Though not personally Benedictine, this prayer (which was originally written by Sr. Ruth Fox, OSB, in 1985) caught my attention as I was thinking through how to pray and what specifically to pray for during 2013. I pray that you will also find it useful. It is reprinted with attribution below:

A Four-Fold Benedictine Blessing

By Sr. Ruth Fox, OSB (1985)

May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships,

so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.

May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people

so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.

May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from

pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish,

so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.

May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really CAN make a difference in this world,

so that you are able, with God’s grace,to do what others claim cannot be done.

And the blessing of God the Supreme Majesty and Creator,

Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word, who is our brother and Savior,

and the Holy Spirit, who is our Advocate and our Guide,

be with you and remain with you, this day and forevermore.

From Steve Hawthorne--

In these crazy days I want to urge you to continue praying with full-hearted confidence that God will act in the midst of our communities and families in ways that glorify His Son.

The only way I’ve seen people live and pray in such confidence is when their hope is shaped by God’s word and fixated on the life-giving power of the risen Son of God.

Without the word of God our prayers usually shrink to become what one pastor called, “fix-it” prayers. Too easily we are focused on our needs and we are defined by what we fear. Instead, that same pastor found that having his people pray through Seek God for the City helped them pray what he called, “fulfill-it” prayers, focused on what God has promised to do.

So let’s pray with the Scriptures. Let’s help each other stand and thrive in the truth of the Word of God. Let’s pray what God has promised with a sustained faith.

Seek God for the City 2013 is packed with newly written prayers designed to help ordinary people grow in hope. Look over a review copy and pray two or three of these prayers. Consider how these prayers can encourage people in your church or network of friends.

We still have some review copies for pastors and prayer leaders. Ordering is easy on our website (www.waymakers.org), or call us (800-264-5214) to learn about bulk discounts and how to help people from different congregations pray together in sustainable ways.

It turned out that Jimmy was suicidal.

Our youth staff team met with him after he had attended an outreach event we hosted at his high school. He later came to Christ, but his emotional, mental, and spiritual challenges were frankly, overwhelming to us at times.

I remember that on one occasion we all entered into a time of focused prayer for Jimmy. We listened to each other pray for him and in that concentrated time we also listened to what the Holy Spirit was saying to us individually and as a team.

In the months after that concentrated prayer time for Jimmy, we were able to involve him in a Friday night Bible study at the home of a dedicated Christian family. They took him under their wing, in addition to the time investment our team was giving to him.

In the years that followed, he became established in his faith and identity; even his outward appearance and expressions became more positive. He finished college, met a wonderful Christian girl, and now is married and is a new father. Of course, he was prayed for many times throughout the years. But looking back, the deep, concentrated time of group prayer we had for him turned out to be powerful!

We all know how effective prayer is, and we have often seen the miracles of prayer expressed in various ways and forms. As E.M. Bounds wrote, “Prayer is of transcendent importance, for it is the mightiest agent to advance God’s work…only praying hearts and hands do God’s work…prayer succeeds when all else fails. Prayer has won great victories and has rescued, with notable triumph God’s saints when every other hope was gone.”

Prayer in your network

Most youth worker meetings include a time of prayer. More than likely, these occur at the end of a meeting and include quick prayer requests and quick prayers. Although this is often the norm, what I am excited about is the effectiveness and power that happens when we enter into deep and concentrated group prayer.

This form of praying is actually linked to having a deep and personal conversation with God. As in a conversation with friends and family, it includes listening and expressing and sometimes exhausting a topic before moving on to another.

As we enter into focused, concentrated group prayer it is good to quiet our hearts with a time of silence and confession. We are then much more sensitive to pray under the direction and in alignment with the Holy Spirit.

I love the passage in Romans 8:26-27, “The Holy Spirit helps us in our distress. For we don’t even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that can not be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.”

Not surprisingly, the Holy Spirit gives us impressions, thoughts, and specific verses about how to pray for someone or something specifically.

I remember one time praying with a mother about her daughter’s lack of Christian friends. Her daughter often felt alone and alienated at her high school. During our concentrated time of prayer together, I felt the Holy Spirit impressing me to pray that her daughter, Lisa would want to go on an overseas project that we were leading that year. After the prayer time with my friend, I invited Lisa to go with us. Through the project training times and the actual overseas experience Lisa made lasting friends with several other students on the project. They are still friends 10 years later!

Listening carefully to what others say in prayer along with the impressions of the Holy Spirit makes us much more sensitive in expressing our own thoughts and prayers. We can agree with others about what they pray, or share a pertinent Scripture, because we are involved in a conversation.

Making it work in your schedule

The main hindrance to this very effective way of praying is time. As a society and as youth workers, we often are pressured by time constraints. One suggestion is to divide the group up into smaller groups, with each group taking just one or two requests. That way, you can pray more effectively and all concerns can be covered. Sometimes, the request is so important or life-threatening that the entire prayer time needs to be devoted to it.

I think the early apostles might have used this focused, concentrated style of prayer. In Acts 4 it says “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”

How I would love to see our prayer times become truly revolutionary- then we couldn’t wait to pray and trust God to work. Shake us up Lord!

By Eddie and Alice Smith
U.S. Prayer Center, Houston, Texas

Sadly, as we enter 2013 we can’t help but notice that much of the twenty-first century church is in disarray.

Despite Paul’s 2,000-year-old admonition against division in the church (1 Cor. 12:22-25), it’s plain to see that the body of Christ is severely splintered. Among the divisions are:

•  Denominationalism

•  Racial tensions

•  The gender gap

•  The Charismatic versus non-Charismatic issues

•  Minister and laity distinctions

Although in the past twenty years we’ve seen some encouraging reconciliation in the church, the lost world might rightly ask, “Why are these Christians trying to reconcile me to God when they are not even reconciled to each other?”

It’s an excellent question, and one that deserves an answer. After all, reconciliation implies relationship!

But there is something else. Along with the need for reconciliation, we must offer the Lord new wineskins. God wants to pour out the new wine of revival upon his church. In fact, he has saved the best wine until last. It is a purifying wine, a healing wine, and an empowering wine. New wine however, requires new wineskins. (Mark 2:22) As someone has rightly said, “All new wineskins have one thing in common. They are freshly dead.”

To become new wineskins and truly live, we must die to ourselves and abandon the old. So the church today is in a state of flux. The only thing we can count on in the future is change! But as long as the church looks like a sieve, fraught with disunity, it will never hold water, much less new wine.

We are on the brink of what may be history’s last great revival and a worldwide harvest of souls. God is renewing the nature of the church (his bride) as he prepares her for earth’s final spiritual battle to be followed by the marriage supper of the Lamb.

However, Jesus said, “A house divided against itself will fall” (Luke 11:17). As unity enables, so also disunity disables. For 2,000 years, a disabled church has tried,

• To reach a disabled world

• To fight against the kingdom of darkness

• To complete the Great Commission

As a result of our divisions, not surprisingly, we have accomplished little. After 2,000 years of opportunity, much of the world is yet to know God and the eternal salvation that could be theirs through his Son, Jesus Christ. Two thousand more years of the same from the church will produce the same pitiful results!

That is precisely why we need watchmen (intercessors) who will “stand in the gap in prayer,” and for gatekeepers (pastors), who will move into their Kingdom positions to work effectively with them.

(Source: Eddie and Alice Smith’s book, Intercessors & Pastors: The Emerging Partnership of Watchmen & Gatekeepers, pages 5-6)

Prayer Connect magazine is now offering its best-selling issue, "Solid Foundation: The Power of Praying Scripture" as a free download. If you have not seen this exciting new prayer resource, check it out at http://www.prayerconnect.net/profile/sample.

Prayer Connect will inspire and challenge you to go deeper in your prayer connection with Jesus.

Due to the work we're doing through Ethnic Embrace USA, this comment from Roger E. Olson's blog caught my attention this morning:

"when evangelical Christians from other, non-Westernized, cultures come to us they almost always see and point out (when coaxed) our own syncretisms—especially the ways in which we American Christians uncritically blend secularity with our Christianity."

Olson asks an important question that we might want to wrestle with at the start of 2013: How Secularized Has American Evangelical Christianity Become?

Soong-Chan Rah, a Korean immigrant pastor, does us (that is if you are a Anglo Evangelical American like me) a great service in his book: "The Next Evangelicalism: Freeing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity." Rah writes about what he calls the "White captivity of the Church" by which he means the Churches captivity to American secular culture. Perhaps unaware, as American Evangelicals, to often we are held captive to our cultural thinking. With another Christmas season just completely its easier to observe our consumerism and commercialism. Our national debates too often glaringly show our fierce individualism. But how much of this is Biblical?

On the other hand, many of our diaspora peoples and ethnic churches have a much more vibrant faith we can learn from. Because of their unique backgrounds and Christian worldview we can learn a lot from immigrant churches if we we are willing. Olson and Rah are hitting upon something that we need to understand and work through.

This might be a difficult word for American Evangelicals to receive today but it's an important word if we have any desire to move toward a more holier faith in 2013. An important question to ask and pray into is how much syncretism has invaded our own thinking and that of our churches? Syncretism is the combination of different forms of belief or practice. The word is usually used in a cross cultural mission context to describe the mix of previously held beliefs with new Christian beliefs of a people.

It is always easier to see syncretism in another culture than in our own but we must examine our worldview against Scripture regularly to see if what we believe hasn't been infiltrated with other culture ideas, ideas we may hold near and dear, that are not rooted in the Word. We won't be able to remove all of our syncretic thinking, though there is much rethinking and recalibration needed, as culture is a powerful force. But we can take steps toward a more holier faith in 2013. Jude encourages us with these words: "But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit."

Today our cultural is largely secular so we need to honestly examine how much of that secularization has creeped into our own thinking and into our churches. The Apostle Paul admonitions us with this question: "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?" (2 Cor 13:5) It is a perfect time of year to do that.

How might we pray into this as we start the New Year?

"Unreached" is a missiological term that means that less than 2% of an ethno-linguistic people group are Evangelical Christians, and less than 5% other Christian population. (For more about these definition click here). What this means is that there is insufficient Gospel presence for a Church Planting Movement to begin that will transform a people for Christ. Reaching every people group with the Gospel of the Kingdom is our mandate given to us by Jesus in Matthew 24:14. Our commission is to "Go and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19-20). Jesus also tells his disciples in Luke 10:2, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." The harvest is still plentiful and the workers are still few, so we need more prayer to finish the task we have been given.

Here are 12 effective ways to pray for Unreached People Groups:

1. That God draws them to Christ (John 6:44)

2. That they may seek to know God in Christ (Acts 17:27)

3. That they be saved (Romans 10:1)

4. That Satan will be bound from blinding them to the truth (2 Cor. 4:4)

5. That God may send Christians to bring them to Christ (Matt. 9:37-38)

6. That they will repent of their sin and turn to God (Acts 3:19)

7. That the Holy Spirit will convict them and guide them into all truth (John 16:8, 13)

8. That their idols and empty religious practices would be demolished against the truth of Christ (2 Cor 10:4).

9. That they will admit their need and humbly seek Christ (John 7:37-38)

10. That they would know the hope that is in Christ alone (Psalm 146:5)

11. That they would have all their needs met in Christ (Phil 4:19)

12. That they would be counted among the multitudes for Christ (Rev 7:9)

What else could be added to this list?

Today, many of the Unreached People Groups of the world are living in our cities and communities right here in the USA. Visit us at EthnicEmbraceUSA.net to learn more about how to pray for the nations among us.

Mobilizing People Who Want to Pray, But Don’t!

A quick study of the history of revivals since the days of John Wesley through America’s Second Great Awakening, and into Billy Graham, and Dwight Moody in America reveals that at the core of these preachers’ message was a call to live a life separate and different from the world around us. Two favorite Bible verses that come to mind are Jesus is prayer in John 15 where Jesus told his followers to be in the world of not of the world. A second verse, in Peter's first book, describes Christ-followers as people who were called out of the world, a chosen nation, a royal priesthood and a holy nation. Yet just as much controversy surrounds these two vintage versus as does the way these verses were interpreted and applied. Through the centuries, these verses have been interpreted to mean many things.

1. For the monks in 15^th century Europe, being separate from the world meant hiding themselves away with the scripture in monastic castles, away from the corrupting influences of the world. Their approach didn’t work too well, and the absence of God’s word in the culture contributed to the Dark Ages, the Crusades, corruption in the church like no other time in history.
   
   
2. For the Amish, who came to America with roots in the self-same Germanic, separatist ideals, living apart from the world means living on farms without electricity, in cloistered communities. I respect the dedication and hard work of this modern separatist tribe, but it seems like they missed something along the way. Is it really holier  to have to work a farm behind a horse-drawn plow? I’m not sure that’s how Jesus would define holiness.
   
   
3. For the Catholic Church through the centuries, living as the “one true church” apart from the world meant that its members had to do what the church prescribed. Members still focus on partaking regularly in a list of seven sacraments in order to be considered part of the “holiness club.” Also dating back to Medieval Europe, this approach worked well when poor peasants were dependent on the wealthy land owners, (who were also church leaders) for land, food, and blessings, (which unfortunately were available at a price for those who could afford them.)
   
   
4. Today in America, historically traditionally structured denominational churches are dying in record numbers, especially here in West Michigan. For the past 50 years, these churches have remained static in the midst of a changing culture, because that is just the way, they always did things. Their decision to demand that the world do things they way has left their seats and budgets empty.

No, I don’t think being a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation is about building walls around our religious club, and demanding that the world must learn, and keep our particular membership rules if they want to be included. Am I being too harsh? Maybe, but what does the church accomplish when we approach those who don’t come through the doors a Sunday morning with this kind of attitude? I believe that Jesus taught a lived a different interpretation of “in the world, but not of it.”

Jesus lived an example, and left us large footsteps to follow. His command to go into the world and make disciples of all nations was built on two other foundational pillars. Jesus said first that all authority under heaven was given to him, and therefore, we go forward in his power and unction.  Secondly, Jesus lived an example that was in the world, eating with the “sinners and tax collectors” and those outside of the religious life of his time. He made a difference in their lives by the way He treated them. He gave up his rights to stay comfortably in heaven, demanding we meet the standard of the OT. He expanded the kingdom and gave us the same charge, by living a different sort of life. Then, after setting the example personally, Jesus’ asks us to:

• Transform the culture, not hide from it.
• Expand the kingdom by inviting those who don’t know him into a relationship with him,
• We have to demonstrate what that love relationship look like by engaging those outside the world with his love, and demonstrating that love between us.
• Reveal God to the blind, help the deaf hear, and heal the lame, both literally and figuratively.
• Be filled with power so that our words, works, actions and relationships all point the same direction.

For three years, the disciples watched Jesus's model these five principles in EVERYTHING he did. Jesus lived with power, focus, and love they had never encountered in anyone else. Jesus didn’t “have a ministry” he ministered. He didn’t write books or distribute podcasts; he gave divine, power-filled life to those he met. His platform pylons were driven deep into the bedrock of prayer. In fact, the only thing Jesus's apostle asked him to teach them was how to pray. They knew the source of his strength, wisdom, power and faith because, again, Jesus modeled a life built on prayer.

Like Jesus, the solution to powerlessness and path toward revival starts in prayer. The course corrections for a drifting life, ministry, or church are anchored in prayer. Like the example Jesus gave of what a revived life looks like, the early church left was the example of where revival starts.

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord, in one place.
(Acts 2.1 KJV)

The apostles left the mountain after watching Jesus ascend into the clouds and obeyed him. He told them to wait for the power of the Holy Spirit; they gathered together and waited. Because they listened when Jesus taught them about prayer, they followed his example, and applied the lessons. Then, when they were all together, gathered, obedient and open, and in one place, joining their voices in prayer and study of God’s word, he filled them with his Spirit’s power.

We don’t know when revival will start, but it always starts with God’s people. We don’t know when Jesus is coming back, but he’s asked us to be busy about the affairs of the kingdom until he does. Let’s start the New Year with a commitment to increasing the intensity, frequency, commitment and duration of our daily prayer. 

Last night, toward the close of a year-ending prayer meeting, the Lord led me to seek Him to change the hearts of 1-3 world leaders from worldliness to faith in Jesus Christ in 2013; Saul to Paul conversions, if you will.

As I awoke this morning, the burden to pray this continued. Then I began to think, "The world, and its nations, will change in 2013- as they do every year. Will I seek their change through prayer or prayerlessness in 2013?"

It's a fact. By the end of this New Year, the world and its nations will change. For some, that will mean a change in leadership. For others, it may mean a change in national boundaries. For others still, it will mean economic strife and instability; possibly even war.

It's easy to sit or stand back, gaze upon the troubles of the world, and say, "It's out of my hands. I can't possibly have any impact on world events. I'll just let things go the way they'll go. What else could I possibly do?"

How about this? Pray!

What if we invite God into the current events, the meetings and meeting rooms of world leaders, and seek Him to affect the circumstances of their lives so that they'll be confronted with a decision for Jesus Christ today? The Bible says He'll do immeasurably more than what we ask or imagine! (see reference below)

God is a perfect gentleman. He desires, and patiently waits, to hear from His children through prayer. He patiently waits for His children to be still and listen to or for His voice. He loves to hear our praises, petitions, and pleas! He also loves when His children listen for His voice and follow His instructions. But He won't force us to do so. It's up to us.

Our choice:

By prayer, we seek God in faith and actively trust Him to fulfill His promises.

or

By prayerlessness, we neglect God's power and ability to make all things new and allow things to deteriorate with greater and greater speed.

Will you join me in seeking God to do things that only He can do in 2013? If you do, He will transform the world as we know it! He will also transform your prayer life and your relationship with Him. That alone, is worth it if you ask me!

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. -Ephesians 3:16-21

I would guess that most of our churches have a formal or informal group of people who minister to others after or during the service(s). And we all know that these people are truly pastors in some sense of the word as they love on and care for people through the power of prayer.  Thank God for people who love prayer ministry.

However, some well-meaning folks need a little coaching particularly in what to avoid when they have those few minutes of time with people in need.  So let me share a couple of items we cover with our teams that you might want to mention in your training or orientation as well.

First, don't scare people. Many of the people who will approach us for prayer are nervous to begin with so don't add to their fears.  How?  Several ways: using big words they don't understand, having several people they don't know lay hands on them or surround them so they can't get out. We might not see the problem but our team members need to be especially sensitive to just who is coming for prayer and do everything they can to help the people feel safe.

Second, don't promise more than you, the church or God can give. For example, don't claim that everything will work out or that you know God will heal them right then. Sometimes things go wonderfully and yes, God still does miracles, but He is in charge of that, not us.  Also, don't suggest that they call the church for more help unless the church leaders have offered that and can really assist people in need.

Third, don't pray long. Some people feel they need to pray for every possible thing they can think of related to the presenting problem. Most people however want us instead to go before God with them and share the basic need. Length is also another way to add to their fear quotient.

Fourth, don't break confidences. What happens in the prayer time should stay in the prayer time unless there is some indication that they or someone else could be hurt in some way. However, normally these requests are just that - requests for prayer - not announcements. Broken confidences during prayer times are great ways to send people to another church.

Fifth, don't talk with other prayer leaders or people in the church who are nearby. Prayer team members need to be attentive to those coming for prayer and that is it.

So, help your volunteers and staff make your times of prayer extra special and safe for those who need your prayer.  Prayer does make a difference.  Let's just make sure it's a good difference.

Whether you make New Years resolutions or not, I hope you'll benefit from this article.

 10 Tips For Your Resolutions

Eddie Smith

Can you believe it? It's almost 2013! What in the world happened to 2012? Some of us are on Christmas vacations visiting loved ones. Others’ homes are packed with loved ones and their suitcases. Most are probably still trying to finish off the pies, cakes and cookies from Christmas! Alice and I are at home in Houston recovering from Thanksgiving and Christmas meals. We enjoyed a fun day with most of our children and grandchildren on the 24^th. It’s increasingly harder by the year to get everyone together on the same day. Now it’s on to 2013.

New Years is typically thought of as a time for renewed hope. At this time of the year most of us focus on new goals and opportunities. Perhaps like us, you are praying for and looking for God’s direction in the new year. If so, let’s continue to trust Him faithfully and do what is at hand. We should never open the door to worry. Worry is calling into question God’s integrity; or as our sweet friend, the late Zig Ziglar would say: “It’s paying interest on a bill that’s not yet due.” Truth is that very little of what most of us worry about ever comes to pass. Likewise, let’s not become so focused on the future that we lose sight of the present opportunities that we have. Instead, let’s take the next step that the Lord places in front of us, no matter how insignificant it may seem at the moment.

New Years is an exciting time for all! The custom of celebrating the end of one year and the beginning of another is celebrated around the world, and goes back thousands of years into the Roman and Babylonian times. People ring in the new year with lots of noise and fun. Unfortunately, in many cases, it’s also accompanied by drunkenness. Perhaps the most obvious celebrations to those of us who live in the U.S. are the local celebrations in our towns; the watch night New Years Eve services in our churches; and the celebration which is televised from New York’s Times Square each year.

New Years Day is possibly the most celebrated holiday in the world. Here in the U.S., there are many locally- and nationally-televised New Years Day parades. When I lived in Hollywood, California in the 1960s I remember how my neighbors would take their sleeping bags to sleep on the streets in Pasadena to secure a good spot from which to watch the Rose Bowl Parade. I like football and parades. But I don’t love them enough to exchange my warm bed for a night on the sidewalk! 

Many people believe that eating a lucky food on New Years Day is the key to a Happy New Year. While Alice and I will eat black eyed peas and cornbread on New Years Day, which is customary here in the South, we won’t do it for luck. Our steps are ordered by the Lord, not “luck.” <smile> We’ll do it because it’s absolutely delicious!

One New Years tradition is the making of resolutions. I never believed much in New Years Resolutions. My New Years Resolution was usually NOT to make any New Years Resolutions. But I admit that it does offer a good opportunity to pause and reflect on our lives. That tradition dates back to the early Babylonians who some believe made New Year's resolutions as promises made to the gods, like bargaining in hope that the gods would grant some favor in return, like a good harvest. Not surprisingly then it was also believed that to break a New Years resolution brought bad luck. 

The Bible doesn’t speak for or against the concept of New Years resolutions. But it does encourage us to examine ourselves. And gives us many “to dos.” But as we all know, making New Years resolutions is only one half of the battle. Keeping the ones we make is the hard part. Christian researcher, George Barna and his Barna Group, report that 30% of those who make resolutions resolve to improve their health. That’s certainly a worthy goal, since we are stewards of our own bodies. However, we’re told that only 46% of those who make resolutions actually stick with them after six months. 

However, if you are inclined to make some resolutions this year, I’d like to offer 10 suggestions.

1. Most resolutions are based on little more than wishful thinking. Ask the Lord to lead you in the matter. He offers His strength to that which He initiates.
2. Don’t set goals out of emotion or ego; or emulate others. Pick realistic goals, things that you feel equipped to achieve.
3. Don’t allow discouragement from any failure to reach last year’s goals dissuade you from setting goals this year.
4. Don’t pick too many goals. That only indicates a lack of priorities.
5. Be flexible. Life is about balance. These aren’t laws. Be willing to adjust along the way. Goals that increase your stress to unhealthy levels are not good, even if you are able to accomplish them.
6. “Don’t bite off more than you can chew.” Break larger goals into smaller goals. Remember what Jesus said in Luke 14:28 about how a man who builds a tower should first sit down and estimate the cost. 
7. Don’t select vague, uninspiring goals. Be specific. It’s not about “losing weight.” It’s about “weighing 15 pounds less by March 1^st.”
8. Write your resolutions down and keep them where you can see them. The resolutions we keep and goals we achieve are those that become habitual.
9. Don’t think that New Years is the only time you can make resolutions. Every day is a day that the Lord has made (Psa 118:24). Rejoice and be glad in it and make it count for His glory!
10. Consider God’s ultimate purpose. He wants to conform us into the image of His Son, Jesus. (Rom 12:1-2) So, perhaps a good place to start would be with the “the fruit of the (Holy) Spirit,” which is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, temperance and faith. Give yourself a grade for each of these. Which one(s) need improvement? If in doubt, ask someone who knows and loves you enough to help. What are some resolutions you might make to reinforce that/those part(s) of your life?  

Finally, make your resolution commitments to yourself. Always be careful and take your vows to God much more seriously. Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 tells us: “ When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it.”

Enjoy an abundant 2013!

Immanuel

עִמָּנוּאֵל‎ (H6005 Strong's Number)

A close look at meanings of the letters of Immanuel utilizing both the Hebrew Alphabet and the Alphabet used in Abraham's time, shows that the name Immanuel, which is often interpreted "God with us" has a wonderful significance for us.

The name speaks of the urging of the Strong Leader through mighty knowledge and insight (God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit) securing life.—The Strong Leader is Jesus Christ.

Christ came to earth for us through the mighty knowledge and insight of God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit and secured life for us, by dying for us at Calvary. It was the greatest action of love that has ever been seen.

Not only is God with us, but He has secured life for us through His Son, Jesus!

All He asks is for us to believe in Him. John 1:12 says “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”

Now when you hear the name Immanuel, remember it speaks of why Christ came to earth. He wants us to believe in Him, and when we do, truly God is with us.

©2012 Lewis Turner

I’ve watched the influence of the church ebb and flow for the past 30 years, and I have to confess that in most cases, the message and energy behind a movement was much more impressive than the fruit it created. Maybe my expectations are high, but based on the time, money, energy, promotion and presentations strategy that’s flowed into the public arena in the name of modern Christian ministry, I believe that, if Christ-followers were giving our time and attention to the right things, we would see much more lasting fruit in the world.

Before I go too far into the deep end of the pool where it sounds like I’m just splashing around and complaining, let me preface these thoughts with my confession. I’m a committed member of a local body that is using it’s time and resources to build the kingdom and send the gospel around the world. We’re not a perfect church, and I’m not a perfect Christ-follower. Yet I have to return to the standards by which Jesus gave us to measure myself, and periodically ask “How am I doing? How is my church doing? Are we fulfilling the commands Jesus gave us to make disciples, expand his kingdom and transform the world?”

In business or ministry, it’s easy to be busy – and still accomplish little of lasting value, and the larger the church, the more momentum the congregation can create, and by mistaking momentum for God’s presence and anointing, churches can carry on for years (decades), never fulfilling the great commission in a way that is commensurate with their abilities, gifts, resources, and calling.

Ouch. As Christ–followers, we all know this is true. We just want it to be true of other churches . . .  “those guys over there” . . .  not us.

Looking Back

In the past 40 years, since the Jesus People movement of the 60’s, the corresponding Charismatic movement in the churches, and the explosion of creativity which followed, contemporary Christianity has become its own subculture. Social calendars in every major city are filled with Christian concerts, conferences, cruises, musicians, magicians, comedians, authors, and events in ways that would have never happened just 40 years ago. When I came to Christ, contemporary Christian music was only found in dimly light coffee houses, street corners, and barn pastures. How things have changed.

My lament is not meant to criticize, but revolves around this single idea. As the culture changed, and contemporary Christian ideas became part o the larger church culture, Christians thought, and popular magazines of the contemporary Christian movement proclaimed that the cultural acceptance and transformation would carry with it deeper Christian influence in the world. We thought that because Christian music was appearing on the airwaves along with other top 40 and rock and roll music, that Christianity would be more accepted, and have greater influence. As money flowed into the Christian subculture grew in the name of evangelism, missionary and outreach budgets shrunk, and yet Christian influence in our culture diminished. Something is wrong with this picture.

At the same time Christian concerts, music, conferences, art, t-shirts and book stores have proliferated, the church’s influence on the secular world has measurably decreased. Virtually every survey has revealed fewer people attending churches, fewer people believing and regularly reading the bible as a source of their faith. The country and the church has more divorces, more violence, more single parent homes, and more brokenness. By any objective measurement, the gospel is making less of an impact on the American continent today that is was 50 years ago.

Jesus said that our Father’s will was that we bear fruit, and that our fruit remains, and this is the reason for this retrospection. I’m not writing to condemn or criticize. I’m writing to say, with the exception of a few pockets, the church today has a huge disconnect between our effort, activity, and outcome. We are called to be salt and light in a decaying and dark world. Over the past 40 years, we’ve lost ground.

Spending our Resources for Eternity.

I’m not writing today to propose one size fits all, uninformed solutions. I’m not that arrogant. I’m writing to ask four simple questions.

• Is there passion in your heart for what you’re doing, and for what your church is doing? Confirmation of God’s blessing and purpose is passion. If our hearts are cold, it’s time to do visit the Heart Surgeon, empty our hands of everything that consumes our time and energy, and give him permission to change things, and change me.
  
  
• Are you living on purpose or just spending time?  Jesus and his followers in the church’s first centuries were clear about their mission. They didn’t allow the needs of the day, hour, or moment, extraneous entertainment and time hungry hobbies, and to pull them away from God’s Word, prayer, and doing the things which God entrusted into their care. They knew they were stewards who would give account, not owners who could do what every they wanted.
  
  
• Is there power in your life, church, family, and ministry . . . real, life changing power? The early church and the Christian church throughout history, during times of revival embraced and flowed with supernatural, life-changing, relationship-healing power. Like a vineyard which no longer yields fruit abundantly, maybe it’s time to ask God to prune our lives, and surrender leaves and branches that consume energy without returning anything of eternal value.
  
  
• How is your prayer life?  In Jesus’ life, passion, purpose, and power all flowed from his connection to his Father in prayer. When the disciples got up in the morning, and Jesus wasn’t around, the gospels tell us that they knew He was off praying. In fact, the only thing that the disciples specifically asked Jesus to teach them was how to pray. They knew his life flowed from his Father, and they wanted to live the same way.
  
  

At the heart of what I’m asking is this question. Why don’t we have revival? Why doesn’t the church live like, look like and have the influence on the world like the first century church, and like the church in the US during the Reformation, and the first and second great awakening. The late revivalist Leonard Ravenhill wrote that today's Church didn’t have revival because we are content to live without it. While we can’t manufacture revival, every outpouring of God’s power that changed the course of the world was connected to a period when his people loved and obeyed passionately, lived purposefully, walked in the power of God’s spirit, and prayed fervently.

The world is becoming a darker place. Are we the generation that will start the next great awakening? 

13 December 2012

Author - Jonathan Graf

In a recent interview with Outreach magazine, Washington D.C. pastor Mark Batterson hit the nail on the head in describing the difference between a praying church and one that does not really pray.

"Prayer is the difference between the best you can do and the best God can do. So if we’re not praying, then the best we can do is the best we can do, and that’s not good enough. When we get on our knees, the Holy Spirit does the heavy lifting. Prayer creates the culture and gives people a heart for evangelism, because when you get into God’s presence, you start to get His heartbeat. “

My ministry for the past 15 years has been to try to get pastors and church leaders to understand that prayer will make a difference in their ministries. They need to fight for it and convince reluctant and belligerent leaders who do not value it or recognize its importance (or remove them from leadership if possible if they won’t buy in).

So many churches—in fact, probably most churches in the Western world—are simply operating in their “best we can do strength.” They are ministering out of obedience to the Word, but not out of dependence on the direction and presence of the Holy Spirit and His power. They see some results, so they think they are fine.

But imagine what each church could do if they actually moved beyond their own strength, into the realm of relying on God’s strength for ministry. I still remember when Tommy Barnett spoke at a Prayer Quake prayer leaders’ convention a decade ago. He talked about his church's struggle to get people involved in corporate prayer, praying for direction and power of the Spirit for their church. But that emphasis had a profound effect on the ministry of First Assembly of God. He said in the four years that they had been significantly praying, his church saw more people come to faith in Jesus Christ through their ministry than in his previous 42 years of ministry combined!

Pastor, prayer leader, church leader, as we enter 2013, I challenge you to consider prayer. Fight for it in your church! It will change the way you do church, as it invites the power and presence of God in your midst.

Jonathan Graf is the publisher of Prayer Connect magazine and the president of the Church Prayer Leaders Network.

I recommend three resources to you in your quest to grow prayer in your church:

 The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson will inspire you of the power of prayer. It is available at prayershop.org

 Be Jesus in Your Neighborhood  and Shine His Light will inspire your people to pray for, care for and share Jesus with neighbors and friends

(C) 2012 Prayer Connect magazine.

When God impresses upon our minds some pleasing thought, everyone is happy.  What about when God sends a displeasing word?  What about when we pray for health and illness lingers? What about when we ask God to send us to a particular place and God sends us elsewhere? What about when we intercede for God to perform some specific act and God does just the opposite? What about when we petition God for rain and no rain falls?  Can we follow God when the response we get from our prayers is a response that is not to our liking?  One day, the Captains of the remnant forces came to Jeremiah with a request for prayer and guidance.  When the prophet agreed to pray and then to tell them what God said, they replied, “Whether it is pleasing or displeasing we will obey the voice of the Lord our God” (Jeremiah 42:6). Nowhere in Scripture or in human experience, are we promised that God will answer our every prayer with pleasing responses, no matter how hard or long we pray, nor how many people we enlist to join us in our requests.  Sometimes, in spite of our efforts, God’s answer is displeasing to us.  Following God when directions are displeasing surely is a mark of spiritual maturity.

Read other blog posts from Dr. Dan at www.discipleallnations.org/blog.

Not all times are equal. There is a growing awareness in these days that God is calling people all over the world to seek Him as never before. The challenges we are facing are far greater than the solutions any political system can offer.

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With a grateful heart for each of you,

The WayMakers team,

Steve, Barb, Christine and Stephanie

PS. We have three special versions that will be released in December:

1. The 2013 App format for your smartphone or tablet
2. A Spanish translation of Seek God for the City 2013
3. A children's companion version