Pray Network Forum

This summer, my eleven-year-old granddaughter and her friend were here to participate in a kids’ Drama Camp at our local outdoor theater. Both girls are baptized Christian tweens, at a perfect age for mentoring as they enter into middle school this year. We’ve been doing my Bible study Face-to-Face with Mary and Martha: Sisters in Christ via SKYPE, or in person, for quite a while. We’ve had many discussions where I help them use Scripture from their Bibles to apply to their young lives. They have so many questions and are at a crossroads between not being little girls, but not grownups either. As tweens, they’re soon going to have more freedoms to make decisions—but not the wisdom that comes with maturity.

Every parent has heard the excuse, “But everyone else is doing it.” I remember my parents saying something like, “If everyone jumped off a cliff would you too?” Sadly, today many kids and adults are jumping off the moral and spiritual cliff to fit in with the culture, or they’re afraid to express beliefs that differ from the worldview.

Even children are bullied for supporting America’s president when their accosters usually don’t even understand why they’re reacting so violently. Where do these young bullies learn this reaction? Television, the Internet . . . perhaps parents, grandparents, or even teachers?

I watched an interview of high school kids encouraged by their teachers to ditch school and participate in a protest march. Those kids had no clue why they were marching or what they were protesting! They weren’t trying to change the world; they were being changed by a worldview they didn’t really understand.

We may want to pull the covers over our head and ignore the unrest in the world. But the parting words Jesus gave to His disciples regarding Christians’ place in the world, the Great Commission, reminds us there’s work to do, starting with our children and grandchildren.

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

However, the last page in the Bible also foretells that the world will always have good and evil.

^“Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile; let the one who does right continue to do right; and let the holy person continue to be holy.” Revelations 22:11

We all want our children and grandchildren knowing and doing what’s right and holy, even when their peers encourage them to do wrong and vile acts! Parents and grandparents are the ones responsible for teaching and instilling these virtues. We cannot rely on the schools, and sometimes not even our churches.

We must help them not grow weary or discouraged doing good. Here are some ideas for guiding and mentoring your children, grandchildren, or mentees.

1. Help Them Learn Scripture from Their Own Bible

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Hebrews 4:12 NLT

Teach them to paraphrase if they need to, but God’s Word applies to every area of life in every century (Heb. 13:8). Jesus used Scripture when tempted by Satan in the desert and taught the disciples to pray “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (Matt. 6:13). Help them memorize Scriptures to resist temptation. My granddaughter’s friend said her Dad is teaching her Psalm 23 for when she’s afraid.

2. Remind them to Stay Civil and Polite, But Stay Firm in Your Convictions

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 1 Peter 3:15-16

Those caught up in the world’s cults, atheism, alternate belief systems or lifestyles, feel compelled to challenge us for our faith in Christ, so our first impulse is to engage in a debate. If you’ve ever tried arguing or reasoning with someone blinded by the world’s belief system, you know it’s usually futile. I mentor my granddaughter whose third grade teacher reprimanded her for sharing Jesus with two girls challenging her for her faith, that her best answer is, “This is what I believe because the Bible (or God or Jesus) tells me so.”

Other times, believers fall into the same trap the serpent used with Eve when someone asks them, “Did God really say…?” Simply say, "Yes He did, and I’ll find the Scripture for you.” Jesus didn’t come to sanctify the world’s ways, He came to save the world from its ways.

3. Remember the World is In Spiritual Darkness, So Let Your Light Shine

In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16

The world loves darkness. Yet into this dark world came Jesus, the Light of the world, and He has hidden His light in each believer’s heart. Our light must shine brightly, no flickering. When we enter a room, a social media conversation, a family or friendly gathering, work, play, school, as parents, grandparents, employers, employees, kids . . . wherever life takes us . . . our light shines, even if we’re the only light for Jesus. “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine!” Teach your grandkids that song and sing it with them.

4. Everyone is Not Going to Like You

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” John 15:18-19

We’re living in a lost world loudly anti-God and anti-Christian and influencing the next generation. We can’t be quiet. As Christian parents and grandparents, our job is to help the next generation be world-changers for Christ concerned more about what God thinks about them than what the world thinks. It may be hard for kids to get this point, but they need to be prepared that some people won’t like you for not agreeing to do wrong. They may try to bully, dare, entice, call you names, make you feel bad, but that’s just because you doing the right thing convicts them for doing the wrong thing.

We’ll never have a perfect world until Jesus returns, but as long as we have breath, we're saved to make a difference in the world. Start your children and grandchildren young believing this means them too! Maybe it’s their friends, sports coaches, unsaved relatives…teach them to pray. Here’s a prayer to start with:

Dear Lord, though the world does not know you, I___________ know you, and I pray that you will let the world know that you have sent me as your servant. Help me make you known to a lost world and I will continue to make you known where you put me so that the love you have for me may be in them also. Thank you for sending your Son Jesus to live in my heart. Amen. John 17:25-26 personalized and paraphrased as a prayer.

My September release Mentoring for All Seasons: Sharing Life Experiences and God’s Faithfulness has helps, tips, encouragement from Scripture for mentors and mentees from tweens to twilight seasons and a special chapter on the Grandparenting Season, in which Lillian Penner contributes her story. It’s available for sale now at bookstores, online at Amazon, and signed at my website bookstore. #mentoringforallseasons and the link to the book bit.ly/mentoringseasons

Janet Thompson, an international speaker, freelance editor, and award-winning author of 19 books including her latest Mentoring for All Seasons: Sharing Life Experiences and God’s Faithfulness. She’s also the proud Grammie to eleven grandchildren.

Here additional books: Forsaken God?: Remembering the Goodness of God Our Culture Has Forgotten, The Team That Jesus Built, Dear God, Why Can’t I Have a Baby?, Dear God They Say It’s Cancer, Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter, the Face-to-Face Bible study Series, and Woman to Woman Mentoring Resources. She is also the founder of Woman to Woman Mentoring and About His Work Ministries.

Visit Janet at:

womantowomanmentoring.com.

www.facebook.com/Janetthompson.authorspeaker

http://www.linkedin.com/in/womantowomanmentoring/

www.pinterest.com/thompsonjanet

https://twitter.com/AHWministries

When crises come like a series of category 5 hurricanes driving millions of people from their homes people pray, for a little while. Many of you remember that large numbers of people were driven to their knees in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on 9/11/2001. A close friend of mine led a citywide prayer meeting last week on 9/11. 5 people showed up to pray.

When we see things like this we are tempted to be cynical. And while I am in that number, I must admit that is a wrong response. We should be thrilled that people pray in a crisis. It will be terrible when we come to the place that no one prays even in the face of terror.

What do we do when we see diminishing numbers of people praying? We need to redouble our own praying. And while you are praying, pray for your church and other churches to begin praying as they have never prayed. Who knows how God will answer your prayers? Encourage others to pray as well. Encouragement usually has greater effect than complaining. And, of course, nothing brings about prayer as effectively as prayer.

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/

http://daveswatch.com/

Frequently I receive emails from a grandmother asking me to pray for her because of her estrangement from her grandchildren. Her heart is broken, finding it very difficult to deal with the situation, like many grandparents do toda

When we reach the midlife years of our lives, we look forward to becoming grandparents and very excited when our first grandchild is born and the grandchildren that follow. However, today there are many grandparents with broken hearts because they are estranged from their grandchildren for various reasons.

Being estranged from your grandchildren often results in many negative emotions. Sorting out exactly what you are feeling and developing an approach for dealing with your feelings can be vital for your health, both mental and physical. You will feel anguish as long as the separation lasts.

However, God is still answering prayers, often it is not on our timetable, and so we have to ask God for patience to wait until He is ready to answer. Sometimes, we have to wait in His waiting room while He is working in the hearts of our grandchildren and their parents. God’s timing is best.

I have found the Scripture verses in Romans 8:26-28 very helpful when I don’t know how to pray for my grandchildren and their parents. Paul writes, “The Holy Spirit makes intercession for us when we don’t know how to pray.” When I ask the Holy Spirit to make intercession for me according to God’s will, it keeps me from telling God how to answer my prayer, which I love to do. Ask the Holy Spirit to make intercession for your estrangement letting him carry the burden instead of you giving him your agenda.

Very often all we can do is pray, pray and pray, waiting on God to do the work in healing the wounds.

Here are a couple of suggestions for estranged grandparents:

1.    Don't stop trying to keep in touch. Send cards and letters to your grandchildren maintaining the tone of any communication loving but light.

2.    Pray intentionally and regularly for your grandchildren and their parents. If you don’t know how to pray for them sign up to receive my blog regularly and I will send you “31 Scriptures to Pray for your Grandchildren” which you can download without cost and print.

I have found uniting in prayer with other grandparents for my grandchildren is a special blessing for me. It’s a safe place to share my concerns for my grandchildren as they are growing up in our post-Christian culture. It comforts me to know the other grandparents in my group are also praying for my grandchildren

Christian Grandparenting Network now has many Grandparents@Prayer (G@P) intercessory groups meeting in the U.S., Philippines, Canada and South Africa, in retirement Centers, schools, churches, and homes.  We would like to see the number of G@P groups grow. Some of the groups meet weekly, some twice a month or once a month, whatever the group desires. 

I want to challenge you to ask God whom He would like you to ask to pray with you for each other’s grandchildren. Ask your friends, church senior group, neighbors, family members or whomever. My group started with 2 of us for several months but has grown to 12.

To learn more go to https://christiangrandparenting.net/grandparents-at-prayer read about how to sign up to participate. You may also email sherry@christiangrandparenting.net

The legacy of a praying grandparent will live on forever.

Prayer

Dear Father, I pray that you will give the estranged grandparents wisdom how to approach their separation from their grandchildren.

I pray your Holy Spirit will make intercession for them allowing you

to carry out your agenda in your timing for their healing.

Encourage them and give them peace as they intentionally pray

and patiently wait for the parents to allow them

to be a part of their lives again.

In Jesus’ name. Amen

By Lillian Penner

Co-Prayer Director

Christian Grandparenting Network

lpenner@christiangrandparenting.net

God calls to us to pray for everyone. 1 Timothy 2:1 reads,

“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people.”

This is one of those scriptures that you have to stop and ask how we do that. Is this scripture calling us to pray prayers like, “God save the whole world. Amen”? I believe God is urging this on us so we will make a legitimate effort to pray individually for as many people as possible. Everyone needs prayer. This of course leaves us with the same problem. How do we do that?

There are a number of things we can work on as we seek to pray for everyone.

I wrote earlier about assigning leaders to pray for everyone listed on a church roll. I think this is a good start.

Paul’s one specific application of this verse was to pray for kings and all who are in authority. This too needs to be an organized effort. Most of you know the name of your local mayer, the governor of your state, and the President or Prime Minister of your country. But there are hundreds of others who fall into this category whose names we do not know. I couldn’t start to list the names of those serving in our State Assembly. These could easily be looked-up and printed off encouraging church members to pray for them.

In the past I have encouraged prayer-walking. Prayer-walking is a great way to pray for your block, your whole neighborhood. An organized effort could pray for an entire town, even a city.

Finally, let me suggest a kind of praying that I mention often which takes no planning, organization, or preparation. Can you begin praying for everyone around you wherever you are, in a restaurant, at work, in a store, at school? Many of us wonder what we would pray for complete strangers. I have three suggestions and a fourth that is more important than the others.

Use the word BLESS as an an acrostic memory tool.

BODY, Pray for a person’s physical needs.

LABOR, Pray for someone’s work and income. I fear my prayer for this is sometimes selfish. I pray for the clerk at the bank or at the Post Office to work efficiently. I still think this is good.

EMOTIONS, I pray for people to hunger for God. And I pray for ultimate peace in the person’s life.

SOCIAL, Pray for God to intervene in a person’s relationships.

SPIRITUAL, Pray for God to draw that person to Himself.

Another tool may not be quite as easy to remember has all Bs.

BURDEN, Father, lift that woman’s burden.

BITTERNESS, Lord, wash the bitterness out of that man’s heart.

BLINDNESS, Open that person’s eyes to see spiritual reality.

BONDAGE, Lord, free that man from attitudes, addictions, and spiritual forces that keep him from You.

My next suggestion takes less time. Simply pray for God to meet a person’s need. Maybe pray for God to meet the deepest need in someone’s life.

These are all aids for people to get started praying like this. And after many years of trying to do this, I still use them. However, I think it is more important to be open for the Holy Spirit to impress something on you to pray for a person. The strangest things can come into my mind as I am glancing over a group of people trying to avoid staring rudely at any them. I have prayed things like, “Father, I ask you to heal that person of cancer.” “Rescue her child from sin.” “Father, comfort her in the midst of divorce.” Now to be honest, I have never had the courage to go up to someone and ask, “Are you going through a divorce right now.” I am not trying to prove my spiritual acuity. I was talking to my Heavenly Father. And I can assure you that I have been drawn nearer to Him as I prayed things that came into my mind.

The last thing listed in 2 Timothy 2:1 is crucial. Thanksgiving ought to be made for everyone. I try occasionally to spend a whole day thanking God. And this includes praying for people around me. I begin each prayer with, “Thank You, Father. . .” I thank God that He is already at work in the life of that person He has called me to pray for. I thank Him for everything I can think of for everyone around me. I am uplifted by this. And I am convinced that others are blessed as I give thanks.

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/

http://daveswatch.com/

God calls to us to pray for everyone. 1 Timothy 2:1 reads,

“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people.”

This is one of those scriptures that you have to stop and ask how we do that. Is this scripture calling us to pray prayers like, “God save the whole world. Amen”? I believe God is urging this on us so we will make a legitimate effort to pray individually for as many people as possible. Everyone needs prayer. This of course leaves us with the same problem. How do we do that?

There are a number of things we can work on as we seek to pray for everyone.

I wrote earlier about assigning leaders to pray for everyone listed on a church roll. I think this is a good start.

Paul’s one specific application of this verse was to pray for kings and all who are in authority. This too needs to be an organized effort. Most of you know the name of your local mayer, the governor of your state, and the President or Prime Minister of your country. But there are hundreds of others who fall into this category whose names we do not know. I couldn’t start to list the names of those serving in our State Assembly. These could easily be looked-up and printed off encouraging church members to pray for them.

In the past I have encouraged prayer-walking. Prayer-walking is a great way to pray for your block, your whole neighborhood. An organized effort could pray for an entire town, even a city.

Finally, let me suggest a kind of praying that I mention often which takes no planning, organization, or preparation. Can you begin praying for everyone around you wherever you are, in a restaurant, at work, in a store, at school? Many of us wonder what we would pray for complete strangers. I have three suggestions and a fourth that is more important than the others.

Use the word BLESS as an an acrostic memory tool.

BODY, Pray for a person’s physical needs.

LABOR, Pray for someone’s work and income. I fear my prayer for this is sometimes selfish. I pray for the clerk at the bank or at the Post Office to work efficiently. I still think this is good.

EMOTIONS, I pray for people to hunger for God. And I pray for ultimate peace in the person’s life.

SOCIAL, Pray for God to intervene in a person’s relationships.

SPIRITUAL, Pray for God to draw that person to Himself.

Another tool may not be quite as easy to remember has all Bs.

BURDEN, Father, lift that woman’s burden.

BITTERNESS, Lord, wash the bitterness out of that man’s heart.

BLINDNESS, Open that person’s eyes to see spiritual reality.

BONDAGE, Lord, free that man from attitudes, addictions, and spiritual forces that keep him from You.

My next suggestion takes less time. Simply pray for God to meet a person’s need. Maybe pray for God to meet the deepest need in someone’s life.

These are all aids for people to get started praying like this. And after many years of trying to do this, I still use them. However, I think it is more important to be open for the Holy Spirit to impress something on you to pray for a person. The strangest things can come into my mind as I am glancing over a group of people trying to avoid staring rudely at any them. I have prayed things like, “Father, I ask you to heal that person of cancer.” “Rescue her child from sin.” “Father, comfort her in the midst of divorce.” Now to be honest, I have never had the courage to go up to someone and ask, “Are you going through a divorce right now.” I am not trying to prove my spiritual acuity. I was talking to my Heavenly Father. And I can assure you that I have been drawn nearer to Him as I prayed things that came into my mind.

The last thing listed in 2 Timothy 2:1 is crucial. Thanksgiving ought to be made for everyone. I try occasionally to spend a whole day thanking God. And this includes praying for people around me. I begin each prayer with, “Thank You, Father. . .” I thank God that He is already at work in the life of that person He has called me to pray for. I thank Him for everything I can think of for everyone around me. I am uplifted by this. And I am convinced that others are blessed as I give thanks.

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/

http://daveswatch.com/

God calls to us to pray for everyone. 1 Timothy 2:1 reads,

“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people.”

This is one of those scriptures that you have to stop and ask how we do that. Is this scripture calling us to pray prayers like, “God save the whole world. Amen”? I believe God is urging this on us so we will make a legitimate effort to pray individually for as many people as possible. Everyone needs prayer. This of course leaves us with the same problem. How do we do that?

There are a number of things we can work on as we seek to pray for everyone.

I wrote earlier about assigning leaders to pray for everyone listed on a church roll. I think this is a good start.

Paul’s one specific application of this verse was to pray for kings and all who are in authority. This too needs to be an organized effort. Most of you know the name of your local mayer, the governor of your state, and the President or Prime Minister of your country. But there are hundreds of others who fall into this category whose names we do not know. I couldn’t start to list the names of those serving in our State Assembly. These could easily be looked-up and printed off encouraging church members to pray for them.

In the past I have encouraged prayer-walking. Prayer-walking is a great way to pray for your block, your whole neighborhood. An organized effort could pray for an entire town, even a city.

Finally, let me suggest a kind of praying that I mention often which takes no planning, organization, or preparation. Can you begin praying for everyone around you wherever you are, in a restaurant, at work, in a store, at school? Many of us wonder what we would pray for complete strangers. I have three suggestions and a fourth that is more important than the others.

Use the word BLESS as an an acrostic memory tool.

BODY, Pray for a person’s physical needs.

LABOR, Pray for someone’s work and income. I fear my prayer for this is sometimes selfish. I pray for the clerk at the bank or at the Post Office to work efficiently. I still think this is good.

EMOTIONS, I pray for people to hunger for God. And I pray for ultimate peace in the person’s life.

SOCIAL, Pray for God to intervene in a person’s relationships.

SPIRITUAL, Pray for God to draw that person to Himself.

Another tool may not be quite as easy to remember has all Bs.

BURDEN, Father, lift that woman’s burden.

BITTERNESS, Lord, wash the bitterness out of that man’s heart.

BLINDNESS, Open that person’s eyes to see spiritual reality.

BONDAGE, Lord, free that man from attitudes, addictions, and spiritual forces that keep him from You.

My next suggestion takes less time. Simply pray for God to meet a person’s need. Maybe pray for God to meet the deepest need in someone’s life.

These are all aids for people to get started praying like this. And after many years of trying to do this, I still use them. However, I think it is more important to be open for the Holy Spirit to impress something on you to pray for a person. The strangest things can come into my mind as I am glancing over a group of people trying to avoid staring rudely at any them. I have prayed things like, “Father, I ask you to heal that person of cancer.” “Rescue her child from sin.” “Father, comfort her in the midst of divorce.” Now to be honest, I have never had the courage to go up to someone and ask, “Are you going through a divorce right now.” I am not trying to prove my spiritual acuity. I was talking to my Heavenly Father. And I can assure you that I have been drawn nearer to Him as I prayed things that came into my mind.

The last thing listed in 2 Timothy 2:1 is crucial. Thanksgiving ought to be made for everyone. I try occasionally to spend a whole day thanking God. And this includes praying for people around me. I begin each prayer with, “Thank You, Father. . .” I thank God that He is already at work in the life of that person He has called me to pray for. I thank Him for everything I can think of for everyone around me. I am uplifted by this. And I am convinced that others are blessed as I give thanks.

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/

http://daveswatch.com/

Praying Through the Arabian Peninsula: PTAP is pleased to join the International Saudi Global Day of Prayer in praying for Saudi Arabia on September 23, 2017.  Please visit this website to get more information on how to pray for Saudi.  You can sign up for an hour time slot as a small or large group and also find prayer resources to help you pray.  The Lord is doing great things in Saudi.  Let's press on in our prayers for Him to do even more!

https://www.saudidayofprayer.com

I doubt seriously if I am the only person to be confused and disturbed about things we see around us. I am horrified by the bizarre extremes of the sexual revolution being forced down our throats. At the same time those who would to some extent agree about that are proclaiming America first, which sounds to me like selfishness encoded in national policy. I am aware this will offend some whom I love. But the Bible is clear about this. God is a globalist. “For God so loved the world.” Are you in tune with God? Yet, many who agree that we ought to be concerned about developing countries, or even for the disadvantaged around us, demand that we also support every wild sexual perversion. They assume suggesting that these things are immoral or even unhealthy violates someone’s civil rights.

I recently read The Benedict Option. And I recommend that you read it. While I do not agree with everything Rod Dreher said in the book, I do believe his major premise is right. We have lost the culture War, and we need to focus on being a holy church in spite of it.

While I believe this is true it does not make me less confused or disturbed. What is the will of God for us in these days? The most peace I've gotten as I have prayed about this came last week as I read 2 Timothy in my devotional time. Does this passage not clearly describe what we see all around us?

2 Timothy 3:1-5

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.

Let me suggest some obedient responses to the world where God has posted us to serve Him in these days. We must carry out these things together.

Believe

We need to Believe the Bible in a world that rejects it. We need to submit to the authority of God and His word over us even when we do not understand. You are being bombarded by the notions of our society just like everyone else. The world and the flesh and the devil are planting their values in you. And there are some things that you believe that are wrong because the times in which you live have influenced you. Only God's word can deliver you from contemporary misinformation. We need to hold to it as an anchor for our lives even when we are not able in our own strength to persuade others.

Live

1 Peter 2:12 calls us to live godly lives before the world around us.

“Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they may accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.”

This will mean being honest even if it costs you your job. This means being godly and generous even though others will take advantage of you. What else might this mean in your life?

Love

The most important expression of godliness in our lives is love. I am not talking about sentimentality. We need the ultimate absolutely selfless agape love set out in 1 Corinthians 13, demonstrated in the life of Jesus, and striven for by the early church. We will need to love, minister to and forgive one another, our neighbors and even our enemies.

Teach

These are crucial days for us to teach sound doctrine to the church. And we need to teach anyone who will listen, although again in 2nd Timothy Paul says in the last days people will not endure sound doctrine. In 2 Timothy 2:25,26 Paul speaks of teaching even those who would oppose a godly teacher.

“Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will”

Stand

Even in these days when it seems we have lost the culture war, we need to do our best to stand against wickedness, to stand for righteousness, justice godliness, and faith. There may be times where this will be impossible. It would have been a death sentence to publicly oppose the Nuremberg racial laws in Berlin in 1942. But there were some who believed they needed to do their best to fight evil, even though it would cost them their lives.

There is always hope that God will turn things around. Recently my granddaughter invited me to read The Mysterious Benedict Society. The children who are the heroes in the story sneak into an institute that is getting ready to take over the world by overwhelming all who “love the truth.” At one point it seems to them that they themselves cannot resist the barrage of untruth thrown at them. In that time they receive a message from those supporting them from outside saying, “What has been lost may yet be found. Have hope.” With God there's always hope.

And most important, Pray.

Prayer is more crucial in these days than it has ever been in all of history. Who knows if God will not delay this ultimate destiny by sending revival in nations all across the earth, possibly one final time before the end. Even if He does not, our prayers may bring hundreds of thousands to Christ in the midst of tribulation. Many will stand against that old serpent the devil by the word of our testimony, by the blood of the Lamb, and who through our prayers will not love our lives so much as to shrink from death. (Revelation 12:11)

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/

http://daveswatch.com/

"For I," declares the Lord, "will be a wall of fire around her, and I will be the glory in her midst."  ​- Zechariah 2:5