Pray Network Forum

“The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him [Jesus], the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.” ~Isaiah 11:2 

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We sat in the airport awaiting our flight and watched as people boarded the flight at the adjacent gate - Allegiant Airlines flight 417, non-stop to Las Vegas. They were mostly happy people, headed for a holiday weekend or a vacation. Many no doubt planning to visit a few casinos, perhaps take in a few shows. We laughed at some as they gathered all their belongings and tried to carry on more than was allowed. We grieved with one who arrived five minutes after the door was shut. A little more than 48 hours later, a lone gunman, with an arsenal of guns and ammunition, sat in a hotel window and killed 59 people, injuring another five hundred plus. We wondered about the happy folks who boarded the plane next to us. Were any of them at the concert? Were any killed there? Any injured? Did any lose friends who flew to Las Vegas with them? And what about the one who missed the flight? It has been a subtle reminder that the length of life is uncertain. Sharing with a stranger, even if it is only a smile or a wave, could be their last. I awoke Monday morning to an abundance of “Pray for Las Vegas” notices on my social media. I have done so, and will continue to do so. But I will do more. I will pray for the passengers who were on Allegiant #417. I will pray for my friends who live and serve in Las Vegas. I will pray for America. I will pray for leaders to make right decisions. I will pray that deranged people get help before it is too late. I will pray that we are all ready for earthy life to end. I will pray that we pass up no opportunity to share with others, especially those who are near an unexpected end to life. “You do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (James 4:14).

Last week I wrote about uniting in a tapestry of prayer focusing on the prayer meeting in Acts 4. Among the treasurer's that can be easily mined from that prayer meeting are some wonderful keys to unity in prayer. One of the most important is praise.

When Believers come together in prayer there is, or ought to be, a humility that welds our hearts together. We are broken, heartbroken, and forgiven. And that is certainly an underlying factor in the book of Acts and the whole Bible. However there is no specific reference to it in this prayer. You can, I suppose, sense it in the tone, but I do not believe it is in the words of this prayer.

The Holy Spirit also uses the opposition of the world to bind Believers together in prayer. This prayer is a prime example of that. Peter and John have just returned from the Sanhedrin having been beaten within an inch of their lives and warned never to speak the name of Jesus again in public. It is from this platform that this prayer burst forth from the hearts of the Believers. But while this was certainly a factor in their unity on that day, something else is primary as the people raise their voices together in prayer.

Note the words of this prayer beginning with verse 24.

“Sovereign Lord, you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.”

The primary words that bound the church miraculously together on that day we're a triumph of praise. The people were bound together by the greatness and majesty of God our Savior and our Lord Jesus Christ.

I was recently in a prayer meeting that began with praise. The first two three people praised God. The next man chafed at beginning with praise. He was upset over things he had seen on the news that morning. He said, “I live alone and I don't have anyone to talk to but my dog. I've got to share this grief, and we've got to pray about these things.” As he shared the unity of the prayer meeting was diluted. The primary focus of prayer needs be God. When we start with our heart aches, fears, or the trials we face, we focus on ourselves.

Focusing on the greatness of God strengthens our faith. Praising God together strenghthens one another’s faith. Then when we come to pray for heartaches, we face them in confidence in the greatness of our God to handle them. Praise brings us into a powerful unity of faith encouraging one another to trust in God.

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/

http://daveswatch.com/

One of the themes of my blogs has been the importance of praying together. I believe the American notion of independent faith is a serious problem. The lyrics of an old him used to say “You've got to walk that lonesome valley. You've got to walk it by yourself.” This is false teaching. The Holy Spirit certainly dwells in you as an individual. But almost every verse where the Scripture tells us the Holy Spirit lives in us is plural. One of the foundational ways of developing real understanding of our spiritual unity is in praying together.

Much of my thinking and about praying together has been influenced by the prayer meeting in Acts chapter 4. Verse 24 tells us that the church raised their voices together in prayer. The translators of the King James Bible, recognizing that it would be very difficult for the entire church to pray this prayer together, interpreted this verse as praying with “one accord.” This expresses what Jesus said in Matthew 18:19 “If two of you shall agree on Earth as touching anything that they ask, it shall be done for them by my Father in heaven.”

Here is what I believe we would have experienced had we been there on the day recorded in Acts chapter 4. Someone, possibly Simon Peter, began, “Sovereign Lord.” Someone else, maybe you, followed that up by saying, “You made the Earth.” When I heard you pray that the Spirit spoke to my heart, and I prayed, “and the sea.” Someone else added “and everything in them.” And so our prayer became a tapestry with all the vividness of the Holy Spirit speaking through each of us as we prayed one prayer.

Now to do this we have to listen prayerfully as everyone else in a group prays. Most of us have been guilty from time to time of thinking, maybe desperately, about what we were going to say when our time came. You can guard against that by recognizing that God will speak to you when others pray. And you can pray what the Spirit presses on your heart in their prayer.

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/

http://daveswatch.com/

One of the themes of my blogs has been the importance of praying together. I believe the American notion of independent faith is a serious problem. The lyrics of an old him used to say “You've got to walk that lonesome valley. You've got to walk it by yourself.” This is false teaching. The Holy Spirit certainly dwells in you as an individual. But almost every verse where the Scripture tells us the Holy Spirit lives in us is plural. One of the foundational ways of developing real understanding of our spiritual unity is in praying together.

Much of my thinking and about praying together has been influenced by the prayer meeting in Acts chapter 4. Verse 24 tells us that the church raised their voices together in prayer. The translators of the King James Bible, recognizing that it would be very difficult for the entire church to pray this prayer together, interpreted this verse as praying with “one accord.” This expresses what Jesus said in Matthew 18:19 “If two of you shall agree on Earth as touching anything that they ask, it shall be done for them by my Father in heaven.”

Here is what I believe we would have experienced had we been there on the day recorded in Acts chapter 4. Someone, possibly Simon Peter, began, “Sovereign Lord.” Someone else, maybe you, followed that up by saying, “You made the Earth.” When I heard you pray that the Spirit spoke to my heart, and I prayed, “and the sea.” Someone else added “and everything in them.” And so our prayer became a tapestry with all the vividness of the Holy Spirit speaking through each of us as we prayed one prayer.

Now to do this we have to listen prayerfully as everyone else in a group prays. Most of us have been guilty from time to time of thinking, maybe desperately, about what we were going to say when our time came. You can guard against that by recognizing that God will speak to you when others pray. And you can pray what the Spirit presses on your heart in their prayer.

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/

http://daveswatch.com/

One of the themes of my blogs has been the importance of praying together. I believe the American notion of independent faith is a serious problem. The lyrics of an old him used to say “You've got to walk that lonesome valley. You've got to walk it by yourself.” This is false teaching. The Holy Spirit certainly dwells in you as an individual. But almost every verse where the Scripture tells us the Holy Spirit lives in us is plural. One of the foundational ways of developing real understanding of our spiritual unity is in praying together.

Much of my thinking and about praying together has been influenced by the prayer meeting in Acts chapter 4. Verse 24 tells us that the church raised their voices together in prayer. The translators of the King James Bible, recognizing that it would be very difficult for the entire church to pray this prayer together, interpreted this verse as praying with “one accord.” This expresses what Jesus said in Matthew 18:19 “If two of you shall agree on Earth as touching anything that they ask, it shall be done for them by my Father in heaven.”

Here is what I believe we would have experienced had we been there on the day recorded in Acts chapter 4. Someone, possibly Simon Peter, began, “Sovereign Lord.” Someone else, maybe you, followed that up by saying, “You made the Earth.” When I heard you pray that the Spirit spoke to my heart, and I prayed, “and the sea.” Someone else added “and everything in them.” And so our prayer became a tapestry with all the vividness of the Holy Spirit speaking through each of us as we prayed one prayer.

Now to do this we have to listen prayerfully as everyone else in a group prays. Most of us have been guilty from time to time of thinking, maybe desperately, about what we were going to say when our time came. You can guard against that by recognizing that God will speak to you when others pray. And you can pray what the Spirit presses on your heart in their prayer.

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/

http://daveswatch.com/

CURING CHURCH CONFLICT

The members of First Church (not the real name of the church) consistently made false accusations against one another. They would regularly throw verbal mud at one another. At times, they would even form alliances and fight against one another.

Some of their accusations were silly. One elder falsely accused a teenager of rebelliously going to the wrong Sunday school class. Even after the evidence cleared the teenager, the elder insisted he was right. But some of the accusations were destructive. A woman in the congregation was falsely accused of faking her illness. She died seven months after the accusation.

At this point, you may raise this question. “How could Christians act this way?” James answers the question for us in James 3:16. “For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.”

Pastors, elders, deacons, and church members can fall into Satan’s trap of selfish ambition. I define selfish ambition as insisting on your way rather than seeking God’s will. Selfish ambition then motivates us to shoot bullets of slander and false accusations at our brothers and sisters.

But I have good news for you. James not only points out the problem, but he also gives us the antidote in verse 17. “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” The antidote for selfish ambition is to seek the wisdom that comes from above. In other words, we replace selfish ambition by seeking God’s wisdom.

Please understand not all ambition is sinful and destructive. The Christian with godly ambition practices the words found in II Cor. 5:9. “…we make it our aim to please Him.” Someone has given this translation of II Cor. 5:9. “… we are ambitious to please Him.”

Let me now share with you the first step you can take to root out selfish ambition from your life and ministry. The first step is to give up your dream for your church. “What? Renounce my dream? All the church growth books tell us to dream big dreams.”

But this is the key. Seek God’s vision for your life, ministry, and church. You find God’s dream by seeking the wisdom that comes from above. And we seek the wisdom from above through the study of scripture and prayer.

I wonder what would happen if pastors, church leaders, and members came together and prayed this prayer. “Lord, each of us now lay aside our dreams and ambitions for our church. We now seek your vision and dream. We will continue to pray until we are sure we know which direction will please you.”

I am not saying if you give up your selfish ambition and seek God’s dream everything will go smoothly. Satan will always raise his ugly head against us. Daniel Henderson has written, “We do well to remember that the devil hates a praying leader and a praying church.” (Old Paths, New Power p. 109) But having God’s purpose, mission, and dream will unite us to stand firm against the assaults of the enemy and to complete the ministry God has given to us.

Nor am I saying it is wrong to create a strategic plan. But to use an old worn out phrase, “We often put the cart before the horse.” We plan and then ask God to bless our plan rather than seeking God first for the plan. 

After a pastor’s conference, most pastors go home with excitement. “Now I know what I am going to do. I am going to start a Tuesday night prayer meeting like the Brooklyn Tabernacle. Or I am going to develop ministry teams like First Baptist in Denver. Or I am going to develop multi-campuses like Redeemer Presbyterian in Manhattan. Or I am going to…”

But wait a minute. Such seminars may add valuable insights. But did you take the time to pray with your leaders about the direction of your church? Or did you seek what you wanted rather than what God wanted for your church?

I am not referring to a quick prayer at the close of your leadership meeting, or a simple round of prayer among the leaders. I am talking about taking the time to wait upon the Lord in prayer and continuing to pray together until you are sure of God’s direction.  

Donald McDougall has written, “The bottom-line objective is for the leadership to face the fact that the church of which they are part is not their church; it is God’s church. And the people they lead are not their flock but very distinctly God’s flock. The purpose of their meetings is not to come to a consensus about running the church but to wait upon God to find out how He wishes His church to run.” (The Pastor’s Prayer Life pp. 145-148)

Why do we need to pray in this matter? Jesus is the Lord of the church. And since Jesus is the Lord of the church, he is the most important expert we need to consult. But there’s something else. Jesus died on the cross for His church. On the cross, Jesus showed His love for the church. You can, therefore, trust Jesus to lead your local church in the best possible direction.  

Years ago, a church experienced exponential growth. They were running out of room. There was conflict among the leaders. The senior pastor, staff, and elders had various opinions about how to solve this problem. Over the course of several months, they gave up their individual dreams. Then they started to seek God’s direction.

After several months of prayer, they finally came to complete agreement. God wanted them to start a new church in a neighboring community rather than building a bigger building. Since all the leaders were united, the congregation enthusiastically got behind the project.

In the new church, there were some surprises, disappointments, and struggles. But in the midst of their trials, they stayed united. They knew God called them to this ministry. That’s what can happen when we seek the wisdom that comes from above.

This approach to ministry should not surprise us. We see this concept at work in Acts 13. The early church did not call for a strategy meeting, then ask God to bless their plan. But it was while they were in prayer and fasting that God revealed His plan to send Paul and Barnabas out as missionaries.

I am not suggesting some strange and mystical approach to ministry, but that we give up our selfish ambition and wait on God in prayer. In this way, we seek the wisdom from above. As Henry Blackaby has written, “For Christians, God alone sets the agenda…The visions that drive spiritual leaders must be derived from God.” (Spiritual Leadership p. 69)

Daniel Henderson has also written in Old Paths, New Power, “When leaders pray openly and honestly with their people in pursuit of the face of God, hearts are united with Spirit-imparted affection and understanding. Health overflows.”

CURING CHURCH CONFLICT

The members of First Church (not the real name of the church) consistently made false accusations against one another. They would regularly throw verbal mud at one another. At times, they would even form alliances and fight against one another.

Some of their accusations were silly. One elder falsely accused a teenager of rebelliously going to the wrong Sunday school class. Even after the evidence cleared the teenager, the elder insisted he was right. But some of the accusations were destructive. A woman in the congregation was falsely accused of faking her illness. She died seven months after the accusation.

At this point, you may raise this question. “How could Christians act this way?” James answers the question for us in James 3:16. “For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.”

Pastors, elders, deacons, and church members can fall into Satan’s trap of selfish ambition. I define selfish ambition as insisting on your way rather than seeking God’s will. Selfish ambition then motivates us to shoot bullets of slander and false accusations at our brothers and sisters.

But I have good news for you. James not only points out the problem, but he also gives us the antidote in verse 17. “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” The antidote for selfish ambition is to seek the wisdom that comes from above. In other words, we replace selfish ambition by seeking God’s wisdom.

Please understand not all ambition is sinful and destructive. The Christian with godly ambition practices the words found in II Cor. 5:9. “…we make it our aim to please Him.” Someone has given this translation of II Cor. 5:9. “… we are ambitious to please Him.”

Let me now share with you the first step you can take to root out selfish ambition from your life and ministry. The first step is to give up your dream for your church. “What? Renounce my dream? All the church growth books tell us to dream big dreams.”

But this is the key. Seek God’s vision for your life, ministry, and church. You find God’s dream by seeking the wisdom that comes from above. And we seek the wisdom from above through the study of scripture and prayer.

I wonder what would happen if pastors, church leaders, and members came together and prayed this prayer. “Lord, each of us now lay aside our dreams and ambitions for our church. We now seek your vision and dream. We will continue to pray until we are sure we know which direction will please you.”

I am not saying if you give up your selfish ambition and seek God’s dream everything will go smoothly. Satan will always raise his ugly head against us. Daniel Henderson has written, “We do well to remember that the devil hates a praying leader and a praying church.” (Old Paths, New Power p. 109) But having God’s purpose, mission, and dream will unite us to stand firm against the assaults of the enemy and to complete the ministry God has given to us.

Nor am I saying it is wrong to create a strategic plan. But to use an old worn out phrase, “We often put the cart before the horse.” We plan and then ask God to bless our plan rather than seeking God first for the plan. 

After a pastor’s conference, most pastors go home with excitement. “Now I know what I am going to do. I am going to start a Tuesday night prayer meeting like the Brooklyn Tabernacle. Or I am going to develop ministry teams like First Baptist in Denver. Or I am going to develop multi-campuses like Redeemer Presbyterian in Manhattan. Or I am going to…”

But wait a minute. Such seminars may add valuable insights. But did you take the time to pray with your leaders about the direction of your church? Or did you seek what you wanted rather than what God wanted for your church?

I am not referring to a quick prayer at the close of your leadership meeting, or a simple round of prayer among the leaders. I am talking about taking the time to wait upon the Lord in prayer and continuing to pray together until you are sure of God’s direction.  

Donald McDougall has written, “The bottom-line objective is for the leadership to face the fact that the church of which they are part is not their church; it is God’s church. And the people they lead are not their flock but very distinctly God’s flock. The purpose of their meetings is not to come to a consensus about running the church but to wait upon God to find out how He wishes His church to run.” (The Pastor’s Prayer Life pp. 145-148)

Why do we need to pray in this matter? Jesus is the Lord of the church. And since Jesus is the Lord of the church, he is the most important expert we need to consult. But there’s something else. Jesus died on the cross for His church. On the cross, Jesus showed His love for the church. You can, therefore, trust Jesus to lead your local church in the best possible direction.  

Years ago, a church experienced exponential growth. They were running out of room. There was conflict among the leaders. The senior pastor, staff, and elders had various opinions about how to solve this problem. Over the course of several months, they gave up their individual dreams. Then they started to seek God’s direction.

After several months of prayer, they finally came to complete agreement. God wanted them to start a new church in a neighboring community rather than building a bigger building. Since all the leaders were united, the congregation enthusiastically got behind the project.

In the new church, there were some surprises, disappointments, and struggles. But in the midst of their trials, they stayed united. They knew God called them to this ministry. That’s what can happen when we seek the wisdom that comes from above.

This approach to ministry should not surprise us. We see this concept at work in Acts 13. The early church did not call for a strategy meeting, then ask God to bless their plan. But it was while they were in prayer and fasting that God revealed His plan to send Paul and Barnabas out as missionaries.

I am not suggesting some strange and mystical approach to ministry, but that we give up our selfish ambition and wait on God in prayer. In this way, we seek the wisdom from above. As Henry Blackaby has written, “For Christians, God alone sets the agenda…The visions that drive spiritual leaders must be derived from God.” (Spiritual Leadership p. 69)

Daniel Henderson has also written in Old Paths, New Power, “When leaders pray openly and honestly with their people in pursuit of the face of God, hearts are united with Spirit-imparted affection and understanding. Health overflows.”

Spiritual activity always seems bring spiritual attack. No one plans a mission trip without facing a barrage of demonic distractions. Years ago I went to a Continuing Witness Training Clinic. That week our bank contacted my wife that we were hundreds of dollars in overdraft. It was a mistake on the part of the bank. But they didn't figure that out until the next week. If I remember right my poor wife also had to deal with a plumbing crisis that week. I believe God allows such spiritual attack, among other reasons, so we will pray. We should not be surprised at the enemy’s attacks when an entire church begins praying like we have never prayed.

But note what Jesus said about satanic attack in Luke 10:19.

“I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.”

I am greatly encouraged by these words. But I do not for a moment think Jesus wants us to try to appropriate this promise without prayer.

Ephesians 6 is the most familiar passage in the New Testament dealing with spiritual warfare. There Paul by the Holy Spirit tells us to put on the all the armor of God because we struggle against spiritual forces. And he lists as our armor fundamentals of the Christian faith, truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation, the word of God. And the call to our spiritual protection concludes with a broad call to prayer.

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayer and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/

http://daveswatch.com/

Fifty years ago, this month I began a six-year tenure serving as the Baptist Student Minister and Bible Instructor at Pan American University. Next week I am speaking five times in three days to students at the same University (now called The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley).  In preparation for these presentations, I journeyed back in time.  One clear memory was the day I ran out of Seminary momentum.  This was my first ministry assignment following Seminary graduation, and I had been using everything I remembered from my classes, but nothing seemed to be working.  At a place named Oasis Baptist Camp, sitting among the palm trees on a warm fall day, I had a long talk with God, then I gave up.  I told God, “You got me into this, now get me through it. If anything of significance is going to happen here, it’s got to be You, not me.”  Space does not permit my telling of all the significant things that happened on that campus in the next six years, but it all began in a private prayer meeting, when I surrendered.  The passage that became real to me over the next weeks was John 12:24, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.”  I look back on that day as the day I died, at least died to self, and the day God began to use me to produce according to His will.