By Barb Cournoyer

Mark Prater did a message recently in our Acts series on the activity of the Holy Spirit. Since that time I’ve tried to find areas that the Spirit has been at work in the day to day activities of life. Intercessory prayer would have to be an area where the Lord regularly surprises me by giving me opportunities to pray for others. It’s in this area that the Lord has poured out faith and encouraged my soul that He is ever with us and knows our every need. I confess that I don’t have all the answers about how prayer works, but am so grateful that a Holy God who doesn’t really need us to do what He can do without us brings us in to see His power at work.

I’ll give you some of the WOW moments where the Lord has left me speechless and in awe of His power at work among us. The first WOW moment occurred several years back when I was driving home from Maryland. I had plenty of time to think and pray. A family from church that I didn’t really know came to mind. I wasn’t sure what was going on for them or why they were on my mind so I just prayed a simple prayer that the Lord would meet them and provide for them whatever was going on. Several weeks later I saw them in church and told them that the Lord had brought them to mind. They told me that at the time I was praying for them, they were out of the country in the process of adopting their son. They had hit a significant amount of opposition and were experiencing difficulty. That day, the Lord broke through for them and provided what they needed.

The next WOW moment occurred after a Global Initiative prayer meeting where we were praying for Sri Lanka. Several months later I had an opportunity to meet one of the pastors and asked how they were doing. As he gave me the update, he repeated back to me almost verbatim the prayer I prayed for them. Except he was telling me the answers of how God has been providing for them and lifting “the cloud of oppression,” exactly what I had prayed. There were many other things he said that were prayed at that meeting. I was speechless and undone. I think I was weeping while he was talking to me. I could hardly believe that the Lord allowed me to see his mighty hand at work in this way.

The next time someone is just “on your mind,” pray for them and then follow-up and see how the Lord is at work. I like to leave messages for folks or send an email or card to let them know that they’ve been on my heart. It is amazing how many times someone has told me that they were in the midst of a trial and they were encouraged to know that the Lord was caring for them through the body of Christ and intercessory prayer. 

By Ramona Doyle

Remember the biblical account of the Exodus when Israel fled Egypt. The Lord worked great and marvelous things for them—miracles that they couldn’t miss. They witnessed the terrible plagues in Egypt, saw the Lord protect them by the blood on their doorposts when the first born were slaughtered, received favor among the Egyptians by the Lord’s hand, stood in awe as the Lord parted the waters of the sea, and felt relief as the Lord tumbled the waters upon the pursuing army. And the Lord’s visible presence was with them day and night in the cloud and pillar of fire. Yet, even with these amazing demonstrations of the Lord’s presence and power, as soon as they became uncomfortable or faced trials in the wilderness, they faltered in their trust of the Lord.

So why recount this familiar story? Because I realize that I can be very much like the Israelites. I not only have the written accounts in Scripture of the Lord’s faithful care for Israel, but also wonderful memories of all that God has done in my own life…saving me, providing for me, caring for my needs, meeting me when I call upon Him. But at times when trial knocks on my door, my first thoughts venture to the worse case scenario. This point was driven home recently when I thought that I had developed another tumor on a salivary glad (I had surgery to remove a benign tumor a few months ago). Instead of casting my care upon the Lord and lifting my prayers to him, my first thoughts were to imagine the worse. My thought patterns went something like, ”Oh no! I’ll need to clear out my schedule because I’ll probably need surgery soon. There goes our vacation…I won’t be well enough to travel by the end of the month. What if something is really wrong this time that they missed the last time?” You get the flavor. Sadly, what I had just done was to imagine my life and trial without the Lord.

How contrary to every thing I know about God to think this way! I had to ignore a mountain of scripture to allow those thoughts to invade my serenity. Psalm 16:5-6 tells us, “The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.” And verse 8 goes on to say, “I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.” Our challenge in the everyday is to keep the Lord ever before our eyes. The means of grace He provides in Scripture, prayer, and fellowship are so important. When we avail ourselves of them, we peacefully reside in the middle of the Lord’s chosen boundaries for our lives and there find his presence, care, protection, and comfort, no matter our circumstances. Don’t wait for a trial!  Live each day with the Lord before your eyes, and you will not be shaken!

By Rob Flood

Note:   On Fathers Day, June 20^th, the pastors set aside time to pray for the fathers of our church.  We are aware of the calling on fathers and the responsibility they have before God, and we are aware of some of the temptations that accompany that calling.  We respect the men of this church and how they embrace that calling in their families.  Below is the prayer that I prayed.  We, as a Pastoral Team, pray that God would meet you personally and specifically in your greatest weaknesses…displaying his greatest strength.

God, you are worthy.  You are worthy forever and ever and ever more.  As one small portion of the multitude, today, Lord, we bow before your throne and declare that you are worthy!

And before you, oh Worthy God, we ask that your favor would be on each father who is here today.  You tell us to ask, and it shall be given to us.  And so, Worthy God, we ask that you bless the fathers.

Bless us, Lord, with conviction.  Conviction for what you’ve called us to.  Conviction for the lives we lead when no one is around.  When no eye can see us, give us conviction to live for your eyes alone.  Conviction, Lord, to lead in our homes.  Under you, Oh God, that burden is easy and that yoke is light.  Give us clear conviction on what you’ve called us to.

Father, give us conviction to love our children when times are difficult: to love them as gifts from our heavenly Father, to love them not according to the circumstances, but through them.  Give us conviction Lord, that this task is beyond us if we are not abiding in you.  Prick our hearts, Oh God, when we become independent or fleshly, that we would return to the true vine and abide in you as we parent our children.

Then, Father, give us courage.  When we know what is right to do, give us the courage to do it.  When our convictions are unpopular, give us courage to do them anyway.  Cause our hearts to trust in the same God that called Joshua to courage, when you said, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”  You have called us to fatherhood, God.  You will go with us.  Give us the courage to trust in your promise.

Lastly, Father, give us faith.  Faith that fuels our conviction.  Faith that fuels our courage.  Faith that we are not left to our own strength, our own wisdom, our own devices as we father.  But faith that you, God, go with us!  And that you open the storehouses of heaven for your children as we walk with you.  Open those storehouses for our children.  Faith that leads to peace and not anxiety.  Faith that you will not just meet us…but meet our children.  When we cannot see the fruit of our labors, God increase our faith in you. 

Give us abundant faith in the one, true God…who is worthy to be praised forevermore.

By Ramona Doyle

I recently had surgery to remove a small mass from a salivary gland and was overjoyed at the news it was benign.  After fasting for surgery, my greatest anticipation during recovery was my return to “real” food.  I quickly found, however, that because of a severe inflammation in the gland I could not eat solid food without excruciating pain radiating on the side of my face.  Yup…ouch!

Shortly after my discharge while in the middle of a bland puréed meal, I found myself crying out to God, “All I want is one simple slice of bread, and I can’t even eat that”.  Not really expecting an answer, I was surprised by that still small voice in my heart as I felt Lord gently respond, “I am the Bread of Life.”  Ever have one of those moments with the Lord where he seems to invade the mundane in a way unmistakably God—this was one of them.  In that moment I realized how much I take certain things for granted: the ability to eat, to comfortably sleep, to come and go as I please.  In the limitations imposed on me by my surgery and the absence of earthly bread (literally!)  I began to realize how very dependent I am on the heavenly bread that comes only from the Lord.  He is the Bread of Life (John 6:35), but in the midst of the distractions of daily life, how easily the need to draw life-giving sustenance from him can be dwarfed by the savory extras of our lives.  The Lord offers us a feast, yet we are often content with leftovers…so easily satisfied with so little.

I have seen how I can relegate my dependence on the Lord to areas where “I” recognize a need and fail to see that I am hopelessly dependent upon him for every breath that I take.  So I pray about problems in parenting, or health issues, of for grace to tackle a difficult relationship, but neglect asking the Lord to invade and provide for every moment of my day.  I am distracted by earthly pursuits—often good things—and because they seem to be a given I walk in self-sufficiency instead of drawing deeply from his abundant storehouse.

The Lord often uses seasons of weakness and need to highlight our deepest need for him— to make us more aware of our Savior than the savory extras of our lives…to make us more aware of our Savior than even our suffering.  We come face to face with our inability to live, have joy, and do anything on our own and in the midst rediscover our true hunger and thirst for him.  Are you desperate for heavenly bread?  Let us seek to be persistent, relentless, and yes, even desperate in our daily pursuit of his presence and sustaining provision for our hearts, souls, and lives.

“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).

By Dave Harvey

Editor’s Note:  Periodically, Dave Harvey posts blogs on CJ Mahaney’s blog for pastors called “View from the Cheap Seats & Other Stuff.”  The focus of Dave’s contribution is the same as our Friday focus here at the CFC blog: mission.  Below is a post from Dave about our churches in Juárez, Mexico.  As you pray for our churches, pray for the people and nation of Mexico as they endure and seek to survive the recent and ongoing bouts of violence.

You may have seen reports of the murders of three people associated with the U.S. Consulate in Juárez, Mexico, earlier this month. Sadly, these are among the latest of thousands of murders in the city of Juárez and elsewhere in Mexico as the country battles drug traffickers. The weekend of the Consulate shootings, 28 other people were murdered in Juárez alone. Stunning doesn’t quite capture it; it’s devastating, a social shock to the people of Juárez.

We recently received some updates and prayer requests from Iglesia Gracia Soberana de Cd. Juárez, the Sovereign Grace church in that city, and wanted to pass them along to you. Will you join us in praying for believers in Juárez?

First, some more specifics. As Mexico’s war on the drug cartels continues, the city of Juárez is embroiled in violence. On average, at least seven people have been murdered every day since 2009, including more than 500 murders since January. The violence is not limited to those involved in drug trafficking—innocent bystanders, including children, are among those killed. In addition, the city is facing a crime wave in which anyone can be a target of kidnapping, armed robbery, and extortion.

This ongoing social catastrophe has far-reaching effects. About 5,000 businesses have closed, and some estimate that as much as 15–20% of the city’s population has left. Those who remain face the daily threat of ruthless violence.

Carlos Contreras is senior pastor of Iglesia Gracia Soberana de Cd. Juárez (Sovereign Grace Church of Juárez). For more than 20 years this church has been a faithful gospel witness in their city. They have trained a number of pastors and leaders and in 2006 planted another church in Aquascalientes, Mexico. And they’re continuing to preach the gospel faithfully in spite of the trials they’re facing.

After describing the violence in Juárez Carlos writes,

But there is good news also. The church in the city remains strong and has apparently become the only remaining source of hope for many people. We all pray and we pray a lot, and we pray boldly and we pray publicly for God to intervene in a miraculous way to change things and to do justice. But mostly we pray for revival and for the salvation of thousands.

Under the leadership of their pastoral team, Iglesia Gracia Soberana is taking the gospel to the streets. The most recent session of their Alpha class (an introductory class on the gospel) graduated 63 students, more than they’d ever had. The church is airing evangelistic programs on local TV. Earlier this month, 150 church members went to two busy intersections, handed out about 800 evangelistic tracts and about 200 New Testaments, and prayed for about 300 people. On Saturday they hit the streets again, handing out 6,000 invitations to church, 300 copies of the Gospel of John, and 200 New Testaments—and praying for 1,300 people.

Here’s a slideshow of their outreaches: 

My friends, this is authentic Christianity.

By Andy Farmer

I’m dropping in a blog by C.J. Mahaney today from about a year ago on Self-sufficiency and the battle with prayer.  I have two reasons.  First, in responding to the collective sense we have as a church that we want to grow in prayer as we move into the book of Acts; this is a great bit of wisdom on how to make sure we don’t simply depend on formal prayer times.  The second is to highlight the blog itself.  I find it is very helpful, not only to keep up with what’s going on in our family of churches, but to be fed by helpful thoughts from an array of insightful folks.  

The link for the blog is here.

And here’s the post from 3/31/09:

As the typical day unfolds, the unexpected expectedly happens.  With one eye on the clock and another on our schedule, we can often watch our planning derail throughout the day.  And as I realize my plans for the day will not be flawlessly executed, my soul has a tendency to be weighed down by accumulating cares.  But rather than humbling myself as I should, I find myself vulnerable to self-sufficiency, at risk of relying upon my limited strength and wisdom.  This is pride.

If we are not watchful, our burdens will subtly accumulate over time, and will gradually weigh down our soul.  But it doesn’t need to be this way.  There is a biblical alternative.  

Casting Pride and Casting Cares

Scripture calls us to cast all our anxieties on God, because he cares for us.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.  (1 Peter 5:6–7, ESV)

Casting all my cares upon the Lord is a means of humbling myself before the Lord.  In reading these passages we discover that casting our cares upon the Lord falls under the command to humble ourselves.  Casting our cares is an expression of humility.  When I fail to cast my cares upon him, I display prideful self-sufficiency.

A Few Words of Prayer

As I make my way from meeting to meeting, decision to decision, and phone call to phone call, I find the counsel of Charles Spurgeon very helpful.  “I always feel it well,” he wrote, “to put a few words of prayer between everything I do.”  Throughout his busy days, Spurgeon scattered words of prayer between each activity, a model I have sought to emulate over the years.  

The content of my “few words of prayer” is not unique and if you overheard them, you wouldn’t be impressed.  I am a simple man and when I think of casting all my cares it is a simple acknowledgement of my dependence upon God and my need of grace throughout the day.

But the very act of pausing in a busy day to pray is an act of weakening pride in my life, acknowledging that I am a dependent creature.  I am not self-sufficient.

And taking a brief moment to humble myself in prayer makes all the difference in my soul throughout the day.  

At its root, weariness is often the result of pride and self-sufficiency in my life.  When I neglect casting my cares upon the Lord, the heavy fatigue of weariness will settle into my soul.  

Casting our cares upon the Lord and humbling ourselves before him are critical activities, regardless of how busy we are.  And this practice cannot be replaced by hours of careful planning and scheduling.

How about you?  Do you follow the practice of Spurgeon and “put a few words of prayer” between everything you do throughout each day?  Are you casting cares or accumulating burdens?  Are you humbling yourself before the Lord or displaying self-sufficiency?

By Jared Mellinger

This Sunday we began a preaching series that will take us through the entire book in segments over the course of the year.  Here is a prayer I am praying as we look ahead.  I invite you to make it your prayer as well.  

Father,

What great things you did when you first established the church and gave us the amazing story in the book of Acts! 

We read this book and behold you there as the almighty, promise-keeping, sovereign God.  You have given your only Son for us.  And, you have raised your Son from the dead!  You have exalted him to your right hand, and have given him the Holy Spirit, whom he has been pouring out ever since Pentecost. 

Not one of your promises has failed!

We, Father, are a needy people.  There is no book of the Bible that makes us more aware of our need for the Spirit’s fullness and empowering in our lives.  Forgive me, and forgive us, for so often being content with less than the Spirit’s fullness in our lives. 

At the outset of studying this book as a church, we want you to know that we are longing for more of your Spirit and your power and your presence.  Make us rich in our fellowship, united in our prayers, bold in our witness, joyful in our worship, faithful in our suffering, and confident in the power of your word. 

We are trusting you for great things.  With expectant hearts, we “ponder anew, what the Almighty can do.”  And we ask that over this next year, you would do far more than we can ask or imagine. 

In the name of Jesus, Head of the Church, our crucified and risen Lord, 

Amen      

By Trish Donohue

Do you ever wonder how other Christians embark on their Bible reading each morning?  Do they have special tricks?  Are their Bibles magically highlighting amazing truths which jump off the pages at them?  Do they spring nimbly from their beds in anticipation?  Does soft music begin to play as they crack open the well-worn pages?

Just for the record, I don’t have any tricks.  But I know what John Piper does.  (I recently needed some inspiration for my quiet times and perused his website.)  Every morning before he looks into God’s Word he prays the words of Psalm 119:18 which say, “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.”

It’s not a gimmick or a trick; it’s just echoing the psalmist’s inspired prayer and asking for divine help.  And I’ve started to do it myself.

Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.

Why?  Because like Dr. Piper, I find that my spiritual eyes are shut in the morning.  They don’t see wonderful things in God’s law by themselves.  They see interesting stories or familiar passages or lots of tiny letters that morph into a cloud of sleepiness.  They see a legalistic checkmark on the “quiet time” slot or a grocery list or a catalog of worries that are elbowing their way into my time in the Word.  I need God to miraculously touch me if I’m going to see through my sleepy spiritual eyes.

Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.

And He does.  It’s really amazing the way God answers our prayers, and ridiculous that we don’t pray more.  In the short time since I’ve begun my quiet times with this prayer, not as a mantra but as a heartfelt request, God has spoken to me clearly through his Word, pretty much every time.

I still don’t spring out of bed, I kind of roll out in a coma-like state.  But heavy eyelids are no match for the power of God, and I reach with faith for that big leather book.  There are words of wonder in there, and God’s going to show them to me!

In this past week’s message in our Sunday series As We Gather, Rob Flood showed the importance of prayer in God’s gathered people as he surveyed Nehemiah 9.  To hear the full message, go to here.

 

Rob shared a very interesting quote from Tim Chester’s Biblical survey on prayer, The Message of Prayer, that highlights something that we all need to consider.

 

It is sometimes said that good private prayer is the foundation of good corporate prayer, but it may be more biblical to say that corporate prayer is the foundation of private prayer.  Our experience of God in Christ is corporate.  Western individualism has made the individual alone with God the centre of spirituality.  For the people of the Bible it is the relationship between God and his people that is central.  Personal prayer revolves around this common experience-not the other way around.  (Tim Chester, The Message of Prayer, p.153)

 

This is certainly not how I usually think of prayer.  To me prayer is a ‘me and God’ thing and praying with other people is kind of like a secondary option.  But my experience so often is that private prayer is fitful and distracted; yet when I come together to pray with my brothers and sisters my heart and eyes are lifted to God in faith to pray with boldness and fervency.  Rob gave some excellent examples of why corporate prayer is the fuel of private prayer.

 

When we pray with others, we hear things we never thought of praying for.  Perhaps we hear things that we’ve been praying for but thought we were the only ones praying.  There are even times when we’re moved at the passion someone has for a topic we’ve become indifferent to?  There is a unique grace that comes upon people when they are gathered with others in prayer.

 

Is there no wonder why folks in time of need throughout the Bible and throughout history gathered together in upper rooms and lowly catacombs, great cathedrals and flimsy tents?  They knew the need and the value of corporate prayer. 

 

Where are you gathering with God’s people in corporate prayer?  Have you ever attended a House of Prayer?  Or our pre-service prayer at the front of the auditorium.  If your personal prayer times are in need of vision, seek out others – pray with the church!

 

By Deb Demi

Are you looking to deepen your friendships, experience more biblical fellowship and at the same time be encouraged in your walk with the Lord?  I have found that all of these things and more can happen through praying together with other women.  Here are two specific ways of praying together that have blessed me.

A Weekly Prayer Group: The first way is by being involved in a weekly prayer group.  A little over two years ago, I began to feel a desire to pray regularly with some other women for our husbands and children. After sharing this with one of my friends, she too thought that it was a good idea.  We sent out some e-mails, found a home to meet in, and set a day and time.  So for over 2 years now, a group of about 5 – 10 women (16 of us in all) have been meeting at Lolly DiMaio’s house every Friday morning from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.  We try to start the meeting promptly after grabbing a cup of coffee, of course. 

Instead of sharing prayer requests, we jump right in by praying our requests.  Once a request is prayed, usually others join in by continuing to pray for that request.  We try to keep our prayers short and allow them to bounce around like popcorn.  Often someone will have a prophetic word or Scripture to share, there are usually tears, and we always leave deeply encouraged as we lift our needs up before our Heavenly Father recounting His faithfulness, His power in our weaknesses, and His goodness.  Even though some of us barely knew each other two years ago, through prayer, we have formed very special bonds.

Extended Prayer Times:  Not only is a weekly prayer meeting a good tool in building friendships, extended prayer times can strengthen our relationships in our community groups.  The first time that I mentioned to our CG women, that we were going to try to pray together for an hour, they looked at me a little skeptically.  If praying together for an hour seems daunting to you, try the following:  Come up with six categories such as praise and thanksgiving, confession of sin, husbands, children, church/leaders, and the lost.  Pray aloud according to the subject bouncing back and forth in no particular order. When 10 minutes pass, someone can move you on to the next category.  Before we knew it, we prayed for over an hour.  We learned about each other’s burdens, we cried together, and we confessed our sins before one another.  And, after praying our requests and burdens of our hearts, the context for our conversation flowed into deep and meaningful biblical fellowship.

How about you?  Who is it that the Lord is calling you to pray with?  Not only is prayer an effective means through the Gospel to bring your requests before the throne of God, it is a tool that the Lord will use to deepen your relationships and encourage your soul.

By Jared Mellinger

How are we as believers changed from one degree of glory to another?  Take any area you desire to grow in becoming more like Christ: contentment, patience, love, joy, humility, purity, or anything else.  The question is, “How do we change?” 

There are many ways Scripture answers that question.  One essential answer comes at the end of 2 Corinthians 3.  The veil that once covered our eyes, blinding us to the beauty of Christ, has been removed by the power of God, and we now see Christ for who He is.  Because of this, 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.”  

The way the Spirit is changing us to become more like Christ, increasingly transformed into the image of Christ, is by enabling us to behold the glory of Christ in the Gospel.  As a result of seeing Him for who He is, we are being changed. 

I’ve realized that the way I approach change too often looks identical to how the world around us seeks to change.  But our approach should be entirely different, because we have come to understand this revolutionary truth: we are transformed into the image of Christ as we behold the glory of Christ.       

Richard Sibbes, a great Puritan pastor, penned one of my favorite quotes in the 17^th century.  Reflecting on 2 Corinthians 3:18, he asks “How are we changed to the image of Christ?”  The answer:

“It is by beholding the glory of Christ in the Gospel. There is a transforming power in beholding the glory of God’s mercy in Christ. It is not a delighting object only, to see the mercy of God in Christ, but it is a powerful object that has an influence upon the soul .” (Works, Volume IV, p.256)

In other words, the Gospel is not just something that makes us happy; it is something that changes us and makes a difference in the details of our lives.  It is “a powerful object that has an influence upon the soul,” making us more like Christ as we behold His glory.

This truth has informed and transformed the way I seek to grow as a Christian.  If we want to be changed, we must spend time beholding the manifold glories of Christ in the Gospel: the glory of His love, the glory of His power, the glory of His wisdom, the glory of His humility, the glory of His patience.  And as we do this, with unveiled face, we will discover that we truly are becoming more and more like the one whose glory has captivated the eyes of our heart.

By Jared Mellinger

Father,

What an incredible gift we have in 1 Thessalonians.  Thank you for writing this book, and thank you for preserving your word for me and for Covenant Fellowship.  As I sit and read these pages, my heart is riveted by the example of Paul and the church in Thessalonica.  I continue to ask, as I have asked these past few months, that you would use this book and this sermon series first and foremost to do a work in my own heart.  I want my relationships to be increasingly transformed by the gospel.  I want to live a life of thankfulness.  I want to be faithful to the gospel.  I want to lead your people with humility, gentleness, and love.

You know how I always thank you for Covenant Fellowship.  I’ll never stop thanking you for bringing me to this church.  Thank you for all the men and women who have labored tirelessly over the years to make the church what it is today.  What a humbling experience to serve along side them.  Thank you for saving hundreds of lost sinners through Christ, and bringing us together to live for you.  Thank you for continuing to save people through the witness of the church.  Thank you for the fellowship and community we enjoy with one another.  Thank you for placing in our hearts a love for Christ and a love for one another.  Thank you for all the Community Group Leaders, ministry team workers, and children’s ministry helpers who joyfully pour their lives into the church year after year.  You have given me so much to be grateful for!       

Now, I ask that the message of 1 Thessalonians would leave its mark on our lives throughout this sermon series.  I ask that this short, powerful letter would capture our hearts and motivate us to be a church full of people who live to please you more and more.  You have given us 1 Thessalonians, a part of your sacred word, that we might be taught, reproved, corrected, and trained in righteousness, that we may be equipped for good works through the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 

Father, please do this in our lives.  We dread the thought of being the same people on the other side of this series.  Take the things you are already doing in the church and increase them even more.  Give us real love in how we relate to one another.  Produce in us real thanksgiving for your grace at work in those around us.  Help us to carry out real ministry as we care for one another, and as the pastors lead the church.  Empower us to carry out a real witness in the world, that others might come to know you.  Anchor our souls in the real hope we have in Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come. 

We lean on the promise of 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24: “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.”

Amen.

Posted by Deb Demi

 

If you’re anything like me, staying focused while praying can be a struggle.  Minutes after I begin to pray, I oftentimes find that my mind has drifted off on an endless rabbit trail of unrelated thoughts.  Though praying will always involve discipline and faith, the Lord has graciously given me a tool that has made my prayer time more effective, more enjoyable, and more gospel centered. 

 

To stay focused, I keep lyrics to worship songs and hymns before me as I pray (usually while walking on the treadmill).  My prayer time begins by choosing a song and singing it aloud before the Lord.  After I sing/pray a verse, I continue by praying aloud my own thanksgiving, praise, and requests related to the lines of the song. 

 

For instance, one song that I’ve been using for quite some time in praying for my children is “One Pure and Holy Passion” by Mark Altrogge.  Instead of using the word “me” in the song, I replace it with “them.”  So I sing (aloud), “Give them one pure and holy passion.  Give them one magnificent obsession.  Jesus give them one glorious ambition for their lives, to know and follow hard after You.”  Then I may pause between lines and pray that they would fully grasp the gospel, that they would hunger after God’s word, and that they would not desire anything that the world has to offer them more than Christ.

 

Not only is alternating singing and praying through hymns and gospel-centered worship songs valuable for praying for my children, songs with rich lyrics provide a valuable context for meditating on the gospel while helping me to verbally give thanks to God for all that He has done for me.  Through others’ carefully crafted words, I’m reminded of who my hope is in.

 

Recently I sang/prayed through “Be Thou My Vision”, “Rock of Ages”, “In Christ Alone”, and “One Pure and Holy Passion.”  By using these songs as a backdrop for my prayer time, I had no trouble praying for 30 minutes.  My focus was directed away from me and my needs and toward giving glory to God.  The songs provided a springboard, enabling me to pray more effectively for my husband, children, neighbors, and CG members.  The extended time of prayer it afforded, allowed me to quiet my soul to hear God speak, and by singing and praying aloud, my mind did not drift.  I left my prayer time feeling that I not only brought my needs before the throne of God, I was able to reflect on the gospel and truly worship God.

 

Though I don’t use this prayer method every day (sometimes I pray through scriptures or a prayer list), I think that praying through depth-filled worship songs can be a tool that can spur us on in our praying.  Why not give it a try?

Posted by: Marty Machowski

Editor’s Note: In light of the message Jared Mellinger preached on 1/4/09 [LINK], we’re continuing an additional week on prayer in parenting.

Do you have a child who is struggling to overcome a pattern of sin in their lives?  If you are a parent you probably answered “yes.”  Whether you are trying to figure out a way to keep your daughter in bed after you lay her down at night or you are constantly reminding a teenage son about his disrespectful attitude, all families experience recurring patterns of sin in the lives of their children.

As a pastor, I get to hear a lot of stories: “My child just won’t do their school work, all they want to do is play computer games.”  “All they do is fight.”  “He lied to me again.”  The list could go on.  There is however an interesting phrase many parents share with me as they describe their dilemma. “We’ve tried everything,” they say with exhaustion then go on to recite a laundry list of things they’ve tried.  “We’ve given the rod, we’ve taken away their privileges, we’ve tried written confessions, going to bed early, doubling their chores, and still nothing seems to be working.” 

Often prayer is last on the list, “All we can do is pray,” or not on the list at all.  My wife and I have been through the same challenges with our children.  One of the things I’ve learned, though, is prayer is not the weapon of last resort.  Prayer is the weapon of choice.  Consider changing your strategy with your children to include prayer right from the start.  Here are a few things to consider:

- Pray daily for your children and ask God to help them with their current struggles.

- Pray with your children, asking God to help them overcome their particular battle with sin. (And leading them to ask God themselves.)

- Examine your own heart in prayer.  Sometimes the work God is doing has more to do with our growth and sanctification than our children’s.

- Expect God to pour out his grace for change on their lives and simply be faithful to discipline your child in love and then watch. (Check out Andy’s blog from last week for more on this point.)

- Never lose sight of the gospel when sin strikes.  Every discipline session is an opportunity to take your children back to the gospel.

The greatest change we have seen in our children has not come from our work through discipline, but has come through God’s work of grace in their hearts.   Don’t give up discipline or creative ways to lead your children in the midst of their sin, but take up prayer like a soldier takes up his rifle; he wouldn’t go into battle without it.  As he walks cautiously on the battlefield it is the first thing to part the brush.  It’s not hanging on his shoulder as a last resort, but leading his way through every trial.

Posted by: Andy Farmer

Unanswered prayer.  Is there anything more perplexing?  Wouldn’t it be much better if God had given us some sort of system to know how prayer gets answered?  Maybe he could have given us some bins for different types of prayers.  A bin for ‘need this right now’.  Maybe a bin for ‘willing to wait on this one’.  And we’d probably do well to have a bin for ‘not sure I really want this one answered’.  Then we could just sort our prayers like the mail.  That would make sense.  I’d like those kinds of prayer times. 

But we don’t know.  Every single prayer we pray – every single prayer – is by definition an act of faith.  It takes faith to speak out to a God who doesn’t always seem to be there.  It takes faith to keep on praying for things when there’s a list of other things we’ve prayed for that seems unanswered.  And it can be hard to get back to the task when something we prayed for didn’t seem to come to pass. 

Yet the call to prayer isn’t conditional.  We are called to pray and to expect answers.  Jesus makes that clear in the Gospels.  And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”  (Matt:  21:22 for example).

So we pray in faith.  The truth is, it is this very ‘faithiness’ that is the heart of prayer.  Without faith there cannot be prayer.  In his classic and well worth reading book on prayer, E. M. Bounds locks prayer and faith in the same action – each motivating the other. 

Faith is always praying.  Prayer is always believing.  Faith must have a tongue by which it can speak.  Prayer is the tongue of faith.  Faith must receive.  Prayer is the hand of faith stretched out to receive.  Prayer must rise and soar.  Faith must give prayer the wings to rise and soar.  Prayer must have an audience with God.  Faith opens the door, and access and audience are given.  Prayer asks.  Faith lays its hand on the thing asked for.  (The Possibilities of Prayer, 43) 

How do we pray expectantly?  By keeping in mind that there is one who hears, and our prayers never fall on deaf or uncaring ears.  So, with the Psalmist,

O LORD, we pray, give us success!  (Psalm 118:25)

Posted by: Andy Farmer

At exactly noon on September 23, 1857 a small group of six businessmen gathered together in the upstairs classroom of an old church in New York City.  This small lunch hour prayer meeting yielded little in the way of evident power.  But the faithful men decided to meet the following week to pray – again.  The group grew to about 40 by October 14.  On that afternoon the worst financial crisis in the history of the country to that date was unfolding.  In the midst of the panic God invaded the little prayer meeting and within a few weeks over three thousand people from all walks of life were gathering.  And within six months the City of New York was seeing ten thousand people gathering daily for prayer throughout the City.  The Fulton Street Revival was a two year visitation of the Spirit that rejuvenated churches across the nation and across denominations. 

In the history of the church revivals come rarely and unexpectedly.  But when they do come they have always come from the faithful efforts of small groups of praying people.  Charles Spurgeon gives us the heart of the saint in prayer for revival.

“Coming events cast their shadows before them, and when God is about to bless his people his coming favour casts the shadow of prayer over the church.  When he is about to favour an individual he casts the shadow of hopeful expectation over his soul.  Our prayers, let men laugh at them as they will, and say there is no power in them, are the indicators of the movement of the wheels of Providence.  Believing supplications are forecasts of the future, He who prayeth in faith is like the seer of old, he sees that which is to be: his holy expectancy, like a telescope, brings distant objects near to him.” - Charles Spurgeon, The Holy Spirit’s Intercession

Isaiah 57:15  For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

Posted by: Andy Farmer

The promises and claims of God’s word give us confidence to pray and tracks to pray along.  When we pray, ‘in Jesus name’, we are simply saying that we believe we are praying according to his will.  And his will is revealed and confirmed by his Word.  As John Stott reminds us, what greater power do we have with which to pray than the eternal word of God!

“We need to win the battle of the prayer threshold. To help me persevere in prayer, I sometimes imagine a very high stone wall, with the living God on the other side of this walled garden he is waiting for me to come to him. There is only one way into the garden – a tiny door. Outside that door stands the devil with a drawn sword, ready to stop me. It is at this point that we need to defeat the devil in the name of Christ. Hat is the battle of the threshold. I think there are many of us who give up praying before we have tried to fight this battle. The best way to win, in my experience, is to claim the promise of Scripture, which the devil cannot undo.” - John Stott. Authentic Christianity p. 225-226

PSA 119:89  Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.

Posted by: Andy Farmer

When you think of prayer, what comes to your mind first – a quiet time alone with God – your own personal ‘prayer closet’?  Or a prayer meeting?  We often judge our prayer life based on how many minutes a day we spend in private prayer.  But did you know that the overwhelming number of references to prayer in the Bible speak of gathering together with others for prayer?  Theologian Timothy Chester brings us a helpful adjustment from his book "The Message of Prayer. "

“It is sometimes said that good private prayer is the foundation of good corporate prayer, but it may be more biblical to say that that corporate prayer is the foundation of private prayer.  Our experience of God in Christ is corporate.  Western individualism has made the individual alone with God the centre of spirituality.  For the people of the Bible it is the relationship between God and his people that is central.  Personal prayer revolves around this common experience-not the other way around."  (p.153)

As you go into your Community Group prayer time this week, don’t go thinking that you haven’t done enough private prayer to prepare you for praying in your group.  Rather, see your Community Group prayer (or any prayer with God’s people) as a sound biblical starting point for renewed pursuit of personal prayer.  As Jude encourages the gathered church in his letter,

But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.  (Jude 20-21)

Posted by: Andy Farmer

We begin our new near as a church with a focus on prayer.  We’re going to be devoting our first community groups of the year to prayer.  As Jared shared in his message on Sunday from Acts 4:23-31, ‘prayer is the voice of a church that is desperate for the power and presence of God.’ 

If we understand prayer rightly, we ARE desperate for prayer.  It is the unique relational privilege we have with God our Father, made possible by the mediation of the Savior. 

For our blogs this week we’re going to take a break from our regular features and devote the entire week inspiring you to pray based on points from Jared’s message .  His first point is that we pray in difficulty.  This is true no matter what our circumstances.  If we are in a season of trial, we find that difficulty will drive us to cry out to God for mercy and deliverance.  If we are in a season of blessing, the difficulty is to neglect prayer in favor of distraction and self-sufficiency.  So no matter what, prayer will be accompanied by difficulty.  That is where we see it operate. 

The following words from John Piper will help you keep your desire to pray lively and your practice of prayer faithful.

“My hope is … not only that you feel encouraged to pray, but mainly that the nature of God as a fountain of free grace will be reaffirmed- that God is the kind of God who delights most deeply not in making demands but in meeting needs.  Prayer is his delight because prayer shows the reaches of our poverty and the riches of his grace.  Prayer is that wonderful transaction where the wealth of God’s glory is magnified and the wants of our soul are satisfied.  Therefore God delights in the prayers of the upright.”

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. (Romans 12:12)