Pray Network Forum

During this autumn season, I am reminded of my childhood, growing up on a wheat farm in Oklahoma. In the summer after the wheat harvest, my father would prepare the soil for the next year’s harvest and in the autumn, he would sow the wheat seed. Throughout the winter months, we would wait for the rains to water the seed, fertilize and wait for it to come up and watch it grow. In the spring, we would see the wheat heads form and ripen to a golden color for the harvest in early June. We simply had faith that once the seed was in the ground, rains would come, nature would take its course and the golden heads of wheat would be ready to be harvested next summer.  

Our prayers can be like seed

It reminds me of when we pray for our grandchildren we are sowing seed, asking God in faith to draw our grandchildren to him with gently cords of love. Once we have asked, things start happening behind the scenes, whether we are asleep or awake, God is at work, preparing an answer to our prayers. In God’s timing the answer will be evident and we will “reap” the results of our seed (prayer) sown.

However, we must have faith trusting God is at work even when it seems like nothing is happening while we are wait for the seed (prayers) to sprout, grow, and bring forth a harvest.

One little seed has a lot of potential, it seems so small, but under the right conditions, this one seed can grow into a plant that will yield a great harvest! Spiritual multiplication is the same. The seed (prayers) that we sow in the lives of our grandchildren will produce a harvest of blessing in the future, even into the future generations.

Questions:

•  What are you asking God in faith for your grandchildren today?
•  Are you able to fully trust God with the prayers that you are sowing to bring forth a harvest in the lives of your grandchildren?

“And let us not grow weary while doing good,

for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Galatians 6:9, NKJV).

“Prayer is one of the easiest subjects to talk upon,

but one of the hardest to consistently practice.”

What do you have to do that wastes your time and strains your patience? Can you pray in that time? For 40+ years I have enjoyed shopping with my wife. I like being with her. However, we made a compromise early on. I would walk along behind her with a book. I used the time well, and she could ask, if she wanted my advice. "Do the pink look better than the blue?" Of course I occasionally got lost from her. When I discovered that had happened, I would go to the cash registers and wait. Several times over the years we had a church member say someone had told them, "I think I saw your pastor in such-and-such store this week. He was reading a book!"

It may be a little late to keep people from thinking me nuts, but I have discovered that I can pray for people in the store. Today we went to Wal-Mart. I left my book in the car and entered the store on a mission. I couldn't help wondering what God was preparing to do as I prayed for nearly a hundred people up and down the aisles.

Where could you be praying? I once heard a pastor tell about using time stuck in traffic to pray for people who were in the hospital. I have read about a wife praying for her husband as she ironed his shirts. You could memorize a list of missionaries, countries or people groups, lost friends or family members to pray for in the dentist's office or wherever. You can even get excited about what great thing God is preparing to do because He gave you a special time to pray.

http://daveswatch.com/

“The Bible holds up before us ideals that are within sight of the weakest and the lowliest, and yet so high that the best and the noblest are kept with their faces turned ever upward. It carries the call of the Saviour to the remotest corners of the earth; on its pages are written the assurances of the present and our hopes for the future.” (William Jennings Bryan)

God’s manuscript convicts our conscience. With an invisible hand, God wrote the terms of His covenant with Israel and high expectations of His testament with the church—sacred words infinitely superior to temporal abracadabras. He penned the Book from Heaven to guide us on our earthly journey, educate us in timeless truth, help us see wrongs in our life, and get us back on track morally.

Divine light shines through the pages of Scripture, pointing out attitudes offending God and actions making both Him and us sad.

God does not chisel His law on granite—He inscribes it in minds receptive to Truth and hearts sensitive to Love.

God’s fingerprints are all over the Holy Bible, writing chapters of wisdom to guide us through life’s maze. If we are humble, we’ll pay attention; if we are wise, we’ll obey.

“’This is the finger of God!’ the magicians exclaimed to Pharaoh.” (Exodus 8:19 NLT)

Johnny R. Almond

Christian preacher and writer

Author, Gentle Whispers from Eternity

http://GentleWhispersFromEternity-ScripturePersonalized.com/

[This devotion based on Day 43 of Gentle Whispers from Eternity]

“Though this world with devils filled, Should threaten to undo us, We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us. Let goods and kindred go, This mortal life also; The body they may kill; God’s truth abideth still; His kingdom is forever.” (Martin Luther)

This morning, before President Obama departed for a meeting at the United Nations, he spoke concerning the initial attacks on ISIS in Syria. A coalition of five Arab nations joined the United States in this attack. Airstrikes against fixed targets were made by warplanes dropping bombs, remotely piloted aircraft,and ships firing cruise missiles.

This was only the initial phase of the war against this terrorist group. Training and equipping the moderate Syrian rebels opposed to Assad will take a long time.Degrading and defeating ISIS will not happen overnight. Persuading them to abandon the fight will not be easy.

Sunni-majority countries joining the U.S. in fighting this radical Sunni militant group indicates they understand that ISIS is not really Islamic. ISIS recruits soldiers to join their ranks, claiming they are “the truthful.” In fact, their propaganda is a lie.

We may have become so comfortable with our prosperous lifestyles that we are unmoved by news of more than 200,000 Syrians killed by a brutal regime. We may feel so secure that we find it impossible to identify with millions of heartbroken homeless people seeking refuge in other countries.

We may have been so preoccupied with our personal agendas, that we missed hearing the President report that an Al Qaeda splinter group, the Khorasan Group, was also attacked because of intelligence indicating an imminent threat against the U.S. homeland. To say the least, the possibility of IEDs wreaking havoc on our familiar streets is upsetting. The thought of terrorism on American soil makes us tremble. Are we scared yet?  

To be sure, Christians should pray. We should ask God’s blessings on our president as he seeks heaven’s wisdom in this fight against evil forces intent on our destruction. We should also pray for military personnel serving in our armed forces, and for those serving from Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the United Emirates. 

Each year on September 21^st, the World Council of Churches sponsors the International Day of Prayer for Peace. This date is also the United Nations sponsored Day of Peace. Until “the war to end all wars” is fought, we should humbly entreat the Prince of Peace to bless our nation and world with the peace He alone can bring.   

Jesus provides the antidote to any tinge of terror we may ever feel—“Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God.” (Matthew 10:31 NLT)

Johnny R. Almond

Christian preacher and writer

Author, Gentle Whispers from Eternity

http://GentleWhispersFromEternity-ScripturePersonalized.com/

Many requested the Free Back to School eBook I offered a few weeks ago. School has been in session for a month or more, however I would still like to send you the “Back to School” eBook that I offered several weeks a go. Just subscribe to my blog or request it in an email at info@gdptpr.com.  I will be happy to send it to you.

This eBook will give you Effective Ways to Pray for your grandchildren in school. We inhabit a fallen, disjointed world, where things are constantly unraveling around the edges. Our grandchildren are facing challenges that we would not have thought about when we were raising our children. However, let’s pray for their physical, emotional and spiritual protection.

ï Pray your grandchildren will develop a vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ to keep them from becoming unraveled in our troubled world.

ï Pray their parents will have godly wisdom to guide our grandchildren in the challenges they face each day.

Subscribe to the Grandparenting with a Purpose website and you will receive the Free eBook Back to School and a downloadable copy of 31 Scriptures to Pray for your grandchildren. If you are already subscribing just send me an email to info@gdptpr.com. 

By Lillian Penner

“It seems to me that we do not need to be taught how to lament since we have so many models in Scripture. What we need is simply the assurance that it’s okay to lament. We all carry deep within ourselves a pressurized reservoir of tears. It takes only the right key at the right time to unlock them. In God’s perfect time, these tears can be released to form a healing flood. That’s the beauty and the mystery of the prayer of lament.” Michael Card

Did you know that even in sadness you can worship God in prayer?  

You can worship Him in the midst of difficulty through a prayer of lament. There are many of these kinds of prayers in Scripture. All the major Bible characters poured their hearts out to God in lament. This is a type of prayer that we rarely hear about, yet at times, it is a necessary part of each one of our prayer lives.

When experiencing the dark night of the soul, prayers of lament are so helpful. We live in a broken world where things do not always go right. There are times when we don’t know what God is doing or which way to turn. Bringing before God a prayer of lament can make all the difference in the world, because God actually changes us during these times when we pour out our hearts to Him.

Prayers of lament are a form of worship and faith. We worship God even in the midst of pouring our difficulty out before Him. Instead of backing away from God during a hard time or a dark night, we face the pain and worship Him with it. As an act of love, we offer it all to God. We lay everything before His Throne.

“Lamentation is a powerful, and meaningful, form of worship because it places our love for God above even the worst of circumstances in our life… God does not ask us to deny the existence of our suffering. He does want us to collect it, stand in those things and make Him an offering. The Holy Spirit, our Comforter, helps us to do this: He aligns Himself with our will and says, 'I will help you to will to worship God.' The glory of the majesty of God is that He helps us will and do.” Graham Cooke

The following is an example of a song of lament that has touched many of us throughout the years. The Spafford family lost everything they owned in a fire. Making plans to rebuild, they moved from Chicago to France. Horatio Spafford carefully planned the trip from America to France and booked tickets on a huge ship for his wife and four daughters. He was planning to join them a few weeks later. On the voyage, the ship was rammed by another vessel and sank, carrying his wife and four daughters to the bottom of the ocean. All his plans suddenly were crushed. 

In grief and lament as his ship passed over the watery grave of his wife and four beloved daughters, he wrote this famous hymn, “It is Well With My Soul”. Many of us know that hymn and have been touched deeply through the words expressed in every verse. Horatio Spafford knew the power of the prayer of lament in that instant. His words have helped multitudes face their own sorrows (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6yDFn3OAFo).

He refused to let God go in the midst of difficulty and grief.

Prayers of lament may look like prayers of complaining, but they can still be prayers of faith, because this type of prayer refuses to let God go even in the hard times. God may seem absent, but He is not. Prayers of lament are honest before God and bring us face to face with Him as we try to understand what is going on in our heart. Job was one who prayed deep prayers of lament. He had lost everything—his family, friends, home, and health. Yet he wrestled through with God and clung to Him as he sought for meaning to his struggles. He held onto His faith in God and turned to Him with all his heart. He wanted to see God in the midst of his pain. Job did not let God go. He said:

I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eye—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! (Job 19:25-27)

In the end God gave him back so much more. Job was able to see God in a far deeper way than before his trial. Not letting go and bringing our heart to God in the midst of pain is an act of faith. Well-known musician, Michael Card tells us how we can learn faith from Job’s prayer of lament: 

“Finally, we see in Job one of the most fundamental lessons we can learn from lament: that protesting and even accusing God through the prayers of lament is, nevertheless, an act of faith. The lament of faith does not deny the existence of God. Rather, it appeals to God on the basis of his loving kindness, in spite of current conditions that suggest otherwise. Job simply would not let go of God—in spite of death, disease, isolation, and ultimately, a fear that God had abandoned him.”

How to Write a Prayer of Lament

Habakkuk 3:17-18 is a well-known example of a prayer of lament. Habakkuk was living in difficult circumstances but through a prayer of lament, he was brought to a place of peace. In chapter one his prayer was prayed in frustration; he was asking God “how long” and “why” regarding his circumstances. He was not denying the existence of pain. He was bringing it before God. Perhaps the situation sounds similar to our day. 

“Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted” (Habakkuk 1:3-4). 

Through Habakkuk’s prayer of lament, God changed his heart. He didn’t immediately change his situation. God had directed his attention to His long-range plans and not the present circumstances he was facing. He told Habakkuk to wait and to live by faith. By the last chapter he prayed:

“LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, LORD. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy” (Habakkuk 3:2).  

Though his circumstances were difficult, God met with Habakkuk in his prayer and changed him on the inside. He began to see from a new perspective. He began to put his faith in God’s eternal hope, and his prayer of lament was a form of worship to God. In lamenting, you actually worship God with your sorrow. We read in Habakkuk 3:17-18: 

"Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” 

You may want to write down your own prayer of lament using the words “though” and “yet”to begin to phrase your lament. Do this when you are facing difficulty. Save this exercise in prayer for the hard moments in your life.

• Find a quiet place with God - Being alone with Him is a necessity for this kind of prayer.
   
• Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you - He will lead you in a prayer of lament. He will open up your heart to God.
   
• Be in God’s presence - We are often so much in a hurry but a prayer of lament takes time spent in God’s presence. Give yourself wholly to God.
   
• Write down the “though” circumstances in your life - What difficulties and challenges are you right now facing? What pain or grief do you feel? These are the “though” circumstances.
   
• Offer these things to God - Offer God the hard things as a sacrifice. Don’t ask for anything.
   
• Worship God by completing the phrase - “Though these things have happened, yet _________.” Worship God in a series of yet statements. Bless and praise Him even in spite of the difficult things.

I guarantee that this will have a great effect on your life. 

I had some very difficult moments in my life nine years ago. I was facing cancer, several surgeries, and a lengthy recovery. I learned that through pouring out my heart to God in prayers of lament, my heart was changed. I began to look at things in a much more positive light.

Praising God in the midst of difficulty is so powerful because God stands in the moment with us. The thing that I can testify during those moments of difficulty—when I brought my pain directly to God and walked with Him through it—was the reality that God was really there, and He gave me a deeper revelation of Himself.

Watch the following video and let it speak to your heart. See how this father lovingly sacrifices and cares for his beloved son. Know that Your Redeemer Lives and lovingly cares for you every moment in your pain - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdA3Equ1I3s.

“If you are in mourning, you have the opportunity to worship in the most powerful way possible: lamentation. This worship isn’t done in order to have God remove the pain. It simply recognizes that God stands in the moment with us. Lamentation elevates God in the presence of our enemies. It brings out a side of God that other forms of worship simply cannot touch.” Graham Cooke
 

Four facebook pages for my books on prayer: Breakthrough Prayer, Ascending the Height in Prayer, Deeper Still, and 24/7 Prayer Arise.

Join and like the Intercessors Arise facebook page for daily encouragement in your prayer life.

Have your friends sign up for Intercessors Arise here.

An Intercessors Arise International School of Prayer is in the initial stages. See The Fire of Prayer blog site.

 
Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
International House of Prayer (IHOP) KC Staff
deb@intercessorsarise.org
www.intercessorsarise.org

“This is a kairos time for God’s people to understand authority, for authority is the key to power. This is a time for us to deal with the spirit of fear that has imbedded itself into the heart of the church. The spirit of fear creates an unsound mind, it weakens power, and it negates love. God has given us an awesome responsibility.” Chuck Pierce

 
Although God promises us power in the gospel and authority over Satan, very few of us live out the authority that we have in Christ. As the days get darker, we must learn to stand in our authority and live above the earth realm, learning to exercise the supernatural power of intercession everyday.
 
The enemy often tries to “break into our house” and steal, kill, and destroy God’s blessing in our life. The problem is we often let him do it. We hear of so many home invasions, but did you realize that the enemy constantly tries to invade your life every day? It’s time for us to enforce our rights and stop his invasion through fears, addictions, sickness, financial or emotional oppression, and broken relationships.

I heard the story of an old lady returning home from a church service and finding an intruder robbing her house. "Stop!" she yelled. Then she quoted "Acts 2:38" which says,"Repent!" The burglar stopped dead in his tracks and she called the police. The officer came, handcuffed the thief, and then asked: "Why did you just stand there? All the lady did was quote a Bible verse." "A Bible verse?" the burglar replied. "She said she had an axe and two .38s!" This may be a funny story, but this old lady knew how to stand in God's authority. 

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
 
John 10:10 is one of my favorite verses because it tells us that Jesus came to give us an abundant life. Abundance means life that is plentiful, rich, lavish, bountiful, plentiful, and superabundant. It’s an overflowing life. This life is well supplied and marked by great plenty. But how many of us are living like this?

It’s time we rise up in our authority and live in overflowing abundance. It’s time we take hold of our key to an abundant life.
 
Let’s understand our authority by looking at a few facts:

• The gospel qualifies us - The gospel qualifies us to freely receive God’s love, power, favor, and benefits. We receive these blessings through faith (confident agreement) in Jesus’ work on the cross.
  
  “For the message of the cross… to us who are being saved it is the power of God”(1 Corinthians 1:18).
   
• We are new creations - We became a new creation in Christ when we received Jesus in our hearts. This has vast implications. Old things have passed away (condemnation and powerlessness) and new things have come (acceptance, enjoyment by God, and a new authority).
  
  “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away… all things have become new… that we might become the righteousness of God”
  (2 Corinthians 5:17-21).
   
• Jesus gained the victory - On the cross Jesus gained victory over Satan for us and removed his legal right to torment us. We have been transferred to His kingdom and qualify to freely receive new benefits. See Colossians 1:13.
  
  “Having disarmed principalities and powers, he made a public spectacle of them triumphing over them in it (His death and resurrection)” (Colossians 2:15).

Do you grasp what this actually means? We are enabled by God to resist sin and the enemy's attacks. But so many of us have lost our keys and these are the keys of the kingdom!
 
The Lost Key - Knowing Our Authority

“I give you authority…over all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19).
 
 Jesus gave us authority over the works of Satan. This is delegated authority. Just as a police officer stops a car by the authority of the government, the Church has the authority over the works of Satan. We are raised up to sit in heavenly places with Christ and we have access to God’s throne. Ephesians 2:6 tells us that God has “raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ.” We actually have authority to bind (stop) Satan’s power and to loose (release) God’s power. Matthew 16:19 says:
 
“I will give you the keys of the kingdom…. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and what ever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
 
Jesus has given us the keys of the kingdom, but so many of God’s people seem to have lost their keys. You know how it feels when you lose your house or car keys – anxious, troubled, fearful, disgruntled, impatient, wondering what to do, etc. This is exactly what many of us feel like: anxious, troubled, disgruntled, fearful, impatient, and wondering what to do. We’ve lost our keys!
 
How can we access our keys and live out our authority in Christ in our everyday lives?
 
Enforcing our Authority
 
We can’t only know in our mind that we have authority, we must take action and do something about it. Here are some ways:

• Resist the devil - Enforce your rights by resisting Satan as an intruder who attacks through accusations, fear, and oppression. You can remove the added pressure that demons bring to your problems by resisting.
   
• Employ the Sword of the Spirit - Resist the devil by speaking God’s Truth to him just as Jesus did when tempted by the devil. Base your faith on what the Word of God says and not what you see or feel.
   
• Learn the art of prayer-reading the Scriptures - Pick a portion of Scripture and go verse by verse either thanking God, asking for His grace to obey, claiming His promises, or confessing your sin. Do it out loud verse-by-verse.
   
• Do not give up - Don’t give in when your circumstances do not instantly change. You must wrestle in your resistance of Satan’s attacks.
   
• Hold up the shield of faith - Consistently declare the Word against the enemy’s attacks. Take action with your authority by faith. Be steadfast in faith and take your stand against Satan.
   
• Watch out for those fiery darts - Know that the enemy will attack you with fiery darts and flaming missiles. They can be irrationally heightened feelings of fear, oppression, anxiety, lust, etc. Don’t listen to those fiery lies.
   
• Renew your mind in God’s Word - Resist these darts by declaring God’s Word. The primary way that Satan tries to gain access is first through the mind. Watch what you let into your heart through your eyes. Be careful of the inter-net and TV. As our minds are renewed, our emotions are transformed and our behavior and circumstances change. 

We have the authority in intercession to make a huge difference in our city, nation, family, and everywhere else. Jesus gained that authority at the cross. We must rise up as intercessors and live out our authority in prayer by binding and loosing. When we pray, we must believe that it makes a difference. We must not give up in those prayers that are not yet answered. We must hold up that shield of faith and consistently declare God’s Word over the situations we are praying through. We must learn to pray the Scriptures as we read them. Intercessors, it is time to take action and resist the devil, believing that God is going to break through.
 
We have the authority in intercession to stop Satan’ power and release God’s power. Let’s experience an overflowing abundant life and use our keys!
 
“Many in the church today are being held captive spiritually, not because of the enemy’s power, but because we do not clearly understand our authority and calling in Christ...  As we begin to understand the hope of His calling, we will begin to walk in an abundant life of freedom and power.” Angie Weaver  

Four facebook pages for my books on prayer: Breakthrough Prayer, Ascending the Height in Prayer, Deeper Still, and 24/7 Prayer Arise.

Join and like the Intercessors Arise facebook page for daily encouragement in your prayer life.

Have your friends sign up for Intercessors Arise here.

An Intercessors Arise International School of Prayer is in the initial stages. See The Fire of Prayer blog site.

 
Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
International House of Prayer (IHOP) KC Staff
deb@intercessorsarise.org
www.intercessorsarise.org

My passion is to intentionally pray my grandchildren will love Jesus and follow Him wholeheartedly.

Christian Grandparenting Network has a passion to encourage and equip grandparents to pray for their grandchildren. 

Our mission is to challenge grandparents around the world to intentionally and regularly come together to pray, interceding for their grandchildren, children and communities. In the Pray! Magazine, Arlyn Lawrence writes, “Intercession is one of the ways God designed for us to partner with him."1

In Isaiah 58:6 we read that we can “loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke” in our world. One of the ways we can break these chains is by “standing in the gap” for our dear grandchildren. er with Him in bringing His loving presence into our aching world.”¹  

Just as Esther stood in the gap for her people, the Jews, when they were physically threatened. Today grandparents can stand in the gap with prayer for their grandchildren as the enemy threatens their spiritual lives.

Christian Grandparents Network has formed Grandparents @ Prayer (G@P) intercessory prayer groups as a way to call grandparents together to pray for each other’s grandchildren and their families. There are about 30 G@P groups throughout the world meeting on a regular basis to pray together that I am aware of. Groups meet in retirement centers, schools, churches, and homes weekly, bi-weekly or monthly as often as the group desires. The grandparents meet together in small or large groups on a regular basis to unite in prayer at a designated location for 1 hour or so of guided prayer and fellowship.

Participating grandparents comment that they appreciate having a safe place to share their concerns and know other grandparents are praying with them for their grandchildren. Our grandchildren are growing 

I have guidelines and more information available to help you get started. Please reply to this email and I will send them to you right away. This is a good time to start. I have also written the book, Grandparenting with a Purpose: Effective Ways to Pray for your Grandchildren available on this website for a discounted price of $11.00 including shipping. A free downloadable study guide is available which many groups have used for their G@P groups.up in a very troubled fragmented world needing a lot of prayer.

By Lillian Penner

I want to return today to a crucial facet of prayer that I have written about before. I want to encourage you to develop the habit of praying for people everywhere you are. You can pray for people you see in the bank or the grocery store. You can pray for people you meet as you walk down the street or even as you are stuck in traffic.

Of course the first question that arises about this is “What do I pray for total strangers?” I have given people guides that they can use to get started, but in fact, I think the best way to pray is to be open to whatever the Holy Spirit brings to your mind as you pray. You will discover that you can often see needs at a glance on people’s faces. Also, I often see a person who reminds me of someone I do know. I pray briefly for the person I see and then at length for the person who is called to mind.

I need to admit that this does not come naturally to me. I have to remind myself again and again to be praying for people around me. Possibly the most important thing I can do to prepare to pray for people everywhere I go, is to begin my day with a sustained devotional time and devote intermittent times to prayer throughout the day. But I still have to pray regularly for God to remind me to pray for people as I go through my day. You may find this comes more natural to you. But even if it does not, you will find this to be a powerful blessing in your life.

http://daveswatch.com/

“We may not pay Satan reverence, for that would be indiscreet, but we can at least respect his talents.” (Mark Twain)

Our archenemy would love to make our life hell on earth. But when we hear the lion’s roar ringing in our ears, we can order him to get out of our face.

Struggling with sin will convince us that we need supernatural help if we’re ever going to vacate Satan’s death trap. We are a combination of opposites,a mixture of good and evil. Though we want to do right, our rotten nature distracts us from nobler pursuits. Relying on God, we can triumphantly march out of sin’s burdensome addiction with our head held high and a spring in our step.

Hell’s advertising blitz pressures us to invest in Nile stock. Fiendish voices try to convince us we need worldly resources. It’s all a terrible lie. We can find authentic satisfaction without compromise. With rivers of living water coursing through our heart, we discover the Lord is all we ever really need. In the desert’s inhospitable barrenness, we are not deserted. So we can worship God in the wilderness.

Exiting Egypt’s shadows, we bask in the sunlight of Truth. In contrast to earth’s dark depravity, we shine as sparkling diamonds. Tenaciously resisting the Devil,we walk as children of the Light.

“The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say, Let my people go, so they can worship me in the wilderness.” (Exodus 7:16 NLT)

Johnny R. Almond

Christian preacher and writer

Author, Gentle Whispers from Eternity

http://GentleWhispersFromEternity-ScripturePersonalized.com/

If you feel "stuck" in your prayer life; like your prayers seem ineffective or lacking in power, what David has to say will help you to move beyond where you currently find yourself.  Here's the link to his message to Life Action Ministries.

Thank you for your ministry in prayer!  May the Lord continue to teach us to pray, every day, and in every way; for His glory, for the strengthening of His bride, and the expansion of His kingdom in advance of His glorious return!

Rob Griepentrog

I’ve done some stupid things while visiting my in-laws.

The first time I met Jean and Jeannine, I broke their door, their vacuum cleaner, and dropped their camera in the snow. That night I asked Jean for Colette’s hand in marriage. He answered, “I think you should wait longer.” (By longer, I think he meant forever). Sorry Jean.

At my in-laws house, I’ve caused false 911 calls, fallen off motorcycles, and gotten sick on bike rides, but this one tops them all.

At a recent visit, we hugged goodbye and were off. Colette’s parents live on a main road and we had to stop at a store first, which meant we would pass by their house on the way out. We did our shopping and settled into our long drive.

But as we neared their house, Jeannine was standing by the road. Oh that’s nice, she’s waiving goodbye. Wait, she’s not waiving goodbye, she’s waiving to stop, she has something in her hand. So I hit the brakes and pulled over to the shoulder. And into a ditch.

The back tire lifted off the ground as we sat nose deep in the neighbor’s yard. My daughter started to cry. My boys froze in silence. Colette, well, let’s not say what Colette did.

We were five minutes into a ten-hour drive and daddy had driven into a ditch. Now that’s a stupid thing to do.

Here’s another stupid thing – ignoring prayer because you’re busy in ministry. (I’ve done this stupid thing, too). Your wheels get turning and everything’s going so well, so you stop praying. But prayer is where ministry is made. Now by ministry, I mean the work you do to glorify God.

In the Bible, prayer is central to ministry. Jesus prayed before choosing the Twelve. Who would the twelve disciples become? The founding members of the Church that became a worldwide, enduring movement. The Apostle Paul went on his missionary trip as a result of prayer. What difference did Paul make? He wrote most of the New Testament and catalyzed the church planting movement. So this is true—Jesus and Paul’s first ministry was prayer.

While prayer is God’s work in you, prayer is your chief work. It’s easy to make ministry the chief work, but this is backward. Instead, prayer is where ministry is made.

Until you treat prayer as your main ministry, your activities will only be fractionally as powerful and successful as their potential. You may accomplish much on your own, but what if you’re settling for a shadow of what God intends?

So don’t promise God to people, but only give them you. Birth your ministry in prayer and sustain it by prayer. That’s a way to avoid being stupid.

Bright, Shiny Faces Surely some of you remember the children’s song we used to sing first thing in the mornings: “Good morning to you, Good morning to you, We’re all in our places With bright, shiny faces, Good morning to you.” I had no strong feelings either way about the song, but I remember wondering if my face was really shining? Then I began to hear phrases like, “Her face was radiant (radiant: sending out light; shining or glowing brightly) and, “He was beaming (beaming: shining brightly). Seems a bright, shiny face was one that shed light, like into the darkness around it. A few years later I came across a Bible verse about a shining face. It was actually a part of the first benediction in the Bible, a benediction being a declaration of blessing from God upon His people. In this benediction prayer, spoken first to Aaron, and repeated at the conclusion of worship services through the ages, Moses said, “The Lord make His face shine upon you” (Numbers 6:25). The shining face of God was to be desired as opposed to God hiding His face, as with Job (Job 13:24), and with Israel (Deut. 31:17-18); and as opposed to God’s face being against someone (Lev. 17:10, Psalm 34:16). I don’t know about you, but I pray that God’s face will shine upon me today to brighten my path, to give me direction, and to reflect off of me on to others.

I have been among those who complain about the notion of the mouthing of a “sinner’s prayer” as the means to salvation. I wrote a track a few years ago entitled The primary message of Jesus. It was based on the fact that Jesus called people to repent and become disciples. I am not sure we should not quote verses like 2 Timothy 3:12 to people as we present Christ to them. It reads.

“In fact, everyone who wants to lead a Godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

Rote repetition is a misuse of the sinner’s prayer even if its wording includes repentance and discipleship. However prayer is an integral part of discipleship. We must respond to God in prayer.

But I want to focus here, not on the prayer that brings salvation, but the prayer that salvation brings, on the prayer that salvation is. Romans 5:1-2 speaks of access granted us into the presence of God himself.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

Those who are drawn by God to Jesus Christ for forgiveness purchased by Him on the cross have access to God. We can pray! Praise God, we can pray! From the point of our redemption every prayer we pray is a prayer of salvation. It is prayer purchased for us at an eternal cost for God’s everlasting glory. When we come to Christ, we begin a life of prayer.

http://daveswatch.com/

I’ve been around churches, ministries, and Christian conferences for most of my life, and I’ve had many awesome leaders in that time. One quality was pretty consistent among my leaders—dedication to prayer. They wanted to pray and they wanted us to pray. For that, I’m grateful.

However, there’s one fundamental mistake many of them made about prayer—they challenged us to pray without training us how to pray. And during certain seasons, they called us to pray even more, but didn’t help us to pray more.

The teaching about why we should pray wasn’t met with teaching about how to pray. We tackled the “why” of prayer without tackling the “how” of prayer.

This is like telling your sixteen year-old daughter, “Just drive more” instead of first teaching her how to drive.

She won’t become a lifetime driver without instruction. Your teen doesn’t primarily need to hear all the good and sensible reasons why driving is a good idea—she needs to learn how to drive, and let that experience teach her why.

One day Jesus was praying while his disciples were nearby. When Jesus finished, one of them said, “LORD, teach us to pray.”

So Jesus began to teach them, “When you pray, say…” (Luke 11)

Did Jesus start with why they should pray? No, Jesus began with how to pray. The disciples had been around Jesus long enough to know that prayer was important, and at a disciple’s request, Jesus taught them how to pray.

Yes, we need a theology of prayer that emphasizes why we pray. But often leaders fall short in raising up praying people because they set a vision for prayer without setting a school for prayer. They challenge without equipping, they tell instead of train.

So when it comes to prayer, most leaders concentrate on the why and neglect thehow, then they wonder why more people don’t attend their prayer meetings. But it’s time the how of prayer takes its place beside the why of prayer.

If you’re a pastor, I encourage you to put prayer training in place. I guarantee it’ll enhance the life of your church or ministry. If you’re part of a church or ministry, start requesting prayer training or seek your own out. If we approached the how of prayer, I think we’d all be grateful.

PS: If you’re looking for a practical way to train people in how to pray, check out Made To Pray: How To Find Your Best Prayer Types. Use promotional codehowtopray to receive a discount.

PPS: I’m available to help your church or ministry move to the next level of prayer. Contact me to get the conversation going.

“Every situation—nay, every moment—is of infinite worth; for it is the representative of a whole eternity.” (Goethe)

God will always be who He has always been. God is far more than a long ago, far away historical force that used to work in human lives. He is the God of the living, not the dead. When we are troubled, He is our present help. He does not showcase miracles in dusty museums—He is our Contemporary. Every day, we celebrate His presence.

God Almighty traveled with Abraham, father of the faithful, in his moving experiences; and He is beside us in ours. So whatever happens on the journey, we are ready for it. Every heartbeat, we live by faith.

The God who is Enough, El Shaddai, teaches us to smile when circumstances meanly frown at us. He is our Fountainhead of invulnerable joy. Every breath, we rejoice.  

The God who alone is holy works in our lives to change us from the inside out. Tension between who we are and the Christlike person we yearn to be proves heaven has already begun in our heart. Every second, we single-mindedly struggle on.

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is our God. In our lives, He still works miracles of hope, joy, and perseverance—counteracting despair, melancholy, and discouragement. Earthly grace notes are the prelude to heaven’s Future Perfect Tense Symphony. In hope, we enjoy the stirring melody of eternity. In faith, we dance to the tune here and now.

“God continued, ‘I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, though I did not reveal my name, the Lord, to them.’” (Exodus 6:2, 3 NLT)

Johnny R. Almond

Christian preacher and writer

Author, Gentle Whispers from Eternity

[This devotion based on Day 41 of Gentle Whispers from Eternity]

                                         http://GentleWhispersFromEternity-ScripturePersonalized.com/

“For rich people, the sky is just an extra, a gift of nature. The poor, on the other hand, can see it as it really is: an infinite grace.” (Albert Camus)

“The moon is a friend for the lonesome to talk to” (Carl Sandburg)

Tonight at 9:38 p.m. ET, the full moon will mark the third consecutive month with a Supermoon. When it is closest to Earth in its orbit, the moon will appear larger and brighter than usual.

In some regions clouds and showers may make it difficult to observe this stunning moon. But if you are privileged to get a glimpse of this harvest moon, take a moment to let your heart be filled with wonder at the majesty and mystery of God’s handiwork.

Pause to reflect on the handiwork of the Almighty.

“Then God said, ‘Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them be signs to mark the seasons, days, and years. Let these lights shine down on the earth.’ God made the smaller light to govern the night.” (Genesis 1:14-16 NLT]

Pause to humbly thank your Maker for watching over you and caring for you in the orbit of your life.

“When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you set in place—what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?” [Psalm 8:3 NLT]

Pause to worship your Creator and offer a prayer of praise to the One who shepherds you every day and season of your life.

“Praise him, sun and moon! Praise him all you twinkling stars! Let every created thing give praise to the Lord.” [Psalm 148:3, 5 NLT) 

Johnny R. Almond

Christian preacher and writer

Author, Gentle Whispers from Eternity

http://GentleWhispersFromEternity-ScripturePersonalized.com/

Join with other believers for a focused time of prayer for Liberia on Sunday, September 14 at 6:00 at Browntown Baptist Church in Browntown, VA. If you can’t be present at the church in person, please consider praying where you are between 6:00 – 6:30 Eastern Standard Daylight Savings Time and posting an “Amen” on the Browntown Baptist Church or Liberia Orphan Education Project FB page. Our brothers and sisters in Liberia are invited to join us in prayer during the prayer gathering time. Our hope is to overcome physical distance, uniting in prayerful fellowship for Liberia.

I want to personally thank you for your awesome response for the Grandparents Day of Prayer. The analytics of our website and our Grandparents Day of Prayer Facebook page has reached thousands, which is fantastic. Your "likes" on the Facebook posts, your comments and sharing with your friends have been remarkable. I believe God is going to do amazing things in the lives of our dear grandchildren because grandparents joined in prayer on National Grandparents' Day making it a special day of prayer.

I am aware of thirty-seven volunteers organizing Prayer events in seventeen states in the U.S., Canada and South Africa. There are over 2,400 Page “likes” on the Grandparents Day of Prayer Facebook page from all over the world.

My desire is that the future blogs and Facebook posts will encourage and support you as you pray intentionally for your grandchildren. I would appreciate it if you will continue to share the blog posts with your friends in the future. Would you comment on this post or Facebook message me to let me know how you prayed for your grandchildren on September 7, Grandparents' Day of Prayer in your church or with your friends? 

May God grant you favor as you make everyday a day of prayer

for your grandchildren.

Lillian Penner, Prayer Day Coordinator

Christian Grandparenting Network

lpenner@christiangrandparenting.net

There is Someone who loves you more than any friend you have on Facebook.

“Closer is He than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet.”  (Alfred, Lord Tennyson]

Born from above, we have a Friend in eternity—Elyon, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, supreme over all.

He defeats our spiritual enemies (Genesis 14:20), teaches us timeless truth (Numbers 24:16), inspires a song in the night (Psalm 7:17), fills our heart with joy (Psalm 46:4), rules as Sovereign over all nations (Psalm 47:2), challenges us to keep our vows of devotion (Psalm 50:14), redeems us from sin (Psalm 78:35), hears our prayers (Psalm 86:6), provides rest under the shadow of His wings (Psalm 91:1), and is worthy of worship above all false gods (Psalm 97:9).

From His exalted throne, He scans earth for people who yearn to be released from bondage to the Pharaoh of hell and enjoy authentic friendship with their Creator.

From His elevated perspective, He sees through the thicket of our fight to survive. When we look up through dense bewilderment, we can detect a golden ray of hopeful light. Bending our knee in devotion to God, we sing His praises at all times and places.

Our Greatest Friend promises that ultimately He will make everything new—

replacing old earth’s egomania with new earth’s kindness,

transforming old chaos into new calm,

superimposing the New Jerusalem on old crime-ridden cities,

making old heartaches obsolete by new songs,

killing old death by new life,

wiping away old tears with new joy,

erasing old pain with new bodies.

From our limited point of view, all this may seem unlikely to come true. But God is trustworthy and will surely keep His promises. As a friend of mine once told me, if the Bible is not true, nothing is true.   

In the meantime, we should train our heart to listen prayerfully to gentle whispers from eternity, not merely our five dictatorial physical senses. If we use the sixth sense God has given us, we can imagine invisible realities. Now we believe—then we will see.

Bowing our head, we worship our Friend in the highest place.

 “When they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.”  (Exodus 4:30-31 NIV)

Johnny R. Almond

Christian preacher and writer

Author, Gentle Whispers from Eternity

http://GentleWhispersFromEternity-ScripturePersonalized.com/