The Prayer Net

As we enter 2010, we at Church of the Blue Ridge are aiming for a two-pronged attack for the Kingdom of God. First, we want this to be the year of the Bible encouraging everyone to read through the Bible or through the New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs. If you do not have a reading plan please call me at 540-241 3305 or email me at wcritzer@ntelos.net. Secondly we believe that the Lord is calling us to a new commitment to prayer, prayer that will be bring about positive change for our families, our churches, our nation, and our world.

We will unite our prayer focus on a weekly and daily plan so we will be on the same page with a lot of our Prayer Focus. I will email out on Fridays the prayer thoughts for the coming week and will have them in hard copy form by Sunday. The prayer week will run from Monday to Sunday for each week. For the first several weeks I will send "The Prayer Net" to everyone whose email address I have. After that you will need to sign up either by calling me or emailing me.

Several years ago I ran into a book by Terry Terkyl "Blueprint for the House of Prayer". This material challenged me to prayer in a greater way than I had ever been challenged. As about 15 of us went through the book over a 4 month period, we saw such positive changes in our own lives, in the church and in the community. I am not going to ask you to promise to pray an hour a day or even 30 minutes. I will ask for 5 minutes. If you have not been running and I asked you to go out in the morning and run for an hour, you get the point. If you have been praying for an hour a day keep on you are already in pretty good shape.

LET'S PRAY

The Prayer Net (week 26)

June 28- July 4, 2010

This is our final week of our prayer series in our Memorial Day to the 4^th of July session.  However it will not be the end of praying for our nation.  I am sorry I missed last week’s prayer guide… first I was late getting it written and then I had computer problems.  (If I can grab a line from the culture, “It was the guy who made the computer who caused the problem” certainly not me…)

If I were to ask you to list some of our American heroes you would probably give me names like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, or perhaps a more recent name like Ronald Reagan.  This week I want us to look at a different set of men and women who really shaped America.  As we look at these true heroes, I hope it will guide our prayer lives and emphasize the point that we need to pray fervently for God will raise up more men and women of like mind and godly character.

Whenever a nation or an individual comes to power and turns a culture in another direction it is not usually the people we see out front but the people who are behind the scenes that bring about that positive change.  There will never be any positive change in America until the hearts of her people change.  We can elect new people to do the same things that the previous ones did or we can work to change the hearts of people so they begin a change in the society which will then lead to a change in the government.

As we pray together this week and and celebrate July 4^th together, I hope we will get a new picture of what has really made America great and that we will look ahead at what we need to pray for to bring us to where we need to be.  Remember to join us at CBR on July 3rd for music, food, fireworks, and more.  It all starts at 6:00 PM.

This is history from a Christian perspective; I will label it as such.  There are always two views of history the Christian view and the secular view, one can choose the one they’d like to believe.  Just because someone says they are Christian does not mean they accept Christian history.  So… here are my heroes and you can add your own.  If these are the heroes of America then let’s ask God to raise up many more like them!

Monday June 28

Twenty five years after Columbus discovered America, the Protestant Reformation began in Europe.  When Martin Luther objected to the Roman Catholic way of doing business and called for revival in the land, it caused a great upheaval in the church.  There was a revival to Biblical Christianity.  Many people began to read their Bible which caused unrest in Europe and persecution of those who wanted to follow Jesus with all of their heart.  This produced unrest in people and a yearning for freedom to worship and evangelize others.  Hence many of those who came to America came to worship Jesus Christ and to tell the Indians about Christ.  Martin Luther and John Calvin were not aware they were helping to shape America, but they sure played a major roll in who would come here and why they would come.  Martin Luther said: “I have so much to do today, there is no way I can accomplish it unless I spend the first 2 hours in prayer.”

Tuesday June 29

The American Colonies were growing from a small group of God fearing people into a rather prosperous society. But as often happens in the good times people forget about God.  Many church “members” were not converted and even many “preachers” were not born again.  Most churches did not preach the gospel.  Although there were some who did there was no spiritual zeal in the church.  In New England where Christianity was the strongest in the beginning because of the Puritan influence, they now practiced “the half way covenant”. For example… you could now be a church member because your parents were, even though you were not born again.  Then along comes Jonathan Edwards and his famous sermon ‘Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God’

Edward preached 3 major points in all of his sermons; 1. the holiness of God, 2. the total depravity of man, and 3. the necessity of personal salvation. 

Oh God restore the message and raise up Jonathan Edward types in our day…

Wednesday June 30

This period in American history is known as, The Great Awakening.  With men like George Whitefield and John and Charles Wesley, revival came to America.  As these men preached, thousands of sinners were converted, believers were revived, and many new churches were founded.  Lives were changed, music became important in worship, there was a new desire to help the poor and the suffering, and preachers preached against slavery.  This awakening laid the groundwork for the formation of the United States in 1776 and the writing of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.  This Christian preaching influenced our founders and formed the basis for our country.

Thursday July 1

Another period of prosperity followed and produced a dead declining church again. But a second second great awaking is on the horizon.  With preachers like Charles Finney and the Methodist circuit riders, revival was spreading throughout America. Finney’s message was man’s guilt before God and his need to accept Jesus Christ.  He also called those whose walk with God had become cold, to rededicate their lives to the Lord.  Over 500,000 people came to the Lord through Finney’s ministry.

Friday July 2

During this same period many black pastors came forward preaching the gospel with Great power.  Men like Richard Allen who started the African Methodist Episcopal Church.  The Negro Spiritual was birthed during this period and is recognized as America’s greatest contribution to music.  The history of the African Americans is a testimony of standing for Christ in the middle of adversity.

Saturday, July 3

In the late 1800’s, D L Moody became perhaps the best known evangelist.  He and many others traveled and proclaimed Christ as the only hope for man.  This was also the time when American Christians began to think about missions and taking the gospel to other parts of the world.  I agree with Pastor Jim Hardwick, who says, God has been so merciful to America, perhaps because of our support for missions around the world.

Sunday, July 4

Happy 4^th of July!  On this day give thanks for the person or people who led you to Christ.  Ask God to show you how there were many prayers that were prayed behind the scenes for you.  Include them in your thanksgiving also. 

I read a lot of my Christian History in the Abeka 8^th grade “America Land I Love’ from a Christian Perspective. It’s accurate and well written.  Remember, when people change… government will also!

The Prayer Net (week 23)

June 7-13, 3010

If you keep up with the news, and I hope you do that a little bit, you are quite aware that we face some major problems in our nation.  Last Sunday I preached about the children of Israel crossing the Jordan River after God miraculously parted the waters and they walked across on dry land.  Then the Lord commands Joshua to have 12 men carry 12 large stones from the bottom of Jordan to set them up at the site of their camp for that night.  These stones were to be a memorial for all generations so they could tell their children all that God had done in bringing them out of Egypt and into the promise land.

Joshua 4:21-24  

Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying: "When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, 'What are these stones?'  "then you shall let your children know, saying, 'Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land'  "for the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over,  "that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever."

 There is a great message in these memorial stones for us today.  Regardless of your interest in history or your interest in politics, there is one major similarity between the children of Israel and the United States.  God has blessed our nation in so many ways throughout its history.  Yet we, like Israel, have either forgotten what the Lord has done or we have come to the place where we think we don't need Him anymore. 

If we have forgotten; it is because we have failed to make it the number one priority to teach our kids all that the Lord has done.  Many Christians have taken their kids to Sunday school and church and considered it adequate for a Christian foundation.  But we've watched these children grow up and see the church as irrelevant or believe that they can be Christians without believing: that all, of the Bible is absolutely true.

If we have come to the place where we feel we don't need God anymore, then we are in pitiful shape indeed.  I don't want to assume our kids don't believe they need God to get to heaven, but many believe they or we don't need him now.  After all, with our engineers, we can design and build a bridge to cross the river.  With our education and knowledge we can solve whatever problems come along.  With our wealth we can pay for whatever we need.  With our healthcare system we can cure all disease.  With all of the information that is available to us and the speed at which we can get it, there is nothing we can't fix.

We should be able to stop all wars. 

How ridicules all of these ideas are!

After the last big earthquake in California one of the major political leaders in that state said we need to build bridges and buildings that are so strong that no earthquake can bring them down.

Something is missing here; I think you would agree.there are a few problems we can't solve yet.  In spite of spending 1/6 of all money in our economy on health care, we still have sick people.

There is an oil leak we can't stop or clean up.

We are in conflict in Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, and Korea and many other places as well. even most homes in America are in conflict.  It seems like we may be running out of money, food, clean water etc.  Just turn on the TV for a few minutes or listen to your neighbor and you will find that we still God to miraculously part the waters for us.  It is time to come to the Memorial stones and be reminded, the only reason we ever came to this place was by God's grace and His mighty hand at work in our lives.  The only way we will continue is to depend completely on God's grace and His power. 

Monday June 7

You can probably tell by now I have a great interest in Christian Education.  If it is Home School or Christian School it must be focused completely on the absolute truth of God and His Word.   I hear people fuss about our kids and what they have come to be like; wrong, all of these kids had parents who were responsible for training them.  Today let's begin with the heart of all education.  Let's pray for our parents, that they will have the strength to make hard choices and stand against the flow of the world.  Pray that they will recognize that their children were a gift from God to them not to the government.

Tuesday June 8

Pray for all the Christian Schools you know of, especially Afton Christian School.  Pray that the Lord will keep us focused on Him, give us the resources to operate, bless our teachers and staff, and keep us safe.  Pray that our goal will always be to turn out young men and women who are strong in the faith and are ready to go into the world as mountain movers for the Kingdom of God.

Wednesday June 9

Pray for all those Christian parents who decide to home school their children.  Bless them and give them great strength to raise their children to love and serve the Lord.

Help them to arrange their time to cover the many tasks that must be covered and still have fun.

Thursday June 10

Pray for our public schools, that even though Jesus is not allowed there. that He might be there in grace and power.  Pray for the Christians who are there that their influence might be strong.  Ask God to protect the children, physically from any hurt or harm, emotionally from and lies and destructive philosophies that would lead them away from the truth, and spiritually that they would be protected from the darkness of this present age.

Friday June 11

Pray for the minds of our children.  The battle rages, the devil wants our children's minds.  He goes after it through false education ideas, books, video games, movies and TV.  God wants your children's minds. He uses some of the same sources, but it must be based on the Word of God.

Sat June 12

Pray against the powers of darkness in our government run schools.  Everyone who goes there and works there is not evil.  There are a group of very evil people who have a plan to control the world and destroy the Name of Jesus while going after the minds of our kids.

Sunday June 13

Pray that your church would be totally committed to Christian Education.  I know a lot of good Christian teachers in Public Schools; pray that they be good Christian teachers in a Christian School, or a helper to Home Schoolers.  Ask your church about starting a school or helping and encouraging home school.

The Prayer Net (week 22)

May 30 - June 6, 2010

Sunday, May 23 was Pentecost Sunday.  We were not sure what the Holy Spirit would do, but we were anxious to see. 

When we called for prayer time there were more than 20 people who came for prayer or requested someone else to stand in for them.  I am including those names so we can continue to pray for them as we trust the Lord to complete his work.

Gary and Debbie Beaver: (extended illness)

Lucy Howe's granddaughter, Georgia and her husband: (he is in Iraq, should be coming home soon -  Georgia is getting ready to have a baby any time)

Billy Watson: (pancreatic cancer)

Lamar family and Colleen Lamar:(family member killed in Afghanistan)

Kristy Haney: (MRI on her back)

Carter Ward: (infant with kidney problems)

Tim Scovill: (stroke)

Whitney: (his foot and leg)

Jimmy and Margie Brookshire: (health issues)

Mary Gray: (Melvin Thacker's friend)--pancreatic cancer

Ron Baker, (from the prison ministry) asked that we pray for:

            Kim (who was in a bad car accident)

And Mary Jane, the mother of Kim-to give her strength/guidance in dealing with her daughter and the accident

Charles Eddie: (Ron said he was supposed to be at our church today)

Claire DeLaura's Mother -(having surgery Monday and for her general health)

John and Jo Anne Lindner requested that we pray for:

Jeanne-employment decisions

and her granddaughter Rebekah health problems

Roxie's request.(the Dameron family - death in the family)

Peter, Hanri and family traveling to and from Turkey

DeLaura family-traveling to Turkey

Matthew McAllister's Mission trip to London

Others came for prayer that there would be more of the Lord in their lives and that the Holy Spirit would have His way in them.

Thanks to everyone for your obedience to the Spirit and your belief in the power of prayer.

Monday, May 31

It's Memorial Day and I hope you have a blessed day.  Memorial Day is a special day to honor those who have given their lives in service for our country.  We can thank the Lord for every man and woman who has stood in defense of our nation to protect its freedom.  Make sure you pray for by name those who you know who have served our country faithfully.  We are thankful for those who served in the past and for those who serve now in Iraq, Afganistan, and other places to defend our freedom.  Dear God continue to protect us from our enemies.

Tuesday June 1

We have a day in November when we pray for the persecuted church, but to my knowledge we do not have a day to honor the martyrs of the faith.  Throughout history many have been killed in the most brutal ways for standing firm in their faith in Jesus Christ. There are more Christian Martyrs today than at any time in history.  The news does not cover this (or at best they might say that 10,000 Christian were killed last month somewhere) and seems to rush on to the sports report.  These people are very important to the Lord and in fact they receive special honor in heaven for their standing firm for Christ.  Read Rev.6.  I don't have any power or authority, but if I did I would proclaim June 1 as a day to honor those who have been martyred for the Christian Faith.  I believe it would be a great incentive for us and our children to remember our heroes of the faith.

Wednesday June 2

Let's pray today for our United State Supreme Court.  These men and women have great power in deciding the direction of our nation and its people.  They are the voice of authority in our land.  What they decide sets the direction of what is right and what in wrong in our society.  Let's pray that they will judge rightly, will recognize that all authority comes from God, that they will be committed to the Scriptures and base their decisions on the Word of God.  And finally that they will make the judgments based on the Constitution rather than on a precedent from the past that may be right or wrong.

Thursday June 3

Read I Thessalonians 5.  Sometime as we pray for those who minister in the name of Christ, we forget the most obvious one.  We forget to pray for ourselves.  As you read this chapter pray that the Holy Spirit would do all of these things in my life and that I would be faithful to Him always.

Friday June 4

Pray for our law enforcement people.  They give of themselves daily, sometimes in very dangerous situations to protect us.  They and their families need our prayers for safety and wisdom.  If you see a policeman today tell him you are praying for him and his family.  If he just gave you a ticket tell him anyway.

Saturday June 5

Thank God for the access we have to the Holy Scriptures.  Most of us have many copies of the Bible in our homes.  There are places in the world where they do not have Bibles and they earnestly desire them.  I have always been touched by the testimonies of believers tearing pages from the one Bible they shared and passing them out, and then next week swapping pages.  Lord, bless those who translate, print, and distribute Bibles around the world.

Sunday June 6

Pray for your church, its pastor, worship team, teachers of children and adults.  Pray that the Holy Spirit would work mightily in your church to draw people to Christ.  Pray against every hindrance to the Gospel message.  Do it again Lord, just like you did it in the book of Acts.

The Prayer Net (Week 21)

May 24-30, 2010

Thanks for praying with us through the Pentecost Season.  We want to continue to pray that the Holy Spirit will be evident in power in everything we do and say.  We must always remember that the Holy Spirit works as the anointing upon the Word of God.  If you lose contact with what the Spirit is doing always go back to the Word and follow it.

For the next 42 days from Memorial Day to 4^th of July, I want to concentrate on praying for our nation.  We will look at our Christian Heritage and reflect on where we are now and where we are headed.  Our theme verse will be II Ch 7:14. "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land."

Needless to say our nation surely needs prayer.  We want to pray for our political leaders, and we will do that.  Primarily we want to pray for our Christian leaders.  The future of America depends on where we go and who we put our trust in.  What should we pray for when we pray for our leaders?   

1Tim 2:1-8

Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.

For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle--I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying--a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

Paul in writing to Timothy is very specific in what to pray for when we pray for our political leaders.  Pray for everybody, especially kings and all in authority, that we may have a quiet and peaceable life, also that we may live in godliness and reverence.   Then Paul states the purpose of all that prayer is to see that all men be saved.

Monday May 24

Whenever we think of praying for our nation the first person that comes to mind is our president.  So let's begin there.  Lord, I pray for President Obama, bless him and his family.  Surround him with godly counsel so that he will make decisions that will favor our being able to proclaim the truth of the Gospel.  May he have a respect for the absolute truth of the Word of God and may it be his guide in providing leadership for this nation and its people.

Tuesday May 25

Now let's pray for one of the spiritual leaders.  I will not get into a debate with you on who are the most prominent Christian leaders, main reason being there is great agreement and respect between Christian leaders because they have a common goal, to see the lost come to Christ.  Let's start with Chuck Colson, one of the organizers of the Manhattan Declaration.  Pray for him his co-workers and his desire to advance the Gospel around the world.

Wednesday May 26

In praying for our nation, one of the first groups that desperately need our prayers is the news media.  The news media is the most powerful group in our country in bringing about change (good or bad).  TV, newsprint, and radio influence our nation by driving its people in a certain direction then that drives our leaders.  Your news may be slanted or it may be fair and balanced, it still is not telling you what is really happening.  Get some news from a Christian perspective. The internet is a great source for that, but be careful.  Talk about issues that are important to Christians, not what is on the world news tonight.  The Manhattan Declaration, which we will talk more about in coming weeks, is a great place to begin.  This declaration gives a list of things that are worth dying for.  You can go to "The Manhattan Declaration and read it and sign it, if you are convinced that these are issue for which you are willing to go to jail for in stating your strong support of.  Lord, give us ears to hear the truth and only the truth and respond accordingly.

Thursday May 27

Pray for the 100 member United States Senate and its leader Senator Harry Reid.  Pray for our two senators from Virginia, Mark Warner and Jim Webb.  Pray that God would bless them and protect them and their families.  Pray that they would know that which is man's responsibility and what can only be fixed by the power of the Holy Spirit.  May they be blessed with divine wisdom.

Friday May 28

Pray for the United States House of Representatives and its Speaker Nancy Pelosi.  Pray for your local representative, for most of us in this area it is Tom Perrielo, that they would be blessed by the Lord and have the courage to be true to their convictions to do the right thing.  May they get the picture that political correctness is not important but that doing the will of the true and living God is all that matters.  Pray that our congress would not pass any laws that would limit in anyway the preaching of the Gospel and lifting up the Name of Jesus Christ as mans only hope for salvation.

Saturday May 29

Pray for Franklin Graham, that he would be blessed and have the anointing to remain true to his conviction that Jesus is the only way to God.  Bless him and his family.  Be with him as he preaches all over the world, for his help to the needy, for his hospitals and many acts of mercy.  May his example of speaking the truth in love be a motivation to all of us to do the same.

Sunday May 30

Pray for your pastor or pastors.  Bless them and their families, protect them, give them the boldness to stand firm and true to the Word of God and to the Name of Jesus.  Terry Tekyl, whom we talked a lot about in our last session, wrote a book: "Preyed on or Prayed For", in which he describes the weakness of the church in America, being caused by the fact that most pastors are preyed on (put down) rather than being prayed for.  I thank the Lord for a body of believers at CBR that do pray for Jim, Danny, I and all the elders!

The Prayer Net (Week 20)

May 17-23, 2010

Pentecost Sunday is one week away.  On the 23rd of May we will celebrate Pentecost, which is celebrated by churches world-wide, 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus.  (This is because after Christ rose from the dead, He appeared to His followers for 40 days, and then ascended to Heaven. For the next 10 days the disciples prayed and waited. and then came Pentecost.the outpouring of the Holy Spirit!)

(Acts1:1-5)

The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,  until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.  And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; "for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.

I have often thought about those 10 days with the 120 assembled in the upper room and what it must have been like.  I would imagine there would have been a lot of praying, a lot of seeking the face of God, and a lot of reflection on past events.  Questions like, "I wish I had asked Jesus for more details about what is going to happen?  How are we really going to know "this Promise" He told us about has really arrived?  What are we to do next?"  I can also hear the comments; "There is no way this can continue without Jesus being here on earth.  There is a poor crippled beggar who sets at the Temple gate ever day, I wish we had brought him to Jesus before He ascended.  There are so many who do not believe, if they had only heard Jesus and responded to Him in faith."

(Acts 2:1-4)

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.  And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Ten days of prayer for 120 people in the same room and now they are in one accord, complete agreement...  That is amazing!  I believe there is a great message in this for us.  The message is, that what we need, is more praying. especially more praying together.  I believe God wants to do a mighty work in our day. 

Christianity is under attack on all fronts.  Sometimes it seems that the primary purpose of our government is to help send as many people to hell as it possibly can.  But the problem is not the government, the problem is that our government's leaders have been trained in a system that is anti- Christian. They do not see Jesus as important in people's lives.  We know.it is not about forcing a certain religion on someone, it is about all of us needing the power of God, in the Name of Jesus, through the presence of the Holy Spirit to solve our problems.  Problems like stopping a busted oil well from spilling into the water, the financial crisis, terrorism, health issues, hatred, and violence. (These are matters for prayer because they require the intervention of God)  The government does not know how to pray, so the task is left to us. the church. 

A group of us representing various area churches gathered at Rhodes Church on May 6^th for National Day of Prayer, and as I looked around that room I was impressed by God, that this is where it is really happening.  More positive things were accomplished in that prayer meeting of 35 people than all the meetings in Washington DC on that day.  They may have made changes. but any changes without Christ are only temporary and in the end will only lead to destruction and death.

It is my strong desire to see that in this last week leading up to Pentecost, there will be a mighty move of the Holy Spirit. many will be saved healed and set free.  But, most importantly, that all of us, especially me, will be moved to a new level of commitment to prayer in order to see God's plans manifested in our midst.

Beginning next week, from Memorial Day to July 4^th, we will concentrate and reflect upon our Godly Heritage and praying for our nation.  This week I would like to ask you to read the scriptures, and pray. "PRAY, DO IT AGAIN, LORD!!!. Call one person each day invite them to church Sunday.  Danny McAllister will be preaching at CBR on Pentecost Sunday May 23^rd.  At the end of service we will invite people to come forward for prayer for the needs in their lives.

Also if you have not already heard, Danny will also be leading the 13 week series by Dave Ramsey on Financial Peace.  It is very important for all of us to take hold of our finances rather than having them take hold of us.  Rosemary and I went through it last year and we are looking forward to doing it again.

You can reach Danny at 540-456- 6846. 

Preview night is Tuesday May 26 at 7:00pm. This free preview is open to all. Classes begin June 1^st.

Let's Pray!

Monday May 17

Read Acts 2.

Tuesday May 18

Read Acts 3.

Wednesday May 19

Read Acts 4.

Thursday May 20

Read Acts 8.

Friday May 21

Read Acts 9.

Saturday May 22

Read Acts. 10.

Sunday May 23

Read Acts 12.  It is Pentecost Sunday.  Do it again, Lord!

.

The Prayer Net (Week 18)

May 3 - May 9, 2010

We are beginning week 5 of our 50 days of prayer, praying towards Pentecost Sunday.  Can you believe 28 days have passed since we celebrated the resurrection on Easter Sunday?  Now we are trusting God to move mightily by the spirit to bring about many salvations during the coming weeks.  Continue to be fervent in prayer for the lost.  Pray that the Holy Spirit will convict of sin and convince that Jesus is man's only hope.  Pray that we might feel the urgency of the hour and realize that man's days are numbered and anyone dying without Christ is lost for all eternity.

The Lord has impressed upon me recently to pray against deceiving spirits, especially that deceiving spirit that tells people they are OK with God, when they are really a million miles off course.  Some have believed the lie that they can say they believe in God and have set up their own belief system by what they think even though it is contrary to the Word of God.

Individual prayer is very important, but we must also gather together to pray in one accord.  Danny and Donna McAllister will host a prayer meeting in their home on Friday, May 14 at 7:00 PM.  You are invited to come and join in the prayer time.  Some of you have asked why I do not include the names of sick that we can pray for.  Prayer for the sick is very important, but I believe it is consistent with scripture to pray for the sick in a hands-on manner.  So if you know someone who is sick, let me know and we will set up a prayer meeting at their home or they can come to church to be prayed for.  I highly recommend prayer in the home if possible.  You can put together a group of people and set up the meeting yourself.

A suggested guide is to gather and have a time of worship, praise and thanksgiving.  This can be done with singing and reading from the Psalms.  Have the sick person share their hurts and struggles, listen with great compassion; ask the person what they would like to see the Lord do for them.  I would read a lot of scripture especially passages that talk about the power of God to do the miraculous.  He sent His Word and healed them.  Then, I would pray for the person, their home, their family, and their particular needs.  Listen carefully at the end with a quiet time of waiting on the Holy Spirit to speak to those assembled.  End with Thanksgiving.

         Continue to pray through the book of Acts.  Ask God to, "DO IT AGAIN!"

Monday May 3

Read Acts 16:16-37.  When Paul and Silas began to worship, the prisoners listened.  This praise was so powerful that the jail shook and the doors came open and their chains fell off.  The old preacher used to say, that as they began to praise the Lord, in the midst of their difficult circumstances, that God got excited and began to tap his foot and that was what shook the jail.  I don't know about that, but the Holy Spirit was sure moving mightily.  The doors came open and the prisoner's chains, not just Paul and Silas's chains, but all the prisoners' chains fell off.  Yet the greatest miracle in all of this is the question it caused the jailer to ask. "What must I do to be saved"?

Tuesday May 4

Read Acts 28.  Don't let anything the enemy throws at you set you back, rather pray that the Holy Spirit will use this hindrance as opportunity to turn something bad into something good to demonstrate the power of God.  The viper is in the fire and many are coming to be healed.

Wednesday May 5

Read Acts 1:1-14.  This is the third time praying through the Book of Acts.  I hope you will find new incites into the moving of the Spirit of God and how people responded in salvation as an answer to prayer.  Pray that your church, our church, would be: a House of Prayer for all Nations.

Thursday May 6

Read Acts 2.  Pray that new converts will not just fill out a membership card, but rather be like these new converts.  They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching.  They devoted themselves to fellowship.  They gave themselves to the breaking of bread.  And last but not least they devoted themselves to a life of prayer.

Friday May 7

Read Acts 3.  In the Old Testament every time God revealed one of His mighty Names we discovered something about His character.  In the New Testament we have access to the Father in the Name of Jesus.  Peter says, "In the Name of Jesus stand up".  We pray in Jesus' Name or in the authority of Jesus.  Demons don't have to obey us nor does disease have to respond.  But when you pray in the name of Jesus everything must obey.

Saturday May 8

Read Acts. 4.  There is always opposition to the Gospel.  These are sometimes called strongholds.  Our people, churches, and cities are held by these strongholds that prevent people from coming to Christ.  Pray in the name of Jesus that these strongholds will be broken down.

Sunday May 9

Read Acts 8.  Happy Mother's Day.  Perhaps the greatest evangelists in the world are our mothers.  Mine was very instrumental in my life.  She prayed for me and told me about Jesus.  Thanks to all our moms!

Prayer Net (week 17)

April 26-May 2, 2010

The prayer news of this past week has concerned our government's position on dis-inviting Franklin Graham to the National Day of Prayer gathering in Washington.  May 6, 2010 is our annual National Day of Prayer.  This event has been set up to call people of all faiths to gather and pray for our nation and its leaders.  Franklin Graham was scheduled to be one of the primary speakers at the Washington gathering.  He made remarks some time back, to the effect that Islam was a violent religion and that there was only one way to God and that was through Jesus Christ, and for those statements he was kicked out of the prayer meeting.  I loved Franklin's response, "I will pray for our country and its leaders anyway".

Sometimes we just want to sit back and let it ride.  We sometimes have an attitude that if our government wants to try to make it without the Lord let them go ahead and try it and fail.  We cannot give up or lose heart.  Jesus said;

(Matt 5:10-12) "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake."Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." 

Because we love them we will continue to pray for them, our nation, its leaders, and all of its people.

As we continue to pray through the Book of Acts, moving forward to Pentecost Sunday, let's give our attention to what is really important: lifting up the name of Jesus, praying for revival, and seeing the lost come to Christ.  We are not in the business of changing people's minds but rather to see their hearts change.  When a person's heart is turned to Christ, He will change their mind.  We are at the half way point of the 50 days to Pentecost.  Let's read and pray "Do it again Lord!"

Join in the National Day of Prayer.  In this area we will be meeting at Rhodes United Methodist Church on Thursday, May 6, at 7 PM.  The Prayer Net will focus on Pentecost until the end of May.  From Memorial Day to July 4^th we will focus on our Godly heritage and praying for our nation.

Monday April 26

Read Acts 2.  (Acts 2:38-40) Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  "For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."  And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation."

Repent, be baptized, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Thank the Lord for this wonderful promise.  Thank Him that it keeps on going to future generations. Pray that we will hear the call to repentance, that we will hear the call of the Lord to come to Him, and that we would be saved from this perverse generation.  Now there is a word of warning, we would like to think it is only those other people are really a part of the perverse generation, but we are a part of it as well.  Forgive me Lord for everything in my life that is not completely sold out to you.

Tuesday April 27

Read Acts 3.  (Acts 3:23) 'And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.'

That Prophet is Jesus.  Sometimes we forget that there is a very narrow gate by which we may enter in and that gate is Jesus.  There is only one way to God and that is through the Jesus of the Bible.  The Word of God is very firm in what happens to those who do not listen to Jesus.  They will be destroyed; this should give us extra zeal to pray for the lost.

Wednesday April 28

Read Acts 4.  Last week we prayed these verses each day.  It was a great blessing to me and I felt like maybe I was beginning to get it, so let's pray the prayer one point at a time for ourselves, and those who preach the Word of the Lord!

1. Give us boldness to speak Your Word

         2. Lord reach out your hand to heal and that signs and wonders will be done in the name of Jesus.

         3. Lord, move so powerfully in us that the place where we are assembled would be shaken.

         4. Fill us all with your Holy Spirit.

         5. Grant that all believers may be so united that they have one heart and one soul.

         6. Lord, bring me to the point where I am ready to give it all up for you.

         7. Give us great power to bear witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

         8. And may great grace be upon us all.

Thursday April 29

Read Acts 8.  Continue to pray for our evangelistic outreach.  Pulpit evangelism personal evangelism and prayer evangelism are all effective way to witness of the resurrection of Christ.

Friday April 30

Read Acts 9. Paul, the greatest persecutor of the church, the one who consented to putting other Christian's to death is to become the great proclaimer of the gospel.  Don't give up on praying for the Paul types.

Saturday May 1

Read Acts 10.  The work of the gospel in America has centered in our churches.  This is not true in most parts of the world.  In this chapter we see the focus shift to ministry in households.  Pray for your house that it may be a lighthouse in a dark world.

Sunday May 2

Read Acts 12.  If I watch more news than I spend time with God, I become discouraged and perplexed.  I order to turn that around I must stay focused on the Lord, His power, grace, and love.

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The Prayer Net (week 16)

April 19-25, 2010

Praying through the book of Acts unifies us as prayers.  We have stressed in previous sessions how unity in the body of Christ is so very critical and essential for us to see the glory of God manifested in our midst. The Holy Spirit is calling us to united prayer in the hope that God will send a mighty revival.

The Book of Acts is a record of the Church praying and God answering.

(Acts 4: 29-33) "Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus." And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all."

Let's pray the prayer one point at a time for ourselves, and those who preach the word of the Lord!

1. Give us boldness to speak Your Word

2. Lord reach out your hand to heal and that signs and wonders will be done in the name of Jesus.

3. Lord, move so powerfully in us that the place where we are assembled would be shaken.

          4. Fill us all with your Holy Spirit.

5. Grant that all believers may be so united that they have one heart and one soul.

          6. Lord, bring me to the point where I am ready to give it all up for you.

          7. Give us great power to bear witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

          8. And may great grace be upon us all.

Will you pray that prayer each day this week?  Print it, take it with you, pray it repeatedly until it become a part of you life. Amen. Do it again Lord!!!

Monday April 19

Read Acts 8.  The Holy Spirit is always at the right place at the right time.  As this Ethiopian eunuch was reading the Scriptures, Phillip came and preached Christ to him and he was saved and baptized.  The power of the Word of God must never be under-estimated.  It will not return to God without accomplishing its purpose. 

Tuesday April 20

Read Acts 9.  Who is the person in your community, family, or nation that you consider to be the greatest threat to the gospel.  Pray that this person would have a similar experience as the Apostle Paul had on the road to Damascus.  Do it again, Lord.

Wednesday April 21

Read Acts 10.  (Acts 10:35-36) "But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him. The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ--He is Lord of all"?These verses show us the power of prayer and the work of the Holy Spirit in areas where we cannot see.  When God answers it is evident to all.  Praise the Lord!

Thursday April 22

Read Acts 12.  The power of prayer is evident throughout scripture.  The Word of God is completely true and reliable.  We can depend on it even when all else fails.  We can pray according to the Word and know that God hears and answers.  In this chapter we see the church praying for Peter, who is in jail, whom God sets free.  Do you know someone who is in bondage, just as if they were in jail, can you pray that God will set them free?  Many people can not come to Christ because of the spiritual prison they live in.

Friday April 23

Read Acts 16:16-37.  Praise and worship is an important part of evangelism. The Scripture tell us that god inhabits the praises of His people.  When we praise the Lord, the Holy Spirit shows up and things begin to happen in a mighty way.  I want to encourage you to praise and pray out loud.  Many times people will accept what they overhear more quickly than what you try to tell them.

Saturday April 24

Read Acts 28:1-10.  (Acts 28:8) "And it happened that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and dysentery. Paul went in to him and prayed, and he laid his hands on him and healed him."

 Where ever you go the Lord is there because He is in you.  Every contact we make is a potential to see the power of God at work.  The Holy Spirit never goes on vacation.

If you live in our area don't forget our lunch tomorrow at CBR 12:45.  All of the churches in the valley are coming together for a joint fellowship meal.

Sunday April 25

Read Acts 1:1-14.  We have wonderful times praying on the same topics as we have shared by internet.  Now we need to move toward coming together for corporate prayer by the body of Christ.  In several weeks we will be encouraging you to get together to pray and praise.  God is going to do it again just like we read it in the Book of Acts.

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The Prayer Net (Week 15)

April 12-18, 2010

We are excited to be praying together for the next 50 days of Pentecost Season.  After the resurrection and for the next 40 days Jesus appeared to His followers. 

1Cor 15:8

.and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.

 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.

 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.

 Then last of all, He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.

It was at Pentecost when Jesus showed up to the world.  The Holy Spirit caused such a stir that people by the thousands were coming to repent and receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  Many came to see what was happening and were drawn by the Holy Spirit, convicted of their sin, and realized their need for a Savior.  The world needs the Holy Spirit in a mighty way; we will never get off of first base unless the Spirit moves us.

We want to say the world really needs the Spirit, but I submit to you that it is the church that needs it more than the world.  When the Spirit is moving in us (the Church) then, the world will see it and declare, "I need that!"   Sometimes we are guilty of trying to give away something we don't have.

As we pray through the Book of Acts from now until Pentecost Sunday, let's pray, "do it again Lord".  We will pick up with day 8 through day 10 and then go back to day 1. Change me, Change my church, and change my community for the Glory of God.

Monday April 12

Read Acts 12

Tuesday April 13

Read Acts 16: 16-37

Wednesday April 14

Read Acts 28: 1-10

Thursday April 15

Read Acts 1:1-14. 

Acts 1:13

And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying: Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son  of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas the son of James.

14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

Can you imagine being shut up in a room with 120 believers for 10 days?  Do you try to imagine what they prayed for during this time?  Jesus told them to pray and wait for what was promised.  Jesus said, "This Promise of the Father, which I told you about,"

Will come to you and you shall receive power to be witness to me.  Lord, I will wait and pray that you will send the promise of the Father on me and those praying with me.  Do it again Lord!

Friday April 16

Read Acts 2.  The first 2 books of Acts and all scripture give great emphasis to the fact that the believers were of one accord.  There was great unity among those who were praying in that upper room.  I believe that the great witness of the church to the world is our unity.  Sometimes there seems to be more discord in the church than in the world.  God is doing a mighty work in our day; he is allowing the fighting in the church to go on until we all come to the prayer meeting to pray until there is unity among us.  Let us have no more gossip or backbiting only a deep desire to see God's will and His way.

But you say this person is a good person they just have a problem with discord.  They are not God's friend.  There witness only leads more people further from God and drives them to hell.  Salvation is serious business; it is the only thing that matters.  Lord do it again, keep us shut up until there is complete unity, then release your power on us to see people come to Christ by the thousands.

Saturday April 17

Read Acts 3.  

Acts 3:16 "And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

 .19 "Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord."

It is amazing what happens on the way to a prayer meeting.  When you pray, do you imagine you going to a place to pray and seeing a similar thing happen.  It is possible; God wants to do it again and again.  The Name of Jesus and faith in that Name does the work. 

We must also note that after repentance times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord.  That is what we seek to cultivate as we encourage you to pray, that you will have times of refreshing and realize they only come from being in the presence of the Lord.

Sunday April 18

Read Acts 4.  When you pray and the Holy Spirit moves mightily, there will be opposition.  The Devil has to try to stop every work of God.  As you pray, always pray for the Spirit of God to come and to move, but also pray against the powers of darkness, Here Peter and John were thrown into prison for the work that was done to a crippled man.  The real reason was that many were seeing what the Spirit was doing and coming to believe in Jesus, and the Devil and his co-workers, the religious leaders, could not stand that. 

Pray on! Do it again Lord!

The Prayer Net (Week14)

                                                                                                  Greetings to you in Christ Jesus.  I thank you for your faithfulness in praying.  The Easter Harvest time is just 3 weeks away.  I encourage you to continue to pray for your 10 most wanted, that is 10 people you are praying for to come to know Jesus as their personal Savior.   Don’t be discouraged if you think you are not seeing results, the Holy Spirit is at work in a mighty way.  Your prayers are making a difference.

                                                                                                          As we draw closer to Easter, we want to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us what are the hang ups that prevent this person from coming to Christ.  The Spirit will gently reveal to us certain things about each person, and then we can pray that those obstacles will be removed.  The Holy Spirit is at work in a mighty way to bring the lost to Jesus.

                                                                                                                  Although you may have your list of 10 all filled up and you have prayed them up. The Lord has sent someone into your life that you feel needs to be added to your list.Go ahead and do it, sometimes God is working on people that we have not thought about, so He sends them our way.

                                                                                                                       Let me encourage you to make plans to invite this person to church on Easter Sunday.  Maybe a personal invitation, a phone call, email, or letter of invitation.  The Holy Spirit is doing the job on the inside but we must do the inviting.  This week we want to look at the last two things the Holy Spirit does in bringing unbelievers to Christ as Terry Tekyl suggests in his book, Blueprint for the House of Prayer.   Let’s Pray

                                                                                                 Monday March 15

                                                                                                         We continue to pray that the Holy Spirit will come to convict of sin, convince people that Jesus is the only way, and tear down the walls that prevent people from coming to Christ

1Thess. 5:16- 18 Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you....

One of the verses that always puzzled me was this one, “Pray without ceasing” How can that be possible?   Prayer is talking to God, sometimes that is a sit down or kneel down conservation and sometimes it is continual conservation as we go about life at work or play.

Tuesday March 16

Lord will you change the Spiritual Climate.  Today, we hear a lot about climate change.  Those people involved in climate change policy want to change everything we do and how we do it to bring about their goals.  Can we have that much zeal to see the spiritual climate of our area change?  I don’t know where you stand on the physical climate change but I think you would agree with me that the spiritual climate has definitely cooled off.  It is the work of the Holy Spirit to use our words and actions to create a thought pattern change process in our neighborhoods to set the stage for people to hunger for Jesus.  Lord, change the spiritual climate in my city and nation.

Wednesday March 17

In order to bring about a change in the spiritual climate our focus must change.  As we pray the spirit wants to reveal to us climate changing ideas that will cause the people we are praying for to shift their attention, think about spiritual things, and most importantly to be drawn close to God.  The man who led me to Christ had just moved into our community as pastor. I was helping him on a project at his new home and when we finished I lit up a cigarette and began to explain to him that he would have to forgive me for certain things.  His response was “It’s not me you have to worry about”.  This was definitely a climate changer for me.  Until I came to know Christ (months later) this one short comment would not leave my mind.

Thursday March 18

As a climate changer I often use what I read or hear.  I was listening to a lady the other day and she was talking about a farmer preparing the soil then planting the seed and finally reaping a harvest.  She was talking about spiritual things in connection with each of those concepts.  That really got me to thinking about what is really important in life.  Do you ever think about spiritual things?  Now let the Holy Spirit go to work.

Friday March 19

Finally, we pray that the Holy Spirit will bring people to Jesus.  It is all about Jesus.  As you pray during the coming weeks, I trust you can see the cross and our Lord who died there for us.  First, I am so thankful that he died for my sin and he paid the supreme price for me that I might be forgiven and cleansed.  He also did that for each person I am praying for; I don’t want that to be neglected in another person’s life.  The songs says: He paid a debt He did not owe; I owed a debt I could not pay.  I needed someone to wash my sin away... 

Saturday March 20  

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Will you pray this scripture, first inserting your name then the name of each person on your list?

Like this...For God so loved Whitney that He gave His only begotten Son, so that if Whitney shall not perish but Whitney shall have everlasting life. 

Believe Him...

Sunday March 21

Begin to prepare for the harvest.  Harvest time is the most important time, everything must be prepare and ready for the harvest.  As you go to church today and each time you are there from now until Easter, pray for the parking lot that it will be overflowing.  Pray for the greeters that they will be filled with the love and joy of Jesus. Pray for the worship center and each seat there and the person who will occupy that seat.  Pray for the pastor, the message, the call to come to Christ and for the response.  Pray for the worship team, the music and every aspect of the service.  Pray that the harvest will bring them in...to Jesus.

The Prayer Net (week 10)

March 8-14, 2010

I hope your prayer life is going well.  Keep praying, especially for your list of 10 people.  We are trusting God to impact these 10 people to come to know Jesus as their personal Savior.  Pray for them daily and ask the Lord if there is something you should do to encourage them along.

The connection between prayer and evangelism has a long and deep connection both in scripture and in experience.  Jesus went up into the mountains to pray, (Luke 6:12-19), the scripture says He prayed all night.  While there he chose His 12 disciples and then came down from the mountain to find a large crowd from the surrounding regions already gathered to hear Him and be healed and delivered from oppression.  Verse 19 says the whole multitude wanted to touch Him because power went out from Him to heal all who came near.

There was a man in Seoul, South Korea; who pastured a small declining church in a very poor area of town.  As he sat in his tent wrapped in a blanket, he began to pray. He asked God to send a Holy Spirit revival to Seoul.  The Lord began to give Him a picture of prayer evangelism, praying the lost into the kingdom to achieve the Great commission.  Pastor David Cho went to Prayer Mountain setting a foundation that the work of the church is prayer.  Today his church has about 1 million members.  Also the 2^nd and 3^rd largest churches in the world are in Seoul.  Their neighbors to the north, North Korea considered to be one of the most dangerous nations in the world, are always threatening the United States and other world powers.  Yet, you don’t hear much about the threats for their worst enemy South Korea.  Is there something in South Korea they are afraid of?  May we have that same power to put fear into our enemies!!! 

Let’s Pray.

Monday March 8

Terry Tekyl list four major objectives for bringing the lost to Jesus through prayer.  We will look at them this week and next as we pray for ourselves and our 10.  Will you pray today that the Holy Spirit will begin to work in the life of each of the people to bless them and draw them to Jesus?

Tuesday March 9   

The primary work of the Holy Spirit in the unbeliever is to convict them of their sin. 

John 16:7 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 "of sin, because they do not believe in Me;

 10 "of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more;

 11 "of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

Dr D. James Kennedy use to say “he lived a great portion of his life not knowing, he was lost.  Once he found out he was lost and found out the consequences of being lost he was saved shortly thereafter.

In our culture with its philosophy being, I’m OK; you’re OK, it is shocking news to many that everything is not OK.  Remember it is the work of the Holy Spirit to convict them of there sin, not our job. 

If we try to do it they will say they are as good as we are.  Pray that the Holy Spirit will convict them of their sin.

Wednesday March 10

The second work of the Holy Spirit in the unbeliever is convincing the unbeliever of his need for Christ.  Once you find out you are lost then you look for a way to be saved.  The scriptures tell us no one can come to Christ unless the Father draws him.  We must live our lives showing our complete trust in Jesus as our Savior.  When the Holy Spirit is at work doing the convicting and the convincing and we are pointing the way, great things are about to happen.

Thursday March 11

Tear down the walls.  Every unbeliever has some walls in their life that prevent them from coming to Christ.  Now it is important to listen to the Holy Spirit speaking to us about the walls in the person we are praying for, that those walls will be broken down.  The walls may be a result of personal sin.  We pray down those barriers of greed, lust, immorality, lying, envy, jealously etc.  We pray in Jesus name that the walls of separation be destroyed in Jesus’ Name.

Friday March 12

The walls of separation are usually more subtle and less obvious.  We pray that the walls of pride, fear, hatred, unforgiveness, bitterness, past hurts, etc.  If you can picture a person trying to come to Christ, (and I believe there are many in this situation) and unable to do so and he can’t figure out why.  Spiritually they can not see this gigantic wall of separation.  Because they lack the knowledge of God and do not know the power of prayer, it seems impossible to get through the wall.  But, as you pray the wall is torn down and the person is set free to come to Christ.

Saturday March 13

Walls of separation are often built by false ideas and beliefs.  These walls must be taken down in prayer.  Through education and other forms of false indoctrination, people come to believe things like: There is not God.  God did not create the world and everything in it.  There is no heaven or hell.  There is not a judgment for sin.  We do not sin, we make mistakes.  We must always keep in mind that the Devil is a liar and the father of all lies.  It is his mission to get a person to believe something false and take that false idea and erect a wall that will prevent them from finding Christ as their personal Savior.

Sunday March 14

Sometimes our walls keep an entire area in darkness.  These walls of separation go back for many years perhaps for generations.  We must disarm these powers of darkness to see widespread revival.  Some of these walls that I see in this area are racism and prejudice, disunity among believers, religious deception that has confused church membership with a personal relationship with Christ.  Another is one which I call pastor abuse.  I have heard people run down their pastor or another in the community or one on TV and then tell me they don’t understand why their children are not interested in following the Lord.  Not hard to figure out.

Lots of walls to be demolished in prayer “To fulfill the Great Commission”.

Prayer! What, when, why, where, how, how often, and who with?

These are some basic questions we should consider briefly this week.  Prayer is a wonderful experience whereby we communicate with the true and living God. 

      We live in the communication age.  It is amazing how much information you can give and receive instantly.  Tragically much of that information is not correct.  However, we can communicate with our Lord through prayer and it travels faster than internet or phone and it is 100% accurate.  I wonder if we would talk to God more if we sent Him an email or called Him on the phone.  Go ahead. He can read it, but He will respond to your heart.

      The God who sees all, hears all, understands all, and can fix all can hear the cries of our spirit although we cannot express it in words.    

LET’S PRAY...

Monday Feb. 8 

What is prayer?  Jeremiah 33:3 'Call to me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.'  It cannot be explained better.  When I became a Christian someone told me this was God’s phone number.  What a promise, God says not only to Jeremiah but to all of us, call to me; that is another way of saying PRAY.

He then makes 2 promises to us but only if we pray.  First He will answer the one who calls.  Works just like the telephone we don’t call a person and someone else answers.  We call out to God and He answers, no voice mail no buttons to push no need to leave a message.  God is the only one who is always there and always answers, never to busy.

Secondly, He will show you (the one who called) great things and mighty things.  Pay no attention to the things going on around us; God will do a great and mighty work in spite of the circumstance.  Don’t look to the government or others to do it; He is going to do it for you.

Tuesday Feb. 9

When do we pray?  We can pray early in the morning, late at night, at 3AM, at meal time, all night, (I have not tried that) and all times in between.  Pray when you are happy, sad, discouraged, sick, lonely, afraid, confused, tempted, tired, or challenged.  We can pray when it snows and pray when it doesn’t; pray when the electricity goes off and when it comes back on (Thank God for auto save).  We can call out to Jesus and thank Him for His salvation, forgiveness, mercy, grace, love, joy, faithfulness, patience, power, and the gift of the Holy Spirit.  We must not forget to thank Him for heaven and for making the way for us to go there and giving it to us as a free gift.  Hallelujah!!! 
 
 
Wednesday Feb. 10  

Why do we pray?  The greatest gift in any relationship is communication.  When God created man He created Him different from everything else.  You were to have fellowship with God.  Fellowship is relationship or communication.  We are not like animals that merely do what they want or someone forces them to do what they don’t want. God has created us and given us a free will to choose between following along like an animal or we can choose to live in a relationship with the great God creator of the universe and get our wisdom and direction from Him.(Please forgive me sometimes when I get to praying I forget what I am doing and start preaching...)
 

Thursday Feb. 11 

Where do we pray?  We can pray anywhere.  Maybe inside maybe out, in the closet, or wherever you feel comfortable and close to the Lord.  When I lived at the farm that is now AM Fog, that big white barn that burned recently, I had a place in it behind the hay that I could go to and be alone with the Lord.  I could see out but no one could see in, you could be just a few feet from me and not know that I was there.  What wonderful memories of that place in the presence of the Lord.  After we left that farm, my primary place moved to my pickup.  It is so easy to start praying when I am in my truck.  Keep moving around until you find your place.  My place is definitely not the recliner. 
 
 

Friday Feb. 12 

How do we pray? Read; Luke 11:1-14  “1 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. 9 So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

When we pray with faith the promises of God will happen.  People ask me why I believe the Bible.  I believe it because I have never found it to be wrong; it is 100 % true and accurate.  The promise is for eternal life for the believer and the promise of eternal destruction for the one who does not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

 
 
Saturday Feb. 13

How often should we pray? 

1Thess 5:16-18 Rejoice always, Pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.  Yesterday, we looked at the scripture ask, seek, and knock.  People that know Greek tell me that a better understanding of those words would be; keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking.

There was a misguided teaching that went around several years back that said to the effect; only ask once, God was not deaf, He heard you.  Yes, He did hear, but a big part of prayer is bringing our will in line with God’s will. So say it a lot.  We need to hear ourselves pray it.

If a couple goes for marriage counseling, the first thing they will tell you is you need to improve your communication  in order to strengthen your relationship.  If that is true in marriage it is definitely true in our relationship with the Lord. 
 

Sunday Feb.14 

Happy Valentines Day!!  Who do we pray with?  Larry Lea in his book “Could You Not Tarry One Hour” says, “We become intimate with the one to whom we pray, with whom we pray and for whom we pray. This intimacy is what we earnestly desire to have in order to build a strong relationship.  We strengthen our relationship with the Lord Jesus as we pray to the father in Jesus’ name. 

We build a close relationship with the people we pray with.  Give your spouse a great Valentines gift, spend time praying together.  Maybe one of the causes of church conflict is that we are not praying together. Lastly, we become close to the ones we pray for.  There is no greater way to build relationships than through prayer. 

14 From the place of His dwelling He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth;

15 He fashions their hearts individually; He considers all their works.

Thank and praise the Lord that He is watching over us.  Lord will you fashion my heart to be all that you would have me be.  We will be act according to the way our heart is fashioned.   I want God to fashion my heart so that I will only trust Him.

Tuesday, Jan. 26

Read Matthew 27 and as you do, think of yourself and how great a price Jesus paid so you and I could have forgiveness.  As I read this passage I see myself in that crowd of people and realize that He was saying to me ‘Father forgive Whitney for he knows not what he does”.

Wednesday, Jan. 27

Read Matthew 28.  Jesus is risen from the dead!!!  This is why we know He is the one true living God, there is no other.  He went to hell on my behalf, He overcame death so I as a believer would not see the second death, and He ascended to the Father where He makes intercession for us.  Get a picture of this Every time you pray you are doing what Jesus is doing.

Thursday, Jan. 28

Pray for the lost.  Your family. Co-workers, neighbors, and even strangers, anyone who doesn’t know Christ as their personal savior.  You can begin now with your 10 most wanted or 10 most loved.  Ten people you are going to pray for regularly that they come to Jesus.

Friday, Jan. 29

As you pray always listen.  The Holy Spirit will bring to your remembrance things you need to pray for or things you need to do.  Many times I leave home and I will say Lord am I forgetting anything?  Instantly a thought will come to my mind, sometimes I obey and go and get what I need, sometimes I say that wasn’t God and make the trip only to have to come back and get it.  The Holy Spirit is our helper.

Saturday, Jan. 30

Tomorrow is Sunday.  Pray for your pastor, worship leaders, Sunday School Teachers, and all who have a part in your church.  Pray that the Holy Spirit would be present in a powerful way.  Pray by name for new Christians and those who may not see the importance of worshiping together.  Pray that there would be a lot of unbelievers who would want to check your church out

Sunday, Jan.31

Read Psalm 148 and give great praise to the Lord.  I would suggest that you read it aloud and you pray out loud.  Sometimes people tell me they can’t pray out loud.  Here is my suggestion, you need to practice.  Get in your car and as you are driving carefully down interstate 64 alone, just start praying out loud, real loud, then it will get easier for you.  The car that pulls up beside you will probably think you are singing a country song and will wish they could have that much fun.  The police may think you have had too many. When he pulls you over just tell him what Peter said “I am not drunk, just full of the Holy Spirit.

God Bless

            Whitney