Saturday, April 26, 2008

National Day Of Prayer May 1 2008

National Day of Prayer this week

What are you planning to do for the National Day of Prayer?

This yearly event, which has roots as far back as the Continental Congress and its call to prayer in 1775, marshals all prayer warriors to intercede for our nation.

In 1863, President Lincoln called for a national day of "humiliation, prayer and fasting" and in 1952 a joint resolution by congress, signed by President Truman, made it an annual event. In 1988 President Reagan set the day at the first Thursday of each May, which is the day we will gather this week - on May 1st.


To see the events planned nationwide, and get info on the NDP, go to the National Prayer Committee's website at http://www.ndptf.org.

Our local prayer group is meeting with Community Prayer Partners for a prayer breakfast in West Monroe, Louisiana. It's a gathering of many denominations and groups; we'll spend the first of our morning together praying for this nation.

I hope you'll check out the NDP website and find an event near you.


Saturday, April 19, 2008

When did your prayer life come alive?

Years ago I couldn't find the handle to what makes a church wake up. I worked, preached and visited, but nothing took hold. I was a new preacher fresh out of school. I had lots of recipes for church growth, yet I couldn't stir the old congregation to life.

But one day I came across The Power of Prayer by R.A. Torrey. It changed everything and sent me back into the Scriptures to discover the fascinating world of prayer within the Bible (and other books as well).

Then I heard Albert Lemmons teach a prayer seminar. I sat amazed that one of our own (within the Restoration Movement) had majored in this life of prayer. I was hooked.

So, what hooked you? Give us some favorite resources that made your prayer life come alive...

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Why people fascinated Jesus

People fascinated Jesus. How many conversations do you remember where he probed their personalities?

He looked at the rich young ruler, loved him, and searched for a way past his money and into his heart. He gently rebuked Martha because her worry and tight schedule robbed him of time with her. He marveled at the Centurion's mature faith. And he stood amazed at the lack of it in his own hometown.

It seems Jesus had a thing about faith. Like a prospector panning for gold, he
gazed into each personality to draw out faith's intriguing glow.

People of faith, who weren't always of Israel, fascinated him - the Canaanite woman (Matthew 15), the Centurion (Matthew 8) and the woman who touched the hem of his robe (Matthew 9).

He even plans to be searching the human race for faith when he returns in his Coming (Luke 18:8).

Not only does faith get Jesus' attention, but it makes him happy. When he sees faith, he's thrilled! Don't believe it? Read Hebrews chapter eleven. Meditate on verse six - "And without faith it is impossible to please God..."


Since all this is true, maybe faith plays a larger role than we've imagined, especially in our prayer life (Mark 11:22-25 comes to mind immediately).

So where do I start? What's the beginning, the ground-zero of faith? I think it starts with understanding this - "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, certain of what we do not see." (Hebrews 11:1 NIV).

Certainty. That's the state of mind called "faith". Call it certitude, persuasion, conviction, or even stubbornness, faith is being sure. It has no doubt. It doesn't waver. (Question: Since faith is being sure, and salvation comes by faith, am I saved if I'm not sure I'm saved?)

When it comes to prayer, faith has no doubt that it will get the answer!

So, how do I get to that point of certitude?

"Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." (Romans 10:17 NIV).

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Big league praying


Prayer is a human activity, even though it reaches out to the eternal. That's the fundamental reason why some prayers move God to action and some don't. As a human activity, we don't always get it right.

But once in a while, in Scripture, you see prayers that changed everything. Moses praying down a reprieve for fallen Israel. King Jehoshaphat praying down victory in a battle he didn't even have to fight. Elijah praying down a multi-year drought.

Like a ball player moving to the big leagues, some of the Bible's citizens prayed at a level unknown by the listless masses. Why? What made their prayers different?

Take the case of Moses. Like a ship's
wise captain, he anchored his prayers in solid ground... in what Jehovah had already said.

Look at Exodus 32:13 (NIV) - "Turn from your fierce anger... Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: 'I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them...'" (Moses realized Jehovah couldn't fulfill that promise if He destroyed them all.)

And take the case of Jehoshaphat. Three tribal armies had amassed forces coming to destroy Judah. Jehoshaphat called for a prayer session at the temple, and led the proceedings himself. Look at his prayer in 2 Chronicles 20 and you'll see him put its whole weight down on what Jehovah had already said. You'll also see one of the most famous victories in the Old Testament.

And what about Elijah? James called him "a man just like us" but then said Elijah's amazing prayer stopped up the heavens and brought drought on unfaithful Israel.

Like Moses and Jehoshaphat, Elijah knew how to locate the rock that could support his prayer's weight. He placed it squarely on what God had already said.

I don't think Elijah created the content of his prayer (to bring drought on Israel) out of his own imagination. In fact, there's a precedent for thinking that Israel's fall into paganism would produce a drought.

I think Elijah based his prayer on Deuteronomy 11:13-17. Look at the two-way promise: if Israel is faithful to Jehovah, rain (and prosperity) will continue, but if the nation turns away to worship other gods, "Then the LORD's anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce..."

Elijah was a man just like us, but he was just bold enough to hold God to what He had already said.

Anchor your prayers in what the Rock has already said, and you'll pray with the big-leaguers.




Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Why God waits for you to pray

The book I wrote on that subject - Why God Waits For You To Pray - came about because that question puzzled me... and evidently stumps others as well.

Why does God wait for humans to ask... if He does?

I think you have to answer that last part first. Does God actually wait for people to pray before He acts?

Think about it. When did God decide to release Israel from slavery in Egypt? After they asked (Exodus 2:23-24). When did He decide not to destroy Israel in the wilderness? After Moses interceded (Exodus 32).

When did God give Hannah a son? After she prayed (1 Samuel 1:10-20). When did He give King Hezekiah fifteen more years of life? After he cried out in prayer (Isaiah 38:1-6).

When did the Father resurrect Jesus, saving him from (out of) death? After intense prayer (Hebrews 5:7).

I could go on. According to Dr. Herbert Lockyer's book, All The Prayers of The Bible, the Scriptures record 650 prayers and 450 answers, which came after they prayed.

That's why James wrote, "You don't get what you want because you don't ask God." (James 4:2 ERV).

So it seems easy to recognize through Scripture that God waits for us to ask. But, why?

In How To Pray, R.A. Torrey answered by saying, "Because there is a devil."

Since we're "behind enemy lines" we must take the initiative to ask God into this fallen world, or He won't act. That's because this world lies in a war zone with three "wills" competing for it: Satan's will, Mankind's will and God's will.

When God gave this world to man in the Garden of Eden, and man then rejected God's help and fellowship, the world fell under Satan's dictatorship. (Note Genesis 1:26; Psalm 8:3-7 & 1 John 5:19).

All this being true, the believer must actively reject Satan's dictatorship and purposely invite God back into the human condition.

Otherwise, He waits.

Friday, April 4, 2008

A horse named faith


Children have a powerful link to the other world (Matthew 18:1-4). They haven't become jaded yet, so they can see things most of us miss.

And children don't pray like adults. We tend to edit our prayers, throwing in disclaimers here and there to buttress against disappointment. But children just
pray. They know what they want and they go after it with enthusiasm.

Through her work, my wife knows a family with a remarkable story about childlike faith. It seems their granddaughter, Hannah, passionately loves horses, takes riding lessons, and has always wanted a horse of her own.


Recently the family went to a local trade-day flea market where St. Jude's Children's Hospital raffle tickets were being sold to win a horse. Hannah begged to buy a ticket. After some discussion she received $5.00 and bought a chance on the horse.

She took the ticket home and prayed every day that she would win. She told everyone she would win. She also said that when (not if) she won the horse, her name would be "Faith".

You guessed it. Out of 2,500 tickets sold, Hannah's won the horse! The mare is now stabled and waiting to be trained so Hannah can ride.

I know what you're thinking. What about all those kids (and adults, too) who bought tickets, wanting the horse, but are disappointed? How many wished for the horse and wish they had won?

The answer is found in Mark 11:22-24. Jesus said, "...whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." (11:24 NIV).

Faith isn't just wishing. Faith is talking and acting as if the prayer is already answered. (You can't do that without spending some time in His word searching out His promises.)

Faith moves heaven because it pleases God (Hebrews 11:6). In fact, without it, you can't even please the Father. He doesn't answer based on wishes, or even based on my needs... he answers because one has faith in Him.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

What good is prayer without faith?

Jesus said the prayer of faith can move mountains. And James wrote that it can make the sick person well. So why have I spent so much time trying to pray without the force of faith?


I guess I've been listening to the wrong voices.

Madison, Wisconsin: Badger Stadium, 1982. Michigan State continued to pound the University of Wisconsin in a lopsided football game. Wisconsin fans sat wallowing in self-pity hoping the game would end soon... except for a few weird fans in the top row.

They kept bursting out in cheers, ignoring their team's horrible humiliation. And the cheers kept coming, seeming to have nothing to do with the game.

Finally, some annoyed fans asked them why they were cheering while their team was losing. The answer is priceless.

They were listening to their other team, the Milwaukee Brewers, on portable radios as they were winning game three of the World Series!

Praying in faith means listening to the right voice - the Word of God - and not focusing on circumstances. Yes, faith is believing that God
can... but it's also believing that he will.

So, how do I (a mere mortal) know for sure what God
will do? It's simple. I see it in His word. I believe it. I become convinced of it. Then I pray. And much of my praying becomes thanksgiving for His answers that I know will come because He said so.

"Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." (Romans 10:17 NIV).