PRAY FOR:
• the Lord to carry out His plans and purposes for Syria. Ask Him to use this time of unrest to draw the people of this nation into relationship with His Son. (The Bible, Isaiah 55:8,9)
• those who have lost family and friends in this violence to be comforted. Pray for security forces to use restraint in dealing with crowds. (The Bible, II Corinthians 1:3,4; Psalm 86:15)
• Christians in Syria to stand firm in the Lord, interceding for their country and sharing their faith with boldness. (The Bible, Ephesians 6:10,11,18,19)
• the salvation of President Bashar al-Assad. Pray for many in the government to put their faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. (The Bible, II Timothy 2:1-4)
• the Lord to raise up leaders who will rule Syria with humility and integrity. (The Bible, Daniel 2:21)
• corruption to be rooted out in the government. Pray for the Lord to keep terrorist groups from gaining control. (The Bible, Psalm 12:8)
• Arab Muslims in Syria and throughout the Middle East to have the opportunity to hear the Gospel. Pray for a great harvest of souls. (The Bible, John 4:35)
• the Kingdom of God to come to Syria in power, with signs, wonders, miracles, dreams and visions. (The Bible, Acts 2:17)
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Prophetic rain, healings and testimonies!
So this past weekend we did some ministry at a Church down south of us. They have a huge heart to see revival in their community. As we drove down there Cody told me that yesterday he had prophesied that it was going to rain today at 3pm and 3:30pm and that it would be a sign of what God was doing through their Church. Little did we know...
So we got there and were greeted by some members, we talked about God’s heart for the neighborhood, shared some cool testimonies and then prayed with them. We felt like a prayer walk would be a good idea and maybe meet some of the folks living there. While we were praying we shared how we felt that breakthrough would come as the Churches unite. At that time we knew about another Church having a lunch thing and so we headed there. On our way there, right at 3pm, it rained for about 30 seconds. We laughed and praised God, feeling renewed in our expectancy of that which God was doing. By the time we got to the park the party was over, but we met the leaders of the Church that was hosting the event, and their words - we have come here to unite the Churches and serve the neighborhoods. We laughed and praised God for such a wonderful divine appointment.
I looked at my watch and since Cody’s word was right on the first time at 3pm, i felt my heartbeat raise as we neared 3:30pm, in fact, i was a little worried that this next down pouring would be a little bit bigger than the first. And guess what, at 3:30p the rain started to come down again, this time however it didn’t stop. We walked back, enjoying (somewhat) the fresh rain, and got completely soaked. God doesn’t ever hold back. :-)
We had a great time, reconnected with friends and family. We saw God speak truth to peoples hearts, He encouraged us all through testimonies of what He has done in the past and will do in the future. And some people got healed! This one man had neurological damage in his hands, he had no feeling in his fingers or palms - guess what - now he does! Another man had intense pain in his thumbs - guess what - he doesn’t anymore! Another sweet 82 year old lady was so eager for her hearing to be restored that she took out her hearing aids during the teaching - guess what - she started hearing again! 82! Nobody is too old to get healed, God loves them all and wishes them all to be in perfect health! That’s what Jesus died for! The head pastor had ringing in his ears from a fireworks explosion years ago. 1 ear got 100% healed, another about 80-90%, we’re expecting a full healing testimony soon! We also saw some knees healed and just all round encouragement and excitement for God Himself. He truly is so good.
Monday, March 28, 2011
How can I Pray Effectively for Japan and the Arab World?
How can I pray effectively for the crisis in Japan, in the Arab World, and elsewhere?
• Pray for those in leadership –
o For those who are followers of Jesus: to experience Him as their Wonderful Counselor
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.” Ps. 32:8
o For those who do not know Jesus: to seek the Truth and True Wisdom
“With Him are wisdom and might; To Him belong counsel and understanding.” Job 12:13
• Pray for those suffering—
o For those who know Jesus to experience His presence and peace and be ready to share the hope within them with others
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:6-7
o For those who do not yet know Jesus, to ask the eternal questions which cause them to seek with open hearts
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My load is light.” Matt. 11:28-30
• Pray for those responding—
o For His strength, wisdom, protection as they serve
“For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints.” Heb. 6:10
o For integrity and endurance
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us…” Eph 3:20
o For believing responders to recognize those whose hearts are hungry for Truth and be able to share good news in a way that is easily understood
“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ… Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”Col 4:2-6
• Praise God that He turns what is evil to good for His glory—
o Pray for recognition that God can bring good results from harmful circumstances and for much fruit that remains for His glory
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So, then, don’t be afraid.” Gen. 50:20
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Rom 8:28
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” 2 Cor 4:16-17
• Pray for God to help the scientists and experts address the challenges with nuclear plants wisely: “As you all know, the nuclear plant problem is not of only Fukushima pref. and if it doesn’t get solved, we can’t start restoration process there. I really believe we all should pray fervently in one accord on this matter as an urgent prayer point.”
• Pray for transportation solutions, for food & water to be able to reach those in desperate need, for warmth and shelter for refugees:
• Pray for those in leadership –
o For those who are followers of Jesus: to experience Him as their Wonderful Counselor
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.” Ps. 32:8
o For those who do not know Jesus: to seek the Truth and True Wisdom
“With Him are wisdom and might; To Him belong counsel and understanding.” Job 12:13
• Pray for those suffering—
o For those who know Jesus to experience His presence and peace and be ready to share the hope within them with others
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:6-7
o For those who do not yet know Jesus, to ask the eternal questions which cause them to seek with open hearts
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My load is light.” Matt. 11:28-30
• Pray for those responding—
o For His strength, wisdom, protection as they serve
“For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints.” Heb. 6:10
o For integrity and endurance
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us…” Eph 3:20
o For believing responders to recognize those whose hearts are hungry for Truth and be able to share good news in a way that is easily understood
“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ… Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”Col 4:2-6
• Praise God that He turns what is evil to good for His glory—
o Pray for recognition that God can bring good results from harmful circumstances and for much fruit that remains for His glory
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So, then, don’t be afraid.” Gen. 50:20
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Rom 8:28
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” 2 Cor 4:16-17
• Pray for God to help the scientists and experts address the challenges with nuclear plants wisely: “As you all know, the nuclear plant problem is not of only Fukushima pref. and if it doesn’t get solved, we can’t start restoration process there. I really believe we all should pray fervently in one accord on this matter as an urgent prayer point.”
• Pray for transportation solutions, for food & water to be able to reach those in desperate need, for warmth and shelter for refugees:
Friday, March 25, 2011
Japan: Christian leads nuclear response team
Christian missionaries in Japan report that the man given the task of fixing the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex is Naoyoshi Sato, who is a member of the country's tiny Christian community. Sato is the vice minister of construction and transportation. He has been placed in charge of the response team at the endangered nuclear plant to cool the overheated reactor.
Christians in Japan are asking the global church to pray for Sato. They say he needs God's wisdom and strength to endure the potentially crushing burden of averting a nuclear catastrophe and stop the radiation leaking from the plant. All six of the nuclear complex's reactor units saw trouble after the earthquake and resulting tsunami knocked out cooling systems
Christians in Japan are asking the global church to pray for Sato. They say he needs God's wisdom and strength to endure the potentially crushing burden of averting a nuclear catastrophe and stop the radiation leaking from the plant. All six of the nuclear complex's reactor units saw trouble after the earthquake and resulting tsunami knocked out cooling systems
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Developing a Culture of Prayer
by Billy Humphrey
Many pastors and leaders desire to have powerful prayer ministries in their churches. Most understand that prayer is an essential foundation for ministry. Unfortunately many of our prayer meetings are sparsely attended, while many in our churches are fairly prayer-less. Oftentimes, efforts to cultivate prayer through sermon series or special events only inspire for a short time. After a month or two, interest wanes and we return to the place we began, desiring and needing more prayer.
Over the last several years, I have talked with many pastors and leaders about the subject of cultivating prayer in the local church. It is evident that prayer is an issue the Holy Spirit is emphasizing across the earth in this hour. How then shall we heed the Spirit’s call to really engage with God’s heart?
Perhaps the answer is not adding additional prayer meetings or doing special events for prayer. Perhaps the answer can be found by shifting the culture of our church so that we don’t simply have prayer meetings, but rather we develop a prayer based culture. Certainly Jesus’ words, “My House shall be called a house of prayer,” speak of this concept – the church living and breathing in a culture of prayer and operating from this essential foundation. If we don’t put prayer at the center of our church culture, other pursuits and agendas will always fight against it until we end up with few prayer meetings, with few in attendance.
How then do we embark on developing a “culture of prayer?”
1) It must start with the senior leader. When the senior leader develops a personal lifestyle of prayer, it will lead to the church developing a culture of prayer. This is more than just prayer meetings, but living in intimacy with God through prayer. No one else in your ministry can set the pace for a culture of prayer. Edwin Louis Cole said, “The character of the kingdom is set by the character of the king.” That saying is never truer than with the issue of prayer. Leading prayer is not something you can delegate. You may think that you are too busy to lead another initiative. However, this is one initiative you CANNOT be too busy to lead. Senior-leader led prayer will help cultivate a culture of prayer throughout your church.
2) Make prayer the top priority for your staff. I encourage Pastors to re-think the way they spend time in “the office.” What if you dedicated your first 2-4 hours a day for worship, prayer & study with your staff? Rather than spending your first hours busying yourselves with “ministry work”, gather together every morning for several hours to seek the Lord. Do the works of the ministry only after you have ministered to the Lord of the work. It takes hours in prayer to develop a culture of prayer.
3) Teach on prayer and subjects that build prayer. The culture of our church is largely built by what we emphasize in our preaching. Intimacy with God, The Majesty of God, the Sermon on the Mount, Revival, Holiness and Eschatology are all subjects that help fuel prayer.
4) Recognize prayer is the life source for all we do in the kingdom. Allow prayer to be the catalyst from which preaching, teaching, discipleship & outreach are birthed. Some think of prayer as fertilizer that causes the church to grow. Prayer is not the fertilizer; it’s water – without it there will be NO ministry.
It may seem radical to shift the entire culture of your church in order to simply build more prayer. Truly building prayer however, is more intensive than just adding a new ministry or department. It will require grace, time, patience & real commitment.
If the church is to become a ‘house of prayer’ we must transition the culture of our churches to a culture of prayer. I pray that we hear & obey the Spirit’s invitation and become the praying church that Jesus desires us to be.
Many pastors and leaders desire to have powerful prayer ministries in their churches. Most understand that prayer is an essential foundation for ministry. Unfortunately many of our prayer meetings are sparsely attended, while many in our churches are fairly prayer-less. Oftentimes, efforts to cultivate prayer through sermon series or special events only inspire for a short time. After a month or two, interest wanes and we return to the place we began, desiring and needing more prayer.
Over the last several years, I have talked with many pastors and leaders about the subject of cultivating prayer in the local church. It is evident that prayer is an issue the Holy Spirit is emphasizing across the earth in this hour. How then shall we heed the Spirit’s call to really engage with God’s heart?
Perhaps the answer is not adding additional prayer meetings or doing special events for prayer. Perhaps the answer can be found by shifting the culture of our church so that we don’t simply have prayer meetings, but rather we develop a prayer based culture. Certainly Jesus’ words, “My House shall be called a house of prayer,” speak of this concept – the church living and breathing in a culture of prayer and operating from this essential foundation. If we don’t put prayer at the center of our church culture, other pursuits and agendas will always fight against it until we end up with few prayer meetings, with few in attendance.
How then do we embark on developing a “culture of prayer?”
1) It must start with the senior leader. When the senior leader develops a personal lifestyle of prayer, it will lead to the church developing a culture of prayer. This is more than just prayer meetings, but living in intimacy with God through prayer. No one else in your ministry can set the pace for a culture of prayer. Edwin Louis Cole said, “The character of the kingdom is set by the character of the king.” That saying is never truer than with the issue of prayer. Leading prayer is not something you can delegate. You may think that you are too busy to lead another initiative. However, this is one initiative you CANNOT be too busy to lead. Senior-leader led prayer will help cultivate a culture of prayer throughout your church.
2) Make prayer the top priority for your staff. I encourage Pastors to re-think the way they spend time in “the office.” What if you dedicated your first 2-4 hours a day for worship, prayer & study with your staff? Rather than spending your first hours busying yourselves with “ministry work”, gather together every morning for several hours to seek the Lord. Do the works of the ministry only after you have ministered to the Lord of the work. It takes hours in prayer to develop a culture of prayer.
3) Teach on prayer and subjects that build prayer. The culture of our church is largely built by what we emphasize in our preaching. Intimacy with God, The Majesty of God, the Sermon on the Mount, Revival, Holiness and Eschatology are all subjects that help fuel prayer.
4) Recognize prayer is the life source for all we do in the kingdom. Allow prayer to be the catalyst from which preaching, teaching, discipleship & outreach are birthed. Some think of prayer as fertilizer that causes the church to grow. Prayer is not the fertilizer; it’s water – without it there will be NO ministry.
It may seem radical to shift the entire culture of your church in order to simply build more prayer. Truly building prayer however, is more intensive than just adding a new ministry or department. It will require grace, time, patience & real commitment.
If the church is to become a ‘house of prayer’ we must transition the culture of our churches to a culture of prayer. I pray that we hear & obey the Spirit’s invitation and become the praying church that Jesus desires us to be.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Quote: John G Lake's Ministry
"Dr. Lake came to Spokane. He found us in sin. He found us in sickness. He found us in poverty of spirit. He found us in despair, but he revealed to us such a Christ as we had never dreamed of knowing this side of heaven. We thought victory was over there, but Dr. Lake revealed to us that victory was here, a present and possible reality. We regarded death almost as a friend, but Dr. Lake came and revealed to us the Christ, all-glorious and all-powerful, that is triumphant, compassionate, and lovely, and our night was turned into day and despair was turned into laughter. A light shone in the darkness and we, who found Christ at last as He really is, only have words as the words of Thomas, who said, "My Lord and My God." John G Lake Biography
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Update from our Team in Japan
Thank you so much for praying for the situation in Japan. Here is the latest from our teams:
There have been well over 150 aftershocks some of them around intensity 5. These are very nerve racking for those who so recently experienced the big earthquake. Another Intensity 7 tremor is forecast on the Pacific Side sometime on Monday to Wednesday – potentially around Nagoya area
Radiation is predicted to come to Ishikawa in three days, where OM Japan is located; the government is evacuating old people in the area of the Fukushima Nuclear Plant
Although electricity is restored, there is a shortage of food and water; telephones and mobile phones are very unreliable.
Volunteers have come from many nations to help. American Nuclear experts are here to help.
• Pray for both Emerita and for Sarah and the family, as Nob and Owen are both away from home attending ILM.
• Pray concerning the nuclear issue, there are suggestions to wear hats and coats outside and shower when coming inside in case of fall out.
• Everyone is stressed by the constant aftershocks.
• Please pray that the predicted earthquake doesn’t eventuate
• Panic buying has started – there is no petrol, bread, candles, rice and many other supplies.
• The weather is forecast to be extremely cold, and with limited electricity, this will make life even harder
• Pray that God can use this for His glory and draw people to Himself
There have been well over 150 aftershocks some of them around intensity 5. These are very nerve racking for those who so recently experienced the big earthquake. Another Intensity 7 tremor is forecast on the Pacific Side sometime on Monday to Wednesday – potentially around Nagoya area
Radiation is predicted to come to Ishikawa in three days, where OM Japan is located; the government is evacuating old people in the area of the Fukushima Nuclear Plant
Although electricity is restored, there is a shortage of food and water; telephones and mobile phones are very unreliable.
Volunteers have come from many nations to help. American Nuclear experts are here to help.
• Pray for both Emerita and for Sarah and the family, as Nob and Owen are both away from home attending ILM.
• Pray concerning the nuclear issue, there are suggestions to wear hats and coats outside and shower when coming inside in case of fall out.
• Everyone is stressed by the constant aftershocks.
• Please pray that the predicted earthquake doesn’t eventuate
• Panic buying has started – there is no petrol, bread, candles, rice and many other supplies.
• The weather is forecast to be extremely cold, and with limited electricity, this will make life even harder
• Pray that God can use this for His glory and draw people to Himself
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)