Pray Network Forum

Recently I was thinking about my grandchildren going back to school, and the story of baby Moses kept coming to my mind from Exodus chapter 2.

At the time Moses was born, Pharaoh was killing all the newborn Hebrew boys in Egypt.  When Moses was three months old, his mother hid him by making a basket, coated it with tar and pitch. His mother placed the child in it and then put him in the river among the reeds with his sister standing nearby watching. Pharaoh's daughter saw the basket as she was walking near the riverbank and sent her slave girl to get it. When she opened the basket, seeing that he was a Hebrew baby boy crying she felt sorry for the child.

Then his sister said she knew a Hebrew woman who could nurse and care for the baby for her. Pharaoh's daughter asked the girl to get the woman. When she arrived, Pharaoh's daughter asked her to nurse the baby, and she would pay for her service. When the child grew older she took him to Pharaoh's daughter, she adopted the child and named him Moses.

It amazes me how God orchestrated this whole story.

• Think of the risk Moses' mother took of hiding him for three months.
• Then the danger of putting him a basket in the river knowing that if he were found he would probably be killed.
• Knowing her time was short, Moses’ mother taught him about God before she had to release him to Pharaoh's daughter.
• She entrusted Moses to God as she released him to Pharaoh’s daughter.

Our grandchildren are at risk living in our post-Christian, troubled, unstable environment of racism, violence, hate, transgender influence, God-hostile system, etc. It’s a place, where we fear our grandchildren and their parents could drown, just as Moses mother risked his life-placing baby Moses in the river.

A mother of 2 public school children shared with me how her children have lost their best friends due to their Christian position and not wanting to participate in LGBTQ activities.

The Intercessor for America issued an informative post on August 18, 2018, by Capitol Prayer Partners about our educational system. https://www.ifapray.org/blog/prayer-for-schools/

There are times in the lives of our grandchildren that their parents and we as their grandparents have to place them in the basket in the water of the world. We have to let go and entrust God to protect them physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We must let go and allow God to draw them from the waters to fulfill His purpose for their lives. God loaned us our children and grandchildren for us to teach them to love Him and prepare them for their future; they were HIS first.

 This is why Christian Grandparenting Network is asking grandparents to unite in prayer for their grandchildren and their grandchildren’s parents. This day is scheduled to coincide with National Grandparents’ Day, which falls on September 9, 2018.  We desire to make this day a day of prayer for our grandchildren.

Listen to this video to learn why we must call grandparents to intentionally pray for their grandchildren and their parents.  https://vimeo.com/232681065

Please check our websitehttp://www.grandparentsdayofprayer.com for more information, testimonials, promotional materials and free downloads.

If you have any questions, please contact me.

Prayer

Dear Lord, I pray my grandchildren will:

• Guard their hearts.
• Have a desire to do their very best.
• Respect for their teachers.
• Choose friends, who will have a positive influence.
• Recognize the deception of worldly thinking.
• Have eyes blinded to the temptations they face.
• Have a balanced view of their beauty, charm, and strength.
• Learn to be responsible for their actions and behavior.

In Jesus' Name, Amen. 

By Lillian Penner, Co-Prayer Director, Christian Grandparenting Network

lpenner@christiangrandparentinng.net

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Our Lives in this world are all temporary. In 2 Corinthians 5 Paul pictures our bodies as tents. This is a great picture from Paul the tentmaker. He may have had bedouins in mind, moving every day with the sparse grass across the desert. He may have been thinking of sojourners traveling to a new city. What comes to my mind is a camping trip. A tent is not permanent. Look with me at these first five verses of 2 Corinthians 5.

“For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked.  For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.”

Even though our bodies are temporary, the Holy Spirit dwelling in us guarantees something far better that is yet to come.

We look forward to A Resurrected Body.

If you have it in your mind that heaven will be a bodiless, timeless, ethereal existence where you sit on a cloud and strum a medieval harp, you are missing the promises of the Bible. We don't long to be naked spirits. Our longing is to be bodies that are raised again like Jesus. In Luke 24:39 Jesus invited His disciples to touch His resurrected body, saying “Does a ghost have flesh and Bones?” In verse 41 He asks His disciples if they have anything to eat. They give Him some fish, and He eats it in front of them. I don't know about you, but I am convinced the Marriage Feast of the Lamb will be a wonderful meal.

Actually, the hope of Christianity goes beyond heaven. Our hope is the resurrection of our bodies. And even before that takes place, This promise brings us to the renewal of our minds. Paul begins this passage with the words, “We know.” Do you know?

We look forward to A Resurrected World.

Revelation 20 promises us a completely restored Earth where we will reign for a thousand years. But Revelation 21 goes beyond that. God will make a new Heaven and a new Earth where no unrighteousness can dwell.

We look forward to A Resurrected Life.

We look forward to a new Earth and a new universe where we will have new lives. This will be a life of joy. God will have wiped away every tear. This will be a life of purpose. We don't know a great deal about what our lives will be like in the new Heaven and Earth. But we know we will live in the purpose of God. This will be a life of eternal meaning and fulfillment.

“Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”

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I’m about to try something I’ve not done before. For many years I occupied the Chair of Prayer at Southwestern Baptist Seminary and taught a very popular course on prayer each semester. I’ve also used those class notes to teach prayer on Sunday nights or Wednesday nights in churches where I served as Interim Pastor and furthermore, lead numerous prayer seminars in churches over the years. I’ve never used the notes to preach a series on prayer on Sunday mornings. Now I find myself serving as Interim Pastor in a church with no Sunday evening service and located too far away for me to be there on Wednesday evenings. So, I have reworked my class notes into five sermons that will be delivered on the five Sundays of next month. Why do I do this? I assume that if the disciples of Jesus needed to be taught to pray (“Lord, teach is to pray” Luke 11:1), modern disciples need the teaching as well. I did have one student tell me they wanted to take a class from me, but did not need the class on prayer, since they considered themselves a genuine prayer warrior, possessing the spiritual gift of intercession. I asked them if they had ever prayed till their sweat turned to drops of blood? The response was just a blank stare. I followed with, “That’s the way Jesus prayed (Luke 22:44) and I doubt if you have perfected your prayer life until you pray like Jesus.” The student signed up for the class and later wrote me a note, expressing thanks. I’ve often wondered if that student ever prayed till sweat turned to blood. So, how’s your prayer life?

HAJJ PRAYER 2018

Dear Friend of the Arabian Peninsula,

On 19-21 August 2018, PTAP (Praying Through the Arabian Peninsula) is asking for 100,000 people from around the world to join us in Prayer & Fasting for the two million Muslims going on the Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.

The Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam. These are required acts of service for all Muslims (conditions apply to those that are impoverished or in poor health). The city of Mecca is the center of the entire Muslim world.  It is the place where the Hajj is performed and the place where all Muslims direct their 5x daily prayers.  As a consequence of the heightened religious activity, there are significant barriers that prevent the gospel from spreading to these people at this time. 

However, our God knows no barriers!  There are testimonies of Muslims performing the Hajj in Mecca and encountering God – through receiving a digital version of the Bible, through Dreams & Visions, through encounters with Christians during their journey. And so, we desire to gather together a dedicated body of Christians to stand in the gap and to fast and pray for this monumental event - for God to do something truly miraculous, something only He can do.

Would you join us in this effort as well as spread the word about this prayer and fasting event?

We have created three core resources for you:

A Hajj prayer promo video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaLq9B14wBM) - This is designed to introduce this event and invite others to join us for these three days of prayer and fasting.

Hajj Prayer guides and a Hajj prayer video (https://prayforap.com/hajj.html) - We created a helpful 4-page prayer guide that has been translated into several languages (including Korean, Arabic, Spanish, Chinese, German, and Portugese).  There is also a corresponding video to watch. 

Please forward the above resources through your spheres of influence and also feel free to edit as you feel led.  And similarly, when it comes to the fasting element, feel free to fast you feel led - one meal, one day, all three days, individually, as a group, etc.

Our one request is that you let us know an estimate of how many people in your spheres of influence prayed and also the country where they prayed during these three days. Please send your estimates and any spiritual insights you have gleaned from this time of prayer and fasting to <pray4ptap@gmail.com>.

See Act 13:1-3 for a wonderful illustration of how fasting became instrumental in the laying hold of God for the shaping of world-changing ministry. We long to see many of the 2 million Muslims performing the Hajj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia in August 2018 to encounter Jesus. Many Blessings,

Listening prayer: Conversing with the "Threeness" of God

The 4th chapter of 2 Timothy is Paul's final declaration of faith before he was executed by Nero. When he pinned these words he was in prison and fairly certain of his imminent death.

I suppose that my situation is somewhat similar to Paul's, although Paul's physical condition was much more severe than mine. But my doctors tell me I am going to die before too long.

I have communicated with several people in the last few months that had a much different perspective on life and death than I. One was a man in his 80s who was actually in amazing health for his age. I told him I was reacting against people saying if they were in critical condition they didn't want “extreme measures” to keep them alive. I said extreme measures were what I wanted. He spoke to me as if he had much more wisdom than I. “Well, when you can no longer have quality of life you would rather not linger.” But what he called quality of life was comfort and diversion. He jokingly said, “If I couldn't play golf.” Those are not my purpose in life.

In 2 Timothy 4 Paul gives us a marvelous example of integral hope in his life. Paul's life even at that difficult end was still buoyed by a higher purpose. 2 Timothy 4:1,2 reads,

“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.”

Paul challenges Timothy, and us, to preach the word. And faithful endurance of his painful situation was crucial to that encouragement. He saw his approaching death as part of his challenge and a crucial part of his worship. He encourages us in versus 6-8 by comparing his life to a drink offering. 

“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.”

A drink offering was a powerful expression of devotion in the desert middle east where water was life. The first drink offering mentioned in Scripture was made by Jacob as he met God at Bethel in Genesis 35. As he emptied his canteen onto the ground, he was trusting his life to the Lord who had appeared to him. Later when drink offerings were included in worship in the Tabernacle the vessels for it were to be of gold, befitting costly devotion. 

Paul sees his final circumstance as the ultimate worship and witness for God. And he could endure it however long it wood last for two reasons. First, as he wrote earlier to the Philippian Church,(Philippians 1:22-24) God might allow him to continue his purpose on this Earth. Also, he knew the reward waiting for him in the presence of God was worth whatever he had to endure.

Relationships were also crucial to the hope Paul clung to. The English Standard Version of the New Testament labels the final two-thirds of this chapter as, Personal Instructions. Verses 9-13 capture this.

“Do your best to come to me soon. For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments.”

I do not believe Paul saw his purpose or even his worship as separate from the lives of other people. He was investing himself in them. 

God has allowed me to live some years longer than the doctors thought I would. But I still have the cancer that they believe will take my life. Shortly after they began telling me my condition was terminal, I wrote an article for Mature Living Magazine entitled Filling The Unforgiving Minute. You can see that article on my website listed below. Of course I took my title from Rudyard Kipling's poem If. “If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds worth of distance run.” In the article I said I wanted to devote the remaining days of my life to writing, prayer, and relationships. In these days I see writing is my purpose and calling from God. It is an extension of my original calling to preach. And of course prayer is essential to that. I pray for God to do what only he can do in the lives of people through my writing. Prayer is also crucial to relationships. I pray for those I love and for others i meet. And relationships are in the purpose of God. Even after my condition deteriorates so that I can no longer write, I hope to be loving and pray for people around me. 




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Website

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Along with words to encourage you or help you to encourage others, I try to provide resources or training to help us live out our faith.  This is the first in a series on helps for our personal prayer life.  Coming tomorrow, helpful resources to pray for all the relationships in life, then for missionaries and pastors.  Today’s focus will be on a helpful pattern for prayer and using the Bible to help pray for friends who already know God and for friends who need to know God better with a simple but powerful bonus tip.

Many people have found prayer particularly challenging.  They muster up all their self-discipline and courage.  They get on their knees and then say, “What do I do now?!”  Personally, I have often found it helpful to have a variety of resources available to help me stay focused during prayer.  I share this not because I am a spiritual giant with much to offer.  I share these because I often find it such a struggle to get started in prayer and even after getting started to then stay focused.

Perhaps the most helpful resource I have ever found for prayer is God’s Word itself.  Sometimes we pray way too mildly because we may not be sure that something is God’s will.  When we turn Bible verses that we are reading into actual prayers for ourselves and others, we can be pretty sure we are praying in God’s will.  Keep reading for some helpful examples.

Photo: (c) Can Stock Photo / LincolnRogers (Link posted below)

I may be a little unusual, but I have often found a countdown timer extremely helpful.  If I have set aside a certain span of time for prayer, I found that I would be checking the clock way too often to make sure I didn’t go overtime—like that’s a real worry!  I found that if I set a countdown timer, my mind is no longer distracted by the clock.

Finally, I have often found a pattern of prayer has helped me to stay focused and balanced in my prayers.  It’s so easy to only come to God when we want something.  We all have friends that only seem to pop up when they are in need.  How do you feel when you see them coming?  I think you get the idea.  There are many similar prayer methods, etc.  The following pattern has been a tremendous help for me.

• Adoration:  Begin your prayer time praising God for who He is—not for what He has done for us—that will come later.  This helps us focus on our relationship with God himself.
  (Psalms 19, 29, 146 – 150)
• Confession:  After a time of focusing on the goodness and character of God, we can’t help but see ourselves a little differently. Ask God to reveal to us the areas of our life that need attention.  (Psalms 51, 32, 139)
• Thanksgiving:  Now is the time to thank God for the many blessings that we enjoy. Sometimes, this comes easily. Sometimes, we need to make ourselves intentionally focus on what God has already done. (Psalm 50:1; 92:1; 35:18; Phil 4:6)
• Supplication:  Now is the time to bring our requests to God. Supplication is not a word most of us use every day, but it’s a good word to use in this context. It has the idea of urgency or earnestness (seriousness). We don’t come to God indifferently but with a concern that has burdened our hearts and we bring those requests to God. (Many examples follow) (1 Pet 5:7)

 Praying the Scriptures for Friends who know God

• Ps 27:1.   LORD you are ________‘s light and salvation– help (him/her) to trust you and not to fear.  LORD you are the stronghold of (his/her) life– of whom shall (he/she) be afraid?
• Ps 27:2.  May you help ________ to be confident in the face of all attacks fully trusting in you.
• Ps 27:5. Lord when ________ has a day of trouble,
  may you keep (him/her) safe in your dwelling;
  hide (him/her) in the shelter of your tabernacle
  and set (him/her) high upon a rock.

• Ps 27:6. When ________ serves you may (he/she) do it with shouts of joy; may (he/she) sing and make music to you, LORD.
• Ps 28:1. May _________ call to you, O LORD my Rock;  and may you hear (his/her) prayer.
• Ps 28 7. LORD, you are our strength and our shield; may ________’s heart trust in you and be helped. May _______ leap for joy and give thanks to you in song.
• Ps 29:1. May _______ ascribe to you O LORD, glory and strength.
• Ps 29:2  May _______ ascribe to you O LORD the glory due your name;
• Ps 29:3  May _______ worship you in the splendor of your holiness.

Strategic Prayer Focus for Friends Seeking God

Identify two or three people in your sphere of influence that you believe desperately need Jesus. List their names below so that you pray for each of them.

 _____________   _____________    _____________

1. Lord, I pray that you draw these to Yourself. (John 6:44)
2. I pray that they will seek to know You. (Acts 17:27)
3. I pray that they hear and believe the Word for what it really is. (I Thes. 2:13)
4. I ask You to prevent Satan from blinding them to the truth. (II Cor. 4:4; II Tim. 2:25-26)-
5. Holy Spirit, I ask You to convict them of their sin and need for Christ’s redemption. (John 16:7-14)
6. I ask that You send someone to  share the Gospel with them. (Matt 9:37-38)
7. I pray that they would put all of their trust in Christ. (John 1:12; 5:24)
8. I pray that they confess Christ as Lord and grow in faith and bear fruit for Your glory. (Rom. 10:9-10)

(Excerpted from Search & Rescue: Becoming a Disciple Who Makes a Difference, Neil Cole, Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2008)

Have any of these inspired you?  Any tips you can share with us?

Kevin Cunningham

Pastor, Author, Videographer

Currently serving as a bi-vocational, Intentional Interim Pastor in Gloucester, MA.

www.PastorKevin.net

www.EncourageAndEquip.com

www.TimeWithGodBook.com

www.VideoByKevin.com

Image Credit: (c) Can Stock Photo / LincolnRogers https://www.canstockphoto.com/praying-hands-over-a-holy-bible-1610641.html

This post originally appeared on the Encourage and Equip blog at http://www.encourageandequip.com/prayer-life-help/

The Presidential Prayer Team daily prayer page today mentions that it's 100 days to the mid-term elections.  With division in our country running so high and questions still surrounding alleged attempts to interfere with the 2016 elections, we need God's intervention both to protect our election process and to put in place leaders who will honor him.  How should we then pray?  This is the first of a series of posts with thoughts on how to pray for our upcoming elections.

Pray for the campaigns

If you're like me, you quickly tire of the campaign commercials so prevalent right now.  Candidates telling half-truths, trying to make themselves look better than they really are and their opponents look worse than they really are.  Here are a couple of suggestions for prayer:

1. Pray for Christian candidates.  Ask God to give them integrity and truthfulness in their campaigning.  Pray for hearts willing to do and accept God's will, regardless of whether that means getting elected or not.  Pray for God's protection from temptation and deliverance from the evil one.  Ask God to guard their words, to lead them to speak the truth in love.
2. Pray for campaigns based on "light" rather than "heat" - that truthfulness in campaigning will prevail and that God will reign in the natural tendencies of candidates to focus on negative.  Ask God to lead candidates to honestly share their own views and priorities, so that voters will have good information to make informed choices.
3. Ask God to raise up prayer throughout the country for wise and faithful leaders.  Ask him to lead his church to pray not based on political agenda but rather earnestly seeking and desiring for his will to be accomplished through the elections.

I once participated in a small group whose focus was to pray for our country.  We met weekly to pray and we shared a passion to see God honored in our land.  But I was never fully comfortable with the way we prayed as a group.  While I agreed with the conservative bent of the group, it concerned me that we tended to pray as if our politics were "right".  We tended to give God the answers rather than simply seeking his glory. 

Such prayer can actually prove divisive in a group whose members have differing political, economic, and social outlooks.  So as we ask God to raise up concerted, intentional prayer for our nation and for the coming elections, let's ask him to cleanse our hearts of our own agendas so that we can honestly pray, "Your kingdom come, your will be done" as it relates to the campaign and election process.

Next up:  Pray for the candidates

If you're in the habit of pasting information and prayer requests here at Pray.Network (as I am), here's a tip:  Use Google Chrome rather than Internet Explorer or Edge browsers.  I have found that with IE/Edge, pasted copy often gets cut off on the right-hand side, reformatted in ways I don't expect, and pictures often don't come out well.

I've noticed since switching over to Chrome that none of these problems are present in that browser.  Chrome does do a little reformatting, but not nearly so severe as IE/Edge, and it doesn't cut off text on the right-hand side.  I have found many of my prayer discussion posts to be much more readable and require much less formatting work on my part since switching.

Try it out if you paste information from other websites here!

Are you going through a storm right now? Something so difficult or traumatic that you aren't sure you'll make it to tomorrow?

Don't give up hope. It often takes a storm to get our minds off our own plans and ways and onto God's greater plan—to realize there's a purpose for our life that is far better than our own. Our storms help draw us closer to God than anything else. So when we're facing a storm, let's remember three things as we learn to ride it with God, instead of letting it control and overwhelm us.

1) Nothing that happens to us happens by chance. Everything comes by way of a plan and purpose, no matter how chaotic or random it may appear to us at the moment. God is God and we aren't. It means he's in charge of the universe and has a purpose and a will that far exceeds our own. God uses both good and evil to accomplish his will. Whatever it is, good or bad, it has to pass first by the Creator of all things. We may never have an adequate answer in this life to our questions, “Why does God permit evil?” or “Why did this happen to me?,” but we do know that God intends to exploit evil to the full, to bring about his good purposes in a world of tornadoes, cancer, genocide, violence, human foolishness, financial reversal, divorce, and all the rest.

2) No matter how utterly our hopes and dreams have been devastated by a life storm, in the midst of the ruins we can see the foundation for hope and recovery. In the aftermath of a tornado or hurricane, it appears that nothing is left to salvage. But right there under the shards of glass, piles of rubble, and splinters of wood, is the foundation. Similarly, if we look closely enough at the crumbling ruins of our life, there in the destruction is the most obvious evidence of hope to rebuild—our foundation. Our immovable foundation is Jesus Christ and the ever-reliable mercy and grace of God. It isn't our faith that's so great, but God's loving kindness, which created our faith and brings it back again when it seems to have blown away. The foundation, the character of God, always remains the same.

3) Even though nothing in our lives is so secure it can't be taken away, there is nothing that can be taken that God can't restore to us. This really does sound impossible when taking into account the loss of a loved one, but this truth is at the heart of the Christian faith. It's called the resurrection. It means that even our life on this earth—which we know absolutely will end one day—can be restored. We come to believe in the reality of resurrection of our bodies and all of creation based on our daily life experiences. God knows that it's very hard for us to believe in what we can't see, so he gives us many little resurrections (the God-incidences) in our present life. He rescues us time after time in the most obvious ways. We can't possibly fail to recognize it as the work of some invisible, intelligent force, and can expect the same at the end of life.

So let's be a Storm Rider. Let us be absolutely confident that God will do what he loves to do and has done since the very beginning: to create for us a rescue ex nihilo (out of nothing). When there is no way out, no exit, no human hope for survival, God speaks into existence a way out and a way in—a way out of our plight and a way into a real, joyful life of fulfillment. This is the meaning of an exodus. As Pastor Chris Linzey says in his article, I'm Broken Inside, "May we all have that kind of faith that holds us close to God no matter what the situation or consequence."

And pray, even when your faith seems to have vanished. Wait for a full, God-designed exodus, not merely an exit from your problem. Keep on asking until something happens. If you don't know what to say, try this: My faith is at very low tide, Lord. I don't know how to trust you right now. I'm too weary and wounded even to believe that you're there. I really don't know if you are. And if you are, I'm not able to believe that you know my name or care about me. I'm sorry for all this, but right now it's the best I can do. Help me when I can't believe anything.

We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose. - Romans 8:28

I am not sure forceful writing is something all of us strive for. But I do believe many of us would like to know how to add impetus to the words we write.

How do we write with overwhelming influence on our readers, on our culture? I have thought a great deal about this and I think I have some things to say about writing forcefully. However, before I begin I suppose I should grant you a disclaimer. My books are not, nor are they likely to be, on the New York Times best-seller list. My writing is hardly shaking the world. My lack of authority on this issue opens these suggestions up for discussion. What do you think about each of them? I suspect all of us thinking about our writing, would come up with some principles that could transform our writing and possibly the lives of our readers.

Let me begin with my oldest principle.

Brevity is Force.

Especially for young writers, this may sound counterintuitive. “You are saying, 'The less I write, the greater the impact,?’” Well, that is close to what I am suggesting. I am saying, “Expressing the same thought in fewer words will say it better.” I have a friend who is a riveting preacher. His exposition is brilliant, his illustrations are moving, his logic is cogent and often humorous. But it often takes him over an hour to preach one of them. I have been in some places in the world where that would be ideal, but he does not preach in any of those places. The length of his sermons takes much of the force out of what he has to say. This is every bit as true of writing as it is of speaking.

Clarity is Force.

Most of us would like our writing to be impressive. I remember a comic scene on the old Lou Grant show where someone found an article written 30 years before by their managing editor, Charlie Hume, when he was a cub reporter. The byline on the article read “F. Charles Hume.” He defended himself by saying, “All of us have been pretentious from time to time.” When one of the other characters asked him what the F stood for, he answered, “Nothing, unless you count F. Scott Fitzgerald.” It is always tempting to use big words and try to sound impressive. But the main issue of writing is clear communication. One of the passages of Scripture God has used to speak to me about my writing over the years is Habakkuk 2:1-3. Verse 2 calls us to “write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets.” Great writing is always understandable. A good writer makes what may be complicated plain for people to understand.

I am intimidated by the next of these.

Beauty is Force.

I never feel like my writing can be beautiful. And, indeed, I'm no C.S. Lewis. But writing is an art as well as a craft. Beautiful writing will affect people's lives. Most of us have a sense of beauty when we see it on a printed page. And while I will never be C.S. Lewis, Malcolm Muggeridge, or Philip Yancey, I can read such authors in the hope that their beauty will rub off. And I can strive to improve the beauty of what I have to say and how I write it.

Truth is Force.

I'm not sure this is not the most important of these principles. One of the best writing prompts I have ever seen, especially for poetry, says, “Write the truest sentence that you know.” I am writing primarily to Christian writers. You actually have an advantage over others in this area because you have a grip on ultimate truth.

Conviction is Force.

You need to know why you believe what you believe is true. A good writer is a clear thinker. A good writer is always asking why. You will spend time thinking through things until you come to a bedrock of conviction. A good writer knows what she thinks and why she thinks it, what she knows and how she knows it, what she believes and why she believes it.

Compassion is Force.

Good writers care about their readers. Christian writers pray for the needs of people who will read their work. The importance of what you have to say relates directly to the needs, sometimes the deepest needs, of those for whom you are writing.

God's Moving is Force.

The most life-changing force in writing is the hand of God on your words. At this point I'm talking about something that goes far beyond your craft. The hand of God on your writing flows from the depth of your relationship with God, and the effect He has on all of your life. I believe this is true whether you are writing a devotional book, a theological treatise, or a baseball story. What God is doing in your life we'll impact the lives of your readers.

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Many of us have been greatly encouraged in our prayers for lost friends with the words from 2 Peter 3: 9, “God is not willing that any should perish.”

But I think it is important to note that there are a couple of ways in which this verse can be misinterpreted. The two that I have in mind both interpret the will of God here as immutable. But that is not the word used in the original language. The word is “boulomai,’ which is often a weaker term. The ESV translates this as not wishing that any should perish.

In Luke 13: 34 Jesus actually uses Thelo, the stronger Greek word.

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, . . .How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”

One misinterpretation of this is that since it is the will of God, everyone will eventually be saved. But the fact that God wants everyone to repent does not mean everyone will. God is always willing for people to turn to Him, but He waits for us to be willing.

The other misinterpretation that concerns me is that this cannot apply two lost people we are praying for because if God wills it, they will be saved, and we know everyone will not be saved.

But you need to understand that when you are praying for someone who has not come to Christ, you are not praying against the will of God. And God will be working on them to draw them to himself.

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YouTube

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When faced with a crisis situation - whether sudden or developing over time - one of our first inclinations is to ask God why. Why are we suffering so? What did we do to deserve this? Why has our God, who is both sovereign and good, allowed this suffering to occur?

This is where Job found himself when God allowed Satan to bring suffering into his life. Surrounded by friends whose only answer was to attribute his suffering to his own sin, Job couldn't reconcile the life he had lived with the pain he was enduring. He longed to be able to speak to God face to face and for God to explain himself.

We may not voice our longing exactly the same way that Job did, but the truth is that many of Job's questions are also our own.

In Job's story, God has peeled back the curtain for us to see what Job could not see - the drama being played out on a cosmic stage between God and Satan. Indeed, God had even started the dialog by pointing out Job's righteousness (would he say the same thing about us?).

Job couldn't know that the trials he suffered were actually helping to make God's point in the debate. His suffering at the hands of Satan showed the difference between life as God intended it and life as Satan marred it. But all this was lost on Job, who wasn't in the heavenly council. All he knew was the misery he was enduring.

After 37 chapters of suffering, Job finally gets to hear from God. But what he hears doesn't answer his original question. God does not explain himself. Instead, through a series of challenges to Job, God reveals his own majesty. In the face of all that, Job drops all his demands and humbles himself before God.

While Job never got an answer to his question of "why", he did gain from his suffering something he had never experienced before - the presence of God in a new and more powerful way. Job summarizes his own experience this way: "My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you."

From our vantage point, then, we can see at least three effects of Job's suffering:

1. It demonstrated the difference between God's blessing on a life and Satan's curses.
2. It gave Job an experience of God he had never had before.
3. It has encouraged millions of people down through the ages who have also suffered through various crises to trust in God.

But Job had no way of knowing anything but his experience. The same is true of us in our suffering. We may not see the impact it is having in our lives or the lives of others; we may not understand the reason for it or have any idea how long it will last. But we can experience God in the midst of suffering and emerge with a stronger relationship with him than we had before.

So, while "why" may be the most natural place for us to start in our dialog with God during trials, a more helpful question is "what". What is God accomplishing in our time of anguish? What does he hope to produce in our lives? What can we learn about him and what new ways can we experience him? As we learn to pray "what", we open ourselves in new ways to his work in our lives through times of trial.

How have you prayed during times of suffering?  How has God answered?  Please share your experiences!

If you are a grandparent who would like to pray more effectively or intentionally for your grandchildren, you will want to purchase and read the book, Grandparenting with a Purpose: Effective Ways to Pray for your Grandchildren. The book provides specific examples to help you pray, such as alphabet prayers, prayers based on Scriptures, Suggestions to pray for School children and prayers for holidays.

Check out the book on this website for a reduced price of $10.50 including shipping in the U.S. for a Grandparents’ Day of Prayer Special to help you pray more effectively for your grandchildren and their parents. The book is also available in an eBook version on Amazon or Redemption press for $3.99. A free downloadable study guide is available.

Prayer is the expression of human dependence on God, not a production; it is a personal intimate conversation with God, the creator of the universe. Isn’t it awesome, we have the privilege to communicate with the creator of the universe? We can bring all our concerns and fears to God? He is always available, sitting at the right hand of God waiting for us to come to him. His line is never busy, He never puts us on hold, we don’t have to press a number for our language, we don’t have to leave a voicemail, and He is available 24/7.   A great force of God’s power is released as we relinquish our concerns to Him, committing ourselves to intentionally pray for our grandchildren.  

God has given grandparents a sacred trust, an opportunity to imprint a child’s life with God’s faithfulness. This is why Christian Grandparenting Network is declaring the National Grandparents Day as a Day of Prayer for our grandchildren and their parents.

 Have you heard about Grandparents’ Day of Prayer?

Christian Grandparenting Network is asking grandparents to unite in prayer for their grandchildren and their grandchildren’s parents. This day is scheduled to coincide with National Grandparents’ Day, which falls on September 9, 2018.  We desire is to make this day a day of prayer for our grandchildren. 

We believe the battle for the hearts and minds of our dear grandchildren and their parents can be won only by praying grandparents who sense the urgency and unite to do battle in prayer.

Please check our website http://www.grandparentsdayofprayer.com for more information, testimonials, promotional materials and free downloads.

For additional information or if you have any questions, please contact us.

To learn more about Grandparents’ Day of Prayer, view this short video by Cavin Harper, Executive Director for Christian Grandparenting Network. https://vimeo.com/130942706.  Go to www.christiangrandparenting.net/prayerto find additional information, endorsements and promotional resources on the website or email me.  lpenner@christiangrandparenting.net

Please feel free to share this blog with your friends.

May God show favor on your grandparenting,

By Lillian Penner, Co-prayer director for Christian Grandparenting Netwwork

The wind and the waves threatened to capsize the fishing boat. Though seasoned on the water, the men aboard began to fear for their lives. Straining at the sails and the oars, bailing water and trying to control the boat, they suddenly noticed that one of them was fast asleep.

Astonished, they rushed to wake him. "Lord, don't you care if we drown?" they asked.

Jesus stood up, spoke to the wind and the waves, and suddenly everything was calm. Turning to his friends, he asked, "Where is your faith?" (Matthew 8:23-27; Mark 4:35-41; Luke 8:22-25)

Most of us can relate to the disciples' fear. Facing an unwelcome medical diagnosis, a catastrophic relational breakdown, a significant loss, we too often feel like we're about to drown with no way out. We find ourselves crying out to God, "Lord, don't you care?"

God does care, as seen in Jesus' response to the disciples. He calmed the storm - but then he asked them a penetrating question: "Where is your faith?" They had seen him heal people of all kinds of illnesses and infirmities - in fact, Matthew precedes his account with several examples of Jesus' healing miracles (Matthew 8:1-17), and Mark and Luke also include several healing miracles prior to this story.

The disciples had seen all those miracles - yet their immediate crisis obscured their memory and understanding of who Jesus was.

How often is this true of us? We see God work in all kinds of ways in our lives - providing everything from jobs to food and clothing to relationships that bring us joy, and, above all, the miracle of salvation. Yet when faced with a crisis, how easily we can forget what God has already done and the many ways he has demonstrated his love and care for us. Rather than praying in quiet confidence that God will bring us through the current crisis too, we cry out in desperation as though we had never experienced his touch.

Jesus didn't ignore the disciples' cry of desperation. He answered their plea for help - and he'll do the same for us (though maybe not always quite so immediately). And if we're paying attention, maybe we too can hear Jesus' encouragement to us to have faith, to remember all that he has done, and to have confidence in Him.