I returned last week from a pastors conference in Redding, CA at Bethel Church. Bill Johnson is one of my favorites. I’ve listened to every message he’s preached for the last 4 years at least via podcast and being able to visit Bethel was a very cool experience. If you’ve ever heard Bill teach, you know he’s the king of one liners. He will drop one on you like a grenade and then smile at while it rips you apart. He will. He’ll just stand there and let these things sink in deep. Then he’ll toss another one. It’s a very unique communication style but it works. It works really well.

I wrote down of few of the best zingers. Here’s one.

“I can’t afford to be more conscious of any problem than I am of his presence.”

Wow. There’s more in there than I can digest in a single sitting. He’s really messing with my business too. How often do I pray from a place of being conscious of a problem rather than of His presence? Too often. When I am problem focused rather than Kingdom focused, I usually end up striving from a place of fear and unbelief. This usually produces fruitlessness in prayer, which then magnifies the unbelief. This process may produce louder and more fervent prayer, but rarely does it produce more effective prayer.

Faith comes from hearing God. Revelation results from turning toward Him, not toward a problem. I’m most effective in prayer when my focus is upon pursuing divine encounter rather than relief from a difficulty.