2/01/2024
1/19/2024
The Prayer To Crush Casual Prayer - J.D. Walt
PRAYER OF CONSECRATION
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
EXODUS 33:7–11
Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the “tent of meeting.” Anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the Lord spoke with Moses. Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to their tent. The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.
CONSIDER THIS
Isn’t it interesting how this text and story about Moses sounds remarkably similar to this word from Jesus:
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matt. 6:6)
You would think they knew each other. You would be right. In that “tent of meeting” on the far side of the Red Sea; somewhere between the land of slavery and the land of promise, Moses met with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who with him and the Holy Spirit reign as one God forever and ever, amen.
Now, compare these two texts:
Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the “tent of meeting.”
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. (Mark 1:35)
Are you seeing a theme developing. We might call it . . . wait for it . . .
CREATE SPACE FOR PRAYER.
So how do we create space for prayer? There’s clearly no magic formula here, and yet the Scriptures offer us clear and directional wisdom. It strikes me that there are at least three critical elements at play here. First, there is time. Second, there is place. Third, there is the substance of prayer itself. On the one hand, we don’t tend to think of getting prayer wrong, on the other hand, it can be easy to get off track. Here’s what I have learned about myself: If I do not have a set time and a specific place I will tend to fool myself into thinking I a) kind of pray all the time, and b) sort of pray everywhere I am. And that, my friends, is the essence of self-deception and the recipe for the malaise-ical enemy of the kingdom of God we call “casual prayer.”
Remember, Jesus was very specific:
1. Go to your room.
2. Close the door.
3. Pray to your Father who is unseen.
If you were to look at my practice over the years my interpretation of the text would appear to be as follows:
1. Go into the living room or den.
2. Sit in your chair or on the couch you always sit in no matter the occasion and no matter what you are doing.
3. Read the Bible and maybe some devotions and then prayerfully think about God and meditate in silence, doing your best to remember your family and friends with care.
4. And I almost forgot—try not to check your phone when it beeps and buzzes.
There is something about a specific kind of set-apart place for the specific kind of set-apart activity of prayer. Moses had a “tent of meeting.” Jesus had a “solitary place” outside Capernaum, (and the garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem). Many people have a prayer closet or specific room in their home. You get the point. With something as intangible as prayer, Moses and Jesus reveal to us ways of putting handles on it. They tangibilitate prayer, if you will.
There’s a favorite movie line from the old movie, Field of Dreams. You may remember it. “If you build it, he will come.” That is exactly the wrong way to think about a time and place as it comes to prayer. This is not a trick or formula or some kind of magic lever to move God. The secret is more like this: If you build it, you will come. We aren’t creating a space so God can show up. We are creating a space so we can show up. That’s the ticket.
THE PRAYER TO CRUSH CASUAL PRAYER
Abba Father, thank you for sending us your Son, Jesus. Lord Jesus, thank you for getting down on the level with us. Thank you for being so clear, specific, and practical. And thank you for not just telling us how but showing us in your own life. Forgive me for neglecting your specific instructions. Forgive me for assuming I sort of pray without ceasing when the truth is my prayer life is casual. Save me from getting caught up in creating the perfect prayer room. Help me to do this simply, to create time and place for prayer and even more to show up. Thank you that you are already there, even before I create it, waiting for me. Praying in Jesus’s name, amen.
THE QUESTION
Do you have a specific time and place for prayer? Do you show up there? How has and is God meeting you there? If not, are you ready to move in this direction? If not, why not?
1/18/2024
What Is Prayer?
"Prayer is simply talking with God.
We can pray anytime, anywhere about anything that’s on our mind. We don’t have to be in a church, use special words or put our hands together if we don’t want to. God is listening. He wants to hear from us.
So why not start a conversation with the creator of the universe today?
Jesus said:
‘Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.’
The Gospel of Matthew, chapter 7 verse 7
The Bible encourages us to always pray, about all kinds of topics.** We can ask God to help the people we care for and we can talk to Him about the things we need or we’re worried about. We can also share what we’re grateful for and we can say sorry when we’ve made a mistake.
We can pray by talking, thinking, or writing; we can even try drawing, crafting, or painting what we want to express. We can use our own words, or borrow someone else’s, making them our own.
We don’t need to make grand speeches to God or pretend that everything’s ok. All we need to do is:
Keep it simple.
Keep it real.
Keep it up. "
This post was copied from the 24/7 website https://www.24-7prayer.com/
11/09/2021
Shameless Boldness by Spencer Sweeting
" It’s easy to feel powerless to make a difference in a world of pain, disease, injustice, and other forms of brokenness. But as Christians, we are not without power. The Lord’s Prayer exhorts us to invite God’s Kingdom, where the fullness of His goodness and justice exists, to come here; to ask God to provide for our physical needs; and to request His protection against spiritual warfare. But Jesus goes even further: “Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I don’t have anything to offer him.’ Then he will answer from inside and say, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I have gone to bed. I can’t get up to give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he won’t get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his friend’s shameless boldness, he will get up and give him as much as he needs” (Lk. 11:5–8, CSB).
What provokes the friend’s abundant provision? The audacity of the one who asks. God loves to respond to our shameless boldness—not because of anything we’ve done, but according to His compassion. Scripture repeatedly teaches that prayer is a powerful means for effecting change, and this has been lived out in The Alliance from the very beginning of our movement. Skye Jethani puts it this way: “We are not merely passive set pieces in a prearranged cosmic drama, but we are active participants with God in the writing, directing, design, and action that unfolds. Prayer, therefore, is much more than asking God for this or that outcome . . . In prayer, we are invited to join him in directing the course of his world.”
When we feel overwhelmed by our world’s brokenness, may we have the audacity to intercede for God’s provision, intervention, and salvation. Let us pray as Jesus did with the persistence that Jesus urged. This is how we’ve been invited to participate in God’s renewal of our world." adapted from an article by Spencer Sweeting, pastor, North Springs Alliance Chu
11/08/2021
10/10/2021
The Spirit Of Intercession by A.B.Simpson
“And He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God” (Rom. viii. 27).
The Holy Spirit becomes to the consecrated heart the Spirit of intercession. We have two Advocates. We have an Advocate with the Father, who prays for us at God's right hand; but the Holy Spirit is the Advocate within, who prays in us, inspiring our petitions and presenting them, through Christ, to God. We need this Advocate. We know not what to pray for, and we know not how to pray as we ought, but He breathes in the holy heart the desires that we may not always understand, the groanings which we could not utter. But God understands, and He, with a loving Father's heart, is always searching our hearts to find the Spirit's prayer, and to answer it. He finds many a prayer there that we have not discovered, and answers many a cry that we never understood. And when we reach our home and read the records of life, we shall better know and appreciate the infinite love of that Divine Friend, who has watched within as the Spirit of prayer, and breathed out our every need to the heart of God."
- Days Of Heaven On Earth, J.B.Simpson, p.154
10/07/2021
Concerts Of Prayer - Prayer Meetings
CONCERTS OF PRAYER – SAMPLE FORMAT
For a 60 to 90 minute gathering. There is no limit to the variations of flow and themes and the mix of prayer formats that can be put into a Concert of Prayer. This is only one example.
OPENING HYMN OR SONG PRAISE • Short prayers of praise and thanks offered spontaneously from the group. •
PERSPECTIVE • Brief teaching on the importance of united prayer. • People break into small groups and commit themselves to God.
CONFESSION • Individuals come to the mike to confess sins on behalf of the people. • Silent prayers of confession. • Song of surrender and confession. • Declaration of God’s forgiveness and grace. • Song of victory and praise.
SPIRITUAL AWAKENING (FULFILLMENT) • Prayers in triads for spiritual awakening in your church. • Prayers in groups of 7 to 12 for spiritual awakening in your city or town. • Prayers from the front for spiritual awakening in the whole country. • Song of praise for God’s renewing power. Amen
WORLDWIDE MISSION (FULLNESS) • Prayers from the front for God’s kingdom to advance to all the nations. • Prayers in groups of 7 to 12 for specific areas of need (consider providing fact sheets or prayer cards about unreached peoples of the world). • Open time of spontaneous prayers from the whole assembly for the advancement of the Gospel. • Song or hymn with focus on world needs and worldwide mission.
DECLARATION • Encourage one or more people to testify about what God has shown them through the Concert of Prayer. DEDICATION • A prayer from the front dedicating the whole group to God. • Final song or hymn, declaring God’s great victory.
10/05/2021
Prayer: Battling In The Unseen Realm
I believe in the power of prayer. Through prayer, God can either change our circumstances or teach us to trust in his goodness in any situation. I use ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ as a template for my time with God in the morning. I also use other prayers of Jesus’ in the Gospels, the Apostolic prayers, and the Psalms. These prayers can help to form our devotional time with God. They assist in shaping us into the image of Jesus.
The Apostle Paul was clear that we do not wrestle with flesh and blood – our real enemies are spiritual beings. Evil entities influence society and the personal lives of individuals (Eph. 6:12.) It takes Holy Spirit-inspired words to do battle with evil in the spiritual realm.
Praying Holy Spirit-directed prayer – also proclaiming the gospel to the nations is vital in waging war in the unseen realm. Screaming at those we disagree with or at the devil will not give us the results we desire. Angry rants will not bring about the end of spiritual darkness. But, a life lived pursuing the presence of God in prayer can make a difference.
Those who build their lives on Scripture and prayer are entrusted with the power of God to overcome evil. Those who are determined to push back the darkness in society and religion must discover the power of prayer. Followers of Jesus need to stand for justice and to work to make our world a better place. But gaining more political influence will not change one human heart.
Intimacy with Jesus is not an option for those who desire to walk and pray in Christ’s authority. Knowing and abiding in God is our ultimate goal.
My desire is to pray in agreement with the heart of God.
1 John 5:14-15 says, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us-whatever we ask-we know that we have what we asked of him.”
We can battle in the unseen spiritual realm by praying in the Spirit – with all types of prayers (Eph.6:18.) And with the confidence that God will use our prayers to help establish his purposes in the earth.In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. – (Matthew 6: 9 – 12 NKJ)
10/02/2021
Getting Cranked Up: Morning Prayer
“In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.” – (Psalm 5:3 NIV)
Before I retired I got up early in the morning five days a week for work. And, honestly, my first thought was often more about coffee than God! But, I did grab my Bible and journal as I made my way to my first cup. I had to be at work early so I had very little time to waste.
I came to this conclusion while reflecting on prayer; my experience in morning prayer is much like trying to crank up an old car. It can prove to be problematic. Sometimes I felt like I am just getting “cranked up” and then it was time to leave for work. Other times, I enter into prayer easily and quickly. But, the key to prayer is; consistency, and endurance, even when we feel nothing
The men and women of God (both past and present) that I appreciate the most are people who value prayer. Effective prayer warriors have this in common; their prayers are influenced and guided by the Scriptures. Praying God-breathed words will transform our vocabulary and our thinking. And it helps us to pray the will of God more effectively.
I have found it helpful to study the prayer life of Paul. And to follow his example in prayer. He prayed for the spiritual transformation (which is ongoing) of the Church. His prayers were positive and not focused on the negative. Jesus ( the chief Apostle and High Priest of our faith) taught us to pray for deliverance from the evil one. The Apostle Paul taught us about the nature of our adversary. And how to stand in the power of God against evil.
Below are a few prayers from the book of Ephesians that I pray for myself and others regularly.
Ephesians 1
Heavenly Father, I ask for the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that I may know Jesus better.
I ask that you would enlighten the eyes of ____heart. So that they may know your glorious inheritance and great power that you have made available to your children.
Ephesians 3
Heavenly Father, strengthen me with power through your Spirit in my inner being. Help me to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. And fill me with all the fulness of God. Amen
7/31/2018
On Devotional Times: My Ten Favourite Sentences: Andrew Wilson
Sometimes, a flash of insight can come to you in just a sentence, and that has happened to me frequently when it comes to devotional times. (It's what John Piper says about something he read in C. S. Lewis: "Books don't change people; paragraphs do. Sometimes even sentences do.") Of the many things I have read on the subject of devotional or "quiet" times, here are the ten sentences that have most helped me:
- George Müller
- Pete Greig
and our hearts find no peace
until they find their rest in you.”
- Augustine
- Tish Harrison Warren
- John Piper
- Paul Miller
- Matt Redman
- Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Lord,
I’m tired,
and I’m grumpy,
but I’m here again.”
- Ray Lowe
wondrous things in your law.”
- Psalm 119:18
7/26/2015
Binding And Loosing Prayer by Tom White
6/16/2015
Answered Prayer: Sermon Notes From Stuart McAlpine
- There is actually a lot less asking going on than there could be
- There is a lack of thanksgiving for all the answers received to asking
“Are you kidding me, Zak? My ears are still ringing with the noise!”
“You know what’s weird Zeb? It’s not the noise I remember but the silence. Do you remember that antsy dog of mine, Nimrod? He never made a single whining, whimpering sound all night. What do you make of that?”
Stuart
5/12/2015
Asking In Jesus Name: Sermon Notes From Stuart McAlpine
Dearest family,
Herewith is the summary I gave at the end of Sunday’s message, giving a top-ten list of some things that are operative when we “ask in the name of Jesus”:
- Association: We are identifying ourselves with Jesus as the Son of the Father, and accepting our identity as sons and daughters of the Father. We are not outsiders but family. Jesus has put his name upon us. “To pray in Jesus’ Name means to be freed from ourselves…Praying in Jesus’ name we are set free in our inner selves to take on our identity in Jesus as the Son of God.” (Don Carson)We share a common cause in our asking. We are invited to ask on His account, and, as it were, draw on his account. He is asking us to ask for him, on his behalf as it were. To ask in his name is to ask for Him, and not for ourselves. Our name is not on it. So close is this association, it is as if the asker were Jesus himself, and as askers, we cannot but be lovingly welcomed as Jesus is loved. It is as if we have Jesus’ asking-nature in us. If we have Christ’s mind we will ask what he would ask for. Is this not what he said in His own great asking prayer in John 17? He asked that the world would know that the Father loved his disciples “as you love me.” It should also be said that this association is more than just ‘dwelling’ with Him. He ‘indwells’ us so that His very spirit is within us, expressing our asking to the Father.
- Access: We have access to the Father by the blood of Jesus. We have access in His name. Without this access we are left with our own independence. Where there is no dependence there is no asking.
- Approach: Because Jesus is the great high priest who has gone before us, we not only have access, but we have the invitation and authority to boldly approach the throne of grace itself. To get into the White House is one thing, but to get into the Oval Office is quite another. It is one thing to have the code to get into a place where we have no personal authority or leverage, and another to be able to walk the corridors to the very inner chambers of the operation. The name of Jesus is our security pass and assures us of both access and approach. You cannot be given access but denied approach. We are all in the inner circle of His love and power when it comes to our asking in Jesus’ name.
- Acceptance: We know that the only ground of our acceptance is “in the Beloved.” (Ephs.1:6) The acceptance of our asking is not assured by the legitimacy of our needs or requests, or even the sincerity of our affections. Because we are in the beloved, we ask in the beloved’s name.
- Assurance: It is because of who Jesus is, that his name is the confident calling card for all our asking. There is no confidence in our own name, or in the reasonableness and righteousness of our petitions. We have no leverage of ourselves. We have no persuasive credentials or communications in which we can be assured. As John put it so clearly to his readers (1 Jn. 5:13-15), our assurance is believing “in the name of the son of God” and in asking “according to his will.” It is this knowledgethat assures us, and that now produces the assured “confidence we have in approaching God” assured that He hears us and will answer us. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine, and He has set His name upon me, so when I ask, it is by His name that I am known as an asker. Is it any wonder that in a timeless treatise on assurance published in 1654, that Thomas Brooks would conclude: “Usually the most praying souls are the most assured souls.” Our assurance in His name persuades us to ask, and as we do so, our asking becomes “an inlet to assurance.” Assurance is both the premise and the product of our asking in Jesus’ Name.
- Appropriateness: Obviously if Jesus’ name is on it we cannot be asking for something that is not in keeping with who he is. This is a sanctifying effect on our requests.
- Agreement: Foundational to the agreement that invites us to ask in his name, is our agreement with everything that Jesus says about himself, and everything scripture reveals about him, in which we fully believe. We also live in agreement with his commands and obediently love him. His name is inseparable from his will so to ask in his name is to ask in agreement with his will and his word. It is only possible to ask for the same things that Jesus would ask for. We cannot make a claim for anything that Jesus would not claim. The nature of what we ask for will conform to Jesus’ nature. Our need for ourselves, or anyone else, will be His need. Asking in his name will be in agreement with his purpose and his passions. Asking “in his name” will always be “for His sake.” When we ask, in agreement with Jesus, according to the Father’s will in heaven, then we draw on an unquantifiable resource that is more than sufficient for any and every possible thing we could ever ask for.
- Authority: There is authority in Jesus’ name recognized by angels as well as demons. Jesus has authorized us to be his representatives, so we have assurance that we will be recognized by the Father as those who are therefore authorized ask-ers and agents of that authority.
- Audacity: Although this has become a pejorative term it actually has to do with boldness. Asking in the name of Jesus gives us the same boldness that Jesus himself has, given confidence in the Father, and assurance about the will and the word of God. This is the asking that precisely because it acknowledges personal limitation, has the courage to go to the limit, to ask all the way, realizing that God invites us to test Him, though he is not thereby tested!
- Approval: To ask in Jesus’ name is to have approval for what we request. I love that statement of Jesus in Jn. 6:27, talking of himself: “On him God has placed his seal of approval.” Jesus is approved of God, so his name carries that approval. But also, we seek his approval in our asking, looking for his “Amen” not just ours. We also need to know that what we ask for meets with his approval. We can only endorse our asking with his name if it is consistent with the character of that name.“Prayers in his name are prayers that are offered in thorough accord with all that his name stands for.” (J.N.Sanders) So important is this hallowed and reverential relationship between the character of his name and the content of our asking, that John Calvin’s conviction was that to by-pass his name was tantamount to “a profanation of God’s name.” We cannot ask Jesus to “pass on” through his intercession anything that does not accord with his name.
We are agreed then that to ask in Jesus’ name is not to use a magic mantra. In both Jewish and Roman tradition there were magicians who used to use names of deities (secret names of God in the case of Jewish charlatans) to invoke the power for magic. We see an example of this in Acts 19 where Jews, including the seven sons of Sceva “tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed.” (19:13) Talking of Roman practices at the time of Jesus, their prayers were often said in the name of any number of gods, in the desperate hope that one of them might come up trumps! How wonderful that we ask confidently in only one name, because “there is no other name”! We are also agreed that to ask in His name is not to use a rubber stamp. Because the name of God represents the sum of His character and nature, when we ask in Jesus’ name, it is not just a vague slogan, to endorse vague and generalized non-specific prayers. We can be very specific about the very specific characteristics of Jesus that are summed up in that name, that we are asking to be applied to the very specific situation that we are asking about. (Any phrase stand out there?) Here’s to more specific asking in Jesus’ name!
Inquiringly yours,
Stuart
11/16/2014
Ten Questions on Prayer With Tim Keller
Question 1: Prayerlessness
Question 2: Praying the Psalms
Question 3: Meditation
Question 4: Prayer Distractions
Question 5: Unhappy Before God
Question 6: Entering God’s Happiness
Question 7: Praying to a Father
Question 8: Prayer and Self-Knowledge
Question 9: Prayers That Don’t Work
Question 10: The New Book
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Chapter 1 O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need ...
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For the communion of saints, that spiritual communion which I have in faith and hope and holy love and in prayers and praises with all good ...
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"After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, etc." Matthew 6:9 This prayer begins where all true pray...