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A Prayer to Keep God in the Center

“The biggest battle we each might fight is to stay focused on God long enough to learn to abide in His presence. Before we can redeem the world, we must redeem our time. And we would think that with all the time saving conveniences we have in life, that this would be easy but it is not." Francis Frangipane 

A focused life is not scattered in many directions because of the distractions. A focused life always moves to the center even in the busiest times because it is like a magnet attracted to Jesus, knowing that He alone is the one who makes everything work when priorities are in order. 

We used to live in Virginia Beach so we learned a lot about hurricanes. A few years ago we had a hurricane called Ernesto that swept through the area. Ernesto was not a very forceful hurricane, yet many trees fell because of the strength of the winds. Many people lost one or more trees during that hurricane. It left Virginia Beach in a huge mess with trees and branches lying everywhere.
 
The stability of the trees depended on how deep the roots went below the surface. Shallow roots could not stand the force of even a small hurricane. In Virginia Beach in mild weather you could never tell how deep a tree’s roots extended, but in a hurricane the truth was exposed. Shallow roots meant a big downfall. The roots just could not sustain the tree.

Likewise, right now God is developing our prayer life and the depth of our personal relationship with Him. He wants us to be stable and strong in difficult times as we keep Him in the center of our life.

This 4 1/2 minute prayer will help you to keep God in the center of your life. It is called: A Prayer to Keep God in the Center.

This is from the Intercessors Arise International School of Prayer. 

Blessings,

Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
International House of Prayer Kansas City (IHOPKC)
www.intercessorsarise.org

Imagine the hardest rain storm you have ever been in; lightening, thunder. It is so severe that you are fearful of the damage it will bring to your house and your very life. Then a man walks out and tells the storm to go away. Everything goes quiet, everything is calm. With amazement you look at the man and say; "what kind of man is this?" This is none other than Jesus, the Son of God, the Son of Man.

Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!"

He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!" Matthew 8:23-27

Pray that this amazing Son of God, Son of Man would bring amazement to the peoples of the Arabian Peninsula. May the people of the Arabian Peninsula be amazed by Jesus and put their faith in Him, coming to know Him and all that He is-the Son, the Man.

DAYS 1-17 ARE HERE

DAY EIGHTEEN:
VERSES:
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge...(Psalm 18:2)
PRAYER:

Most Heavenly and Holy Father, on Christ the Solid Rock I stand, ALL other ground is sinking sand. You are the Almighty, the Lord of Heaven's Armies, the Creator of All Things, the Upholder of the Universe, the Sustainer of All, the Provider, Protector and Standard of Your people! Through You, all was created by and for You and You rule over all. You uphold the righteous, You hug the loveless, You reach out to the hopeless, You guide the careless, You discipline the reckless and You grant favor to the penniless.

You reward those who bless You and pray for Your people. But You turn Your Holy Face against the hard of heart and those who reject You. You sent down fire and brimstone to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. You destroyed Pharaoh's army in the Red Sea.  You wiped out the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom and gave them to the Assyrians. Today, perversion and corruption reigns as the followers of evolution have denied the Creator and worship the creation (Romans 1:22-25). You have given then the ultimate pre-Judgment - You gave them over to themselves. The righteous see them rampaging through and destroying our family structure, the unborn and the great institutions You ordained with no brakes and no check in sight. But this is just for a time. They have a future eternity to think of and regret all of this.

But You oh God, are my deliverer. You sent Your Son the Savior to set the captives free, to deliver us from all evil. While we are set upon, beat up, pressed down, oppressed and spat upon by the lost, from the outhouse to the fanciest house, You stand there for us. You stand in the Gap as our Shield and Buckler. Your guardian angels protect us daily, even in our temporary folly.  Because You are unshakeable...because You always existed and there is none like You...because You are God before the foundation of the earth....because You are sinless, pure, holy, and good and because You see the beginning from the end, You are more than a fortress. You are a bulwark. You are to Whom we run when we seek refuge and comfort. You are to Whom we raise up our hopes and hands because You are the Fountain of Righteousness and Source of All Power! Words cannot describe You. You scoff at the scoffing pagans and heathens of this world as they shake their puny fists like Nimrod did and You can remove them by a single word. Yet You stay Your hand not wanting that any should perish. You are a merciful as well as powerful God and we love You. We worship and adore You. We magnify Your Powerful Name, Oh Lord of Heaven's Armies Who shall one day return to rule the earth, and it is in Jesus' Strong Name I pray, amen.

One of the best things about the discipline of praying for organized lists of people is that God impresses me with difficult people to pray for. It strains my prayer life to pray for people I do not necessarily like. It stretches my faith to pray for people whom I can hardly imagine changing.

I pray daily for family members who have ruined their lives and the lives of others I love. And I find myself asking, "How could God straighten out the mess they have made?" I also pray for people with whom I fiercely disagree. I know I could not change their minds. Can God change their hearts or mine? I am often doubtful when I come to the names of some of these people. I have begun saying, "I am taking this person to You, Father. You can do anything."

This seems to be enough to ease the anxiety of my unbelief. The key to strengthening our faith is in recognizing the greatness and nearness of God. This prayer not only rests in His great power, but also on His ability to understand the complex problems people are facing. I do not necessarily believe this is strong faith, but focusing on God is certainly the step of faith I need in praying for difficult people and circumstances.

http://daveswatch.com/

The book, Vibrant Prayer, edited by John Mark Read is a book of many articles, notes, brochures and other resources -- a variety of thoughts by a variety of people, all documented sources. It is a book that any church can customize for their own people. The Post Road Christian Church in Indianapolis IN did just that. Order the book from Amazon.com and take a look. If you want to write your own Foreword, Introduction and back cover information it is easily done. Drop me a note if this might interest you. The book, My Prayer Book, contains the same (plus additional) material, but is not "church/congregation specific."

God woke me up early this morning with a very challenging, yet encouraging, message on my heart: “I’m looking for a return on My investment.”

If you’ve spent any time in the business world, you are familiar with this principle. Those who invest money in a business venture don’t do so just for altruistic reasons—they expect their investment to grow and give them a return. This “Return On Investment” is commonly abbreviated ROI.

God loves us. He wants to meet our needs. He’s a generous Heavenly Father who loves to bless His children. But make no mistake about it: God is an investor.

Take another look at the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30. The master was a businessman. He distributed his resources to his three servants in differing amounts, but he expected each of them to gain a ROI.

You see, the master was an investor, and he expected his servants to understand that fact. He wanted them to be investors too, gaining an increase on what they had been given.

Let’s understand this clearly: The master didn’t want his servants merely to be CONSUMERS or HOARDERS. He expected them to be profitable INVESTORS.

Two of the three servants in this story got it right. “The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more” (v. 16 NLT). According to The Message, this servant “doubled his master’s investment.” This was an impressive 100% ROI.

Sadly, the third servant was a hoarder. He wanted to play it safe, so he merely buried his allotted resources in the ground. When the master returned, this man proudly told him, “I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent” (v. 25 MSG). At least this servant hadn’t consumed everything he had been given, as some of us might have done.

But instead of being impressed, “The master was furious” (v. 26). He had expected the servant to exercise some faith, take some initiative, and gain a ROI.

I saw this principle at work when I inherited some money several years ago. Wary of the fluctuations of the stock market, my first thought was to just put the money in a savings account at the bank, where my inheritance would be safe. But my banker called me one day and confronted me on this. He pointed out that the rate of inflation was higher than the interest rate on my savings account. So my “play it safe” strategy was actually losing money every month.

God has made a huge investment in His people. He gave us His Son and, with Him, everything else we could ever need (Romans 8:32). He promises to bless us, but in turn He expects us to BE a blessing, so that His name and fame are spread throughout the earth (Genesis 12:1-3).

Perhaps you don’t have a lot of money today, but that is not the point. The third servant may have tried to excuse his hoarding by the fact that he didn’t have as much to start with as the others.

The question isn’t what you don’t have, but rather this: What are you doing with the money, time, talents, relationships, and resources you do have? As God is challenging me, let me ask you today: What has the Lord put in your hands? Whatever it may be, He wants you to use it to bless others, thereby gaining a return on His investment.

What ideas has He given you that you’ve never yet acted upon? What teachings from His Word have remained dormant in your heart, never yet implemented? What God-given dreams have you merely buried in the ground?

It's time to ask God to give us His strategies for increase--and then obey what He tells us!

This past weekend I had the privilege to go to Lowville, NY where I conducted a prayer experience.  It was an awesome time of the outpouring of the Spirit of God.

While I was there the name Daniel Nash came up, so along with a great friend we went to view his grave and memorial.  The experience left me a little staggered as I realized what his life was about.  In brief he was one of the two or three men who went into a town or city 3 or 4 weeks before Charles Finney was to come.

Daniel and Abel Clary would often go to the place and fall on their faces before God and pray with groans too deep for words.  In other words they bombarded heaven for the needs and sins of the location.  When Charles Finney showed up the town was ripe for a revival.  Finney stated that he could not preach repentance without the prayers of these men.  This was the lead in to the Second Great Awakening.

When I got home I read in 1 Kings (14) about three of the kings of Israel (northern kingdom).  Each of them did evil in the sight of the Lord.  Each of them had God’s justice meted out on them.  The nation of Israel in each case followed the model of the king and did evil in the sight of the Lord.

Then, as is my habit, I went over to one of the prophets; in this case it was Hosea (2) and read what he said about the nation of Israel.  He told the nation that they were like prostitutes with their flirty and sexual innuendo way of life.  In an easy to understand symbolism he told Israel that they had set up a society where no one was sure who the father of the children being born was.  He also said that the fathers were not taking their responsibilities as fathers.  He concludes with the concept that when a nation has the practice of no sexual boundaries that that nation is in decline and judgment can’t be far behind.

Finally, I read in Matthew 14 where Jesus heard that his cousin, John had been beheaded because of an overtly sexual dance that was spawned by jealousy because John had called Herod out because he had taken his brother’s wife.

Jesus took this opportunity to go to a private solitary place where He prayed.  It is likely that He prayed all night for comfort.  He also likely prayed for the people of Israel because the next day when they showed up after walking all night He had compassion on them and healed the sick. 

What do these last three things have to do with each other?  They all describe a nation that has heavy cultural issues.  They are all about the decline of morality in the area of sexuality.  When a nation or culture loses its purity in this area the nation will face the judgment of God.

This is all drawn together in the life of Daniel Nash.  He had been voted out of his church after leading them in two revivals that brought many people into the kingdom.  Then he contracted a serious eye infection.  He could not stand light.  For 3 or 4 months he did nothing but stay in a dark room so that he could recover.  During this time he could not read or write.  It was in this time that he learned how to pray.  It totally transformed his Christian life.  For the next 7+ years he did nothing but travel ahead of Charles Finney and prayed and fasted for a month for a spiritual breakthrough.

He was serious about seeing his culture recover.  He said about his prayer life: “Considering the souls being saved and the very culture of the area being changed in such a revival, it should be no surprise that persecution came to these laborers.”

Did you see that, he prayed for the culture of the area to be changed? 

It is now time for those who call themselves by the name of Christ (Christians) to rise up and pray for our culture to change.  Without this prayer the culture will continue to decline and can the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah be far behind?

Daniel Nash’s final words were: “Say, if you please, that I die in the faith of the Son of God.  Of myself I am nothing.  I trust alone in the merit and death of a crucified savior for pardon and acceptance.”

So will you join me in prayer and fasting for our nation and ask the Lord to revive our Christian culture?  It’s time for the Third Great Awakening.