Pray Network Forum

All Posts (3723)

Sort by

"Serving DESPITE Circumstance"

Posted by Wendy Posey Songy on April 14, 2010 at 19:45

When the Lord first placed the vision for our ministry on our hearts - we had no money, no decent car, no fancy clothes, trials and tribulations GALORE (as we still do!lol) only now we have had even less, yet been Blessed by the Father with even more - not only in His taking care of our EVERY need dispite impossible LOOKING circumstance but through those hardships by Him blessing us with increased faith, compassion and spiritual maturing...As you search YOUR hearts and strive to serve HIM and bring HIM glory - be ready and willing to step out of your comfort zone and tell people of HIS greatness and also help others in HIS name (not only in SPITE of your facing difficulties but actually and ESPECIALLY because of them!). Be willing to GO where HE wants you to; DO what HE desires for your life and BE what HE has called you to be - not what makes you feel safe, or comfortable or happy but what is pleasing to HIM!!! Remember we can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens us - That with God ALL things REALLY ARE POSSIBLE. Don't listen to your family, friends, naysayers about what you can or can't do when it comes to what The Lord has placed in your heart to do - Even your own self-doubt and insecurites must be put down - remember to "capture EVERY thought"... As far as having nothing and trying to give to or help others in YOUR time of need - we have NEVER been so Blessed (in many ways) than we have when we have put others first and most of all SERVING GOD first, despite our calamaties (and there have been MANY)! So - we encourage you to STEP out of your comfort zone, THINK out of the box and PRAY!!! for His guidance and His will and then, procrastinate NOT ('cause I was BIG on that one, let me tell you!lol) and go DO IT - Just SERVE HIM!!! In MARK 12: 30-31 JESUS SAYS: The most important commandment is this: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as YOURSELF.' "There is no commandment greater than these."!!!

LORD, I ask that you help me in my walk on the path that YOU choose for me. I pray for Your guidance, Your will, and Your help and protection in EVERY WAY! Please give me boldness merged with peace beyond understanding as I reach out to this world in the ways You've asked - to SERVE YOU, to BRING YOU GLORY and TO HELP THE HURTING AND LOST IN YOUR NAME! Please be with me every step of the way as I step out in FAITH - please help me to THINK the way YOU want me to, to DO things when YOU want me to and in the WAY YOU want me to! I DO love you Lord and want DESPERATELY to SERVE YOU with all my heart, with all my mind, with all my soul and with all my strength - in times when you've Blessed me and in particular in times when circumstances (in the natural) are seemingly impossible! Help me to be your hands and feet because with YOU, Lord, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE and I am SO THANKFUL FOR YOU!!!

Read more…

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Psalm 150:6

Posted by Bruce Friesen on April 14, 2010 at 11:02

When the psalmist wrote this, he was thinking of a liturgical setting: harps, drums, timbrels, singers, everyone in his or her own way offering the best there was to the glory of God. The best every—artist knows what that is. The feeling of having stretched as far as you can stretch. The happy exhaustion of having given it your all. The arts sprang from religion, a theological and pastoral gift, not and extra little frill for those who happen to enjoy that sort of thing, but central to the human response to God.

Theological? Yes. When the human being stretches as far as possible, tests the limits training and skill, she is fulfilling God’s command: Be fruitful and multiply. Did you think that was just about having babies? The world is filled and nurtured in all kinds of ways besides the obvious one of procreation. The writer. The singer. The actor. The painter. Than dancer. God gives us gifts and we husband them carefully.

Pastoral? Absolutely. The arts enable both artist and patron. To create is to join in the work of the creator. Through the arts, the people of God come to know one another more fully, more as God knows each of us. They acquire the authoritative voice of interpreters of God’s action in the world. They sing and dance and paint one small piece of the sacred story.
Read more…

Prayer prompts

Posted by Joan Hershberger on April 12, 2010 at 8:11
Several years ago when God began calling me to increase my prayers, I struggled to know how or what to pray. I have found the prayer prompts definitely help. I wanted to go beyond just "bless me and giveme"

Having come from a non-liturgical church background, we scorned the use of prayer books and written prayers. Not spontaneous. It ounded weird use prayer prompts,

But I found that I never had the same feelings about from conversation prompts I found in books or with the cards from the old game UNO. In fact I used them a great deal to stimulate family conversations and to move onto deeper subjects. The prompts give me questions to ask and discuss. I am pleasantly surprised at the insights I receive from those conversations.

With the increased call to pray, I wanted to have prayer books. I sought them out. I even bought one on ebay,just to have a prayer books. As I read through some of the prayers I was impressed with how much they reflected and incorporated scripture.

As the pastor talked, I noted when he mentioned patterns of prayer and through PRAY! magazine I discovered prayer cards that Ialso use to direct my prayers on specific issues.

I do not use the lists like a robot or a prayer wheel. I use them because there is no need tore-invent the wheel. The patterns, thoughts and examples exist and abound. Christ Himself gave us the Lord's Prayer, and I have discovered and enjoyed the thoughts of others on how they use that prayer as a pattern to one's prayer time.

Recently I S-L-O-W-L-Y read the Psalms and realized, oh ... is that how one praisesGod! I actually found myself writing out some praises of my own echoingthe Psalms. Praise that simply flowed.Astounding. Me flowing with praise in words. Yes, I always appreciated and wondered at God's abundance, but not that way.

I have always wondered HOW Daniel could pray three times a day. But as I write this I realize, with God's blessings, Daniel had plenty for which to praise God, and of course as a leader, plenty of topics on which to seek His wisdom. Now I guess need to sit down and study whatever in recorded of Daniel's prayers to gain insight into the patterns and prompts his prayers provide.

God does not leave us without resources or the means to do what He commands, I just need to look around and see what He had provided.
Read more…

God commands us to pray

Posted by Joan Hershberger on April 12, 2010 at 7:55
God already knows our needs. He knows our hearts. He knows the outcome, but He still commands us to pray. Once or twice I have been awakened with a really strong impression, "Pray for this person.' So strong a message that I pray. I do not know 'why' I prayed sometimes, but the impression was so strong that I did.

Others have the same experience as in the following testimony my daughter shared with me.

The single woman who had her own business assessing properties felt the economic impact of the last few years. Few people called her with requests to have assessments done. In fact from November through March she had only two assessments. She sought work otherwise to hold her over, but was considering filing for bankruptcy.

As she walked her dog in the park one morning a young woman came up to her. "God told me to go to the park this morning and to pray with, pray for the woman with a dog. You are the only woman here with a dog, so I must be supposed to pray for you." She prayed for the business woman's needs and crisis and then left the park. No names exchanged as far as I can tell.

Within 24 hours the struggling business woman had 10 phone calls for assessments. After five months with only 2, she could only know that this had to be of God.

I was told of this God mandated personal prayer time from my daughter who is related to the woman. Because the woman has also struggled with her beliefs, I am praying it is a turning point for her faith to be deepened and her own prayer life to grow.
Read more…

Not Daniel but Jonah

Posted by Joan Hershberger on April 10, 2010 at 20:02
I am impressed with Daniel's praying three times a day, faithfully, regularly, even if it meant punishment. I want to be like that, but mostly the last few months I act more like Jonah. God wants me to pray, to set aside time to pray instead of filling up with food, activities or entertainment, and I find a lot of ways to head for Ninevah.
This morning I decided my life's prayer title should be "Just when I thought I would dare to be a Daniel, but I jumped a ship like Jonah." Instead of praying three times a day, I find myself belatedly praying for three days in the belly of the fish because I would not obey immediately.

With the best of determinations to set time aside to pray for some very urgent needs in my church, my community, my children's lives, I find myself reaching for something to distract me, to take up my time, to insure I do NOT spend that time praying.
Again already, I grumble and head for the prayer time, just as soon as I do one more thing ... that is my ongoing battle.

Frequently I wake in the middle of the night knowing, "I did not pray for ..." Since I won't get back to sleep for an hour or two, I get up and try to make amends. I kind of like those middle of the night sessions. Quiet, no one distracting me, I am focused and hearing God and not everything else.
Read more…

Anna Luke 1

Posted by Deana G. Harvey on April 10, 2010 at 10:35

I believe in Anna as a type of the Holy Spirit in prayer and dialoge for the appearing of Messiah as a babe. She prayed for 60 years and actually saw the baby Jesus in the flesh. To see more of my revelation and art on this amazing woman a.k.a. Holy Spirit, go to my blogspot annaakaholyspirit.blogspot.com Also see

adonai-eloheinu.blogspot.com for more art and insigt/journals in the place of prayer.

Read more…

All in the Same Boat

Posted by Daniel Beasley on April 9, 2010 at 10:30

Over the years I’ve told this to a handful of people, but I’ve never written it out, let alone shared it with a large audience… So, here goes. This is for all of you on my “list:”

You may not know this but I love you. (Or more honestly, over time, I’ve come to love you.)

I care about you, what happens to you.

I’ve lain awake nights wondering how you’re doing, where you are these days, how things are going. I hurt for the hurts I’ve heard about in your life.

I pray for you.

I have been praying for you, many of you for years now, some for over 30 years...

I’ve prayed that you would have peace. That you would know love. That you would come to faith. That you will walk with God. That you will know the Lord’s blessing. That on Judgment Day, you’ll be on God’s list.

You see, you’re on my list.

Years ago I was reading in Acts 27, how Paul was caught up in a storm at sea. Their ship “was a cork in the storm.” They all knew they were sinking. “All hope was gone.” They knew all 276 of them were going to die.

But Paul stands up in the middle of the storm and he addresses the whole crew. He says,

“…take courage! None of you will lose your lives, even though the ship will go down. For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me, and he said, ‘…God in his goodness has granted safety to everyone sailing with you.’ So take courage! For I believe God. It will be just as he said.”

They were all in the same boat. In God’s eyes, their destinies had become intertwined. God was going to make it all work out.

I went to work that night and looked around me and began to ask God for the safety of everyone in my “boat.” Ever since then, I’ve looked around at the folks God has put me with, those of us “all in the same boat…” Over the years, God has even reconnected me with or reminded me of people from my past, people who’d shared my boat.

As we shared that piece of life together, and especially as I’ve prayed for you, you’ve taken a deep place in my heart.

And along the way, I’ve found the faith—the confidence—to ask God that, like Paul, I would be granted the lives, the eternal lives, of everyone I’ve “sailed with” over the years. That I will look around in heaven and take count, and that not one of you will be lost.

Hopefully this doesn’t freak you out too much—that I’ve asked God for you. That I’m still looking out for you, guarding you in prayer, going to God over you (yes, even you!)

Even as I’m writing this, I see your face.

And in some way I can’t quite explain I feel like God has promised me something about you. That I should take courage.

So don’t make me wait. Let me know how you’re doing, would you? And if you think maybe there’s something more I have to offer you than my prayers, just ask.

And don’t keep asking God to wait. Turn to Him while there’s still time, before this boat goes down.


Cross-posted from Ferndale Tonight
Read more…

Going Back to Advance

Posted by Rodney Drury on April 9, 2010 at 9:39
I have found time and time again, that the Lord leads me forward by taking me back. This “back” is usually to a forgotten word or direction; sometimes it is to a habit or tradition that was lost. In my never ending quest to advance, I tend to leave behind a great many things God still desires that I hold onto and practice. Over the last two decades I have read more old books and found that much of what we call “new” has already been done, often in the very same way we are now doing it. Yet we say it is new and sometimes we say we are the first to do it. Ooooops. We forget.
One thing that I feel God wants to re-ignite in me and maybe in our region is the “Lighthouse Movement”. There is a simple beauty in praying and encouraging other people to pray for their neighbors. Yet the simple things are often the hardest to keep faithfully doing. Enduring, persistent, longsuffering and faithful are not as exciting to us as “new, improved, revolutionary, cutting edge and relevant”. Do we now live in a world in which information must be in the last hour to be of value? Is it now that case that, “If it didn’t happen in the last hour or if it was not posted in today’s post”, then it isn’t important anymore? What if we treat God the same way? What if His message to us last year is just old news to us and what we want is a “now word” so that we can move ahead.
Advancing in the Lord? Try this….
1. Seek to live out what you do know as you seek God for what you don’t.
2. Honor your father and mother, not just the good father or mother, but all fathers and mothers. I relate this to spiritual moms and dads too.
3. Spend time reviewing all that the Lord has done for you. Remember your history with God. Give thanks for His goodness over years, not just this week.
4. Go back and see if you are doing what God has previously asked you to do. It could be that you have dropped off the pathway of His direction and are trying to make progress on your own path.

Rodney Drury
PeoriaPrayerCenter.org
Blogger
Read more…

Easter Sunday

Posted by Bruce Friesen on April 4, 2010 at 10:52

…grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord’s resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit…

from the collect for Easter Sunday

Read more…

"ONE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD"

Posted by Wendy Posey Songy on April 3, 2010 at 5:29

ONE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD

Penned by Wendy Songy - August, 2009

"ONE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD"
Penned by Wendy Songy - August, 2009

ONE DID - HIS NAME IS JESUS CHRIST...AND WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE HIS HANDS AND FEET SINCE HE GAVE HIS UP FOR US!

DON'T BE FOOLED INTO THINKING "WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP - TO CHANGE MY WORLD - I'M INSIGNIFICANT - I'M JUST ONE PERSON..."

JESUS HIMSELF SAID IN JOHN 14:12-13: "I TELL YOU THE TRUTH - ANYONE WHO HAS FAITH IN ME WILL DO WHAT I HAVE BEEN DOING. HE WILL DO EVEN GREATER THINGS THAN THESE BECAUSE I AM GOING TO THE FATHER AND I WILL DO WHATEVER YOU ASK IN MY NAME SO THAT THE SON MAY BRING GLORY TO THE FATHER. YOU MAY ASK ME FOR ANYTHING IN MY NAME AND I WILL DO IT."

WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE A LAMP ON A STAND- A CITY ON A HILL - TO OUR NEIGHBORS, OUR LOVED ONES, OUR CO-WORKERS AND EVEN THE STRANGERS AROUND US (SAVED AND UNSAVED). WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE - NO, MUST BE - AN EXAMPLE AS A PARENT IS CALLED TO BE TO A CHILD - AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT BEING CHRISTIAN OR CHRIST-LIKE REALLY MEANS. MANY OF US WOULDN'T EVEN GIVE UP A MOVIE OR DINNER OUT MUCH LESS A SECOND VACATION OR A REMODEL IN OUR HOME TO HELP SOMEONE IN NEED! WE NEED TO DO WHATEVER IT TAKES! WE TEND TO GIVE UNTIL WE FEEL GOOD ABOUT IT - NOT UNTIL IT HURTS AND REQUIRES SACRIFICE (IF NECESSARY).

IS JESUS PROUD OF HOW WE ARE LIVING OUR LIVES IN HIS HONOR...WITH GRATITUDE FOR HIS TREMENDOUS SACRIFICE? HOW CAN WE AS CHRISTIANS BE CONTENT WITH SO LITTLE SACRIFICE IN OUR DAY-TO-DAY LIVES WHEN HE SACRIFICED SO MUCH?!!

BE A PART - THE PART GOD MEANT FOR YOU TO BE IN HIS PLAN - IT IS TIME FOR CHRISTIANS TO CHANGE - CHANGE FOR CHRIST!
AS WE WORSHIP THIS WEEKEND IN REMEMBERENCE OF HIS SACRIFICE....LET US PRAY:

“LORD - IN REMEMBERANCE OF ALL YOU’VE DONE - IN HONOR OF ALL YOU ARE - PLEASE USE US AS YOUR INSTRUMENTS - FOR YOUR CHURCH TO WORK TOGETHER IN HARMONY AND BE A SYMPHONY OF LOVE TO THIS HURTING WORLD AROUND US! LET US BE THE SYMBOL OF YOUR LOVE AS THEY FEEL AS IF THEIR WORLD IS CRASHING DOWN AROUND THEM - LET YOUR LOVE BE MUSIC TO THEIR EARS! PLEASE HELP US TO HELP THEM IN YOUR NAME TO BRING YOU GLORY AND TO BRING THE LOST TO YOU THROUGH YOUR SON JESUS!!!”
Read more…

The Easter Poem for kids by Wendy Songy 2010

Posted by Wendy Posey Songy on April 2, 2010 at 18:46
"The Easter Poem" (for kids)
Penned by Wendy Songy
April 2, 2010

The eggs are dyed, the hunts are planned but the Easter Bunny - he’s not the man
Our superhero - the star of the show, well, His name is Jesus Christ you know!
The eggs are not the treasure and the candy is not the prize
The true treasure lives in our hearts - and it’s time that we realize…

The meaning of Easter is special - it’s so much more than THAT
More than picnics and beaches and candy and pretty easter hats!

He suffered and died to save us - He loves us THAT much you know!
It’s only because of God’s gift - His SON - that to Heaven we will go!
He paid the ultimate price - to give us eternal life!
So remember HIM at Easter - and with God your heart will be right!
HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!!
Read more…

When Religion and Politics Mix Well

Posted by Reimagine Curator on April 2, 2010 at 16:15
It seems to me this is a good example of faith serving government (and society) ...

At the prayer request from the MO Legislators, both Democrats and Republicans, the meeting last Monday at the MO State Capitol rotunda with Anne Graham Lotz was developed. It was a wonderful evidence of God’s workings and power!

Mrs. Lotz has made an excellent commitment to MO by offering daily devotions of prayer specifically for our MO crisis. Anyone who will go to her website: www.annegrahamlotz.com / click on the state of Missouri (with a cross on it) and sign up for the daily prayers for MO will receive these brief thoughts. These will automatically stop at the end of the 40 days, which coincides with the time the budget has to be passed (around May 7). When you visit her website after clicking on the MO map, you can listen to the great message she gave on Monday. You can also listen to a brief radio interview with her at www.haroldhendrick.com.

*Would you urge your prayer website/network/prayer list to go to Anne’s website and be a part of a great swell of prayer for MO at a time of great crisis, whether living in MO or elsewhere? MO has to have a balanced budget and to do that this year means cutting thousands of dollars which will hurt many in our state.

We are in step with our Founding Fathers who realized that prayer was the backbone that provided The Declaration of Independence and The United States Constitution written for our country.

Four of the seven sayings etched in stone in the MO State Capitol Rotunda are from Scripture, an evidence of our own Missouri’s Christian Heritage!

Harold & Joan Hendrick

Hendrick Ministries

Phone: 314 355-1052

Cell: 314 974-7212

www.haroldhendrick.com


Read more…

A Team Effort

Posted by Jennifer Weed on April 2, 2010 at 12:21
Kevin's comment to my last post touched on a point that I meant to include. This has to be a team effort of all the intercessors who are called to support the pastor in prayer. It cannot and should not be just about the team leader (I actually prefer the term point person) praying for the pastor. Our team is an invaluable asset to me, as well. I know that the requests I present to them on Kevin's behalf are faithfully lifted before the Lord on a regular basis.

Because we are a team connected primarily through email, it was sometimes easy to feel like I was the only one praying for the requests, after all, the lie of isolation is one of the key lies the enemy uses to discourage intercessors. Kevin is the one who suggested that they start hitting the "reply" button to the emails once they had received and prayed through the requests, and that has been such an encouragement to me - to know that my fellow prayer warriors are standing in the gap with me for Kevin and his family and ministries.

God has really knit my heart to this team. I am hoping to work out a way for us to meet in person to pray for this ministry on a regular basis - hopefully once a month or every other month. I love knowing we're praying in our prayer closets "together", but it would be such a joy to be able to pray together face to face, for God's glory.
Read more…

More on Pastoral Prayer Support Teams

Posted by Jennifer Weed on April 1, 2010 at 23:45
One of the things I shared in my last post was about how the success of the prayer support team depended on a relationship between the pastor and the point person, or leader, of the prayer team. I feel the need to elaborate on that a bit. I'm going to share my personal experience, not because it's necessarily the right or best way, but because it's the way God showed me, and I hope something in it helps or encourages you if you are an intercessor trying to start a prayer support team, or if you are a pastor wanting this for your ministry.

First, the relationship does not nor cannot happen spontaneously, nor does the leader have to already be friends with the pastor. Like any relationship, it takes time to build. When I took on the role of team leader for our worship pastor, we were acquaintances at best. When we first started, getting prayer requests from him was rather difficult. I had to try and catch him before or after worship rehearsal, or try to get him to email me his requests (that didn't work at all). The time was always rushed and in the middle of everyone either getting ready for, or leaving from rehearsal, which made it hectic. The requests were mostly about the ministry, and it just felt...awkward. (Kevin, if you read this, sorry about that.)

However, I knew that this was something God had called me to do, and I prayed and sought ways to make this a better experience for both of us. Over the course of time, God led us to the method that works for both of us, but more importantly, God has knit our hearts together in friendship. It has made it easier for both of us, because I can ask him things that help prompt him to think of the things he needs prayer for, and it helps him to know he can trust me with the ministry AND family/personal requests, whether it's how to word a request the "right way" or whether it's to keep a specific request unspoken for a time.

Even though the prayer support works best in the context of a relationship, it is crucial that that relationship is clearly defined and boundaries are put in place. The relationship is not just a friendship, because the boundaries of a friendship can too easily get blurry. It is that of a brother and sister in Christ, if we are talking about the male pastor and female prayer team leader, which is my frame of reference. A vital component is accountability. My husband is aware of every time I meet with the worship pastor, and is fully supportive of my ministry for him and his family and ministries, and I do my best to stay lined up under my husband's righteous authority. Even though Kevin and I meet in his office now, the door is always open. I have a couple of prayer partners that I stay accountable to in regard to my thought life, my walk with God, and how my husband and I are doing. I cannot speak specifically to how Kevin stays accountable, but I do know that our pastoral staff is all about accountability, and so there is a system in place for that.

The relationship cannot be an exclusive one, even though it is a unique relationship. It has to include bothspouses. My goal from the beginning was to build a relationship with Kevin and his family, and for our team's intercession to minister to the entire family. Like I said in my last post, if at any point it becomes a burden to the pastor or his wife/family, then something is not working. It's a bit of a challenge simply because our 2 families don't move in the same circles because their youngest child is several years older than our oldest child. So meeting outside of church activities is important, I think. We have their family in our home for dinner from time to time to continue building on that relationship between our families.

I hope that helps any of you reading this. Being a part of this prayer team for our worship pastor is one of my favorite ministries that God has let me be a part of. It is such an honor to stand in the gap for him and his family, and it has been a delight to see the hand of God move on their behalf in relation to the prayers He prompts us to pray.
Read more…

Easter prayer time

Posted by Lowell Snow on April 1, 2010 at 14:27
Here's an Easter prayer time to be used with a group or congregation.Feel free to copy it into your word processor and edit it however you want. If you have led this type of prayer time before, use your own words and just follow the outline.If you pass it on; I'd appreciate it if you'd include my name and web site address:Lowell Snow at www.leadingprayer.comGuiding the prayer time:Practice reading it out loud several times.If you’re leading a worship service; you might ask for instrumental music to be played very softly in the background. This background music should not have a recognizable melody. Some musicians can play beautiful chord progressions that work well. Others will find it easier to play the chords of an unfamiliar hymn or song. The prayer time should come at the heart of worship with at least one song before it and one after. Try to eliminate ‘dead time’ before and after the prayer time. Click here for more help or see Appendix 2 in the back of the Prayer Guide book.•As you lead the prayer time - [Don’t read the instructions in brackets]•As you read the scriptural meditation - emphasize the words in bold.•As printed, the prayer time takes about 7 minutes.I hope this prayer time is a blessing to your group or congregation. There are others in the help pages of my web site and I write them for special occasions in my newsletter.In Christ,Lowell SnowEaster Prayer Time[Introduction]“Please bow your heads and close your eyes. For the next few minutes let’s give our attention to the Lord Jesus Christ who’s death and resurrection changed our lives and gives us hope every moment of every day.“In a minute, we’ll all pray silently, but first, listen to this First Peter 1:3.[Meditation:]Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, [1 Peter 1:3 NIV]Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,…He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,[Visualization]“With your eyes closed, imagine the garden where Jesus was buried. It’s beautiful even in the dim light of early morning. The Roman soldiers guarding the tomb are agitated because they've been told that this is the day the followers of Jesus are likely to attempt to steal his dead body - and what better time to attack than just before dawn. Swords are drawn – spears at the ready.“The air grows stagnate. The ground trembles. Lightning flashes, but instead of thunder; the earth groans and heaves. The trees shudder and bow. The whole garden is lifted and dropped again and again. Great stones split and explode with a deafening roar.“The soldiers are thrown to the ground, but as they scramble for their weapons; the earth falls silent. All that’s left of this horror is the silent lightning. When they jump to their feet, they are facing a warrior like none they've ever imagined.“He's surrounded by light so dazzling it defies words. Perhaps not light at all but the essence of glory. He’s easily the mass of three soldiers and hovers several feet off the ground. A gleaming sword is in one hand and a golden shield in the other.“There is no battle. The soldiers faint in terror. The angel sheathes his sword and moves to the tomb. He settles to the ground by the great stone that covers the entrance to the tomb. He falls to his knees and brushes it aside. He waits - head bowed - arms outstretched.[wait 2 seconds]“From within the tomb a nail pierced hand extends and touches the angle’s outstretched arm.[wait 3 seconds]“Hope. What greater picture of hope than that nail pierced hand extended from the very shadows of death?[Suggestion]“With your head still bowed and eyes closed, imagine that you approach the tomb just as Jesus Christ steps out. You fall on your knees and join the angel in worship of the savior. What will you say?[wait 2 seconds]“It was your sinfulness that put Him in the tomb – so I suggest that you humbly confess your sins. No excuses. Be humble before Him now.[wait 10 seconds]“Imagine that those sins are a bundle of guilt in your hands. Jesus reaches down, takes that horrible mess in His nail scarred hands and throws it into the darkness of the empty tomb.[wait 3 seconds]“Then He takes your hands in His and the stains of sin are instantly gone. He lifts you up and you stand before Him.[wait 2 seconds]“Thank Him silently now for this forgiveness.[wait 3 seconds]“Thank Him for dying on the cross for you.[wait 3 seconds]“Thank Him for enduring the tomb for you.[wait 3 seconds]“Thank Him for the hope of eternal life.[wait 3 seconds]“Thank Him that you no longer have to fear the shadow of death.[wait 3 seconds]“Now imagine that you and Jesus begin to walk away from the tomb. Jesus asks you about your friends and family that have not yet experienced His forgiveness.[wait 2 seconds]“Pray silently now for several people you know that don’t have the joy of the Lord in their lives. Ask Jesus to help you share that joy with them.[wait 10 seconds]“Now pray for the person to your left and right - whether you know them or not. Pray that God will bless them today.[wait 4 seconds][Benediction]Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. [Heb 13:20-21 NKJV]
Read more…