The Legacy

Praying for, with and over your children puts God's hand prints all over them. My father, Don Miller, was born March 9, 1922. Before he died in 2015, he could still remember the first time his father prayed over him and his family in 1929.

Dad recalled, as a seven years old child, "I never heard anything like it in my life. I can remember it like it was yesterday."

Dad's father, George Washington Miller, was saved at a Methodist Revival meeting. The same night he got saved, my grandfather gathered his family around the kitchen table and prayed over them. Dad said, "I felt like everything was going to be alright."

NOTE TO SELF: Parents build a lasting legacy in the lives of their children when they pray over them. Do it today.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Dipper

NOTE TO SELF: The preacher is a steward, not an owner. Prayer minimizes what is “MINE” and values what is “THINE.” It is the purifying agent and the driving force in the heart of every serious preacher. Praying preachers are reminded daily that they are like a hand in a pail of water. God inserts them and removes them at His will. Remember you are in His grip, not The Big Dipper.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Tune

"For it was the Father's good pleasure to have all the fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself."
Colossians 1:19-20

"Do not have your concert first, and then tune your instrument afterwards. Begin the day with the Word of God and prayer, and get first of all into harmony with Him.”
Hudson Taylor

Reconciliation comes through Jesus Christ, and brings peace with God. Prayer maintains, and sustains the peace of God. You need both.

To reconcile means to restore completely to a former state of harmony. When you are not in harmony with God, it is impossible to compose yourself. Turn your eyes upon Jesus.

When it comes to prayer, you are not a spectator sitting in the audience, or a critic evaluating the score that has been written by The Composer. You are playing an instrument, and seeking an audience with The Composer.

NOTE TO SELF: Toot your own horn, but don't become a "Johnny one-note" in the band. Yield to The Composer's direction, protection and correction.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Victor

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church, and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.”
Colossians 1: 15-18

Jesus is a person, not a perpetual expletive. Hollywood has often shown a fondness for using the name Jesus, as long as it is framed as a curse word.

The success of Christian films has put a dent in the Hollywood freight train, but has not knocked it off the track. The real money is still put into films that curse the name of Jesus or delete it altogether. Cursing Jesus is the new politically correct F-bomb. But I digress.

Jesus is not a curse or a concept. He is The Champion. By praying to God, in the name of Jesus, His Spirit takes believing prayer and moves Jesus out of the past tense of a religious victim, and into the present tense of a triumphant Victor.

NOTE TO SELF: Praying in the name of The Champion raises Jesus to first place in your eyes, and drives His enemies crazy. Through prayer, you no longer see Jesus as a victim, but The Victor who…
   • REVEALS GOD TO MAN “…the image of the invisible God…”
   • LEADS THE WAY “...the firstborn of all creation…”
   • LIVES TO CREATE “…by Him all things were created…”
   • BRIDGES HEAVEN & EARTH “...In the heavens & on earth…”
   • PRECEDES ALL LIFE “…He is before all things…”
   • HOLDS LIFE TOGETHER “…In Him all things hold together…”
   • LEADS THE CHURCH“…head of the body, the church…”
   • BEGINS ALL LIFE “…He is the beginning…”
   • CONQUERS ALL DEATH “…the firstborn of the dead…”
   • REIGNS AS CHAMPION “...first place in everything.”

The religious system or your own self-centeredness can overshadow The Savior. Prayer magnifies Jesus. Talk elevates yourself. Magnify Him. Get over yourself.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Rescue

"For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the Kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."
Colossians 1:13

The Prayerful let go of their sin, taking joy in knowing God no longer holds it against them. The Prideful pretend sin never happened, or if it did, it wasn’t their fault.

The Prayerful aren’t interested in coming down on the right side of history. They embrace HIS story of redemption, and humbly agree with God on what He views is right and wrong. The Prayerless attempt to appear generous, by devaluing the price tags God placed on the cost of their sin. They want to have a relationship with the King, by being transferred into His kingdom, without being under His authority.

The Prayerful humbly ask forgiveness from God, and receive redemption from sin. The Prayerless pridefully claim an exemption from their sin, and miss their redemption from it.

NOTE TO SELF: Your rescue from sin came with a price. Jesus paid it all. You didn't deserve God's forgiveness of your sin. You were rescued from it. Show some humility. Don't change the price tags.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Brightness

"We have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints of Light.”
Colossians 1:9b-12

Paul’s prayer will never make it on a throw pillow, or T-shirt. It can’t be squeezed onto a bracelet or a bumper sticker. It won’t be found on the laundry list of most prayer meetings, because it doesn’t ask for health or wealth. Pray it anyway.

Planting a seed in the lives of others spurred Paul to pray for the fruit of love to continue to grow in their hearts. Follow his lead.

NOTE TO SELF: Talking about the darkness falls short of thanking God for the brightness of The Light.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Vigilant

Some Christians believe turning the other cheek means keeping a stiff upper lip while yielding ground to a bully. Wearing a "grin and bear it" grimace, these silent saints suffer under a self-imposed exile in their own nation.

They have not lost their voice in the public square from a hoarseness that is derived from a spirited debate. They have been silenced by a self-imposed gag order. There are many well-meaning voices offering misplaced mercy and ill-advised counsel to the church. They attempt to convince Christians that mobilizing their base to vote is a form of bullying. It is not. It is a valid resistance to the actions of a bully. When the church speaks with a clear voice from the Word of God, and mobilizes their people to vote, it is not expressing hate speech, or bullying. It is showing compassion.

NOTE TO SELF: Once you take your God-given rights lightly, you will give them up easily. Deluded expressions of benign piety, and a misguided spirit of self-resignation are poor substitutes for vigilant Christian citizenship.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Request

"Devote yourselves to prayer...praying at the same time for us."
Colossians 4:2

Imprisonment drove Paul to his knees. What appeared to be a disastrous interruption to his mission, Paul received as a Divine appointment. Through his devotion to prayer, Paul found a new level of freedom in prison. Though his body was shackled, his heart was free to communicate with The Father.

NOTE TO SELF: Paul interceded for others, and requested others to pray for him. You should too. Prayer didn’t prepare Paul to be a better preacher. It transformed him into an intercessor. It will do the same for you. When the world gives you down time, don't waste it.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Circle

NOTE TO SELF: The family of God is a concentric circle, not a closed circle. God's grace draws people out of the darkness to join a family reunion. When they show up at the campfire, embrace them. Don't slap them back into the darkness.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Provision

"And my God shall provide all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever. Amen."
Philippians 4:19-20

NOTE TO SELF: When you find yourself deeper in debt by digging your own "MINE" shaft, stop digging. When you find yourself trapped in your own "MINE" field, stop waking. Racing ahead of Jesus leads to "MINE" explosions. Prayer leads to a desire for "THINE" over "MINE," and aligns you with God's will. Yield to His pace in the race. Let Him decide if what you want is what you need. Glorify God with what you have, not with what you want.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!