Clear and Concerned to Get Results

I Was Able to See God Meet My Need

I am very thankful for the things that I have learned from our ministry’s teachings. One of those things is believing God to meet my need. In Volume I of Studies in Abundant Living, The Bible Tells Me So, I learned that a big key to getting results to prayer is to get clear and concerned about what I want to see come to pass. I also learned that the power of prayer is magnified when we team up to believe for things.

Several months ago, I found out that my car needed a number of expensive repairs. Rather than spend all that money on my older vehicle, I decided that it would be better to save up for a more recent one. I had enough funds saved to start looking for a good-quality used vehicle, which was a good thing, as the condition of mine was getting progressively worse. I started my search, but couldn’t find anything that I liked. My wife reminded me to write down specifics—the model and even the range of years for the vehicle. She helped by looking on the Internet and found a few that fit the specifics. The next day I called to see if those were still available. Some were already sold, but I found one that was still available and arranged to see it. It was the right model, within the acceptable year range, in excellent condition, and had several luxuries that were beyond expectations. The salesperson also found out that the price had just dropped several hundred dollars, as they wanted it to sell. After it passed our mechanic’s prepurchase inspection, my wife and I agreed that it was a good deal, and bought it.

Without the Word that I had learned in this ministry, I would have most likely searched in an unclear fashion, which may have taken months. With the Word, I was able to see God meet my need by staying focused and believing together with my like-minded spouse.

God Was Able to Take Care of Me

There have been many principles of life I have learned since I have received an understanding from The Way Ministry of what God makes available through His Word.

Here’s one incident that is very vivid in my life, that I continue to share with others whenever they are challenged looking for employment. I had learned from the teaching that I received on believing that being clear and concerned about what you need is an important aspect of receiving anything from God. I had just moved into a new area, and I began to look for employment; but before I did that, I sat down and went through my living expenses and what I needed to live comfortably. When I ventured out, the first interview I had was with a company that had a good position for me, but their starting rate was below the amount I needed. After talking to the interviewer and sharing with this person the necessary need I had plus my ability, and expressing I would do the job above and beyond the normal, I was granted not only the job, but they were willing to raise the pay rate to accommodate my need also.

In future times, whenever I look for employment, because I saw how God was able to take care of me by my remaining clear and concerned on what I needed, I am confident that whenever I pursue different avenues of life, I will have the right tools to gain the desired results.

God Never Forsakes His Children

In 2017, I experienced a great health issue. My eyes couldn’t see anymore. My left eyelid had fallen completely. I was seeing everything double to the point that I could not read the Bible anymore or watch TV or drive. I could not take care of the fellowship that I was coordinating or anything else, even with my glasses on. According to the neurological service where I had been hospitalized, I was told I needed emergency surgery.

God never forsakes His children and is always able to change lemons into lemonade.

The household helped me in such a wonderful way, from the fellowships in my area to the Country coordinators. They did not cease to make mention of me in their prayers. The exhortations and teachings on God’s Word being His will, given to me by my Country leaders, really strengthened my believing.

God gave the final word as He answered our prayers. The emergency surgery which should have happened was delayed and then definitively canceled. Today I can thank my God for His wonders, because He delivered me. My health situation got better and better. I can see again, my eyelid is up, and I can use both of my eyes. Everything is just great. I went back to my daily activities as I used to do in the past.

What blessed me even more is that one day, as I was getting ready to ride with the assistant fellowship coordinator to our Household Fellowship Coordinator Training, he looked at me and told me, “You are the one driving!” I did not hesitate! I took the keys and drove there and back, which is almost five hundred kilometers.

This is what God is able to do for us, His children, and what He made available for wholeness, good health, and healing.

We Believed God to Meet Our Needs, and He Did!

I first took the ministry’s Foundational Class when I was twelve years old. Ever since that class, I have had the joy to stand with this ministry. Many of the concepts taught in that class were not new to me, as I had been taught them from birth. Growing up in the ministry has been a profound advantage to me in that I learned to walk according to the Word of God, and it just became my way of life. Tithing and abundant sharing are just natural and logical practices for me. Giving and serving others are just what I’ve learned to do. I have always had my needs met. I haven’t always earned a lot of money, but we’ve never gone hungry and we’ve never not been able to pay our rent on time. We, as a family, have believed God to meet our needs, and He ALWAYS has.

I remember as a child, our family had need of a new car. Dad got us together, we talked about what we needed and wanted the car to have, we prayed about it, and within a few days we had exactly what we said we needed plus a few extra things we hadn’t thought about. That was how life was for us. We believed God to meet all our needs, and He did so without fail.

As an adult, we received news that my wife was diagnosed with cancer. The nurse that gave us the news was surprised when we didn’t seem shocked, scared, or devastated when she told us, like most of her patients were. We simply told her that we believed that God would take care of my wife, so there was no reason to be alarmed. Today she is cancer free.

The numerous classes and teachings we have heard over the years have put us in a position to help others and to serve God’s people. We have been household fellowship coordinators, we’ve been Branch coordinators, we’ve worked on The Way International Staff; and at each position we have felt that we were called to carry out that particular responsibility. We did each one with joy and all the love of God that we could put into it, and God has blessed us at every turn.

We told a young man about our approaching anniversary. He said, “Congratulations, what’s your secret?” I replied that with God at the center of the family, everyone is on the same page, believing together, and life is GREAT! I can’t think of a better way to live, nor would I want to try to live any other way.

God Talked, I Listened!

The first household fellowship I attended was coordinated by a beautiful young woman in a wheelchair. I was told she had polio as a child, when she was about four years old, and as she got older, became wheelchair-bound. This amazing woman did not let that keep her back; she held a full-time job, a college degree, and always had a beautiful smile that lit up every room. She owned a handicap-accessible van and had a driver whose wife was her caretaker (she helped with meals, personal hygiene, etc.).

It was about three years after I began attending fellowship and when I had been working at a hospital (which was just about a mile from where the young woman lived), when, on my day off, I was headed back there to meet a few colleagues on our way to a conference. As I was walking into the emergency room (ER), I saw her caretaker walking out with the empty wheelchair. I asked what had happened, where she was, and was speechless when told that she had gone into respiratory failure, was being admitted to the intensive care unit with a prognosis of “poor,” and was not expected to survive. I was stunned; it couldn’t be—not that vibrant, beautiful young lady with the big smile, genuine heart for God, and infectious laugh.

I rushed inside to see her being wheeled on a stretcher; her eyes filled with tears when she saw me. Holding her hand and rubbing her head, my eyes now filled with tears; I know I heard God say to me, “This is why I brought you to this hospital.” I know He said a lot more, but my heart was full, and I couldn’t quite hear it all at that moment.

Now, I might have heard someone else talk about others doing the same thing, I don’t remember that now, but I am positive the following is what I know God told me to do: After calling the minister overseeing the state and informing him of the serious medical situation, I asked permission to call The Way International Headquarters to start twenty-four hours of continuous prayer. Next, I started calling household fellowship coordinators as well as believers I knew and asked them to pass the request for prayer on as soon as possible. I needed volunteers for a 24-7 prayer sit-in/vigil at her bedside (once permission was obtained from the attending physicians, staff, and hospital administrators). I popped in every chance I got while on duty and also while taking my shift as a volunteer when not. Someone who had a portable audiocassette player/boom box gladly offered to let us use it. This was because, as God clearly showed me, she had to have the Word within earshot 24-7—it could be a teaching, a Bible passage, or the Word in song. The verse God brought to my mind was:

Psalms 107:20:
He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

By the end of the first week after she had been admitted, there were visible signs of improvement, but God instructed me to not stop yet. We continued until she was transferred to the rehabilitation unit, and then slowly cut back on the hours as she improved more and more. The day she was discharged was a moment of praise and glory to God for His mighty hand in leading me to that place, that hospital, that day and time. She lived about twenty-four more years before falling asleep. In my heart, I’m convinced God had His hand in the whole thing—He is cool like that—my moving to that city, being introduced to The Way Ministry, taking the class, working at that specific hospital, on the unit where I developed a great working relationship with those specific physicians, as well as my trusting God to show me what He needed me to do at the time.

The Word of God Gave Me Stability

The Word of God has given me stability. I know that I know what the truth is, and I can stand on it and be proud to stand and speak of it.

Isaiah 33:5,6:
The Lord is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness.
And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear [respect] of the Lord is his treasure.

Growing up I asked, Am I going to heaven? Why don’t we sacrifice animals like in the Old Testament? I wondered, What happens after death, and where were the dead if they were alive? I wondered so much that I did my high school senior research paper for English on the topic of life after death, and I concluded there was life after death because of the experiences people had had while they were “dead” and then came back to tell the story. At one time I could predict when the phone was going to ring. That was something fun, but it got old because I didn’t see the practical application for that (thank God). Life became for me about sacrificing my life for others, but at twenty-seven I had had it. All that stuff was just getting me depressed. I left my hometown and was witnessed to in less than two weeks. In eight months I took the Foundational Class! WOW, not only was it there in black and white that I was born again in the uncomplicated formula of Romans 10:9 and 10, but I learned I do not have to sacrifice anything for God, but had a perfect sacrifice for me, and I’m not a servant, but a son!—of God! The class showed me where spiritualism came from and that the dead in Christ will be made alive at the return. Oh my, well, I’m so blessed for what the Word has done for me; it saved me. I still am thrilled to find that the Bible makes sense and that there are people like me that love this Word for its soundness and that it is the stability of our times.

I Can Help Those in Need

Four of us headed to the college campus to witness God’s Word. Parking being scarce, we grabbed a space and did not closely look at the parking rules for the street. After a few hours of witnessing, we came back and our car was gone. A few puzzled looks later, someone nearby said, “Your car was towed.” We believed for a ride to the police station to find out about our car.

“Yes, the car has been taken to an impound lot,” the clerk said. The moment we asked, “How will we get there?” two policemen walked toward us from down the hall. We asked if they could take us to where our car was, and they both agreed since they were going in that direction. As we piled in the back of the police car, all of us immediately told them we were ambassadors for Christ. One of them was intrigued by our boldness, and we proceeded to tell him all about our ministry.

When they dropped us off, we exchanged numbers with the officer that seemed most interested, and we agreed that we would follow up with him during the weekend. We did, and the four of us went to his home. After a few minutes of conversation, the man asked, “Why can’t I speak in tongues? Why don’t I have the gift of tongues? Why can my wife speak in tongues and I can’t?” Tears of disappointment showed on the man’s face.

Having just studied chapter five in Receiving the Holy Spirt Today on how to receive, I immediately told him, “Sir, speaking in tongues is not a gift but a manifestation.” Then I shared with him God’s Word—the same verses that Dr. Wierwille used to lead people into speaking in tongues. Within twenty minutes of sharing God’s Word with him, he was speaking in tongues the wonderful works of God. Tears of joy ran down his face.

How simply and how beautifully God met this man’s need. The four of us left his home rejoicing for what God had wrought through our lives.

I am so grateful to The Way Ministry for the Word that it has taught me so that I can stand on it and so that I can help those in need as they cross my path.

Acts 2:11:
…we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.

It Is Our Job to Trust in Him

Isaiah 40:31 [The Amplified Bible]:
But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired.

What an honor it is to be a part of a ministry that teaches the greatness of God and His Word ever so clearly, showing you the keys to walking the aligned path that God has graciously supplied us, with blessings on top of blessings day after day. Where does one begin to show gratitude for what He has done for us? In one year alone, I have watched as God has fulfilled my life beyond belief.

Ecclesiastes 3:11:
He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

God has a plan for us all. Since the beginning of time, He has known everything that has happened and is to come for the rest of eternity! It is our job to trust in Him and thank Him for helping to keep us on that straight and narrow path that He has provided for us.

Being in the military, I’ve seen that a career is made through advancement by working diligently and standing out among your fellow service members. As a part of the household of God, we learn that we are all members in particular as we each play our own essential part in the Body of Christ. The same applies to any job, team, or ensemble. In the navy, advancement is done through job-specific testing exams and annual evaluations issued by your superiors, who rank you based on your work ethic and leadership skills, determining if you have what it takes to hold the responsibilities of the next rank.

Every day I go into work with an “I can do/Christ in me” mind-set, giving diligently and selflessly in each task that is assigned to me. As you walk with your love of God shining brightly, people can undoubtedly see that light as you immediately make any environment you’re in thrive. Through my living to give and driving to excel, my superiors recognized that and fought to ensure I earned the evaluation that I deserved to set me up for success as I prepared for my next exam, believing to score high enough to advance to the next rank.

After calculating each individual’s yearly progress, work ethic, and qualifications, I was blessed to receive the number one evaluation for my rank in my squadron! What an achievement to be recognized in such a manner, to be considered the top all-around professional at what I do. Now I could confidently prepare for my exam, knowing that I was ready to hold the responsibilities of the next rank.

II Peter 3:8 [The Amplified Bible]:
Nevertheless, do not let this one fact escape you, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.

God’s timing is impeccable. As I got ready to transfer to my next command, it was also time for me to decide whether or not I wanted to reenlist for another term of service. I love serving my country, and God sure has helped make my experience greater than any other. I know without a doubt that this is the path He needs me on, so I agreed to sign for another contract. Well with no surprise, God supplied again, and for the first time in eight years, my superiors offered my job a reenlistment bonus—right in time for me to reap the benefits!

Two days before my reenlistment date, my chief called me back into work, stating that it was very urgent and to come in wearing a clean uniform. Typically, this is not something I’d want to hear, but knowing that there was nothing I had to be worried about, I went back in, speaking in tongues for whatever God had in store for me. As I got into work, my commanding officer was there to congratulate and meritoriously promote me to the next rank. What an honor this was! For my command of 1,200 people, I was 1 of 12 people to get advanced to the next rank and 1 of 4 for my specific rank. A meritorious promotion is simply just that. My hard work and will to give and serve stood out among the rest, and my chain of command believed that I earned a new rank without having to take and see how well I did on an exam.

Timing could not have been better. By getting promoted, this also increased my bonus when I reenlisted two days later, and God continued to let the blessings pour in! If I hadn’t gotten promoted until after I reenlisted, my bonus would have stayed the same as before, but God was able to provide exceeding abundantly above (Ephesians 3:20) for me. As we live with “Ephesians 3:20/20 vision,” we will see everything that God is able to do for us each day.

In just a few short weeks, all of these things came to pass. This isn’t even a dent in my list of victories, and I am so grateful to be a part of a ministry that shows how to live an abundant life as we walk in love day by day. Without being raised in The Way Ministry, I most certainly would not be where I am today, nor have the relationship with God that I do. I look forward to someday raising a family in the Word the same way I was, and to continue to watch just how great God works.

I John 4:4:
…because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

Basking in Fullness of Joy

We sat gathered around tables in the basement living room where the Word Over the World Ambassadors lived, listening to audiotapes of Dr. Victor Paul Wierwille teaching the foundational class on Power for Abundant Living. Chapter and verse, what does the Word say?—of the many, many golden nuggets in the class, this one really stood out. The teacher encouraged us to not take his word for it, but to go to Scripture, utilizing the research tools we had been taught, and discover the truths for ourselves. This was new and revolutionary to me. For the first time, I had a “firm rock in the sea of speculation, a safe anchorage in the ocean of doubt.” I could read and understand the Word for myself, and I could see current events, trends, opinions, traditions, fads, and ideas through the lens of God’s Word. This has been invaluable to me in my continued stand on God’s Word.

If I were to state a theme verse for my life, the following is a likely candidate:

Psalms 16:11:
Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

Being able to discern truth from error—to determine what the Word says—has given me great peace of mind. We live in a complicated and distracting world, and knowing how to filter all the impressions and demands for our attention is vital for a balanced life. This has given me the encouragement I have needed to stand. It has helped me mature and grow into the best version of myself. What has God done for me because of the Word of God I have learned in The Way Ministry? He has provided me with a life that is beyond what I could ask for or think of. He has given me access to the household of God, where I can enjoy fellowship with like-minded believers and a meaningful, personal relationship with my heavenly Father. I can practice the presence of God, basking in fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore.

We Enjoyed the Word Very Much

I began to attend a ministry household fellowship in 1983. Before the first Power for Abundant Living class was run in my country, there was only one household fellowship, held once a week on Sundays on a rotating basis, in the homes of believers who manifested their desire to receive that household fellowship. Believers traveled many miles by foot because transportation was difficult, yet they were willing to attend a household fellowship meeting.

I am also among the faithful who attended that first Foundational Class, and I am still standing in the ministry in my country. We were young people around the age of twenty to twenty-five, but we enjoyed the Word very much. We felt that we had learned much more of the Word and were practicing it accordingly, and we had positive results. The law of believing worked a lot in us. There was no stability in the country because of the war, many raids were carried out, etc., but God responded to our prayers because of the unity of the spirit that we manifested with great impact.

A few years later, I went to live in another city in the province. I started a household fellowship. There were many challenges, but it was a great time for increasing believing, faithfulness, perseverance, and service.

A faithful man will abound with blessings, as stated in Proverbs 28:20. Thanks to God, I found a good wife, already mature in the Word, who came to reinforce or increase my belief in the Word of God, especially in the law of giving and receiving. Together we worked on the rise and expansion of the Word in our city with the assistance of other believers in the household fellowship.

Currently we coordinate an area in the province. We continue lovingly to teach the Word of God to God’s people from generation to generation. Always keeping God and His Word first, we are humble and obedient, and we put others before ourselves with much love, knowing that our labor is not in vain in the Lord, as stated in I Corinthians 15:58.

More Blessed Than I Could Have Imagined

The very idea that the Bible could be understood was a concept that I personally thought to be impossible. Like many of my friends, I had tried to read it, and to me it was a dull book with sections that were just too hard to comprehend. I could make no sense of it, let alone actually live it. Yet I wanted to know God and tried different religions. I talked “at” God without results I could see. Eventually I just gave up thinking that understanding and finding God would ever happen for me.

After joining the navy, I walked in on a fellowship being held in my barracks room. For the first time ever, I heard someone teach the Bible so that it made sense. I understood it clearly and simply.

I was excited and talked to the teacher right after that fellowship, wanting to know where he learned that. He showed me some of Dr. Wierwille’s books and told me about a class and The Way Ministry. A few months later, I sat through the class and saw that the Bible not only made sense and that I could understand it, but I also learned how to work it to answer any question I had while reading it. Not only that, I learned keys to glean truth from its pages with a certainty and absolute trustworthiness that left all doubts behind.

I was a person that thought God hated me, and I hated myself, thinking I was unlovable. I had come to see God as this vengeful character just waiting to punish me because I was no good. I’d often consider myself as better off if I just died.

I was born again at a young age but had no perception of that occurrence until I started to see the truth from God’s Word unlocked. I learned that I had been saved years before—something I got from churches I visited while seeking God. I grew up speaking in tongues but did not know what it was or what it meant. The truths that this ministry unlocked for me gave me a life that I had no idea existed.

Every day since then has been a growing adventure of finding treasures about my real future, my heavenly Father, and His real love for me. The life I live now is rich and fuller than I could have known or believed back then. The Way International has shown me a family, over the last forty-plus years, that is more wonderful than any I have ever known.

That family continues today with people who are rich in love, thankfulness, and caring that is so real, it must be experienced to appreciate it. What over seventy-five years of The Way International, with Dr. Wierwille’s teaching and research by way of the books and classes, have given me is a real life where my future is certain and more blessed than I could have imagined.