Pray Network Forum

December 24

• Background to today’s prayer

  • We all have a past,

  • And there are probably some things in that past that we would prefer would just go away,

  • But as we said in an earlier prayer, God uses whom He chooses to use,

  • How exciting that God has a desire to use YOU!

TODAY’S PRAYER

Lord, as I think of Jesus’ visit to the temple when He was 12 (Luke 2:41-51), or John’s seclusion in the wilderness, until You wanted him on the scene (Luke 1:80b). And then I think of Daniel and Samuel, who lived godly lives, seemingly until their deaths. Lord these men seem so perfect. I want to bring You glory, and yet how can I bring You glory when I have the past that I do? I don’t know Lord, I don’t know. But, I thank You and praise You that there are men like David, Peter, Paul, and James, the half brother of our Lord, who grew up with Him and did not know Him. Oh Lord if these men would be used by You then I know that I too can be used. I submit myself to You Lord. Use me as You see fit. Use me to proclaim the message of Your Son, especially during this time of the year.

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While the birth of Jesus didn’t happen on the day we call “Christmas” nevertheless, many celebrate His birth on December 25, our Christmas Day. Almost lost in the scripture account of Jesus’ birth is the story of Anna. By any measurement, Anna was an elderly woman. The Bible describes her as follows: “She was of a great age and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years” (Luke 2:36-37). Considering the fact that girls often married in their teen-age years, Anna would have been in excess of one hundred years old. According to the Jewish law (Exodus 13:12), Jesus was brought to the Temple to be dedicated to God. There in the Temple, Jesus was encountered by Anna, “who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day” (Luke 2:37). At this encounter, Anna “gave thanks to the Lord” (Luke 2:38). She prayed. Significant is what Anna did next. She “spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38). Anna became one of the first evangelists! Anna showed us that it is never too old for one to have a fresh encounter with the Lord, and it is never politically incorrect to proclaim Him to others. What a Christmas role-model!

Don't Forget . . .

PRAY IN THE NEW YEAR

. . . starting December 26.

I hope you are enjoying praying the 25 Days of Christmas.

Right after Christmas join us for some fun, Praying in the New Year, with Movies

FREE prayer helps are always available on our Prayer-Basics-Page

#PrayAllYear
#PrayInTheNewYear

December 23

• Background to today’s prayer

  • Has to do with when the Lord’s plans are not clean and neat

  • We often think that if something is from God it will go smoothly right?

    • Think again!

    • Remember Job, the difficulties came at God’s insistence!

  • And so, because He’s sovereign,

    • Because the Holy Spirit does not make mistakes,

    • Because nothing is a surprise to God,

    • We can trust Him!

  • Psalm 103:19 tells us that, “His throne is above the heavens and He is sovereign over all.”

TODAY’S PRAYER

As I reread the account of the Magi’s visit (Matthew 2:1-12) and the flight into Egypt by Jesus’ family, including King Herod’s butchery (Matthew 2:13-18), I am reminded Lord that Your plans are not always clean and neat. We often find ourselves in a deep valley that You have brought us to. Father, thank You for Your many promises, of which Romans 8:28 is only one. It tells us that ALL THINGS work together for good, for those who are in Christ Jesus, Your son, the One who’s advent, who’s coming, we celebrate this Christmas season.

• Follow-up to today’s prayer

  • People like to say that Job brought his issues upon himself, which doesn’t bear out in the text, (note Job chapters 1 and 2)

  • And look in the NT, Paul talked about it, Peter talked about it (1 Peter 4:13) rejoicing in and EXPECTING to suffer, with Christ

  • We make a grave error in the West by thinking that when difficulties come our way God wants us to wriggle out of them.

    • He has allowed them!!

    • God has allowed them for a reason!!

FREE prayer helps are always available on our Prayer-Basics-Page

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December 22

• Background to today’s prayer

  • Myrrh is an odd gift…for a baby?

  • But remember, this baby came to die

  • He came to die a HORRID death.

  • We need to remember this during the Christmas season,

    • There is NO MANGER scene without the cross.

  • Think about what that means…He came to suffer and die for you and me.

TODAY’S PRAYER

Lord, as Your Son came to earth, to go to the cross it is appropriate that one of the Magi’s gifts was Myrrh (Matthew 2:11) which is anointing oil, used at one’s death. We recognize now Lord, that His birth signified that His life would end in a bitter and ugly, embarrassing and alienating death on a Roman cross. Lord we know this because of passages like John 10:11-18 and John 16:16-22. So as we enter this season of prayer, we are reminded that their would be no manger, with a beautiful cooing baby Jesus, without a bitter and degrading cross, coupled with You turning Your back on Your Son for a time…for us to be saved. Lord we praise You, even as we beg You to show us brokenness, that we might understand Your heart and then pray for the nations and the church with the fervency that only a broken heart can.

FREE prayer helps are always available on our Prayer-Basics-Page

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December 21

• Background to today’s prayer

  • Anna, who was in the temple (and had fasted and prayed for years) at the same time as Simeon (who was content to go home to glory now that he had seen the Messiah).

  • They were both at the temple when baby Jesus was brought in to be dedicated,

  • Anna should be a symbol for our older women in our churches today.

  • Older women need to be there to bless the younger folks.

  • I am very blessed to have some older women in my life. They do everything from

    • Making me fudge,

    • To handing me down ties,

    • To remembering me in prayer (and many of them can really pray!),

    • And I have a GREAT relationship with them.

  • So, do you have any “Annas” in your life? If not, why not?

TODAY’S PRAYER

Lord as I think of Anna and her role to both Mary and Joseph, as well as all those “looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38), which You gave us in the expression of Your Son, I cannot help think about the opportunities our older women in our churches have. Lord, we have so many “Annas.” Lord, thank You for the many “Annas” in my life. Forgive me Lord for the times I have “marginalized” them. My prayer Lord is that others in our churches will be burdened for the gifts that only the “Annas” can impart, as we let them minister in our lives. And Father, I pray also for the “Annas,” that they Lord, would be willing to listen to You, and impart what You lay upon their hearts. Thank You Father for the gift of the “Annas” in our churches.

FREE prayer helps are always available on our Prayer-Basics-Page

#PrayAllYear
#PrayChristmas

Don't Forget . . .

PRAY IN THE NEW YEAR

. . . starting December 26.

I hope you are enjoying praying the 25 Days of Christmas.

Right after Christmas join us for some fun, Praying in the New Year, with Movies

FREE prayer helps are always available on our Prayer-Basics-Page

#PrayAllYear
#PrayInTheNewYear

www.MarkMirza.com

December 20

• Background to today’s prayer

  • Simeon again, this time challenging us regarding thinking or, staying in our “safe” little box, when the reality is God is calling us to live a life that is abundant and full!

  • Because God is real,

    • His birth,

    • His life,

    • Imagine how much you are missing because you do not step out of, or think out of your box and think the way the Lord wants you to?

  • One way we are “cheated” out of His abundance is because we are angry towards someone

  • Think seriously about today’s prayer.

TODAY’S PRAYER

Luke 2:32, Simeon again, with something so contrary to the Israelites mode of thinking!, that the Messiah would be the “light for the Gentiles,” which was to bring glory to them, the Israelites. Imagine, glory to the Israelites, through the Gentiles! How counterintuitive that would have been for them Lord. And yet, do we miss Your glory, in our lives, because that which You want in our life, is so contrary to what we want? Oh Lord, forgive us for making our will an idol above You, above Your will. Forgive us Lord for not stepping out of our box, trusting Your lead and direction in our lives.

• Follow-up to today’s prayer

  • I constantly teach this when I speak in churches.

  • I like to bring up verses we HATE to hear, IE

    • Ephesians 6:12 “Your struggle isn’t against flesh and blood…”

    • 1 Peter 3:7 “If there is anything between you and your spouse your prayers will be hindered.”

  • I know you think you have a right to be grumpy at someone close to you…but step outside of your box and…

FREE prayer helps are always available on our Prayer-Basics-Page

#PrayAllYear
#PrayChristmas

 As I was looking at the forlorn misshapen tree standing in the snow on the cover of a book I was reading last week, I was reminded of the Christmas tree we had at my house when I was a child.  

When I was six years old, my parents had very little money to spend at Christmas. In order for my parents to have enough money to buy a present for me, they decided to cut a branch from our juniper tree in the yard for our Christmas tree. I remember at the time, I thought it was ugly, straggly, and misshapen and I was disappointed. I wished they would buy a tree from a Christmas tree lot in town like other families. 

  However, I recently found a picture taken that year with me standing by the branch (tree). After we had decorated it with a garland made of popcorn and cranberries, hung a few ornaments, and silver tinsel; the tree did not look too bad. 

Now when I remember what the straggly juniper branch looked like and compare it to the beautifully, decorated shaped tree in my home I see it differently. I see the straggly forlorn branch as a person’s life without God or one depleted from nourishment and the beautiful shaped tree in my home as a person’s life filled with God’s love, purpose, and decorated with ornaments representing the fruit of the Spirit.

God can take a straggly, forlorn life and transform it into a beautiful shaped fulfilled life. Jesus tells us in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”  He can change the straggly life into a beautiful new life, a flourishing life, filled with love, peace and joy if we believe in him.   

Often, our lives can become damaged and appear like a straggly, forlorn tree, misshapen by the trials, challenges, and disappointments of life. However, our lives can be transformed by the renewing of our minds with His Word into flourishing lives. 

God promises that when we have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, giving Him every area of our lives, we will take on a true and proper shape. We will become a flourishing tree pointing others to God. 

When you see a Christmas tree this year, I hope it reminds you of the new life we can have in Christ Jesus, everlasting life when we invite Him into our lives and trust Him with the challenges and disappointments of life. 

• Do you or any of your family members feel like a tree twisted, damaged, and made crooked by the fears, circumstances, difficulties, or sin in their lives?
• Do you or any of your family members feel all alone in this world?

God is waiting to give you and your family members' new life, nourishment, and fulfillment. 

• Ask God to show you, your family and friends areas that need to be humbly submitted to the Lord, laying down all before Him as the wise men did when they brought their gifts to baby Jesus.
• Ask God to help you, your family, and friends to give the damaged, flawed, and misshapen areas of life to the Lord, resulting in flourishing beautiful God-shaped lives for Him.

This post was taken from the book Grandparenting with a Purposeavailable for purchase at http://www.grandparentingwithapurpose.com.at a discounted price of $10.50. It will make an excellent gift for the grandparents in your family.

December 19

• Background to today’s prayer

  • We hear people talk about being DEAD to sin and ALIVE to Christ.

  • But what does that mean?

  • Does it mean simply, to believe in the Lord?

    • No, even the demons do that (James 2:19).

  • It means to completely and constantly SUBMIT to Him,

  • So that He lives His life thru you

TODAY’S PRAYER

Lord, Luke 2:31, has Simeon saying something that is so outside of the way we think. He says that Jesus IS our salvation, not merely PROVIDING our salvation. Lord, as we are reminded of Your Son’s advent, unto us, give us the grace to remember that He IS our life, if we are saved, meaning that we trust You to give us the grace and mercy to live, dead to self, dead to our sins, and alive to Him, Your Son, Christ (Romans 6:11) submitting our entire lives, completely to You. Forgive us Father for trying to live partially submitted to you.

FREE prayer helps are always available on our Prayer-Basics-Page

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December 18

• Background to today’s prayer

  • If you’re perfect you can skip this background

  • The rest of you…listen up!

  • The older I get, the more I realize how loving and forgiving God is.

  • As you go into this holiday season, and your family is broken, let the Lord comfort you.

TODAY’S PRAYER

Lord, in Luke 2:22-24 we read of the dedicating of Your Son in the temple. Lord, the great responsibility that Mary and Joseph had, bringing up Jesus reminds me of the great responsibility we have in raising our kids. Lord, so many of us have already failed in that regard. We trust You Lord to forgive us for failing our children, and Father, we ask You to cause our children to forgive us.

FREE prayer helps are always available on our Prayer-Basics-Page

#PrayAllYear
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December 17

• Background to today’s prayer

  • Your “comfort-zone”

  • What does that mean?

  • Especially as it relates to people that are around you

    • Older folks

    • Younger folks

    • Folks that are different from you

  • Face it, sometimes it is just scary to give time to someone you are not used to.

  • That’s why we have today’s prayer

TODAY’S PRAYER

When Jesus was named, there were two old saints, Simeon and Anna (Luke 2:22-39a) that were used very intimately by You. Lord we have many, many older saints in the church, and we have marginalized so many of them. Forgive us lord. And Father, we confess that many of our elderly do not want to be used. Forgive us for that too Lord. We have become a church that sees talent through narrow, human, eye-balls. Forgive us Lord. Titus 2:1ff tells us how to live our age. Father, my prayer is that I would do my part, no matter my age, Lord that I would be an active part of the body, no matter my age, that I would reach out to those older than me, and that I would reach out to those younger than me. Oh Lord, we are all a part of the body, ALL of us are Lord!!! Forgive us for marginalizing those that are folks we do not normally hang with.

FREE prayer helps are always available on our Prayer-Basics-Page

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December 16

• Background to today’s prayer

  • The Bible tells us that Mary, Jesus’ mother “stored up” all of these things that were unfolding around her,

    • Watching,

    • Listening,

    • Being aware of all of the good things going on.

  • But what about you and I?

  • What will we ponder, or dwell on, during this season, and as a result of this season?

TODAY’S PRAYER

Father, You do so many great things, and yet, what is it that I store up, or treasure, or dwell on? Isn’t it so often what I want, Father? Forgive me Lord for being so selfish. Give me the grace Lord to store up those wonderful things that You lay before me, that You want me to store up, and cause me Lord, to ponder them. And then Lord, let me pass them on to others, just as Mary has to us (Luke 2:19), through the gospel writers.

FREE prayer helps are always available on our Prayer-Basics-Page

#PrayAllYear
#PrayChristmas

PRAY IN THE NEW YEAR

. . . starting December 26.

I hope you are enjoying praying the 25 Days of Christmas.

Right after Christmas join us for some fun, Praying in the New Year, with Movies

FREE prayer helps are always available on our Prayer-Basics-Page

#PrayAllYear
#PrayInTheNewYear

www.MarkMirza.com

December 15

• Background to today’s prayer

  • Think about the way that God communicated with Moses.

  • It was face to face, right?

  • Now, God tells Moses that He was going to do incredibly, unbelievable things,

  • That the Israelites would experience!

  • And incredible ways of communication is just one of them

TODAY’S PRAYER

Lord, when You gave Moses the second set of tablets containing the 10 commandments You spoke to Moses about great and exciting things that You would do (Exodus 34:10). What must Moses have expected Lord? Oh Lord, as I think of Your precious gift to us of communication, I cannot help but think of the different ways You communicate to us. Moses got to see You face to face, You communicate to me through Your word and through Your Spirit. During Christmas we read of all who have even seen angels. Lord, thank You for the myriad of ways that You communicate. Thank You for loving the shepherds so much that You sent angels to proclaim Your Son’s advent, to proclaim His birth (Luke 2:8-18). Lord, burden me, this Christmas season to share Your word, the birth of Your Son, with someone…with anyone. Lord, I am so busy with my own life that I do not share the reason for the season…Your Son’s birth, like I should. Please forgive me and give me grace, so that this year will be different, in that regard Lord.

FREE prayer helps are always available on our Prayer-Basics-Page

#PrayAllYear
#PrayChristmas

December 14

• Background to today’s prayer

  • Do you remember the passage in scripture that says, “There was no room in the Inn.”?

  • Imagine if you were the Inn Keeper and woke up on the wrong side of the bed the day Mary and Joseph came to town

  • And you treated Mary and Joseph,

  • And therefore the creator of the universe,

  • Mean and nasty,

  • Because you were grumpy.

TODAY’S PRAYER

Heavenly Father, Luke 2:7 has the famous quote “there was no room in the inn.” And yet Lord I am reminded of the child in the school play who had such compassion he couldn’t turn the expecting parents away (much to the chagrin of the school officials). But Lord that child showed a compassion, in the play, that we as adults forget in our everyday world. Oh Lord teach us compassion. Allow us to comfort someone this Christmas season, with the self-same comfort that we have been comforted by You Lord (2 Corinthians 1:4).

FREE prayer helps are always available on our Prayer-Basics-Page

#PrayAllYear
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