prayer (425)

9651005896?profile=originalI have a secret to confess. It's been over 30 years, and I have to come out of the closet – or at least out from behind the couch. I was 6 years old, and one night after my mom herded me off to bed, I crept back down the stairs, and hid behind the couch in our family room. Just out of her line of site, like a moth to a flame I was pulled into one of 1966's most innovative TV programs. I watched with wide eyes as Gene Roddenberry's “Wagon train to the stars” told the story of the Enterprise and its five year mission to go where no man has gone before. Yes – I have to come clean – I am a closet Trekkie.

This is no surprise to my wife or kids. When the Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager spinoffs hit the airwaves, I remember pulling my kids onto my lap, and along with a bowl of popcorn, we watched Captain Picard continue the mission that my childhood heroes Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock began. The names had changed but the story was the same. Men, women and aliens banded together to face the unknown, out-gun old enemies and out-smart new ones. For those who are wondering . . . yes . . . we even attended a Star Trek convention or two.

One of my favorite episodes in that original series featured displaced society adrift in a hollow, round spaceship. War had left their planet uninhabitable, so their society's leaders built a 'world' inside a space-going ball. The catch was that the citizens believed that they were on a planet. an artificial 'sun' rose and set, and the entire world was designed to replicate home. After three generations drifting through space, their outside-in spaceship was the only world they'd ever known.

The episode's conflict because the spaceship was off course, and drifted toward an inhabited planet where it would crash and create galactic destruction. As the story raced toward it's climax, Kirk and his cohorts faced the challenge of convincing the inhabitants that they were on a space ship, not a planet. The Federation heroes had to help the helpless, and convince the society that what they believed was wrong, and what they experienced on a daily basis isn't real. There was a larger world outside of themselves. They had to change their reference point, and accept a new reality based on truth which resided outside of their experience, or face certain doom.

A minor character from this show intrigues me yet today. An old man, an outcast that most of the characters considered crazy was written into a brief scene. As Kirk, Spock and the boys tried to convince the society of their need to shed their wrong beliefs, this old man crept out of the shadows and spoke forbidden words.

“I believe you. I know we're not on a real planet. . . For the world is hollow, and I have touched the sky.”

A prayer ministry is built from the same conviction. This world is hollow, and we can touch the sky. We can touch Heaven with our prayers and connect with a new Reality which resides outside ourselves. When we do, we discover God's perspective. When I am affected by His point of view, my world can . . . and must change, and I can no longer stay the same.

The world is hollow, and we can touch the Sky. We don't have to settle for the world as it is, and Jesus calls us to go out into the world and work to bring about change. We are to make disciples, feed and clothe the poor, heal the sick, and see God change lives one at a time. It starts with prayer, because God's power must first work in my life, before I will grow to a place where He can work through me.

If your small group would like to learn more about prayer, and making deep, life changing prayer a part of the culture, contact Tim Burns and the Outlet Prayer Ministry at Kentwood Community Church, Grand Rapids, MI (http://www.kentwoodcommunitychurch.com/opmblog) We can help you with resources and ideas on how to encourage your congregation or small group to set an intentional time to pray together for your church, neighborhood, church, and state. As a group you will grow closer together, and individually God will work in your heart and life as He draws you closer to Himself.

 

 

For the world is hollow - join me - let's touch the Sky.
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Hearing The Spirit's Voice

How do we hear the Spirit’s voice today? He generally speaks to us through scripture, a sermon, a book, a movie, a song or even a dream, but He also speaks directly into our spirit by His still, small voice! “Holy Spirit intuition” is a God-given gift to all who have spiritual ears to hear what the Lord is saying at any given time for any particular situation that requires His guidance, approval or command. It is the supernatural ability to know right from wrong—truth from error—God’s leading from your leading, which seldom makes sense to our natural minds!

Intuition simply means “knowing or sensing something without reason”. Jesus declared seven times in the opening chapters of Revelation a foundational rule of Kingdom living that never fails to keep us or to take us where we are to be, doing what we are called to be doing.“He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying unto the churches”. What is the Spirit saying at this present time to His Church? Well, for one, He’s enforcing His certain threat to resist the proud and give grace to the humble. He’s counseling us to get the stinking pride out of our lives and ministries as God prepares to shake all things that can be shaken, and woe to all the “spiritually superior” celebrity preachers and TV evangelists who defiantly continue to walk in arrogance as they proudly build their own extravagant kingdom against the Spirit’s warning when God’s judgment falls. Pride goes before destruction and Jesus is returning for a beautiful Bride clothed in humility, not haughtiness.

Pride was Lucifer’s downfall to disgrace and damnation and he uses the same spirit of arrogance today to delude all who will listen to his lying voice—the same insinuating voice that deceived Eve into falling into the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. Adam & Eve’s spiritual intuition became corrupted by satanic logic and rationality. For that very reason, genuine, spiritual impressions are hard to explain to the average, lukewarm christian, whose typical response to your intuitive step of faith, whether spoken or thought is “How do you really know this is what God is wanting you to do? This makes no sense! Just who do you think you are—a prophet or something? Come back down to earth!” Sometimes your only answer is a direct “I just feel it in my spirit!” Unspiritual, rational christians don’t like that kind of a smug answer! Where’s the logic? Where’s the responsibility? Where’s the common sense? And yet you know that you’ve heard the unmistakeable voice of the Holy Spirit! Go confidently from there, alone if need be.

There are times, however, when your intuition may not be crystal clear. In matters of uncertainty, the Bible tells us in 1John 4:1 to test the spirits to see if they are from God—how do we do that? The following are seven considerations in testing spiritual impressions.

1. Does this impression line up with God’s Word or does it plainly contradict its obvious teaching? The Bible always takes precedent over thoughts, feelings and voices.

2. Will the carrying out of this impression bring honour to Christ? Would Jesus approve?

3. Does this impression bear witness with my spirit, or does it make me sick to my stomach? “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16)

4. Does this impression bring peace and excitement or confusion and fear? “God is not author of confusion, but peace” (1Corinthians 14:33)

5. Does this impression leave me with a clear conscience? “Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly” (Hebrews 13:18)

6. Do my pastor and my trusted Christian advisors agree that this impression is of the Lord? “In the multitude of counsellors there is safety” (Proverbs 11:14)

7. Is this impression staying with me over time or is it a fleeting emotion?

As you pray and quiet your thoughts, expect the Spirit to respond in His still, small voice with the very direction that you are seeking. Jesus assures us in John 10:27, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” Amen!

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Global Day of Prayer-May 27, 2012

9651006083?profile=originalThe Global Day of Prayer is coming soon. The day itself will be Pentecost Sunday, May 27, 2012. It is a simple but powerful way to pray for God’s highest purposes: the glory of Christ and the blessing of all nations.

 

GDOP is more than a one-day event. There will be ten days of continuous prayer, guided and focused from Thursday, May 17 to Saturday, May 26. Following the example of the first ten-day prayer gathering in the upper room leading to the first Pentecost, the prayer guide has been designed to help align and focus the prayers of people all over the world. Download and print or photocopy all the copies you need. www.gdopusa.com/resources/prayer-guide/

 

On May 27, 2012, Christians will again gather to pray and repent with sincere hearts and united hopes. Once again we will be gathering locally but praying globally. This year we will see even more of an emphasis on local churches praying the “Prayer for the World” as part of their normal Pentecost Sunday services.

 

I want to encourage you to do three things:

 

1. If you have not yet decided to plan a gathering on Pentecost, there is still time. A small, well-organized gathering can be a great catalyst to propel your community forward in the coming months and years. The Global Day Organizer Guide offers some great ideas. www.gdopusa.com/resources/

 

2. Participate as a church. Ask the leadership of your church to join in during your Sunday services on May 27, 2012. Set aside just 7 minutes to unite with millions around the world by praying though “A Prayer for the World” together. www.gdopusa.com/resources/a-prayer-for-the-world/

 

3. We would like to know about your plans to coordinate a GDOP celebration. Please register your event or your church plans for participation at www.gdopusa.com/how-to-be-involved/community-event/. Registration is simple and free.

 

It’s about six weeks before Pentecost. Now is the time to explore how your church or community might be part of this important prayer event.

 

For Christ’s glory,

 

Stephanie Tucker

Global Day of Prayer USA

512.419.7729

 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/GDOPUSA

Twitter: www.twitter.com/gdopusa

WayMakers / PO Box 203131 / Austin, TX 78720 / 512.419.7729

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  Evangelism Connection
 
OCTOBER 2011
Evangelism news from the Mission America Coalition (U.S. Lausanne Committee)

The whole Church taking the whole gospel to the whole nation - and to the world.


Make A Commitment to Prayer, Care, Share

 

The Mission America Coalition (MAC) is encouraging Christians to become more active in sharing the love of Christ with those around them. MAC invites you to sign an online commitment that includes three parts:

  • To pray on a regular basis for specific neighbors, friends, work associates, classmates, and others by name.
  • To care for them by loving them as Jesus would.
  • To share the Gospel either personally or by inviting them to church or an evangelistic event.
  • Christians who sign this commitment are joining a growing movement of tens of thousands who are committed to follow Jesus in this prayer-care-share lifestyle based on His Great Commandment (Mark 12:30-31) and Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20).

 

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Record Response For National Back-To-Church Sunday
Loving Our Communities to Christ

ImageFifteen churches in the Coachella Valley were among the 7,600 participating nationally in Back to Church Sunday in September. Last year, 3,400 churches participated, resulting in 1.4 million invitations, according to campaign spokesman Philip Nation. Getting people to show up at a church raises the chances they'll attend regularly, Nation said.

"When a person visits a church for the first time, there's a 10 percent chance they'll return," he said. "On the second visit, there's a 15 percent chance they'll return, and so on."

For the past six decades, a steady 42 percent of Americans attend church weekly, according to Gallup poll archives. This year, participating churches represented 34 denominations opening their doors to an estimated 250,000 visitors Sept. 18. Churches responding to a post-event survey welcomed an average of 34 new visitors, an increase of 25.4 percent in weekly attendance. Some churches reported that they doubled in attendance that day. One church plant, "Overflow Church" reporting on Facebook, said its attendance was up 500%.

Nearly 95 percent of pastors surveyed said they would participate again in National Back To Church Sunday, which will be held next on Sept. 16, 2012. A study by LifeWay Research and the North American Mission Board of more than 15,000 Americans found 67 percent say a personal invitation from a family member would be effective in getting them to visit a church; 63 percent say an invitation from a friend or neighbor would likely move them to respond. Next year, National Back To Church Sunday will be held Sept. 16.

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Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church

 

November 13, Worldwide 

ImageThe International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP), Nov. 13, is a global day of intercession for persecuted Christians worldwide. Its primary focus is to encourage intercessory prayer on behalf of persecuted communities of the Christian faith. Open Doors USA has prepared a number of valuable resources for pastors, church leaders, and individuals for this year's day of prayer. Resources to share the story of the persecuted church with congregations, small groups, classes, or friends and family are available online. Downloads include church leader materials, bulletin inserts and lessons, and videos. In addition, Open Doors USA has an initiative to spread the story of the persecuted church to the American church and beyond. "One With Them" serves as a call to action to unite with persecuted believers, not just for IDOP, but always. One way Christians in the United States can show their support is through One With Them wristbands. The black, rubber wristband looks like barbed wire. It provides an opportunity to explain to others the plight of persecuted believers. One With Them seeks to bridge the gap between American Christians and those around the world who suffer for their faith.

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National Conference Call for Prayer for Evangelism

 

National Conference Call for Prayer for Evangelism

Mission America Coalition hosts a weekly evangelism prayer conference call every Wednesday. As Christians pray for others and care for them with the love of Christ, our Lord opens wonderful opportunities to share with them. These are not contrived or legalistic attempts to do something nice for others. To the contrary, these are natural opportunities that God gives us to help others and to express His love in action. This is a season in which God is on the move in bringing people to Himself, and we want to come into agreement with Him to see every person in America touched by the gospel of Jesus Christ. Dial in to: 1-641-715-3300, passcode 416432# at 12 noon CDT.

Evangelism Leaders Conference Call

 

October 27, 10 a.m. Central Time, Nationwide

Join other evangelism leaders around the country for Mission America's monthly evangelism leaders conference call. The call is held the fourth Thursday of every month, 10 a.m. Central Time, on a different issue of interest. To join the call, dial 712-451-6000 and enter passcode 268855# when prompted.

Cities and Communities Cityreaching Call
City/Community

 

October 20, 10 a.m., Central Time, Nationwide 

Glenn Smith will be the Mission America Coalition Cityreaching resource conference call guest this month. Addressing "Key Indicators of a Transformed City," Glenn will highlight significant global activity. He is senior associate for urban mission for the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization. The one-hour call will be held October 20. The third Thursday of each month, the Mission America Coalition's City and Communities Ministries hosts a conference call with a seasoned city-reacher. Watch the cityreaching.com website for more information. Contact info@cityreaching.com to receive the phone number and access code to join the call. Information on upcoming calls and transcripts of previous calls are available.

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La Red Trains for Next Generation in Proverbs Principles
Loving Our Communities to Christ

 

ImageThe 20th Greater Thomasville Marketplace Leader Prayer & Action Summit was held in September with 69 leaders assembled. Keynote speaker, Dr. Jerry Anderson, CEO of La Red Business Network (ministry) and CEO of Digital Dish & Light Speed Wireless Internet (employer of 900) offered La Red materials (free on the internet) and the services of La Red to train facilitators who will train the next generation to live according to godly principles drawn from the Book of Proverbs. Many local leaders from education, government, law enforcement, the marketplace and the church attended. In addition, in October, two key trainers from La Red are offering four hours of training for facilitators.

"We have been praying for years for God to transform our community and society and now it seems He is offering us a "tool" at no cost except time to begin to train young people and others the character traits and principles that lead to God's favor and blessing," reports Doug Silva, one of the Thomaville city leaders.

 

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Cedar Rapids Christian Business Lunch All About "Prayer - Care - Share
Loving Our Communities to Christ

 

In September, nearly 70 Cedar Rapids-area businesspeople listened to retired Quaker Oats executive Steve Jenkins share how the strategy of Prayer - Care - Share was used to communicate the love of Christ to the many construction workers who labored for 15 months in the building of the new facility for New Covenant Bible Church.

"The exciting thing is that many of those workers who helped build our building have been visiting our church because they felt loved during the time they worked on the project," Jenkins reported. Cedar Rapids is a Loving Our Communities to Christ collaborating city through the local partner Serve the City. Over 35 churches in the Cedar Rapids area have been challenged to make "Prayer, Care, Share" a part of their culture.

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Website Offers Hope, Surpasses 5 Million Visitors

 

ImageFive million visitors have now stopped bywww.Iamsecond.com, the website of the I Am Second movement featuring video stories of personal struggle, transformation, and hope of celebrities and everyday people. The Movement's newest initiative is the I Am Second book. Slated to release from Thomas Nelson January 2012, the book chronicles 22 video testimonies, from the website, including 2010 American League MVP Josh Hamilton; former Korn muscian Brian "Head" Welch; surfer Bethany Hamilton; "The Biggest Loser" winner Michelle Aguilar; Ultimate Fighting Championship star Vitor Belfort; Grammy-winning artist Michael W. Smith; and football stars Colt McCoy and Sam Bradford. The website has seen visitors from 217 countries/regions who have viewed over 20 million pages on the site.

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Pastors from Juarez, Las Cruces and El Paso Unite for Prayer and Evangelism
Loving Our Communities to Christ

 

El Paso city leader Barney Field reports that 24/7 prayer continues for the El Paso region - 168 volunteers pray for one hour each from the convenience of their homes; 28 churches each provide a prayer captain and 6 intercessors and a prayer guide is provided. In addition, groups of pastors from Juarez, Las Cruces and El Paso have united for prayer and evangelism. Local pastors, called Pastors for Jesus, continue to gather monthly as it has for 18 years. In addition, Old Testament Nuggets are printed on the Editorial Page of the newspaper each day for free. They cover the entire Old Testament. Last year New Testament Nuggets were featured. El Paso is a Loving Our Communities to Christ partner region.

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Churches, Families Work Together to Address Africa Food Crisis

 

ImageGlobal Aid Network anticipates that more than 4,000 people from around the United States will volunteer to help process and pack as many as 12 tractor-trailer loads of goods including vegetable seeds, rice and beans, clothing, school supplies, oatmeal, and more. From October 10-15, Global Aid Network, the humanitarian aid arm of Campus Crusade for Christ International, will open the doors of its Pennsylvania Distribution Center to hundreds of families, schools, and church groups who want to help needy communities around the world. One focus this year will be sending food and other vital aid to the Horn of Africa, where 10 million people face starvation.

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'The Grandfathers' Traces Martyred Missionaries' Legacy

 

A documentary film that has been more than 50 years in the making now completes the trilogy of movies telling the story of Nate Saint and four other missionaries martyred for their faith in the jungles of Ecuador in 1956. "The Grandfathers" completes a trilogy of movies that includes "End of the Spear" and "Beyond the Gates of Splendor." These first two films, also from award-winning director Jim Hanon and producer Mart Green. tell the unforgettable story of the killing of five missionaries by a native tribe deep in the Amazon jungle.

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Portland Churches Hold Community Event to Minister to Inner City

 

ImageRevolution Foursquare began performing park outreaches with its youth ministry over seven years ago. Through collaboration with other ministries including Luis Palau Association's Next Generation Alliance, the event has grown into an annual full-day festival featuring a growing repertoire of well-known Christian artists and new attractions such as BMX and skate demonstrations. On Labor Day in Portland, Oregon, Next Generation Alliance, Save the City Records and several area churches hosted Day in the Park. The event featured inflatable jump houses, plywood skate ramps and tents of food and activities. Music acts from freestyle hip hop to gospel played as local and visiting Christian artists joined the free event for Portland's inner-city community. Volunteer counselors were available throughout the day to pray and talk with anyone in need. The collaborators expressed a hope that this community-based outreach model would become the norm among churches.

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Georgia Church Follows in Jesus' Footsteps, 'Feeds the 5,000'

 

ImageFollowing in Christ's footsteps, Trinity United Methodist Church in Rome, Ga. provided a week's worth of food to nearly 5,000 people in one day. Organizers of Jesus in the Park, an annual event, saw 1,600 families each take home 50 pounds of shelf-stable free food. In addition, members of the community could also spend a free afternoon at Rome's Ridge Ferry Park listening to concerts, eating hot dogs and cotton candy, and playing games. By 2:30 p.m. about 50,000 pounds of food had already been given away. Organizers estimate that somewhere between 75,000 and 100,000 pounds had been distributed by the end of the event. Any leftover food items were returned to a food pantry to be given away on another day.

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The Meeting of the Waters

 

ImageFritz Kling is a foundation executive who spent the past decade traveling through villages and cities across the world interviewing grassroots workers and high-level leaders. In his new book, Kling identifies seven big trends impacting today's global church and tells compelling stories from his travels that illustrate the themes of mercy, mutuality, migration, monoculture, machines, mediation, and memory. Equal parts travelogue, character study, and global documentary, The Meeting of the Waters interlaces stories and instruction to help Christians understand a rapidly changing world.

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Jersey Church Hands Out $30,000 in 'Reverse Offering'

 

ImageInstead of passing the plate for parishioners to fill with greenbacks, Liquid Church in New Jersey handed out over $30,000 to members in a "reverse offering." Each person received an envelope with the words "God Trusts You!" Inside the envelope were $10, $20 and $50 bills. The initiative took place during a four-part sermon series teaching biblical principles of finance regarding debt and living on budget. The 2,000 member Liquid Church is also investing $60,000 of church offerings into three local recovery projects. Specifically, the funds will be used to bring relief to a Manville, N.J., neighborhood devastated by Hurricane Irene, restoring the Market Street Mission for the homeless in Morristown, and boarding the New York City Relief Bus to feed the hungry in Paterson.

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Most Bible Readers Want Accurate Word-for-Word Translation

 

Most American Bible readers prefer word-for-word translations of the original Greek and Hebrew over thought-for-thought translations and value accuracy over readability. That is the finding of a new study by LifeWay Research. A total of 2,000 Bible readers participated in the study through a demographically representative online panel. To qualify, participants had to read the Bible in a typical month either by themselves or as part of a family activity and not merely in a corporate setting. When asked whether they prefer "word-for-word translations, where the original words are translated as exactly as possible" or "thought-for-thought translations, where the translators attempt to reproduce the intent of the original thought rather than translating the exact words," 61 percent chose word-for-word.

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TOOLS TO USE 
Resources for Accelerating Evangelism

'A Heart for the Community' Examines Cityreaching Trends 
A new book helps you minister in both urban and suburban contexts. A few years ago realities like Islam, gentrification, AIDS and multiculturalism were limited to the cities. Today, this affects both the urban and suburban landscape. Editors John Fuder and Noel Castellanos have gathered together a team of experts to develop the book A Heart for the Community, a rich resource designed to help you reach your community.
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Great Tool for Challenging Students in Their Faith 
Research suggests that about 45% of students from high school youth ministries toss their faith aside when they go to college. The Fuller Youth Institute describes this kind of faith like a jacket: easy to take on or off given the situation, as opposed to a faith that becomes integrated into every part of a student's life. Far too often for college students, once faith is tossed on the floor, it is quickly shoved aside amid the competing priorities of college. The websitewww.stickyfaith.org offers a video and discussion questions to foster conversation about faith and the transition to college.
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VisionSynergy Announces New Website 
VisionSynergy has updated its community website dedicated to empowering the leaders of missional networks and partnerships. VisionSynergy is committed to advancing collaboration in Christian ministry around the world. 
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Prayer

FROM THE CHAIRMAN

Dear MAC Partner,

Just a year ago, I had the privilege of joining with some 4,200 Christian leaders from 198 nations of the world for the Cape Town 2010 Congress on World Evangelization which took place in South Africa. It was an outstanding gathering that has so much potential for the mission of Jesus Christ around the world.

The purpose of the congress was to bring a fresh challenge to the global Church to bear witness to Jesus Christ and all His teaching - in every nation, in every sphere of society and in the realm of ideas. I believe that purpose has been fulfilled in many ways in many places in the world including ministries, churches, denominations and individuals.

The Mission America Coalition is a part of the International Lausanne Movement which sponsored Cape Town 2011. We serve as the U.S. Lausanne Committee. As we gathered for our annual gathering in April of this year, we continued the flow of the Cape Town congress as we focused on evangelization in the United States and beyond.

We continue to build on the contributions of Cape Town 2011. As I reflect on those contributions, I believe that one of the most significant is the document entitled The Cape Town Commitment. It is a call to action that all of us should prayerfully consider. You can download the document for your prayerful review by going to our website atwww.missionamerica.org. I pray that you will do it today.

Paul
Paul Cedar
Chairman

 


LET'S CONNECT

  1. Orlando 2011 Ongoing Dialog
  2. MAC on Facebook
  3. Loving Our Communities to Christ Latest Report (.pdf)
  4. MAC-Global
  5. Cityreaching
  6. Lighthouse Movement
  7. KingdomBook Add your city/community group - use voucher: MA2010 for free membership

NEWS AND TRENDS 
for Ministry Decision Makers

Doubt Builds Faith
According to a 3-year longitudinal study of college kids and their faith by Fuller Seminary, the more students felt they had the opportunity to express their faith doubt while in high school, the higher levels of faith maturity and spiritual maturity they had in college. (Citizen Link 9/12/11)

One-Person One-Religion
Americans have drifted from clearly defined religious denominations to faiths fitting their personal preferences. America is a designer society. We want everything customized to our personal needs —clothing, food, education, and now religion, claims researcher George Barna. Barna laments, "People say, 'I believe in God. I believe the Bible is a good book. And then I believe whatever I want.'" A LifeWay Research study of Protestant pastors finds 62% predict the importance of being identified with a denomination will diminish over the next 10 years. Univ. of California Berkeley Sociologist Robert Bellah says, "You lose the capacity to make connections. Everyone is pretty much on their own." (USA Today 9/14/11)

Declining Denominational Brand Loyalty
LifeWay Research finds that, of more than 900 U.S. Protestant pastors polled, 76% personally consider it vitally important to be part of a denomination; however, 62% believe this will decline over the next decade. For example, in recent years church planters have avoided including a denominational affiliation in the church name in an effort to attract new believers. The higher the level of education attained by a pastor, the more they value denominational identification. Overall, the older a pastor, the higher they value denominational identification. (OneNewsNow 9/16/11)

Religious Decline
The percentages of Americans who know God exists (64%), say they've had a born-again experience (36%), and who pray several times a week (69%) have remained steady since the '80s. The percentages who read the Bible at least weekly (31%), watch religious TV (28%), feel extremely close to God (31%), consider themselves very or extremely religious (26%), or believe in heaven (86%) or hell (73%) have remained fairly static during the 17-year period measured, says Dr. Mark Chaves of Duke Univ. But, in 1957, 3% of Americans had no religious affiliation vs. 17% in '08. Weekly church attendance is closer to 25% than the 35%- 40% often reported. The percentages who never attend services rose from 13% in '90 to 22% in '08. The percentage who grew up with religiously active fathers fell from 70% for those born before 1900 to 45% for those born after '70. Since'80 the percentage who believe the Bible should be taken literally fell from 40% to 30%. The percentage who have a great deal of confidence in leaders of religious institutions has slipped from 35% in the '70s to 25% today.(American Religion: Contemporary Trends, Mark Chaves, Princeton Univ. Press 2011)

Pastors Concerned
82% of American Protestant pastors agree (55% strongly) with the statement, "I am concerned that the emerging generation of children, teens, and young adults is not embracing the Christian faith to the same degree as their parents." (Facts and Trends, Spring 2011)

Commitment
On the one hand, 81% of self-identified Christian adults say they've made a personal commitment to Christ that is still important in their life today. 78% strongly agree spirituality is very important to them. 22% of self-identified Christians claim to be "completely dependent upon God." These figures help explain why a 52% of self-identified Christian adults believe there is much more to the Christian life than what they have experienced. Without a full determination to live like Christ and for Him, the path to complete transformation is blocked.(Maximum Faith by George Barna, Metaformation/SGG/WHCP, 2011)

Free Speech in the Pulpit
A new survey by the Alliance Defense Fund and LifeWay Research has found 86% of U.S. Protestant pastors believe the government should not regulate their sermons. "Pastors and churches shouldn't live in fear of being punished or penalized by the government," said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley. "Keeping the gospel central to what is preached is not in conflict with addressing the subject of political candidates when warranted. These results show that the desire to keep the gospel central does not mean that pastors want the IRS to regulate their sermons under the threat of revoking their church's tax-exempt status. No government-recognized status can be conditioned upon the surrender of a constitutionally protected right." (Church Report 9/12/11)

Collegiate Faith Crises
Millions of college freshmen are overwhelmed trying to make new friends, adjusting to more rigorous schoolwork, and learning to live away from home. Whether they also find time for church during their first two weeks on campus will set the mold for the rest of their college years, writes George Barna in his latest book, Sticky Faith: Everyday Ideas to Build Lasting Faith in Your Kids. 61% of 20-somethings who regularly attended church as teenagers later left the pews. 40% of freshman had difficulty finding a church in college. Only 1 in 7 students surveyed said they were well-equipped for college, and less than 50% of seniors with doubts talked about them with others.(Pastor's Weekly Briefing 9/16/11)

Men & Faith
Church attendance among U.S. men declined from 42% to 36% between '91 and '11 claims George Barna in his book, Futurecast. At the same time, Sunday school attendance declined from 21% to 13% and volunteering at a church slipped from 24% to 18%. In addition, the proportion of men who believe the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches fell from 43% to 33% and having personal responsibility to share their religious views with others dropped from 28% to 23%. Yet, regular Bible reading remained unchanged, (41% in '01 and 40% in '91). (Barna Update 8/1/11)

Focus on the Family
laid off 49 people on 9/16 due to revenues failing to meet budget expectations. The family ministry's staff is now 650, down from 1,400 just a few years ago. (Foster Network 9/11)

Combined Attendance
of 2011Outreach 100 Fastest-Growing Churches is 638,693. These churches added 97,168 people over their combined previous year's attendance, an average of more than 970 per church These 100 churches include 246 worship sites. (Outreach 100, 2011)

Educated More Religious
A new Univ. of Nebraska study challenges the notion that the more educated a person becomes, the less religious they become. Although education does influence Americans' religious beliefs and activities, the effects are more complex than conventional wisdom suggests. The study found higher levels of education eroded Americans' viewpoints that their specific religion is the "one true faith" and that the Bible is the literal Word of God. Education was also positively associated with belief in the afterlife. And while more highly educated Americans were somewhat less likely to definitely believe in God, it's because some of them believed in a higher power, not because they were particularly likely to not believe at all. Also disaffiliating, or dropping religion altogether, was not a popular option for highly educated Americans, in fact, having a greater level of education was associated most often with converting to mainline, non-evangelical Protestant denominations. (Church Report 8/11/11)

Homeschooling
A new Concordia Univ. and Mount Allison Univ. study finds structured homeschooling may offer opportunities for academic performance beyond those typically experienced in public schools. Though numerous studies have shown the benefits of homeschooling, this was one of the first "nonpartisan" studies to investigate home education vs. public schooling. Structured homeschoolers outperformed public school students from a half-grade advantage in math to 2.2 grade levels in reading. (LifeSite News 9/13/11)

Fathers Needed
Research at Montreal's Concordia Univ. shows fathers who actively engage in raising their children make important contributions to their children's cognitive abilities and behavioral functioning. Compared with other children with absentee dads, kids whose fathers were active parents in early and middle childhood had fewer behavior problems and higher intellectual abilities as they grew older, even among socio-economically at-risk families. Girls whose fathers were absent during their middle childhood had significantly higher levels of emotional problems at school than girls whose fathers were present. (LifeSite News 9/9/11)

Generation X Married Couples prefer monogamy to divorce, finds Univ. of Virginia's National Marriage Project. The number of divorces in the U.S. has been in decline since it peaked in '80. The decline is particularly true among highly educated couples, only 11% of whom divorce during their first 10 years of marriage vs. 37% of the rest of the population. Religious practice is an even better predictor than a college degree of happiness in marriage and low risk of divorce.(Baltimore Sun 8/1/11)

Marriage Marginalized
Brookings Institute scholars are concerned about the marked decline of marriage among those who have graduated from high school, but have no college degree. This cohort comprises 58% of the adult U.S. population. Although marriage is still highly regarded across U.S. social classes, in recent years, moderately educated Americans have become less likely to form stable, high-quality marriages, while college-educated Americans (30% of the adult population) have become more likely to do so. High school-only grads are markedly more likely than college grads to have 3 or more sex partners in a lifetime. Although many college grads cohabit before marriage (however, fewer than non-college grads) 94% marry before having their first child. Among high school-only grads, just 56% marry before their first child's birth. Divorce rates among college grads have fallen to 1970 levels in recent years, while rising slightly for high-school grads. (Pastor's Weekly Briefing 8/25/11)

Divorce Costs
On average a divorce costs a couple $2,500 on the front end. But the costs of government support for single-parent families, can cost taxpayers anywhere from $20-30,000/year. America has had 1 divorce for every 2 marriages for 36 years, says Michael McManus. Our divorce rate is triple that of Britain or France. After 5 years, 23% of Americans have divorced vs. 8% in Britain or France, and 10% in Canada. (LifeSite News 8/22/11)

Background Checks Work
More than 25,000 background checks conducted by churches or organizations on prospective workers in the past three years have turned up more than 1,600 felony offenses, with the number of organizations conducting background checks having risen 27% in the past year, according to LifeWay Christian Resources. (Baptist Press 9/12/11)

Prime of Life
During a recent study 350,000 Americans of all ages were asked what season of their lives produced the greatest amount of happiness. It was discovered that after age 50, not all but most people are happier, less anxious, less stressed, and have less hostile emotions. (My Next Book-Year7-Chapter 15, Bob Buford)

Want a Job, Get an Education
In March '11; the national unemployment rate was 12% for people with only a high-school diploma, 4.5% for college grads, and 2% for those with a professional degree. (Atlantic Magazine 9/11)

Downward Mobility
Nearly 1 in 3 Americans who grew up middle-class has slipped down the income ladder as an adult, finds a new Pew Charitable Trusts report. Downward mobility is most common among middle-class people who are divorced or separated from their spouses, did not attend college, scored poorly on standardized tests, or used hard drugs. Being married helps people avoid the worst economic outcomes. Education, particularly going to college, is another crucial factor in economic stability. African American men have a particularly hard time clinging to middle-class status.(Washington Post 9/6/11)

Don't Leave Home Without It
Based on a recent LSU Agricultural Center study. Nutritionist Dr. Beth Reames stated, "With breakfast, students think faster and clearer and have better recall. Breakfast eaters also score higher on tests and have better concentration and muscle coordination." Most studies show children who eat breakfast are more alert and perform better on school tests than children who do not eat breakfast. They are also more creative and energetic. (Christian Post 6/24/11)

Builder & Senior Generations
Among Builders (1927-1945) and Seniors (born prior to 1927), Sunday school attendance dropped by 8 points, from 28% in '91 to 20% in '11. Weekly Bible reading also declined by 8 points, from 54% to 46%. Unexpectedly, this group has had a 12-point increase in attending a church of 600 or more people. Their proportion of unchurched has climbed 8 points to 29% since '91. There has been a 10% increase in the number of Elders who have made a personal commitment to Jesus that is still important in their life today to 76%. Their percentage of Born Agains has risen by 11 points to 49%. 71%today vs. 80% in '91 believe God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the universe who continues to rule today. (Futurecast by George Barna, Barna Books, 2011)

Web Surfing Helps Work
According to a new study, surfing the Web actually refreshes tired workers and increases their productivity, compared to other distractions like personal calls, texts or emails. "Browsing the Internet serves an important restorative function," a Nat'l Univ. of Singapore study. However, personal emailing was particularly distracting. When browsing the Internet, people usually choose to visit only the sites they like. "It's like going for a coffee break. It is pleasurable and rejuvenating," wrote Don J.Q. Chen and Vivien K.G Lim, study authors. (WSJ 8/22/11)

Multi-site Mergers
A recent Leadership Network survey of churches who had participated in a merger revealed that multi-site churches rated their experiences higher than churches that consolidated into one location. Multi-site churches also reported greater growth after a merger. (Advance 8/23/11)

Fast Facts:
  • 25 million copies of the Bible are sold in the U.S. annually.
  • 9 out of 10 homes in America have a Bible.
  • Only 16% of churchgoers read the Bible daily and 25% don't read it at all reports LifeWay Research.
  • Only 37% of regular church attenders say reading and studying the Bible has made a significant difference how they live their lives, finds a recent LifeWay Research study.
  • U.S. white adult weekly church attendance declined from 48% in '91 to 39% in '11.
  • U.S. white adult Sunday school attendance fell from 23% in '91to 14% in '11.
  • U.S. white adult Bible reading slid from 42% in '91 to 37% in '11.
  • Volunteering at a church dropped from 26% in '91 to 18% in '11.
  • The proportion of white adults who qualify as "unchurched" rose from 25% in '91 to 40% today.
  • U.S. white adults likely to have an orthodox view of God slipped from 72% in '91 to 66% inn '11.
  • U.S. white adults who believe the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches fell from 43% in '91 to 36% today.
  • 71% of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes.
  • 75% of all adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes.
  • 59% of parents of children 17 or younger living at home say their child has a TV in their bedroom.
  • 52% of parents of children 17 or younger living at home say their child has their own personal computer.
  • 63% of teen suicides come from fatherless homes. That's 5 times the national average.
  • Europe's population was 6% Muslim in '10 and projects that Muslims will represent 8% of the population by '30.
  • It is estimated U.S. publishers sold 2.6 billion books in '10, including 114 million e-books.
  • Fatherless children are twice as likely to drop out of school.

News and Trends information compiled and edited by Gary Foster, President of Gary D Foster Consulting, a firm that assists Christian ministries and product companies in solving management, marketing, donor/customer service and product development problems. Contact Gary at: 419.238.4082, GFosterCns@rmi.net or go towww.GaryDFoster.com.


COLLABORATIVE CALENDAR

Cityreaching Conference Call - Nationwide
October 20, 10 a.m. CDT

National Prayer Conference Call for Evangelism - Nationwide
October 5, 12, 19, 26, Noon CDT
(641) 715-3300, passcode 416432#

National Prayer Conference Call for Evangelism Leaders - Nationwide October 28, 10 a.m. CDT 
(712) 451-6000, passcode 268855#

CCDA National Conference-Innovate at Indianapolis 2011 - Indianapolis
October 12-16

CCDA National Student Leadership Intensive-Indianapolis 
October 13-15

NACSW 2011 Convention - Pittsburg 
October 20-23

International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church-Worldwide
November 13

National Youth Leaders Conference - Atlanta
November 18-20

Pacific Northwest City Impact Roundtable - Vancouver, Wash. 
December 6-7

MAC National Leadership Consultation on Evangelism - Colorado Springs
October 15-17, 2012


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If you would like to support the Mission America Coalition,
including initiatives like Loving Our Communities to Christ, donate online.

www.missionamerica.org | info@missionamerica.org 
Mission America Coalition | P.O. Box 13930 | Palm Desert, CA 92255

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PRAYER TRAINING: Prayer to Go web site

Bob Sjogren is a long time friend of mine who is well known in mission circles for his training on the Biblical Basis for Mission, or the Missionary Basis of the Bible. His book Unveiled at Last probably best capsulizes that particular training and I'll guarantee you won't regret getting and reading it. Additionally, his seminar, Cat & Dog Theology (and book by the same title) will rock your world as you discover how you are often more like a cat than a dog in how you relate to God -  and that's not a compliment (sorry cat lovers!).

    So where does Prayer to Go come in? Well, Bob has also created a excellent web site with free prayer training mp3s in various categories for both young and old. Check it out here and take a spin around the site and to see for yourself how this tool has considerable potential to jump start you into a life of prayer. It's like having a prayer mentor on your mp3 player.

    If you try it and actually take it to heart and put it into practice, please come back and let us know the benefit it has been to you ... and beyond you, through your prayers ... or how it might be improved or used in a different way that is already recommended. Finally, let Bob know as well and pray about partnering with him in the spread of Prayer to Go.

 

Blessings!

 

Dave Imboden

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Love Our Kids Devo - 1/13/12

Good morning!This morning my prayer for you comes from Romans 12:12."Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."I'm sure there is something in that verse that you can use every day.I pray that today you will not only have hope, but that you will find opportunities to share your hope. I pray that you I'll have patience for that most challenging child who needs some grace because they don't get any at home.And I know that these things are possible if you submit yourself in prayer.
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** OCTOBER CD Track Listing  **
Click 1- or 2-minute ZIP icon to download 
an entire month's programs.

What’s your delivery preference?
(Satellite, CD, Zip File) Click HERE

DonBrendaJacobson10-3 * MP3 1-MIN 2-MIN * Tragedy – Don Jacobson

For Don Jacobson a tragic gun accident altered his walk with God …as well as his goals in life. He shares his story on today’s Lighthouse Report. (Don shown with wife Brenda)NicoleBromley

10-4 * MP3 1-MIN 2-MIN * Life-Change – Nicole Bromley

Seeing people respond to the gospel really is exciting … and as Nicole Bromley explains … she’s seen lives transformed, firsthand.AbbyRike

10-5 * MP3 1-MIN 2-MIN * Loss– Abby Rike

For Biggest Loser contestant Abby Rike losing her entire family in a car accident was absolutely devastating. But …her whole outlook changed when she realized God could use her tragic story to bring healing to others. Listen as she tells us how on today’s Lighthouse Report.

LeeStrobel10-6 * MP3 1-MIN 2-MIN * Prayers Answered– Lee Strobel

How have you seen prayers answered in your life? Lee Strobel joins Steve Douglass on today’s Lighthouse Report to share a story about prayer.

KennyLuck10-7 * MP3 1-MIN 2-MIN * Fathers – Kenny Luck

Fatherhood … it’s an important role that God (as our heavenly father) models for us. On today’s Lighthouse Report, Kenny Luck, of Saddleback Church discusses what he’s seen.

ArtRorheim10-10 * MP3 1-MIN 2-MIN * Remain Active – Art Rorheim

No matter where we are in life … “being active” for the Lord should be our main goal. AWANA Founder Art Rorheim joins us today on the Lighthouse Report to give us some encouragement.

WendyBlight10-11 * MP3 1-MIN 2-MIN * Life’s Obstacles– Wendy Blight

You know, it seems we’re all too busy. But what about the mission field all around us -right in our own neighborhood? Wendy Blight has some thoughts about that on today’s Lighthouse Report.

ChrisFabry10-12 * MP3 1-MIN 2-MIN * Adversity – Chris Fabry

Imagine leaving your home … and all your possessions behind due to illness. Well, that’s exactly what happened to Chris Fabry and his family. Hear their amazing story … and how God carried them through it on today’s Lighthouse Report.

CharlesStanley10-13 * MP3 1-MIN 2-MIN * Conversation – Charles Stanley

Maintaining conversation with God is crucial to our spiritual growth. On today’s Lighthouse Report, Charles Stanley describes the correlation between prayer and our relationship with Christ.RyanRush

10-14 * MP3 1-MIN 2-MIN * Life Lessons – Ryan Rush

Ryan Rush experienced a number of life lessons resulting from his daughter's many illnesses. He shares his personal journey on today’s Lighthouse Report.

JohnTesh10-17 * MP3 1-MIN 2-MIN * Purpose, Passion, Service – John Tesh

Are you passionate about making a difference for Christ in the world? Or apathetic? John Tesh challenges us on today's Lighthouse Report to find our personal ministry.

TerriBlackstock10-18 * MP3 1-MIN 2-MIN * Struggles – Terri Blackstock

Sometimes, as parents, we go through some pretty dark times. But through Christ, there's light at the end of the tunnel. Today on the Lighthouse Report, Terri Blackstock talks about her daughter's struggle with drugs.

10-19 * MP3 1-MIN 2-MIN * Bad Stuff – Steve Douglass

What do you say if someone doesn’t know if they’re going to heaven? Host Steve Douglass has some timely advice on that subject on today’s Lighthouse Report.

JohnWaller10-20 * MP3 1-MIN 2-MIN * Music and Lyrics – John Waller

For musician John Waller writing songs about his struggles helps him move past them. Today on the Lighthouse Report, he gives an example.

StacyDelisle10-21 * MP3 1-MIN 2-MIN * Hardships – Stacy Delisle

Imagine … knowing you are going to lose your child. What would you do? Well, today on the Lighthouse Report, Stacy Delisle, who experienced that very scenario, shares her story.

JeremyRiddle10-24 * MP3 1-MIN 2-MIN * Following God – Jeremy Riddle

So, what desires has God placed in your heart? Today on the Lighthouse Report, musician Jeremy Riddle talks about following after God.

RegiCampbell10-25 * MP3 1-MIN 2-MIN * Junk in Life – Regi Campbell

Isn’t it great how God loves us and cares for us despite all the junk we have in our lives? On today’s Lighthouse Report, Regi Campbell explains.

DaveFitzgerald10-26 * MP3 1-MIN 2-MIN * Insecurities – Dave Fitzgerald

Do you ever struggle with insecurities in your life? Well, music artist Dave Fitzgerald does sometimes. On today’s Lighthouse Report, he discusses what he’s learned regarding that.

SteveSjogren10-27 * MP3 1-MIN 2-MIN * Buying Their Coffee – Steve Sjogren

Sometimes it's very simple to *stir up* a godly conversation with others in a very nonthreatening way. It may begin by buying them a cup of coffee. Listen for more details from Steve Sjogren on today's Lighthouse Report.ClaytonKing

10-28 * MP3 1-MIN 2-MIN * God’s Presence – Clayton King

So, how can you experience God’s presence in your life? Well, on today’s Lighthouse Report, Clayton King discusses what he’s learned.prayingwoman

10-31 * MP3 1-MIN 2-MIN * Protective Power of Prayer – Steve Douglass

Too often we neglect to pray and simply forget the power of God behind prayer. And praying for someone's protection is one of the greatest privileges we can have in the life of a loved one. Steve Douglas tells a woman's story on today's Lighthouse Report.

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"He Is Worthy! We Are Needy!"

"If crises or grocery lists are the motivation for our prayers, we will be woefully inconsistent.  Ultimately our prayers should not be spurred simply by our circumstances, but by His character."

"He is Worthy! We Are Needy!"

 

Peter Lord, one of my heroes and mentors in prayer, often says, “Most Christians pray out of crisis or from a grocery list.”  His wisdom reveals not only the reality of our prayer behavior, but the flaw in our mindset and motivation in prayer. 

 

Crisis and Grocery List

 

Crisis praying is certainly focused in the right direction.  When we are in urgent situations we should look to the Lord.  Psalm 34:6 says, “This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.”  However, when the primary and sporadic motivation of our heart for prayer is triggered by the pain of our circumstances, we have reduced God to a heavenly rescue squad that exists chiefly for our emergencies.

 

Grocery list prayer, while very common, is an approach to God that stems from our persuasion that prayer exists for us to inform Him about our problems, hoping He will order the universe according to our expectations.  These expectations are usually rooted in our desire to avoid suffering or difficulty.  God is reduced to a heavenly vending machine that exists for our temporal satisfaction.

 

The Model Prayer

 

Over the years I have taught on the model prayer Jesus prescribed in Matthew 6:9-13 (often described as “The Lord’s Prayer”).  Sometimes the series has been deep and thorough, taking 10-12 weeks to complete.  On other occasions, I have reduced the teaching to a one-sermon summary.  Recently, I was asked to teach on this model prayer at a church in Calgary and was impressed that the prayer can be reduced to two primary ideas: 1) He is worthy, and 2) We are needy.  

 

He is Worthy

 

The model prayer is essentially divided into two parts.  The first segment is entirely Godward in focus.  When we pray, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.  Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” we are exalting God.  We are declaring His worth.  As John MacArthur notes, "This is a prayer that in every phase and every petition, beginning and closing and all in between focuses on God.  His person, His attributes, and His wonderful works are the thrust of this prayer.”

 

We Are Needy

 

The second segment is a declaration of God as our source.  We recognize and declare that we are needy.  In prayer we resolve that we trust Him for our physical, relational, and moral needs.  “Give us this day our daily bread (physical), and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors (relational), and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one (moral)."  

 

Consistent Motivation

 

Every believer has experienced the confluence of positive surges and negative declines in prayer.  Our motivation can wane and wander into the weeds.  If crises or grocery lists are the motivation for our prayers, we will be woefully inconsistent.  Ultimately our prayers should not be spurred simply by our circumstances, but by His character. 

 

Jesus wants us to experience consistency in our spiritual pursuit in prayer.  A daily conviction that He is worthy and we are needy provides a pure and passionate motivation in prayer.  One person may make a seven-figure income, live in a multi-million dollar home, and have perfect health – but He is still worthy and that person is still needy.  Another person may be jobless, homeless, and friendless.  God is still worthy and that person is still needy.  One person is young, another is old.  One person is a seasoned Christian while another is a brand new believer.  He is still worthy and we are still needy.  The motivation never changes. 

 

The Ultimate Purpose

 

As we mature, we advance to fully embrace the ultimate aim of all of our prayers, fueling the depth of our motivation.  The model prayer says it clearly: “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”  Prayer exists to advance His kingdom through our lives, exhibit His power in our lives, and extol His glory in everything.   

 

When Paul wrote his epistles from prison he relied on “prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:19).  His heart passion was clear when he wrote, “According to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.  For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (vv. 20-21).  This is the motivation of a clear-headed, pure-hearted, and eternally-focused Christ follower.

 

Motivation for a Lifetime and Beyond 

 

So when you wake up tomorrow morning feeling weary and discouraged, remember: He is worthy and you are needy.  Pray.  When you come home from a hard day at work, exhausted and frustrated – and you are not in the mood to attend the prayer meeting – remember: He is worthy and you are needy.  Pray.  When things are going smoothly and life is feeling problem-free, remember: He is worthy and you are needy.  Pray. 

 

One day when we stand in His presence among the saints of all the ages and myriads of worshiping angels, we will still declare that He is worthy.  “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!" (Revelation 5:12).  We will even then continue to rejoice that we encountered Him when we were needy. “For You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9).  All things will consummate in His glory.  “Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!" (Revelation 5:13). 

 

With all this in mind, let’s pray the right way, for the right reason, and for the right purpose.  We will be encouraged, equipped, and empowered to live as true disciples in this world as we consistently grow to know Him and make Him known.

 

Copyright © 2012 Daniel Henderson. All rights reserved.

 

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Hearing His Voice?

"Hearing His Voice?"

 

Fairly often I encounter Christians who describe God “speaking to them.”  It is as if the Almighty actually verbalizes His unique direction right into their eardrums.  Frankly, I am skeptical.  I do not hear voices nor to do I see detached hands writing on the wall.  Yet, the Bible is clear that Christ is living and active among His people and He has commanded the churches to “hear what the Spirit is saying” (Revelation 2 & 3).

 

The Bible is prolific about the importance of hearing God’s voice – in both Old and New Testaments. Yet, how do we understand God’s pledge to speak to us without slipping into some kind of extra-biblical, subjective mysticism? Let’s try to understand.  

 

The Priority of Hearing God’s Voice

 

Throughout the Old Testament, the precursor to obedience was hearing God’s voice, most often through His commandments revealed in the divine Scripture. Dozens of times in Exodus, Deuteronomy, Joshua, and Jeremiah we find references to the voice of the Lord in connection with His revealed commandments. “Today you have proclaimed the LORD to be your God, and that you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His judgments, and that you will obey His voice” (Deuteronomy 26:17).  In Daniel 9, the sins of God’s people are described as a failure to hear and obey God’s voice (9:10, 11,14). The Psalms describe God’s voice speaking through His creation (18:13, 19:3, 29:3-9, 68:33, 77:18).

 

In the New Testament, Jesus announces that His sheep will hear and know His voice and follow Him (John 10:3, 4, 16 & 27).  He also declared that everyone who is of the truth hears His voice (John 18:37). He predicted that day when His voice will resurrect the dead from the grave (John 5:25 &28).  In Revelation 3:20 He calls on those within the lukewarm, self-sufficient Laodicean church to hear His voice as He knocks on the door, offering restored fellowship.  The book of Hebrews calls us to not harden our hearts when we hear His voice.

 

How Do We Hear God’s Voice?

 

His voice is contained in and consistent with His revealed word – Throughout the Scripture, hearing God’s voice is synonymous with obeying His commands.  The Bible is “the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).  In the closing verses of the New Testament we are warned not to add or take away from the revealed word (Revelation 22:18-19).  The sufficiency, authority, relevance, and transformational power of the Scriptures trump any individual revelation of the “voice” of God.

 

His voice is apprehended and applied by His Spirit – 1 Corinthians 2:9-12 says it so completely (read it well).

 

“But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’ But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.”

 

The indwelling, all-knowing life-tutor of the Holy Spirit gives us understanding to hear and apply the voice of God in His word.  Those who do not have the Holy Spirit do not hear or understand the instructive voice of the Holy Spirit.  First Corinthians 2:14 says, “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

 

His voice is comprehended and confirmed among His people – The assembled church and gathered leaders in the Book of Acts heard  from God as He spoke to them by the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:2, 15:28) as they waited on the Lord and sought His will.  The confirmation of a community of godly believers is a necessary dimension of the voice of the Holy Spirit.

 

Characteristics of the Voice of God

 

When the Lord’s voice resounds it is precise, powerful, and penetrating.  God’s will is clear, not muddled or mysterious.  His voice brings the exactitude of His word to our hearts and minds in order to direct and confirm.  His voice is powerful.  By His command all of creation emerged and by His voice He rules over creation (see Psalm 29).  The voice of Christ was authoritative and powerful during His earthly ministry (Luke 4:26).  In Revelation, His voice is depicted as the force of “many waters” (Revelation 1:15).  God’s voice is also penetrating, cutting deep into the heart and soul of man, where real change occurs (see Hebrews 4:12).  The mouth of the risen Christ is described as a “sharp two-edged sword” (Revelation 1:16). 

 

Our Response to the Voice of God

 

We respond in obedience – The primary word associated with the idea of the voice of the Lord is “obey.”  (Even a casual search in a concordance will demonstrate this convincingly.)  As Mary said at the first miracle of Jesus, “Whatever He says to you, do it” (John 2:5).  The defining characteristic of those who “hear from the Lord” is a life of Christ-honoring obedience, not some irregular state of emotion or braggadocio.

 

We respond in trust – Psalm 29 is a dramatic depiction of the many aspects of the power of the voice of the Lord.  At the end of this Psalm we find a powerful application of what it means to recognize and receive the voice of the Lord: “The LORD will give strength to His people; The LORD will bless His people with peace” (Psalm 29:11).  When we hear His voice we rely on and receive from Him as our source of strength and peace.  The “peace be still” (Mark 4:39) of Jesus' voice is evidenced through a life of trust.

 

We respond in intimate surrender –The living Christ, walking among the churches, says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me”(Revelation 3:20).  This invitation to restored, intimate fellowship with Jesus requires our response of surrender as we open our hearts to His presence and Lordship.

 

Today . . . IF You Will Hear His Voice

 

Our ultimate response to His voice is very clear (Psalm 95:7, Hebrews 3:7, 15; 4:7).  "Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.”

 

Copyright © 2012 Daniel Henderson. All rights reserved.

 

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Distractions!

God has strongly impressed in my spirit over the past few weeks the need to
guard my heart, time and strength from numerous and sudden distractions that
would threaten to sidetrack me from my greater calling. Recently, I had a vision
while in prayer of a desperate man who needed help and was very forceful in his
devious attempt to convince me to leave my immediate work and go with him to who knows where. Although the situation in my vision seemed urgent, I sensed the
danger to my own calling had I given in to his demand. It was a grave warning
from God to protect that which has been entrusted to me in the business of the
Father’s House. Christians in all walks of life and ministry are presently being
challenged like never before with demands, needs and pressures of people, both
legitimate and unwarranted, which will call for decisive action on their part to
avoid needless and harmful disruptions to their peace of mind and purpose of
heart at all costs.

The devil’s “last days” tactic will be to wear out the saints in fatigue and discouragement through endless requests, urgent or not, from family, friends, associates, neighbours, phone calls, emails, interruptions, invitations, appointments, meetings, trips, schedules, agendas, programs and on and on and on. The busier we are, the better he likes it! Why? Because, if we allow it, these constant stresses will keep us running on our feet and off our knees—a truly powerful position that strikes fear into the hearts of the devil and his legions. This ultimately requires us to come to an abrupt stop and violently shout, “Enough! No more!” We simply cannot jeopardize our power, peace, anointing, blessing and favour of God through long neglect of our relationship with Him brought on by caving in to the fear of intimidating people who know how to manipulate our vulnerable emotions to get what they want. The woman who came to anoint Jesus with her alabaster box of precious perfume could have easily been distracted from her untainted act of worship by the degrading looks, sneers and comments openly made against her. Had she given in to the pressure of the crowd, she would have forfeited the perpetual honour given to her by Christ and the only opportunity to bless His heart like none other had.

I have experienced a number of these very people and situations in the past two or three weeks and have come to identify them as subtle, major distractions with the diabolical purpose of sidetracking me from my priorities in my ministry. Acts 6 is a prime example of the Early Apostles who deviated from their main responsibility of prayer and the ministry of the Word due to the valid, but wearisome needs of the people. The answer for this distraction was not to ignore the need, but rather to put in place a ministry team who could give their time and efforts in effectively taking care of the reasonable concerns in the church.

How we need the gift of spiritual discerning in this mad crazed world in which we live and serve to know the difference between a genuinely divine interruption ordained by the will of God and a direct planned assault against our prayer and devotional life through people who really don’t want to change, but only want our sympathy and support to enable them in their sinful lifestyle. Why do we feel so guilty if we do not accommodate them in their pursuit of self indulgence with absolutely no intentions to seek the Lord and grow in His word through godly counsel, prayer and church life with accountability?  Did Jesus tolerate people like that? Did He put up with their callous attitudes and selfish demands that cry “you owe me!”? I think not! Nor did He vacillate with men who flat-out rejected His call after an inner-struggle with the cost. Consider the rich young ruler in Mark 10 who was lovingly confronted with his trust in his riches more than his desire to be saved and follow Christ. He wilfully made his choice after being presented with the
non-negotiable conditions of his discipleship—“sell all that you have and
give the money to the poor, and you will have treasures in heaven; and come,
take up your cross and follow Me”.
(verse 21)


Also consider that Jesus never compromised with him in order to gain another “convert” to His way—He didn’t stop the heart-broken young man as he sadly walked away as we would have, saying “Wait! Let’s make a deal—I’m sure we can work this out! I can tell that you’re sincere! We’ll take it easy with no conditions until you’re more comfortable and ready to change.” No. Christ would not be distracted or sidetracked from His compelling mission of preaching the demands of the Gospel of repentance and taking up the cross. Satan even used Peter, Christ’s
devout disciple and close friend to divert Him from His impending sufferings and ultimate death on the cross to which Jesus, discerning the attack, immediately
retaliated with the rebuke, “Get behind Me, Satan!” Oh, how we need to do likewise when we are being swayed from our course of destiny by well intended
friends who cannot grasp the magnitude of our utter commitment to our high
calling.


Are there God-appointed distractions? Absolutely—and we must identify them and then give our time, attention and care to the utmost, acknowledging that God is certainly in this. Jesus, on His way to the house of Jairus to heal his dying daughter, was brought to a sudden halt by a demanding situation—a clear distraction and disruption to His present purpose. And yet He recognized the irresistible touch of faith from a bleeding and desperate woman that Christ was powerless to ignore. Jesus encountered both kinds of “urgent” distractions and responded accordingly, only doing what His Father instructed Him to do. Pray long and pray hard for that degree of spiritual discerning, for many shall be the distractions that you will meet as you carry out your daily responsibilities along the cumbersome pathway of ministry. Some will be God-appointed to propel you to your next blessing, while others will be cunningly placed by Satan in an all-out effort to shut you down and you’d better know the difference! They’re both playing for keeps!

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I’ve been delighted with the magnificent photo on the cover of this year’s Seek God for the City. The beautiful city, bathed in light, with a river running through it, is Calgary, Alberta, if you’re wondering. Several friends have asked. Only a few days ago I had an insight about that image that I’d like to share with you.

9651004883?profile=originalAs many do around the turn of the year, I was at home pondering the days ahead. On the table beside me was a copy of Seek God for the City 2012. Recently, I’ve been meditating on Psalm 46. Somehow one phrase from the psalm lit up in full color: “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God.”

 

Elsewhere in that Psalm there are nations that roar; there are kingdoms that tremble; there are wars and weapons that bring desolation. But in the midst of all the raging chaos, there is a city, unshaken by the noise, sustained with a fearless joy by God Himself. And there is a river that flows, sourced in heaven’s life. But it’s not just one river with a single channel. It has streams, many of them. That gives me hope. Just a little stream of God’s river can bring to life the gladness of hope, the fearlessness of faith and the awesome hush of love.

 

But it wasn’t just that river with many streams that I saw symbolized on the cover of Seek God for the City, it was the light of morning. Consider these astounding words: “God will help her when morning dawns.” Do you realize that this means that it is not yet the morning? We are even now in the darkest hour before the dawn. God’s presence is steady as a river. But He is coming like a long-awaited dawn. And He will help her (the city is somehow a feminine entity) when that day comes.

 

Even though the photo depicts a sunset on the city, I was moved by the truth of the coming dawn. How bright the coming of our Lord. How sure His help even now in the day of trouble!

 

And that was all it took to remind me that amidst all of the other projects and urgencies before me, that I am summoned to pray with the joy of hope. An important part of prayer is knowing what to say. But a greater aspect of prayer is hearing what God is saying. In the midst of the noise of these crazy days, I recognized that God was calling me to hush, to be still, to listen and to know and behold what His works and purpose are all about.

 

So I’m going to be praying in these days. I want to urge you to do the same. Seek God for the City can be a tool to help you and the people who walk with you to pray with steady uplifted hope. But whether you use this resource or not, let’s pray great things. The river flows. The unshakable city stands steady. And the morning soon dawns.

 

Yours in hope,

 

Steve Hawthorne

 

PS: This year we’ll be releasing Seek God for the City as an app. It’s almost ready. Watch for it in the first days of February. Go to www.waymakers.org/seek-god-for-the-city.html.

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Free eBook ~ E. M. Bounds on Prayer


Free eBook: "The Necessity of Prayer," by EM Bounds
"Prayer is an essential part of the Christian believer's life."

 

Free eBook

Download this important work by EM Bounds on the nature and importance of prayer.

From CCEL, "Bounds connects the nature of prayer to other features of the Christian life, such as faith, reverence, patience, hope, character, conduct, and faithfulness. Bounds' passion for prayer--which compelled him to write nine books on the topic--shines through in this work, and cannot but help motivate those who read it to also see the necessity of prayer. 


Get Download Now

Resource provided by Christian Classics Ethereal Library 

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AwakenUs: 40 Days to Fast and Pray

See www.AwakenUS.com to learn about nation-wide fasting & prayer event!  We're calling prayer warriors and churches all across America to unite in prayer for a Spiritual Awakening in our land Nov 21 - Dec 31, 2011. Thousands have already joined the effort nationwide. Millions will be hearing about this united season of prayer over the next month. Please spread the news!
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What’s Your Passion?

What’s Your Passion?

What’s your passion, and where did it come from?  As a columnist I notice lots of writers feel compelled to write about lots of different things.  Sharing ideas, concerns, passions, warnings, and influence can certainly promote our learning, growth, and appreciation of others.  But all topics are not of equal importance, are they?  For example, if you had a cure for cancer, wouldn’t sharing that be more important than merely filling up a space with some casual observations.  I fully support our free press and want to encourage authors to share their thoughts and ideas.  But clearly some messages can truly help people more than others.  If your passion in writing, serving, or working can truly help people, then go all out for it!  But perhaps some more consideration is called for if it’s more about you and your agenda than about helping others.

For   example, Samuel Clemmons (aka Mark Twain) said “I’d have written you a shorter letter, but I didn’t have time.”  I think we are all better off to take that self motive-check and editing time to improve our “helping efficiency.” 

Obviously any room full of people will differ as to what is most important to them.  There is likely to be more agreement as to ways we can truly help others.  But when we are concerned enough to take time to find out what is most important to us, we and others will benefit, especially if we live in accordance with those values. 

God has given me 3 main passions: prayer, discipleship, and revival.  None of these popped up overnight; they each took years, and went through the stages of listening, taking notes, prayer, follow-up, and then practice.  Fortunately they all require strong partnership with God, with Him taking the lead, and therefore Him getting the credit.  It is humbling to affirm that although He could use rocks instead of me, He loves me so much that He lets me participate in all these passions and thereby experience Him more deeply.  Who else gives such magnificent gifts, motivations, purposes, direction, and energy, and then throws in godly contentment and satisfaction, like whip cream, on top?  Hopefully this might encourage someone else to analyze their passions and sources, and write or live them out for the benefit of others!

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I would like you to open your mind and be very attentive, as you read this message. Don’t allow the enemies to make you miss one sentence from what you are about to read now. This message discusses the problems that are not from the enemies. A careful search of the word of God will make us to understand that there are five sources of sufferings for a Christian.

1. It could be due to satanic activities: Job 2:7 confirms this, "So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown" Job’s problem therefore was as a result of satanic activities. The woman in Luke Chapter 13 that Jesus healed; the woman called the daughter of Abraham was bound up by the devil for 18 years. Jesus himself confirmed the fact. It is an established fact therefore that Job as well as the daughter of Abraham were both afflicted by Satan.

2. Ungodly men: 2 Timothy Chapter 4 verse 14 says, “Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil; the Lord reward him according to his works”. It is certain therefore that a believer’s suffering could come from ungodly men like Alexander the coppersmith.

3. The world system: 2 Peter Chapter 2 verse 8 says, "For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds." The world system too could constitute a problem for the righteous men. They really harass the souls and spirits of believers everyday.

4. A believer’s suffering could come from man’s fallen nature: Roman Chapter 7 verses 14 and 15 say, "For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do, I allow not: for what I would that do I not; but what I hate, that do I”. Man’s fallen nature without any doubt, could give him problems.

Carnal Christianity: Philippians Chapter I verses 15 and 16 say, "Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of goodwill. The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds. "2 Timothy Chapter 4 verse 10 says; "For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica."

Beloved reader, the five sources of believers’ sufferings as far as the Bible is concerned, are what you have just read. It is important to locate the source of one’s problems. Remember the story of a farmer in Matthew, who planted wheat on his farmland, but from nowhere, tares started growing amidst it. The farmer knew straightaway that the enemy performed the wicked task. Whenever God plants good things in a place, the enemy or Satan is usually unhappy. It does not come as a surprise therefore that the enemy will make moves to destroy, pollute or choke them.

I don’t know whether you will like what I’m about to say. It is very tempting to blame everything that goes wrong on the devil. When things go wrong, people complain bitterly and say that it is the devil that pushed them to do it. The question is why did such people supply their backs for Satan to ride on? God does not at any point in time expect you you supply your back to the devil. He does not expect you to turn your back to the enemy and run. He expects you to wage war against him.

A long time ago in England, there was a cartoon in one of the major newspapers. It was the picture of a church and of the devil. The devil was standing outside the church, crying bitterly. Then somebody came to Mr. Devil to find out why he was crying bitterly. The devil responded tearfully that he was usually blamed for all the evil taking place in the church. The devil then narrated what happened at a christian naming ceremony. He the devil had afflicted the food to be served there, He said that a greedy brother who was supposed to have only one plate of food collected three rations. The brother became greatly afflicted by his own greediness, he had serious cholera. The devil said that the brother in question was responsible for the affliction that visited him.

The problem in our lives, in many instances are not always demonic in their source, no matter how we sometimes claim to be innocent. The blunt truth is that most people are the cause of their problems. Many of man’s problems will disappear if he can just remove selfishness from his life. He will also get freedom if he thinks first before acting. The selfishness of a man or a woman can land the whole of his or her family in trouble. A lot of problems would disappear from your life if selfishness is removed from your marriage. Many people shut themselves off from blessings, they are concerned only about their own comfort.

You must know this fact, that most of those that were blessed in the bible by God, had always blessed others first, both in cash and in kind. Have you ever thought of the fact that if Jesus was selfish, he would not have come to die for us. The bible says that one might even offer to die for a good man. But when a person decides to die for somebody who is evil, then there is need to think of the selflessness of that person. You and I are saved today because Jesus was not selfish. Selfish people often harm themselves.

There was this story of a man, who had an accident and was rushed to the hospital. The nurse on duty was supposed to close at 8.00 p.m. For the simple reason that the man who had an accident was brought to that hospital at about 8.00 p.m. the nurse refused to attend to him. She chose instead to paint her lips and change her clothes. The fact that the situation was an emergency one did nothing to change the heart of the lady. All pleas to make her change her mind fell on deaf ears. She insisted on going home. She went home only to discover that her husband was not at home. By the time she ran around to know where her husband was, she found out that her husband was the injured man to whom she refused to give the necessary service the previous night. The man died thereafter. Now if I may ask you this question, was the devil responsible for the woman’s affliction?

Many Christians may not like to face this fact, but a lot of believers are very selfish. Majority of the prayers that most Christians pray are for themselves. All forms of anger that most people engage in, are motivated by selfishness. Most people are angry because somebody has violated their rights. May be you are fond of saying, ’A whole me’, the big question is "who are you?" If God withdraws your breath for five minutes, where will you be? When you are bitter against somebody because he or she has done something to harm your pride, you are undoubtedly a selfish person. Although this is very difficult for many people to admit, many problems are of people’s own making and a lot of people have specialised in what is called "Blame shifting". Try to accept blame for your own wrong doing and stop putting the blame on someone else.

Many problems we bring on ourselves are as a result of our words and/or deeds. When you speak words carelessly in an angry way, those words could be missiles that have irrevocable result. The principle that the Bible highlighted in Galatians Chapter 6 verse 7, can never be defeated. It says that, "whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." You cannot push it aside. David sowed a seed of family destruction, took another man’s wife, and killed the man. David then reaped the harvest of family destruction from his son, Absalom. If you must throw mud at others you would first of all have to stain your own hands. You must therefore not throw mud at people. It is just a simple law of repercussion.

God Himself can also be the source of our problems. Therefore, not all problems are bad problems. God can design problems that will make you come closer to Him and also make you more prayerful. Naaman was a proud person who didn’t get his healing until he dumped his pride and moved closer to God.

The flesh is another source of problem. Our own carnal nature could be the source of our problems. It is the old man. The demons and the evil spirits are like vultures that eat our flesh or our carnal nature. That is why problems from evil spirits can be solved by expelling the evil spirits. But if the problem is from your own flesh, death is the only solution. That flesh must be crucified.

I remember the story of a serious Christian brother who boarded a bus and somebody gave him a dirty slap. Although the other commuters wanted the brother to retaliate, he refused bluntly. He said he would not slap the man back as his hands have been nailed to the cross. In essence, the brother was saying that his hands and indeed his entire body have been nailed to the cross.

Beloved reader, the question you need to answer is this, can you do what that brother did? I am quite sure some Christians would rather deal countless blows on the person involved. Such people have not crucified their flesh. Satan will always send his demons into an already bad situation, if you are not weary. All you have to do is to avoid certain things. Every bit of anger that you put up could be your problem activator. Every exercise in worry that you engage in, could be your problem activator. A good prayer point is for you to know your problem activator. Sometimes, by memorising and confessing scriptures that speak to certain life’s problems, Satan and his agents will stay away from you. You have to determine to do this or else, the flesh will keep you away from confessing the scriptures.

Most things posing as problems to Christians cannot withstand regular bombardment of prayers, but the flesh will not do the regular bombardment of prayers. By the time people come to church and they are able to absorb the word of God, they will be able to deal with spirit of worry, discouragement, impatience, etc. They will also be able to repent, and resist temptations. The problems would then disappear. By the time you come to the house of God and you refuse to work on other people’s agenda, 90% of the problems are over.

It will interest you to know that not all problems require casting out demons from believers’ lives. For example, if the enemy has removed a part of somebody’s body, such a person does not need deliverance, he needs a creative miracle. So it is a great prayer to ask for creative miracle where it is necessary in your life. Deliverance will not restore or replace any part of the body that is lost. Somebody that is not feeding well and becomes sick as a result of this does not need deliverance. He needs to feed very well. Sometimes it is after a situation has gone bad and terrible, that the devil will send his demons there, meanwhile, the demons were not there originally. A creative miracle is required in those kinds of cases.

Let me tell you one big truth today, most Christians need to check what they eat. You will find that the food recommended by the bible is not expensive, but the problem is that what most people need is not what they eat. Mark 12:30-31 says, "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 31And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these" There are three groups of people for you to love; you must love God, you must love your neighbours, then you must love yourself. Many would say they don’t need a lecture on how to love themselves.

The truth is that a lot of people have intense hatred for themselves. God made the body, soul and spirit. God is undoubtedly interested in every department of your life. You are the temple of God. So if you are destroying the temple of God which is your body, or you are misusing it, you will have problems with God. It is destruction and you will think it is witches and wizards not knowing that it is God.

God is interested in what you eat. A lot of Christians consume terrible poison everyday. When you over eat flesh, sugar, butter, etc they would overtax your digestive organ, because your body cannot process the food fast enough and unless you use up that energy supply that you have, you will begin to have problems which you will think is demonic, whereas there is no demon involved. A lot of Christians kill themselves daily because of what they eat. Some people have become tea addicts, soft drink addicts, canned food addicts, chocolate addicts, e.t.c. Some hate fasting in any form, not knowing that it is another way of purifying their systems.

God sometimes calls people fools, because they don’t know what they are supposed to know. And right now, even as you are reading this message, do you know that you could be your own enemy? You may be fighting actively against yourself. But one thing is certain, malfunctioning in anybody’s life, is not God’s fault. People don’t like facing the truth. A lot of people have turned themselves to masquerades. They are the ones pursuing themselves.

How long will you run away from yourself? When will you stand up and acknowledge the truth about yourself? Acknowledging the truth about yourself is the first step in the school of spiritual maturity. For how long will you repeat the mistake of Adam? Adam did not point at himself, he said ’the wife thou gavest to me, she gave to me and I did eat.’ As far as you do not want to face the truth about yourself, you will give your enemies a hiding place in your life. The person then becomes a student in the dangerous school of self-deception, then you will be fighting against yourself.

A person cannot succeed in christian life when he or she is lazy. A spiritual sluggard cannot pray and cannot read the Bible. A lazy christian would listen to music for three hours, watch television for four hours and pray for fifteen minutes. A lazy Christian would come to the house of God only to collect blessings, and not to really do according to God’s words. So a lot of people are battling against themselves, while they think they are battling against the enemy.

Apart from the devil, a man has only one other enemy; that enemy is his own self. When self is at work, God’s work will cease, and man’s work will continue. The enemy or the devil knows that you are doing your own will and not God’s will. The devil will then move in and contaminate you. God’s work has ceased in many people’s lives. Anything you do for God that is not energised by His spirit is of little value. So the subject with the highest mark in God’s school, is deliverance from self.

A lot of people are in bondage to themselves. They are spoiling themselves and pampering their own lives. The subject with the highest mark in the devil’s school is self exaltation. Pride is exaltation of self. Every postponement of repentance is pride and is tantamount to wrestling against God. The senior prefect in the school of self-exaltation will rather die than to ask for forgiveness or to apologise. Such people are fighting actively against themselves. Failure to carry our self analysis, or coming to terms with yourself is dangerous. It may lead to fighting against yourself. The bible says ’examine yourself, whether you be in the faith or not.

You need to turn the searchlight of the Holy Spirit on yourself now. You need to ask yourself questions like, ’am I not proud?’ Do I not tell lies? Am I not impatient? Do I really like fasting and praying or am I doing it because other are doing it? Do I not love Jesus for the bread and butter that he supplies? Do I really love Jesus? Can I die for him? Supposing ten people are asked to go for evangelism in a village that is demonic, how many will be willing to go? Am I serious with God when I am rich? Is it not when I am broke that I am serious with praying? Am I not lazy in prayers? Do I not keep malice? Do I have love? Do I like being told the truth about life, or do I avoid those who tell me the truth about my life? Do I enjoy being criticised or do I hate criticism in any form? Do I have faults?

Am I fully obedient to God? Am I the kind of person who likes to be noticed? Do I really have the baptism of the Holy Spirit or I’m still relying on one funny dream I had a long time ago? Do I tell lies against God? Do I say God said when He didn’t say anything? Do I think or meditate on immorality? What do you think when you are on your bed alone at night, as a bachelor or as a spinster? Do I like committing secret sins?

Face the truth, beloved, if not, you are fighting yourself. Except you do this, you will be making a mistake fighting against all the forces of darkness. It is like that boy who was preaching a message on putting on the whole armour of God. In order to make people understand the message, he brought physical helmet, shield to church and was wearing them one after the other. He put on the helmet, shield, and everything he brought to the people. Then he asked the members of his congregation where the devil can attack from now after wearing all that. Then one old man of God who was sitting there told the young man, that the devil could come from inside!

If you are wearing the armour of God, and the devil is already inside , you are just using the armour to cover him inside. What have you done about the one inside of you? It is that one that constitutes your greatest problem. The bible says, touch not my anointed, if you are being touched, then carry out self analysis. The enemy will use your weak point and the unconfessed sin in your life to attack you. Those who don’t want to carry out self analysis are running away from themselves, they are fighting themselves, and God likes sincere people.

How can God invest so much in a person and the person is not yeilding any fruit? What type of fruit is your life bearing? Or have you forgotten that Jesus does not put value on fruitless Christians. He however does not want you to be cut down. Remember that God is continuously crying that He saved many people, filled them with the Holy Ghost, brought them to His sanctuary, yet, they are not bringing any fruit. It is useless for you to be fighting witches, wizards and herbalists when you are not bearing fruits for God.

Things cannot move for you until you allow God to possess you and your fruits. Do you want God to replace you? My prayer is that you will not be replaced in Jesus’ name. I also pray that you will bring forth fruits, such that God’s heart will be filled with joy.

Many Christians will get into trouble because of their families. The bible says pour your anger on the family that calls not on the name of the Lord. If your own family does not come together every morning and every night to worship God and to pray to Him, then you can be convinced that you are on your own. May God have mercy on you. What fruits are you producing for the Lord with all your intelligence, academic success, good job, financial position, influential personality, capacity to communicate, and your natural leadership ability. Of what use are you putting it to further the course of the Kingdom? A fruitless Christian is fighting against himself. Many keep saying, "I will fully participate when the Lord solves my problem." What a pity, you cannot blackmail God.

Do not allow God to push you into where there is utter darkness, weeping and gnashing of teeth. God can do it if you refuse to use the talents He gave to you. If you keep on burying your talents, you are giving your enemies opportunities to destroy you. Think about it. If you engage in strife, then you are giving enemies a chance to plant a stronghold in your life. You will also be hindering your own blessings. If you are keeping demonic invasions.

You cannot attack demons successfully when you have their properties in your body or house. All the amulets and the waistband will only strengthen the battle against you. If you obtained partial deliverance and you are attacking the enemies, you are only attacking yourself because part of the enemy is still in you.

All those engaging in sexual immoralities cannot win any war against the enemy. It does not matter whether or not the person is your fiancee. You may think you are enjoying yourself now, but you are actually waging a serious war against your own life. The bible says that children that are disobedient to their parents are only inviting short life and they are fighting themselves. Those who are seeking worldly pleasure are killing themselves because they are strengthening their enemies. Why should you be strengthening your enemies? Why should you be fighting against yourself? Why should you not face the truth about yourself?

Why not say "Lord here am I". I want to be free from sins. Not all problems are caused by the enemies. Many play serious roles in their own problems. Before you bind a problem, examine it carefully so as to be sure that you are not binding your own self. I want you to face the truth because one thing is certain, if you are blameless and you pray fire prayer, no witch from the bottom of hell fire can stand against you. If you then notice that something is hindering you, self analysis must be carried out. Ask yourself questions, and make confessional prayers. Now if you know that after reading this message, you have an adjustment to make with God, just put your hand on your chest and speak to the Lord yourself about that particular area.

Face the truth, do it now and don’t allow the enemy to be using your weakness against you, so that when you spit fire in your prayers the fire will function. Make sure you do it very well. What you are doing now is tantamount to taking legal action against the devil, by removing his stronghold. By so doing, the devil would not be able to operate successfully in you.

Pray the following prayers points for the week with fire in your spirit.

Prayer Points

1. Let every evil desire and expectation of the enemy concerning my life collapse now in the name of Jesus.
2. I challenge every department of my body with the fire of God (Lay your right hand on the head and the other one on the stomach) in the name of Jesus.
3. Let every stolen organ from my body be restored now in the name of Jesus.
4. I reject every counterfeit blessing, I claim the correct blessings in the name of Jesus.
5. O Lord, reveal to me who I am (a lot of people are masquerades to themselves, they don’t know themselves. Yet they want to be attacking their enemies).
6. O Lord, I repent from everything that I have done to aid the enemy.
7. O Lord, deliver me from every accusation of the evil one against me in the name of Jesus.
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It’s true. I long for a day when prayer seldom will be mentioned in church. Now before you drop your membership to CPLN or report me to the heresy watchdogs, let me explain.

 

My dream is to see churches so committed to prayer that it is just done! It is so much a part of the spiritual DNA of a congregation that no one has to beg “please come to this prayer gathering.” People just come to pray.

Or the worship leader or prayer leader doesn’t have to fight for space to get some prayer times in the morning worship service . . . it is expected. Or people naturally participate in group prayer and get excited about what God is going to do in response. Or before or after a service you see pairs of people with heads bowed, praying for each other . . . spontaneously. Or when a decision is hard to come by in a board meeting, everyone realizes that they need to spend some time in prayer . . . and someone just starts praying!

Wow! Wouldn’t that be something.

So why isn’t that the DNA of most western churches? There are lots of possible reasons. Of course Satan hates to see a praying church, so he is working mightily against that happening. But I suspect there is another reason that is pretty prevalent in churches.

Prayer and its results cannot be controlled. And we like control.

In our western society today, rare is the church that does not adhere to a tried and true order of a service . . . and a pretty set time that the service should take (an hour, an hour and 15 minutes and so on). So because that is what the people want, and what seems to work the smoothest, we time everything (there is even program software to help us do it!), and schedule everything to make sure it fits the popular timeframe. So even if a pastor, as he prepares his message “gets something from the Lord,” it has to fit in 25 minutes . . . or he can beg the worship leader to remove a song or two, but that could be dicey. Easier just to shorten the message.  In that kind of a setting prayer is pretty much a perfunctory thing that we control. No one is really encouraged to pray, “in the spirit,” sensing what the Holy Spirit would have them pray. Instead, the pray-er knows to keep it short and to stick to the purpose—is the prayer a welcome, a bridge to something else, etc.  Heaven forbid if the person praying starts to get moved and prays too long. That would really muck up the plan.

Any church elder’s meeting or board meeting begins with prayer--usually one or two people, asking God for wisdom and to bless the meeting. A smaller number of boards might spend 15-30 minutes or more in prayer, but that is rare. And very few boards indeed would think to break into the meeting with prayer at a crucial roadblock moment. Why? Perhaps the reason is as sadly innocent as no one thinks enough of the importance of prayer to remember to do so . . . but I think the underlying issue of giving up control is at work here too. You see when we actually use prayer as a way to seek real direction from God—to hear His heart on a matter—we give up control. We have to obey what we hear. And that is often too uncomfortable for boards and leaders to do because the status quo may change. Years ago I was in a very uncomfortable situation at a ministry where I worked. A core of us had heard God say to do something differently. We had worked through it and discussed it, feeling this was of God. But when push came to shove with obedience, neither the individual who would have to incorporate this change nor our leadership would do it. It was not what conventional wisdom said to do . . . and what the industry typically did. It is much easier not to seek God!

Prayer cannot be controlled. Prayer opens the door to change, to rearrangement, to going off bulletin, to seeing the power of God displayed in the midst of His people. Prayer gives the Spirit “permission” to respond in whatever way He wants to respond. And deep down, our western, gotta-be-in-control mindset does not want to go there.

A recent news story in the premiere issue of Prayer Connect, “Mercy Drops of Revival” tells what happened when a pastor listened to God and threw away his comfortable plan. Prayer took over, and a mini revival that lasted several months profoundly altered his ministry. (You can read this article in the news section at prayerconnect.net.)


For many, sadly, that is too dangerous, and unconsciously prayer is kept in a safe, perfunctory, filler role in the life of a church. As a prayer leader or church leader, I encourage you to pray that God will open the eyes and hearts of your church leadership to realize that they must give up control . . . and pray.

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Thorns of Life

Our message this week, is what I call “The thorns of life.” Genesis 3:17-19 says, “And unto Adam He said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee saying, thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field: “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”

WHAT IS A THORN?
It is possible that many city dwellers have never seen thorns in their lives. But try and picture a plant with sharp needles on its body. A thorn is a prickle or a sharp pointed growth on the branch or stem of a plant.
The passage above is what the Bible calls the curse of thorns. Thorns were not meant to be a problem until this curse was issued. Carefully interpreted, thorns and thistles mean hard labour or hard life. A life of thorns and thistles, if not rescheduled, can cause other problems.
Matthews 27:29-30 says, “And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head.” This occurred before Jesus was crucified. What is known as a crown of thorns with sharp needle-like objects was placed on His head, causing blood to come out. They put the crown of thorns on His head to mock Him. It was also to give Him headache. But unknown to them, they were fulfilling a divine purpose. The kind of plants used for the crown of thorns was known to be poisonous. So, apart from the headache, the poison from the plant used for the crown also entered the blood of the Saviour.

WHY WAS HIS CROWN MADE OF THORNS?
His crown was made of thorns because He came to cancel and break the curse of the thorns of life. He wore the crown for you and for me and carried away the curse and spiritual poisons that made life a hell. When there are thorns in a life, the purpose is to cause worry, trouble, temptation, annoyance, pain, humiliation and persistent attacks. But since Jesus has suffered and shed His blood to remove these thorns, life will offer only two things: Thorns or flowers; depending on what you personally choose. The Bible says, “Behold, I place before you this day blessings and curses, life and death, I advise you to choose life so you may live.”

WHAT DETERMINES WHETHER A PERSON PICKS UP THORNS OR FLOWERS?
What will determine what you pick up is the kind of vessel you are made of. A vessel is any material that may be used for any purpose. A vessel may be a tool, an implement, a weapon or something you use to perform a particular function. Romans 9:21-23 talks about one particular kind of vessel. It says, “Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory.”
2 Timothy 2:20-21 says, “But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.”
There are different kinds of vessels in the house of God. So you will do well to examine what kind of vessel you are. Let me clear one thing before we go deeper into this message: God will not accept any excuse from anyone for not being a useful vessel.
Recently, a man of God preached to an unbeliever to accept the Lord. He listened attentively and after the message, he said to the man of God, “You are talking about heaven and that at the end of the day we shall all go there.” The preacher said yes. The man queried further, “You say that there is enjoyment in that place and that eyes have not seen, ears have not heard, and it has not come into the mind of men what the Lord has prepared for His people.” The preacher said, “That is correct.” Then the man asked, “One final thing before I decide whether I will give my life to Christ or not. Will my wife be there?” The preacher replied that if she was born again, she would be there. Then the man said, “In that case, I do not want to go to heaven because I do not want to have anything to do with her whether in heaven or anywhere else.” This man did not know that even if his wife was the worst woman that ever lived, God would not accept such excuse from him.
The excuse of Adam for disobeying God was rejected. The excuse of Eve for disobeying God was also rejected. The excuse of Lot for wanting to stay in Sodom and Gomorrah was rejected. The excuse of Moses for not wanting to talk to Pharoah was rejected. The excuse of Aaron for making the golden calf was not accepted by God. The excuse of the ten spies for not wanting to go into the promised land was rejected. The excuse given by the Israelites for wanting a king for themselves was rejected. The excuse of Saul for assuming the post of a priest was rejected; also his excuse for saving the enemies of God, the Amalekites that were to be destroyed, was rejected. The excuses of Elijah, a fire man of God for running away after Jezebel had threatened him with death was rejected.
The excuse of the unfaithful servant who hid the one talent he was given was not accepted by his Master. Jeremiah told God that he was a small boy when God called him, but God said: “Shut up. Do not repeat what you have just said. I chose you from your mother’s womb.” All his excuses were rejected. So, no one should have any excuse for being a useless vessel before God. I have gone this far to let you know that God hates excuses. Those who have excuses for not being what God wants them to be are causing trouble for themselves for all their excuses will be rejected.
I ask you a question now: “What kind of vessel are you? Your answer will determine whether you will be picking up thorns or flowers from life. It is said that the same sun that hardens the clay melts the candle. Both clay and candle are materials but they happen to be of different textures. One can withstand the sun while the other cannot. What kind of vessel are you? You will not say I want to cook soup and then say the best material to use is a wine glass. It will crack because it is not the correct vessel to use. Examine yourself. What type of vessel are you?
When enemies fire arrows at you and such arrows prosper, it shows the type of material you are made of. There is no excuse for a Christian to be weak these days. There is no excuse for not moving the way God wants you to move. The Bible says that there are some vessels of honour and others of dishonour. There are some people who are spiritual conductors. They are signboards leading people to heaven, but they themselves are not prepared to enter. Some even block the way for others to enter. They are just like the bus conductor who never allocates a seat to himself. Do not be an unprofitable usher, an unprofitable vessel or a vessel unto dishonour. Unprofitability and dishonour attract evil.
You will now take these two prayer points:
1. Oh Lord, I do not want to be a vessel unto dishonour, make me a vessel of honour, in the name of Jesus.
2. Oh Lord, let all dirtiness be drained out of the vessel of my life, in Jesus’ name.
Every situation in life, no matter how horrible it may be, can be rectified by the touch of Jesus. A man’s life will remain empty until he has had an unforgettable encounter with Jesus. Nothing works except Jesus Christ is in it. If people say someone is prospering because he has money, that does not necessarily mean he is getting on. Except he is prospering in God, he is not really getting on. He may be making progress by human assessment, but so long as Jesus is absent in his so-called progress, everything really is zero.
Many people are like that clever soldier who did not want to stay in the army anymore and therefore employed a trick. He pretended to be mad and began to salivate and to drag his feet on the floor. When an order was given to the soldiers to stand at attention, he would bend down. His main desire was to be discharged. Everyday, when they showed him a paper, he would say, “No. This is not it.” Eventually a decision was taken to discharge him from the army. He was then given his discharge certificate. He read only the first page and yelled, “Yes. This is it.” His madness cleared away at once. But as he was matching away, congratulating himself for being smart, someone drew his attention to what was written on the other page of the letter. Turning to that page, he found that directives were given that he should be taken to the prison yard. Most people who are like that soldier never want to settle down and sort themselves out. They want something to fall down from the sky and sort them out. It is not so. God needs your cooperation. You cannot fight it out with the devil by your own strength or by your own brain. Look at the methods people have been using to sort out their problems. Undiscerning men and women patronise herbalists thereby complicating their problems and postponing their evil days.
A sister went somewhere to seek for help. The consultation fee was N30,000 and she managed to cough it out. As directed, she wrote her name on a piece of paper and handed it to the herbalist who set the paper on fire. She was told that after the paper got burnt, she would see her spirit from whom she could enquire why she was having those problems. She was then taken to another room decorated with glass and she could see herself in the glasses in several places at the same time. Soon she saw an image which looked like a lady but the voice sounded like that of a man. When she pointed out that that was not her voice she was told that it was the voice of her spirit. She agreed with their explanations but in the end, nothing happened. In effect, the N30,000 collected from her achieved nothing. “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it,” the Bible says.
Perhaps you have been trying on your own strength, you have been struggling, you have been wasting time. It is time for you to submit your vessel, then you can be a vessel unto honour.
There are seven things that can come under the category of thorns of life and depending on the vessel you are, you can pick them up.
1. Sin. The Bible says in Matthew 1:21 that the Son of God was born to save men from their sins.
2. Sicknesses: The Bible says that Christ was wounded for our transgression and bore our infirmities on the cross.
3. Demonic oppression.
4. Unfriendly friends: They are all over the place and one can pick them up.
5. Bad habits: They can stick to one and land one in hell fire.
6. Lack of spiritual power: This can easily be picked up in the environment.
7. Spirit of failure.
A certain man fell into a pit and could not get out. But right at the mouth of the pit he received about 12 visitors. The first person to come and see him was Brother Sympathizer. He said, “You are inside the pit. I feel sorry for you,” and walked away. After a few minutes, Brother Logic came around and said: “Oh, you are inside there. It is logical that someone should fall inside there, because of the location. They should have put it elsewhere or a piece of wire should have been put round the top.” He then went away. Shortly after, Sister Holiness came. She said: “What are you doing in this hole? Only bad people and sinners fall into such a hole.” She then went away.
After a while Brother Mathematician came. He began to calculate how the man fell into the pit. He calculated the circumference and the depth, yet the man remained in the pit. Eventually Sister Historian turned up. She explained that it was in 1965 that the hole was dug. She then told the history of how many people had fallen into it. She left and the man was still there. Then a newspaper reporter came and wanted to interview the man on how he got into the pit. He wanted an exclusive story on the incident. Then he left. Brother Self-Pity came and urged the man to take courage. He said his own pit was a lot deeper than where the man was. “You have not seen anything yet,” he said and left.
After a while a Pentecostal preacher came. He said, “Brother, why are you inside that pit. Now, begin to confess that you are out of that pit.” He too departed. Then something happened. The Lord Jesus Christ came to the spot and did not waste time blowing grammar. He just took the man’s hand and dragged him out of the pit. Beloved, Christianity is not theoretical. It is practical. We have a policy in the Mountain of Fire and Miracles. It is as simple as a Yoruba adage that says: “If a man sees a snake and a woman succeeds in killing it, the important thing is that the snake has not escaped.” Beloved, only Jesus can withdraw the thorns of life and replace them with flowers. One big problem, however, is that many of us do not listen to God before we get into problems. Suppose you asked God’s opinion before you invested in certain projects or contracts you would have avoided a lot of troubles. God could have told you, “No, do not dare because the result will be unpleasant.” May be you want to go on a journey and the Spirit of God says, “Do not go this way but go that way,” whatever would go wrong on the road would not affect you.
There are two groups of Christians who listen to God: The weak listeners and the aggressive listeners. Who are the weak listeners? The ones who do not clear their decisions with God before they act. Weak listeners will come to church, but will not give a second thought to what God is saying. They just hear but the message does not register neither do they understand it.
God wants all of us to be aggressive listeners, who come to church with their Bibles opened and their pens ready. During Bible studies, such people have their hearts and ears fully open. They are very inquisitive and are always probing, searching, comparing what they hear to what they already knew. Such people are constantly thinking of how they can apply the Scriptures to their lives. They ask themselves: “What I read this morning, what does it mean?” They are like the Berean Christians. When we fail to find a way of hearing from God and we are aggressive about it, God will use different methods to get our attention. Some of the things we call problems are not problems as such. They are God’s ways of gaining our attention.
If you have been rushing too much and God wants to slow you down, He may use some of the following methods:
1. He can make you restless. You just notice that you cannot rest. You do not know why. You do not feel easy inside. If this happens the best thing to do is to stop and listen to God. But if again you do not listen, He will apply another method.
2. He can use unusual vessels, for example, unbelievers. I remember a brother who, before he got born again used to drink a lot of palm wine. After he got born again, he reduced the quantity but did not stop altogether. He looked for Bible passages to support his action. You can always support anything with the Bible, if you choose to. But then, the Bible says that some do this to their own destruction. One day, this brother was drinking and a believer who passed by said, “Brother, you are the one preaching to us about this type of thing. What are you doing with palm wine?” He said it was because it contained yeast and he understood that for clear eyes one might drink palm wine, particularly that with sediments.
Unbelievers sometimes point out to us the wrong we are doing. Some may say that they pick on us because we are believers. But it is good to listen to criticisms, particularly from those you regard as your enemies. Sometimes they are right. God can use them to gain your attention. Any other vessel can be used just as God used Balaam’s horse to get his attention when he refused to listen.
3. God can use a word from others, even other Christians, to get our attention. Like Nathan the prophet went to David and said: “You are the man who did this,” and David had to adjust himself. Sometimes God does so through unusual blessings. So, when you receive a breakthrough, when you are thanking Him, sit down and find out what next He wants you to do.
Another way He gains our attention is through unanswered prayers. Sometimes all our prayers are answered. But when a particular need arises and heavens are like brass, then God gets our attention. Silence from heaven often signifies that we should conduct self-examination.
Sometimes God uses disappointment to cause us to listen to Him. At times, when have what we call great disappointment, God wants to use it to have our attention if we cannot be reached in any other way. He can also use unusual circumstances like in the case of Moses in the burning bush. He had never seen this type of thing before, so he drew near to have a close look at it and God spoke to him. Another method God can use is through failure. Sometimes God can be responsible for our failures. The Israelites had just defeated Jericho, but they could not overrun one small town called Ai. When they failed woefully, Joshua sought the face of the Lord. Then he knew that there was sin in the camp. When we ruin God’s purpose for blessing us, failure will come so that He can gain our attention again.
He can also use financial crisis to get somebody’s attention. God sometimes dries the finances of somebody so that he can listen. I know a man who when he was riding in a bus, he was cleaning benches in the church. After God blessed him and he had five cars, he started coming late to church. When asked why he was coming late, he said his driver was reporting late so he could not leave home early. When he was travelling by bus, he was always one of those arriving early. God started withdrawing the cars one by one until He gained the man’s attention again.
God can use tragedy to get a person’s attention. Just as He did to the Israelites in the jungle when He sent serpents to bite them. Then they sat down and listened to Him. God can use sicknesses and affliction to get attention. He does not use the same method for everyone. Do not wait for Him to use any of His methods to reach you. Instead, pray and purify the vessel of your life.
Now lay your right hand on your head and take the following prayer points:

PRAYER POINTS
1. O Lord, any area in which the vessel of my life is weak or it is not strong enough to receive the kind of blessing You want to pour on it, help me, in the name of Jesus.
2. O Lord, in which ever way the vessel of my life is not strong enough to accept the blessing You want to pour on it, help me, in the name of Jesus.
3. Satanic poison go, in Jesus’ name.”
4. I break every curse that may be affecting my head, in the name of Jesus.
5. Open my ears so that I may be hearing from You clearly, in Jesus’ name.
6. Place your hands on your eyes and say: Spiritual blindness go, in the name of Jesus.
7. All you enemies of my breakthrough, be disgraced this week, in the name of Jesus.
8. I refuse to pick up thorns from life, in Jesus’ name.
9. I shall laugh last over my enemies, in the name of Jesus. (Repeat this seven times)
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The Wall and “A Matter of Inches”

Many times as I’m traveling on airplanes I marvel at the difference a few inches can make. Relaxing in a comfortable chair in a comfortable climate, I look out the window and realize that the temperature just inches away is below zero, the winds are 400+ MPH, and air is so thin that I would instantly plummet to my death gasping for oxygen. It’s only a matter of a few inches.

The Israelites understood this matter of inches. They went to great lengths to surround Jerusalem and other cities with walls, several inches thick. Inside the wall the Israelites found protection, safety and comfort. They knew God’s purposes were a priority. They knew they would find people who were like-minded. Outside the wall was a different story. There was no guarantee of their safety outside. It was just a matter of a few inches.

Today, we as believers in Jesus Christ are not called to remove ourselves and live behind a secluding wall, but rather to bring a wall of protection to those around us. Our battle is “against powers and principalities,” and we build a barrier against attack when we “pray in the Spirit at all times” (Eph. 6:12, 18).

This is why we have a 24/7 Prayer Wall for the nation at GetAmericaPraying.com.

Safety. Protection. God’s ways. It’s just a matter of inches.
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What Are You Giving God to Fill?

I love listening to some of the great Bible teaching available on Bott Radio. While I don't believe listening to this teaching is a replacement for my personal Bible study or meeting with my church family for solid Bible teaching and fellowship, it is a great supplement during my commute or even while I put on my makeup in the morning.

 

One of James McDonald's lessons that I remember vividly from May, 2010 was based on the story of Elija and the widow in 2 Kings 4:1-7. You probably remember this miraculous event where the widow poured what little oil she had into borrowed vessels and ended up with enough oil to sell and pay off her debts.

 

This woman was distraught because of her indebtedness. What has you distraught today and seeking a solution? Pastor James' statement (as well as I can remember it, if not word for word) really spoke to me:

"God will fill anything we bring him.  If we're not being filled it's because we haven't brought him any more empty vessels."

 

Despite the fact that I have a regular time with the Lord, I am often so focused on intercession for others that I fail to bring myself before Him for filling. I fail to come humbly say, "I need thee, O I need thee." Or I fail to clean my vessel so that it is truly empty for His filling.

 

Father, I thank you that you can fill anything I willingly put before you. Keep reminding me of my great need for you and then remind me to clean my vessels and put them before you.

 

"I need the, O, I need thee.

Every hour I need thee.

O bless me now my Savior,

I come to thee."

Annie S. Hawks

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