Miraculous Funding to Print Bibles

Our God is the God of the impossible, but He also expects us to do our part and pray. There are different types of prayer, and they each have guidelines. We must know what to pray for, who to pray for, and how to pray.

There are different types of prayer, and they each have guidelines. We must know what to pray for, who to pray for, and how to pray.

The prayer of supplication is the kind of prayer that can be used in critical situations where there seems to be no other way. I have used this prayer during times of crisis in my own life, and they have all been answered within three months.

I don’t want to make it sound like this type of prayer will solve every problem that you have, but when our requests line up with God’s will, which is simply His Word, then He hears us and He answers.

When our requests line up with God’s will, then He hears us and He answers.

One time I found myself in a critical situation when, normally, I would have prayed the prayer of faith or the prayer of agreement to bring the answer. At that time, I learned more about another type of prayer that was even more effective for my particular situation.

In February of 1989, the Lord had spoken to my wife, Pat, and me to attend Brother Hagin’s Winter Bible Seminar. My publishing company was in the middle of a new thrust in Bibles called topical Bibles. They were making a strong impact in the Christian market. For us to be able to keep a supply of Bibles available, certain things had to happen.

My staff told me we needed a large sum of money, a six digit figure, to complete the project. A few days passed and I hadn’t really begun serious prayer about it. The staff told me I had ten days. I said, “Now Lord, I need the finances to buy Bible paper and leather for the covers.”

Eventually, I decided to go to the bank and tell them what I needed, but they would only loan me a portion of what I had asked for. The problem was the bank didn’t want to give me the money. Part of the money wouldn’t produce what I needed. I needed more than the bank’s approved loan. In the natural realm there was no way to make this happen.

Usually, I would have depended on Mark 11:24 which says, “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” I didn’t have the inner assurance I needed that when I asked I would receive.

When you know the will of God in a particular area, then you can also have faith for it. I knew it was God’s will for all men to be saved and these topical Bibles would help to fulfill His will.

When you know the will of God in a particular area, then you can also have faith for it.

It would take more money than what I had, and seven days had already passed. I still didn’t have the inner assurance to pray the prayer of faith. I don’t know if you have ever used Mark 11:24 and had nothing happen, but I have. Sometimes you can turn your confessor on overtime. “I believe I receive, but Lord, it isn’t showing up.” Eventually, you fall into a ritual and don’t see any results. That wasn’t God’s fault; it was mine. Time was running out, and I knew I had to find another way.

By now, we were in the middle of the seminar and two of my very close friends, Happy Caldwell and Jerry Savelle, had come to our house. As we talked, I said to them, “Guys, listen. Pray with me about the money I need for these Bibles. Our first shipment has already sold, and I need to move now to keep Bibles in stock for all the orders we have coming in.”

There were three days left when I asked my friends to pray with me. I would have prayed the prayer of agreement with them using Matthew 18:19 which says, “if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.” I had recently learned more about the application of the prayer of agreement and knew that the prayer of agreement may not be the most effective prayer to use in this situation.

My insight into the prayer of agreement came to me one day after a service. A young man walked up to me and said, “Brother Harrison, does Matthew 18:19 which says, ‘if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing…’ apply to any thing?” Without thinking, the answer came up out of my spirit, “No.” It shocked both of us. I was thinking, Well, what does it mean then?

My answer was startling to me because I answered him by the Holy Spirit saying, “No, it has to do with any thing concerning the two of you. Two people can’t agree for Uncle John and Aunt Susy unless their situation also concerns them, but they can intercede for them. This, of course, is a different type of prayer.” When I saw this, I realized that I could pray the prayer of agreement with people but not for them. It changed the way I prayed the prayer of agreement.

The Order of Prayer

If I didn’t pray the prayer of faith or the prayer of agreement, I wondered exactly how I should pray. After a while, Happy spoke up and said, “Buddy, in our intercessory group we have been using the order that is in First Timothy 2, and have been having great success.” So, we all turned to First Timothy 2:1 which says, “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men.”

As we read, Happy began to tell us what he had found. “We’re dealing with four types of prayer here, but they’re in an order.” When Happy pointed out the order, I realized God was trying to teach me. I knew the Holy Spirit was upon him, so I listened closely.

As he talked, I began to see that there were four kinds of prayer and that they were in a particular order: first, supplications; second, prayers; third, intercessions; and fourth, the giving of thanks. Although each of these four types of prayer also work alone, the words, first of all, spoke to me of a particular order. God has a certain order that He operates within, and it is our job to understand that order and get in line with it.

God has a certain order that He operates within, and it is our job to understand that order and get in line with it.

Unfortunately, many people’s prayer lives are out of order, and they simply don’t work. God is a God of order. If you don’t understand His order, you mess things up. You need to follow His order so that His blessings can come into your life.

I also noticed that all the prayers mentioned in First Timothy 2 were plural. They could be prayed collectively or individually, and they could be prayed multiple times. Some prayers, like the prayer of faith and the prayer of agreement, you pray one time and that is it. Other prayers, like these, you can pray over and over again.

Although the prayer of faith and the prayer of agreement are very important and powerful prayers, we have almost forgotten about prayers that can be prayed over and over again. I am not criticizing. I am trying to rectify where we have shoved one type of prayer too far. We have overemphasized the prayer of faith and the prayer of agreement and have used them when we should have used other types of prayer.

While Happy continued to teach us what he had found, the Holy Spirit moved on Jerry to say, “We need to pray for the banker and the committee.” Then I understood. This prayer in First Timothy 2 was for men (people), not money. The people have the money. God doesn’t have any money in heaven. In my situation, the banker was the one who was responsible for the money. He was also the one entrusted with the authority to invest the money.

What the Spirit gave to Jerry came alive inside of me, and we began to pray for the banker so that if he had any committees to answer to, we would have favor with them, and if they had any policy that would keep them from giving us the loan, they would be willing to change it in this instance.

Then Jerry insisted that we write the prayer out. He said it was because the first word, supplication, meant “petition.”1 If we were going to petition the city, the state, or the U.S. government, it would be a formal written request. We decided to write out our prayer in the form of a legal petition. It was about one page in length. Every time we made a statement, we wrote a corresponding Scripture reference in the margin. Sometimes we included the references within the petition.

As we worked together, we came closer into agreement regarding exactly what we were asking. As we searched the Scriptures to find the promises for what we were asking, my faith was built up and my spirit man became more convinced that what I was asking for was in line with His will for me. After we finished, we prayed through it. Then I knew in my “knower” that our prayer would be manifested.

I was so excited that I called the general manager at my publishing company and said, “Call the bank because they’re going to let us have the money.” I was excited because I had heard from heaven. I had the witness of the spirit.

The next morning my general manager called the bank. The first thing the banker said was, “We’ve reviewed the application again, and we can still only loan you a portion of your request.” He waited. Then the banker said, “You know we have never allowed you to borrow money against any of your foreign accounts, author’s accounts, or C.O.D.’s, but, in this instance, we’re going to change our policy.” Our supplication had been answered. By borrowing against our accounts and adding it to the portion that they were willing to loan us, we had the money that was necessary for the topical Bibles.

I put into practice what I learned during that week. In a short amount of time I began to see the answers for the petitions that I had made. I developed a greater hunger for the Word, a stronger love for people, and a more intimate relationship with God.