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"Be much in secret prayer. Converse less with man & more with God." George Whitefield (1714-1770)
After Jonathan Edwards reported "extraordinary prayer" resulted in revival in the churches of New England, Whitefield came to America. By 1739, his praying & preaching fanned the first small sparks of a New England revival into America's FIRST GREAT AWAKENING.
Things to do today: PRAY for the NEXT one.
"Extraordinary prayer is more prayer than I am praying right now."
Dr. Ronnie Floyd
The Sinker's Prayer:
"Lord save me." MATT. 14:30
Peter's prayer reminds me that answered prayer is based upon my dependence, not my eloquence. When sinking in the storms of life, I don't let words get in my way. Less is more.
"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God." James 1:5
Wisdom is God's answer to your prayer. You need the capacity to discern between a good idea, and God's idea. The prayerless can be deceived, or detoured by a good idea. The prayerful receive wisdom from God to know Satan is not the enemy of the good. He is the enemy of God.
"O my gracious God, grant me grace in my great suffering! O my heavenly Father! O my gracious God! O Jesus!"
Balthazar Hubmaier (Anabaptist pastor, theologian, & martyr (1480-1528)
His final prayer, with his beard burning & his voice choking from smoke, while being burned at the stake. His last word in this world was "Jesus." Make prayer, in the name of Jesus, your first priority today. No more excuses.
Prayer leads you to be "under authority." Pride leads you to be "in authority."
Jesus prayed, "Saying, "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done."”
Luke 22:42 NASB
The prayerful follow Jesus. When He prayed, He yielded to His Father's authority. The prayerless are prideful, and usurp the Father's authority. Be prayerful.
"The most meaningless statistic in life is the score at halftime." Meadowlark Lemon
"'Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John.' "LK 1:13
"Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance, but laying hold of His willingness." Martin Luther
So, we pray.
Talk Less! Pray More! Verse for 2019: "I pray You, show me Your glory!"
Exodus 33:18
Moses prayed to be shown God's glory. The NEXT Great Awakening will not be man-made. It will be hand-made by God, and an answer to someone's prayer. We don't deserve to see what God can do. We just need it. In The Kingdom, believing is seeing & receiving begins by asking.
Ask Jesus to empower you to share the Gospel with your ONE, or to invite them to be a part of the Easter services of your church. You will discover there is power in the name of Jesus. Believing prayer acknowledges the Presence of Jesus, and invites Him to draw some ONE to The Father
Easter Challenge: Pray TWOgether, with your spouse, a friend, or your child, calling on God to work in the life of some ONE.
“For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” – Jesus (Matthew 18:20)
Jesus is always praying. He lives to intercede on your behalf. The power of Heaven is unleashed when two or more people gather together to pray in His name. The prayerless ignore His Presence, and remain powerless. The prayerful invite His Presence, and become powerful.
And while He was praying Heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended (Luke 3:21-22).
Prayer for the Day: O, Holy Father, I come to You, in the name of Your Son, and my Savior, Jesus Christ, the Lord. I yield to Your Presence in my life, and recognize His place at your right hand in Heaven. I place my trust in You, and the name of my ONE before you, with the firm confidence, in Your word, that you hear me, and answer me when I pray. Father in Heaven, I will pray my part, and play my part, but I call on You, to lead my ONE to Your saving grace, by the power of Your Holy Spirit, and in the name of Your Son, and my Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
You will never find Jesus so precious as when the world is one vast howling wilderness. Then He is like a rose blooming in the midst of the desolation, a rock rising above the storm.
—Robert Murray M’Cheyne
Scripture reveals the Father set aside 40-day periods of time to confront, and to challenge His children to draw closer to Him.
Easter Challenge: For the next 40 days, prepare your heart for the celebration of Easter Sunday, by drawing closer to the Father, and by praying for someONE who needs to draw closer to Him.
Prayer is the priority. The early disciples saw Jesus perform great miracles for them, but they asked Him to give them the one thing they needed the most: “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1).
It’s not a matter of making more time to pray, but learning to SET ASIDE time to pray each day. Someone you know needs to be saved. Someone you know needs to be invited to join you for Easter services.
If you are frustrated that you haven’t seen a breakthrough with your one yet, I want to encourage you to P.U.S.H. (Pray Until Something Happens!). Pray for someone. People are not won to Christ by powerful sermons, beautiful music, or impressive facilities. They are won to Christ through prayer.
Prayer for the Day: Father, thank you for saving me, through the death of Your Son, Jesus Christ. I call upon Your Holy Spirit, who dwells within me, to bring to my mind, and to place upon my heart, the name of someONE who needs to be saved, and someONE I can invite to join me for the Easter services of my church.
I know well that when Christ is nearest, Satan is busiest.
Robert Murray M’Cheyne
“For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.”
Philippians 3:21 KJV
The 17th Century King James Version of the Bible restores a 1st Century clarity to the meaning of Paul's message, by the use of words that have been devalued in the 21st Century. See if you agree.
One contemporary translation has substituted, “citizenship," for “conversation." This good faith effort to provide clarity offers a meaning with an American version of Biblical truth. It is not an improvement. Stay with me.
“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” V. 20 NASB
"Conversation” hardly conjures up an image of “citizenship.” The two translations of the same word must be related, but at first glance they hardly seem to share the same DNA.
"Citizenship” is a rooted in the same word that provides the English language with the concept of “politics.” It carries the meaning of a constitution, or a commonwealth, with agreed upon guidelines to influence the conduct, and the behavior of the citizens. We need to have a "Conversation” about this.
Paul meant for the behavior of citizens of The Kingdom to be influenced, and expressed by loyalty to, and agreement with the Lordship of Jesus Christ. The 17th Century concept of "conversation" is not so antiquated. It it just misunderstood.
Nothing influences a person’s behavior, and conduct on earth quite like having steady, consistent, uninterrupted conversations with Jesus. The citizens of the Kingdom are praying people.
Citizens align themselves with the rules of the constitution of the Kingdom, because they are ruled by a relationship with the King. Rules without a relationship will always breed rebellion.
Jesus lives to intercede for the citizens of His Kingdom. In Heaven, He is seated at the right hand of The Father, and prays for His followers. When the children of God pray, The Spirit of Christ carries, and interprets their most feeble groan, or their most intense petition to Jesus. He intercedes, on their behalf, before His Father.
The essence of prayer is an uninterrupted “conversation in Heaven.” There is nothing like consistent conversation. It influences the behavior, and the conduct of a Christian citizen on earth.
Prayer is a “conversation in Heaven." It purifies a citizen’s Christ-like character on earth, and it intensifies a citizen’s expectancy for The Lord’s return to earth.
Prayer accomplishes its greatest work, in the hearts of Christian citizens, when it gathers them together into The Body politic. The Father is pleased to hear His children pray, “We eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” V. 21 NASB
Prayer creates a spirit of expectancy, and a sense of urgency in the hearts of Christian citizens. It fuels their passion for Christ’s companionship, and desire for His return.
Prayerless people are not left on their own, but they choose to be on their own. Trusting in their own self-importance, and self-sufficiency, they soon break off their "conversation in Heaven." Prayerlessness is a sign of the foolishness in their hearts, and it leads to a barrenness of their souls.
There is nothing more “vile” than the pungent odor produced by the body politic posing as The Body of Christ, while operating in their own strength. When an individual, or a body of Christian citizens lose the fragrant aroma of The Fruit of The Spirit, they do not lose their salvation, but they lose their most attractive feature, the scent of Heaven.
Prayerless people, led by prayerless preachers, sweating it out in their own efforts. Attracting a crowd on earth, without maintaining a conversation in Heaven, produces sweat equity, not the fragrance of The Spirit.
The prayerless produce the same odor of the flesh found in a machine shop. The Body of Christ releases the aroma of fresh fruit of a farmer’s market. No matter how much a prayerless body of believers is willing to sweat, they will never pass God's smell test.
Prayer transforms the prideful into the humble, by bringing proud people to the end of themselves and into conversation with God, through their relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
"who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.” V. 21 NASB
NOTE TO SELF: Prayer is your conversation in Heaven. It reveals you to be a loyal subject of The Lord Jesus Christ. When you pray, The Spirit of Christ infuses a spirit of expectancy in you, for His return. Pray for a spirit of desperation to be ignited in hearts of the prayerless. Strike the match.
TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!
What a privilege to be invited into your “home”. We take that very seriously and understand that our calling and mission are completely and confidently to exalt the name of Jesus as we impart the powerful knowledge of intercession. Therefore, the moments we spend with you are dedicated to exhorting the people of God to Talk Less! Pray More!