Prayer is the constant desire to be in God's presence. We are learning His will, seeking to follow His will and inviting Him to be part of all we are doing.

Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:4-7

"Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again-rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon."

Few of us have really been trained in prayer. We see the pastor pray on Sundays, people pray before meals and over their kids, but few of us have ever been trained to desire to be in constant contact with the Father, asking Him to lead, guide and protect. Pray for old and young Christians in the Arabian Peninsula, both foreigners, and the few children from the local peoples, that God will become a greater companion all day long. He is there, we are not. Pray that this connection with the Father will release more of His presence right across the AP. Pray that Christians would be praying for Gulf Muslims more and more.

“To be ‘on edge,’ you are literally not centered — not being in your spiritual center.”  (Carrie Latet)

When life gets confusing, Christ is our personal Tour Guide.  If we trust and obey the Lord, He will accompany us on our wilderness journey to the promised land. Christ is our Comforter, Coach, Guide, Defense Counsel, and Teacher. He is right beside us—praying, cheering, advising, forgiving, and instructing. If we yearn for Christ to be more real to us, we must obey Him unquestioningly. If we sincerely want His guidance on the road He wants us to travel, we must not take a step without Him.

When life gets rough, Christ is our Storm Shelter. If we open the eyes of our heart, we’ll see evidences of Love all around—shining in mercy, grace, compassion, pardon, and kindness. If we are seeking stability in a quicksand world, we must take our stand on the Solid Rock.

When life gets complicated, Christ is our Greatest Friend. When the pressures are on, we’re privileged to talk problems over with Him. If we’d like to have a heart-to-heart conversation with Him, we have to quit doing all the talking and listen to what He has to say. Hearing His voice, He puts us at ease.  

When our self-image is fractured, Christ is our Faithful Shepherd.  We may have trouble believing this, but He really likes us. When we’re down on ourselves, He isn’t. When we don’t feel like taking another step, He lifts us up and carries us. Nestling near His heart, we feel secure.

When everything nailed down comes loose, Christ holds us together. When our world falls apart, we don’t have to. When we stop searching for the panic button, He gives us unshakable courage and incomprehensible peace. We will not go crazy, if we make Him Lord of our intellect. We will not spin out of control, if we surrender to Him as King of our personality.

When we’re “on edge”, we can recover our emotional balance by spiritual centering—focusing on Christ, our Center of Gravity. Making Him our Resting Place, we can relax.

The Lord replied, ”My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”  (Exodus 33;14 NIV)

Johnny R. Almond

Author, Gentle Whispers from Eternity

[This devotion based on Day 55 of Gentle Whispers]

Interim Pastor, Nomini Baptist Church; Montross, Virginia

Blog & book info http://GentleWhispersFromEternity-ScripturePersonalized.com/

Last week I began a series of blog posts calling for extraordinary prayer that in the power of God might sweep the earth. Such extraordinary prayer will need to come from several fronts. One of the most important focuses of our prayer needs to be Bible colleges and seminaries. If we look back through history at times when God moved mightily on human society, we see that He always raised up men to work through. So it stands to reason that if we want to be a part of an end-time revival, we should direct extraordinary prayer toward young people who sense the call of God on their lives.

We have begun this on one campus of a large multi-site seminary on the west coast. The students, faculty and staff were given questionnaires with questions about how we could pray for them. We also invited volunteers and support staff to fill out prayer questionnaires. Janitors and secretaries play an important part in what God is doing on campuses. They are often used by God to impact the lives of students. Brother Laurence touches lives to this day. He was a dishwasher in an obscure monastery.

We compiled the answers given, put them on flash drives and asked people at a regional denomination meeting to commit to pray for the seminary. People signed up pray leaving their e-mail addresses where they could be sent additional prayer requests. All of our prepared flash drives were given out before the program could be announced on the floor of the meeting.

This ministry could be contagious. Students could be sent to speak in churches asking people to commit to pray for the students and the school. Pastors’ could encourage church members to sign up. People who have hardly prayed for anyone but themselves could catch the vision to pray for a new generation of spiritual leaders.

Please pray for me as I write college and seminary presidents to present this idea. Pray that they will be receptive. Pray that they will become passionate for this. This will require busy staffs to take on new responsibilities. This will cost time and money. Pray for God to provide. And such an undertaking will certainly arouse spiritual opposition. Pray for spiritual protection for schools, students, and churches we will ask to become involved. And watch with me as God glorifies His name by raising up a mighty spiritual army to touch the world in these days.

Corinth – An Introduction to the City and Culture

he Corinthian church was in a critically important location. At the time of Paul's missionary journeys, Corinth was the leading city of Achaia. Achaia was the Roman province which covered the southern part of the modern nation of Greece. Athens was still the educational centre of Achaia, but Corinth was the capital of the Roman Province and the major commercial centre. A healthy church there could have an impact on the region and far beyond.

Corinth lay on a narrow isthmus, only six kilometers across, which connected the southern part of the Greek peninsula to the mainland, with sea to the southeast and northwest. This strategic position made Corinth one of the richest cities and greatest trading centers of the ancient world. All traffic from Athens and the North of Greece to Sparta and the Peloponnese had to pass through Corinth because of its position on this narrow neck of land. The parade of foreign travel moving through the city made missionary work possible without leaving town.

The rapid growth in its population soon made it the third largest city of the Roman Empire after Rome and Alexandria. It was populated with freedmen from Rome, who became the most numerous inhabitants of the city. There were also many Greeks, Jews and other peoples, making it a cosmopolitan port city. The population is difficult to estimate, but was probably around 200,000, plus 500,000 slaves, all squashed into a small area. It was a rough, tough city with a bad reputation. To “Corinthianize” was a term common throughout the Roman Empire. It meant to corrupt. Whenever a stage play called for an inebriated soul who gave a bit of character to the production – he was commonly cast as a Corinthian.

Sadly, the church, rather than challenge the immoral character of Corinth, had itself assimilated the deadly values of the deviate city. As Paul closes his second letter to the Corinthian church, he must sigh to himself. He has invested so much time, so much energy. But they are wrought with more challenges than any other church he has founded. He urges:

Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? II Corinthians 13:5

“Examine yourself!” Paul pleads. The question is one that must be asked again today – to the modern American church that now resembles the church at Corinth.

Let me ask, “Do you perform regular internal audits on your personal relationship with God?” Many Christians don’t. They don’t consider such a matter even remotely important. In fact, the American church has repressed discernment – even self-discrimination. The Word discriminates! (II Tim. 2:15-16; Heb. 4:12) That is, it divides between even the joints and the marrow of our soul. Between the thoughts and the intents of our heart.

Most people in America assume that they are Christians. According to the most reliable data, 76.5% of the population identifies themselves as Christian.[1]  If indeed, three-of-four people in the nation were genuine Christians, whose behavior resembled that of Christ, and whose values were rooted in the Holy Scripture – this nation would not be experiencing a moral implosion. The population is either lying about their faith commitment, or more likely, completely confused about what being a Christian really means.

At the close of the second letter to the Corinthians, Paul calls twice, in one verse, using two distinct terms, for the readers in Corinth to take an inventory to see if they are genuinely Christian. He does not call for an inquisition. He does not urge the examination of one another. He is not fostering a judgmental attitude between believers. He knows the futility of the Pharisee life (Phil. 3:4-6; Gal. 1:13-15) – that is not his goal. He had spent 18 months in Corinth, preaching and leading them to Christ, establishing them in the faith. Now, he raises doubts about whether or not all of them are genuine disciples of Christ. And he is calling for quiet, personal, probing moments between each individual and God to verify the legitimacy of their relationship with Christ. “For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.” The church at Corinth is already under the judgment of God – some are prematurely dying! And no one has discerned the reason. “When we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world!” (I Cor. 11:31). We are to examine ourselves – to avoid judgment, to avoid being condemned in the end with the world. Sobering, isn’t it?

This article is excerpted from the Campus Renewal Magazine at

http://www.campusrenewal.org/revival-at-william-mary/

The College of William & Mary was chartered in 1693 and has rich history embedded within its well-worn brick pathways and aged brick buildings. It is said that students who go to William & Mary enter in with aspirations of changing the world and leave with the ability to do so. Within the nation, the university is known as an academically rigorous “Public Ivy League” and a very liberal school. By most people’s standards, revival and Williamsburg, Virginia are two of the last things that would ever go together.

And yet, God is moving.

The Beginnings of a Movement

“It’s quite difficult to describe how exactly this got started on our campus, simply because it’s difficult to describe what exactly this is,” says Jena Gray, a junior at William & Mary. “The best I can do is say that this is a very clear move of the Lord and that joy and freedom are racing each other throughout our campus, laughing the entire way.”

Though she has been a Christian for many years, Gray says she only truly began following Jesus during the second semester of her freshman year. Since then, she says the Lord has directed her heart towards her campus and she has been praying for revival, freedom, and joy for about a year and a half. Sophomore year, she says, felt dry and barren and much like a season of “pruning”. But this semester, things started to change.

“The state of Christianity on our historic campus has been viscous to the onlooker, seemingly stagnant but upon close scrutiny, there was movement – slow and steady,” Gray says. “Yet like all viscous liquids when heat is applied, energy increases, and similarly, the fire of the Holy Spirit has been fueling a movement and the flow of Jesus-lovers has been pouring out into all areas of the campus this semester.”

Worship, Prayer and Everything In Between

According to Gray, many opportunities for united worship and prayer have been springing up on the William & Mary campus. On Wednesdays at 9pm, students gather together in one of the campus buildings for “Worship Wednesday” – a gathering where Christian students can meet, worship and pray together. Birthed out of a prayer night held in March 2014, “Worship Wednesday” launched last Fall and has since become a weekly event that many students look forward to.

A partnership has also formed between W&M students and students from Christopher Newport University, a neighboring campus about 25 minutes away. “One Sunday night I called up one of my friends at Christopher Newport University,” says Gray. “I asked John if he or anyone from CNU could lead worship the following night at 8pm and Monday evening, 9 CNU brothers and sisters showed up. It was a beautiful time of worship with 9 CNU students and 10 W&M students in my friend Catherine’s living room.”

Gray believes God is working to cement the relationships between CNU and W&M students. “I was overwhelmed by how much God wanted this to happen and by how much of a bond [Christian] brothers and sisters have – that these friends and Jesus-lovers from CNU would pile into two cars on a Monday night to worship with us,” she says.

Missional Living

Gray and her friends have also been looking for ways to be missional and provide alternate settings where Christians can express their faith, while creating a safe place for non-Christians to attend, ask questions and hopefully encounter God.

“Catherine and I began ‘Creative Space’ at the Hearth (the name of Catherine’s house),” Gray explains. “The heart behind having people over to The Hearth is to have an open gathering for those interested in all art forms: poetry, baking, knitting, painting, instruments, and the like; to create a platform through which authentic conversations can be sparked, eventually leading to relationships founded on the commonality of art in order for the Gospel to be shared.”

“Basically, we want to reach the hipsters on our campus,” Gray says with a smile.

Once again, CNU students teamed up with her, and brought art supplies and canvases to The Hearth. But it hasn’t been without challenges. Gray says she found herself disappointed when not as many students showed up as she would have liked. It was on a trip to a local campus coffee house that her perspective started to shift. “As I walked inside the small house entrenched in darkness and despair, I knew this is where the people I most wanted to reach were. I felt the Lord say to me, ‘Jena, how do you expect people to come to you if you don’t go to them?’”

Being The Church

That opportunity soon presented itself on a frigid February Monday night when their regular prayer gathering coincided with a roommate’s party at The Hearth in celebration of classes being canceled the next day.

“Charlotte knew we were having worship from 8pm-10pm but it was fine with her that we were going to worship while her friends were over,” Gray recounts. “As Christian after Christian poured in, the non-believing hipsters poured drink after drink, staying pretty much in the kitchen or on the porch smoking all sorts of things. As our friend Jeremy began worship, everyone was slightly uncomfortable. No one had ever been in a situation quite like that before,” Gray says in bemusement. “All in all we had 26 Christians there worshipping and there were about 15 of Charlotte’s friends in a small house on a snowy night.”

What could have remained an awkward situation soon turned into spontaneous collaboration as one of the non-Christian guys picked up a violin he happened to have brought and joined in the worship. Over the next two hours, intrigued by the worship music, some of the non-Christians drew near to the living room, allowing for spiritual conversations to ensue.

At the end of the night, as the group transitioned to an a Capella rendition of “Nothing But The Blood”, the entire house fell silent. “Absolutely no one was talking but everyone was listening to us singing ‘Oh precious is the Lamb’ at the top of our lungs,” Gray says. “It truly felt as if the strongholds on our campus were being shaken loose from the sheer volume of our voices. Upon the final verse, I closed us in prayer and I distinctly remember not a single sound as everyone, all 40 people were listening to me talk to God about the life, joy, and freedom that is found in Him and how I was praying for our campus to discover those things in Jesus Christ.”

A Campus Awakening

In the last year, Gray has joyfully watched as the Christian community on her campus has grown from her and 2 friends fervently praying for revival to a thriving group of 18 students continuously interceding for the campus. Lives are being transformed, and they have even seen things stirring among athletes as 2 senior football players and a junior female lacrosse player have surrendered their lives to Christ. In total, there are over 300 Christians spread across 14 campus ministries, of which 20 student leaders meet regularly to pray and worship together outside of their regular ministry meetings. According to Gray, the number of students who label themselves as Christians far exceeds 300, but currently, 300 are active members of a church and/or ministry on campus. And Gray is confident that this is only the beginning.

“God is pouring out His Spirit over Williamsburg, and William & Mary will never be the same,” Gray says. “Laughter will replace stress; life will replace suicide; and joy will replace depression. Most of all, Jesus will reign over our campus now and forevermore. Revival is here.” Most recently, Gray has signed up with Campus Renewal, pledging to personally pray daily, pray weekly with others, fast monthly and host an annual gathering on her campus.

“I chose to ‘join the movement’ because God is doing a big work here and any resources that He can provide us through Campus Renewal are vital and will be put to use,” she says emphatically. “Our campus is being transformed by the Lord through prayer and worship so we are joining the movement alongside other believers and other campuses and declaring that the movement of the Holy Spirit is welcome here at the College of William & Mary.”

Written by Kimberly Chung

Kimberly Chung is the founder of the National Media Department at Campus Renewal and served as National Media Director for 8 years. She now serves as the Student Leadership Development Director, helping to develop and mentor student leaders who she hopes will impact the next generation for Christ. She is also the editor-in-chief of the Campus Renewal Magazine and enjoys writing and reporting on stories of what God is doing on college campuses around the nation.

Luke 18 begins by saying Jesus spoke a parable that we might always pray and not faint. Jesus then tells us there was a wicked judge who didn’t fear God or care about men. Is there any place in society where corruption is as despicable as in the judiciary? The judge’s bench is to be our last protection against lawlessness.  And a certain widow woman came before this crooked judge who had been cheated by swindlers. She didn’t even have enough money left to hire a lawyer, but she came to court anyway. At first glance the crooked judge tore up her paperwork and threw it away. But the next day as he set on the bench his clerk handed him her papers painstakingly filled out again.

“There isn’t anything in this for me,” he shouted at his clerk and threw out her paperwork again. But the next day and the next she was there again. Week after week, month after month she sat there before him determined to find justice. Finally, the wicked judge said, “I don’t care about what is right, but I am going to grant this woman justice against her enemy just to keep her from wearing me out.

Jesus concluded, “Listen to what the unjust judge says.  And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

We face at least 4 unjust judges in our lives. Luke says the focus of this parable is discouragement that causes us to give up on our prayers. These four unjust judges seek to do just that.

Pray in spite of the judgment of Your Life Circumstances

We face situations in a fallen word that cause us to be discouraged in our prayers. Believers are not exempt from evil circumstances around us. You are a child of God on a mission from your Father in an unfair world. If you don't keep praying when life is not fair, you will miss a great part of the purpose of prayer.

Pray in spite of the judgment of Your Moods

Our own moods discourage us more than circumstances. In fighting moods that plague me nothing benefits me as much as focusing on the goodness of God. The unjust judge is not a picture of God in this parable. He is a contrast to God. Jesus points us instead to the goodness of God, the faithful love of God and the fact that God chose us to be His own. Have you ever sung the little chorus taken from 1John 3:1? “Behold what manner of love the Father hath given unto us, that we should be called the children of God.” I find praise songs to be a wonderful antidote to discouragement and depression. This one notes the awe that takes over the heart of a believer when you get a real grip on this truth. You are a child of the living God!

Pray in spite of the judgment Other People

Do you remember the story of story of blind Bartimaeus? The crowd was telling him to shut up rather than cry out to Jesus. People will often try to discourage you. I got a call from a chaplain friend this week who had received a terribly discouraging text on his phone 5 minutes before the chapel service was to begin. I told him, “That was done on purpose. I think the man who sent the text intended to discourage you. But even if he did not, our real enemy meant it so.”

Pray in spite of the judgment of Your Enemy

Believers need to know that we are in the midst of spiritual war. And the enemy of our God is the enemy of our souls. He will try to discourage you from doing anything God wants you to do. And he is especially terrified by your prayers. If he can keep you from praying, he will defeat you in every area of your life. But if you pray even when you are discouraged, he will not be able to keep you discouraged and God will shake the earth.

http://daveswatch.com/ 

http: //watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

Yesterday at the grocery store, the woman in front of me was taking a very long time to check out. I looked for a shorter line, but you know how it goes—the longer you’re in one line, the more committed you feel to riding it out. So I did.

Then I got nosy. Why was she taking such a long time? I leaned in while trying to act undercover, and then I realized what the holdup was. Miss Slowpoke was choosing which items to take off her bill. She had gone over her budget.

So methodically she picked up each item, inspected it, and pronounced her judgment:

“Canned mushrooms – Keep”
“Electronic toothbrush – Go”
“Mozzarella cheese – Keep”
“Mustache wax – Go”

And so forth. It was painful. But it got me thinking about God, specifically delighting in God in 2015.

One of my prayers for the New Year is, “God, become my chief delight.” I’m praying this because right now, he’s not. But I’d like him to be.

The Bible says:

“My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD, my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God” (Psalm 84:2)

“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” (Psalm 42:1-2)

When I read verses like these, I feel disconnected from their sentiments. Sure, I’d like to say they describe me, but in truth, they don’t. No, my soul does not pant for God or thirst for him. It doesn’t yearn, it doesn’t faint, my flesh does not cry out for the living God.

Most of the time I just want to watch TV.

And I’m in good company. A 2014 Barna survey revealed that practicing Protestants watch an average of 3.1 hours per day and practicing Catholics watch 3.5 hours per day. PER DAY! EVERY SINGLE DAY! That’s a lot of time.

But our time is driven by our delight. We do what we desire. Which brings me back to Miss Slowpoke. Today there are so many options for picking and choosing our delights. So many gems catch our fancy, we’ve never had so many options in life—television, tweeting, gaming, taxidermy. But there can only be one chief delight.

Perhaps God hasn’t become that because I haven’t let him. I haven’t turned my time over to him, haven’t waited on him, haven’t stoked my desire for him. Perhaps my view of God is too limited because I don’t expect him to become my heart’s true desire.

So God, become my chief delight. (And may he become yours, and even you, Miss Slowpoke.)

Prayer is not the seasoning for the real meat of Bible study. It is not a necessary additive to the real work of the church. It is not something we do briefly before we begin to worship. It is not to be a perfunctory way of opening to a sermon. I think it might better be thought of as the marinade that must saturate every aspect of Bible study. Prayer is the fire that cooks real spiritual meat; that warms the fellowship; that empowers discipleship; that prepares everything we do for and by God on the earth.

My nephew once told me a story from the church in China. A traveling evangelist was introducing the gospel to two remote mountain villages. He was very much afraid he would not be able to return to these new believers for many months. So he devised a plan to disciple them in his absence. He painted scriptures on small rocks and gave them to individuals in the villages. He told each person to memorize the verse and pray over it all day every day for a month. Then they were to share with the church what God told them in their verses. The man needed to leave before any believers were at all mature in the faith. And sure enough he was away even longer than he expected. Years had gone by before he was finally able to make his was back. He feared he would not find anyone remaining faithful. But when he arrived he found the churches thriving with many strong leaders in their midst.

What would God do in your life if you memorized a single scripture and prayed and meditated over it day and night for a month?

http: //watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://daveswatch.com/

Ephesians 4:11-12 reads, “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

The Spirit’s focus in these verses is not God’s gift of servants or ministers to the church, but the task of discipleship they are to fulfill. They are to bring about the unity of faith, the intimate knowledge of God and the spiritual maturity of Christ Himself. These are not things that can be accomplished by human skill, ability or effort. Such discipleship can only be developed in the presence and power of God.

There are a number of spiritual disciplines and aids to spiritual maturity, but they all involve prayer. The most important thing a pastor can do to grow the church spiritually is to get people to pray as they have never prayed before. He must begin this by developing his own prayer life and then by praying for his church members.

The list of spiritual maturity begins with unity in faith. The two most important factors in developing spiritual unity are praying for one another and praying together. When this passage speaks of the knowledge of God it does not mean knowledge about God, but intimacy with God. The key factor in getting to know God personally is spending time with Him in prayer. I would also include reading the Bible prayerfully, prayerful obedience to what God is telling you and struggling in prayer through difficulties that you face. As we grow in prayer through the hardships and trials we must deal with, God’s Spirit matures our souls to become more and more like Jesus.

http://daveswatch.com/ 

http: //watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

If you aren't on my email list or a friend on Facebook, you wouldn't know that I have been posting a FREE series of prayer training videos online. In response to a comment last night, I posted the following manifesto on Facebook...
 

MY PRAYER MENTOR MANIFESTO--

For the life of me I can't find it, but on one of my video prayer posts someone commented, "Prayer is just talking to God. Don't over complicate it."
 
I absolutely agree that prayer can be just talking to God. So, why am I doing these videos? I have met many people (and I was definitely one of these people) who feel totally lost in just talking to God. Some don't know where to begin. Some don't know how to hear the other side of the conversation. Some are worried they aren't doing it right. Some wonder what to say and for fear of saying the wrong thing say nothing. Some are in A bad place with God.
 
For you beginner folks...
For you folks who are lost, I get it. And I am doing this for you (but not just you, others that I will mention in a minute as well) At one point, I was utterly lost about prayer and didn't know where to start. I was a high school kid with no one teaching me and limited role models. Laugh if you will, but I was so lost I looked up the Lord's Prayer in an encyclopedia (if you're to young to remember what one of those is you can read about it on wikipedia) and memorized the prayer. I didn't know what else to do. So, I am here for you to help you get started so you don't have to be as lost as I was.
 
For you folks who know what to do...
And then there's you folks who know what to do, but you're struggling to get it done. Been there, done that...err...didn't do it. Whatever. You get my drift. I am here for you too with strategies to help you make prayer the priority it should be. So God is that best friend your constantly spend time with rather than that best friend you regret not having seen in a while.  

For you folks who could have so much more...

And then there's you folks who are praying, but you are scratching the surface of the amazingly rich conversation and well-spring of life prayer can be. You drop into conversation with God fairly regularly, but not at a depth that's changing who you are and how you live in profound ways. It's not at a level where you have that peace that surpasses all understanding. I'll confess, I don't live in that space as much as I want, BUT I live in and experience it enough to have a handle on a number of best practices that can help it become more normative for you.  

From the deepest place in my heart...

So here I am to help. Yes prayer is just talking to God. But if it's a conversation that doesn't come easy for you, or you're neglecting it more than you like, or it's less than anything miraculous...then I am here, not to complicate, but to aid, enrichen and solidify the most amazing connection in life you can have.  

Peace and Christ's love to you all,

John Arnold The Practical Disciple  

p.s. You can get my free training and our conversation about prayer can start here...  

Prayer Changes Things

Prayer changes things, right?  But who do you pray to, when, where, and about what?  Do those things make a difference?  As usual, man's ideas about these things are just about opposite to God's ideas, at least mine typically are.  Let's see if that is the case here.

Adam was used to hearing God's voice and enjoying God's presence, until Adam made his first bad choice.  God did all things for Adam's benefit.  After Adam failed his first choice and ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God drove him out of the garden so he wouldn't eat of the tree of life and live forever.  But that bad choice had serious consequences.  Man ate the fruit and died:

• immediately in his spirit
• gradually throughout his physical life time in his soul (mind, will, and emotions), and
• eventually in his body 

God drove Adam out of the garden so he would not eat of the tree of life and live forever under the consequences of choosing his own way over choosing God's way.  Talking with God became harder.  It now had to begin with admission and confession of sin.  "I chose wrong.  I picked my way over your way.  I am more sorry for my bad choice that broke trust with You, disrespected You, and doubted You, even than for the severe consequences my choice brought me.  I now know that you always have my best interest at heart, even when I do not understand.  In the future I will trust you with my life and my choices, seeking Your will and Your ways rather than my own."

So payer now involves restoration of fellowship with God.  Adam MIGHT have taken his communion with God for granted.  We should not do so because restoration is gut-wrenching work.  If you doubt this please read David's experience with this in Psalm 51.  True restoration leads to a new appreciation of God and His great compassion and wisdom toward us, somewhat akin to Mark Twain's description of how much smarter his Dad became as the son finally grew up and matured.  Another such picture of God is the father of the prodigal son patiently waiting until his son would wise up, come to his senses, and choose to return to his father. 

Such understanding of God and of praying with Him is of course most appropriate at any time.  For example the return of the prodigal son was "none too soon."  And God is so patient to listen to us talk or ask about anything that He places on our heart.  But what really changes when we pray?  Typically we may start out with our ideas, but if we really place ourselves under the control of God's Spirit He will guide us along routes and paths we did not anticipate.  When our prayers are successful it is ourselves that are changed.  Our sovereign God may choose to grant our petition and change circumstances, but more often He may leave circumstances unchanged in order to help us change and grow up in Him to appreciate Him more. 

When we arise from prayer changed more into His image and attitude, our prayer is successful, and vice versa.  Recall that God wants to change our body, soul, and spirit.  Such changes progress through our prayer and worship, from our spirit, to our soul, and finally to our body.  "With His stripes we are healed." 

James 5:16  Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

For the first time in almost 18 months, I’m leading a FREE 3-part prayer training series called, 'Surefire strategies to pray better and connect more deeply with God."

In the first video, I share a strategy that Jesus used in his prayer life that is seldom addressed--the use of  having distinct prayer spaces.  You get to see my three personal favorite prayer spaces and I'll share with you the unique role each one plays.  This strategy will keep you more consistent in prayer and help you more readily connect with God.

In the second video, I tackle the number one struggle people report to me, which is focus.  People are so busy and have been so conditioned by technology that being able to maintain focused thoughts during prayer has become almost impossible for many people.  In this video, I share some extremely quick and easy solutions for this epidemic problem.

Lastly, I just finished my third video and will be uploading it momentarily.  By the time you read this it will most likely be available as well.  In it I share my personal story of moving from learning to pray using an encyclopedia -- yes, you read that write "an encyclopedia -- to developing a very easy to follow system for evaluating and improving your prayer life called, "The Five Pillars of Life-Changing Prayer."  To get access to the entire series go to this link...

GET THE VIDEOS HERE:  Surefire strategies to pray better and connect more deeply with God.

These are strategies I have personally used and experienced the benefits of time and time again.  Don't take my word for it though.  Check them out.  I would love your feedback after you have had a chance to watch these videos.  I hope and pray that they are a significant blessing to you.

Peace,

John Arnold

The Practical Disciple

p.s. Warning: These aren't quick pithy videos.  Each one is about 25 to 30 minutes of solid practical training.

The following is from my upcoming book, One-Minute Devotions on Prayer:

“And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they’ll be heard because of their many words.” (Matthew 6:7)

When teaching about prayer, Jesus instructs us to keep prayer simple. But how easy it is to complicate! We worry about placing the “right” words in the “right” places, saying holy statements that sound good, not praying for too long or too short—oh my, what’s the right amount of time?

And as a result, we stress about prayer like we’re being judged by our performance. But all along, Jesus wants us to keep our prayers simple. He’s not impressed by bigger words, longer prayers, or professional-sounding speech. And he’s not turned off by our ums, uhs or stutters. Why?

Because Jesus is more interested in you! When I’m with my children, I’m not judging their speech or critiquing the conversation. Instead, I’m listening to them and enjoying my time with them.

Did you ever notice that the better you get to know someone, the simpler the conversation gets? We tend to be more formal with strangers and less formal with our friends and family. Jesus says it’s the pagans—those who don’t know

Jesus—who babble on. But the ones who know him—those he calls family—have no need for complexity.

Let’s pray: “Jesus, thank you that we’re family and prayer can be simple. Help me to relax when I pray and know that most of all, you’re interested in me.”

The heart of mankind longs for justice. I believe this longing is born in us. Have you ever noticed how quick children are to cry, Unfair?

These are certainly days that cause us to cry out for justice on every hand. And I believe injustices ought to anger us when we see them. I don’t believe God is necessarily put off by angry prayers for justice. I could site the deprecatory Psalms where the psalmists cry out for such things as the heads of the wicked enemy’s babies to be dashed against the rocks. Such Psalms point out the condition of our own hearts and that true justice only comes from the heart and hand of God.

Unlike the wrath of God, my anger never produces righteousness.(James 1:20) In fact, I need God to cleanse me from the wickedness that proceeds from my heart and clings to my soul in anger. I even find the selfish resentment and violence in my heart crying out for the painful revenge on a villain in a novel I am reading. It is not real, but it reveals the violence in my heart.

I am praying for justice in everything relating to the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO. I was grieved to hear it stated on television that the officer repeatedly shot the young man in the back. But of course, the evidence finally released showed that did not happen at all.

I still hate it that unarmed young men have been killed by police. I also sympathize with African Americans who see police targeting blacks. But I hardly think it brings justice to loot stores owned and operated by black people trying to make a living or for businesses to be burned to the ground that were providing goods and employment to a neighborhood.

Interestingly enough much Islamic terrorism grows out of a perverted desire for justice and what they perceive to be righteousness. Boko Haram kidnapped young girls because they were frustrated by what they saw as ungodly western education given to children.

However, we can pray for justice to be brought about even in our fallen world. Pray, pray, pray. And we can be confident as we pray that the day is coming and may be near when Jesus will return and establish the righteousness of God on the earth.

http: //watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

 http://daveswatch.com/

After the Lord gave me the privilege and joy of writing Gentle Whispers from Eternity and it was published in March 2013, I began praying that God would bless this book to change lives and glorify His name around the world. This prayer is being answered in amazing ways.

Gentle Whispers from Eternity has now been published in Urdu, the language spoken by millions in Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan. The book is currently being translated into Telugu, the primary language spoken in India’s second largest province; publication is scheduled for later this year. Jesudas David, missionary translating the book into Telugu, said he believes the book “will create a spiritual atmosphere in the Christian world in India and also around the globe.” Olga Tsifrynets, who teaches in a seminary in Kiev, has expressed her desire and intention to translate the book into Ukrainian and Russian. Veronika Lihov, who ministers to the homeless in Crimea, has offered to translate the book into Russian. I praise God for working in the hearts of these people to get His Word out to the world through this book.

It is exciting to know that Jamil Thomas, translator of Gentle Whispers from Eternity into Urdu, is distributing the book to individuals, pastors, priests, teachers, churches, and institutes. Pastor Thomas has given several lectures on the introduction and purpose of the book to people of various religions. Readers are sharing  that they have been encouraged by the book. A bishop in Faislabad said he uses the book to prepare his sermons. A priest in Toba Tek Singh said he “found the book very, very beneficial.”  A reader in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, wrote “I have done proof reading of many Christian books, but I found this very much different. The first time in my life I truly felt that Jesus is the only God and Lord. Every day I use it in my morning prayer; it seems to be the second Bible.”  These stories excite me and encourage me to keep sharing the book every way I can. It is clear that my prayer that the book have worldwide impact is being answered.  

For a couple of months, I had no contact with Jamil, and wondered why—perhaps he was heavily involved in other ministry projects (you can see how comprehensive his work is by checking his website www.Aim4Faith.org.  Then last week I received an email, sending pictures of people who had received copies of Gentle Whispers from Eternity, in which he said “we had very bad days after 11^th January. I wanted to write email, but I was not able to write you.”  When I asked, “Do you mean bad weather?” he responded: “No, my wife and I were coming back from villages where we had distributed Bibles and Gentle Whispers from Eternity to 30 people, when a group of militants attacked us, beat us badly, and took my laptop, camera, books, Bibles and motorbike. I was in hospital for 3 days and my wife remained there more than a week, so depressed and worried that she had a heart attack and stayed there 15 more days in ICU. We were out of the home and they broke into our home and took my desktop computer and printer from my office. Then they sent me a letter to stop preaching and stop distributing Bibles, Gentle Whispers from Eternity, and other Christian material. Thank God we are okay now and God has given us our lives back to proclaim His Word among the nation like Pakistan.”

When I asked Jamil for permission to share his story, he replied, “Yes, brother Johnny. You can share it with many more people, we need your prayers. What a wonderful thing if people from another continent pray for us in Pakistan.”

I have been thanking God for His marvelous answer to my prayer that He would bless, with a global influence, the book He inspired me to write. Now I’m earnestly praying for Jamil Thomas and his wife, faithful servants of Jesus Christ—that God will protect them as the apple of His eye and hide them in the shadow of His wings. Will you join me in prayer for their spiritual, emotional, and physical well-being?  Please also join me in prayer for Jesudas David in India, Olga Tsifrynets in Ukraine, and Veronika Lihov in Crimea—that God will give them grace to persevere in their translation goals of Gentle Whispers from Eternity—for His glory alone.

“The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.” (Isaiah 55:10-11 NLT)

Johnny R. Almond

Author, Gentle Whispers from Eternity

Interim Pastor, Nomini Baptist Church; Montross, Virginia

Blog & book info http://GentleWhispersFromEternity-ScripturePersonalized.com/

To continue reading, click here: 

http://www.hisinscriptions.com/blog/how-to-navigate-obstacles

Two days before Christmas in 1776 Thomas Paine penned the words, “These are the times that try men’s souls.” His words like the introduction to A Tale of Two Cities, could apply to almost any period since the fall of man. They describe an appalling reality in our day. Many of us are particularly alarmed by the moral decline that has swept our country. We are seeing the fulfillment of Biblical warnings of the last days. “There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.”[i]

How are we to respond to such moral and spiritual realities? The prophet Joel responded to the judgment of God that had fallen on Israel in his day with a call for unusual prayer.

“Consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD.”

Jonathan Edwards, one of the primary leaders of the Great Awakening in America, wrote a little booklet about urgent prayer. It had a long title for such a brief monograph.

A Humble Attempt to Promote the Agreement and Union of God’s People Throughout the World in Extraordinary Prayer For a Revival Of Religion And The Advancement Of God’s Kingdom On Earth, According To Scriptural Promises And Prophecies Of The Last Time

You can find this little booklet on line, http://goo.gl/nMogwY , and I do recommend it. The title itself addresses my thinking. God’s people must consider and, yes, even pray for extraordinary prayer in our day. I believe such prayer, and the thunderous results God would bring about, are promised to us in the last days as much as the terrible things we see.

What would extraordinary prayer look like today? What would it look like in your church? What if such prayer meetings spread from church to church across America? What might happen if extraordinary prayer spread like wildfire from people group to people group, from country to country around the world?

For the next few weeks I want to write about such prayer. As we consider what this would mean, pray with me for God to bring about extraordinary prayer in our time. Share these blog entries adding to them and commenting on them on line and off line with believers anywhere you may find them.

http://daveswatch.com/ 

http: //watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

“Be practical as well as generous in your ideals. Keep your eyes on the stars, but remember to keep your feet on the ground.” (President Theodore Roosevelt)

Private quiet time with God in rarefied spiritual heights is enjoyable. In fact, His company may be so sweet we consider constructing a shrine to revisit now and then; we may even feel we’d like to permanently move to our mountainside retreat. To escape the world’s polluted atmosphere and breathe pure oxygen, to be reenergized by invigorating heavenly elevation—what could possibly be any better? Reveling in friendship with God, we may wish we could just stay on Transfiguration Mount.

But being a hermit does not fit into our job description. We need frequent mountain climbing, to pray in solitude and keep our relationship with God on course. We also need to come down to earth to care for people. God is Love and He wants us to be loving. Preparation for ministry happens on peaks, but practical application occurs on everyday plains and depressed ravines.

We need to pray alone, and we also need to relate meaningfully. We need to ascend to commune with our Lord, then descend to serve others. It’s wonderful to enjoy tranquil interludes, so we can be strong in noisy chaos. But we should be careful not to become so heavenly minded we’re of no earthly good. When our head is in the clouds, God help us not to forget the crowds.

Though Jesus reveled in glory, when He sensed humanity’s plight He stooped to help. The King of kings descended the majestic mountain, assuming a servant’s role to compassionately care for a world in desperate need—now it’s our turn.

“Then Moses turned and went down the mountain.”  (Exodus 32:15 NLT)

Johnny R. Almond

Author, Gentle Whispers from Eternity

[This devotion based on Day 54 of Gentle Whispers]

http://GentleWhispersFromEternity-ScripturePersonalized.com/

Have you considered determining some things to commit to pray for all year? I have written in earlier blogs about committing to long term prayers. Doing this helps us get our spiritual teeth into more consequential matters. This kind of praying excludes the trivial. You will not be tempted at the beginning of a year to pray for a better parking place at the donut shop. You will have to think about, possibly struggle in prayer to determine yearlong prayers. You may even find yourself praying for things that will cause you pain.

I recently heard a sermon by Tim Keller on Romans 8:28. He emphasized the fact that this verse does not promise that the lives of believers will be easier or better than that of those who do not love God. This verse cannot be severed from verse 29 which says God will use hard things to make us like Jesus.

As I looked at the passage I realized that we also cannot separate these verses from verses 26 and 27 which begin by saying we don’t know what to pray for as we ought. I thank God that this verse assures us that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us according to the will of God. He intercedes for me rather than God answering foolish, selfish and sinful prayers I sometimes pray. I am not alone in such foolishness. Elijah prayed for God to take his life. But God interceded by explaining His will to the prophet. In the same way the Holy Spirit brings us into His intercession. As we grow in the Lord we come to understand how He wants us to pray even when what we are to pray for will be difficult or painful. The angel told Ananias that God was going to show Paul how much he would suffer for the name of Jesus.

I am praying for God’s Spirit to show me what He is doing and how I am to pray for His perfecting work in my life. He has already promised that the joy will be worth the sacrifice.

http://daveswatch.com/ 

http: //watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

If we are to obey the scriptural injunction to pray continually, we need to develop habits of prayer. I do not mean that our prayers should be merely habitual. They also need to be passionate and intentional. But we need to develop the habit of praying wherever we are. I just walked from a relative’s home where I am visiting to her public library. I had walked a quarter of the way before the Holy Spirit got my attention to remind me to pray for the houses I was passing. I would like to have begun in the first few steps of my walk. 

I do not know all the ways of developing this habit, but I know that the discipline of doing this when I had not been thinking about it will help me do it naturally. My prayer helped me begin watching for specific prayer needs. Watching is a crucial part of the habit of prayer. 

There have been times in my past that I have developed the habit of walking around in a spiritual daze. I want to be used to watching for hurts and needs that God will show me. I need to be alert to see what God is already doing in the situations He has placed me in so I can pray and work in His will. I want to form the same habits when I am in the bank or grocery store. I want to be in prayer as I am stuck in traffic, riding a bus or wherever I find myself on any given day.

This week I want to make an unusual request to all who are reading this blog. I want you to pray with me for my next few blog entries. I have a great burden to call believers across America and around the world into extraordinary prayer. During the Great Awakening Jonathan Edwards wrote a little booklet that you can still find on the web. It has a long title for such a small book. And the title itself expresses what I long for in my next few weeks’ blog posts.

"A Humble Attempt to Promote the Agreement and Union of God’s People Throughout the World in Extraordinary Prayer For a Revival Of Religion And The Advancement Of God’s Kingdom On Earth, According To Scriptural Promises And Prophecies Of The Last Time."

I am asking you to pray with me not only for Spiritual Awakening, but for God to use these next few blogs far beyond my ability to write to far more people than I would ordinarily reach.

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com

http://daveswatch.com/