Thinking of Prayer as Jesus Taught

Thursday, May 26th, 2011 at 5:42 pm  
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Pray without ceasing . . . —1 Thessalonians 5:17

Our thinking about prayer, whether right or wrong, is based on our own mental conception of it. The correct concept is to think of prayer as the breath in our lungs and the blood from our hearts. Our blood flows and our breathing continues “without ceasing”; we are not even conscious of it, but it never stops. And we are not always conscious of Jesus keeping us in perfect oneness with God, but if we are obeying Him, He always is. Prayer is not an exercise, it is the life of the saint. Beware of anything that stops the offering up of prayer. “Pray without ceasing . . .”— maintain the childlike habit of offering up prayer in your heart to God all the time.

Jesus never mentioned unanswered prayer. He had the unlimited certainty of knowing that prayer is always answered. Do we have through the Spirit of God that inexpressible certainty that Jesus had about prayer, or do we think of the times when it seemed that God did not answer our prayer? Jesus said, “. . . everyone who asks receives . . .” (Matthew 7:8). Yet we say, “But . . . , but . . . .” God answers prayer in the best way— not just sometimes, but every time. However, the evidence of the answer in the area we want it may not always immediately follow. Do we expect God to answer prayer?

The danger we have is that we want to water down what Jesus said to make it mean something that aligns with our common sense. But if it were only common sense, what He said would not even be worthwhile. The things Jesus taught about prayer are supernatural truths He reveals to us.

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A Chicken Sandwich Prayer

Tuesday, March 8th, 2011 at 12:38 pm  
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Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8


There are many positive things about living in the south including: the warm weather, the beaches and Walt Disney World, but by far my absolute favorite thing about living in the south is Chick-fil-a. If you’ve never had an original Chick-fil-a chicken sandwich, you have no idea what you’re missing. Not only are the sandwiches amazing, but so are the waffle fries.


When I first started frequenting the local Chick-fil-a, I was so impressed that I began reading a book about leadership by the founder of Chick-fil-a, Truett Cathy.. Throughout the book he talked about the foundational principles that make up the values and goals of the company. What makes Chick-fil-a different is that they have stayed true to who they were when the company was formed and their desire to please the customer. Whenever the customer says “thank you” the Chick-fil-a employee always responds with “my pleasure.”


My mom and dad taught me to say “thank you” and so I say it all the time, but I genuinely mean it when I say it. Chick-fil-a employees say “my pleasure” time after time and there is never a hint in their voice that they don’t mean it. Shouldn’t our prayer life be the same?


Time after time I receive information of a situation needing prayer and I do nothing. I commit to someone to pray for them, but I often forget. I don’t want to sound like I think Chick-fil-a is perfect and incapable of making a mistake, because they have. They’ve messed up my order once or twice, but their average is extremely high. Shouldn’t we shoot for a high average in our prayer life?


We need to strive to be the type of people that when we say we’re going to pray for someone or a situation, that we really do. That the words that we use to promise a prayer mean more than “what’s up.” When we pray we bring the needs of our friends, family and co-workers before the Creator of the universe and it is not something we should take lightly.


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National Prayer Breakfast Again Overshadowed by Controversy

Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011 at 12:46 pm  
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(RNS) – Last year, for the first time since the National Prayer Breakfast was founded in 1953, angry protesters demonstrated outside the event that has been attended by every sitting president, including President Obama.

When the prayer breakfast convenes again on Thursday (Feb. 3), they’ll be back, this time charging that some of the evangelical supporters of the prayer breakfast have blood on their hands.

Last year’s protests were fueled by a proposed law in Uganda calling for life sentences for people convicted of homosexual activity; up to three years in jail for failure to report homosexual activity to police; and the death penalty for convicted homosexuals who are HIV-positive.

The bill — still viable but on less prominent — was drafted by David Bahati, a Ugandan lawmaker who’s also an outspoken participant in The Fellowship (or The Family), the shadowy evangelical network that sponsors the venerable breakfast.

Unable to ignore the fracas, Obama denounced the bill as “odious” during his speech at last year’s breakfast.

This year, lawmakers, clergy, power brokers and diplomats will break bread under a disturbing pall cast by the Jan. 26 murder of David Kato, a well-known gay activist who was bludgeoned to death in his home in Kampala. Kato had been targeted by a Ugandan newspaper in a front-page article identifying him and dozens of other Ugandans as “known homos” under the headline, “Hang Them.”

While a number of high-profile prayer breakfast and Fellowship participants have repudiated the proposed Ugandan law, many human rights activists and other critics nonetheless remain convinced of the Fellowship’s role in catalyzing support for the law.

The Fellowship, for its part, keeps a low profile. Its participants and leadership generally shun the media and the group maintains no official website, membership roster or official spokesperson.

Writing for Christianity Today in May 2009, Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., and former congressman and U.S. ambassador Tony Hall rejected accusations that The Fellowship is some sort of “secretive organization — such as a Christian mafia — with a plan to do anything other than help people follow Jesus.”

The Fellowship serves as an “administrative umbrella” for more than 200 ministries in the United States and abroad, including the well-known congressional prayer groups, where lawmakers meet privately (and confidentially) for prayer and encouragement.

“The essence of their teaching is to encourage love for God and others, always in keeping with biblical principles,” Wolf and Hall wrote.

The protesters returning to their posts outside the Washington Hilton argue that for Obama and other guests to attend the breakfast is tantamount to a (divine and tacit) imprimatur to Uganda’s persecution of homosexuals.

The pressure seems to be having an effect.

“My sources within the group last year said they felt the bad press surrounding the Uganda affair … and the prospect of protests at the breakfast — presented the greatest threat to the breakfast’s success in its history,” journalist Jeff Sharlet wrote in an e-mail.

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The Importance of Prayer

Tuesday, January 25th, 2011 at 10:30 am  
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Chuck Swindoll’s Daily Devotional: The Importance of PrayerChuck Swindoll’s Daily DevotionalReceive a daily devotional message written by Charles Swindoll that brings God’s Word to life.Left

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January 25, 2011The Importance of Prayer

by Charles R. Swindoll

O Lord, I beseech You, may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to revere Your name, and make Your servant successful today and grant him compassion before this man.” 
Nehemiah 1:11  

Father in heaven, we call upon You today. We know that You are the Giver of all good things . . . and that You never change like shifting shadows. We believe that Your heart is moved when Your people pray. So remind us, our Father, as we bow before You, that there is nothing more important we can do when facing situations that are beyond us . . . than to pray.

We remember that prayer forces us to wait, and we must learn to wait patiently for Your timing. Prayer quiets our hearts before You. The chaos subsides and life seems to settle down around us as we pray. Prayer clears our vision, Father, as we think about our lives, as we ponder where we’re going, and as we pursue Your will. May we walk with You in such a way that our obedience is revealed through deeds that honor Your name . . . even when that means doing the hard things You want us to do.

For those who are in a difficult strait, under pressure, up against a wall, facing a test—perhaps the greatest in their lives—we ask that You remind them that the saint who advances on his or her knees never retreats. Help them remember that You are still on Your throne and they are still at Your footstool . . . with only a knee’s distance between the two of you.

May we all become people who pray. May we also learn to leave the burden with You, rather than pick it up and carry it with us after claiming that we’re trusting You. Right now, Lord, take the burden. We cast it upon You, knowing that You’re better able to handle it than we ever will be. We ask that this time of prayer might make a difference in the balance of this day . . . which we commit to You now, in the name of Jesus, our Savior. Amen.

See also Psalm 40:1; Mark 1:35-39; 1 Timothy 2:1; James 1:17; 5:13; 1 Peter 5:7.

 

Excerpted from The Prayers of Charles R. Swindoll, Volume 1, Copyright © 2010 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.

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Day of prayer planned for Christians in Egypt

Friday, January 21st, 2011 at 9:09 pm  
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The interdenominational event is being held in London on January 29 in association with United Action for Egyptian Christians.


It follows the bombing of a Coptic church in Alexandria on New Year’s Eve which killed 23 people and injured another 80, and the murder of a 71-year-old Christian man who was travelling with his wife on a train bound for Cairo when a gunman opened fire. His wife and four others were injured in the attack.


Bishop Angaelos, head of the Coptic Church in the UK, will be joined on the day of prayer by Dr Raafat Girgis, a leading expert on the history of Christianity in Egypt, Pastor Wagih Abdelmassih of the Arab evangelical church and Pastor Ian McCormack of the Assemblies of God.


Ibrahim Habib of United Copts of Great Britain and representatives from CSW will discuss the challenges facing Christians in Egypt.


CSW’s Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said: “We are delighted to join with United Action for Egyptian Christians, United Copts of Great Britain and members of interdenominational churches to pray for peace in Egypt.


“We look forward to welcoming church leaders and experts on Egypt to pray with us and to stand in solidarity with the church of Egypt at this time.”


The last year has seen an escalation in violence against Egypt’s minority Coptic community. Earlier this week, a man was sentenced to death for his part in the killing of six Copts as they left a Coptic Christmas Mass in Nag Hammadi on 6 January 2010.


The day of prayer will take place from 10am to 4pm on 29 January at St Marys Church, Bryanston Square, Wyndham Place, London W1H 1PQ. For more information visit: www.csw.org.uk/prayforegypt


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