The power of prayer pt 2

Remember 9/11/2001? I do. If you are 12 and older you probably remember exactly what you were doing when you heard and saw the news that terrorists had attacked our nation. I was sleeping and my mom ran in and told me that America was under attack. I ran out to images of burning buildings, planes flying into symbols of freedom and prosperity. I can never forget the images of the twin towers burning and ultimately collapsing killing thousands of people I didn't know, but I grieved for like I did. I can never forget the images of the pentagon burning, or the stories of heroism and tragedy.

I remember going to work that day, broken and unsure of what would happen in our nation. Tragedy had struck a mighty blow, but our nation would respond with characteristics that make this the greatest nation in all of history. We began to pray. I remember prayer meeting after prayer meeting as the church and those not of the body of Christ, began to call on God for healing, hope and wisdom for our leaders. We prayed for families we've never seen as they grieved with the tragedy of loved ones. Stories of Heroism by men and women who gave their lives at ground zero and in the air, flooded our eyes with tears and a passion to pray and continue on.

2 Chronicles 7:14 (New Living Translation)

14 Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land

We are facing a tragedy that requires no less of our time and no less of our prayers. This time no one will die and there will be no heroics. We probably wont shed a tear or be filled with passion and patriotism, but this is no less an important moment for the church to shine. This time instead of losing life, people could lose, houses, jobs, retirements and investments. Instead of going without fathers and mothers, children may have to go without food.

The tragedy we face is financial and it's time for the church to arise! 2 Chronicles is clear. If we, the church who are called, humble themselves and pray then God will restore our land. Our land needs restoration financially, morally and politically and it's time for us to humble ourselves and pray!

It would be so easy to bury our heads in the sand of entertainment, soccer practice, routine, work and everything else, but we need to look around and be aware of what's going on and do our part. The church has the key to changing this situation and it's through prayer.

From now until election day, go to prayer at 6am, noon, 6pm. If you cant make those times read this post for ideas on how you can participate in prayer.

It's time to arise and shine. It's time to pray. It's time to be an anchor of hope, love and faith for those without it. Our prayers are powerful and they will bring healing and restoration to our land.

The power of prayer pt 1

This Sunday we announced daily prayer times from now until 6pm on November 4th. Prayer at 6am, noon and 6pm. Pastor Jeff and the leaders of the church are asking everyone to pray at one of those times a day here at the church, or if there's no possible way for you to be here then where ever you are. We're talking once a day for less than a month, EVERYONE should do this. I want to show you the importance and power of prayer with a couple of stories.

Hull

In the 1860s over a million people were added to the church. United prayer seemed to be the spark. This is what happened in Hull:

"There were united daily prayer meetings in the port city of Kingston upon Hull, supported by the established church and the dissenting denominations. Numbers of people were unable to gain an entrance to the central meetings, and so, many places of worship were opened each evening for prayer. A monthly united prayer meeting attracted more than 3000. As usual a rising tide of evangelism followed, and campaigns were still crowding halls in 1865 to excess, necessitating the hiring of the circus, at which ministers of different denominations preached. Other very successful campaigns were carried on throughout the year 1865."

Wales 1904

The Welsh Revival started in 1904. It began as a movement of prayer. A key figure was a former coal miner, Evan Roberts, who was studying at Newcastle Emlyn College. He attended a campaign held by Seth Joshua, a Presbyterian evangelist, who prayed at the meeting, ‘O God, bend us.’ Roberts had responded with ‘O God, bend me.’ Following this he kept hearing a voice that told him to go home and speak to the young people in his home church. On his return to Loughor, his home town, his reluctant pastor allowed him to speak only at the end of a prayer meeting.

Roberts told them, ‘I have a message for you from God:

You must confess any known sin to God and put right any wrong done to others.
Second, you must put away any doubtful habit.
Third, you must obey the Spirit promptly.
Finally, you must confess your faith in Christ publicly.’

The response to his message was remarkable and following a series of meetings a break occurred and the movement spread rapidly over Wales: in five months a hundred thousand people were converted throughout the country. The revival had a widespread social impact.

Edinburgh 1905
Soon after the beginning of the Welsh Revival in 1904, a man called Joseph Kemp from Edinburgh went to Wales, where he spent a couple of weeks observing and experiencing the work and power of the Holy Spirit there. On his return he attended a large meeting in Charlotte Chapel. As he recounted his experiences there was an eager response to his story. A man asked for prayer and was the first of hundreds who became Christians during the subsequent revival in Charlotte Chapel. For a whole year prayer meetings were held, increasing in number and intensity, and characterised by passionate praying.

New York 1857-1860

In September 1857, a man of prayer, Jeremiah Lanphier, started a businessmen’s prayer meeting in the upper room of the Dutch Reformed Church Consistory Building in Manhattan. In response to his advertisement, only six people out of a population of a million showed up. But the following week there were fourteen, and then twenty-three when it was decided to meet everyday for prayer. By late winter they were filling the Dutch Reformed Church, then the Methodist Church on John Street, then Trinity Episcopal Church on Broadway at Wall Street. In February and March of 1858, every church and public hall in down town New York was filled. Horace Greeley, the famous editor, sent a reporter with horse and buggy racing round the prayer meetings to see how many men were praying. In one hour he could get to only twelve meetings, but he counted 6,100 men attending.

Then a landslide of prayer began, which overflowed to the churches in the evenings. People began to be converted, ten thousand a week in New York City alone. The movement spread throughout New England, the church bells bringing people to prayer at eight in the morning, twelve noon, and six in the evening. The revival raced up the Hudson and down the Mohawk, where the Baptists, for example, had so many people to baptize that they went down to the river, cut a big hole in the ice, and baptized them in the cold water. When Baptists do that they are really on fire!

Here are four major moves of God and they all had one thing in common... prayer. Now is not the time for us to shrink back as the body of Christ. It's time for us to rise up! We are facing one of the worst financial disaster our nation has ever seen. We're also facing the most important presidential election in our lifetime, as well as, we are still engaged in a war for freedom. It's time to pray. It's time to call on God to move like He did in the above "revivals."

We cannot afford to live life like normal in this time. Everything people have put their trust in, economy, job, government, homes, 401k's, investments, are crumbling and now is the time for us to show them who to truly trust and that is Jesus Christ. He is the same yesterday, today and forever and he is well able to take care of us in any situation.

It's time to pray church! Let the church arise! It's going to take sacrifice on your part, but your sacrifice may be the very thing that brings thousands to salvation. It may be the very thing that heals our land (see 2 Chronicles 7:14). I personally am fasting lunches from now until November 4th to spend my 30 minute lunch praying. Here's some ideas of what you can do:

• Students - find a classroom and pray with other students during lunch.
  
• Families - Instead of family dinner or TV at the 6pm hour for less than a month. Bring the whole family to the church and pray. What better example could you show your children than to humble yourself and pray for others?
• Individuals - Find a time 6am, noon, 6pm to pray. If one of those times don't work, fast lunches, get up early, pray the whole way home. Don't miss out.
• Families - If you cant make it down, dedicate a room of the house until November as a prayer room. At one of those times, come together and pray.

It's time to act church! We need to make the sacrifices to pray for our nation during this time. As you implement different strategies, send a message to Pastor Jeff and let him know how you are doing your part in prayer during this season. Together we can turn the state of our nation through prayer!

September to October reading plan

Date Daily Word Daily Prayer
9/18/2008 Matthew 1-3 God use me to show others that Jesus is the Son of God.
9/19/2008 Matthew 4-5 God open my eyes and heart to follow your Word.
9/20/2008 Matthew 6-7 God create in me a clean heart that is for you and that trusts in you.
9/21/2008 Matthew 8-9 God fill me with faith and use me and others around me to reach my city.
9/22/2008 Matthew 10-11 God send me to my friends, my peers, and my school.
9/23/2008 Matthew 12 God show me the authority and power I have in your Son Jesus.
9/24/2008 Matthew 13 See you at and after the pole. Pray for this day.
9/25/2008 Matthew 14-15 Show me what to give and give me the strength to give it.
9/26/2008 Matthew 16-17 Lord reveal yourself to me. Let me know you more.
9/27/2008 Matthew 18-19 Lord help me to give you everything. Even the things and areas of my life I don’t want to.
9/28/2008 Matthew 20-21 Lord MAKE ME a servant you can use.
9/29/2008 Matthew 22 God I give you everything I am.
9/30/2008 Matthew 23-24 Help me to recognize the signs around me and hear what you are saying.
10/1/2008 Matthew 25 Lord I offer my time, talent and treasure to you. Use them to build your kingdom.
10/2/2008 Matthew 26 Lord I receive what you did for me on the cross.
10/3/2008 Matthew 27 Let it be finished in my life. Pray for anything that needs to be finished.
10/4/2008 Matthew 28; Mark 1 God I will go. Open doors for me to speak to my friends.
10/5/2008 Mark 2-3 Pray for your leaders today. Pray for strength and blessing for their lives
10/6/2008 Mark 4-5 Ask for boldness and then take the step to reach someone.
10/7/2008 Mark 6 Lord give me a proper perspective on suffering.
10/8/2008 Mark7-8 Purify my heart, so out of me will flow rivers of living water.
10/9/2008 Mark 9 Fill me with faith to do the impossible.
10/10/2008 Mark 10-11 Show me areas where I'm sinning and I ask for forgiveness.
10/11/2008 Mark 12 God show me anything that I love more than you!
10/12/2008 Mark 13-14 God give me a willing heart to worship you no matter the cost.
10/13/2008 Mark 15 Lord let me be in your presence everyday!
10/14/2008 Mark 16 Lord give me the faith to believe for miracles and let me see them come to pass.
10/15/2008 Luke 1 God make me strong in the Word, Prayer and faith!
10/16/2008 Luke 2-3 Lord give me wisdom!
10/17/2008 Luke 4 Give me such a burden for my generation that I must tell them.

A burden of prayer

What tears you up inside? When you see something and it causes you to get a little angry and it breaks your heart you have a burden for that situation. Maybe when you see a fatherless child struggle to find self worth and identity it breaks you. Maybe is a sick person, or a poor person. Whatever it is we all have burdens that God has placed on our hearts so that we will help those in need.

Matthew 11:30 promises that the burdens God gives us are easy and light. Even though something tears us up inside we are not crushed by it. That is how we know it is a Godly burden and not something placed there by man.

We ought to have a burden for our generation, for those who have no faith, for vision, revival, the broken, the poor, the hurting and our city. Jesus had a burden for all of these people/things and more. We need a burden for these to pray for them to be fulfilled.

A burden of prayer is what it will take to see God move in our city. When His people pray, He listens and God is quick to answer. All throughout the psalms we find the word prayer and cry used together. Each of the psalmists cried out to God for Him to do the impossible in their lives. It was a burden of prayer.

We too need a cry, burden for our generation. 2 Chronicles 7:14 tells us that if we will humble ourselves and pray, God will hears us and restore our land! We are in need of restoration and salvation in our land and it will only come through the burden of prayer.

Go to God and ask Him for a burden to pray for the above things and when you receive it be faithful to cry out to Him. He will do the impossible through your prayers!

Prayer: God give me a burden to pray for vision, my generation, and revival.

A life of prayer

"Never stop praying" 1 Thessalonians 5:17. Prayer is not something you do to fulfill some righteous holy check list for God, your pastor or anyone else. Prayer is a lifestyle. Prayer should be a daily appointment with God that kicks things off followed up with a whole day spent being mindful of the things of God, praying to him and thanking him at every moment you get.

When you read through the New Testament you find that beginning with Jesus and continuing through all the disciples and apostles they didn't pray, they lived a life of prayer. Jesus often withdrew by himself to spend all night in prayer.

Peter, James, John and Paul all spent countless hours praying. Prayer is the key to unlocking God's grace in your life to do extraordinary exploits. Prayer unlocks the supernatural and makes the way for you to walk in the power of God.

If you will devote your life to prayer, you will overcome and walk in power. How do you live a life of prayer?

Here are some ways:

• Pray in the car.
• Pray in the shower.
• Pray while you are doing menial tasks that take no brain power.
• Pray in the Spirit.
• Pray before every meal.
• Pray before going to bed.
• Pray for people when they are sick, depressed, going through difficulties...
• Pray when situations arise that would cause you to freak out or worry.
• When in doubt... pray.

Don't just pray. Live a life of prayer!

Prayer: Lord I don’t just want to pray, but live a life of prayer!

Teach us how to pray

The disciples came to Jesus at one point in the Gospel and asked Him to teach them how to pray. From this passage we have what is called the Lord's prayer. This is not a specific prayer we memorize and pray over and over, but rather the format for prayer. Here is how you pray:

Matthew 6:9-13 NLT:

"Pray like this:

Our Father In heaven, may your name be kept holy.
May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us today the food we need,
And forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
And don't let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one."

Begin with praise! Our father in heaven, may your name kept holy. Don't begin your daily prayer with repentance or asking God for your needs. Praise Him! Tell Him how much you love Him and need Him. Psalm 100:4,5 says enter with thanksgiving and praise. Begin with praise.

Ask for God's will to be done in your life, school, church, pastors, friends, family. "May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done..." Pray for God's will to be done in your life. Ask Him to reveal His will to you and let Him know you are willing to do His will.

Ask for your daily needs. "Give us today the food we need." Ask for love, joy, peace, finances, faith, strength, favor, grace, friendships and on and on and on. Now it's time to let your request be made known to God.

Ask for forgiveness. "And forgive our sins, as we have forgiven..." Ask God to forgive you of everything you did wrong since the last time you repented. Say out loud that you forgive others around you that have hurt or wronged you. Now is the time for repentance.

Ask for strength and protection. "And don't let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one." Ask God to keep you from temptation. Speak out loud that you crucify the flesh and that you walk in the Spirit. Pray for protection and deliverance.

End with praise. Finish your prayer with praise again. Thank God for doing these things in your life. Praise Him again and go out with a heart of thanksgiving and praise!

Prayer: Jesus teach me how to pray. I want to pray powerful and effective prayers like you did!

I heard a teaching on this long ago and cannot remember who I learned this from and therefore cannot give proper credit. However since that time I have come upon what is called a "Rhema Card" written by Pastor Wendell Smith of The City Church. He has one called the Daily Prayer card which helps you pray through this. You can purchase one of these here. I use this in my prayer life and want to give him the credit for the above teaching.

Hunger and Thirst

All throughout scripture God promises to fill, satisfy and feed those that are hungry and thirsty. Spending time in prayer and the Word is about getting to know God and getting filled with His presence, therefore we need to be hungry and thirsty for the Word, prayer, and his presence.

Psalm 42:2 says my soul thirsts for God. When can I get into his presence? This is the place we need to get to. When we are so hungry and thirsty that we cannot wait to get in the Word or get in prayer or get into God's presence we will be filled!

When someone is recovering from an eating disorder where they don't eat food they have to force themselves to eat because they have lost the ability to be hungry. After forcing themselves to eat for a while their body begins to crave food again and the hunger returns.

This same principle applies to our spiritual lives. We've gone so long without a regular diet of prayer and the Word we no longer crave it, we've lost our hunger. If we will force ourselves to read the Word and pray eventually we will crave it, our hunger will return and we wont find it so hard to seek after God!

You need a hunger and thirst for the living God. Make yourself read and pray and watch a hunger for the living God grow in your life!

Prayer: Father place a hunger and a thirst for your Word and prayer inside of me.

Everyday no exceptions!

If you had a choice between eating a meal and spending time in prayer and the Word what would you choose? If you thought or said the Word or prayer repent because you are lying! I'm just kidding maybe you really feel that way, but most people do not and that is natural. When faced with TV, food, internet, talking on the phone and every other thing there is to do most people choose these things over spending time in prayer and the Word.

This is the natural choices many people make, but if you want to walk in the supernatural seeing God use you to change your world you've got to make supernatural choices. That choice is everyday no exceptions I will spend time in prayer and the Word. All of us can carve out 15 to 20 minutes a day to spend time in prayer and the Word, the choice is ours.

The bible tells us that Job treasured the Word of God more than the food he ate everyday. He made a supernatural choice and as a result he saw supernatural blessing and increase. The Word tells us that man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes out of God's mouth! (Matthew 4:4) In order to walk in the supernatural we've got to live off of the words from God's mouth.

Our natural tendency is to allow life to distract us from God's presence and the Word. In order to walk in the supernatural we've got to make the hard choices. Everyday no exceptions is a hard choice that will cost us some natural things, but in the end the harvest of the supernatural will far out weigh anything we give up.

This summer I've chosen to fast TV for our 93 days of devotion. This elimination of a natural thing has allowed me the time to add the supernatural. With this void I've been able to read the Word and spend hours more in prayer and my life has never been better.

I want you to consider giving up something natural to make room for the supernatural. Make the choice today when it comes to spending time in the word and prayer, everyday no exceptions!

Possessed by Purity

We are all possessed! You're possessed, I'm possessed, your momma is possessed, your daddy is possessed, everyone of us is possessed.

Dictionary.com defines the word possessed as:

1. To have as property; own.
2. To have as a quality, characteristic, or other attribute: possessed great tact.
3. To acquire mastery of or have knowledge of: possess valuable data.
To gain or exert influence or control over; dominate: Fury possessed me.
To control or maintain (one's nature) in a particular condition: I possessed my
temper despite the insult.

4. To cause to own, hold, or master something, such as property or knowledge.
5. To cause to be influenced or controlled, as by an idea or emotion.

We are all possessed by either the flesh or the Father. Either our flesh has property and ownership, it gains or exerts influence or control over our lives and dominates us, or the Father does.

If we are possessed (owned) by the flesh we will fulfill or walk according to the lust of our flesh (Gal 5:16).

If we are possessed (owned) by the Father we will fulfill or walk according to the spirit (Gal 5:16)

It's our choice to be owned by the flesh or the father. Look to Psalm 51:10 for a prayer to begin the shift from flesh to father. (It's not a bad idea to pray the whole thing over your life either.)

To maintain this ownership of the Father pray Psalm 139:23 over your life. Pray these prayers and watch your life become possessed by purity!

The ditches of prayer and the Word

I don’t know about you but I can tend to be an extremist. When I find a hobby I like I go to the extreme in that hobby and pursue only that hobby leaving my previous hobbies left to mourn my absence. When it comes to my times with God I have found the same to be true. I go through seasons where I am very Word focused and all of my time is spent reading the Word and times where I am prayer focused and all of my time is spent in prayer and recently God has been showing me that a balance is necessary.

Picture with me if you will that you are walking down a road. This road represents your spiritual journey. The easiest and quickest route is in the middle of the road. This is because it is the healthiest place for you to be. On either side of the road are two ditches. One ditch is the Word the other is prayer. (I cannot believe I am referring to the Word and prayer as a ditch, but go with me). It is extremely easy to find yourself only focusing on one and ending up in a ditch. While it may be the best ditch you’ve ever been in it still slows you down spiritually and creates an unbalanced spiritual diet.

In John 7:37-39 Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the Water we drink when we find ourselves thirsting. The Holy Spirit is the water. Psalms 16:11 says that in God’s presence is fullness of Joy and Nehemiah 8:10 says the joy of the Lord is our strength. This means when we are weak we get into God’s presence, drink of the water, and get filled with joy and that joy becomes strength to us.

In John 6:35 and 48 Jesus says that He is the bread of life. Earlier in the book of John in the first chapter it says that Jesus is the word in flesh. Matthew 4:4 tells us not to live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God (the Bible). All this tells us that the Word is our bread. When we read the word we stand in authority. Jesus used the Word to repel the devils temptation. When we read the Word we also receive faith Romans 10:17.

What does all this mean? Our natural bodies need both bread (food) and water to survive. If we only drink water we will become weak and eventually die and if we only eat bread the same fate awaits us. Spiritually if we only read the bible and leave no time for prayer or vice versa we will become spiritually weak and struggle to survive spiritually. Reading only the Word and not taking the time to pray leaves you in a thirsty place with little or no joy and grace. Praying only and not reading the Word leaves you in a place with little or no faith and authority. We need both. If you find yourself in a place lacking strength, joy, authority, faith, grace, evaluate your water and bread intake, get in the middle of the road and run faster than you’ve ever run before.