Oman, Arabian Peninsula

Day 13 - June 30, 2015

As Muslims are praying and fasting during Ramadan, we pray for them.

The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; 

the righteous run to it and are safe. 

Christians in Oman are praying for a larger harvest from Proverbs 18:10.

The Sultan of Oman (Qaboos) is very ill. He underwent treatment in Germany. A recent photo of him shows he is withering away. We can sense by things happening on the ground here that the transition of power has already taken place. Someone else with a different worldview from the Sultan is already running the country. Nobody knows who will officially take over from the Sultan and that may cause turmoil. The tribal system and tribal wars were very fierce before Sultan Qaboos' times. Who knows what will happen when he dies. Pray that God will use these things to shake the foundations of the Omani belief system and make hearts and minds fertile for the gospel. When political trouble starts and social insecurity sets in, it is no longer safe. We feel strongly that now is the time to plant so the seed may germinate.

Christian workers are doing their best to sow as widely and abundantly as possible. Pray that God will direct their footsteps and give them divine appointments.

As far as we know there is no local church in our town, and this is true for most cities and villages across Oman. There are however a couple of believers in Jesus and they are not in fellowship with other local believers. Pray that the Lord will open ways for those believers to meet other believers. Pray that they may be encouraged and grow in their faith. Pray that the Lord will send the true seekers on our path with whom the Holy Spirit has already been working.

Source: Christians in Oman

Over a long weekend a team of Christian youth and adults spread out in a city in Oman to pray for people. If people desired to be blessed, they received a blessing. If people needed healing, the teams prayed for that. They prayed over many Muslims. They also found Christians that needed help connecting with local fellowships. The teams took prayer in Jesus' name to the streets. Pray that those touched will continue to wonder about the Lord Jesus. Pray they will find Christian TV or Internet or other Christ followers to help them fully understand who He is. God touched dozens of people through this effort. May He draw them now into His Kingdom (The Bible, Matthew 10:7-8).

Source: The 10/40 Window Prayer Points for Every Nation (May 2015)

Many are saying America and possibly most of the world is under the imminent judgment of God in these days. I am reminded of God's judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah. God said the outcry against Sodom was great. People were crying out to him in oppression and suffering. God could not be a God of compassion and not judge the selfishness, wickedness, prejudice and violence we have turned to today. And yet as He was preparing to rain fire down upon Sodom the Lord invited Abraham to intercede for the city. If God is making you aware of imminent judgment, He is inviting you to intercede in prayer. Do you sense the urgency to intercede in prayer even if you are not sure how to do that? Interestingly enough Abraham came to some principles that will help us pray in these days.

First, Abraham appealed to God's love for righteousness. "Will not the judge of all the earth do what is right?" We need to pray for churches and believers and people who seek righteousness in high places in our society. They may be our only hope against immediate judgment. This week one of the most prominent pastors in America stepped down from his pulpit because of moral failure. I saw several Face Book posts on it. I made a comment on one of them. "If you were our enemy, who would you attack?" But while I had respected this man, I had never prayed for him. God forgive me.

Another principal that Abraham discovered was the intercession of the gospel. Some of you are skeptical of Abraham's understanding of the gospel. But he grasped a core principle in his interaction with the LORD over Sodom. The Lord loves righteousness so much that He was willing to spare the wicked because of the righteousness of the righteous. How does that relate to the gospel? That is its very heart. The only reason any of us are spared from immediate and final judgment is that God has imputed to us the righteousness of Jesus Christ. He alone is truly righteous. He is our only righteousness. He is our only hope. Interceding in the face of judgment must be based upon the spread of the gospel. Many of us in these days sense an urgency to pray for unreached and unengaged people groups in the world. That is intercession for the gospel. Are you praying and giving and going and sending so the gospel will be available to all who Jesus died to save?

Today, I believe there is another facet of interceding in the face of judgment. That is crying out to God for His supernatural hand in our ministry to hurting people. The first major judgment of God was a mercy on the world because of what we had become. God saw that the thoughts and intents of the heart of man were only evil continually. (Gen. 6:5) I do not know what kind of judgment God is preparing to send. We may well be preparing to taste the 7 bowls of God’s wrath upon the earth. But the Bible speaks of another kind of judgment that is in many ways worse. This is the judgment of what we become. In Romans 1 Paul says that God gives men over to the perversions and corruption of our hearts. 2 Timothy 3 says that in the last days people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud arrogant, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. These are days in which we need to pray for God to use us to heal in the face of incredible wickedness all around and within us.

Father, we cry out for Your mighty hand upon us as we seek to be righteous, as we spread the gospel and as we show compassion to a hurting world.

One of the top concepts in the corporate world these days is “the power of full engagement.” It’s a paradigm for managing your personal or organizational energy, and I think you would find it very helpful.

But recently I’ve been learning about the flipside of that concept: the power of full DISENGAGEMENT.

Let me explain why this is so important…

My baby blue 1976 Fiat was the favorite car I’ve ever owned. With 5-speed manual transmission and a responsive engine, it was a complete blast to drive.

But sometimes my Fiat was so much fun that I forgot to press the clutch before changing gears. The result was a horrible grinding sound, not to mention considerable embarrassment on my part. And occasionally my failure to press the clutch even resulted in the engine stalling.

Lately I’ve realized that God is getting me ready for a new season in my life, and I’ve thought about the lesson I learned years ago with that old Fiat: If you’re going to make a smooth transition from one gear (or season) to the next, you’d better press the clutch first.

In many ways, this seems a great paradox. In order to be fully engaged with the next gear, you must first take time to be fully disengaged from your present gear. Shortcuts simply don’t work. In fact, shortcuts will eventually cause permanent damage to the gears.

No one modeled the power of disengagement better than Jesus. When He saw that His disciples were facing burnout because of never-ending activity, He instructed them to “come apart” to a quiet place and get some rest (Mark 6:31 KJV). Then and now, those who don’t intentionally disengage from their daily grind on a regular basis will eventually “come apart” (i.e., fall apart) in unpleasant, unintentional ways.

Jesus realized the POWER in disengagement, especially when we use that time to better engage with our Heavenly Father. We repeatedly see Him disengaging from the crowds, and even from His disciples, to go pray in the wilderness or on top of a mountain. What was the result of such times? “Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit” (Luke 4:14).

Isn’t that beautiful? After Jesus purposefully disengaged for a while, He was able to reengage with new strength and power.

Today, do you find yourself anticipating a new season in your life, but unsure how to get there? Or perhaps you feel stuck in “second gear,” unable to move on. Or maybe you keep hearing a loud screeching sound every time you try to move from one gear to the next.

If you can relate to any of these symptoms, I encourage you to discover—or rediscover, like I have—the power of full disengagement. Leave your friends and family for a few days. Disconnect from your work responsibilities, your smart phone, and your social media. Find a place to quiet your heart and rest.

As you take time to disengage and be still, you’ll experience the powerful message of Psalm 46:10: He is God—and you’re not! That is really, really good news, isn’t it?

How do you pray when you are suffering? The first thing we pray is, "Lord, deliver me! I am hurting." And I know that it could never be God's will for me to hurt. However in the Garden before the cross Jesus prayed, "Father, take this cup from me. But not my will but Your will be done." I am so thankful that it was God's will for Him to suffer. He was bruised for my inequities. He was wounded for my transgressions. Has it ever occurred to that your suffering may be the thing God will use to bring someone God loves to His grace?

You have heard the statement, "We are the Lord's hands and feet." We are His hands. And when others see the nail marks in our lives, like His disciple, Thomas, they may come to Him as their Lord and their God.

I agree that we should pray for God to deliver us from pain. But we also need to be willing for God to use our heartache, our suffering our loss and failure. When we suffer we need to pray for Jesus to be glorified in our pain. And we can pray for God to use our suffering to bring about His glorious will in someone else's life.

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://daveswatch.com/

“See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ‘Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.’ The words ‘once more’ indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ‘God is a consuming fire’” (Hebrews 12:25-29).

If we are entering the most exciting time in all of history, why are so many of us walking in secret fear? Why is anxiety and fear on the top on the list of human problems? Fear is growing worldwide. People fear everything from snakes and scorpions to earthquakes and famines. There is the fear of man, fear of shame, fear of pain or danger, and fear of great loss. The list is endless. What we should fear is not ISIS or the stock market, but the LORD. God is speaking loudly in these days. He is warning us and shaking everything. But the Kingdom of God cannot be shaken. Let us not fail to realize that those who truly follow the Lord are part of that unshakable Kingdom.

When we truly learn to walk in the fear of the Lord, our other fears will fade into the background.

How we walk in these days is extremely important. Our every step counts. I had an experience a few years ago that affected my entire life. I was upstairs in my house and was hurrying to answer my doorbell. It all happened so quickly when I slid on the top step. I had a great fall down my stairs, landed on my wrist, and broke my heel. Four months in a wheelchair and a couple years of recovery showed me how important walking is! We must walk carefully and consciously moment-by-moment in the fear of the Lord. A fall can be extremely painful and costly. The fear of the Lord protects us.

So often we fear man because we fear God so little. But we are moving into a time where the fear of the Lord will be a vital necessity for all of God’s people, so that we can arise victoriously as the Bride of Christ and stand fearlessly in the face of a very fearful end-times world. We will walk in a supernatural peace that will attract the lost by the 1000’s. We will finally be living the supernatural life that God intended all along.

There are three kinds of fears that we must be aware of - harmful, healthy and holy fears. Harmful fears are those that hinder us. Paul said to Timothy, “God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). Timothy was struggling against those fears that hindered his ministry and life such as the fear of failure, rejection, inferiority, and inadequacy. Instead of being God-conscious, harmful fears cause us to be self-conscious. These are not helpful fears! But healthy fears are good because they can keep us from dangerous situations. A young child learns to avoid playing in the street or jumping from a roof. These fears are safeguards in our life.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding” (Proverbs 9:10).

Seeking the fear of the Lord leads us to wisdom. It’s a fear we must seek daily. It’s a fear that will motivate us towards holy living, reverence of God, and righteousness.

Walking in the Fear of the Lord

“Many of us yearn for a return to the supernatural glory of the early church - healing, angelic protection, earthshaking prayer meetings, mass conversions and missionary adventure. I want all of that. But I want the real thing, not a poor imitation. If we want the presence of God, we need the reverence of God.”

As we evaluate our life, most of us have to admit that we are just beginning to learn about the fear of the Lord. We want the presence of God, but we know that we need to grow in our reverence and fear of God. Our flesh naturally wars against our spirit so we must put in effort by exercising our rightful authority over our flesh. Here are ways to help you to walk in the fear of the Lord:

• Choose to fear the Lord - You have a choice and are not in bondage to sinful desires. Love what God loves and hate what He hates. Learn to hate evil. Over time your emotions will line up with your spirit.
  
  “To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech” (Proverbs 8:13).

• Be aware of God’s presence during the day - Learn to practice God’s presence. Speak to God all throughout the day with little phrases. ”Jesus, I love you.” “I stand in awe of your greatness.” “Thank You for being so good.”
  
  “Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, Lord” (Psalm 89:15).

• Learn to trust the Lord daily - When you are fearful, confess it as sin and ask God to help you walk in His peace. He is your refuge.
  
  “Whoever fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for their children it will be a refuge” (Proverbs 14:26).

• Highly value and respect the Bible - Know that the Bible is under attack and make a personal commitment to stand on God’s Truth. Take time for Bible reading and study (Proverbs 2:1-5). Commit to applying what you read and pray it back to God, slowly internalizing the verses. You will learn more about the nature of God, His ways, and how to obey.
  
  “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

• Worship God during the day - Study the attributes of God in His Word and worship Him through His Word. Sing and proclaim His attributes. When people in the Bible encountered God, they responded in deep reverence and submission. Let worship permeate your life.
  
  “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker” (Psalm 95:6).

• Welcome and embrace God’s discipline - Don’t run from God’s refining fire. He is a loving Father and deals with us as sons. We are not to despise His chastening because He delights in us. Though it may be painful, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness (Hebrews 12:11).
  
  “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in” (Proverbs 3:11-12).

• Avoid circumstances that are not of God - Proactively look at what circumstances lead you into sinful thinking and actions. i.e. internet, movies, bad relationships, etc. Go the way of righteousness.
  
  “Better a little with righteousness than much gain with injustice (Proverbs 16:9).

• Repent of any personal sin that God reveals to you - Live a repentant life style daily. See David’s example in Psalm 51:4-10.
  
  “Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me (Psalm 51:9-10).

As revival comes into the Church around the world, a holy fear of God will be known as in previous generations. God’s terrifying presence will wash out all sin and reveal each heart to the core. We shall truly fear the Lord and His burning presence will be in our lives. Let’s let His searchlight penetrate our plans, our agendas, our possessions, and our lives. His very presence will shatter all that is in our carnal life styles. God wants our relationship with Him to not merely be belief and doctrine, but His burning presence in our lives.

The world is looking for a people who fear the Lord and know His glorious power. Let us be the ones who live in the fear of the Lord. Let us stand for Truth and let God’s consuming fire touch everything in our lives. It’s time to live in awesome reverence and respect of the Lord. Just as God said to the children of Israel through Joshua, I believe He is saying to us:

“So fear the lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols” (Joshua 24:14a).

It is time to fear the Lord.

“Those first-century miracles flowed amidst a praying church that preached repentance and practiced holiness. The early disciples had been baptized with fire (see Matthew 3:11) – a cleansing flame that burns up sin and produces the fear of the Lord… The early disciples weren’t playing. Real revival is serious stuff. Not only does it bring joy and peace; it also has the power to crush inflated egos, expose selfishness and kill pride. Do we want that?” Quotes by J. Lee Grady

 By Debbie Przybylski

Intercessors Arise International

deb@intercessorsarise.org

Tim Keller says, "We should not decide how to pray based on the experiences and feelings we want. Instead, we should do everything possible to behold our God as he is, and prayer will follow." Maybe that's why we need to build and maintain a prayer altar in our heart? We need to be there, in God's Presence, not just ‘experience’ His kingdom power, peace and prosperity.

Years ago, my view of prayer was radically changed by a little booklet entitled, My Heart, Christ’s Home.  Written by Robert Boyd Munger (and still in print today), it is a visual depiction of how a relationship with Christ transforms our lives. His heartbeat became my heartbeat as I celebrated the shift in my own desires. His presence became my greatest inheritance, and divine encounters my greatest memories.

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

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

And forgive us our debts,

As we forgive our debtors.

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

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

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

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

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

“Hallowed be your name.”

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

Your kingdom come,

your will be done,

   on earth as it is in heaven.

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

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://daveswatch.com/

Do you believe in prayer? Almost everyone does. I have even seen Buddhist prayer wheels although Buddhism is a non-theist system. The better question is do you believe in the One we pray to. We can boil this down to John 3:16. Do you believe in the Son of God? This is a poem on John 3:16 from my book I AM.

ONLY BEGOTTEN

John 3:16

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

God sent His Son, the fullness of His love,

He became “The Son of Man,” though God of very God,

The living incarnation from above.

No other could fulfill His loving job.

God gave His son, His heart, His very self,

The Son was God the only begotten.

He showed us how God loved and gave and felt.

He gave love the world has not forgotten.

He claimed His own who would believe in Him.

Whoever believes in God's only Son,

Would not parish with all the rest of men.

They put their faith in everything He's done.

Responding to His grace they are asking.

That He might give them life everlasting.

The question of prayer and discipleship and life contemporary and eternal is, “Do you believe in the only begotten Son of God?”

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://daveswatch.com/books/

My website has a link to the book on Amazon.com. You can also see a book trailer there.

One of the reasons why I began writing His Inscriptions was to strengthen believers - especially Christian leaders - who are weary and exhausted for various reasons. You may be feeling that way today. It is not uncommon, in an increasingly hostile world, to feel tired or discouraged. Once we are weary, it becomes harder than ever to maintain the good habits we have of connecting with God. Self-discipline eludes us and our communication with God ebbs at the time we need it most.

The Bible addresses weariness, and in its simplest form, we know that a weary body needs rest and nourishment, just as a weary spirit does. (Read more here)

In Ephesus 5:14-15 Paul writes, "For this reason I bow before the Father from whom Every family in heaven and earth derives its name."

The Lord's Prayer does not simply teach us to say the words, "Our Father which art in heaven." Jesus is calling us to bow our hearts to our Heavenly Father. The privilege of coming to God as our father represents ultimate intimacy and majesty. I remember my sister and I running out to meet my father and throwing ourselves around his legs as he came home from work. Jesus is telling us we have that kind of relationship with the God of the universe, the God beyond the universe who created heaven and earth.

In Matthew 23:9 Jesus told us we have one father who is in heaven. He is the source of our spiritual DNA. We are born again in Him. Have you ever seen a child who reflected his father's appearance? God is working in the lives of His children making us more and more like Him, like Jesus.

I also remember my father's deep quiet voice teaching and encouraging me. He did not always do it perfectly, but my heavenly Father does. God teaches and guides His children.

My father worked hard to provide for the needs of our family. But even my father's provision was given us by God. God provides our every need. In His arms we are blessed and comforted. He alone knows our deepest needs.

There were times when my children knew I was afraid. But I do not ever remember my father being afraid. I could not imagine being afraid when I was with him. If he was there we were safe. God is our ultimate rescuer. He is our Savior. More than a dozen times in Scripture we have the phrase, "God our savior." This of course includes Jesus as God the Son. Tutus 2:14 speaks of "our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ." Jude 25 reads, "To the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time now and forever. amen"

http://daveswatch.com/

watchinginprayer.blogspot.com

Watch: Learn how to develop a prayer culture in your church or home meetings!

Our churches must again be fueled by never ending, passionate and Spirit-driven prayer!

This isn’t to be relegated to a side room on an off day, but rather the prayer meeting must be the main meeting of the week!

Discover how to take steps to introduce a burning, prayer-fueled atmosphere into your home or church with the expectation of watching it spread into a wild revival fire!

HOW TO DEVELOP A PRAYER CULTURE IN YOUR CHURCH OR HOME

In this teaching I share some practical ideas on how to begin the process of ensuring prayer is the main thing.

The remnant church is hungering for an atmosphere of burning, effective and intimate prayer. Sadly, most Christians resist the call to prayer, and this has resulted in a powerless church.

It’s time to move forward with fiery passion and see prayer return to first place in the church and in our lives!

WATCH OR LISTEN TO THIS POWERFUL MESSAGE FREE FOR THE NEXT 30 DAYS HERE!

As we go about our work day, we might learn from an uneducated worker named Brother Lawrence. When Brother Lawrence joined a monastery in Paris in the 1600’s, he wasn’t educated enough to become an official clergyman, so he went about serving in the monastery. For the rest of his life, he worked in the kitchen and repaired sandals. But it washow he went about his work that was remarkable.

Brother Lawrence had an extraordinary peace about him, which blanketed him with otherworldly wisdom, and as a result, people came to the monastery to meet with him, the lowly kitchen help. “How to have such lasting peace?” they would ask.

Eventually the letters he wrote to seekers and the conversations he had with them, made their way into a book, which was compiled by the vicar general to the Archbishop of Paris. Later, influential leaders like John Wesley and A.W. Tozer recommended it, and “The Practice Presence of the Presence of God” became a classic in Christian literature.

So what set Brother Lawrence apart from his fellow clergymen and planted within him such riches that even poor and uneducated as he was, he soared to heights seen by but a few men, and became a sage to generations?

Brother Lawrence learned how to practice the presence of God.

He writes,

It was a great delusion to think that the times of prayer ought to differ from other times.

In other words, there are no strict times of prayer and strict times of work. We do not exit one activity and resume another. Prayer and work should happen concurrently, are inseparable, one the dance step and the other the music. Prayer and work belong together. Brother Lawrence prayed as he worked, or was it that he worked as he prayed? It doesn’t matter…he didn’t separate his life into categories that we so often and easily do.

I wonder if the separations we make, actually separate us from God, when all along God wants to tear down those walls, the walls we build between prayer and work, God and work, God’s work in us and our work for God. How can we be friends of God if we’ve erected such barricades?

There was a moment in Jesus’ ministry when he told his disciples,

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. (John 15:15)

The disciples weren’t servants anymore; they had become friends. How? By spending enough time with Jesus that he taught them everything he had learned from his Father. How did they spend enough time with him? By going with Jesus from town to town.

The disciples were around for the big ministry moments—the preaching to the crowds, the healing of infirmities, the raising of the dead. But spending time with Jesus was not all crusades and miracles. It included some very common moments—walking from town to town, eating quiet and lowly meals, the minutes before falling asleep with no place to lay your head. Working together.

So what if you connected with God at work? What if you practiced the presence of God at your workplace, and instead of starting prayer and stopping prayer and starting work and stopping work, your works and your prayers were all twisted up in a big ball of twine so that neither could be separated from the other? Would you be a friend of God then?

Just like a lowly kitchen worker from Paris was.

P.S. I write about this type of prayer in Made To Pray.

I have been alarmed over the recent disasters like earthquakes in Nepal and the Philippines. I have also been concerned about potential disaster closer to my home. On the west coast we are in the midst of a multi-year drought. We are coming into summer with the least mountain snow pack ever recorded. And Texas and Oklahoma have come out of a four year drought with tornadoes and deadly flooding. Have you noticed the price of eggs? Eggs have doubled and tripled in cost is because millions of tons of chickens as well as turkeys have been slaughtered and buried because of an epidemic of bird flu. My brother kept bees for many years. He finally had to stop because so many colonies were disappearing. I heard now that 40% of bee colonies died in the past year. I noticed a display in the grocery store this week with “local honey” being sold for about $20/lb. This is also a crisis for farmers and gardeners and all of us who need to eat what grows from the ground. Without bees, fruits and vegetables will not be able to pollinate and produce.

Frankly this is a lot like Biblical predictions of the last days. I can hear the seals of Revelation 6 being broken. Doesn’t this sound like Revelation 6:6?

“And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying,

‘A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius,

and do not harm the oil and wine!’”

Of course anytime you bring such passages up in scholarly circles you find someone who will point out that such things have always happened. And that is right. But pardon me if I believe those passages are still true and will certainly be fulfilled.

However, a more important question is how should we pray, how will we pray in days of disaster? The Lord intentionally led Abraham to pray as He was preparing to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because He was going to bless all nations through him. Make no mistake. Even in days of disaster God intends to use you to share the blessing of the gospel with all the earth. In light of this I have several suggestions for how we should pray.

First, pray together and pray fervently. The first chapter of Joel calls us to call a sacred assembly and cry out to the Lord. Are things not serious enough for us to call people to come together in earnest prayer?

Second, pray that we will not fall into temptation. As Jesus warned, "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Pray that you will not sin because things are tough. As with Job, God will glorify His name by our obedience in the midst of trials. We also need to pray for each other to stand strong in the face of temptation.

Third, we need to pray for hurting people as we seek to minister to them in times of crisis and judgment on the earth. When we obediently minister to hurting people in these days, we also bring supernatural power into their lives as we pray for them.

And fourth, but certainly not finally, Pray for people to repent and turn to God in the face of judgment that is coming on the earth. If you pray about this, I strongly suspect God will lay on your heart other ways to pray in the face of disaster.

http://daveswatch.com/books/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

For several reasons I have decided to suspend my blog during the month of August,2015. I am praying about some special future blog entries. So I will see you in September.

Last week I wrote about praying in or from the gospel. We could never plumb the depths or mount the heights of this subject. And I wish to pen just a few more lines specifically on the grace unleashed by the good news of Jesus Christ.

First note that we come to prayer In the Confession of The Gospel. There is a power here to kill the selfishness, self-centeredness and independence that separate us from God and others. The Son of God had to die in my place to redeem me. I did not just need a little correction or improvement. I was totally lost.

Next we come to pray In the Communion of The Gospel. The gospel brings far more to us than forgiveness. Forgiveness says, "You are pardoned. You may go. The grace of the gospel says, "You are forgiven. Come in to my presence."

And imagine the Confidence of Prayer from The Gospel. We now come to God in the love and approval of the Son of God! He became our sin so we might become His righteousness. We pray in the applause of our Heavenly Father!

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://daveswatch.com/

How are you loving your enemies? It should not surprise us that Jesus Himself applied this impossible command with a prescription for prayer.

But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.[i]

I recently read something on the web from a man who works as a Christian apologist that severely attacked Bill Nye (the science guy). I wrote a comment about loving and praying for Bill Nye. The man wrote back somewhat offended thinking I was saying he should abandon his ministry. I admit that that I may not have been as kind or loving as I should have been to the apologist with my public comment. But it is crucial for believers to base our polemics in the love of Christ.

This requires prayer because it is impossible in human strength. I need to regularly pray for God's power to love my enemies. I need to ask God to help me love members of ISIS and radical Islam.  And this needs to be specific. I need God to help me pray by name for my Muslim Medical Doctor and the News anchor who will twist the News to get people to support same sex marriage. And yes, the television personality who would lead my grandchildren into sin and unbelief.

And I don't know about you, but I have trouble figuring out how to do and even think about this. I need God to show me how to love, my family and friends. How much more do need Him to show me how to love my enemies?

I just saw a great interview on this on http://www.radical.net/blog/ . I want to recommend this blog to all serious Christians. And certainly more pressing to the point of this subject I want to recommend this particular video whose link I found on it. http://www.rosariabutterfield.com/ This video and others on this site are particularly on loving my homosexual neighbors, but they establish the principle of prayerfully loving real people.

I discipline myself to pray for many people that stretch my prayer life. I have wondered if I should make a special prayer list for my enemies and for enemies of Christianity in general. At this point I have decided not to pray for them in a specific list. First, I have enough trouble praying for them when they are mixed with people who are not as difficult to pray for. And I need to see prayer needs as a mixture of growth and joy. And the greatest of these elements often flow out of the love for the same people. Father put Your love in me for enemies all around us.

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://daveswatch.com/

http://www.radical.net/blog/

http://www.rosariabutterfield.com/

Some of the most thrilling prayer meetings I have ever attended were pastors' prayer meetings. Men who have given their lives to serving God came together to share and encourage one another and pray for God to work mightily in His own church and in a city. I have seen pastors pour their hearts out in honesty and great spiritual burden. I have been in groups where one pastor or another sat in a chair in the center of the group while the other men laid hands on him and prayed for him. I am not sure such pastors' prayer meetings will not be used of God to bring revival that would sweep an entire nation as pastors returned to their pulpits with their lives set ablaze by the Spirit of God. I have also noticed that pastors who hurt the most and need prayer and encouragement most are often not part of pastors' prayer meetings. How often have pastors' noticed that a man who was hurting and in spiritual danger was not part of a group. That should not surprise us. If you were the devil, would you not try to isolate a spiritual leader you were preparing to attack? It is like a pack of wolves isolating an elk before they try to bring it down. So, the enemy uses pride or shame or some petty disagreement to separate pastors from the brothers who would or at least should give him the greatest help. But as much as we need one another, it does not seem to be enough for a pastor to know he needs his brothers to faithfully participate in pastors' fellowships. I am convinced that the most important attitude a pastor can have to keep him part a of pastors' fellowship is concern for other pastors. If a pastor goes to a pastors' fellowship being burdened for other men, he will be less likely to be too busy to attend. If a pastor goes to the prayer meetings with a burden to pray for the others pastors, he will see it as a powerful ministry. He may even see it as a ministry that could bring about revival that would start in a brother's church. He could see this ministry that would mightily glorify God on the earth.

What is your passion?

Our friends the Stanley’s, a family of five, left today (1-18-2015) at 5 PM from Dallas on a one way trip to Uganda. To support themselves and their work, they took about 46 luggage bags with them. They have prepared a good while for this adventure, including prayer for praying and financial partners to get behind them, and for in country preparations. They plan to be bringing educational opportunities through school as well as brand-new spiritual life to others when they place their trust in Jesus and his promises.

Last night a large gathering worshiped Jesus, as led by the Stanley’s. We prayed for them, hugged them, wrote encouraging notes for their rainy day reading, and said our goodbyes. The whole family is very excited about this new venture of going around the world as ambassadors for Christ. One of the motivators for the husband was the enthusiastic feedback of a man who walked miles and miles in Uganda on a previous trip to express his appreciation that Floyd shared the good news of salvation and heaven through Christ’s work on the cross.

We each have 24 hours to invest every day. Independent of geography, God can take what we do have, and which we are willing to turn over for His management, and multiply it in the mental, spiritual, physical, and eternal domains.  Martyr Jim Elliott said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”  Jesus agreed with that statement by telling us that a man must lose his life in order to find it in Him. We tend to hold onto things tightly in order to try to feel more secure, but the secret is just the opposite; we gain freedom, effectiveness, joy, and eternal success by entrusting all that we have to the Lord. As an example, Isaiah 55 says that God’s ways and thoughts are not ours, just as heaven is much higher than the earth.

So this is a good time for each of us to consider, what is our passion? And also, what is the source of our passion? David was a man after God’s own heart and he was clearly very passionate as we see from his writings in the Psalms. God loves a passionate person to such an extent that he prefers that we be hot or cold, compared to lukewarm. We see Jesus’ rare public display of passion, when his anger and action overturned the tables of the money changers in the temple. He explained that the zeal of His Father’s house had eaten him up, or consumed him. He also explained that the correct use of the temple, intended by His Father, was a house of prayer. He had a passionate feeling and expression of this zeal.

We may not have the passion of a Stanley family, a Jim Elliott, or Jesus Himself, but we can rest assured that as we seek God, he will lead us to discover the plans he has for us, and he will enhance it with a passion to see that carried out. Please consider praying about this and listening for His promise to answer. His eyes are searching the entire Earth for people who are dedicated to Him and will take Him seriously and do what He says. May we each be one of those kinds of people.

On the eve of 3-1-15 I am requesting prayer for 2 Stanley children who just came down with malaria, Reagan (teen girl) and Tyler (teen boy with 103 degree fever) in hospital in Uganda.  Thanks!

This is the third entry in a series of blog posts calling for extraordinary prayer for the power of God to sweep the earth. This week I want am writing about a major concern in developed and rapidly developing countries around the world. Our lives become so full of activities that we have no time to devote to prayer. You will not be able to enter into extraordinary prayer without making time to pray.

Jesus prayed all night before appointing the twelve apostles. (Lk. 6:12) Could you do that? He must have planned that into His schedule. In Acts 12 the church had gathered to pray through the night when the Angel delivered Peter from prison where he was to be executed the next morning. That could not have been planned, although it may have lasted several nights. In the garden before the cross Jesus was surprised that His disciples couldn’t even pray with Him for one hour. I think we can draw from our Lord’s response that praying for an hour or more, maybe all day or all night, should be a regular practice for people entering into extraordinary prayer.

You can begin praying in activities that do not take all of your mind. These require little adjustment of your schedule. Do you ever wait in the bank or in a doctor’s office? Start praying for everyone around you. You can also carry a written prayer list with you for times when you are forced to wait. You will also need to memorize a prayer list or two for times when your hands are not free. Do you ever mow the lawn or wash dishes? You could pray for a list of family members or neighbors, church friends or missionaries on the field.

It is good to pray through prayers from the Bible or other Scripture passages. If you use The Lord’s Prayer, for instance, you can expand on every word praying for everything that comes to your mind. If you do not have another prayer or passage memorized yet, pray The Lord’s Prayer through again.

When you have begun working on these disciplines it is time to start adjusting your schedule. Do you start your day with prayer? Jesus did. In Mark 1:35 He turned it into extended prayer that changed His pattern of ministry. Other times of the day are often easier to turn into or even schedule extended prayer. You can start on evenings when you don’t want to watch what is on TV. But if spiritual awakening is important to you, you will have to sacrifice some of your chosen entertainment for prayer.

And be ready for God to prompt you to pray in ways and lengths and times that surprise you. He will encourage and strengthen you as you seek to give more and more time to prayer. There is absolutely no limit to what God will do in you and through you as you pray.

http: //watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://daveswatch.com/