Month: January 2016

INTERCEDING IN PRAYER

Written by TimMaynard on . Posted in Pastor Tim's Blog.

We don’t always know how to pray as we should. While the Holy Spirit prompts us (reminds us) to pray, He also walks with us as we do so. Sometimes we get “stuck” at the point of not knowing how to form the right words to pray. And yet, at the deepest level, there are those times when the Holy Spirit prays not only with us but FOR us with “groans that cannot be uttered.” (Romans 8:26-27)

There are those moments when live caves in and the depth of crisis is so great that words fail us… we cannot find a way to verbally express either our pain or our need. But even then we are not alone.

At the same time the Son of God is our High Priest who is always interceding for us. “We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness.” (Hebrews 4:14) It is amazing to realize that God the Son who prayed so tenderly and wonderfully before His passion and death for us, continues that ministry of interceding. He is “ever interceding” for us before God’s throne of grace. We don’t have to ever wonder if someone is praying. He always is. (Read John 17)

But we realize, third, that the Father is prompting us to pray. We would not even think to pray were it not for the sovereign work of God within us, reminding us that we need to come to Him and “ask, seek, and knock.” (Luke 11:10) He commands prayer but also gives us the grace to be persistent as we pray.

In other words, our Triune God is actively at work in the prayer life of His saints. He does not leave us to figure it out on our own. It’s too important that we get this right! So, like a loving father teaching a child to walk, our Father prompts us… energizes us… cheers us on… strengthens us inwardly with His power… and stands with us.

“If God is for us, Who can be against us?” (Romans 8:39)

FOR REFLECTION: Today try to offer God a wordless prayer. Close your eyes and imagine what Jesus might be praying for you right now.

Praying for Our Children and Grandchildren

Written by Ginna Ashby on . Posted in Uncategorized.

There is an adage that says, “Touch the Future! Teach a Child! I would change it to also say, “Touch the Future! Pray for a Child!” While this devotional is entitled “Praying for Your Children and Grandchildren”, a Christian can be praying for any child he/she knows. Nieces, nephews, neighborhood children, children you teach in school or Sunday School, kids you coach in sports programs all need prayers warriors on their behalf.

Praying for a child’s salvation is of eternal importance. I pray regularly for the salvation of my three preschool grandchildren. For I want to be able to say, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children [grandchildren] are walking in the truth” (3 John 4).

Once a child accepts Jesus as his/her Savior, I feel we as parents and grandparents often fail to continue to pray for their growth as a Christian. We surely do not want your children to stay on a diet of spiritual baby food for the rest of their lives. We need to pray for their growth in discipleship, that they will strengthen their walk with Jesus.

Praying over children with Scripture is a wonderful way to blanket our children in the Truth. I often pray Matthew 22:37 and 39 over my children and grandchildren: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. Love your neighbor as yourself.” Click here to download a parent’s prayer calendar of biblical virtues with scriptures to pray for your children. Keep this calendar in your Bible, on the refrigerator, or wherever you have your prayer “war room”. Commit today to pray for the children in your life.

Praying in the Name of Jesus

Written by TimMaynard on . Posted in Pastor Tim's Blog.

We can sometimes major in legalistic issues when we pray. There is no Biblical prescription that mandates where we can or cannot pray, what our posture needs to be when we pray, whether we open or close our eyes (please keep them open if you’re praying and driving!!!), or what time of day. It also does not say we are to say certain words in a certain order, as if prayer is a magic formula.

At the same time, there are some things that we are to be sure to do when we pray. And one of those things Jesus taught us to do was to ask “in My name.” How are we to understand that? Does that mean we must say, “in Jesus’ name” for the prayer to “count?” Does it somehow nullify our request if we don’t add the right words at the end?

I certainly don’t think we can make it about that. To pray in someone’s name would mean to ask under someone else’s authority. We do not come to the Father in prayer in our own name. We don’t ask “in Charlie’s name” or “in Barbara’s name” when we pray. We come requesting “whatsoever we will” under the authority of the name of God’s Son. When we ask “in Jesus’ name” we are saying “we know Jesus.” We say “we have a right to ask because He said so.”

Rick Warren shared the story taking his son and nine of his son’s friends to an amusement park on his birthday when he was young. As the kids filed past Rick on their way in and he handed each of them a ticket, he got through the tenth kid and an eleventh walked up holding his hand out expecting a ticket. “I don’t know you” Rick said. And then the young stranger said the right thing: “Matthew told me to ask you for a ticket.” Rick said, “And you know what? I went and bought #11 a ticket… all because he said `I know your son.’ And that was enough for me.”

And when we ask what we will in prayer, believing in the name of Jesus… living out the call of Jesus in our lives… desiring what Jesus desires… when we act like Jesus… the Father hears us and responds. “I know Jesus!” we say when we pray in His name.

And the Father says, “That’s enough for Me.”

“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” (John 14:3)

FOR REFLECTION: Do you remind the Father of His Son when you pray?

Praying the Heart of God

Written by TimMaynard on . Posted in Pastor Tim's Blog.

God wants us to pray His heart. I don’t think that means just TO His heart. I think He wants our hearts to beat as one with His. I think He wants us to love the things He loves; to care about the people He cares about; to hate the things He hates. He wants our prayers to resonate with His heart.
Pray, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done” Jesus taught us. The thing that most resonated with the Father’s heart is the Kingdom coming in power. “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3:1) . When we pray for God’s kingdom to be realized on earth as it is in Heaven, we are praying the Father’s heart.
Pray for the harvest. Jesus said, “Pray the Lord of the harvest to thrust forth laborers into His harvest.” We pray the Father’s heart when we pray for workers to be sent out, to help the last days harvest that is now ripe and ready.
Pray for the hurting. Jesus looked with compassion on the people of Israel as “sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9:36) Whenever we pray for the hurting, the lost, the broken, we have prayed the Father’s heart.
Pray for reconciliation to come. It is our Father’s heart that we find a way to healing in our relationships. Many have been wounded and hurt unjustly by others. While forgiveness in such cases is commanded, reconciliation is desired but not mandated. If you can find your way to reconciliation, however, it is pleasing to the Father’s heart.
You get the focus of this. When we pray things that don’t occupy a place in the Father’s heart, our prayers are dry and powerless . But when we pray His heart, I believe God “leans in” to hear us and delights to respond as we walk with Him and share that which is on His heart.
How do we find out what the Father’s heart it? He has shown us in His Word. We do the things He taught us, we pray for the things Jesus prayed for (see John 17) and then it is the Father’s delight to answer. We need to pray, believing we are praying the Father’s will and not seeking to impose ours on Him.
At the end of it all, prayer is about fellowship and communion with God. We become one heart with Him, and one voice crying out together. We are One. And ultimately our hearts, desires, and wants, needs and aspirations, are aligned with His.
And then REAL praying can begin!

“I would that all men everywhere lift up holy hands in prayer, without quarreling or anger.” (1 Tim2:8)

FOR REFLECTION: The next time you pray, pause for a moment to consider AM I PRAYING THE FATHER’S HEART OR MY OWN?

Are You a Praying Parent?

Written by Melissa Goodman on . Posted in Uncategorized.

Lamentations 2:19 says, “Pour out your hearts like water before the presence of the Lord! Lift your hands to him for the lives of your children”
Parenting can be a scary venture and we feel overwhelmed at times. There is advice and instructions coming at us from all directions. Some of us had great parenting role models while others did not. No matter what your experience was or is, there is good news: We do not have to parent alone! As believers we have our Heavenly Father to help us through the journey.
In Stormie Omartian’s book, The Power of A Praying Parent, she reassures us that: “We don’t have to be tossed and turned by the winds of change. Our children’s lives don’t ever have to be left to chance. We don’t have to live in fear of what each new phase of development may bring, what dangers might be lurking behind every corner. Nor do we have to be perfect parents. The key is not trying to do it by ourselves, but rather turning to the expert parent of all time – our Father God – for help.”
I believe that it is important to pray for our children and for our children to know that we pray for them regularly. When our children know that we pray for them, they will gain the assurance that we care about them, they feel that they are important to us as well as important to God.
In my own life I have experienced the many benefits of praying for my own children along with the joy and honor of praying with other parents. At some point I came to realize that if God gave me children to raise, it was my responsibility and privilege to come to Him often on their behalf. By joining with other parents to pray for our children we were able to share all the joys of answered prayers and growth in each of our prayer lives. We were also able to support one another through difficult times when we may not know what to pray or may not be able to pray ourselves. I highly encourage everyone to have an army of prayer warriors.
You can start right now. It is never too early and never too late. Every aspect of our children’s lives should be prayed over. Nothing is too trivial nor too big to be lifted in prayer to our God. He cares about even the smallest of our concerns.

Bless Your Heart

Written by Guest Fruit Cove on . Posted in Uncategorized.

For many of the last few years of her life, my grandmother lived with her children. A couple of times each year, we hosted her in our home for three to four months at a time as her health and mental abilities gradually declined. As a highschooler and later college student, I reflect back on the experience now and realize how much I took those opportunities for granted.
She played the piano. Her hymnal and her Bible traveled with her from house to house as she moved. I remember hearing her struggle with tempo and accuracy, but each song was recognizable. Her hymnal, dog-eared and filled with hand-written annotations, is in my office.
Grandmother rocked… in a rocking chair in the living room beside the “pi’tur winder” where she read her Bible, sang to herself and watched the world go by. The wild- and plant-life outside fascinated her.
And, of course, she prayed. For her children, her grandchildren, her pastor and her friends. For hours. Sometimes, I thought she was asleep, but her lips were moving.
She did not like my mustache. Several times, she would try to buy it from me. “I’ll give you a dollar if you’ll shave that thing,” she said. My response was most always the same: “Grandmother, it wouldn’t look good on you.”
She also thought I was “too busy.” As I would walk out the door, having asked where I was off to, she would smile, shake her head and say, “well, bless your heart.” Teasingly, I would pause and reply, “don’t stop with just my heart.”
I know now, that in some awkward, teenage way, I was asking her to fit me with what Paul described as the “full armor of God” so that I would be covered and prepared for the battle to be faced each day.
We are still at war. Each and every day, we need to prepare for the spiritual battles we face. Begin each day with a song, the Word, a prayer and then dress for battle with truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith and salvation.
Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by His vast strength. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the Devil. For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.
This is why you must take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand. Stand, therefore,with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest, and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace.
In every situation take the shield of faith, and with it you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is God’s word.
Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert in this with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.

Ephesians 6:10-18 (HCSB)

Bless your heart – and soul, mind and strength as you grow closer to Him today.

PRAY WITH FAITH

Written by TimMaynard on . Posted in Pastor Tim's Blog.

And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. 8 Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, 9 but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’ 10 They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. 11 O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”  (Nehemiah 1:5-11)

“Faith is believing what you know ain’t so!”    So a young boy replied in Sunday School one day when asked how to define faith.  Do you pray in faith?  When you pray, AS you pray, do you really believe God is hearing you… that God is inclining His ear to you… that He is turning His face toward you in favor?  When you ask, in prayer, for God to do something amazing, something even miraculous, do you do so as though He is really going to respond to you in this way?  How much faith do we act in as we pray?

Few prayers are found in the Bible that were prayed with more faith than the prayer in Nehemiah 1:5-11.  In that prayer are four powerful ways to pray in faith… believing what IS so:

  • Pray persistently.  The fact that God did not immediately answer Nehemiah’s prayer (he prayed this prayer for four months!) built Nehemiah’s faith.  He was about to undertake an incredibly difficult role… he needed great faith to accomplish it.  Sometimes God delays, not to be cruel or capricious, but to strengthen our faith and resolve as we continue to pray.
  • Pray with purity.  Nehemiah not only was persistent in his prayer, but he prayed with purity.  He confessed his sins and the sins of his people before the Lord.  We need to pray with purity as we pray.
  • Pray the promises of God.  Nehemiah not only prayed reminding God of Who He was, but He prayed reminding God of he promises He had made… even promises He had made to Moses in days past!
  • Pray particularly.  We need to pray specifically when and when God answers the prayer we will know it’s His answer because the ask was so detailed.  Nehemiah prayed for success and favor as he approached the king.  Your prayer may need to be far more specific than it is.  It takes little faith to pray generally, but much faith to pray in specifics.  Be bold enough, by faith, to ask God to do what only HE can do for you.  And then, taking Him at His Word, relying on His character, asking with purity in our lives and praying persistently, we can see God do great and glorious things through our life!

 

FOR REFLECTION:  Think about the prayer you prayed or will pray today.  How specific is it?  What are you really asking God to do?

Wait on The Lord

Written by TimMaynard on . Posted in Pastor Tim's Blog.

No one likes to wait. At least, no one I know. Few of us fight to get in the longest lines at the grocery, or gravitate toward the slowest moving lane of traffic. We don’t like to wait. By the way, if waiting really frustrates you, the quickest lines in the world are found in Sweden. Average wait time: 4.4 minutes. Just saying.

But really waiting frustrates us all. There is something inside us that’s always on, that needs to move to the next thing, that hates the idea of standing or sitting doing nothing. We are in a hurry. To do… what?

Whether we are waiting for a repairman to come for an appointment or a doctor’s office to call back regarding a medical test or waiting for your cup of coffee at Starbucks we want what we want… now.

That happens in our prayer life too. We don’t want to wait on the Lord. We’ve prayed. We’ve done our part. Why doesn’t He respond more quickly? H.B Charles in a little booklet on prayer told about a lady who had gone to a favorite produce stand to buy some grapes. There were several people in line in front of her, and the man who owned the stand moved them through rather quickly. But when she got to the counter to order her grapes, the man disappeared into a back storeroom.

After he had been gone for several minutes, the lady was fuming! She was a loyal customer… she wouldn’t go anywhere else for her produce but to him. How could he treat her like this?? She waited and fumed, and finally he reappeared and laid some of the most beautiful grapes on the counter she had ever seen!

“I’m sorry to keep you waiting,” he apologized, “but I had set these aside just for you when they came in this morning. I had to put them somewhere special where they wouldn’t get sold to just anybody!”

Sometimes God makes us wait. Nobody volunteers for it and few of us have any choice about it. But what we can choose is our attitude while we wait. Do we wait trusting… or fuming? Could it be that, as we wait, God is preparing His very best to give to us if we will just wait on the Lord?

___________________________________________________________________
“Those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength….” (Isaiah 40:31)
FOR REFLECTION:   The next time you find yourself waiting for something, thank God for what He is preparing for you and in you.

Praying the Names of God

Written by Guest Fruit Cove on . Posted in Equip The Church, Uncategorized.

Post written by Linda Warne
From Genesis to Revelation, God has chosen to reveal His character and nature through His many names. Whether Elohim, Yahweh, Abba, or Bridegroom, Advocate or Comforter…
God invites us to approach and enter the throne room of the Almighty, where we can experience through prayer the presence of our Father, God.
As a young believer, I learned to pray the names of God as a part of my personal worship time. It wasn’t long before I realized that not only was my prayer time greatly impacted by knowing Him by His many names, but I was being changed. It was impossible to spend time in His Presence and not come away conformed & transformed to be more like Him.   As I prayed using the names of God, I found myself becoming less concerned with my own needs as I became surrounded by His power and majesty and experienced His faithfulness. I came to know an intimacy with God that made me long to be in His Presence, to discover at new depths who He was and who I was in Christ.
To this day, I pray the names of God, realizing that there are days I need Him to be my Prince of Peace, to calm my spirit and keep me focused. Sometimes I ask Him to be my Shepherd, to guide me and protect me. He is always my Advocate and Helper, dwelling within me and keeping me close. He is the Lord who Heals, My Rock, the God who Sees me, the Lord my Righteousness, my Shield, my Refuge, my Hiding Place and so much more.
1 Corinthians 13:12 (TLB)
In the same way, we can see and understand only a little about God now,
as if we were peering at his reflection in a poor mirror;
but someday we are going to see him in his completeness, face-to-face.
Now all that I know is hazy and blurred,
but then I will see everything clearly, just as clearly as God sees into my heart right now.
 

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