical Time of Sorrows

by Betty Miller

Increase of Prayer Needed

The Lord has impressed upon me personally to increase my prayer time and to pray in the spirit (tongues) more, so that we do not fall under the attacks of the devil. I felt He wanted me to encourage you to increase your prayer time also. And for those who have the gift of speaking in tongues and have not been using it, we encourage you to stir that gift up. If you have not received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit with speaking in tongues, we encourage you to ask the Lord for this gift, as it will empower you to live the overcoming life. We have a couple of teachings on the BibleResources.org website that will help you to understand the power of this gift in your personal prayer life at these links below:

Praying in Tongues

Baptism In the Holy Spirit

The Bible tells us that when we pray in tongues, we are praying in the Spirit, and the Holy Spirit knows what the will of God is for every situation, therefore when we do not know how to pray, the Holy Spirit does. We have seen amazing answers to prayer just by praying in the Spirit and standing on the promises of the Word of God.

Mark 16:17 – And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues.

1 Corinthians 14:2: – For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.

Romans 8:26 – Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

1 Corinthians 14:18 – I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all.

1 Corinthians 14:21 – In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord.

Testimony of How Christ Protected Us From Forest Fire Threats
In Arizona these past years we have stood with friends and loved ones in faith and prayer against the wildfires that were threatening to destroy their property. As we all prayed and believed God, He did not fail us. The Lord was faithful to spare their home, as the fire went around their home and their neighborhood.

This year is not the first time we have stood and prayed for homes to be spared from fire, as a number of years ago, the forest service was doing a control burn in the forest near our home and suddenly the wind got up and the “controlled” burn became an “uncontrolled” wildfire. I looked out the window from my personal office in our home and saw flames coming down the hill near our house. The sun was setting and I saw this enormous red mushroom cloud over the forest area toward the west. It looked like something out of an apocalyptic movie portraying the end of the world.

There is a portion of scripture that we have prayed over our property and us personally for years and that scripture is Psalm 91. I gasped when I saw the fire headed for our community, although we had been on alert about the controlled burn, we never dreamed it would come near our little mountain community. I could feel the spirit of fear trying to come over me, so I started praying in tongues; then, I felt this overwhelming peace and I heard the voice of the Lord speak this scripture in Psalm 91:7 to my spirit. “A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.”

Testimony of God’s Protection

It was amazing that the very scripture we had quoted so many times out loud in prayer, the Spirit of the Lord spoke that same scripture back to me. I knew the fire would not come to our house, but I was immediately concerned about our neighbor’s homes across the road, so I began praying for the Lord to spare their houses, as well. Since we had offered the fire fighters the use of our chapel on the property as a staging base, and a place for the crews to come and refresh themselves, they were coming and going. In just a little while, one crew of the hot shots came in and gave us all good news. They said they finally had the fire under control, as they got a break from “Mother Nature” and the wind changed direction and instead of the prevailing winds coming from the Southwest, they had shifted absolutely from the opposite direction, and the fire began blowing back on itself, causing it to cease and helping them put it out.

We praised God and testified to the firemen that we were praying and we knew it was God who changed the wind. We serve an amazing God. We must all remember that “Mother Nature” is subject to “Father God” and He has the final Word on any situation. Jesus spoke, “Peace be still” to the wind and it obeyed Him. God tells us what He will do for us, as His children, and He wants us to believe Him and take Him at His Word. Below are the scriptures we stood on for the Lord to spare us and others from the threats of destruction by fire. Another friend a few years ago in Yorba Linda, California had the same experience as we all prayed and stood on God’s Word. The homes in his entire neighborhood and all around him were totally consumed in flames, yet his house remained standing untouched by the fire.

Mark 4:39 – And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

Isaiah 43:2 – When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

Matthew 24:43-47: But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. ⁴⁴ Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. ⁴⁵ Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? ⁴⁶ Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. ⁴⁷ Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.

We Can Walk in the Overcoming Life

We pray these scriptures will be a help to you. Remember there is only one safe place in the hour we live, and that is in the will of God, which is to “Abide under the shadow of the Almighty (Psalm 91:1).” To be in the shadow of the Almighty, means we must stay close to God in these perilous times and He will guide us through any tribulation that the devil throws at us. Please pray for me to have the time to write a longer article on the subject of “What Does God’s Word say about…Overcoming Natural Disasters.” We have personally, down through the years, faced a hurricane, tornado, hail storms, lightning storms, snow storms and fires and have come through all of them, protected by the Hand of God. In a previous newsletter we shared the testimony of how we stood against a tornado only a few miles from our home coming directly at us and the Lord led us to rebuke it and it dissipated.

We are grateful to know a loving God who extends mercy and grace to us and has protected many others in the midst of storms, as well. Although some have lost all their material goods, their lives were spared. His protection in the midst of a storm is an act of our God’s love. However, God wants us to come to a greater place in Him and be able to stop the enemy from all the destruction he is doing at this time. Many of God’s people suffer destruction because of a lack of knowledge. This means we do not know the promises of God written in His Word so the enemy robs from us. He robbed from me for many years until I understood the nature and love of God and how He is ever faithful to His Word.

Hosea 4:6: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge….”

The Lord once spoke to me about my prayerlessness and told me if I would spend as much time praying about my problems, as I did talking about them, I would not even have them. I realized many of my problems could have been prevented if I had been praying diligently. The Bible says, “We have not, because we ask not.” If we spend most of our time on worldly things and fail to pray, this is an open door for the enemy to come in and rob from us. His robbery can come many ways. He can rob us of our family members, our relationships, our homes, our jobs, our money, our spouses, our prayer time, our Bible reading time, our peace, our joy and his prime target is to rob us of our faith. The Bible says, that “faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.”

When we do not spend time in the Word and in prayer, our sin of omission is the door by which the devil can get us to sin. Let us each shut that door right now and pray for one another and our land so that we can be healed and our nation can be healed. The devil is trying to kill people at this hour, while God wants us to have life and to have it more abundantly! Many right now are in life and death struggles. Prayer and faith can stop the devil from the destruction that he is bringing on this earth. We must stand together as God’s people and rise up against him at this hour and overcome the works of the devil in our nation and our culture. The Lord told us in Matthew 24 what the end times would look like before He returned, but also promised us that “he that endureth to the end shall be saved.” We must ask the Lord for the strength and power to overcome and endure unto the end.

James 4:2 – Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

John 10:10 – The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

1 John 3:8 – He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

I want to share in a new book how God has made provision in the Word of God for all of His children to be protected in these weather related situations (and really in any threatening circumstance.) Please pray that I will have the time to be able to get this book written so it can help God’s people to walk in faith to stop the works of the devil. Since we are living in the last days, we have to stay close to God and we must learn to walk in the Spirit and experience the Overcoming Life of Christ in our lives. We must remember we can do nothing without Christ, and it is not by our works of righteousness that we receive anything; it is rather by faith in what Christ did for us on the cross. We must also be totally committed to His will. Therein lies the power to rebuke storms and overcome in any circumstance, for without Him we can do nothing, but with Him nothing is impossible.

Matthew 17:20 – And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

Luke 1:37 – For with God nothing shall be impossible.

Luke 10:19 – Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

John 8:28 – Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.

John 15:5 – I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Titus 3:5 – Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

John 14:12 – Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

Let us not disappoint God, but rather let us desire to walk in His greater works. We can do it through the power of the Holy Spirit and by making a total commitment to God to give up our way and walk in His ways.