All posts tagged: prayer

10 Quotes from Max Lucado’s ‘Before Amen’

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When Prayer Flows If you want to take you prayer life to another level of simplicity and ease, “Before Amen” is for you. It is inviting and inspiring. The focus remains on the Father all through the book. In essence, that is exactly what prayer is all about. Enjoy a few quotes that jumped off the pages: “Before you face your world, face you Father.” “Prayer is conversation with God while driving to work or awaiting an appointment or before interacting with a client. Prayer can be the internal voice that directs the external action.” “Guilt leaves a tattooed heart.” Just as a happy child cannot mis-hug, the sincere heart cannot mis-pray” “Prayer is the hand of faith on the door handle of your heart; the willing pull; the happy welcome to Jesus.” “Prayers are not graded according to style.” “You are never more like Jesus than when you pray for others.” “An un-prayed for problem is an embedded thorn.” “Life is a gift, albeit unassembled. It comes in pieces, and sometimes it falls into …

No shuffling or shilly-shallying

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Jesus was matter-of-fact: “Embrace this God-life. Really embrace it, and nothing will be too much for you. This mountain, for instance: Just say, ‘Go jump in the lake’—no shuffling or shilly-shallying—and it’s as good as done. That’s why I urge you to pray for absolutely everything, ranging from small to large. Include everything as you embrace this God-life, and you’ll get God’s everything. And when you assume the posture of prayer, remember that it’s not all asking. If you have anything against someone, forgive —only then will your heavenly Father be inclined to also wipe your slate clean of sins.”  (‭Mark‬ ‭11‬:‭22-25‬ MSG)

Are Afflictions Wordless Prayers?

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“Tears are words that need to be written.” — Paulo Coelho And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction. Genesis‬ ‭16‬:‭11‬ KJV) This is one of the strangest verses I have ever seen in the Bible. On a human level, we cannot hear affliction. We can feel it and other times see it. To hear affliction is unthinkable, at least in my finite mind. We usually hear about how God saw the afflictions or heard the cries of his people in their afflictions. But we almost never read about him hearing our afflictions. This must be a thing that God alone can do. Could it be that all our afflictions are wordless prayers that God hears? Could it be that our afflictions are supposed to be louder than our voices lifted up in prayer during times of affliction? I want to believe that an affliction is a reflection of a need. …

Are you an Altar Junkie?

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In most churches there is a time for congregants to gather at the altar for a time of prayer. Usually in response to a message people will voluntarily come forward to receive a blessing, a touch from God or simply to consecrate themselves either for the first time as a new believer or for some a deeper walk with the Lord. An altar junkie would be a person who ceases every opportunity to spend time with the Lord at the altar. They are like the Sparrow who finds a home; the Swallow who builds a nest at the altar of the Lord and raises its young right there. Like those who dwell in His house ever singing his praise. They are like doorkeepers/gatekeepers in the house of the Lord. They understand that “better is one day at the altar than a thousand elsewhere.” Unfortunately, there is a misconception among many believers about spending time at the alter. In some places, altar time in is widely and only seen as a place for sinners to come …

7 Days without Prayer makes 1 weak

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Just a thought Fasting and praying is not for the faint hearted. It takes a tenacious person, one who is willing to go the distance, deeper, farther than necessary. That’s when you find God in all His glory. The edge of the desert Moses was taking care of the flock for his father-in-law Jethro, Midian’s priest. He led his flock out to the edge of the desert, and he came to God’s mountain called Horeb. The Lord’s messenger appeared to him in a flame of fire in the middle of a bush. Moses saw that the bush was in flames, but it didn’t burn up. Then Moses said to himself, Let me check out this amazing sight and find out why the bush isn’t burning up. When the Lord saw that he was coming to look, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” Moses said, “I’m here.” Then the Lord said, “Don’t come any closer! Take off your sandals, because you are standing on holy ground.” He continued, “I am the God …

A prayer for clarity

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My Story It was December 28 2014 at about 8:15, just a week or so ago – I stood up in church and prayed a simple prayer: “Lord I need clarity and wisdom to deal with certain situations I have been dealing with. I am not asking for you to wet a fleece or dry it. I trust that you will speak in a way that I can understand. Thank you for showing me what to do, in Jesus’ name Amen!” I went home and didn’t think about it again until He spoke to me. The way he spoke was so clear I didn’t have struggle to understand what he was telling me to do. Every prayer offered in faith is answered by a faithful God. At this time of the year, all of us are faced with the challenge of decision making. Business decisions, Ministry decisions, family budgets, career change, is it the right time to buy a car or a house. Decisions, Decisions, Decisions! I would like to urge you quiet your soul, …

General Butt Naked

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In the late 90s a madman named Joshua Milton Blahyi, better known by his nom de guerre General Butt Naked roamed the streets of Monrovia killing, eating human flesh and drinking human blood. initiated as a priest at an early age over an African traditional religious cult and endowed with demonic priestly powers, Joshua Milton Blahyi, better known as General Butt Naked and his men fought completely naked during the Liberian Civil War because they believed that supernatural powers were given to them through this strange ritual. Together with his men, General Butt Naked set the city on fire and killed hundreds of thousands of innocent people. "Whenever God determines to do a great work, He first gets His people to #pray." -C H Spurgeon — Walter Bright (@WaltBright) September 19, 2014 Within that period a brave group of believers was praying for God to kill the General. During one of their prayer meetings, someone began to prophesy that God wanted them to change the way they were praying. Instead of praying for the death of the …

Where are the modern day Watchmen?

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On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the LORD in remembrance, take no rest, and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth. Isaiah 62:6-7 I hate to sound judgmental especially when it comes to prayer. After all, it is something we must to pursue privately. Yes! I agree that we are to stand in concerts of prayer or hold public prayer meeting  – the one held in the upper room and like the one, the apostles held when the place they stood shook after they got through praying. Unfortunately, we are not seeing that passionate pursuit both from those sitting in the pew and those standing in the pulpit. The statistics are quite heart-breaking. Prayer is not high up on our priority list.  Because of our lack of prayer, we are not seeing the hand of God in and around us. Here are a few things we miss out on: The …

15 Prayers for the Big C Church

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My teenage daughter was at youth camp last week. They had the young and dynamic preacher named Isaiah Saldivar as the speaker every evening. It was really good. At the end of the week when I arrived to pick her up, they were doing a Q&A session and a few people were sharing. A young man got up and began to share about how frustrating it is for him when it comes to denominational differences. He is from a Nazarene church, but is cool with coming to a camp at an Assembly of God Church. I applaud him for speaking his mind about the frustrations too many young people face when it comes to this subject.  His willingness to seek God with friends from other denominations is a good step toward creating a friendly attitude to denominational differences. Having said that, I think too many Christians are mistaking to think that denominational differences are of the devil. I believe that there are denominational differences today because people naturally choose to align themselves with groups that hold or espouse their …

Monday Night Meditation

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Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean, scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life. Tune me in to foot-tapping songs, set these once-broken bones to dancing. Don’t look too close for blemishes, give me a clean bill of health. God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life. Don’t throw me out with the trash, or fail to breathe holiness in me. Bring me back from gray exile, put a fresh wind in my sails! Give me a job teaching rebels your ways so the lost can find their way home. Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God, and I’ll sing anthems to your life-giving ways. Unbutton my lips, dear God; I’ll let loose with your praise. (Psalm‬ ‭51‬:‭7-15‬ MSG)