Archives For confidence

What faith can do

Brad Stanton —  October 7, 2015 — Leave a comment

0000000Matt17 20This is an ancient story with a powerful moral for a better life:

The wife of a dead man cried out to a powerful man, “My husband is dead, he owed money to people. Now they are coming to take my two boys as slaves to pay off the debt.”

The powerful man replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”

“Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.”

He said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.”

She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.”

But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.

She went and told the man, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”

I heard this story when I was young and said to myself, wow, what would I have done if I was in that situation? If I had a lot of faith in what the powerful man said, I would get dozens of empty jars. The more jars I got, the more oil I would get, and therefore more money.

What would you do if a powerful man told you to go get empty jars and fill them from one small jar that you had in your house?

Some would not believe magic would happen, they might get mad at the powerful man and say “Hey, I asked you for money and all you do is tell me to pour out my oil into other jars? What a waste!”

Other people would go to the store and spend every penny they had on jars, and ask every friend for their jars too. Other people would be somewhere in the middle, getting half a dozen jars or so.

What would you do?

Jesus said that if you have faith the size of a mustard seed nothing will be impossible for you. Seems hard to believe, doesn’t it? Very few people believe it. Very few Christians believe it.

I have had the privilege of seeing countless miracles around the world. Seeing all those miracles made me realize there is enormous supernatural power in the world. Some call it magic.

So if you want to be honest about the answer to my question, what would you do if you were that woman, you would look at how you respond to what Jesus said in Mark 9:23 “Everything is possible for one who believes.”  Or John 14:14 You may ask me for anything in my name and I will do it. If you believe these words, you probably would have gotten lots of jars. But if you believe these words, you can still get lots of “jars.” If you have faith, opportunities to do great things for God will present themselves to you. You can not only serve God and help others, but you will be rewarded here on earth and in eternity (forever). If you have a choice between blessings that last forever or last for a short time, pick forever. You are probably thinking, “Duh Brad.”

John 15:7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you

John 16:23  I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

The problem is we have prayed dozens of times, maybe hundreds of times and didn’t see answers to our prayers so we assume the words of Jesus are either untrue or we are misunderstanding them. But stop and think about it. The apostles spent 3 years with Jesus, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It took them that long to develop faith that enabled them to perform miracles. If you think you can spend just 30 minutes with God each day and get that kind of faith in just a few years, you are pretty arrogant. Sorry to say it that way. Faith takes years to develop. But it is worth every single minute of the time it takes to develop faith because Jesus really did mean what he said in John 14:12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

I have seen enough miracles that I can promise you these words are true. When I pray, I see more and more miracles every year.

Every penny I make from my book “Keys To Powerful Prayer” goes to spread faith, hope and love to people around the world through this blog and charity. https://www.createspace.com/4540174 Doing the research for this book really changed my life for the better. CreateSpace is an Amazon company. Or read sample pages of the same book as an ebook on Amazon entitled “Amazing Power of Prayer.” http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008EOCODK

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Grasshopper mentality causes problems

Brad Stanton —  May 8, 2015 — Leave a comment

.More than three thousand years ago several million people were released from slavery and they traveled to a land that was promised to them. But because they had “grasshopper mentalities” (we are not tough enough or good enough,, we are like grasshoppers compared to them) they didn’t have the confidence to fight for the land and instead wandered aimlessly in the desert, living a very austere life. Abundance and wealth was just beyond their grasp, they could have had it if they had faith enough to fight for it, as was proved forty years later when they fought for and took the land.

Finish reading here Grasshopper mentality causes problems

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The power of faith

Brad Stanton —  April 17, 2014 — 1 Comment

408730_577751578906157_1311257080_nSome of the greatest people in the history of the world achieved their greatness because they were told as a child that they would do great things in life.

Alexander the Great is an example. In Alexander’s day, an oracle proclaimed that whoever unloosened the Gordian knot would become ruler of all Asia. Alexander cut the knot with one stroke of his sword – and rose to tremendous heights and power. Napoleon was given a star sapphire when a child, with the prophecy that it would bring him luck and some day make him Emperor.

J. Edgar Hoover took over the FBI before it was the Federal Bureau of Investigation, when the agents didn’t even have the authority to carry guns.  He had a strong sense that he was destined to build a mighty empire. He believed that he would and should build the FBI and he did. He often wrenched power from congressmen by illegally spying on them and blackmailing them, so he wasn’t the nicest guy in the world by any means. But he had great faith in his goals and because of this he brought about the massively powerful organization that is called the FBI today.

Many bad men have used the power of faith to bring about bad things, so one has to be careful how one uses the power of faith. For example, Hitler was a genius at building confidence, or faith, in the German race. He had amazing talent that enabled him to convince his people that they were the master race. Because they believed that, they achieved some very amazing things. The size of the war machine that small country produced was way beyond their proportions.

Jesus said everything is possible for one who believes. He also said that if a person has faith, they can move mountains. Nothing will be impossible for them.

One powerful way to strengthen faith is to visualize getting the results you want. The more you visualize, the stronger your faith grows. Also, thank God for giving you what you ask for. Obviously we should not ask for things that are not God’s will. But the more you thank God for answering your prayer, even before it gets answered, the stronger your faith becomes.

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Confidence is key

Brad Stanton —  January 6, 2014 — 4 Comments

7232b51d1e780b1845a7bba362702254_mOnce there was a middle school boy who desperately wanted to become a professional basketball player. He was tall, and his huge feet indicated he would grow even taller. However, he was so big that it was difficult for him to get up and down the basketball court. His huge, heavy feet were often a disadvantage because they were just too big. But he was a good basketball player.

His coach had seen many students throughout the years who wanted to play pro ball. He knew that only a tiny fraction of them would ever make it to the pros. He knew that students that age needed a plan B, not just a plan A of playing pro ball, so he tried his best to instill other dreams in the kids.

The coach realized he needed to talk to the big boy who was so intent on becoming a pro basketball player, even though he was built more for football. He didn’t want to discourage the boy, but he knew how difficult it had been for other students who put all their eggs in one basket and didn’t have a plan B.

Finally after watching the boy slow down during the game because he was too heavy to continue to run up and down the court, the coach took him aside and put his arm around the boy and said “Shaq, maybe you need a plan B.” The boy’s name was Shaquille O’Neal, but he went by Shaq.

In high school Shaq sometimes became discouraged about his goal to play pro ball. Then he met a college coach who understood that he needed encouragement. The coach realized he needed something to overcome his difficulty getting up and down the court. On a piece of paper he wrote out some exercises that would give Shaq more stamina. He gave him a pep talk, telling him that he really did have potential and that if he worked hard enough he might make it to the pros.

Coach Brown of LSU (shown above) was a gifted motivator and encourager. His words had a profound influence on Shaq, who later became a pretty good basketball player.

Who can you encourage? There are many people out there who rarely hear an encouraging word. One of my goals in life is to help street kids. Some of them have been abandoned by their parents, and that is definately not good for the self image. They not only need food, shelter and clothing, they also need encouragement and an education. More about street kids here http://wp.me/p2rHBL-1SB

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Secrets of success

Brad Stanton —  May 18, 2013 — 7 Comments

dont-give-upNapoleon Hill interviewed 500 of the most successful people in the world to find out what made them successful. If you are looking for success in losing weight, career, relationships, etc. these help. Here are some of his findings. People who are successful have these traits:

  1. They have a well thought out purpose in life. They know what they want and they believe they can get it. People who aim at nothing hit it every time. Statistics show that from one Harvard class, the 4% who had well thought out goals accomplished more than the 96% who didn’t.
  2. They have ambition to aim above mediocrity. Hill found that people with low ambition don’t get very far in life.
  3. Education. We all know that many of the most successful people had very limited education. Thomas Edison had less than a year of formal education. Bill Gates did not finish college. Ashton Kutcher dropped out of college, as did many, many others. But a college degree can open doors for you, no doubt about it. People are not paid so much for what they know as what they do with what they know.
  4. Self-discipline. Discipline comes through self-control. Hill says that a person must control all negative qualities. That is hard to do, not many really do that well. But the great thing is, if you are willing to do it, you are way ahead of most others. We are both our best friend and worst enemy.
  5. Persistence. Most people are good starters but not good finishers. A person who is willing to keep working at something and not let discouragement deter him will do great things in life. Most people quit when things get difficult, and often quit just before they would have accomplished something big. Persistence overpowers failure.
  6. They don’t try to get something for nothing. They know that in order to get what they want, they have to be willing to pay the price. Or as Zig Ziglar says, “You can get anything you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want in life.”
    Please click “Reddit” below and post under self improvement or anything. Thanks so much!!
    More ideas for success at www.bradstanton.com/ten-keys-to-success/
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