The audio version for my devotional “Armor of Light: A 7 – Week Devotional on Ephesians 6:10-18” released recently. The production company gave me 5 copies to give away. If you would like a copy, leave a comment below or email me at authoramandabeth@gmail.com. The first 5 people to respond will receive an email with a free download code.

Today I want to share an excerpt from week seven about prayer. Do you sometimes feel like your prayers are not heard? Numbers 23:19 says, “God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” I pray this message lifts your spirit and gives you confidence that God does hear and answer your prayers according to His Word.

Excerpt from Week seven: Pray In the Spirit

Revelation 12:17 says that Satan wages war against those who obey Godâ€s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus. Satan will come against us, but he canâ€t ambush us when we are in continual communion with God. Staying connected to God in prayer keeps us armed and alert.

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

Colossians 4:2

Just as God sent His angels to minister to Jesus after He stood against Satanâ€s temptation (Matthew 4:10-11), God also sends His angels in response to our prayers. In Daniel 9:20-23, an angel was sent to Daniel in response to his prayer:

While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the Lord my God for his holy hill— while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the message and understand the vision.

James 4:3 tells us the motives of our hearts can hinder us from receiving answers to our prayers:

When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

When our hearts are divided and not fully devoted to God, we will naturally request things that our flesh desires. God loves us too much. He will not give us anything that will hurt us and draw our hearts further away from Him.

James 1:6-8 tells us that doubt and unbelief can also hinder our prayers:

But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing, which means to be perseverant in our prayers (1 Thessalonians 5:17). God doesnâ€t tell us to be unceasing in our prayers to beg Him to answer us. He tells us to be unceasing so we donâ€t allow Satan to steal, through doubt and unbelief, what God already promised us in His Word. We stand against Satan when we keep a continuous (unceasing) belief that God is faithful to answer our prayers.

“For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:33-39

Heavenly Father,

We praise You that You are faithful to Your Word. Thank you for hearing and answering our prayers according to the promises in Your Word. Purify our hearts and minds, and change our desires to line up with Your desires. We humble ourselves before You. We stand firm against Satan with an unceasing belief that You are faithful to answer our prayers.

In Jesus’ name we believe and pray, Amen!

*Remember to post a comment below or email me (authoramandabeth@gmail.com) if you would like an audio copy of the “Armor of Light.”  The first 5 to respond will receive a download code via email.

Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

—Matthew 4:4

There is power in believing and speaking the Word of God over our lives. “Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,†and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him” (Mark 11:23).

Jesus didnâ€t say if anyone “thinks” about moving the mountain. He said to “speak” to the mountain. Remember, Satan canâ€t read our minds. We canâ€t make him flee by just thinking the Word. We need to speak the Word!

Psalm 103:20 says, “Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word” (KJV). It says angels hearken to the “voice” of His Word. When we speak Godâ€s Word, His angels take heed and minister to us, as they did to Jesus after He drove Satan away with Godâ€s Word.

Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.†” Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

—Matthew 4:10-11

*The “Armor of Light” is available in Paperback and Ebook  at Amazon. It will be released on audio format in May. As a special for all my blog readers, enter coupon code GQ5M59M5 at this link at Createspace and receive $3.00 off the paperback version!

Here’s a review on the book from one of my editors, Steve Sawyer:

This is the second book I have edited for Amanda Beth. I am especially enamored with two things Amanda Beth does as an author that distinguish her writing from some other Christian authors I’ve read.

First, Amanda Beth immerses herself in her writing. She doesn’t preach, She shares her heart. When you read one of Amanda Beth’s books, you are getting a glimpse of her personal life, her joys, her struggles, her strongholds, and her victories. Her personal life and her experience with God as He teaches her and grows her are what you get in the pages of her books. And everyone can relate. She is a thirty-something, stay-at-home mother of four young kids. But her message is universal. In Armor of Light anyone can relate to her experiences and her relationship with Jesus.

The other thing I like about Amanda Beth’s writing is the way she weaves God’s word throughout her writing. I have read books by other Christian authors whose references to Holy Scripture are not much more than token verses, sprinkled haphazardly throughout the book. Not Amanda Beth. Her writing is based on Scripture. Amanda Beth uses her personal life experiences to justify God’s word for us, rather than using God’s word to justify her writing or her opinions or her interpretation or application of Scripture, which is often the case with other Christian authors I’ve read.

Amanda doesn’t just decide to pick a topic and write a book about it. Amanda takes her direction directly from God. I can guarantee Amanda Beth spent months in prayer and Bible study before she sat down at her keyboard to write the first word of Armor Of Light.

In this second book, Amanda Beth shares how and why the armor of light is a necessary robe we need to wear. “When we don’t stand for the truths in God’s Word,” Amanda Beth said, “we open the door to deception. Too many Christians today are not standing for God’s Word as complete truth. As a result, Satan has sown many lies within the body of Christ. The Bible warns us that it’s only going to get worse. We need to be on guard so we don’t fall into this deception.” In her book Amanda Beth shares how God can keep us on guard so we won’t fall into deception from the enemy.

I can recommend Armor of Light without reservation. It is an easy read with questions and scripture for meditating and deepening your enjoyment and application of God’s truths.

[subscribe2]