All posts filed under: Prayer

7 Dimensions that make for Effective Praying

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Prayer – what is prayer? I love the definition in “My Orthodox Prayer Book.” Prayer is doxology, praise, thanksgiving, confession, supplication and intercession to God. “When I prayed I was new,” wrote a great theologian of Christian antiquity, “but when I stopped praying I became old.” Prayer is the way to renewal and spiritual life. Prayer is aliveness to God. Prayer is strength, refreshment, and joy. Through the grace of God and our disciplined efforts prayer lifts us up from our isolation to a conscious, loving communion with God in which everything is experienced in a new light. Prayer becomes a personal dialogue with God, a spiritual breathing of the soul, a foretaste of the bliss of God’s kingdom. In short, prayer is not just asking and receiving from God it is life with God, intricate, deep, living, a thing not only to enjoy – but also understood. There are all kinds of prayer in the Bible, but for our purpose today I would like to leave you with 7 of them from the book of James …

A passionate Tozer Prayer

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O Lord, I have heard Thy voice and was afraid. Thou hast called me to an awesome task in a grave and perilous hour. Thou are about to shake all nations and the earth and also heaven, that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. O Lord, our Lord, Thou has stopped to honor me to be Thy servant. No man takes this honor upon himself save he that is called of God as was Aaron. Thou has ordained me Thy messenger to them that are stubborn of heart and hard of hearing. They have rejected Thee, the Master, and it is not to be expected that they will receive me, the servant. My God, I shall not waste time deploring my weakness nor my unfittedness for the work. The responsibility is not mine but Thine. Thou hast said, “I knew thee—I ordained thee—I sanctified thee,” and Thou has also said, “Thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.” Who am I to argue …

I Open My Heart

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Do you feel so lost because you don’t know what to do?  Are you afraid that you are going to choose the wrong thing to do? Afraid of disappointing the Lord? Are your hopes and dreams fading fast? Are you burned out? Do you think your strength is depleting? Have you considered crying out to you Lord? Do you know that He’s the only one Who is able to pull me through? If your life is so cloudy… consider praying this today: Lord show me how To do things your way. Don’t let me make the same mistakes Over and over again. Your will be done And I’ll be the one To make sure the it’s carried out And in me, I don’t want any doubt That’s why… All I need to do Is hear a single word from you I open up my heart Just one word could make A difference in what I do Lord I open my heart to you… You’re the lover of my soul Captain of my sea I need a word from you That’s why I open up …

Eyes open Prayer-walk

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Three more days to go! I will begin my 40 days prayer for community in three days and will continue to share articles, prayer tips and encouragement from SeekGodfortheCity. Today we are going to focus on prayer-walking or praying near the people you are praying for. There’s a story rolling in everyone’s life. God has done and will do good things in people’s lives. He does good things long before anyone opens their life to Christ. It’s the kindness of God that leads anyone to repentance (Romans 2:4). Meeting, following and serving Christ is always a lifelong story. The typical stories have multiple encounters and experiences that turn people closer to or further from Christ. Someone researching effective ways to lead people to Christ found that most people have no less than five significant encounters in which the message of the gospel registers at the heart level. On the verge of something good. As we connect with people in practical ways, those deep heart connections increase rapidly. I love to assume that God is on the verge …

Prayer, share, care!

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I’m excited about the next 40 days of prayer starting in five days! My prayer as a pastor in the community I serve is to see God move incredibly in the lives of people. Yesterday we talked about how to co-work with God in sharing his love and kindness. Today, we want to see how that actually works. I am going to use another article from seek God for the city to help us put that into perspective. Caring prayers, tangible kindness and well-timed words. Think of your prayers for others as accelerating what God has already been doing. Since God’s work is always a story, your best praying will be part of an ongoing story. We know that prayer is more than some kind of quick-fix for problems. It’s confusing to think of utilizing prayer as a procedure that, if performed correctly, will bring about “results.” Instead, God delights in our praying as a way of enlisting us into His work and His purpose. Prayer is a way of collaborating with God. God is already on the move. Prayer does not …

Co-Work with God!

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I downloaded an app unto my iPad today to help plan, pray and make daily progress in my up coming prayer effort for my community.  Beginning February 22 through April 1 – I will begin a forty day prayer journey asking God to fulfill His purpose in my community. The app makes it very easy to do it. While I was browsing, I came across this little article that I thought would be a blessing to you as it was to me. It is about how we can partner with God in sharing His love and kindness. ______________________________________________________________ Co-work with God Co- work with God in the story of His love. The story started early. When did God begin to do good things in your life? Was it only after you became a Christian? Actually, the Bible is very clear about God doing good things in people’s lives long before they even know about Him. There’s a story of kindness in every person’s life. God delights in showing His premeditated, forever love with tangible acts of kindness. …

Sweet hour of prayer

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 Nail a note to the cross today. Something you are struggling with – nail it to the cross. Colossians 2:13-15: And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the un-circumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.  Light a candle – embrace his presence – experience his glory and breakthrough in every area of your life Candle has symbolized the presence of the Lord from Old Testament times. The Israelites kept a flame burning in the tabernacle and we to let our light shine for all the world to see. When you light a candle it is an outward demonstration of an in-ward faith that is longing for the presence of God to take care of  every situation. As you light your candle pray that God will take control …

The Twenty Minute Window

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It is 2:41 in California and I just finish writing the last part to a 4 part blog series entitled All In. I said I would deliver the series in 4 day and I did, but I really struggle to get done. I had so many things to carry out this week so I found myself just one day off until 35 minutes ago. I hit the publish button and went to one of my favorite blogs to read and learn and be stretched. All of a sudden I’m gripped by what I am reading and by the time I’m finished, I realized that I had just stepped into my twenty-minute window to listen in silence to the voice of my creator. A word with power is a word that comes from silence. So say the Egyptian Desert Fathers of the third century A.D. So says one of my old spiritual mentors, the late Henri J. M. Nouwen. So says the life and speech of Mama Maggie of Cairo, one of my new spiritual mentors. Our world is wordy, says …

I am not a Morning Person. Liar!

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So, this little motivational post is to discourage people from making excuses about their lack of prayer and devotion in their lives by saying things like ‘I am not a morning person’ when it comes to prayer. Because the question is what do you do with the rest of your time? Have you schedule another time in your day to meet with God on a consistent basis, or are you too busy to make it happen. Are you up on the internet… playing video games… watching movies all night? If you are, a simple change in your daily habits, nightly habits or bad habits could improve your prayer habit.