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Responder or Reactionary

By Bobbie Jean Merck

             We are either a responder or a reactionary every moment and in every circumstance of our lives.  Without looking into the meaning of those two words, a thought and picture immediately arises in our minds. We think response is positive and reaction is negative.  Response speaks to us of good self-control.  Reaction speaks of a lack of control.

            To be a responder requires maturity and a growth in character, while a reactionary is child-like, or shall we say, “carnal”?  Did you know carnal means non-speaking?  We who are of the Spirit of faith speak. Speak what? The Word of God that is our New Covenant in Christ Jesus: blessings!

            What do you do when a “bad” report is given to you concerning someone you dearly love? Do you cry? Do you “let go” of what you have believed and prayed for that person? Does it cause the force of intercession to rise to the very surface of your being, so that you earnestly and forcefully advance the kingdom, will, plan, and counsel of God for that person to begin to go forth in power and might? Your response or your reaction could be the absolute catalyst for that person’s success or failure!

            What a mighty God we serve! Jesus has given us the “all power and all authority” that was given to Him. In His Name we release God’s will and plan when Satan has released his will and plan. May I remind you that Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega? Not only does He have the beginning Word, He has the last Word!!!

            A responder will instantly rise up in the spirit of intercession.  Truly, the dunamis (dynamite) power comes upon you. As a mighty force of water erupts from a fire hydrant, intercession erupts from your innermost being.

            Do you remember the story of Elisha’s prayer for the dead son written in Second Kings 4:18-37?  Verse 35 says, “…and walked in the house to and fro….” Sometimes the prayer force is so strong you find yourself walking to and fro while decreeing God’s covenant Word, taking authority over the enemy, and praying in tongues until from deep within rises the blessed assurance and the confidence that “all is well”. Of course we have the testimony of the mother’s great faith when at the beginning she said, “all is well”.  And indeed, the last word was, “All is well”.

            You will find that having one person who will pray with you at that time in the prayer of agreement will strengthen your confidence as well as your prayer force.  Love for that person, place, or thing releases an effectual prayer of agreement. The prayer of two people having confidence in God and praying fervently together avails (profits, is effectual) much! “…The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with” (James 5:16 The Message Bible).

            The word ‘avail’ in the Greek means ‘strength, to be of use, force; to prevail against; capable of producing results’. The gates of hell cannot prevail as this force of prayer is present.

            The one word that has been foremost in my mind for weeks is confidence.  Along with it is the thought ~ don’t give up or in, don’t quit! This is the time to hold on tight to your confession of faith, of confidence, and expectation.

            “…So don’t throw it all away now. You were sure of yourselves then.  It’s still a sure thing! But you need to stick it out, staying with God’s plan so you’ll be there for the promised completion…we’re not quitters who lose out.  Oh, no! We’ll stay with it and survive, trusting all the way” (Hebrews 10:35-37 The Message Bible).

            Pressure comes to steal your confidence! Satan’s mighty weapon is to get you in fear that God’s Word may not work on your behalf (regardless of whatever). He tries hard to cause your confidence in God and in the Word to weaken. He attacks your confidence however he can.  Meditate on the Truth and not on the fact; and then your confidence will begin to rise.

            The devil and unbelieving people will tell you to deal with reality as it is.  The Good News is – the Word is real and not the facts.

            The Amplified Bible instructs us to have fearless confidence. Be strong in what God has given you as a righteous person: power, love, and a sound mind.

            Be very attentive to your confidence. Attend to confidence. Apply your mind to that which strengthens your confidence. This requires that you guard your atmosphere. Protect yourself by keeping right people, places, and things around you. Concentrate on confidence builders and not confidence destroyers. Put your confidence in God and in His Word. Confidence must be developed. Therefore, develop your confidence in God and in His Word!

            Who you spend time with and what you spend time attending to is who and what you will have confidence in. Why? Because confidence is the result of knowing. With this knowledge I realized that I had developed my confidence in healing and health because I had been believing and pursuing God’s Word on that since October 1969. I also realized that I need to build my confidence to like measure in other areas, and this is accomplished through knowing. So I am!

            Let us examine ourselves.  To win the battle against one’s enemy requires that you know your weaknesses! Strengthening confidence will change your weaknesses to strengths.  Remember, in your weakness God’s strength is made strong.

            Before you trust or have confidence, you have to listen, hear, and obey.

“We call Abraham our ‘father’ not because he got God’s attention by living like a saint, but because God made something out of Abraham when he was a nobody.  Isn’t that what we’ve always read in Scripture, God saying to Abraham, ‘I set you up as father of many peoples’? Abraham was first named ‘father’ and then became a father because he dared to trust God to do what only God could do: raise the dead to life, with a word make something out of nothing. When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn’t do but on what God said he would do. And so he was made father of a multitude of peoples.  God himself said to him, ‘You’re going to have a big family, Abraham!’

            Abraham didn’t focus on his own impotence and say, ‘It’s hopeless. This hundred-year-old body could never father a child.’ Nor did he survey Sarah’s decades of infertility and give up.  He didn’t tiptoe around God’s promise asking cautiously skeptical questions.  He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what he had said.  That’s why it is said, ‘Abraham was declared fit before God by trusting God to set him right.’ But it’s not just Abraham; it’s also us! The same thing gets said about us when we embrace and believe the One who brought Jesus to life when the conditions were equally hopeless.  The sacrificed Jesus made us fit for God, set us right with God ”  (Romans 4:17-25 The Message Bible).

             Speak everyday, “I am the righteousness of God. I am blessed! God loves me, hears and answers my prayers!” Have confidence and say and known within your heart, “You (whoever) keep watching me and what you can’t see, you will see!”