The Candle

Vision is from God. His Word reveals His Way. He desires to help me, not to hurt me. When I follow His Light, I find His presence and His happiness in a dark and lonely world. The healed blind man in The Bible could not have said it better, "I once was blind, but now I see."

The church is still God's Vision Center on earth. A single candle can penetrate the darkness, but gathered candle power is greater than the sum of the parts.

NOTE TO SELF: Crises can snap your candle in two. The relentless voice of evil always lies and tells you that you are no longer of any use to God. Don't believe the lie. God will light you up at both ends. You will always shine brighter at the broken places of your heart.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Ride

The roller coaster ride of emotion is one of the things prayer warriors share with the nature of Elijah.

At the pinnacle of answered prayer, Elijah became vulnerable to attack. Gaining a great victory did not make the prophet immune from sliding down the mountain and into the valley of despair. It set him up for it.

NOTE TO SELF: Be warned. Watch your step when you are in the middle of a victory dance.
You can get busted up while busting a move. Pray anyway!

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Effect

Effective Prayer is a display of Spirit-filled energy. This kind of praying is not a play on words, a well-rehearsed speech, or a display of eloquence designed to scratch the ears of men and women. It addresses an audience of One.

Effective Prayer is energized piety flowing from a broken heart, with a white hot intensity. Effective prayer expresses a single-minded, fully devoted person's desire to be on mission for God.

NOTE TO SELF: To pray effectively, don't seek to be eloquent to the crowd you face. Seek the face of God, in the name of Jesus. Don't measure your prayer by its length, but by its power.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Victor

With the anointing of oil, and believing prayer the elders of the early church interceded before The Father and expected their prayers to be heard and answered. Anything less glorifies a victim mentality in the prayer room. Believing prayer saturates the prayer room with a spirit of victory, and converts it into the war room.

NOTE TO SELF: Believing prayer turns your battleground into holy ground. Believing prayer transforms a victim into a victor. This only happens…EVERY TIME.

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The Cheerful

“Is anyone among you cheerful? He is to sing praises.” James 5:13b

“Cheerful” is not a word that I usually associate with the Book of James. Wedged among the thorny warnings to “weep and howl” and to have “the patience of Job” is this beautifully scented word.

In a world filled with the poisonous thorns of challenges, chaos, confusion, and critics, the church produces the refreshing rose of cheerfulness. How? Intimate, consistent companionship with Jesus provides welcome relief from the intimidation of the immediate.
Cheerfulness is one part goodness, and one part passion. Christian cheerfulness confronts the powerful heat, and the fierceness of the world's rage with goodness. It converts intimidation into courageous passion marked by an expression of joy.

NOTE TO SELF: Cheerfulness is your heart enflamed with the courage to overcome. When you are cheerful, you stay in the battle with a smile on your face and the will to win in your heart.
In every sense of the word, cheerfulness describes those happy warriors who fight in the shade of "The Champion," Jesus Christ. Don't face your fears. Face Him.

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The Will

No matter how long it takes or how senseless the suffering may appear to be, believing prayer turns “I will” into “Thy will.”

NOTE TO SELF: Believing prayer is not a result of your wishful thinking being expressed by, "I would wish.” It is not about your prideful preferences, but your absolute obedience.
Believing prayer begins with a spirit of humility and ends with, "Thy will be done.” This only happens…EVERY TIME.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Yoke

When you pray, you are leaning into the yoke with Jesus.

NOTE TO SELF: You lean. He leads.
The longer you lean, the more you pray, and the less you say.
When you pray, don't over promise to others what Jesus is going to have to underwrite. He doesn't have to make good on your word. He fulfills God's word.

Turning prayer into a form of name-dropping is insulting to Him. Don't drop His name. Pray in it.

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The Gold

"There is gold and an abundance of jewels, but the lips of knowledge are a more precious thing." Proverbs 20:15

The Fool is a blind magician who cannot see that his big talk only turns his gold into brass, and his diamonds into glass.

The Wise man knows all that glitters isn't gold, and that shiny brass cannot buy real class. The Wise value words spoken in private to God to purify and to add value to their words spoken in public.

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The Quote

"Any church calling itself the house of God & failing to magnify prayer...does not put prayer in the forefront...does not teach the great lessons of prayer, should change its teaching to conform to the Divine pattern or change the name of its building to something other than a house of prayer."
E.M. Bounds, "The Necesssity of Prayer" - 1929

The Instigator

NOTE TO SELF: The Father knows the devil is the instigator. The devil lobbies to be your navigator. When you pray, you draw near to The Father. Through your prayer, The Father intimidates the devil and empowers you.

Believing prayer begins with your first breath of humility. Breathe deep and don't STOP praying until you YIELD to The Father's will for your life.

Prayer gives you the Father's sense of direction. Through prayer, you avoid head on collisions that prayerless and prideful children never see coming.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!