April 6th, 1991                                                    "Command Ye Me"                                               Mrs. N. D. Daniel

Isaiah 65:23, 24 & Isa.45:11

"They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them. An it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear." Isa.45:11, "Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, ‘Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.’"

Here God is giving us big promises. In Isaiah 45:3 He promised that He would give us treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places. God has promised us, God is teaching us to pray humbly before Him. We pray specially for the salvation of our own people and for our salvation. We are exhorted to pray without ceasing. We are exhorted to become intercessors. So we are praying humbly, pleading with God for our needs and the Kingdom’s needs. In Isaiah 45:11 God says, "Command ye me." God wants His children to command Him concerning His Kingdom’s needs and about His own children. We know that Joshua made use of his right to command God, in the 10th chapter of Joshua. He had to fight with five kings. The sun was going down before victory was fully won. He exercised his authority to command the sun not to set. For a whole day the sun and the moon stood still in their places. To establish God’s victory he commanded the sun to delay its setting. With the extended light he succeeded in routing the enemy who had come against Israel in full force to obstruct the fulfillment of God’s promise. But here God says that His children must command Him concerning His promises and concerning His sons and daughters. In Isaiah 65:24 He says, when we are yet speaking, He will hear our prayers. God says, "We should not labour in vain." Whatever we do, we must see victory and fruit. Now we have got before us a big mountain. We have learnt from the Word, that if we have faith as a mustard seed, we can remove mountains (Matt.17:20, 21). Nothing will be impossible when we have that amount of faith.

We have a promise that God has got hidden treasures in secret places for us. We are now constructing this prayer hall for God. It has to be completed in the months ahead. It will take a great deal of money. Daily heavy bills will have to be paid. Where is the money? Where is it hid? Here I would like to tell you a little story. A father saved much wealth for his children and hid it away safely. Before his death, he told his children that he had laid up much treasure for them. It was hidden between Godavari and Krishna. Godavari and Krishna are big rivers in South India, traversing hundreds of miles and the area of land enclosed between them is immeasurably vast. The children were aghast at the task before them. It would be impossible to find the treasure. One of them struck at a bright idea. Their aged mother was still alive. They would ask her what is the meaning of "Godavari and Krishna". She said, Godavari and Krishna were the two cows in the stall in their backyard. The matter became very simple. The stall was a small place. Digging there they soon struck at the treasure. God says, "I have got treasures, I will give you treasures of darkness and hidden riches in secret places." Then He says, "Concerning my work, command ye Me." We do not know where this treasure is hid, but we know that every type of treasure is hid in Jesus Christ. It is He that has to supply all our need. All the materials and the money God has to supply. Our God sustained a nation in the wilderness for forty years by giving angels’ food "manna" to them for forty years in the wilderness. Shortly after we came to this city in 1935 I asked the Lord, "How art Thou to take care of us and the young men in our charge? I cannot understand!" Then the Lord spoke and said, "I fed a nation in the wilderness for forty years. Is it hard for Me to take care of you and the boys and the work?" I was satisfied. Thus the last fifty-five years, the work has been going on without borrowing from others or looking to anyone for help. So, now, when the construction has started, are we going to be afraid? The Lord says, "Command ye Me." We are not so bold as to command our God. Then what shall we do? Our treasures are with Him. How will it come down to us? Last time when the first phase of the construction was on, we prayed, "Just as you rained manna from heaven, rain the money we need." And then God pointed to this verse which says that we must command Him. So we have the right to claim that our needs be met. We need to be one with God in His work. Last month He rained on us the money we needed to pay the bills. We do not know what big mountains we have to face this month. But God says, "We must have that faith as a mustard seed." When people are right with God then only can He move the mountains across their path. He has to help us to construct this building and finish it. Much grace is needed now for all who share this burden. You have heard this message that we have to command God. We cannot command God with our limited acquaintance with Him. We must all go to God and get a Word from Him. We must see that we are right with God. We must grow in understanding and oneness with Him in His work. Without that we cannot command God. There is an incident about a man who read of Peter healing a lame man through the power of Jesus. So this man tried to raise a lame man to his feet the same way and he miserably failed. Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit. He was one with Jesus. This gave him freedom to use the authority and power of Jesus to help that man. A person who wants to take part in this ministry of prayer must be humble and careful in his walk with God. We should receive promises from God and then lay those promises before God and pray. God wants us to see His great works. He wants us to be partakers of the great things which He is wanting to show to us. May God bless us all.