Prayer

How about some discussion about our prayer life?

Do you have a "normal" place for prayer? A prayer closet so to speak?

Do you set aside a time in the day - or several times in the day - to pray?

Do you pray out loud or silently or both? When and why?

Do you pray with someone on a regular basis?

Do you pray written prayers?

Do you pray at work?

Do you stop and pray when someone presents you with a need or wait till your prayer time?

What is the most important part of your prayer life?

How many minutes would you estimate you spend in prayer most days?

Tell Me about Your Prayer Life

Tell me about your prayer life?

Where do you pray?

When do you pray?

How important to your spiritual journey is your prayer life?

Do you have a prayer language?

What is most uplifting about your prayer life?

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 - 16 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

James 5:13-18 - 13 Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14 Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. 17 Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

Prayer at Noon

I sent this note out this morning.

The election is over, the results are all but finished and we have a President elect, Senator Barack Obama. He may have been your choice or he may not have been your choice, but he is elected to become our next President.

I am calling for us all to spend five minutes in prayer at noon today for unity in our nation and for God to prick the heart of the President elect and all of Congress, other elected and non-elected officials, to lead our nation in a moral and just fashion. We were once proud to be called One nation under God and we can be again – remember what Scripture says;

2 Chronicles 7:14 - if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Let’s pray for a healing of our land and an opportunity to witness for Jesus.

Will you join me in prayer today for our nation?

Answered Prayers

Psalm 17:1 says - Hear, O Lord, my righteous plea; listen to my cry. Give ear to my prayer — it does not rise from deceitful lips.

Share some answered prayers that you have lifted before God.

My current prayer is very selfish - I am heading to a dental appointment and I pray for a good result from my dental need. I'll report later.

Do you only pray for the big things of life? Or do you take most everything to God?

How has God spoken to you through your prayers?

What does the following passage mean to you?

Matthew 21:21-22 - 21 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. 22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

I pray that prayer is a central part of our spiritual journey.

How Important Is Prayer?

How important is prayer? Should we bath everything we do in prayer or only the large items? Should prayer be something we do continually or only on occasion?

What is your prayer life like? What pointers can you give others? What has helped or hindered your prayer life?

Would you join a group that regularly meets to pray for the church? Would you be more apt to pray if you could do it on your own time or at your home?

What are your thoughts surrounding prayer?

Prayer Warriors!

Calling all Prayer Warriors!

This morning I feel compelled (obligated, duty-bound) to call on all who will to pray for the church and for your pastors and leaders. According to Scripture:

1 Peter 5:8-9 - 8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith,

The devil is out there and wants nothing more than to devour the Church! Part of standing firm is to stay in prayer together. Pray that the devil not be given even a foothold in our lives and in the church. As Scripture says;

Ephesians 4:25-28 - 25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 28 He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.

I urge you than to pray for the following and more as the Spirit leads:

1. Pray for your pastors and leaders to stand firm in their faith with Jesus.

2. Pray for a spirit of harmony in the church – it is not necessary for us to always agree, we can even see some things differently – but we must be in harmony with the Word of God and with the essential purposes of the church. In order to reach the unchurched the church needs to present a harmonious tune in the Spirit! No one will want to join a church that is making terrible noise (we aren’t as a whole but could go there if we don’t stand firm in our faith)!

3. Pray against a spirit of bickering (internal strife). The battle is not against each other folks, it is against powers and principalities of evil. We should not shoot our own wounded, but rather love each other in spite of our shortcomings.

4. Pray against a spirit of pickiness. Some have been in negative mode for such a long season that it seems almost natural to look at what is wrong rather than what is right with the church or pastor. We should not let issues go unaddressed for sure but should handle them in love and not in attack mode!

5. Pray for the next few months. The honeymoon is ending (I can see the handwriting on the wall). We have seen an initial growth period associated with the new pastor. Attendance in worship is way up and a spirit of change is at hand. The next few months will determine the course of our church in future years. As we discern a 3-5-10 year plan and begin to get beyond the personality and newness of new leadership and into the day to day life of the church, where God leads us and where we will follow is so significant.

6. Pray for the church’s daily devotion to Christ!

Thank you for your faithful prayers for the church called Mt. Oak or the church you attend.

How's Your Prayer Life?

I would like to start a discussion about our prayer life. I believe that for a person or for a church to be healthy they need a solid view of prayer and a solid prayer life.

So, to start the discussion, I want to ask some questions.

What is your view of prayer? What is it for? What is the reason we do it?

Where do you pray? Is it important where you pray?

How often do you pray? Is your frequency important?

What do you expect to get from prayer? Do you have an agenda or a product you are after in prayer?

What is God's part in prayer? Is God an active participant in prayer?

These are just some questions to start our thinking and our discussion. I will try to respond from time to time to the comments made on the blog. You may tackle all of the questions of one of the questions as the Lord lays thoughts on your mind.

Thanks for participating in this open discussion.