Day Sixteen – February 16, 2012

This will be my last post for the 21 Days of Prayer because I will be leaving for Uganda.

Please follow the trip at http://dedicateddozen2012.wordpress.com/  There will be many, many prayer requests!

I often wondered how to pray for Missionaries and International Workers.  Even as a child I used to think “I don’t even know them, I don’t know what they are going through and I don’t even know what they are doing!”  So I questioned the wisdom of praying in ignorance for someone.

Then I discovered the truth that both Jesus and the Holy Spirit intercede for us  before the Father.  The whole Trinity is involved in my prayers! The prayer offered in faith (even in ignorance of details) is used by God.

In addition, I then began to discover that I could use Scripture to guide my prayers. The prayers of Paul for the churches and individuals in the Epistles are amazing things to pray for others!   Here is a beautiful example of a prayer that we can pray for others

Ephesians 3:14-21
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
NIV

Try praying that for every person on your prayer list!

Blessings on each of you and thanks for reading!

Pastor Kevin

Day Fifteen – February 15, 2012

More from Mark Batterson on praying through the Bible

“The Bible is a promise book and a prayer book.  And while reading is reactive, prayer is proactive.  Reading is a way to get through the Bible;  prayer is the way you get the Bible through you.  As you pray, the Holy Spirit will quicken certain promises to your spirit.”

I asked our leadership to search the Word for a promise for them (and the church) back in January.  Some of the promises and  passages God gave us….

Psalm  2:8  Ask of me,
and I will make the nations your inheritance,
the ends of the earth your possession.

2 Corinthians 5:20
We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God

As our team gets ready to leave for Uganda, I will be praying these promises every day.  Would you join me in praying this way?

Pastor Kevin

Day Fourteen – February 14, 2012

Have you ever wondered what to pray about?  Have you ever run out of words?  Here is a thought provoking quote from Mark Batterson in The Circle Maker

“Prayer was never meant to be a monologue; it was meant to be a dialogue.  Think of Scripture as God’s part of the script; prayer is our part.  Scripture is God’s way of initiating a conversation; prayer is our response.  The paradigm shift happens when you realize that the Bible wasn’t meant to be read through; the Bible was meant to be prayed through.  And if you pray through it, you’ll never run out of things to talk about.”

May God Bless you as you pray through scripture today

Pastor Kevin

Day Thirteen – February 13, 2012

Sorry!  There is not post for Day Twelve.

There is a great story in Daniel that reminds us that when we pray we are engaging in spiritual warfare. An angel shows up while Daniel was praying and says…

Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia.  Daniel 10:12-14 NIV

This is a beautiful picture of how God hears our prayers.  Daniel began to pray – the angel visited him 21 days later and told him that his prayer had been heard.  There were 21 days of spiritual warfare in the heavens between the angel and the king of Persia (a demon).

Have you ever wondered if God hears your prayers?  Rest assured He does.

Pastor Kevin

“Beware in your prayers, above everything else, of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what He can do. Expect unexpected things ‘above all that we ask or think.’”  Andrew Murray

Day Eleven – February 11, 2012

John Stott died on July 27 at the age of 90.  I love his writing and his passion. 

The following is John Stott’s daily prayer, as found on the memorial service program:

Heavenly Father, I pray that I may live this day in your presence and please you more and more.

Lord Jesus, I pray that this day I may take up my cross and follow you.

Holy Spirit, I pray that this day you will fill me with yourself and cause your fruit to ripen in my life:

Love, Joy, Peace Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control

Holy, blessed and glorious Trinity, three persons in one God, have mercy upon me.

Almighty God, Creator and sustainer of the universe, I worship you.

Lord Jesus Christ, Savior and Lord of the World, I worship you.

Holy Spirit, Sanctifier of the people of God, I worship you.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

As it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be forever

Amen

Day Ten – February 10, 2012

“Every great movement of God can be traced to a kneeling figure”  D.L. Moody

“Pray for great things, Expect great things, Work for great things, But above all – PRAY.”   R.A. Torrey

Here are some things gleaned from T.V. Thomas’ Prayer Dynamics Seminar

• Prayer is a privilege for God’s children
• Prayer is our natural response to God’s communication with us
• Prayer is God’s children approaching God’s throne with confidence
• Prayer is guided and energized by the Holy Spirit
• Prayer is  how the power of God is unleashed in us
• Prayer is not exciting all the time, it is hard work
• Prayer is opposed by the Evil One

Prayer is a conversation between God and me.  He loves to hear my voice.

Chew on This!

Pastor Kevin

Day Nine – February 9, 2012

Here is a quote from Ravi Zacharias

“I have absolutely no doubt that if you are a praying Christian, your faith in God is what is carrying you, through both the good times and the hard times. However, if you are not a praying person, you are carrying your faith — you are trying to make your faith work for you apart from your source of power — and trying to carry the infinite is very exhausting.”

This quote resonates with me because I often get this backwards, and Ravi is right – it is truly exhausting.  When I look back on the times when I was most inspired (either in sermon preparation or in finding a way for me, my family or the church) it is when I am quiet and still in the presence of God.

So when we enter a season like this (21 days of prayer) we often are looking for specific answers.  We do have needs, but I think the most valuable thing that could happen is if we simply learned more about God – that we had the privilege of knowing Him better.

I want to Know Him

Pastor Kevin

Day Eight – February 8, 2012

I cherish those moments when I have heard people praying their “first” prayer.  Every once in a while I have the privilege of listening in when a person is ushered into the Kingdom of God.  These prayers are never polished or perfected, they are simply the sincere expression of a person who knows that they need God’s grace at that moment.

How does God hear these prayers?  Does he judge these prayers by sentence structure or correct theology?  Does He have a check list to make sure that the exact right words are said?

I believe that God hears the heart and rejoices.

So why then do we worry about how our prayers sound?  And why do we wonder if God hears us if we aren’t saying the right words?

Rom 8:26-27
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.    NIV

Rom 8:34
34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died-more than that, who was raised to life-is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us  NIV

If both the Holy Spirit and Jesus intercede for us I really don’t think that we have any cause to worry about the wording of our prayers.   Just Pray!

Pastor Kevin

Day Seven – Tuesday, February 7, 2012

There is a soup kitchen in Los Angeles where the workers begin their day with this prayer “Make us worthy, Lord, to serve our brothers and sisters who live and die in poverty and hunger.  Give to them through our hands this day their daily bread and, by our understanding love, give peace and joy”  And even though they are short of volunteers to meet the incredible need, during the food preparation one of the volunteers goes off to pray.

By praying this prayer and maintaining a prayerful attitude the staff reminds themselves that it is God’s work and not theirs. As one person puts it “I remember Oh yes, I’m not in charge.  God is.  Somehow,  there will be enough food; somehow there will be enough time to prepare it; somehow there will enough volunteers to serve it.  Somehow, we will get through this day”

I am humbled by this story because far too often I am happy to rely on my abilities and talents.  After 32 years of ministry I have actually gotten quite good at some of the stuff that I do (while still doing many other things quite poorly I might add).  It is easy to forget that all of this belongs to God.   And yet, while I am tempted to just get on with my busy ministry career I am being freshly reminded to remember that God is in charge – not me.  This time of focused prayer has allowed me to get my priorities straight.  Before I do anything, I pray.

God Bless!

Pastor Kevin

(P.S.  the soup kitchen story was gleaned from Phil Yancey’s book entitled Prayer.)

 

Day Six – Monday, February 6, 2012

This may seem like cheating, but A. W. Tozer is a hero of mine so here goes his quote…

“My heart was hot within me; while I was musing, the fire burned. Then I spoke with my tongue”.— Psalm 39:3

Prayer among evangelical Christians is always in danger of degenerating into a glorified gold rush. Almost every book on prayer deals with the “get” element mainly. How to get things we want from God occupies most of the space. Now, we gladly admit that we may ask for and receive specific gifts and benefits in answer to prayer, but we must never forget that the highest kind of prayer is never the making of requests. Prayer at its holiest moment is the entering into God to a place of such blessed union as makes miracles seem tame and remarkable answers to prayer appear something very far short of wonderful by comparison.

Holy men of soberer and quieter times than ours knew well the power of silence. David said, “I was dumb with silence. I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred. My heart was hot within me; while I was musing the fire burned; then spake I with my tongue.” There is a tip here for God’s modern prophets. The heart seldom gets hot while the mouth is open. A closed mouth before God and silent heart are indispensable for the reception of certain kinds of truth. No man is qualified to speak who has not first listened.       (Set Of The Sail: Directions for Your Spiritual Journey, pp. 14-15)

I love the quote about the glorified gold rush – and yet I find myself most guilty of seeing God that way. Oh I have much to learn.

Enjoy the silence, and may we all have hearts that are hot!

Pastor Kevin