RR: No, I didn’t know that part of it.  John Ashcroft is a great man of God.  Some years ago we honored him with an honorary doctorate, a tremendous man of God.

And I tell you something else that I remember about you.  See if you remember this.  Lindsay and I were going to conduct a crusade in Guatemala City, and you came down and graciously hosted our program for a week.

RON: It was my honor.

RR: You came for a week and hosted our program so we could have that crusade in Guatemala.

RON: And it was great.

RR: And I’m going back to Central America this summer to El Salvador by the invitation of the President of the nation for another tremendous crusade.

RON: Richard, I don’t want to take much more time.  I wish I could visit with you a lot more because I love you so much, you and your precious wife and family.  But I know God has something very hot on your heart.  And you’ve told us all that you have something very special on your heart.

RR: Yes, He does have something that He put on my heart.  But I want to say something first to you and to Norma and all of the Cornerstone family.  First of all, I want everyone to know how I feel about you.  I want you to know how much I appreciate Cornerstone and its outreach.

Wherever I go, wherever Cornerstone is aired, I hear from people who say, “I see you.  I see The Hour of Healing on Cornerstone.”  And I want you to know how grateful I am for the privilege of being on Cornerstone each night.  Thank you so very much for being my friend.

RON: Well, it’s my privilege.  It’s our joy.  Thank you.

RR: You and Olean Eagle, who is up in heaven now with my mother—

RON: Looking down, they’re watching right now.

And what she was saying was, “I don’t have to touch Him.  If I can just get my hands on the Word of God, I will be healed.”

Now, look, you’re there where you are.  We’re here where we are.  But as my father would say, there is no distance in prayer.  God’s right here.  So when we speak a word here, He sends that word right to you where you are there.

The Roman centurion understood that.  He said, “You don’t have to come to heal my military aide.  You just send the word.”  Now there’s no way he could have known Psalm 107:20, “He sent his word and healed them and delivered them from their destruction.”

And maybe that’s why Jesus marveled when he said it because none of the other crowd seemed to catch on.  He said, “You don’t have to come.  You just speak the word.”  We don’t have to come where you are because Jesus is where we are, and He’s where you are tonight.  And Jesus sent the word, and his military aide was healed.

Well, this woman was saying, “If I can get my hands on the Word of God.”  And this preaching, this testimony that Cynthia just gave and Randy just gave and the worship, the music that Dino was playing, and the Bishop who’s coming on in a little while, that is all in preparation.  What Pastor Phil is doing tonight, that’s in preparation.  That’s the hearing of faith that’s building you up on the inside so that you can receive when the prayer of faith is prayed.

ER: Well, we didn’t know anything about the Source. We didn’t know anything about planting seed. We didn’t know anything about expecting a miracle. We didn’t know any of those things.

Mr. Gustavus lived next door to us. One day Oral drove our old rattletrap of a car home and the brakes failed, and they wouldn’t stop, and he ran into this man’s car. He’d never met Mr. Gus. He didn’t know about him.

Oral went to the front door, and he said, “Sir, is this your car out here?” He said, “Yes.” He said, “Well, I’ve just run into it. If you’ll go down and have it appraised, I’ll have it fixed – I’ll pay for it.” And he said, “You live next door, don’t you?” He said, “Yes.” He said, “Why did you tell me?” Oral said, “Well because! I know that I did it, and God knows that I did it, and I didn’t want to do it and not tell you I did it.” And he said, “Oh, go on.” And he closed the door.

Oral thought, “That’s the strangest man I ever saw.” So he came home, one of those rare occasions when he was outside in the back yard mowing the lawn – that was a rare occasion. But this is to show you how God works in your life in little ways that, at the time, may seem insignificant. But you know, the little insignificant things that happen in your life become big things. In the future you’ll look back and say, “That little, insignificant thing that happened in my life, that was God trying to get through to me.”

This man, Mr. Gus, came over and leaned across the fence, and he said to Oral, “Young preacher, that old car of yours is not helping the neighborhood out there.”

And Oral said, “Well, Sir, I know that.”

And he said, “Did you know that I’m the Buick dealer here in town?”

And Oral said, “No, Sir, I did not know that.”

Evelyn and I were called to pastor over here in Enid, Oklahoma, and when we got there we discovered they didn’t have a parsonage, a place for the pastor to live. And so a member invited us to spend a few days or weeks with them and maybe there would be a place show up. We didn’t have money to rent. We didn’t have money to buy. And I discovered real soon that the church wasn’t interested in buying a parsonage or a place for us to live.

And the days became weeks, and we had our children and this family had their children in a two-bedroom house. And there we were, nine of us, plus two women. (Laughter) And I couldn’t get the church to do anything. And I was going right on, you know. I was going to the university at that time, trying to pay tuition. I mean, it was tough.

And one day Evelyn said, “Oral, if you don’t get me a place for these children for us to live, I’m going to take them home to Mama. And I’m not coming back until you get us a place.” I said, “You wouldn’t do that, Evelyn.” She said, “You watch me.”

And it was prayer meeting night, and she couldn’t go. And, brother, sister, when I went to preach that night, I was anointed. I preached-I didn’t see the stars fall, but I felt like something was falling. I was preaching that night.

And right in the middle of it the Lord spoke to my heart, “You start the down payment on a parsonage by giving your week’s salary.” I was making $55 a week and had the check in my pocket for the past week. And the Lord said, “You give the $55.” We were already tithers. We were already givers. We just were never taught to receive. And the Lord had been trying to give to us. He’d opened up many avenues for us to receive, but we thought we were not to because it would lead to pride. And it would in some people’s cases, but not in the general sense of the word it does not.

And when I finished, I laid the check on the altar and said to the people, “Now who would like to help on the down payment?” And for the first time, there was interest. And people jumped up all over the crowd and rushed forward with $50, $100, and one man with $1,000, which in those days was beyond all imagination.

And they look around and see that flooding river, and the quivering starts in their stomach. And they feel the fear grab their spirit, and it’s a terrible moment in the midst of a moment that’s the greatest moment of their lives. And that’s where we are at times when God brings us to the greatest moment of our existence, to the moment when we are about to possess the very thing that God has planned personally for us. Then there’s a flood. There’s a flood of evil. There’s a flood that rises up to make it impossible for us to receive what God has for us or to get into the position that God planned for us before we were born.

And it’s a terrible moment. And the whole burden now is upon Moses’ shoulders, who says, “I am not able to carry you alone any further. You’ve got to get over on God’s shoulders.”

Meanwhile, he had been preparing and training young Joshua as his protege to take over after he was gone because he was now 120. His natural strength was unabated, his eyes undimmed, and he was ready to die at 120. And God was to bury him at a place where no one would know. And he’s responsible to God and to these people, and he is to say the words of the Lord that they will listen to. And the spirit of prophecy comes upon him, and he gives them the thousand times blessing.

He goes back from the law of Moses. He goes back century after century. He goes back to the faith of that man that left his people, the faith of that man, Abram, that God found with that faith and said, “With this faith, I’m going to build my kingdom upon the earth.” He goes back to that faith, and he gives a prophetic utterance that in the midst of this moment when you’re scared to death to put your feet into that flooding Jordan River and to go over and possess your land, “In this moment, I want you to hear me tell you what God told me to tell you. God is going to make you a thousand times more than you are. Let old Jordan flood all it wants to, let the mountains scream at you,let the Promised Land seem a million miles away. God’s going to reach down His mighty hand and He’s going to make you a thousand times more than you are. God is going to enlarge your mind. God is going to give you the power that when you take the ark of the covenant and the priest step their feet into the water, He’s going to roll that flood up the stream for miles and miles until there’s a heap of it. And the rest of it is going to flow down to the Salt Sea. And He’s going to dry up the bed of the Jordan River, and you’re going to walk over dryshod. You’re going to have it a thousand times more than have.” (Applause)

And here he says, “He gives him tithe of all.” And so Melchizedek, priest and king of the most high order, says-he blesses him. And he blesses him in the order of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth, and the one who delivers from all our enemies. Let’s stop and think about that.

Here he’s being blessed; here he gives tithes, and there’s three very, very, very, very, very crucial statements right here. He says, “And blessed-and he blessed him.” Hold that word blessed. All through the Bible, you hold the word blessed, from the blessing of Abraham, the Abraham blessing. Don’t let that pass your mind. It’s not getting deep, I promise we’ll muddle through this. Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine. He was the priest of the most high God. He was the representation of the most high God. He was the spirit of the most high God. And he blessed him and said-here’s what he said. “Blessed be Abram of the most high God.” Number one, the most high God just blessed him.

Number two, the possessor of heaven and earth just blessed him.

And number three, the one who delivers him from all of your enemies just blessed you, and instantly, Abram gave him a tithe. Because when you get a spiritual revelation on one hand, you’ve got to get the spiritual revelation on the other hand. If Melchizedek gives him the spiritual revelation on who he is, he’s also going to give him a spiritual revelation on how he’s supposed to act.

Now look at most high God. God is El Elyon. El Elyon means “the most high.” Let me tell you something about water. Do you all know anything about the properties of water? I am not a scientific genius, but I know that water expresses itself three ways. It’s liquid. You boil it and it becomes steam. You freeze it, and it becomes ice. It’s still H2O. It’s still water with the same properties of water, right? It’s simply expressed in three different ways. Correct?

And I sat down there and I remember saying to the Lord, “I can’t do this anymore.” And so I went to bed, and when I was pregnant I would get these violent headaches, and I mean I had migraine headaches, the kind that you go to bed for three days and hope, you know, that you’re there the next morning.

And I was getting those headaches every morning, and I had to go to the TV program, and it overtook me. It overwhelmed me. So one day I turned to Richard and I said this, I said, “Honey, I cannot do this anymore. I’m going to take television off. I’m not going back, at least until the baby’s born.”

And then satan got hold of me, and I said this out of my own mouth, “Besides that, I’m really not of any value on that program. You’re the one that preaches and prays for the sick. I’m not going.” And I began to let that take hold of me, and the sharks began to bite.

And so I said to Richard, “I’m not going the next morning.” And he woke me up the next morning, said, “Are you sure you’re not going?” I said, “I’m not going.” And he went to the program by himself, and the Lord shook me. Now there’s a time when you’re shaken spiritually and a time you’re shaken physically, and there’s a time when He kicks your tail out of bed. (End of Side #1) . . . Super Glued my coffee cup to, and the Lord began to speak to me. And He said, “Minister on suicide.” And I began to minister on suicide. And I said, “There’s people that have guns in their hand, pills in their hand. And you’ve turned on this television to make noise so no one knows what you’re doing. If you’re about to kill yourself right now, stop. Don’t do it. Call the Abundant Life Prayer Group, and we will minister to you.”

Sixteen people called in right then. When it was over with, I got off the TV, the studio set, I went back to where my car was, and I began to weep. And the Lord said, “Do you feel good about those sixteen people?” And I said, “Yes, sir, I do.” And He said, “If you hadn’t done what I called you to do without any more excuses, I would have held you accountable for all sixteen.” I knew in my soul right then, don’t play games with television. It’s not funny.

Do you know what this is? It’s called a rubber snake. I loathe snakes. But you know what? This is not a snake. This is an “as a snake.” The Bible says, “The thief (or the devil) walks around AS a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” He’s not a lion. He’s a counterfeit. In fact, the only thing satan can do is counterfeit. He has no original. He’s not capable of creating the original, so he has to distract you by creating a counterfeit.

Now any counterfeit he distracts you with is going to be good. Don’t kid yourself. My daughter … guess which one? Chloe Elisabeth … dropped this over the balcony at our house on a lady that came in our house. Now this is an “as a snake,” but she nearly had a heart attack over an “as a snake.”
Are there any kids in the audience? I can’t see that far. I can’t find my contact lenses, so here I am trying to see without them. Where? Come here, little one. Come up here. Let me get my glasses. Girl, guy, which? I’m praying for my eyes to get healed, and I’m not kidding. Little boy right here. Come here, sweetie pie. Come here. Are you afraid of this, by the way, honey? No. Why? Because it’s an “as a snake.” An as a snake isn’t going to hurt you.

I want to ask you something, sweetie pie. You ever go shopping? Is it fun? You like to shop? You want to go shopping today? Okay, sweetie pie, I was going to give you one and you get this, whichever one you pick, okay? Now this is what, tell me. (A twenty dollar bill.) A twenty dollar bill. Okay, it is. You’re right. Now hold that right there in your hands. Now what is that? (Counterfeit) It’s a … what do you call that thing, xerox copy? Okay?

You know, the Bible says, “I set before you life and death, blessing and cursing.” You choose so that you and your descendants may live. He said choose life. God tells us to choose life. He tells us, “Choose life.”

I had a friend of mine that called that a “no brainer dah.” Now I’d never heard the term “no brainer dah.” I heard the “no brainer,” but when you combine it with the “dah,” a “no brainer dah.” But, you see … you did that better than me. But, you see, we say out of our mouth we choose life, and then we do our actions that create death.

And I’m like, what is this world? This is so weird. Why are they doing this? It’s like dumb. Customers, counting. And I thought what are they doing? They’re acting weird. And I didn’t realize that every, I guess every 100th customer that went through one certain line got their whole cart free. I didn’t know that, and my mother didn’t know that.

But apparently there were people in the store that had figured it out and were trying to like work the system. All of the sudden, I’m saying to my mom, “You go right there, and I’m just going to sit here,” because I had some stuff in my purse. I was getting my checkbook and counting my money and getting everything organized. And my mother walks in the line.

She goes in one line, I go in the other. And you have to know, here’s my mother who is paying no attention to what’s going on around us and neither am I, walks through the light and the lady goes, “You’re it!” And my mom’s like, “What?” She said, “Everything in your cart is free.” I’m not kidding. This happened in a Venture store at Christmas.

And the lady said, “This must be your lucky day.” And my mother said, “No, no. I sowed my seed unto God. This is my harvest.” And she began to preach right there in the Venture store. And I’m sitting there going, “What about my cart?” But, I mean, it’s true because she not only recognized that it was not her lucky day.
It was God multiplying seed. And then she was willing to give a testimony right there. And, I’m telling you, she was preaching in the Venture store. And that’s why God will do it, because He knows He will open the window of heaven and pour out a blessing to those who will sow their seed.

RR: You cannot out give God.

LR: You cannot do it, Richard.

RR: Well, thank you so much for the seeds that you’re sowing. If you get a busy signal, call back.

RR: Sue. What is happening in the Prayer Group, Sue?

SUE: We have John in Ft. Myers, Florida. He has had an affliction for eight years. And he’s going to tell you how he sees today.

RR: Okay. Hello, John.

J: How are you doing, Richard?

RR: I’m just fine. How are you tonight?

J: I’m doing fine, man.

RR: Any mom here understands that?

LR: Nobody should get up at a quarter till eight. Nobody should get up before ten o’clock. I just decided that.

RR: It doesn’t work that way.

LR: Especially when you go to bed every night at two o’clock. And so I decided, “Okay, that’s it.” I got my mom in the car and I said, “Okay, here’s what’s already happened this morning.” And I mean we’re talking before eight o’clock. All this had already happened.

And she said, “Right now that’s it. We’re going into agreement.” And here’s what she prayed no accident, injury, illness, sickness or disease. Then we repeated the 91st Psalm. And we went into agreement that every promise in the 91st Psalm would happen.

But keep in your mind we said, “No accident, injury, illness, sickness, or disease.” I was taking Jordan today to go ride horses, and we went down the street and I was going the speed limit and another car was coming the speed limit. It was about a 45 mile an hour speed limit. And we were both doing that. And I was going east, she was going west, perfectly fine, like we were supposed to be, exactly two lanes. I’m going one direction; she’s going the other direction.

And this huge black truck out of nowhere came from a side street, pulled out in front of me and in front of her, but went like in between us, which there were no space. I mean, we’re going east and west, and he came sideways. And he saw if he kept going he was going to hit both of us and be sandwiched in, and the only other choice was to hit my side door where my daughter was. And I saw him coming. And my daughter just screamed, “Ditch!” And I couldn’t go in the ditch because that’s where he was.

I couldn’t go in the other side. That’s where the other car was. It was an intersection. And all of the sudden I heard the Holy Spirit say, “You turn or they’re going to hit Jordan.” I mean to tell you, in the middle of the highway, I u turned in front of a Lincoln Continental. The guy is just missing me. We’re both going about 45 miles an hour. The truck is smack in between two cars. How did a truck on a two lane road get in between our two cars?