Pray Network Forum

My Dear Brothers and Sisters, I greet you today in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I know that many of you are very troubled by yesterday’s election outcome and even more by the overall direction our country appears to be taking. You, like I, care deeply for this country and know that its ultimate hope lies in a set of values and beliefs that we appear to be rejecting as a nation. You view President Obama’s reelection as even further indication that the country we love is becoming something other, something different, something, quite frankly, you don’t respect as much. I understand that.

But I feel compelled to remind you today that what you and I do right now is very important. I feel this compulsion, in part, because I share some of your frustrations, but also because I have been quite frankly shocked at some things openly confessing Christians have said and/or written about our President over the last few days. It has not been a good reflection of the Christ we serve.

Our Lord described us as salt and light. He said that we are to be the preserving and directing forces in our culture. He said that it would be our love–not our theology, our religious performances, and certainly not our political persuasions–that would be our greatest gift to our society. But he also warned that if we ceased to be salt, if we ceased to be light, and if we ceased to love, then we would become ineffective and lose our right to serve in his name.

I am afraid that we are getting dangerously close to becoming like the gripy Israelites who God left to die in the desert, or worse, the churches in Revelation who were dangerously close to losing their holy lampstands.

Perhaps we need to be reminded that God never promised us a certain way of life, or that the pursuit of happiness is an American, not a biblical virtue.

Perhaps we need to be reminded that for two thousand years Christians have lived under oppressive, repressive and even hostile governments and yet were still commanded to pray for their leaders.

Perhaps we need to be reminded that the vast majority of believers around the world live hand-to-mouth, sleep on the ground or in extremely rough, impoverished and unsafe settings, will never own a Bible, will never go to college, don’t have retirement accounts, don’t own or drive cars, don’t play golf on weekends or go on spontaneous shopping sprees, don’t have air-conditioned and heated church buildings, and never have to decide what they are going to wear out the next day. Americans, even in the economic challenges of the last several years, still have far more wealth and enjoy far more freedom than any nation in history.

And to all of that Jesus would say, to whom much is given much is required.

Christian brothers and sisters, we have work to do. It is the Church (believers in Jesus), that are the thermostat of a nation. Whatever we are set on is what our nation will become. If we are troubled by the direction our nation is going, then perhaps we need to compare our American Christianity to biblical Christianity, and adjust our thinking so that we are more of the latter than the former.

The future of our nation depends on it.

Read more at willdavisjr.com

“Then Nahash the Ammonite came up and encamped against Jabesh Gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a covenant with us, and we will serve you.” And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, “On this condition I will make a covenant with you, that I may put out all your right eyes, and bring reproach on all Israel.” Then the elders of Jabesh said to him, “Hold off for seven days, that we may send messengers to all the territory of Israel. And then, if there is no one to save us, we will come out to you.” So the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and told the news in the hearing of the people. And all the people lifted up their voices and wept. Now there was Saul, coming behind the herd from the field; and Saul said, “What troubles the people, that they weep?” And they told him the words of the men of Jabesh. Then the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard this news, and his anger was greatly aroused.  So he took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, “Whoever does not go out with Saul and Samuel to battle, so it shall be done to his oxen.” And the fear of the Lord fell on the people, and they came out with one consent.” 1 Samuel 11: 1-7

The above text from 1 Samuel takes place during a time when the tribes of Gad and Reuben have been tormented by this King of the Ammonites named Nahash. If you recall, these two tribes were the ones who settled on the other side of the Jordan and chose to take the good pasture land there instead of staking a claim on the Promised Land. But, not neglecting their duties as full members of the tribe of Israel they left of their families and flock on the other side of the Jordan to fight with the rest of Israel to defeat the inhabitants of the land God had set before them, even though they knew the fighting gave their families no personal gain and it would put them in harms way.

So now fast forward to the time of 1 Samuel 11. The historian Josephus states that this King Nahash “had been grievouly oppressing the Gadites and Reubenites. He would gouge out the right eye of each of them and would not grant [them] a deliverer. No one was left across the Jordan whose right eye...had not been gouged out...[except] seven thousand men who had escaped from the Ammonites and had entered Jabesh-gilead.” Do you not think the rest of Israel knew what was going on? Was there any account in the above text to indicate they were doing anything about this injustice? Not even their newly appointed King was doing anything – he was in his field plowing with his oxen. It was not until the people cried out and the Spirit of God led Saul to generate dread in their hearts, that the nation of Israel began to rise up against this injustice and fight.

As I sat and read this story this morning, my thoughts were quickly brought to places of injustice and the more typical response we as a Christian people have in those instances. It is sad but true, but we live in a nation defined by a lot of complaining and very little action to rectify the problems we see before us. We simply turn our backs on injustices when we hear about them, or if we do put out any effort we then speak words of disgust about them, but then go back to our own lives not wanting the bad news we have heard interrupt what we have planned for our own happy futures. But listen to what the following scripture verses have to say about that type of attitude:

“For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.  For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.  But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.  You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.  Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.  For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night.  But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.  For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,  who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing. And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. Be at peace among yourselves. Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all.  See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit.  Do not despise prophecies.  Test all things; hold fast what is good.  Abstain from every form of evil.” 1 Thessalonians 5: 2-22

I don't know about you, but in light of all I have shared above, added to these verses here, I find it very hard to justify a lifestyle which turns its back on the injustices heard about in the world and pursues personal gain. And not only the injustices we by chance hear about, but those we are to be sobering searching out as is our calling as we watch and wait on the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.

As the scripture verses from 1 Thessalonians states with the weapons of faith, love and salvation we are to comfort and edify one another in Christ as well as warn those who are laboring among us who are moving out of the will of God in their work for the kingdom (that is what admonish means). We are to stand up and speak out to those who are doing things against the law of the Lord. We are to bring comfort to those who have been pushed down by the injustices this world, as well as stand next to those who need someone to lean on if the weight of this world is crushing them in mind, body and/or spirit. We are to persevere with the best and the worst of this world, hoping and praying for salvation for all mankind. We are to show the world how good prevails by returning good for evil no matter what.

And as we seek to do these things, the way we stay on track is by rejoicing in the love of the Lord, by praying and keeping in communion with Jesus every moment of every day making sure all we do and say are directed by Him and are supplied by His overabundance of grace, mercy, and love for the world we live in. It is when we live in communion with the One true Judge that we are able to help in spreading the works of righteousness and justice through our land.

Finally, the warning we all must not ignore. Where the Spirit of the Lord grieves your heart you must lean into that injustice and pursue the way God is moving your heart to act out against it. Whether you are called to pray against it, comfort those who are hurt by it, speak out for those who are unable to speak for themselves in the midst of it, or be a strong pillar among a group that needs your spiritual strength to lean on, you cannot turn your back if you are to call yourself a Christian and a true follower to Christ.

The time is coming soon when Christ will return and we do not have the luxury of pursuing our own interests and seeking out happy havens in this world of evil. We must willingly put ourselves before the Lord daily and say, “Here I am Lord. Send me.” when the Lord shows us through His word and through the circumstances in our lives how we are each individually called to work as His kingdom and reign approach the coming day.

I leave you with theses words of encouragement today from 2 Chronicles 32:7-8:

“Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor dismayed ...[for]with [man] is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles.”

Feel free to visit my personal blog at www.sheddinglightonthepath.blogspot.com

From the upcoming book Altar’d by Jennifer Kennedy Dean. Release date February 2012.

The cross of Christ stands as the point of separation between the old person powered by death-driven corrupted flesh, and the new creation, powered by the very Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead.   At the moment you embrace the cross, you receive its power into your life —a power that is eternally and continually working. Paul says that “death is at work in us.” At work in us now. Doing ongoing work. Doing present work. A.B. Simpsons says, “We may not preach a crucified Saviour without being also crucified men and women…The cross that Paul speaks about was burned into his very flesh, was branded into his being, and only the Holy Spirit can burn the true cross into our innermost life.”

The death that Jesus died on the cross cannot be—and need not be—repeated. Only He is able to die for our sins, having no sins of His own to die for.  As we surrender our corrupted flesh to His crucifixion, and as His death works in us, we are not repeating the atoning work of the cross. That is done, completed, finished. Instead, we are letting the power of the cross work out the crucifixion of our flesh. It is not a cross of punishment that works in us. The cross did its work of punishment on the body of Jesus. It is the cross that is freeing us from the confines and the distortions and the limitations of our sin nature. It is not restriction, but freedom. It is, in fact, the only hope of being all that we were created to be.

God designed the eternal cadence and it is built into creation at its crux. Life emerges out of death.  The seed that falls into the ground to die to produce a harvest. The branch that is pruned so that it can bear more fruit.  The beautiful colors of fall, ushering in the very death that will culminate in the springtime resurrection.

Living altar’d means surrendering to the death from which life comes. The cross is the only place where flesh can go to die.

Flesh’s Design

Flesh is designed to misdirect.  Flesh will work hard to direct your gaze somewhere other than the cross. Failing that, flesh will attempt to distort your view of the cross. Make it seem ugly and harsh instead of life-giving and redemptive and tender.

I have something of a hobby, I guess you would call it, of reading books and articles and blogs by people who grew up in strong Christian homes, but as adults rejected their belief in Jesus. Their stories seem to have several common themes, but central to most is the theme of always trying to please a God who could not be pleased. They felt burdened and ashamed—always trying to measure up.  They fell for a misdirection.

You know how a magician’s tricks work. He depends on the fact that our minds can only focus on one thing at a time. He uses his skills to draw the focus of his audience where he wants it, so that he can do something else where his audience is not looking. The end result is that a lie appears to be the truth. He appears to have accomplished something by magic that was really done by trickery. It is very convincing.

This is what our flesh will try to induce in us. A misdirected focus. If flesh can keep you focused on your sin instead of His grace, then the myth of a rigid, angry god seems absolutely true. If your flesh can misdirect your focus away from the reality of the cross, and keep your attention on your best effort, then the perception of a demanding, harsh god appears grounded in reality.

Flesh tries to pull our attention away from the beautiful cross, where our freedom is to be found. tries to keep us focused on our own failings, or our own fleeting successes, redefining the cross as vindictive and vengeful and fearsome.

The cross is a living power working in our lives to irradiate the flesh that holds us captive and stunts our growth.  It has nothing to do with our ability to follow rules. 

If the cross is working on the inside, then the evidence will show up on the outside. If, however, the flesh is working hard at conforming the outside, it will wear you out and discourage you. Flesh-produced outward changes that started out looking shiny and beautiful will fail the test of perseverance. It won’t be lasting change.  What counts is a new creation, transformed from the inside out. Not a spiffed up old creation. The only way to live is to live altar’d.

 “The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell” (James 3:5-6)

I don’t think I have to convince you about the power words wield. When you think back to eventful moments in your life, there are likely words involved, either encouraging or discouraging. Those words had power. They perhaps changed your course. The tongue is a perfect illustration of the power of small. James makes the point that though the tongue is a small part of the body, it can set the course for a life.

Words are amazing weapons or great healers. Words have to be managed carefully. Once spoken, a word can’t be unspoken. You can’t inhale and pull it back in. Words take on a life of their own. All words are modeled after the Eternal Word: living, active, sharp. If you let words fly in the heat of the moment, someone will have to heal from their impact. You can say, “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean that!” but the word is out and it lives in the person to whom you spoke it. No wonder the Word of God is jam-packed with warnings about using words prudently.

Words have the power to tear down, but they also have the power to build up. God can empower our words so that one small word can have so much impact that it redirects the trajectory of your life. God’s work in our lives can be so deep that it changes our words. After all, words come right from the heart. Changed heart, changed words. We can be so much in His presence that we naturally speak His words. Jesus once said of His words: ’These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me”’ (John 14:24).

I’ve always been accused of being exactly like my dad. People say that we are alike in looks, in temperament, in personality, in the way we process information, and in how we communicate. My two sisters, when the three of us are together, will often react to some statement of mine by looking at each other, rolling their eyes, and saying in unison “That’s Daddy talking”.

They mean that I am expressing my own thoughts, but that my own thoughts are exactly like my father’s. If he were present, he’d have said exactly what I said. You might say I’m speaking my father’s words.

As you live moment by moment in His power and presence, he will speak His present-tense word through you. "The lips of the righteous nourish many" (Prov. 10:21). You will speak what you have heard from the Father. When you speak, it can be said of you, “’That’s her Father talking.”’

The Cumulative Power of Words

Words, once spoken live on. Those words you speak to your teen-ager, thinking they are going in one ear and out the other? They are landing and making themselves a home. The words you thought you could throw out in a huff and apologize for later? They’ve carved out a nook and settled in. The words of kindness and encouragement that seemed to be ignored? They are fertilizing dreams. Make it your goal to speak into lives such a preponderance of uplifting, encouraging words that they will eventually tip the balance and move a life from discouragement to hope.

From an upcoming book by Jennifer Kennedy Dean, The Power of Small: Think Small to Live Large. Make sure you are on our quarterly newsletter list so you will know when new products are available.

From  Fueled by Faith by Jennifer Kennedy Dean

Listen to an interview on Fueled by Faith here.

The Finishing Touch
“Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith”  (Heb. 12:2, KJV).

Faith in its finished form results in the power and provision of God manifested in the circumstances of earth. The perfecting and finishing of our faith is accomplished through difficulties and challenges of life. As we face challenges, it trains us in the ways of faith, it trains us to keep our focus on the reality instead of the shadow, and it circumcises all the flesh out of the vision God has given us. Like muscles in the physical body, faith grows by resistance training—by being forced to do heavy lifting.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2-4).

Difficulty becomes blessing. Trials become joy. 

Circumcising the Vision
When God impregnates you with promise and causes vision to grow in you, that vision is designed and tailored to fit you and only you. It fits you exactly. When God describes His will, He uses three words: good, pleasing, and perfect (Rom. 12:2). The word “perfect” means  “a perfect fit.” His will for you is beneficial to you (good); it will bring you pleasure and will please you (pleasing); and it will fit you to down to the last detail (perfect). You love the vision. You’re supposed to.

As the vision develops, the time comes when you are forced to recognize that although the vision is God’s, it has some of your flesh wrapped around it. When I say “flesh,” I am talking about those parts of your life that are still fueled by your human nature. Your flesh wants to own and control and possess and manage and manipulate. God is always working in you to free you of your flesh and move you more and more into the power of the Spirit. To that end, He arranges crisis moments at which you are brought face-to-face with your flesh and the claim it is trying to have on God’s vision. Those times are painful, but they are the most productive times of all. When your flesh is brought to its crucifixion, it is bloody and messy and our tendency is to resist. But crucifixion has but one end: resurrection. This has always been God’s pattern and continues to be so today. Crucifixion. Resurrection.

In Hebrews 11, God spotlights  and highlights lives that have put faith on display. In each, the crucifixion-resurrection principle is evident. Look with me at an example.

Moses’ Parents
The writer of Hebrews spotlighted Moses’ parents as prime examples of how faith works. The vision that God put into Moses began as a vision in the minds of his parents, who saw that he was no ordinary child.  God caused them to see His promise and it jumped up and took such possession of them that a bold and reckless faith was born, freeing them from fear of the pharaoh. They didn’t know all its ramifications, but their vision was that he would live and not die at the pharaoh’s hands. That may be as far as they could see, but it was far enough.

God had to have provided supernatural protection for the baby Moses. He gave wisdom and ideas to Moses’ parents. Why did they even think that a little ark of bulrushes might protect Moses’ life? How did the idea even occur to them?

Three months they loved him and nurtured him and memorized his darling face and recorded in their hearts his dear sighs and gurgles and cries. With each passing day, love grew.

When the day came to let him go, imagine his mother’s walk from her home to the Nile's edge. Three-month-old son entombed in a basket. 
 
Surely only her selfless love for her son could induce her to walk her Via De La Rosa. Had she given one thought to her own desires, she would have turned back. She was going to place him into the Nile in the days when the Nile ran red with the blood of Hebrew sons. She was letting him go into the river that his enemy had declared to be his burial place. Imagine as she stood in the Nile's waters and came to that moment when she had to do the hardest thing she would ever be called upon to do. She had to let him go. She had to die to her mother's instincts to guard and protect. To save his life, she had to let him go.
 
When she did, her son was put upon the course he had been ordained to travel. The very river that might have been his end was instead his beginning. Jochabed received him back again, but everything had changed. When she put him into the Nile he was a slave. When she received him back from the Nile, he was a prince.
 
The secret was in the letting go.


(Learn more about the Crucifixion-Resurrection principle in  Fueled by Faith by Jennifer Kennedy Dean.

Hear Jennifer share this live.

From Pursuing the Christ by Jennifer Kennedy Dean

“I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. I will establish and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be My people.”
—Ezekiel 37:26–27

The Word became flesh and took up residence among us.
—John 1:14


God with us, Immanuel, Your stated purpose for Your Incarnation and all that it entailed—Your birth, Your crucifixion, Your resurrection, Your ascension, the sending of Your Spirit—was to establish peace.

You are the  peace. The peace You offer is not something separate fromYourself. The peace You offer is entirely based on who You are. Who You are is all that matters.

When Your messenger came to Mary, as recorded in Luke 1, Your message was a bit unsettling: “Do not fear. I am about to upend your life and make you centerstage for My divine drama, but do not fear.” Mary had one question: “How can this be?” (v. 34). You had one answer: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you” (v. 35). Mary wanted to know how, but You only told her who.

“Our faith does not provide us with an answer, but with a Person. When Mary sought an explanation, what she got was a revelation,”  Brantley reminds me Dean.according to my son Brantley.

I imagine how Mary  might have reacted   had You explained to her Mary  the how of Your plan. How would  I respond to the most complex explanation of the most intricate matter regarding a subject of which I am wholly ignorant?   That would sound like baby talk compared to an explanation about how You would come as a little baby fashioned in the womb of a virgin. The how would not have brought peace to Mary’s heart, but the who caused a peace that surpassed understanding to stand guard over her heart (Philippians 4:7).

When anxiety tries to lay claim to my thoughts, when fear seeks a foothold in my mind, when confusion threatens to make a stand in my heart, I look to You, I seek Your face. You are all the antidote I need to anything that might steal my peace.

You will keep in perfect peace
the mind that is dependent on You,
for it is trusting in You.
Trust in the Lord forever,
because in Yah, the Lord, is an everlasting rock!
—Isaiah 26:3–4

You came to me. You, the Unknowable made Yourself known.The Invisible made Yourself visible. The Invulnerable made Yourself vulnerable. The Unapproachable approached.

No frantic seeking was required. No ceremonies and rituals were necessary. You, for whom our souls long, have eternally been longing for us. With all our anxious looking about, You were always there. Your presence is peace.


I found You in the spaces in between
I found You in the dark and not the light
I looked for You in drama
In the earthquake and the fire
And found You in the quiet,
You were waiting for me there.
I looked for You in miracles
In the loud, in voices raised
I looked for You in gatherings
In signs, in prayer and praise
But I found you in the gentle breeze
The still small voice, the darkened cave.

I found you in the spaces
Between sleeping and awake
I found you in the waiting
The worry, in the fear
I found You in the sleepless night
I found You in despair
I found You in the questions
No loud answers anywhere
I found You in the silence
Silence full not silence void
I found You in the spaces
You were looking for me there.

—poem by Rachel Holley,   © 2007

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Brain Washing

Jesus said that we are made clean by the Word. "You are already clean because ofthe word I have spoken to you" (John 15:3). Speaking of the church, He said that He would "make herholy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word" (Ephesians5:26-27). He prayed, "Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth"(John 17:

The first way that Jesus begins to clean us out inside is by speaking His Word inHis present-tense, living voice.When you read the Scripture, when you meditate on the Scripture, and memorizethe Scripture, hear His voice speaking to you. It washes your brain clean.

Soaking in the Scripture lets its living power penetrate into the marrow of yourpersonality, changing every part of you. As the Word pours into you, the truthconfronts lies you didn't even know you believed. It takes lies head on andoverpowers them.

Do you remember the very first video games? There was one called PacMan. I can'tremember what the object of the game was, but I remember a big round head witha mouth overtook little dots and swallowed them up. That's all I remember.Chomp, chomp, chomp. Little dots disappearing into the giant head never to beseen again. That 's my picture of how the living Word works on the inside. Itovertakes and chomps down lies.

The same voice that created the universe in the beginning is speaking to you now.The same Spirit who hovered over the chaos in the beginning and called orderinto being is living in you now. "By the word of the Lord were the heavensmade, their starry host by the breath of his mouth" (Psalm 33:6). He stilldoes His work by His word.

Take the Word in and let it do its work. Expose yourself to all the Word of God youcan, and trust that He will make it effective in your life.

From Life Unhindered! by Jennifer Kennedy Dean

(This blog is copied from my personal blog at http://www.onlybyprayer.com.)

This month we are looking at God as our Jehovah Shalom, the Lord our Peace. Peace is a promise that Jesus gives to his followers.

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27

When we need an example of someone who demonstrated peace in the midst of chaotic circumstances, we need only look to Jesus.

In Mark 4, He and the disciples were in a boat when a storm blew up and waves engulfed the boat. Jesus was asleep in the boat and the disciples frantically woke him up. Jesus’ words to the wind and the seas were “Peace be still” (Mark 4:39).

In the middle of a hungry crowd of 5,000 people the disciples wanted to send everyone away because they had no idea how they were going to feed all those people. Jesus, however, instructed them to feed the people. I can imagine the disciples’ incredulous looks, because I am sure I would have been doing the same thing myself. I know how I worry over whether I have enough food to feed my guests at Thanksgiving, let alone 5,000 uninvited guests! Jesus told them to take stock on what they did have, then blessed it and kept passing it around.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was deeply distressed. Yet, he had the presence of mind to maintain His composure when the guards came to arrest Him and even healed the high priest’s servant after Peter cut his ear off (Luke 22:51).

We need to ask the question, What was the source of Jesus’ peace?

I think that many of us naturally would say that of course Jesus would have this peace because He was God. But, we also need to remember that He was fully man, too, and had to experience life as a man.

I believe Jesus’ peace was because of one main thing: prayer.

All throughout the scriptures, Jesus took time to get away from the crowds of people to go to pray. Mark 6:46 is one example. “And when He had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray.” This was just after the feeding of the five thousand. Praying to His Father kept Jesus calm and in unity with God’s plans. It also gave Him security. Jesus knew where He came from and where He was going.

This begs the question, Do you know where you came from and where you are going?

Is your identity tied up in Christ? Do you have the assurance that He has got your past sins and mistakes covered and that You belong to Him? When we have that settled in our lives, when we have asked Christ to forgive us of our sins and to take control of our lives, it gives us the assurance we need to face the future with confidence that God has our backs. No matter what we face, He is there with us.

Tomorrow we are going to further explore how prayer and peace are tied up together in our lives. Until then, pray on!

Joining God in Watchful Praying

By Dave Butts

One of the most fascinating aspects of watchful praying is how closely it ties us to the very nature andactivity of God Himself. God is a watcher! Again and again in the Bible we readof how He watches over the affairs of both nations and individuals. He calls usto join Him on His watch…to devote ourselves to watch and pray that we mightparticipate with our Lord in His purposes. What an amazing privilege! Carefullyconsider these Scriptures that point to God on His watch:

• "I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you backto this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promisedyou" (Genesis 28:15).

• "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel youand watch over you" (Psalm 32:8).

• "He rules forever by His power, His eyes watch the nations – let not therebellious rise up against Him" (Psalm 66:7).

• "The LORD will keep you from all harm – He will watch over your life; theLORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore"(Psalm 121:7-8).

• "The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and thegood" (Proverbs 15:3).

Would you today join with a watching God? He is calling His people to such an intimateplace with Him that we begin to see some aspects of what He is seeing as Heallows us that privilege. Our watching is for the purpose of praying into ourworld the purposes and plans of God. How amazing is the grace and calling ofGod that He would grant us the joy and favor of laboring alongside Him throughwatchful praying!

(excerpted from Prayer and The End of Days by David Butts; available at http://www.prayershop.org/Prayer-and-End-of-Days-p/int-bud-bk-001.htm)

For more information on this ministry:

www.harvestprayer.com

www.prayerleader.org

Instead of surrendering our ability to pray because our expectations aren't fully met in the moment (or in the way(s) we expect them to be fulfilled), shouldn't we surrender ourselves, and continually do so, to God?

*  Revival (when Christians, and the Church, become saturated with God).