I have so much to do that I spend several hours in prayer before I am able to do it.—John Wesley
I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had absolutely no other place to go. -- Abraham Lincoln
Always respond to every impulse to pray. The impulse to pray may come when you are reading or when you are battling with a text. I would make an absolute law of this – always obey such an impulse. --Martyn Lloyd-Jones
One can believe intellectually in the efficacy of prayer and never do any praying. --Catherine Marshall
Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?-- Corrie Ten Boom
Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan --John Bunyan
Of all the duties enjoined by Christianity none is more essential and yet more neglected than prayer. --François Fénelon
The only way to Heaven is prayer; a prayer of the heart, which every one is capable of, and not of reasonings which are the fruits of study, or exercise of the imagination, which, in filling the mind with wandering objects, rarely settle it; instead of warming the heart with love to God, they leave it cold and languishing. --Jeanne Guyon
We must alter our lives in order to alter our hearts, for it is impossible to live one way and pray another. --William Law
The Third Petition of the Lord's Prayer is repeated daily by millions who have not the slightest intention of letting anyone's will be done but their own.--<Aldous Huxley
Is the Son of God praying in me, or am I dictating to Him?....Prayer is not simply getting things from God, that is a most initial form of prayer; prayer is getting into perfect communion with God. If the Son of God is formed in us by regeneration, He will press forward in front of our common sense and change our attitude to the things about which we pray. --Oswald Chambers
Friday, November 13, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Listen to God and Obey His Commands -- Humbly Follow His Call for You
Prayer is not just our requests, but it is also humbly listening to our God. Have you refused to listen to God?
"Now if you will fear and worship the Lord and listen to his voice, and if you do not rebel against the Lord's commands, and if you and your king follow the Lord your God, then all will be well. But if you rebel against the Lord's commands and refuse to listen to him, then his hand will be as heavy upon you as it was upon your ancestors." 1 Samuel 12:14-15 NLT
To reject God's call upon us is to rebel
The word rebel conjures up images of motorcycles, black leather jackets, tattoos, and arrogant, angry attitudes. Sometimes rebellion against God does manifest itself in such dramatic forms, but rebellion can be much more subtle.
A failure to worship God leads to a failure to listen to his commands. Such disrespect is rebellion against God—whether we wear black leather or suits and ties.
What subtle forms of rebellion tend to creep into your life? They can be a real hindrance to your prayer life. Repent and be make whole. Listen to God when you pray and read Scripture, and humbly obey Hiw Commands and His call upon your life.
"Now if you will fear and worship the Lord and listen to his voice, and if you do not rebel against the Lord's commands, and if you and your king follow the Lord your God, then all will be well. But if you rebel against the Lord's commands and refuse to listen to him, then his hand will be as heavy upon you as it was upon your ancestors." 1 Samuel 12:14-15 NLT
To reject God's call upon us is to rebel
The word rebel conjures up images of motorcycles, black leather jackets, tattoos, and arrogant, angry attitudes. Sometimes rebellion against God does manifest itself in such dramatic forms, but rebellion can be much more subtle.
A failure to worship God leads to a failure to listen to his commands. Such disrespect is rebellion against God—whether we wear black leather or suits and ties.
What subtle forms of rebellion tend to creep into your life? They can be a real hindrance to your prayer life. Repent and be make whole. Listen to God when you pray and read Scripture, and humbly obey Hiw Commands and His call upon your life.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Enter His Presence With Prayers of Thanksgiving!
God blesses those who seek after him. Pray for your church services. Prespare your heart to worship Him. Church is about what you do for God, not what He does for you! Worship God with all your being!
With what attitude do you enter a worship service?
With what attitude do you enter into prayer with your Lord?
"Enter his gates with thanksgiving: go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name. For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation." Psalm 100:4-5 NLT
If thou would thus leave thy heart with God on Saturday night, thou should find it with him in the Lord's day morning. Puritan preacher Geroge Swinnock
Let us give thanks for God's goodness!
Imagine yourself entering the gates at the entrance to the temple alongside a throng of people gathering to praise the Lord. As you near the courts of the temple, you are swept up in the words of this prayer uttered by all those around you: "Enter his gates with thanksgiving…" This prayer functioned as a call to worship for people entering the temple. It helped the people to focus their thoughts on God and his good gifts to them. It set a tone of thankfulness for the worship service that would follow.
Let the words of this prayer focus your thoughts on God's goodness to you. Come into his presence with thanksgiving and praise on your lips. This goes for personal prayer time as well as for Sunday worship services.
It is good to begin your prayers with praise and thanksgiving. "Lord, I enter into your presence with thanksgiving and praise, for you are good."
With what attitude do you enter a worship service?
With what attitude do you enter into prayer with your Lord?
"Enter his gates with thanksgiving: go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name. For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation." Psalm 100:4-5 NLT
If thou would thus leave thy heart with God on Saturday night, thou should find it with him in the Lord's day morning. Puritan preacher Geroge Swinnock
Let us give thanks for God's goodness!
Imagine yourself entering the gates at the entrance to the temple alongside a throng of people gathering to praise the Lord. As you near the courts of the temple, you are swept up in the words of this prayer uttered by all those around you: "Enter his gates with thanksgiving…" This prayer functioned as a call to worship for people entering the temple. It helped the people to focus their thoughts on God and his good gifts to them. It set a tone of thankfulness for the worship service that would follow.
Let the words of this prayer focus your thoughts on God's goodness to you. Come into his presence with thanksgiving and praise on your lips. This goes for personal prayer time as well as for Sunday worship services.
It is good to begin your prayers with praise and thanksgiving. "Lord, I enter into your presence with thanksgiving and praise, for you are good."
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
God's School of Prayer No. 4 -- Life is Fragile, Handle With Prayer
Life Is Fragile: Handle With Prayer
Life is fragile: Handle with prayer.
Remember that Jesus will always be there
To hear our problems and to gather our tears,
To calm the storms, and to settle the fears.
It does not matter how great or how small,
Jesus will answer to our every call.
Just call on the Lord, it matters not when-
His office is not closed at half-past ten.
He's never on lunch, He can't take a break;
If He did, this old world would just crumble and shake.
His lines are never busy, He won't put you on hold.
He won't ask you twice what He's already been told.
There's no account number, nor address to give;
No matter where you've moved, He knows where you live.
Yes, the Lord always answers, He never leaves home.
He won't leave us to handle it all on our own.
So when things get rough, and things aren't fair,
Remember: Life is fragile, so handle with prayer.
By Gloria J. Ames
James 4:14 Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. (And that is a fact) For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
Recenlty my friend Franklin Becker gave a powerful witness to both the fragile nature of life and the wonder of family and the power of prayer. Franklin gave us all a wake-up call. He testified that sometimes we do need to just stop and ponder what a miracle it is to be alive. And we ponder just why do we have to go through life that includes suffering.
Sometimes there are all kinds of acts of depression, sometimes acceleration; oftentimes there are challenges that seem to be beyond our ability to cope. What is it all about? Some people seem to think that whoever gets the most goodies at the end wins? When we read very clearly the bible says when you die you do not get to take it with you -- although some people live their lives as if they do not believe that.
Life is fragile and we have to pray for one another, and dry the tears from each other’s lives and life each other up.
You know the prayers avail much of God's people because when we pray for people's suffering we understand that suffering is a great roadblock to accomplishing our mission and we need to have deliverance, we need to have encouragement, we need to learn from all of our sufferings. I might just add to that thought, pray that he understands how fragile life is and what a gift God wants to give to those who understand His purpose; that is we get to live as a member of God's family for eternity.
Christ didn't say, "All your prayers will be granted," but He said, "All things, whatsoever you ask in prayer, BELIEVING, you shall receive." (Matthew 21:22)
So, the first step to receiving your desires is to trust in God and believe in His love. Whenever things appear to be going wrong, it is just God telling us that He has better plans for us. That's why it makes sense to submit to the will of God. God always answers our prayers. he does this by giving us either what we prayed for or what we SHOULD have prayed for.
We are called to submit or surrender to God. It is hard to do, Most of us are bull-headed and naturally selfish. But we surrender to the will of God not to be enslaved, but to be set free from making bad decisions. Pastor Nicholson told me that "The greatest prayer is patience." We not only should be patient, but we should pray persistently, for as William McGill wrote, "The value of persistent prayer is not that He will hear us, but that we will finally hear Him."
An ancient Jewish proverb teaches "Do not make prayer mechanical. Let it be a cry for grace and mercy, so that love replaces fear in the place in which you stand."
A pastor friend of mine in Wisconsin told me that Your requests do not become holy just because you ask God for His favor, Rather your requests be4come holy and worthy when they are aligned with His will as found in His word.”.
We need to head the advice of St. Augustine who said, "Pray as though everything depended on God, and work as though everything depended on you!”
Remember that the Holy Spirit will help you with your prayers. Prayer is the work of God's Spirit reaching out to us with an invitation to travel the highway of Spirit seeking after and being found by God. It is waiting upon God, it is listening to God, it is calling upon God and giving ourselves to God in the moment by moment events and actions of our lives.
To pray is to pay attention to God, to enter into conscious contact with God whereby we learn the ultimate faithfulness of God. Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness.... It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.
Whatever the posture of the body, prayer is the soul is on its knees.
Prayer is the soul on its knees, the soul longing for God, the soul longing for God's reign, not only in the world, but in your life, in my life, not only in our crises, not only in our successes, but in every aspect of our living--paying attention to God.
As a poster I had on my wall in college said: "Life is Fragile, Handle with Prayer."
Without a doubt, "Prayer Changes Things." While prayer may or may not change your present situation or circumstance, there is always a good chance it will change you, the one who prays. It can change the way you look at your circumastances. Can prayer change the world? Not always, not right away; but it will change the way you look at it, and through whose eyes you see it.11 Can prayer change things? Absolutely! But unless you are prepared to change, as one writer put if. Don not pray, because prayer will change the one who prays! That is for certain, too.
Prayer is the sound of the mustard seed of faith in your life; it is the gratitude that transforms healing into wholeness; it is the pesky persistence of the widow demanding what is right for herself and for the world. The life-blood of faith, your prayer will mark the difference between faith and faithlessness, and that is a wonderful blessing!
But – know this – as much as God desires for us to pray for one another, the devil wants us NOT TO PRAY. What various hindrances we meet In coming to the mercy-seat.
We have hindrances to prayer, many of our own making, but all things that keep us from praying make the evil ones happy! God wants you and me to pray. The devil does not want you and me to pray, and he and his fallen angles do all they can to hinder you and me. They know full well that we can accomplish more through our prayers than through our work. The evil ones would rather have us do anything else than pray. They oppose prayer. They despise prayer.
Fallen Angels our march oppose us who still in strength excel
Our secret, sworn, relentless foes, Countless, invisible.
But we need not fear them, nor heed them, if our eyes are ever on the Lord. The holy angels are stronger than fallen angels,
and we can ask the celestial hosts to guard us.
Billy Graham said that the hosts of evil start those wandering thoughts which so often wreck prayer. We no sooner kneel than we "recollect" something that should have been done, or something which had better be seen to at once.
RESIST THE DEVIL AND HE WILL FLEE. (James 4:7).PRAY AND PRAY AGAIN> LIFE IS FRAGILE< HANDLE WITH PRAYER!
Life is fragile: Handle with prayer.
Remember that Jesus will always be there
To hear our problems and to gather our tears,
To calm the storms, and to settle the fears.
It does not matter how great or how small,
Jesus will answer to our every call.
Just call on the Lord, it matters not when-
His office is not closed at half-past ten.
He's never on lunch, He can't take a break;
If He did, this old world would just crumble and shake.
His lines are never busy, He won't put you on hold.
He won't ask you twice what He's already been told.
There's no account number, nor address to give;
No matter where you've moved, He knows where you live.
Yes, the Lord always answers, He never leaves home.
He won't leave us to handle it all on our own.
So when things get rough, and things aren't fair,
Remember: Life is fragile, so handle with prayer.
By Gloria J. Ames
James 4:14 Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. (And that is a fact) For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
Recenlty my friend Franklin Becker gave a powerful witness to both the fragile nature of life and the wonder of family and the power of prayer. Franklin gave us all a wake-up call. He testified that sometimes we do need to just stop and ponder what a miracle it is to be alive. And we ponder just why do we have to go through life that includes suffering.
Sometimes there are all kinds of acts of depression, sometimes acceleration; oftentimes there are challenges that seem to be beyond our ability to cope. What is it all about? Some people seem to think that whoever gets the most goodies at the end wins? When we read very clearly the bible says when you die you do not get to take it with you -- although some people live their lives as if they do not believe that.
Life is fragile and we have to pray for one another, and dry the tears from each other’s lives and life each other up.
You know the prayers avail much of God's people because when we pray for people's suffering we understand that suffering is a great roadblock to accomplishing our mission and we need to have deliverance, we need to have encouragement, we need to learn from all of our sufferings. I might just add to that thought, pray that he understands how fragile life is and what a gift God wants to give to those who understand His purpose; that is we get to live as a member of God's family for eternity.
Christ didn't say, "All your prayers will be granted," but He said, "All things, whatsoever you ask in prayer, BELIEVING, you shall receive." (Matthew 21:22)
So, the first step to receiving your desires is to trust in God and believe in His love. Whenever things appear to be going wrong, it is just God telling us that He has better plans for us. That's why it makes sense to submit to the will of God. God always answers our prayers. he does this by giving us either what we prayed for or what we SHOULD have prayed for.
We are called to submit or surrender to God. It is hard to do, Most of us are bull-headed and naturally selfish. But we surrender to the will of God not to be enslaved, but to be set free from making bad decisions. Pastor Nicholson told me that "The greatest prayer is patience." We not only should be patient, but we should pray persistently, for as William McGill wrote, "The value of persistent prayer is not that He will hear us, but that we will finally hear Him."
An ancient Jewish proverb teaches "Do not make prayer mechanical. Let it be a cry for grace and mercy, so that love replaces fear in the place in which you stand."
A pastor friend of mine in Wisconsin told me that Your requests do not become holy just because you ask God for His favor, Rather your requests be4come holy and worthy when they are aligned with His will as found in His word.”.
We need to head the advice of St. Augustine who said, "Pray as though everything depended on God, and work as though everything depended on you!”
Remember that the Holy Spirit will help you with your prayers. Prayer is the work of God's Spirit reaching out to us with an invitation to travel the highway of Spirit seeking after and being found by God. It is waiting upon God, it is listening to God, it is calling upon God and giving ourselves to God in the moment by moment events and actions of our lives.
To pray is to pay attention to God, to enter into conscious contact with God whereby we learn the ultimate faithfulness of God. Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness.... It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.
Whatever the posture of the body, prayer is the soul is on its knees.
Prayer is the soul on its knees, the soul longing for God, the soul longing for God's reign, not only in the world, but in your life, in my life, not only in our crises, not only in our successes, but in every aspect of our living--paying attention to God.
As a poster I had on my wall in college said: "Life is Fragile, Handle with Prayer."
Without a doubt, "Prayer Changes Things." While prayer may or may not change your present situation or circumstance, there is always a good chance it will change you, the one who prays. It can change the way you look at your circumastances. Can prayer change the world? Not always, not right away; but it will change the way you look at it, and through whose eyes you see it.11 Can prayer change things? Absolutely! But unless you are prepared to change, as one writer put if. Don not pray, because prayer will change the one who prays! That is for certain, too.
Prayer is the sound of the mustard seed of faith in your life; it is the gratitude that transforms healing into wholeness; it is the pesky persistence of the widow demanding what is right for herself and for the world. The life-blood of faith, your prayer will mark the difference between faith and faithlessness, and that is a wonderful blessing!
But – know this – as much as God desires for us to pray for one another, the devil wants us NOT TO PRAY. What various hindrances we meet In coming to the mercy-seat.
We have hindrances to prayer, many of our own making, but all things that keep us from praying make the evil ones happy! God wants you and me to pray. The devil does not want you and me to pray, and he and his fallen angles do all they can to hinder you and me. They know full well that we can accomplish more through our prayers than through our work. The evil ones would rather have us do anything else than pray. They oppose prayer. They despise prayer.
Fallen Angels our march oppose us who still in strength excel
Our secret, sworn, relentless foes, Countless, invisible.
But we need not fear them, nor heed them, if our eyes are ever on the Lord. The holy angels are stronger than fallen angels,
and we can ask the celestial hosts to guard us.
Billy Graham said that the hosts of evil start those wandering thoughts which so often wreck prayer. We no sooner kneel than we "recollect" something that should have been done, or something which had better be seen to at once.
RESIST THE DEVIL AND HE WILL FLEE. (James 4:7).PRAY AND PRAY AGAIN> LIFE IS FRAGILE< HANDLE WITH PRAYER!
Sunday, November 08, 2009
School of Prayer No. 3: Life is Fragile, Part Two
Prayer is the sound of the mustard seed of faith in your life; it is the gratitude that transforms healing into wholeness; it is the pesky persistence of the widow demanding what is right for herself and for the world. The life-blood of faith, your prayer will mark the difference between faith and faithlessness, and that is a wonderful blessing!
But – know this – as much as God desires for us to pray for one another, the devil wants us NOT TO PRAY. What various hindrances we meet In coming to the mercy-seat. We have hindrances to prayer, many of our own making, like sin in our lives, but all things that keep us from praying make the evil ones happy!
God wants you and me to pray. The devil does not want you and me to pray, and he and his fallen angles do all they can to hinder you and me. They know full well that we can accomplish more through our prayers than through our work. The evil ones would rather have us do anything else than pray. They oppose prayer. They despise prayer.
Fallen Angels our march oppose us who still in strength excel
Our secret, sworn, relentless foes, Countless, invisible.
But we need not fear them, nor heed them, if our eyes are ever on the Lord. The holy angels are stronger than fallen angels, and we can ask the celestial hosts to guard us. Billy Graham said that the hosts of evil start those wandering thoughts which so often wreck prayer. We no sooner kneel than we "recollect" something that should have been done, or something which had better be seen to at once.
These thoughts come from without, and are often due to the promptings of fallen spirits. The only cure for wandering thoughts is to get our minds fixed upon God. Undoubtedly a man's worst foe is himself. Prayer is a great gift for a child of God -- and one who is living as a child of God should pray and pray again. It is a mighty spiritual weaopn. Use it. Be the Prayer Warrior you are called to be!
God is propelling us into a different level of prayer. let us seek God for direction, listen to His voice, and incorporate prayer into every aspect of our daily life. The Bible tells us it will begin to make a powerful difference in our spiritual well-being.
I once read a statement that said, "Seven days without prayer makes one weak." And by experience I found that to be true. The more consistently I prayed, the better I was able to handle what each day would bring. The less I prayed, the more stressful my life became. Then, if circumstances seemingly spiraled out of control, I was left with no spiritual strength to withstand the attacks of the enemy. I learned the hard way that daily prayer really isn’t an option, but a necessity. Prayer needs to be our default -- what we go to in every instance. No griping, just prayer. No gossip, just prayer. No worry, just prayer. Prayer is the answer to life's questions, becuase Jesus has given us the authority to pray in His Name.
LIfe is Fragile -- Handle with Prayer!
But – know this – as much as God desires for us to pray for one another, the devil wants us NOT TO PRAY. What various hindrances we meet In coming to the mercy-seat. We have hindrances to prayer, many of our own making, like sin in our lives, but all things that keep us from praying make the evil ones happy!
God wants you and me to pray. The devil does not want you and me to pray, and he and his fallen angles do all they can to hinder you and me. They know full well that we can accomplish more through our prayers than through our work. The evil ones would rather have us do anything else than pray. They oppose prayer. They despise prayer.
Fallen Angels our march oppose us who still in strength excel
Our secret, sworn, relentless foes, Countless, invisible.
But we need not fear them, nor heed them, if our eyes are ever on the Lord. The holy angels are stronger than fallen angels, and we can ask the celestial hosts to guard us. Billy Graham said that the hosts of evil start those wandering thoughts which so often wreck prayer. We no sooner kneel than we "recollect" something that should have been done, or something which had better be seen to at once.
These thoughts come from without, and are often due to the promptings of fallen spirits. The only cure for wandering thoughts is to get our minds fixed upon God. Undoubtedly a man's worst foe is himself. Prayer is a great gift for a child of God -- and one who is living as a child of God should pray and pray again. It is a mighty spiritual weaopn. Use it. Be the Prayer Warrior you are called to be!
God is propelling us into a different level of prayer. let us seek God for direction, listen to His voice, and incorporate prayer into every aspect of our daily life. The Bible tells us it will begin to make a powerful difference in our spiritual well-being.
I once read a statement that said, "Seven days without prayer makes one weak." And by experience I found that to be true. The more consistently I prayed, the better I was able to handle what each day would bring. The less I prayed, the more stressful my life became. Then, if circumstances seemingly spiraled out of control, I was left with no spiritual strength to withstand the attacks of the enemy. I learned the hard way that daily prayer really isn’t an option, but a necessity. Prayer needs to be our default -- what we go to in every instance. No griping, just prayer. No gossip, just prayer. No worry, just prayer. Prayer is the answer to life's questions, becuase Jesus has given us the authority to pray in His Name.
LIfe is Fragile -- Handle with Prayer!
School of Prayer No. 3 -- Life is Fragile, Handle with Prayer, Part One
When I was in college I had a poster that said something very profound in just a few words -- "Life is fragile, Handle with Prayer."
Life can be tough. We live in a broken world and the brokenness touches us at times. Sometimes it affects our lives more than other times. Sometimes that hurt and shattered-ness seems to affect some people more than others. But know this -- everyone you know is dealing with some problem, and they can use the blessing of your prayers.
We cannot be sure what tomorrow may bring. The Bible tells us that fact. James 4:14 Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. (And that is a fact) For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
Last week one of our members gave a powerful witness to both the fragile nature of life and the wonder of family and the power of prayer. His situation gave us all a wake-up call: he was a healthy man in the prime of his life, workind hard all day, then eh gets a headache, and, when it gets worse he goes to the emergency room. The word comes back that he has bleeding on the brain. and suddenly he is being med-flighted by helicopter to the Mayo Clnic miles away. Thank God he recovered! But here we see a picture of how fragile this life can be!
Sometimes we do need to just stop and ponder what a miracle it is to be alive. And we ponder just why do we have to go through life that includes suffering. Sometimes there are all kinds of acts of depression, sometimes acceleration; oftentimes there are challenges that seem to be beyond our ability to cope. What is it all about? Some people seem to think that whoever gets the most goodies at the end wins? When we read very clearly the bible says when you die you do not get to take it with you -- although some people live their lives as if they do not believe that.
Life is fragile and we have to pray for one another, and dry the tears from each other’s lives and life each other up. You know the prayers avail much of God's people because when we pray for people's suffering we understand that suffering is a great roadblock to accomplishing our mission and we need to have deliverance, we need to have encouragement, we need to learn from all of our sufferings. I might just add to that thought, pray that he understands how fragile life is and what a gift God wants to give to those who understand His purpose; that is we get to live as a member of God's family for eternity.
Christ didn't say, "All your prayers will be granted," but said, "All things, whatsoever you ask in prayer, BELIEVING, you shall receive." So, the first step to receiving your desires is to trust in God and believe in His love. Whenever things appear to be going wrong, it is just God telling us that He has better plans for us. That's why it makes sense to submit to the will of God. God always answers our prayers. he does this by giving us either what we prayed for or what we SHOULD have prayed for. We are called to submit or surrender to God. It is hard to do, Most of us are bull-headed and naturally selfish. But we surrender to the will of God not to be enslaved, but to be set free from making bad decisions.
The great Presbyterian Pastor Willis Nicholson told me that "The greatest prayer is one for patience." We not only should be patient, but we should pray persistently, for as William McGill wrote, "The value of persistent prayer is not that He will hear us, but that we will finally hear Him."
An ancient Jewish proverb teaches "Do not make prayer mechanical. Let it be a cry for grace and mercy, so that love replaces fear in the place in which you stand."
A pastor friend of mine in Wisconsin told me that Your requests do not become holy just because you ask God for His favor, Rather your requests be4come holy and worthy when they are aligned with His will as found in His word.”.
We need to heed the advice of St. Augustine who said, "Pray as though everything depended on God, and work as though everything depended on you!”
Remember that the Holy Spirit will help you with your prayers. Prayer is the work of God's Spirit reaching out to us with an invitation to travel the highway of Spirit seeking after and being found by God. It is waiting upon God, it is listening to God, it is calling upon God and giving ourselves to God in the moment by moment events and actions of our lives. To pray is to pay attention to God, to enter into conscious contact with God whereby we learn the ultimate faithfulness of God.
Prayer is not just simple asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness.... It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart." Whatever the posture of the body, prayer is the soul is on its knees."10 Prayer is the soul on its knees, the soul longing for God, the soul longing for God's reign, not only in the world, but in your life, in my life, not only in our crises, not only in our successes, but in every aspect of our living--paying attention to God. It is true: "Life is Fragile, Handle with Prayer."
Without a doubt, "Prayer Changes Things." While prayer may or may not change your present situation or circumstance, there is always a good chance it will change you, the one who prays. It can change the way you look at your circumastances. Can prayer change the world? Not always, not right away; but it will change the way you look at it, and through whose eyes you see it.11 Can prayer change things? Absolutely! But unless you are prepared to change, as one writer put if. Don not pray, because prayer will change the one who prays! That is for certain, too.
Life can be tough. We live in a broken world and the brokenness touches us at times. Sometimes it affects our lives more than other times. Sometimes that hurt and shattered-ness seems to affect some people more than others. But know this -- everyone you know is dealing with some problem, and they can use the blessing of your prayers.
We cannot be sure what tomorrow may bring. The Bible tells us that fact. James 4:14 Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. (And that is a fact) For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
Last week one of our members gave a powerful witness to both the fragile nature of life and the wonder of family and the power of prayer. His situation gave us all a wake-up call: he was a healthy man in the prime of his life, workind hard all day, then eh gets a headache, and, when it gets worse he goes to the emergency room. The word comes back that he has bleeding on the brain. and suddenly he is being med-flighted by helicopter to the Mayo Clnic miles away. Thank God he recovered! But here we see a picture of how fragile this life can be!
Sometimes we do need to just stop and ponder what a miracle it is to be alive. And we ponder just why do we have to go through life that includes suffering. Sometimes there are all kinds of acts of depression, sometimes acceleration; oftentimes there are challenges that seem to be beyond our ability to cope. What is it all about? Some people seem to think that whoever gets the most goodies at the end wins? When we read very clearly the bible says when you die you do not get to take it with you -- although some people live their lives as if they do not believe that.
Life is fragile and we have to pray for one another, and dry the tears from each other’s lives and life each other up. You know the prayers avail much of God's people because when we pray for people's suffering we understand that suffering is a great roadblock to accomplishing our mission and we need to have deliverance, we need to have encouragement, we need to learn from all of our sufferings. I might just add to that thought, pray that he understands how fragile life is and what a gift God wants to give to those who understand His purpose; that is we get to live as a member of God's family for eternity.
Christ didn't say, "All your prayers will be granted," but said, "All things, whatsoever you ask in prayer, BELIEVING, you shall receive." So, the first step to receiving your desires is to trust in God and believe in His love. Whenever things appear to be going wrong, it is just God telling us that He has better plans for us. That's why it makes sense to submit to the will of God. God always answers our prayers. he does this by giving us either what we prayed for or what we SHOULD have prayed for. We are called to submit or surrender to God. It is hard to do, Most of us are bull-headed and naturally selfish. But we surrender to the will of God not to be enslaved, but to be set free from making bad decisions.
The great Presbyterian Pastor Willis Nicholson told me that "The greatest prayer is one for patience." We not only should be patient, but we should pray persistently, for as William McGill wrote, "The value of persistent prayer is not that He will hear us, but that we will finally hear Him."
An ancient Jewish proverb teaches "Do not make prayer mechanical. Let it be a cry for grace and mercy, so that love replaces fear in the place in which you stand."
A pastor friend of mine in Wisconsin told me that Your requests do not become holy just because you ask God for His favor, Rather your requests be4come holy and worthy when they are aligned with His will as found in His word.”.
We need to heed the advice of St. Augustine who said, "Pray as though everything depended on God, and work as though everything depended on you!”
Remember that the Holy Spirit will help you with your prayers. Prayer is the work of God's Spirit reaching out to us with an invitation to travel the highway of Spirit seeking after and being found by God. It is waiting upon God, it is listening to God, it is calling upon God and giving ourselves to God in the moment by moment events and actions of our lives. To pray is to pay attention to God, to enter into conscious contact with God whereby we learn the ultimate faithfulness of God.
Prayer is not just simple asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness.... It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart." Whatever the posture of the body, prayer is the soul is on its knees."10 Prayer is the soul on its knees, the soul longing for God, the soul longing for God's reign, not only in the world, but in your life, in my life, not only in our crises, not only in our successes, but in every aspect of our living--paying attention to God. It is true: "Life is Fragile, Handle with Prayer."
Without a doubt, "Prayer Changes Things." While prayer may or may not change your present situation or circumstance, there is always a good chance it will change you, the one who prays. It can change the way you look at your circumastances. Can prayer change the world? Not always, not right away; but it will change the way you look at it, and through whose eyes you see it.11 Can prayer change things? Absolutely! But unless you are prepared to change, as one writer put if. Don not pray, because prayer will change the one who prays! That is for certain, too.
Monday, November 02, 2009
School of Prayer Number 2, Part Two: Prayer BInds Our Soul to God
In my father's office when I was a child was a plaque over his desk that said simply "PRAYER CHANGES THINGS." A simple statement it was, but oh so powerful to one who beleives it! I still have that plaque from my father's things, and I firmly believe the truth it proclaims for us.
Throughout the centuries faithful followers of God have proclaimed the power of prayer.
In Psalm 62, we find: "For God alone my soul waits in silence, my hope is from God, On God rests my deliverance and my honor; my mighty rock, my refuge, is God. Trust in God at all times, O people; pour out your heart before God.”
"Our hearts are restless, God, until they find their rest in thee," as did Augustine sixteen hundred years ago.
"Prayer binds our soul to God." Julian of Norwich said that in 1400.
Jesus Himself prayeed this prayer: "Holy Father, keep (thy disciples) in thy name … that they may be one, even as we are one… That they may all be one even as thou, father, art in me and I in thee, that they may also be in us…" Jesus said that in his farewell prayer in John Chapter 17.
The Bible and Christian leaders through the ages make enormous claims about prayer, and they all say that prayer does matter, that it reflects and reveals our created connection not only to the Body of Christ but to the whole of the universe and the transcendence and immanence of God. And they mean that what we do for a moment before bed, or for an hour in the middle of the night,
what we do every morning reading scripture or every once in a while in airplanes and hospital rooms has a power, a purpose, and a presence. God wants, the world needs, our prayer. And, brothers and sisters, if Jesus is right, and I know that He is, then it is worth our time and understanding and attention and practice to pray and to pray well.
It is worth our mature thought, too. For what prayer can offer is reality based, not magic based. It is grounded in the goodness and omnipresence of God and in the admission that we can't reverse the irreversible but that we must pursue the possible. One author writes that if every baseball player's prayers at bat were answered they would all hit 1000, and the game would be ruined in 24 hours. But, again, prayer represents God's invitation to participate in bringing the world closer to the fullness and reflection of God's character.
It's not about magic. It's about hope and joy in God. It is not about every prayer answered yes, but the adventure of finding out God’s answers to our prayers, and our interaction with His loving presence in our lives!
How do you begin to pray? Well, it is a conversation with God. A sentence will do , but I hope it grows into a wonderful exchange, with not only you talking, but you listening. You will soon find that listening for God is the most fun of all. And do not forget to praise God.
For over 5,000 years Jewish and then Christian prayer form has begun with praise or blessing for God. To be thankful is a lifestyle for Christians – we are to have an attitude of gratitude, not complaint or lament or depression. These all may come, but praising God will chase them away. If you are having trouble praying, pray anyway – say “PRAISE THE LORD!” and say the Lord’s Prayer. But I pray your prayer life becomes as deep and wide as ocean.
John Chapman, a contemporary writer, says "The only way to pray is to pray; and the way to pray well is to pray much." It makes a difference. To ourselves, to our God, to God's creation.
Prayer has many forms -- public, private, liturgical, petitionary, intercessory, confessional, invocational, and more -- and they all come down to this: prayer is God's gift, revealing the union that we have with the divine and the creation and the cosmos -- even with one another.
When we pray it changes the way the world is and what the world can be. It is simple, and complex, and it is something to be done, and done again. To be practiced, alone and together, as the key to our lives, so let us be a people and a House of Prayer. REMEMBER -- PRAYER CHANGES THINGS AND PRAYER CHANGES THE ONE WHO PRAYS FOR THE BETTER! Change the world one prayer at a time!
Throughout the centuries faithful followers of God have proclaimed the power of prayer.
In Psalm 62, we find: "For God alone my soul waits in silence, my hope is from God, On God rests my deliverance and my honor; my mighty rock, my refuge, is God. Trust in God at all times, O people; pour out your heart before God.”
"Our hearts are restless, God, until they find their rest in thee," as did Augustine sixteen hundred years ago.
"Prayer binds our soul to God." Julian of Norwich said that in 1400.
Jesus Himself prayeed this prayer: "Holy Father, keep (thy disciples) in thy name … that they may be one, even as we are one… That they may all be one even as thou, father, art in me and I in thee, that they may also be in us…" Jesus said that in his farewell prayer in John Chapter 17.
The Bible and Christian leaders through the ages make enormous claims about prayer, and they all say that prayer does matter, that it reflects and reveals our created connection not only to the Body of Christ but to the whole of the universe and the transcendence and immanence of God. And they mean that what we do for a moment before bed, or for an hour in the middle of the night,
what we do every morning reading scripture or every once in a while in airplanes and hospital rooms has a power, a purpose, and a presence. God wants, the world needs, our prayer. And, brothers and sisters, if Jesus is right, and I know that He is, then it is worth our time and understanding and attention and practice to pray and to pray well.
It is worth our mature thought, too. For what prayer can offer is reality based, not magic based. It is grounded in the goodness and omnipresence of God and in the admission that we can't reverse the irreversible but that we must pursue the possible. One author writes that if every baseball player's prayers at bat were answered they would all hit 1000, and the game would be ruined in 24 hours. But, again, prayer represents God's invitation to participate in bringing the world closer to the fullness and reflection of God's character.
It's not about magic. It's about hope and joy in God. It is not about every prayer answered yes, but the adventure of finding out God’s answers to our prayers, and our interaction with His loving presence in our lives!
How do you begin to pray? Well, it is a conversation with God. A sentence will do , but I hope it grows into a wonderful exchange, with not only you talking, but you listening. You will soon find that listening for God is the most fun of all. And do not forget to praise God.
For over 5,000 years Jewish and then Christian prayer form has begun with praise or blessing for God. To be thankful is a lifestyle for Christians – we are to have an attitude of gratitude, not complaint or lament or depression. These all may come, but praising God will chase them away. If you are having trouble praying, pray anyway – say “PRAISE THE LORD!” and say the Lord’s Prayer. But I pray your prayer life becomes as deep and wide as ocean.
John Chapman, a contemporary writer, says "The only way to pray is to pray; and the way to pray well is to pray much." It makes a difference. To ourselves, to our God, to God's creation.
Prayer has many forms -- public, private, liturgical, petitionary, intercessory, confessional, invocational, and more -- and they all come down to this: prayer is God's gift, revealing the union that we have with the divine and the creation and the cosmos -- even with one another.
When we pray it changes the way the world is and what the world can be. It is simple, and complex, and it is something to be done, and done again. To be practiced, alone and together, as the key to our lives, so let us be a people and a House of Prayer. REMEMBER -- PRAYER CHANGES THINGS AND PRAYER CHANGES THE ONE WHO PRAYS FOR THE BETTER! Change the world one prayer at a time!
Sunday, November 01, 2009
School of Prayer No.2, Part One -- Prayer Changes Things and Prayer Changes the One Who Prays!
Hear me now, people – this is a great and important truth -- God hears and answers prayer If you will ask it shall be given unto you, if you seek you shall find, and if you knock it shall be open unto you! That our joy may be full, Jesus said. It is how we are able to stand the fiery trials; THE JOY OF THE LORD is our strength!
Psalms 1 says blessed is the man who delights himself in the law of the Lord, someone who meditates in His law day and night, David said, that he would be like a tree planted by the rivers of water -- Living water that will flow from the inner most part of your being! From your belly springing up into everlasting life!
You are like a tree brings forth fruit in its season, his leaf also shall not wither (The gift or calling God has placed in your life will not fade away, you can keep the same anointing that will cause you to bring forth much fruit!) and whatsoever you do God shall cause it to prosper! You will be blessed in your deed because you are a doer of the word and not a hearer only.
God’s eyes are over watching over the righteous and His ears are opened unto their cries! And if you have Jesus as your Lord and Savior His blood makes you one of the Righteous, Praise the Lord! He hears and answers prayers! Prayer changes things; it changes people, circumstances, and situations. Prayer is one of the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven!
James tells us that: The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much! What a powerful promise. Christ makes you righteous through His blood and then he gives you prayer as a mighty spiritual weapon and He urges you to use it!
You and I belong to God. For in the waters of Baptism God has washed away our sins. In our Baptismal waters God has given to you new life in Christ. You have been saved: “not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, [6] whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, [7] so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:5-7
When Martin Luther's puppy happened to be at the table, he looked for a morsel from his master, and watched with open mouth and motionless eyes; he (Martin Luther) said, 'Oh, if I could only pray the way this dog watches the meat! All his thoughts are concentrated on the piece of meat. Otherwise he has no thought, wish or hope." Now that kind of focus would lend to a fervent prayer. We need to keep our eyes on Jesus, not on our problems!
Friends, there is power in prayer. It changes things – and it changes us for the better when we pray. There is power in prayer because prayer turns away from self and to God. Luther put it well: “we are beggars, all of us. Nothing in our hands we bring, simply to the cross we cling.”
In prayer we come to the Savior, to the Spirit, to God the Father. Humbly we come, and we are lifted up in his power as we cling to the cross. We bow our heads and He crowns us with His righteousness and love. What a mighty God we serve!
What is it that troubles you today? Know that God hears you in Christ. There is power in prayer because our God is powerful and able to save. He has saved us, and so we pray to him as his Children, made right by the blood of Christ and the amazing grace of His salvation. He gives us the right and privilege to pray – the mighty tool of God that He has placed in your hands.
Prayer is a miraculous, wonderful gift from God to us, from your heavenly father to YOU! "Prayer changes the way the world is, and therefore changes what the world can be." Prayer changes the way the world is, and therefore changes what the world can be. With God's participation. The Bible tells us that God is everywhere. Our God is omnipresent to us.
Our relationship with God can enhance our ability to lead lives of peace, justice, and beauty. Prayer builds this relationship and goes to the depths of ourselves. Prayer is our openness to the God, who pervades the universe and therefore ourselves, and this prayer is also this God's openness to us.
Because God desires us to pray, God has also ordained that Prayer increases the effectiveness of God's work with the world? God's invitation to us to pray -- indeed, God's gracious command to us to pray -- suggests the possibility that our prayers make a difference to God, and therefore, as John Wesley eloquently stated, might possibly make a difference to what God can do in the world, because God gave dominion on the earth to humankind and Jesus gave authority on the earth to his followers, those that believe in Him. And that, brothers and sisters, is us!
Psalms 1 says blessed is the man who delights himself in the law of the Lord, someone who meditates in His law day and night, David said, that he would be like a tree planted by the rivers of water -- Living water that will flow from the inner most part of your being! From your belly springing up into everlasting life!
You are like a tree brings forth fruit in its season, his leaf also shall not wither (The gift or calling God has placed in your life will not fade away, you can keep the same anointing that will cause you to bring forth much fruit!) and whatsoever you do God shall cause it to prosper! You will be blessed in your deed because you are a doer of the word and not a hearer only.
God’s eyes are over watching over the righteous and His ears are opened unto their cries! And if you have Jesus as your Lord and Savior His blood makes you one of the Righteous, Praise the Lord! He hears and answers prayers! Prayer changes things; it changes people, circumstances, and situations. Prayer is one of the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven!
James tells us that: The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much! What a powerful promise. Christ makes you righteous through His blood and then he gives you prayer as a mighty spiritual weapon and He urges you to use it!
You and I belong to God. For in the waters of Baptism God has washed away our sins. In our Baptismal waters God has given to you new life in Christ. You have been saved: “not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, [6] whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, [7] so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:5-7
When Martin Luther's puppy happened to be at the table, he looked for a morsel from his master, and watched with open mouth and motionless eyes; he (Martin Luther) said, 'Oh, if I could only pray the way this dog watches the meat! All his thoughts are concentrated on the piece of meat. Otherwise he has no thought, wish or hope." Now that kind of focus would lend to a fervent prayer. We need to keep our eyes on Jesus, not on our problems!
Friends, there is power in prayer. It changes things – and it changes us for the better when we pray. There is power in prayer because prayer turns away from self and to God. Luther put it well: “we are beggars, all of us. Nothing in our hands we bring, simply to the cross we cling.”
In prayer we come to the Savior, to the Spirit, to God the Father. Humbly we come, and we are lifted up in his power as we cling to the cross. We bow our heads and He crowns us with His righteousness and love. What a mighty God we serve!
What is it that troubles you today? Know that God hears you in Christ. There is power in prayer because our God is powerful and able to save. He has saved us, and so we pray to him as his Children, made right by the blood of Christ and the amazing grace of His salvation. He gives us the right and privilege to pray – the mighty tool of God that He has placed in your hands.
Prayer is a miraculous, wonderful gift from God to us, from your heavenly father to YOU! "Prayer changes the way the world is, and therefore changes what the world can be." Prayer changes the way the world is, and therefore changes what the world can be. With God's participation. The Bible tells us that God is everywhere. Our God is omnipresent to us.
Our relationship with God can enhance our ability to lead lives of peace, justice, and beauty. Prayer builds this relationship and goes to the depths of ourselves. Prayer is our openness to the God, who pervades the universe and therefore ourselves, and this prayer is also this God's openness to us.
Because God desires us to pray, God has also ordained that Prayer increases the effectiveness of God's work with the world? God's invitation to us to pray -- indeed, God's gracious command to us to pray -- suggests the possibility that our prayers make a difference to God, and therefore, as John Wesley eloquently stated, might possibly make a difference to what God can do in the world, because God gave dominion on the earth to humankind and Jesus gave authority on the earth to his followers, those that believe in Him. And that, brothers and sisters, is us!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)