Pray Network Forum

Observations on Three Mega-Firings

For me, this past year has been the best of times and the worst of times.

The best? I’m a Great Commission-meets-Great Commandment guy who is radically blessed by a collaboration of nearly one thousand congregations and ministry groups banding together in my home city to invite friends, colleagues, and neighbors to explore God. Seven big questions of faith. Seven sermon presentations. Seven small group conversations. A score of ministry partners from Alpha to Awana to Chicago Bible Society to Billy Graham Center to Fellowship of Christian Athletes to Kindness Outreach to Navigators to Pray.Network … Unprecedented cooperation across urban neighborhoods and suburban communities. A John 17 collaboration many of us have prayed for and worked toward fervently for the past 25+ years.

No one could be more excited than me. Except the Evil One. God’s Public Enemy #1 who was well aware of an authentic and diverse expression of the Church across Chicagoland resulting in widespread promotion of the Explore God campaign and the telling of real life stories of Christ-followers: young and old, rich and poor, city and suburb, minority and majority cultures, The Enemy knew he needed a strategy to deflect or discredit the Gospel witness of the everywhere, everyday people of God. His goal: the worst of times.

And, sadly, we, gave a grand assist to his endeavors.

Three high profile firings. Three men of God. Three well known and respected Christian organizations. Three front page stories.

Three men of God? I personally know these individuals and believe each one is a true believer, daily working so that many others become fully devoted followers of Christ; discipled upon the pillars of orthodox Christian faith; practicing justice - loving mercy - walking humbly with our God.

Three well known and respected Christian organizations? These two congregations and this ministry organization have had significant impact in their local communities as well as across the nation and beyond. Thousands of lives transformed by the Gospel message. Leaders trained and equipped. Many under-resourced and voiceless cared for and empowered. Trend setters yet anchored to biblical truth.

Three front page stories? Truly stunning news. Private (and disgusting) conversations played on a major Chicago radio show. News of one firing breaks at their national conference. A torrent of blog postings began a debate that ended in a firing and eventually widespread resignations. A Shakespearean-worthy tragedy played out on the air waves, in print and online, and in large auditoriums. Just how the Enemy hoped it would be. The worst of times.

“God forbid!” is everyone’s initial response (as it should be). We scurry to search for credible information, hoping the worst accusations are untrue or at least mischaracterized. Eventually, we are all devastated by the revelation of a painful truth.

But, is knowing what happened, events and details, our only responsibility? Certainly not. As Christ-centered believers, we are called to a deeper and wider responsibility. Each story is, yes, about one individual. But what about those who have been harmed? And, while we are grateful for their service, what must we learn about why each leadership team was slow to call their leader to accountability? What is a ministry’s responsibility to the Church in their community? And, what must we learn about the mind-set that permeates members in mega-sized, charismatic-leader-led, ministries?

While the media focuses on exposing the sordid weakness of a Christian leader, the Church (both members and leaders) must focus on the sin these stories exposed. But not merely the sin of the leader. The sin of the Body of Christ as we enable, ignore, permit, then when unable to do otherwise, we simply expel, the mega-gifted spiritual celebrity.

Is it possible mega-churchianity has become a religious version of corporate culture values, so that, when disaster strikes, leadership resorts to damage control and too quickly moves to re-inspiring the membership toward a bright future?

Oh for a Nehemiah! “When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. Then I said…” (1:4-5). Oh for men and women of God who’s first reaction is to stop business as usual (days, weeks, even months!). Shed tears. Become filled with sorrow. Refuse to eat. Then, when finally approaching the Living God in prayer, declares: “We have sinned in our actions against You. We have not kept (your) Laws” (1:7). A leader who had not sinned, praying as if he was complicit in the sins of others. No excuses. Just bold, naked truth. A prayer of desperation. Prayed from a heart of humility.

Pondering these mega-firings (and how they have been handled), I have been hounded by questions appropriate regardless of a ministry’s city, size, scope, or the stature of the fallen leader.

• When we each first heard the sad news, was prayer our first response?
• Was our first prayer to protect status quo, personal convenience, or to ask God for a full revelation of truth and his will?
• Have we begun to pray for the fallen leaders’ spouses? Their children?
• Do we know how to biblically pray for fallen leaders? Conviction? Contrition? Confession? (Luke 15:17: the prodigal son returned when he saw himself as he really was)
• Do we know how pray for leadership that failed to discern the problem or respond to concerns presented to them along the way?
• How will we insure we discern and choose new leaders by the leading of the Holy Spirit? Leaders who hold authority humbly rather wield it as power to control… Who submit their talent and skills to be used as serving gifts of the Spirit.
• What needs to change if our congregation/ministry has embodied corporate values or responds to problems with damage control?
• Did anyone call for a lament-and-repent response? A full-stop to lament (Nehemiah’s “we have sinned”) and then repent (what must we do to turn in a new direction?

Too much is at stake for us to merely move on from these mega-firings. I am praying for the Lord to raise up men and women who will lead us to pray first, pray always . . .

^“Give ear, our God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. 

 We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. Lord, listen!

 Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For your sake, my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.”   Daniel 9:18-19

Phil Miglioratti

Pray.Network  •  Discipleship.Network

@PhilNPPN  •  #Reimagine

 Early in my life, I felt my prayers were too general for my family, I asked God to give me wisdom and insight on how I could pray more intentionally. I discovered praying God’s Word was a great resource to help me to pray not only for my grandchildren and their parents but also for myself. 

When I pray according to God’s Word, I am in line with His will, enabling me to pray with confidence, direction, power, and wisdom according to Hebrews 4:12, “The Word of God is full of living power.” I have found it helpful to spend time in God’s Word to know his promises and commands because my mind is renewed to think His thoughts. His Word helps me to see the needs for which I am praying from His perspective.

As I started claiming God’s promises and personalizing the scriptures, I experienced more boldness and confidence in my praying. I believe that nothing threatens the enemy (Satan) more than when we are intentionally praying God’s Word.

Our finite minds just cannot grasp God’s infinite ways of answering our prayers since He doesn’t answer our prayers according to our agenda. We have no idea how many times He is waiting for the proper time to answer our prayers because He needs to work in our hearts, or the other person before He can answer our prayers. When we get discouraged and impatient, we have to remind ourselves that God’s agenda is always perfect, since He knows what is best for us.

Results - Promises

The seeds of prayer we sow today will yield a harvest of blessing in the future. As we seek the Lord ourselves and invest in our own walk with the Lord, we are investing spiritually in our families, and future generations, by laying a foundation of treasures in heaven for them. 

God has placed our children and grandchildren in our lives so we can pray they to have an authentic faith in Jesus Christ and live wholeheartedly for him. He has given my husband and me the excellent opportunity to partner with Him on behalf of our 3 sons, 3 daughters-in-law, 12 specific grandchildren, and 4 great-granddaughters. He has given you the opportunity to invest in your family members with an intentional prayer on your journey.

Our children and grandchildren are our mission field and our responsibility so they will not be helpless before their spiritual enemy.  A family’s faith can be lost in one generation Scripture tells us; however, we as parents and grandparents have the opportunity to powerfully touch the lives of another generation for Jesus Christ.

My prayer is that you will experience God’s most abundant blessings as you grandparent with a purpose, as you invest in the spiritual lives of your children, grandchildren, and future generations.  

The most precious gift we can give our families is to show them how they can have a personal relationship and live wholeheartedly for Him.

“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children and grandchildren

are walking with the Lord”    3 John verse 4

PS: It is crucial for us to pray specifically and individually for our families. Next week I will share suggestions of how to pray for them in the various stages of life—infants, toddlers, elementary-age, teenagers, young adults, and married grandchildren.

By Lillian Penner, Co-prayer Director for Christian Grandparenting Network, pennerlp@gmail.com

Last week I wrote about Jesus praying when His soul was troubled. In John 12:27 Jesus said something crucial about life in Him. His words were, “For this purpose.” Few things are as crucial in coping with life as getting a firm grip on the purpose of God. All hope must be bound together with purpose. The higher your purpose the more substantial your hope.

I recently heard a sermon on something Jacob in the Old Testament said. The Holman Christian Standard Bible and several other versions translate Jacob’s words in Genesis 42:36 as, “Everything happens to me!” Have you ever heard anyone say something like that? Have you ever felt that way?

The sermon I heard referred to Job who actually faced greater trials than Jacob. The book of Job demonstrates that God is it work even in terrible circumstances. The worst thing Jacob faced was the death of Joseph, his favorite son. I do not wish to minimize the heartache he endured. But Joseph had not really died. His brothers sold him into slavery. And his life was certainly harder than Jacob's, even though Jacob grieved for his son. In the end Joseph understood something that might have helped Jacob in his ordeal. And in fact, several things Jacob did say and do indicate that he understood what Joseph would so eloquently express. In Genesis 50:20 Joseph spoke to his brothers.

“You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

The first thing we need to grasp about purpose is that it comes from God. God sees from a much broader perspective. Everything that happened to Joseph, and all that happened to Jacob, saved the lives of everyone in their family, not to mention millions of people in that part of the world.

The first principle here is that God always has a purpose. And the parallel truth is that the purposes of God do not revolve around you, your selfish interests or narrow perspective.

In Experiencing God Henry Blackaby talks about seeking the “will of God for you.” He points out that you are not the focus of God's will. God is working on a cosmic level. We don't need God to fulfil our will. We need to join God in His higher purposes.

You and I need to focus on the will of God to have perspective on the trials we face. If your purpose is your own comfort and ease, life is never going to seem right or fair. You will not see your difficulties and trials in the perspective of God's purpose.

If the purpose of a runner in marathon is to run the race without any pain, he will be overwhelmed, and will not finish the race. When Moses wrote Deuteronomy the Children of Israel had just spent 40 years in the wilderness. They were preparing to enter the Promised Land. And Moses told the people something important about the trials that God had brought them through. Deuteronomy 8:2 read's,

“And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commands.”

I believe this is a principle. Whatever you're going through, God will use it in your life. And the difficulties you face will be an opportunity to prove your faithfulness to Him. But there is another principal in Deuteronomy 8:2. And that is that God who led the children of Israel will also lead you. You can learn to discern God's leadership in your life. And life will begin to make more sense.

Difficulties become more bearable when you see them in the larger perspective of the purposes of God. If you are living for petty purposes, your life will not be satisfying. But if you see your life as part of the grand scheme of the eternal God, you will even see your difficulties and trials as meaningful. Even when you do not understand what God is doing, you know he is at work in history and eternity.

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I watched a message from David Jeremiah today on the question of "Why Doesn't God Answer My Prayers?"  He covered all the typical answers - cherished sin, praying with wrong motives, praying outside God's will, lack of faith, etc.  Nothing he said was scripturally wrong, but I confess that I have difficulty with the hidden premise behind this approach to prayer.

The premise seems to be that prayer is a means to get what we want from God.  And if we remove all the obstacles, God will answer.  One of those obstacles, of course, is praying outside God's will, so it's necessary to pray in line with his will in order to get our prayers answered.

When I look at the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples, I do in fact see support for praying for our needs (give us this day our daily bread).  But I see the crux of this prayer being God's honor, his kingdom, and his will.  This leads me to believe that prayer is not so much about getting what we want from God as it is about asking God to act in ways that accomplish what He wants.  Part of that has to do with our own needs, of course, but even then there is more focus on our spiritual needs (guidance/wisdom and forgiveness) than there is on our physical needs.

Scripture gives us a number of ways to pray that we can know for certain line up with God's will.  For example, we're specifically told to pray for:

• The expansion of God's kingdom on earth (Matthew 6:10)
• God to raise up laborers for the harvest field (Matthew 9:38)
• Our persecuted brothers and sisters (Hebrews 13:3)
• Our leaders and those in authority over us (1 Timothy 2:1)
• Fruitfulness for the kingdom (John 15:7, in context)
• Wisdom, especially in times of trial (James 1:5)
• Missionaries (Colossians 4:2-4, extrapolating from the example of praying for Paul)

Additionally, all of the commands in Scripture regarding our spiritual growth serve as prayer topics, since "It is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose" (Philippians 2:13).  Indeed, in the context of John 15:7 above, Jesus speaks at length about remaining in him - and one major way we do this is through prayer.

I have prayed for many specific things in my life - things like jobs, decisions on relocation, healing for family members, etc.  And I'll continue to do that.  Sometimes God answers my prayers with a "yes"; sometimes with a "no", and sometimes He puts me in a bit of a holding pattern until He brings about the right circumstances (either external or within me) for my prayer to be answered.  All of this is good and is a significant part of our walk with God.

But I'm also trying to focus more and more not on prayers for what I want but on prayers for what I know (from Scripture) that God wants.  Things like I've listed above, and others that don't come to mind just now.  I'm working through Scripture to discover "Prayers that God loves to answer."  I hope you'll join me on this journey and that God will use it to grow us together in prayer.

We #Pray to #God for #Revival.
Then #Expect Him to
#Plow, #Plant, and #Water too.
But isn't that OUR #Job? 

Why should we pray for our families?

Cultural pressures are increasing on our grandchildren and their parents. However, grandparents can help the next generation navigate these cultural issues. Just as Esther stood in the gap for her people, the Jews, when they were threatened, physically, we can stand in the gap with prayer for our families as the enemy threatens their spiritual lives.  

Our culture is whittling away at our godly heritage, as they have removed prayer from the school, Christians are being scorned, and mentioning Jesus is unacceptable. The world calls wrong right and right wrong, live for self in an entitlement society where no one wins and authority is challenged, not respected. We are living in a time where the enemy is going around roaring like a lion seeking those he can distract from trusting Jesus.  However, the battle is not ours, it is the Lords. 

So what do we do when we live in a culture of spiritual, social, and moral decay? Are we completely without hope and at the mercy of the merciless and the politically correct?   No, We are not without hope. We read in Psalms 46:1, “We have a God who is our refuge and strength, our stronghold in times of trouble”. 

God has given us a powerful resource in the avenue of prayer to bring power and blessing to their lives, it is a gift from God, it’s not a production; it is a personal intimate conversation with God, the creator of the universe, Prayer is the most important thing we can do for ourselves and our loved ones. We read in Jeremiah 33:3, where God told Jeremiah “Call to me and I will show you great and mighty things…”  

We read in John 10:10, where Jesus said, “The thief comes only to kill and destroy; I am come that they may have life, and have it to the full”. In today’s broken world, we see the family unit very fragile, I believe we have an enemy who is desperately trying to distract and destroy the family. It’s important that we cover our families with prayer that they will recognize the distractions from the enemy and not allow him to destroy our families.  

The parents of our grandchildren have a great responsibility for parenting our grandchildren in these insecure, unstable times. It is important that we as grandparents pray God will give them wisdom and time management in their monumental task of guiding our grandchildren in the ways of the Lord. Their lives are busy with their employment, and distractions in their marriages, parenting issues and spiritual lives in an evil environment filled with many moral and spiritual battles. 

Our grandchildren are greatly influenced by movies, music, TV, video games, and the Internet. Today’s media desensitizes our grandchildren. They are faced with legal recreational marijuana, drugs, sex trafficking, alcohol, sexual identity, homosexuality, pornography, pre-marital sex and more.  Our prayers should be that they recognize the evil in the world and ask God to place a hedge of protection around them physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Occasionally, ask the parents, “What are some of the issues you are dealing with right now and how can we pray for you?”  To pray effectively, we as parents and grandparents need to know the frustrations, fears, concerns, and expectations of the children.

Next week I will post Families need our Prayers #2  “How I learned to pray for my grandchildren”

By Lillian Penner, Co-prayer director for Christian Grandparenting Network

How do you pray when your soul is troubled? In John 12:27,28 Jesus said His soul was troubled.

First, it is important to see that having a troubled soul is not necessarily sin. Jesus' soul was troubled. In fact, having a troubled soul may indicate spiritual sensitivity. It certainly did in the life of Jesus. His disciples couldn't see anything to be troubled about on that day. But look at these verses and see how Jesus dealt with a troubled soul.

“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name’. Then a voice came from heaven: ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again’.”

In this case Jesus did not pray for God to deliver Him from the hour of trouble. Instead He prayed for a higher purpose. We are always tempted to make comfort the primary purpose of our lives. Jesus shows us something much more important in these verses. He prayed for God to be glorified through what disturbed Him.

And after He prayed, a voice came from heaven. “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again!” This was so thundurus that the people standing around said, “An angel has spoken to him.” But Jesus told them that this voice did not come for Him but for them. When we see clearly enough to pray for God's glory, He will often give us great assurance. And it is important in that hour to recognize that God is speaking to us.

http://theanchorofthesoul.blogspot.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

Do you have to use profanity in your writing?

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Father, focus Your beautiful bride on the Son. May we recognize the season we are in and make ourselves ready to ride this massive wave of awakening. The church must look, sound and act differently. It must look like Jesus, sound like Jesus and act like Jesus. We must put aside doctrinal arguments and historical traditions and get back to the basics of the Word. We must work together and waste no time. Give Christians, pastors and leaders fresh strategies to lead their congregations in evangelism and the discipleship of so many new believers. We call forth the new generation of voices from every stream, race and generation. We call forth the passionate lovers of Christ who can express His heart of love well. May we devote ourselves to prayer, the study of the Word and the reaping of an unprecedented harvest of souls in America. In Jesus' name, amen.

https://www.charismamag.com/spirit/revival/39992-dutch-sheets-a-great-shift-is-upon-us-that-will-continue-through-2019?utm_source=Consumer%20Promotions&utm_medium=email&utm_content=subscriber_id:4785286&utm_campaign=Charisma%20Magazine%20-%20Weekly%20Recap%2002/08/19%20-%20Consumer

Difficulties are not for God to fix WHAT YOU WANT.
Remember, He has you WHERE HE WANTS.

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October 31, 2017 was 500 years after Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the Castle Church door in Wittenberg. Barbara and I were in Berlin for a meeting of several hundred global leaders there to mark that date. It was my privilege to lead morning prayer sessions at that gathering. We then made our way to Wittenberg and to Castle Church for the 500th year celebration. The church was packed and the moment was unforgettable.

From Wittenberg, Barbara and I drove to Herrnhut, Germany. The little settlement became famous for the 100-year Moravian prayer revival out of which came 300, mostly unnamed and unremembered missionaries, before the likes of David Livingston, William Carey, Hudson Taylor and others. On the edge of the estate of Count Zinzendorf, this Christian community, at first divided, then ordered and bathed in prayer, flourished. For almost a full day, we explored the little town. We sat for some time, silently, and alone, in the historic sanctuary. We toured the handful of exhibits in the two small museums. We visited the fledgling house of prayer in the small city.

Early that morning, staying at a small bed-and-breakfast farmhouse just outside the city, I was awakened very early, before dawn. I made my way downstairs. The farm house was not yet stirring. I sat in the kitchen and began to scribble on a pad what I sensed to be a download directly from the Holy Spirit. I perceived clearly, that we, as a church, were about to be thrust into a new era that would be as significant as the Reformation.

My notes that morning include: Is the church merely a social institution? Is it primarily a charitable and benevolent organization? Is it a house of religious entertainment and inspiration? Is its purpose moral education? What is the church?

Overwhelmingly, the stats show, most people believe the church to be an institution designed to serve them in some way. Church is a collage of Christian services offered to attendees for a donation. The view is crippling, narcissistic, pragmatic, and far from the Biblical norm. It is time for a new reformation.

Read more in Doug’s upcoming book, The New Apostolic Epoch: God’s Determination to Have a Praying and Missional People. Apostolic epochs involve a breaking away, a new definition and a reorientation. They refocus kingdom purposes. The apostolic epoch that we are now entering is the fulfillment of the desire of Jesus, that his church be a house of prayer for all nations. This is the not the mere amplification of prayer as it is often perceived. It is not the addition of a missing prayer component, or prayer even as a bountiful additive, a power pack, to what we are currently doing. It is not the mere deepening or heightening of the value of prayer; it is a seismic apostolic shift. Through this assertive sovereign governance of God, He will intervene into history for missional purposes. It is my sincere belief that we are on the edge of such a moment again.

Order the book at: https://alivepublications.org/shop/the-new-apostolic-epoch/

Do you use profanity in your writing? Frankly, I have been alarmed lately at the amount of profanity I have found in books and motion pictures. I won't argue with you, at least at this point, if you tell me that I should not be reading those books or watching those movies. For now I just want to deal with the phenomenon. First, while all of these words represent bitterness and rebellion, there are actually at least four separate categories of profanity.

First, there is language that is just nasty. This includes bathroom talk and other course words. These begin with course humor, but tend to normalize the coarsest thinking.

The intent behind these words often leads to sexual language. Such words are usually titillating. But they include the most violent of curse words that degrade sexual relations and abuse women.

I would also include racial slurs as profane. Profanity abuses that which is sacred. A person's race is God-given. Also, racial slurs usually lie outrageously. I don't believe Hitler invented racial jokes, but demeaning whole people groups was certainly pushed forward by the Nazis. This is one area of profanity that is usually avoided by writers.

Finally, there is blasphemous language. This includes language that treats hell or other truths lightly. And it extends to taking the name of God in vain.

Note that I did not include a fifth category of words of hate, violence, and abuse. I am aware that you may be able to think of hateful words that don't fit into these four categories. But words from all four of these categories can be used to abuse.

If you ask fiction writers why their characters use filthy language, they will tell you that they are trying to accurately reflect life. I do not know if I am extremely sheltered or not. But to be honest, I never hear people talk as bad as I read in books or have seen on television or in movies. Nevertheless, I think there is some truth to this. We have descended to the place in our society where even our highest political officials regularly use foul language and attack other people mercilessly. The corruption of our society is a great part of my concern. Jesus said that the mouth speaks out of the overflow of the heart. Ungodly speech reflects wicked hearts. And when we use bad language in our writing, we also make our society more blasphemous and violent.

This is a more complex problem then I have shown it to be so far. While I would like to influence writers to guard our language, I would like this to be more than a rant against society. I would like to make this a matter of prayer. After all, I am primarily writing to Christian writers in this blog.

In the 6th chapter of Isaiah the prophet says, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Isaiah was convicted of their unclean hearts and lips because he had experienced the presence of God. And I believe the solution to the problem is to expose people by our writing to the reality and presence of the living God.

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Isn't it exciting to have your precious grandchild come running into your arms with hugs and kisses? Your six-year-old granddaughter calling to tell you she lost her first tooth and the tooth fairy is coming to her house, or your seven-year-old grandson thrilled to tell you how many goals he made in his soccer game. I spent a day with my two youngest granddaughters came over to visit, and we enjoyed making cookies together. Just as you enjoy your relationships with your grandchildren, God enjoys your relationship with Him. 

This month as we celebrate Valentine's we are reminded of our relationships, a time when friends express love to each other. However, it can also be an excellent reminder for us to show our love and appreciation to our heavenly Father for the privilege of having a personal relationship with Him, the creator of the universe.

Prayer is about a relationship, our relationship with God, and those for whom we pray. God gave us the gift of prayer so we could communicate with Him because He loves us and desires our communication. God does not want us to make our prayers a great production; He wants to have a personal, intimate conversation with us speaking from our hearts, sharing our fears and struggles. 

Paul Miller writes in his book, The Praying Life, "American culture is probably the hardest place in the world to learn to pray, we are so busy that when we slow down to pray, we find it uncomfortable. We prize accomplishments, production. However, prayer is nothing but talking to God. It feels useless as if we are wasting time." ₁ Our heavenly Father rejoices when we take the time in our busy, hurried life to communicate with Him in prayer, expressing our love to Him, since relationships thrive on communication. 

The enemy, Satan distracts us with our busy lives hindering our walk with God by diverting our thoughts, making our prayers shallow, hurried, or rote. We face a great deal of stress, difficulty, and disappointments in life for which we need to be deliberate in setting a regular time to pray for our loved ones and ourselves, not just when we have a crisis. 

Our lives will be less stressful if we bring our needy hearts to God asking Him to work out His agenda in our lives and in the lives of our loved ones, instead of giving Him our plan. As we see our prayers answered, we will grow into a more intimate relationship with God and experience more boldness in our praying.  

♥    Do you sometimes feel like you are too busy to pray? 

♥    Are your prayers hurried or repetitious? 

♥    When you pray, do you find it hard to connect with God in our distracting world?

Send your heavenly Father a Valentine telling him of your love for him by your obedience to him.

Prayer

Dear Father, I want an open, intimate relationship with You so I feel comfortable bringing my needy heart to You. I choose to make a daily appointment with You to pray intentionally for the hearts of my children, grandchildren, and myself. I am going to trust you that the seeds of prayer I sow today will bring forth a harvest of blessings in the days ahead. In Jesus Name.

By Lillian Penner, Co-Prayer Director for Christian Grandparenting Network. pennerlp@gmail.com

Paul E. Miller, A Praying Life, (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress 2009), 15 www.navpress.com

The Prayer of the Meek by S. I. McMillan MD. (1963)

Lord, keep me from becoming talkative and possessed with the idea that I must express myself on every subject.

Release Me From the craving to straighten out everyone's affairs.

Teach me the Glorious lesson that occasionally I may be wrong.

Make me helpful but not bossy.

With my vast store of wisdom and experience, it does seem a Pity not to use it all--,

But thou knowest, Lord, that I want a few friends at the End. Amen.

Do you know why we DO NOT seek His will?

Because we DO NOT trust Him to give us our will

(MarkMirza.com)

Determining core values needs to be a Spirit-led process. Although we borrow strategies and exercises from the secular world or businesses, we must never forget that we are part of the Kingdom of God. As such, God is leading, not us. We need to listen with an open heart and a spirit of sensitivity.

One way I like to lead teams in prayer is what I call “Asking God questions.” It tilts our hearts toward a posture of listening, and the practice is rooted in the Quaker tradition. This is a 45-minute period of waiting on God. Here are the rules of the process:

1. No statements, and no preambles. Questions only.
2. The first question asked is, “God, what would we be asking you?”
3. Then silence as people reflect and then pray out loud their questions.
4. Sometimes there will be long periods of silence in between questions. That’s okay.
5. Someone quietly writes down all of the questions as they are prayed aloud.

Examples of questions that might be prayed are, “God, what values do you have for us?” “How do you want our community to see us?” “What are ways we can serve?”

I find that this exercise works well not just for values identification, but for many other leadership issues where the team needs to hear from the Holy Spirit as well. And although the practice is originally from the Quaker tradition, it’s quite compatible with many different Christian traditions.

After the time is finished, the leader closes the prayer. Then he or she asks the group, “What words or pictures did you get as we prayed that may have been from God?” This allows people to process the experience and share what they were hearing.

Look for our next blog entry on the process of identifying core behaviors.

Photo by Samuel Martins on Unsplash

The post Listening prayer: Asking God questions appeared first on Logan Leadership.

There are some Bible stories that are so powerful, they have the ability to change your entire perception of who God is and how He feels about you. For me, one such story is found in Luke 24.

In the midst of great grief, turmoil, and confusion, two disciples encountered the Wonderful Counselor and were forever changed. In places of pain and confusion myself, I reread this story and see such beauty in it. Take a walk with me along the Emmaus Road to see how brokenness is turned to beauty. 

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Where is the seed of hope planted? In what warm moist soil does it germinate? All lasting hope must come from God. And He plants hope it in our hearts. But when does He plant it in the soil of our lives? A number of scripture passages deal with this question. One of my favorites is Romans 5. It begins with these words.

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Has there been a specific time in your life when you repented of your sins and your false righteousness, and turned to Jesus Christ? If there has not been, it does not matter how good or nice you are, it does not matter how religious you are, you have no ultimate hope. But if you have turned to God by faith in Jesus Christ who died to remove the barrier between you and God, hope has been planted deep within you. Verse 2 of Romans 5 continues the thought.

“Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

One of the evidences of being a new creation in Christ is rejoicing in His glory.

Our church has  just begun going through The New City Catechism. And the introduction reminded me of the first question in the Westminster Catechism. “What is the chief end of man?” And the answer is “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”

As we grow in Christ we come to rejoice in God's glory rather than our own. Speaking of His own ministry in John 7:18 Jesus said,

“The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.”

One of the signs that there is something wrong in your spiritual life is that you resent God getting all the glory. As God cleanses us of that selfish attitude, we come to realize that He shares His glory with us. It is also our Glory that He loves us and we belong to Him.

Much of what glorifies God through us is His transformation of our character. The next verses in Romans 5 read,

“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.”

When we suffer physically, emotionally, or spiritually, God is producing patient endurance in our lives.

James chapter 1 gives us a parallel passage to Romans 5. James tells us that the trying of our faith produces steadfastness. The trial of our faith can be spiritual, emotional, or physical. And the word translated “steadfastness” in James 1 is the same word that is translated “endurance” in Romans 5. The King James version translates the word patience in both places.

There is a humorous story about a woman coming up to D.L. Moody after one of his meetings asking him to pray for her to have patience. Moody agreed. He knelt and begin to pray out loud, “Lord give this woman tribulation.”

She shook him on the shoulder and stopped him and said, “No, no, I said I needed patience not tribulation.” And the great preacher turn to James chapter 1 and showed her where patience comes from in our lives.

However, I fear this woman, and most modern westerners, apply this truth in a very unbiblical way. The goal of our lives seems to be to avoid any pain, any trial, any problem. I have heard quite a number of people say, “Don't ever pray for patience, because it comes from suffering.” But that is exactly the opposite of what James and Paul are telling us. James begins that passage by saying,

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.”

Is your primary goal in life to avoid pain? The Bible says we can rejoice in suffering because we know God is doing something special in our lives through difficulties.

Notice how Paul concludes this passage in Romans 5.

“Hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

Sorrow of any kind will be bathed in the love of Jesus Christ for us. And Christ's love spills over onto others that we minister to. Of course our hope will not be disappointed in Heaven when we hear our Lord say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” But even now we will rejoice in the change of character God produces in us to minister to people He calls us to love in His name.

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When your Pastor stands to proclaim God’s Word is there the appearance of being “prayed up?” You may or may not be able to discern this, but don’t assume that this is the case. Vance Havner borrowed an anonymous quote to describe the possibility that a pastor may not be up to date in his prayer life. "The devil is in constant conspiracy against a preacher who really prays, for it has been said that what a minister is in his prayer closet is what he is, no more, no less." Granted, it is difficult for a pastor to cover all the ministerial bases each week and may not even know how to pray effectively. After all, the subject of prayer is taught in very few Bible Colleges and Seminaries. Leonard Ravenhill said, “To stand before men on behalf of God is one thing. To stand before God on behalf of men is something entirely different.” An experience early in my ministry shaped my practice of always knelling before God, before standing before people on behalf of God. A pastor should never speak to people about God until speaking with God about the people. But, again, rather than assume your pastor is “prayed-up,” take it upon yourself to be the intercessor. After all, Paul requested of his readers to be “Praying always . . . for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel” (Ephesians 6:18-19). If the pastor is “prayed-up” and the church members have done their intercessory work, it might be amazing to see what God would do.

God has been showing me something in scripture this week that I just have to share with you. In Matthew 18 the disciples asked Jesus about greatness.

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, ‘Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me.’”

Jesus answered by saying that we cannot even enter the kingdom of heaven unless we repent and become like little children. And He said whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Now let me point out the humility that is like the child Jesus stood before them. Even a newborn baby is not innocent. He is selfish to the core. But he is absolutely dependent. And we must humble ourselves to become dependent upon God to enter the kingdom of heaven. Our salvation, and everything in our lives depends upon Him.

When Jesus says, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me,” who is he speaking about? I believe Jesus must first be referring to literal children, especially those who have already accepted Him as Savior. But I also believe Jesus is speaking of those of us who have entered the kingdom in childlike dependence. When people receive us as we go to them with the gospel, they receive Him.

Now look just a little further down the passage to verse 10

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.”

Again, who is Jesus talking about? I believe He is telling us that children have guardian angels who always see our Heavenly Father's face.

We do not yet see Him face to face. 1 John 3:2 says we will be made like Jesus when we see His face. But could it also be that as we become children of God, we too are surrounded by Heavenly angels who continually see His face?” And of course Jesus Himself is always interceding for us before the Father. You are well-represented before the throne.

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http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/

Website

http://daveswatch.com/

YouTube

https://goo.gl/PyzU