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Prayer is so powerful because it joins the hearts of people on earth with the heart of God in heaven. When we pray, we connect with God, and He affects our daily lives beyond our comprehension.
I believe prayer is one of the greatest powers available in the entire universe. That may seem like a bold statement, but it’s true!
Prayer opens the door for God to work. It is the activity that you and I can engage in on earth when we need the power of heaven to come into our lives and bring wisdom, direction, encouragement or a miraculous breakthrough. Prayer connects us to the power of God, and that is why it is a greater force than anything else we can ever imagine. Even Jesus needed to pray and receive this power when He was on earth.
Only God’s power can bring peace, instill joy, grant wisdom, impart a sense of value and purpose to a person who doesn’t know what to do in life, and work every kind of miracle.
Do you want to see that power work in your life? Then make prayer a priority.
Have you ever heard the biblical phrase "pray without ceasing"? To many, that sounds daunting and impossible. How could anyone bow their head, kneel, and pray 24 hours a day?
If that’s what you think, it might be time to change your definition of prayer. Too often we view prayer as a very specific process that can only happen once we’ve gone to a private place and shut the entire world out.
But do you realize that even directing a thought toward God qualifies as silent prayer? It’s true! Prayer is communicating with God, so when the Bible says to "pray without ceasing" it means to always be open to communication with God. That could mean a two-hour prayer session, or it could be something as simple as being aware of His presence as you go throughout your day.
God has not made prayer complicated. He intends for prayer to be an integral part of our everyday lives. Today, change your definition of prayer, and you can experience the joy that comes from constant communication with the God who loves you.
The great battles, the battles that decide our destiny and the destiny of generations yet unborn, are not fought on public platforms, but in the lonely hours of the night and in moments of agony. All great soul-winners have been men of much and mighty prayer, and all great revivals have been preceded and carried out by persevering, prevailing knee-work in the closet. – Samuel Brengle
"Every great movement of God can be traced to a kneeling figure." D. L. Moody
People are healed because of prayer.
Situations change because of prayer.
Traffic moves because of prayer.
Relationships are restored because of prayer.
Nations are won because of prayer.
Battles are won because of prayer.
Demons are defeated and cast out because of prayer.
People get saved because of prayer.
We hear God speak to us in prayer.
Prayer changes us from the inside out.
Prayer will succeed when all else fails.
The kingdom of darkness is pushed back because of prayer.
When we pray, God moves from heaven. When we pray, things happen that would not otherwise happen.
Great things are done THROUGH our lives because of prayer.
It is when we pray that we seek God. It is when we pray we hear God. It is when we pray God reveals WHO He is and His heart to us. It is in prayer our hearts are changed.
“Whether we like it or not, asking is the rule of the Kingdom. If you may have everything by asking in His Name, and nothing without asking, I beg you to see how absolutely vital prayer is.” Charles Spurgeon
Be generous with encouragement. It is verbal sunshine. It costs nothing and it warms hearts. ~ Nicky Gumbel –// so love this quote! awesomeness!
the discovery that pineapple lumps and jaffas, officially my favourite lollies, are wheat free, brought much rejoicing to my heart this week. for those not in the know last week i had some tests and came out as allergic to wheat. so am for 2 weeks (which the doc thinks will be lifetime lifestyle) i am wheat free. i have some other allergies too (egg, nuts, shellfish) and my daughter is dairy/nut free so we’re pretty good at reading labels and adjusting. have a few specialists to see as my ige (perhaps) levels were majorly high. now am the proud owner of an anapen and am getting a medic alert cowboy belt buckle… i mean bracelet (i think a cowboy buckle size to write all the things that are meant to be on it!)
last night we had a housegroup round for, you guessed it waffles. waffles are a gift from God for ministry. has been one of our best connector tools – having people round for waffles and conversation. so exciting to see a young man on fire for God looking forward with expectation to see how God unfolds his life.
got an exciting text from my sister today. for about 6 months i’ve been praying something person and specific at her request. she isn’t a christian, yet. and today IT happened. the prayers were answered. and she recognized and acknowledged that the breakthrough happened cos of prayers, that the answer didn’t come naturally but supernaturally!
love this too from: Desire Spiritual Growth
If prayer is the key to chest, then praise is the proper delight in the unlocked treasure.
The Answer is Not The Treasure
We are mistaken if we think the answered prayer is the main treasure. The answer is the treasure we seek.
The answer is but a click of the lock. And we’re so busy trying to figure out if the click sounded like a “yes” or a “no” answer, we forget to open the chest.
The Treasure is…
The treasure is what the answered prayer reveals about God after we have drawn near to Him intimately to behold His character displayed in His workings and gifts.
and as always. i love Jesus with all i am and all my heart and all my soul and all my days. For His glory and the building of His kingdom and the rescue of the lost.
so what are you totally loving this week?
… check out what other peeps are loving whatever day of the week it is over at Paisley Jade
today over at LEADING AND LOVING IT lori wilhite asked: “So, in 10 words or less, please let me know how I can pray for you. And … I’m willing to bet that there are others who will want to pray for you too.”
these are my ten words: wisdom in ministry, wisdom in life, grace, strength, discernment, healing
we so need God’s wisdom (and so glad we can ask and can seek) for ministry and leading housegroup, and wisdom in life esp with the food challenges i have at the moment, transitioning to a wheat free lifestyle, grace to then overflow with grace to others (family, friends, those we lead), strength and energy in this season (connected to the allergies and diet changes), discernment for some stuff going on (i want to see as Jesus sees) and healing
so what is your in ten words or less, can i pray for you?
But I am just so mindful today that as the sun streams through my windows, that HIS mercies are new, fresh, alive and ENOUGH for us every morning. Whatever season you may find yourself in, whether in lack or abundance or somewhere in the middle, that God and His grace abounds for each one of us. In this, we can be confident. So, my prayer for you today as you head into all that God has in store, is that you would be aware of His goodness, aware of His presence, and aware that His goodness does not RUN OUT… so with that in mind, make choices that honour His name and call on your life, and that will bring Him great glory. Darlene Zschech
you know, there is a cliché that says that God answers prayer in 3 ways
1. YES
2. NO
3. MAYBE
i’d like to rephrase #3 as WAIT
sometimes God answers with an instant YES.
take for example, on monday, our MM team prayed for a specific distraction related incident before our yesterday session. and God answered, instantly, that morning. without us having to say anything or intervene in the situation. resolved.
sometimes God answers with a NO.
why would God say no?
because He is our loving Father and He knows the big picture and the best way.
The Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees! Make level paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed. Hebrews 12:6-13
My dear child, don’t shrug off God’s discipline, but don’t be crushed by it either. It’s the child he loves that he disciplines; the child he embraces, he also corrects. God is educating you; that’s why you must never drop out. He’s treating you as dear children. This trouble you’re in isn’t punishment; it’s training, the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God? We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God’s training so we can truly live? While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God’s holy best. At the time, discipline isn’t much fun. It always feels like it’s going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it’s the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God. Hebrews 12:6-13 MSG
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! Matthew 7:7-11
sometimes God answers with a WAIT
in the waiting we must wrestle with the disappointment of the moment that God didn’t and doesn’t answer a prayer a specific way and according to our agenda
waiting and managing our disappointment – we might cry out STINK at first – but that first response be just a moment, not a location we camp out at, putting our comfy at home pants on, not determining our life’s perspective or spiritual status – must lead to trust
as the answer unfolds we, with hindsight, can more accurately see the big picture
so why do we have to WAIT?
- simply not the right time
- its about the bigger picture
- there is a better way
- develop your character and calling – God is more interested in your heart/character than your temporary happiness
- TRUST
Sometimes the bigger picture is that God is at work helping us THROUGH a situation instead of resolving it with an instant change. Sometimes it is that we are undergoing character reformation through the challenges instead of a simple solution. Sometimes we are learning skills and developing resources that God will use in the future.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
IN EVERY YES AND IN EVERY NO AND IN EVERY WAIT WE MUST HAVE AN UNDERLYING BELIEF BENEATH IN IT ALL THAT GOD IS GOOD!
so we all like the YES answers
but what do we DO with the NO and the WAIT?
1. PRESS IN, KEEP PRAYING
Press in to God when you want to pull away. When I really want to hear from God but He seems silent, I sometimes find I want to disengage from my normal spiritual activities. Skip church. Put my Bible on my shelf. And let more and more time lapse between prayers.
Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. Luke 18:1
2. TRUST GOD
sometimes you even have to say it out loud.
I TRUST GOD. I WILL TRUST GOD.
I CHOOSE TO TRUST GOD.
turn your heart towards God, remind yourself of His promises and of His heart – He is good. all the time.
even in this – john 11 – even in the death of Lazarus – in the disappointment of his illness and death, in the disappointment of seemingly unanswered prayer and a silent far away God – even in this God is good and has a plan and a purpose. remember, heaven’s perspective – what we call death Jesus says is just sleeping.
3. GET GOOD PEOPLE AROUND YOU
Get people around you who will pray with you and for you and not give up and will stoke a positive trustful attitude, who will encourage you to press in and pray, who will encourage you to trust God and will encourage you to not have a pity party but to
IN EVERY YES AND IN EVERY NO AND IN EVERY WAIT WE MUST HAVE AN UNDERLYING BELIEF BENEATH IN IT ALL THAT GOD IS GOOD!
Sometimes you wake up and you can’t get out of bed…
so you talk to God and He helps you get your feet on the floor.
Sometimes you get your feet on the floor, but you can’t take a step…
so you talk to God & He lightens your step so you can.
Sometimes, you start taking steps into your day, but you feel like you’re dragging your heart…
so you talk to God & He carries your heart for you.
Sometimes, you make it through the day, but you lie down at night & can’t stop thinking…
so you talk to God and He calms your fears & He gives you peace to sleep.
Life can hand us difficult days–but God is able to go with us through it.
We just gotta talk to Him.
Matthew 11:28 is a well known text for those of you who have church backgrounds. In it Jesus says, “Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Some of you have the version that says, “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden.” “Weary” and “labour” are kind of the same word. “Labour” is the idea that you worked so hard you’re exhausted. “Weary” is that exhaustion that comes from the labour. So don’t get confused about, “How can the Bible say ‘labour’ and ‘weary’ and still be the Bible?” It’s the same idea and same word. This is a uncommon invitation. Jesus Christ says, “Hey, if you’re exhausted, if you’re bitter, if you’re lonely, if you’re angry, if you struggle, if you are socially inept, if you have no people skills, if you can’t figure it out,
come here.” What an invitation!
Sometimes I have loved this verse because I’ve grown weary. Sometimes I’ve loved this verse because I’ve been tired. Now, when God put me together in my mother’s womb, He put an inordinate amount of optimism in me. So I’m a hopeless optimist. “It will work out. It will be fine. It will be great.” I’m intrinsically wired that way, but I have had seasons where I’ve just grown extremely weary. In those times, I’ve loved this invitation. But the invitation itself is profound, because what we do in our culture, more often than not, is go, “Look bro, you’ve got some people skills issues. Go to some sort of program, go to some sort of group, go to some sort of place and figure out how to interact on a level that’s acceptable. And then you and I are cool.” Or there’s, “You’re just a little too bitter for me. You’re always complaining, always pointing out what’s wrong and unable to rejoice in what’s right. Why don’t you go get better at that, and then we can do life.” But that’s not what Jesus is doing here. No, it’s, “Come to Me. Are you a train wreck? Come here. Are you broken? Are you stuck in lust? Are you stuck in anger? Are you stuck fear? Get over here.”
And then there’s this great exchange occurring. “You come to Me with your weariness, you come to Me with your labour and I will give to you in turn rest. I will give to you peace. You give to Me the struggle, and I’ll give to you rest. Get in here. Come over here.”
You’ve got to hear this invitation as it relates to prayer. Because the invitation isn’t, “Start doing what’s right.” The invitation is, “Come to Me. You’re not doing what’s right.” So the solution to what ails us, what weighs heavy on us and what exhausts us is not us trying harder at overcoming those things, but it’s rather us coming to Jesus, walking with Jesus, being in a relationship with Jesus that overpowers our affection for the struggle. So I think it’s really important for you to dial in and understand that, when it comes to sin, loneliness and despair, the way we get out from under those things isn’t to work really hard to not be struggling with those things anymore. But we really need to use our energy and vitality to chase after, to know and to see Jesus as more lovely than those things. And then as Jesus becomes more lovely, these things lose their power. As Jesus becomes more spectacular, why would you choose a lesser joy over a greater joy? It becomes a delight issue. “Come to Me,” He says. “Are you busted up? Are you broken? Get in here. Get over here.”
Now there’s another piece here, and we have to talk about it, because it’s real life. He says he tells the parable for two reasons. He tells the parable so that we know we could always pray and should always pray, but He also says that we would pray and not lose heart.
Everyone of you would have a story where you really prayed, you really cried out to God and there was this thing that you wanted. It wasn’t a bad thing, it wasn’t selfish and it wasn’t, “Please God, let the Cowboys win tonight.” It wasn’t that kind of thing, but it was rich, weighty and it looked like it was tied to things that God would like. So we’ve prayed for a family member. We have prayed for the salvation of a friend. We have prayed for a sick loved one. We have cried out and asked God to work, and it just seems like it just hasn’t been answered and that He’s not listening. So we have a tendency to lose heart, we’re confused and maybe we even feel betrayed by God.
I think the reason that Jesus ends this text with “never the less will the Son of Man find faith on earth” is because we’re being let in on some really deep waters here. Here are the deep waters. We are simply far too ignorant to understand the will of God. We don’t have enough information and don’t have enough facts, so our role as children of God is to trust the sovereignty of God as it expands out so much farther than our own understanding. Now can I unpack for you why certain things happen and certain things don’t? I have warred on my knees, fasted, cried out and begged for the lives of certain people who are sick, and they went on home. And then I have plead, asked God and fasted for Him to rescue others, and He has healed them outright. Did I pray harder on one than the other? No. Did I want one more than the other? Not that I can think of. Were there just not enough people with me when I was praying? No, it was very similar.
So there is a mystery to prayer that we’re going to have to grow comfortable with. Is God sovereign? Over every cell in the universe. Over every atom that exists, He is sovereign. So why pray? Because God has ordained to accomplish His will through the prayers of the saints. So we join God and the work of God by asking God for what God has asked us to ask of Him. Matt Chandler – Call To Pray
i thought this dovetailed nicely with the previous post on REAL LIFE FAITH
we continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love and your endurance inspired by hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 1:3
i pray that my work (and my housegoupies!) would be produced by faith and would be the product and fruit of my faith – faith in action
that the things i do be prompted by love, evidenced by generosity and compassion and joy and kindness
and that the endurance and energy i have be inspired by hope because of Jesus who gives hope and IS hope
may what i do and who i am am always be hopeful, believing the best, optimistic and faith filled in the purposes and promises of God, through Christ Jesus my Lord
The main issue in our prayerlessness is we have a problem believing and grasping that God likes us, enjoys us and delights in us. I don’t think we have any problem at all with the high-level idea that God loves us. If I were to sit down with you and ask you, “Do you think that God loves us?” I think you would go, “Yes, I think He loves us.” But if I could drill down a bit and start to ask about you, if I could start to ask about you right now (not you years from now), if I could sit down across from you and ask you, “Do you think God delights in, rejoices in and enjoys you right now?” I think if you were honest that one would be harder to answer. I do not think that you struggle with believing that God likes you ten years from now. Because you ten years from now is awesome. You ten years from now are not struggling with the same things you struggle with today. You ten years from now are bold in evangelism and passionate in prayer, and you have memorized the Torah. You ten years from now are legit. But you today, surely God’s not delighted in you today. Surely if God does love you today, it’s only because He knows what you’re going to be ten years from now. So He’ll put up with it like a parent changes a diaper. “I know one day you won’t do this, so I’ll deal with it.” Surely at best that’s how God feels about you today. I believe that there are multiple reasons for our prayerlessness, but I think the predominant one is in the deepest part of our being. We just can’t imagine that He delights in us, rejoices in us and loves us. Matt Chandler – Call To Pray
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