There is a sense in which the most important part of a tree is its root system. The stability and nourishment of a tree come from its roots. And, of course, the roots grow more slowly than the branches. So it is with our spiritual lives.

For this reason and others, I recommend Scripture memory as a discipline of prayer. It is not impossible to prayerfully memorize an entire chapter each week. The main issue is slowing down to memorize, allowing God to nourish your soul. Here is the process.

Read a verse over until you can say it. Then go to the next verse. When you have it down, go back to the first and read them together. Then memorize the next. When you have it memorized, go over all three together. Continue this process until you come to a good stopping place. If you divide a chapter into seven segments, you can memorize it in a week. The next day you will have to re-memorize these verses before you start on a new passage. You will soon find this rearranging your entire schedule. And you and God may be pleased with the outcome.

Time spent in prayerful review is the key to memorizing. In reviewing Scriptures I have already memorized, I inevitably misquote some of the verses. I try to resist quickly correcting myself and going on. I often go over the verse several times until I get it right. I use this same process to review each chapter for two weeks. That means I am always reviewing two chapters while memorizing another. I am aware that this will require a significant amount of time. And the current quarantine may be the perfect time to embark on this project.

You will find that such scripture memory produces fervent prayer. I didn't realize this until I started memorizing in this way. Three kinds of prayer come automatically in this process.

1. I have to ask God to help me slow down and concentrate to fix the words in my mind. “Lord, help me memorize this verse!”
2. “Lord, plant your word in my heart and transform my life.” The goal of my Scripture memory is for God to transform my mind, making me more like Jesus. It is mainly in the process of reviewing passages that God takes me deeper spiritually.
3. While I am memorizing and reviewing, God brings people and needs to mind. And He gives me unusual faith as I take time to pray for them while I am deep in His word.

Even though it is automatic, such praying will also have to be intentional. You do not want to become so preoccupied with memorizing that you forget to pray. Scripture memory requires commitment. You will sometimes have to work at it when you are exhausted. You may have to pick up again after being too busy for a day or a week. You may want to set long term goals like memorizing the Psalms in six months, or committing the Gospels, an Epistle, or the entire New Testament to memory. Right now I memorize two chapters from the New Testament, then one from the Old Testament before returning to the New. All the time I work at this, I pray for God to work in my life. While God often uses memorized verses to minister to others, calling Scriptures to mind at crucial times, that is not not my main purpose in this. I do it for God to plant Himself in me.

This method is not “the law of the Meads and the Persians.” I encourage you to adjust this as God leads you. However, I do warn you against trying to shorten the time you spend doing it. God will bless every moment you spend in His word and prayer.

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I fear many Christians have the notion that we are saved by grace, but we are trained for righteousness by legalism. This is a serious mistake for Christians and it misses one of the most wonderful truths of scripture. In Titus Chapter 2 Paul tells us the grace of God trains us for Godly living. Look with me at these verses.

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”

Titus 2:22-14

Let me point out for you several ways that God uses His grace to train us to live Godly lives.

First, We Are Trained In The Gratitude of Grace.

We do not develop self control and godliness so we will be saved. We obey God out of gratitude that He has already saved us. This gratitude brings great devotion. “Look what  He has done for me!” It also produces humility in us that is foundational to a changed life. And focusing on His grace frees us defensiveness about our sin. Our sins were paid for on the cross.

We Are Trained In The Hope of Grace.

We are like a bride being adorned for our bridegroom. We love Him. And we are preparing our hearts to be ushered into His presence. We desire God's grace to be worked  into our lives more and more because we are looking forward to seeing Jesus face-to-face.

We Are Trained In The Transformation of Grace.

When we begin to follow Christ God brings about a radical change in our desires. But we still have habits of mind and behavior that must be changed on a deep level. Because the penalty for them has been paid we have freedom to deal with the root motivations of our pride, greed, lust, or whatever sin we would avoid dealing with if we were still being defensive. And God is planting more and more of His thinking and His holiness into our lives. The more we read His word, and live in fellowship with Him, the more like Him we become.

We Are Trained In The Fellowship of Grace.

God's Grace has appeared so that He might make us a people who are zealous for good works. We cannot do this, or be this, alone. We stand together. As we are united with Him by God's grace, we are united with others in the family. We love one another and encourage one another every day while it is still called today. (Hebrews 3:13)

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There is a notion that someone believes the gospel or not, but there can not be any evidence of it. In fact the proof of the gospel is integral to the presentation itself. On the Day of Pentecost Peter stood before the people and reminded them of the miracles Jesus had done among them which they knew.

I recently heard Tim Keller tell about a man who told a pastor he would believe if he could be shown airtight proof. The pastor said, “”Read the New Testament.” “Will that show me an airtight argument?” he asked. “No, but God gave us an air tight person.” It is difficult to read The New Testament without being impressed with Jesus.

Peter went on to declare that God raised Jesus from the dead, “and we are all witnesses.”

You may be familiar with Vince Vitale, now the Director of The Zacharias Institute in Atlanta.Vince has a PHD from The University of Oxford. He went off to college as a secularist, believing all truth claims were equal. But there his thinking was challenged for the first time. Someone gave him a Bible and invited him to read it. For some time he read skeptically, labeling things he thought unscientific with “b.s.” But as he came to the resurrection of Jesus and studied a little, learning that the resurrection was confirmed early, publically, by multiple witnesses. The testimonies of the witnesses went against their culture. It radically transformed their lives. They willingly, even joyfully gave their lives maintaining their testimony.

This was too much. How could he explain these testimonies? He made an appointment with the two leading New Testament scholars at Princeton where he was studying. Neither were believers, so he was sure they would explain away this problem. But one of them half-heartedly posed the theory of mass hallucination, which, incidentally does not exist. There is no such thing as mass hallucination. The other simply said, “As an historian, I'm not interested in the question.” What was he to do? While still at Princeton Vince gave his life to Christ.

In Acts 2:32 Peter declared,

“This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all Witnesses.”

Who were the witnesses included in that declaration? Peter was referring to those believers who were present. That included Thomas who would not believe if he could not touch His hands and side pierced by the soldiers. It probably included James, the brother of Jesus who didn't believe until Jesus rose from the dead. It may not have included Stephen who was later martyred asking God not to count the sin of those stoning him against them, and crying out that he saw Jesus seated by the Majesty on High. It did not include Paul who met Him on the road, and it could not have included all 500 people who saw Him at one time.

But there are still others who are witnesses of the living Christ working in their lives. Are you among them? Has He made a radical difference in your life? If so you too are a witness of His resurrection. You know he rose from the dead because of the difference He has made in your life. Others will see that evidence in you. And that means you know that He is Lord.

Acts 2:36 reads,

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.

This is the last of several blog entries taken from a sermon I preached at Crosspoint Church in

, NV. You can find the recording and other good things on their website.  http://crosspoint.org/index.php/2016-06-01-08-45-06/274-now-to-him-who-is-able-listen-carefully

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Super Glue

When you think of super glue holding things together, what do you picture?  Possibly you first want to know what we are binding together.  Animal, mineral, vegetable…?  A physicist might tend to think of forces like electromagnetic or even atomic.  Scientific observation and study yielded new progressing thoughts in areas like conservation of energy (including measuring all forms of energy before and after a reaction), electromagnetic interaction studies, the vacuum-inertial speed of light (c) is a constant, kinetic energy is proportional to velocity SQUARED, and finally E=mc², leading to powerful release of atomic energy.  But today we are diving into spiritual power that is “out of this world.”

Are humans actually capable of taking actions that can result in the release of tremendous spiritual power?  The answer is YES when we become aligned with God’s desires and purposes; this brings glory and recognition to Him, and it humbles and satisfies us.  “Godliness with contentment is great gain.”

Man’s ability to release God’s power is NOT at all like rubbing a lamp and commanding a genie.  Nor is it like chanting “magical words” or expecting consistently dependable and repeatable results from the application of a formula. 

There is no substitute for humbly submitting our will to the will of God in prayer in dependence and trust in His written promises.  Typically the process of conforming our will to God’s will takes time, commitment to Him, and devotion to prayer.  Psalm 37:4 promises, “delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”  In the middle of that promise is a spiritual reaction (transformation), a yielding of our spirit to His Spirit, including prayers of praise and thanksgiving where we learn to appreciate Him and His ways more.  Philippians 2:13 states ^“for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”  When prayer aligns our spirit with His Spirit He can safely grant us the desire of our heart, since our heart has become conformed to His heart.

But this kind of prayer priority places it above the attention of men, with no fanfare or recognition, but with tremendous godly benefits, like the secret prayers of George Mueller which tapped into God’s grace of daily provisioning of the needs of 10,000 orphans in Bristol during his lifetime.

Here are a couple of passages on being devoted to the priority of prayer FIRST and foremost.  Romans 12:10-12 (AMP) 10 Be devoted to one another with [authentic] brotherly affection [as members of one family], give preference to one another in honor;11 never lagging behind in diligence; aglow in the Spirit, enthusiastically serving the Lord;12 constantly rejoicing in hope [because of our confidence in Christ], steadfast and patient in distress, devoted to prayer [continually seeking wisdom, guidance, and strength],  Colossians 4:2  Be persistent and devoted to prayer, being alert and focused in your prayer life with an attitude of thanksgiving.

The early church in Acts practiced such corporate devotion to unifying prayer.  120 were united (powerfully held together) in prayer as they awaited Jesus’ promise of the Holy Spirit- “with one mind, continually devoting themselves to prayer.”  Acts 1:14  After seeing the fruit of over 3,000 believers added to their numbers in one day, they also continued devoting themselves to prayer.  Acts 2:42  This is the key to doing things God’s way, producing patience to see Him gloriously work as the Head of His body to coordinate our attitudes and actions in accordance with His will at His timing. 

What would our churches and our city be like if we repented and put prayer as the top priority in our personal and corporate lives, transforming each church into “a house of prayer for all nations?” – using the super glue of attitudes and actions of love, and first priority of prayer, depending on, and trusting in, God and His promises and provisions. Jesus prayed in John 17 for us to be known in this world by His badge of love, and united (One in Him- powerfully and corporately) as His effective body. “In Him, all things consist” (hold together). Col 1:17 And He Himself existed and is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. [His is the controlling, cohesive force of the universe.] We know that He reveals and manifests Himself through His Word and through praying together.  Better times are ahead!

Most of you are aware by now that I have begun writing two blogs, one every other week. Next week I will continue an entry begun last week on Praying Your Politics. http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

This entry continues last week's post on examining yourself for the Relief of Repentance.

Look again at the powerful prayer of David In Psalm 139.

"Search me O God and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

Searching you heart must key on Searching the Devotion of Your Heart.

I made a serious commitment to Christ the summer before my freshman year in high school. I went back to school a different boy. Sometime in that year a boy confided in me, cautious lest his friends

overhear. "I started going to church once. I was real serious about it. I went every Sunday and even on Wednesday nights. But after a while I just said, 'What's the use?"

I did not know what to say to him. And I'm not certain what he was saying. But most of us are aware of people who say something like, "I used to be a Christian. I was really devoted to God, but it didn't get me anything." Maybe they said something like, "I was devoted to God, but when I really needed something, He didn't come through."

Some of you may have thought something like that. But examine those statements with me. Was that person devoted to God or devoted to what they thought serving God would get them?

We need God's help to examine the devotion of our hearts. Do I love You, God? Or do I love myself. Do I love You, or do I love what I want you to give me?

There are a number of great things about God's searching in us. First, I can never see my devotions as clearly as God. I tend to see the specs in my brothers' eyes but I'm blind to logs in my own.

It is also good to go to God to ferret out my devotion because God loves and forgives me. Satan accused Job of loving God's protection and provision rather than God Himself. But even though it was partly true, God did not believe it. God always sees Jesus in me.

God also comes to us with the power to change our devotion. He speaks to us and draws our hearts to Him. O God, inspire the devotion of my heart. When I enter into worship alone or in church, when I take time to thank God for what He does for me, when I ponder my position in Christ, God’s Spirit draws me to love Him more and more.

“The longer I serve Him the sweeter He grows.”

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Lance Wallnau, says, “You get to choose the environment you create. You can create an environment that draws people to the Kingdom or pulls them out.” 

Rather than adopting your street with the intention of implementing program, folks who join ‪http:lovejax2020.org‬ and sign up to adopt their street spend time talking to God about their neighbors before they talk to their neighbors about God .… engaging in the ministry of presence and becoming more aware, alert, and awake to the fullness of the immediate moment.

I recently listened to a powerful sermon on missions by Tim Keller. sermons.redeemer.com/missions He drew his text from the prayer of Jesus in John 17. When he came to verses 16-19 where Jesus prayed that His followers be sanctified, Tim Keller asked the question, “What did Jesus put in the hands of the first disciples as He sent them out to change the world?” Did they have manuals on evangelism, or church planting, or even preaching? They did not. They had one thing, holiness. And they turned the world upside down. Surely the Lord’s holiness is something we need to pray for.

How do we pray for His such transformation in our lives? If we take the Lord’s prayer for our guide in this, we might begin with forgiveness.

And forgive us our debts,

As we forgive our debtors.

None of us is holy before God. We need the Holiness of Jesus imputed into our lives.

Forgiveness also has another side. A major part of transformation into the likeness of Christ is developing forgiveness in our hearts for others. We need to exercise prayers of forgiveness for those who have wronged us. You can pray for God to forgive people who have harmed you. Have you ever prayed like Stephen while he was being stoned,

“Lord, do not charge them with this sin.”

How could you ever pray such a prayer for those who hate you and are harming you? I have trouble praying that prayer for people who love and annoy me. Stephen saw Jesus seated on the right hand of God. If you had such a vision of the majesty of our Lord, you might be able to pray as he did. Hebrews 11:27 tells us Moses endured as seeing Him who is invisible. 1 John 3:2 tells us we will be like Jesus when He returns for we will see Him as He is. We get a glimpse of His face as we spend time with Him in prayer and we are made more and more like Jesus.

In fact, for holiness we need to start earlier in the Lord’s prayer than His word on forgiveness. As Jesus modeled, we need to begin with worship and praise.

“Hallowed be your name.”

As we grow in fellowship with Him we will expand our praise more and more. Such praise gives us a clearer and clearer vision of the glory and majesty of our Lord. And it naturally leads to submission to His will.

Your kingdom come,

your will be done,

   on earth as it is in heaven.

Holiness is not simply the absence of sin. It is growing obedience that rejoices in His will. 

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Our street evangelism ministry was failing. For the third week, no one showed up for the weekend outreach, and in the dim glow of the streetlights, I asked God to continue his work. A few months later, Jeff and I had dinner. The next summer we started praying for Lansing, MI. once a week in his basement. Eight months later, after training and consulting our pastors, we walked into the porn stores and dark, sweaty bars in downtown Lansing, MI on a blustery February Friday evening. We introduced ourselves to our new congregation.

We met the owners, employees and bar tenders on Michigan Ave. and promised we would be their pastors. After 4 years of weekly ministry and constant prayer, two bars closed, one of the porn stores burned down, and a few dancers and workers attended our church. Within two more years, the blocks we adopted as our ‘church’ were purchased by a local Christian business association. The entire area was razed, and replaced with a new civic arena, and a family friendly AAA ball park.God is Good. He did exceedingly above anything we could ask, or think.

Prayer that moves God’s heart isn’t about running through a laundry list of my needs, wants, and desires. Prayer isn’t about what I think is important, or the Top 10 on my Spiritual To-Do List. Prayer isn’t:

• A cosmic gumball machine, into which I insert my prayers and get what I want back.
• An exercise to earn God’s love, favor, love or attention.
• Unloading my cares and burdens on God, on the run.

Real prayer is much deeper, and much more costly. Maybe that’s why, in our instant and digital generation, our prayers are so ineffective. Prayer is communing with God and spending time with a Father that loves and longs to meet with us. Intimacy like that takes time. Prayer is spending time listening to, and talking with the One who knows you thoroughly and loves you deeply. Prayer is:

• Setting your heart on what is important to God before pursuing what is important to me.
• Connecting your heart, mind, soul and spirit to God’s voice, love and will for you.
• Letting God work in you, so that later, that he can work through you.

Here are a few scriptures to help move you toward life changing, heart rending, world shaking prayer.

• Real prayer is Emotional – read Ps 137 and pay attention to the way the writer pours out his raw feelings to his God.
• Real Prayer is Honest – Read aloud Ps 41 and 42, and consider times when you were burdened, happy, worn out, and trusting. Did you feel free to express these things to your Father?
• Real prayer isn’t instant. In Dan 9.24ff, Daniel read a promise from God written by Jeremiah nearly a hundred years earlier. He approached God on the basis of this promise, and asks God to keep his promise to release Israel from captivity. According to Dan 10. 1-14, he fasted and prayed for three more weeks before receiving God’s response.

“The life of the church is the highest life, and its office is to pray. Its prayer life is the highest life, the most fragrant, the most conspicuous. When God’s house on the earth is a house of prayer, then God’s house in heaven is busy and powerful in its plans and movements. ‘For mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people’ (Isaiah 56:7), says our God. Then, His earthly armies are clothed with the triumphs and spoils of victory, and His enemies are defeated on every hand… The very life and prosperity of God’s cause - even its very existence - depend on prayer. And the advance and triumph of His cause depend on one thing: that we ask of Him.”  E. M. Bounds
 
There is supernatural power released when the Church in the city prays. What is needed in the worldwide Church at this hour is a unified, praying Church. We need supernatural power. Only the power of God will defeat the attacks of the enemy in our cities. When the Church in a city or region decides to drop its own agendas and decides to come together to pray, there is great spiritual power released into the atmosphere. Prayer will affect everything! It will affect time, places, occasions, and circumstances. A praying Church within the city brings success and supernatural power into that region.

We must get on our knees and seek God passionately together. 

The obstacles towards city transformation are many. We must believe that our cities can be transformed by the power of God. We must know that none of us has the answer to our city; only God does. He is the one who transforms and brings change. This is all about the Kingdom of God and intimacy with the King. We must stop our busyness, remove ourselves from the distractions all around us, and become passionate for God. It is time to seek the Lord. We all want transformation in our cities. In his book, E. M. Bounds on Prayer, Bounds emphasizes that a praying church is a successful church:

“Success is sure to follow a church given to much prayer. The supernatural element in the church, without which it must fail, comes only through praying. More time in this bustling age must be given to pray by a God-given church… More heart and soul must be in the praying that is done if the church would go forth in the strength of her Lord and perform the wonders that is her heritage by divine promise.”

Requirements for Transformation in Your City

God wants to come into your city with His presence. He is greatly concerned with your city and cares deeply about reaching the people who live there. We need to ask ourselves, “What are the requirements needed to bring God’s power into our city - power that will reach the lost and set the captives free? What is required for transformation in our city that will change the face of everything?” Here are some requirements that will help bring life and transformation into your city:

• Make prayer a priority. Fervent prayer will release God’s destiny for our cities. Be willing to persevere in prayer with a holy determination. Determine not to let go of God until He breaks through. Become desperate for God.
  
  
• Expect God to work uniquely in your city. Don’t think He will do the same in your city as another one. The work of God comes through prayer, and it is unpredictable and out of man’s control. God will show up in unexpected ways. We think our strategies are the way, but God sees things in a much more powerful dimension.
  
  
• Seek for unity among the churches in your city. Remember that God doesn’t need a majority but He only needs a few churches coming together with hungry hearts for the cause of revival and transformation of the city. The presence of God will bring supernatural unity as we cry out to Him for it. Only together will we see the results that God wants. Seek to unite with other churches in prayer for transformation.

Are we willing to pay the price for God to transform our cities through prayer? God’s heart is that your church becomes a praying church. For many of us God has brought us to the point of desperation. We are willing to lay down our own agendas and get on our faces before God for however long it takes. We have seen that our own methods and plans will never change the increasing darkness that is permeating our land. 

We are becoming desperate and that is a good place to be. Seeking the manifest presence of God in a region is risky, but it is the way towards a true and powerful transformation in our cities. In the Transformation video by George Otis, Jr., the following words were spoken that stress the requirements for transformation:

“It’s risky, aggressive, and brought about through prayer. It’s not predictable and out of our control. There is an unexpectedness of God. We are fooled by strategy. We lack God’s processing power. You can’t format God. We are proud and impatient. God’s approach is to come in through the back door. He shows up, not shows off. There is a flow with the Holy Spirit that is not stage-managed. He is willing to be invited but only on his terms.

Leaders must be committed to a community. They must persevere through apathy and not give up. I can’t coast and there is no time to say, 'I’ll relax.' It’s not a quick start but a long run. The goal is to get to the last day and then face Jesus and through everything to direct men and women toward the Kingdom. God is looking for a man who will take the burden on himself for the nation. God is looking for leaders who will stand in the gap for their nation, who don’t care who gets the credit. They are not stakeholders but shareholders. They give God the glory. Revival leaders are often unlikely choices. The measure of leadership is not influence with the public but influence with God.”

Are we ready for transformation in our cities? Are we willing to enter into God’s heart in prayer that the Church in our city becomes a praying Church?  

A few years ago we started a month-long 24/7 House of Prayer in a central location in southern Spain. As we prayed, God began to fit everything into place. He provided in an amazing way a large 200-year old hotel. This place was set apart for the entire month to seek the face of God. Churches and individuals in the region dedicated time in the prayer room. They chose to unite and drop their differences. They were seeking God’s Kingdom purposes for that region. Individuals from several other countries came, dedicating large amounts of time in the prayer room. 

Cities around the world are beginning to seek God for transformation. Houses of prayer are starting all over the world. Here at the International House of Prayer (IHOP-KC) hundreds of individuals from all over the world come to learn how to start a House of Prayer and see transformation in their city. Join us for the free OneThing young adult conference (One Call, One Story, One Coming King) here in Kansas City through the webstream. We expect 25,000 young adults here and perhaps 30,000 through the webstream. It is good for all ages and is excellent preparation for the future.  See OneThing. 

It’s time to believe that God will transform our cities through prayer. There is power in a praying Church. God is inviting us to enter His heart for a praying Church. We invite you to pray this prayer for your city and believe God for a mighty transformation: “Lord, whatever it takes. Give me the grace to get there. I will live and die believing for my city to be transformed.”  

“The time has come to lift the bar of expectations. Transformation is attainable for God. This is the heartbeat of God. It’s not the work of man. It’s the finger of God. 'If you call on me, I will answer.’ He takes care of the problems. The church becomes a beacon of light and hope.” George Otis, Jr., Transformation video

• Great Christmas gifts! 4 books on prayer and intercession with a 20% discount on each book - Use the discount code – PL6G7Y59. See www.intercessorsarise.org.
• Have your friends sign up for Intercessors Arise here!
• Become a member of the Intercessors Arise International Network here. Connect with intercessors and what God is doing in prayer worldwide! Discover many resources and training on prayer in this network.
• Join and like the Intercessors Arise facebook page for daily encouragement in your prayer life. 

 
Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
International House of Prayer (IHOP) KC Staff
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Each of us has a gap between our Rhetoric and our Reality. In some cases, the distance between the two is enormous. Remember the Jerusalem crowds shouting “Hosanna” one moment and “Crucify Him” just a few days later? There was quite a gap between their enthusiastic Rhetoric on Palm Sunday and the Reality of their hearts when Jesus was on trial.

How can we explain such big gaps between Rhetoric and Reality? Sometimes this is simple hypocrisy, reminiscent of politicians who persuade voters with lofty promises they have no intention of keeping.

At other times, there’s a major problem with self-awareness. We’ve all met people who sincerely believe their glowing press clippings—the Rhetoric—but are oblivious to the Reality of their situation. That’s why we all need a few honest friends in our life, those who will lovingly reveal our blind spots (Ephesians 4:15).

This is not a minor issue. When there’s a large gap between a believer’s profession and their possession, the stinging words of Romans 2:24 come into play: “God’s name is blasphemed among [unbelievers] because of you.” Ouch.

But sometimes the gap is completely well-intentioned, a matter of “confessing the Word” when we aren’t yet walking in what it promises. We tell people we’re healed and then sneeze all over them. Or we proclaim that God has touched our aching back, but we’re still bent over like a Neanderthal. Whatever maladies we still face are just “lying symptoms,” we like to tell people.

In the case of Mephibosheth, there was a wide chasm between his calling as a prince and his deplorable experience living in the squalor of Lo Debar (2 Samuel 9). But this huge gap between the Rhetoric of his calling and the Reality of his experience was suddenly and dramatically bridged by three of the most beautiful words in the Bible: “I WILL RESTORE” (v. 7). This is God’s powerful message to us as well, no matter how wide the gap may be right now.

Often the gaps we face are not the result of any misdeeds or lack of effort on our part. Abram (“exalted father”) was renamed Abraham (“father of a multitude”). All the while, he and Sarah had no children, though they had tried for many years.

What a lesson! Often it is humanly impossible to bridge the gap between our calling and our experience. We need a miracle from God in order to finally get our “Isaac.”

And be clear on this: The first step in transformation is being honest with yourself and recognizing your need.

What gaps are you facing? What Realities in your life are falling short of your Rhetoric? Once you’ve truly faced the gaps, you can believe God for healing and restoration. But transformation will remain elusive if you insist on putting your head in the sand and pretending there aren’t any gaps to bridge.

Your turnaround can start today. Leaving behind any frustrations or failures in your past, you can press on toward God’s best for your life (Philippians 3:12-14). No, this doesn’t mean you will suddenly be perfect. But it does mean your new Reality will become much more in line with your Rhetoric. And that will bring peace, wonderful peace.

Being old has its benefits. And I don’t just mean the senior coffees at McDonalds.

I’m old enough to know that “what goes around comes around,” and King Solomon had it right when he observed that “there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). History really does have a habit of repeating itself, particularly if we fail to learn its lessons the first time around.

But recently I’ve come to appreciate another benefit of having lived awhile: I’ve seen that God is a skilled Artist who delights in “connecting the dots” in our lives. Perhaps you haven’t lived long enough to see this fantastic divine pattern yet, but I believe you will in time.

By “dots,” I mean whatever experiences, events, relationships, successes, failures, pains, or pleasures you’ve encountered during your life. Some of these dots you’ve no doubt categorized as “bad,” and other ones you’ve probably described as “good.” And if you’re anything like me, many of the dots in life simply seem random—without any apparent purpose…making absolutely no sense at the time.

Yet I have good news for you today—news so good you probably will find it hard to believe: As time goes by during your life, the Lord will increasingly connect the dots and reveal an intricate, well-planned masterpiece. Yes, He’ll connect even the dots that once made no sense. And if all the dots still don’t seem to be perfectly connected by the end of your earthly life, He will surely finish the job in eternity.

By the time God gets done with His handiwork, EVERY dot will be connected, and NOTHING will be wasted. He will find a use even for your most painful dots or and the events you considered your greatest failures.

You see, the Bible has been right all along when it told us that “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). Read that one more time. It doesn’t say just SOME thing work together for good—it says “ALL THINGS!”

Now take a few minutes to consider some of the “dots” you wish you could erase from your life. Believe it or not, God can do something good even with those painful or ugly dots. In the next few weeks, I’ll be launching an e-book on preventing, surviving and recovering from church splits. Sad to say, I’m one of the world’s foremost experts on the subject—but the Lord is going to use my painful and unwanted experiences to help thousands of pastors who are dealing with such things in their own churches.

And if you still doubt God’s ability to turn around tragic events and use them for His purposes, consider King David. I’m sure he wished he could erase his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah (see Psalm 51). But Bathsheba ultimately gave birth to Solomon, and she ended up in the family lineage of Jesus, the Messiah! (Matthew 1:6) God is great in mercy, isn’t He?

And in case you think God only loves you or offers you His favor when you are “good,” let me share one more connect-the-dots illustration.

Although I’ve never been much of a stargazer or astronomer, the Big Dipper is one constellation that’s always blessed and intrigued me. First of all, note that it’s not a “dipper” at all until you connect the dots of the various stars.

But what amazes me about the Big Dipper is that it’s continually tilted in such a way as to pour out its contents. My friend, that’s exactly how God wants you to see His love and favor for you. It’s not something that comes and goes, nor is it so fragile that it can easily be lost. In fact, Paul assured us that NOTHING can separate us from the love of God…nothing (Romans 8:28).

So take heart today. Nothing has happened in your life that is too awful for God to forgive or to redeem for His glory. Go ahead and give Him the dots—all of them—and you’ll be amazed by the beautiful tapestry He’ll produce.

It's no wonder so many people (and even pastors) are discouraged with prayer. Instead of a genuine encounter with God, prayer is little more than a grocery list of requests. Maybe you, too, seek God's hand rather than His face.

My newest book, Transforming Prayer - How Everything Changes When You Seek God's Face, we discover how to:

• Pray to seek God's face NOT just His hand.
• Pray with your heart fixed on God's glory NOT just for personal satisfaction
• Pray from the treasure of God's word NOT simply from a list of your own ideas
• Pray according to the Spirit's instruction NOT only from human reason
• Pray with a heart completely surrendered to His will NOT with a hurried personal agenda
• Pray in anticipation of living triumphantly in the war-zone NOT with a satisfaction with the comfort zone.
• Pray that God would change you NOT that He would simply change things.

Transforming Prayer presents life-changing truths and practical handles to get you started in a fresh adventure in your time with God. You will enjoy "trophies of transformation" throughout the book as individual stories of life-change are told. Discussion questions for each chapter are contained in the back of the book, making this a great tool for your next small group or Sunday School study.

For brief video introductions to each chapter, free downloads, and more information about the book, please visit www.transformingprayerbook.com.

I interviewed Steve Loopstra of Sentinel Group on the principles and obstacles of community transformation.

He unpacks several important concepts critical for every prayer leader's understanding of how to invite God to your city or community and what attracts God's presence.

My CIty Podcast Archive>>>