Zeal for Prayer

July 20th, 2010 by David 5 comments »

Without zeal we will fail to complete the work set before us. Zeal moves men and mountains. It is the difference between the greeting in heaven of “Well?” and “Well done.” Every page of the Church’s history is lined with zeal. The zealot has written history, filling its pages with exploits.  The zealot has changed the course of nations and turned the hearts of men. The zealot has righted wrongs and ended evils. But the non-zealot has filled the graveyards with empty lives. What about you, is there enough evidence to convict you of being a zealot? In the things you do, are you along for the ride or are you filled with fervor, passion, ardor, spirit, and drive.

“If you never have sleepless hours, if you never have weeping eyes, if your hearts never swell as if they would burst, you need not anticipate that you will be called zealous. You do not know the beginning of true zeal, for the foundation of Christian zeal lies in the heart. The heart must be heavy with grief and yet must beat high with holy ardor. The heart must be vehement in desire, panting continually for God’s glory, or else we shall never attain to anything like the zeal which God would have us know.”                                                                          Charles Haddon Spurgeon

It matters not if you are called for nations or the nursery; the question is your zeal. A call to missions or management; the question is your zeal. A call to pray or preach; the question is your zeal. A call to give or guide; the question is your zeal.

Christ was consumed with zeal.

Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.”

John 2:17 (NKJV)

The Apostles were filled with zeal

For you remember, brethren, our labor and toil; for laboring night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God.

1 Thessalonians 2:9 (NKJV)

Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.  

Acts 20:31 (NKJV)

The early church had great zeal

For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.     2 Corinthians 7:11 (NKJV)

Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. For I bear him witness that he has a great zeal for you, and those who are in Laodicea, and those in Hierapolis.     Colossians 4:12-13 (NKJV)

Seek God to refresh and renew your zeal for Him and zeal in every area of your Christian life. Be zealous in your Christian life and ministry. 

For Zion‘s sake I will not hold My peace, And for Jerusalem‘s sake I will not rest, Until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, And her salvation as a lamp that burns.

Isaiah 62:1 (NKJV)

Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 

 2 Timothy 1:6 (NKJV)

Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you,

2 Peter 1:13 (NKJV)

Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ says the Lord; ‘and be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all you people of the land,’ says the Lord, ‘and work; for I am with you,’ says the Lord of hosts.

 Haggai 2:4 (NKJV)

And how about you, do you have zeal?

5 comments »

Posted in Power in prayer

Tags:

Craftsman of Prayer ( part four)

July 15th, 2010 by David No comments »

Who is the best? We love to think about men and women and compare them. Part of the comparison process is to argue about who is the best. Who is the fastest man? Who is the most popular? Who is the best singer? We should not compare ourselves with a motivation of envy or to judge others, but this kind of argument can help teach us to pray better.

According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.

1 Corinthians 3:10 (NKJV)

One of the key ingredients in the argument as to who is the best; is the way the candidates for the best, work at what they do. Most are craftsman; they work hard to be the best they can be. They are not satisfied with being like everyone else, they strive for perfection.

My dad was a craftsman. He could build cabinets and furniture that were family heirlooms from the day he delivered the piece. When I worked with him I learned to build things, but dad did not build, he crafted. He worked to make every aspect of the piece perfect. He would joke, “We strive for absolute, but perfect is good enough!”

Today there are few craftsmen around in any field. People want things quick and cheap. Even in much of Europe the old tradition of great craftsmanship is yielding to the new wave of quick and cheap. People just will not pay the price for craftsmanship.

Prayer has succumbed to this same malady. People want prayer to be quick and cheap. If prayer is going to cost, then people are not interested. They want prayer, but once people see that effective prayer isn’t quick and cheap, they look for something else and leave this key part of the Christian life on the shelf. Only when faced with dire emergency will they even consider prayer. In far too many places, the church is in a sad state and one key cause of this condition is a lack of prayer. Very simply put, we have drawn away from prayer, effective prayer, and the church has suffered for it.

No comments »

Posted in Call to Prayer

Tags:

Craftsman of Prayer (part Three)

July 12th, 2010 by David No comments »

Another key to growth in prayer is a commitment to obey the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit requires a willingness on our part to allow Him to work in our life. The way to activate the Holy Spirit’s lessons is obedience to God and His commands in our life. The man or woman willing to obey will grow in prayer. The only limit on our growth is the limit of our obedience.

We can grow and mature in prayer. We can become more and more like Jesus our Master and example. The times in which we live and the need of prayer that is all around us, cries out for prayer. We need continual growth in prayer. This generation longs for you and I to pray. They may not say it, but they are longing for us to help them, we have a generation to serve; they need our prayers.

For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption;

Acts 13:36 (NKJV)

A Psalm of David.

Hear my prayer, O Lord, Give ear to my supplications! In Your faithfulness answer me, And in Your righteousness.

Psalm 143:1 (NKJV)

No comments »

Posted in Call to Prayer

The Craftsman of Prayer (part two)

July 9th, 2010 by David 1 comment »

How much do you want to be effective in prayer? Those who desire to do great exploits for family, friends, and nations, will learn to pray. They will learn to pray like Jesus. They will seek to be like Jesus, the Great Craftsman of prayer.

Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.

Daniel 11:32 (NKJV)

Another key to growth in prayer, a hidden secret of the successful craftsman of prayer, is our asking for the searching of the Holy Spirit. The craftsman asks for the Holy Spirit to reveal areas that need work. These may be in prayer and its practices, but also in our daily walk with the Lord. The Holy Spirit will show us areas that are not in alignment with the Word of God, and areas where hindrances are limiting our prayers and their effectiveness. The craftsman seeks to know anything limiting his or her success and deal, with the help of the Holy Spirit, with these revealed areas.

However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

John 16:13 (NKJV)

But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.

1 Corinthians 2:9-10 (NKJV)

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,

Ephesians 4:1 (NKJV)

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

Hebrews 12:1 (NKJV)

1 comment »

Posted in Call to Prayer

Tags:

Seeking to Be a Craftsman of Prayer (part one)

July 7th, 2010 by David 3 comments »

It is fascinating to watch a craftsman in action. They have great skills, so much so that their craft seems to just flow from their hands. There is a wonderful transition of the material from its natural state to where it becomes a finished product. Craftsmen create wonderful things and they give us a glimpse at the ultimate craftsman, God. He creates with a flair that a human craftsman can only envy. A look at creation reveals God’s skill and imagination. He is the model for all craftsmen; they all should long to be like Him. In prayer this same pattern is true, Jesus is the ultimate craftsman and we should all long to be like Him. We should long to be a craftsman of prayer.

The craftsman’s life is one of growing and learning; working to become more adept at their craft. In all aspects of life we should be doing the same, growing and learning. This was true for Jesus, as He walked this Earth. He grew in wisdom and stature.

And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

Luke 2:52 (NKJV)

Christian growth comprises a wide range of subjects, covering every aspect of life; this includes prayer. In prayer the Holy Spirit works to take us from a novice to a craftsman of prayer. This growth is directed by and taught by the Holy Spirit, but it requires the participation of a willing Christian.

We can develop in prayer; the first step is to recognize the possibility of growth. Those who are satisfied with how they pray, seldom grow. Those who think their current practice of prayer is all there is, seldom grow. However, those who long to grow, those who long to be more like Jesus, those who seek training by the Holy Spirit, will grow.

You also gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, and did not withhold Your manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst.

Nehemiah 9:20 (NKJV)

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

1 Corinthians 2:12-13 (NKJV)

Seeking to the best you can be in prayer

3 comments »

Posted in Call to Prayer

Tags:

What is the state of prayer in the church today?

July 2nd, 2010 by David 1 comment »

How often and how well do we pray? How often is easy to measure. During a great revival in the 1800s, Horace Greeley, the newspaper editor, once sought to know how many men were praying in New York City. He sent a man in a buggy around to the various churches to count the number of men and women praying on their lunch hour. There were so many, the man could not get to all the churches to count. We can do similar counts today and there are several ministries and poling places that do counting, but I think the percentage of men praying then, was far greater than those praying today.

So much for the question of how often, the second question is a bit more difficult to determine, how well do we pray. There are many measures used by people, but there should be only one measure of how well we pray. It is much more than the number of men and women who pray, or even the men and women who have a prayer habit. Those who pray well, command the power of God in prayer and in their hands prayer is powerful. They are able and regularly do move heaven and earth by prayer.

With this as a measure, how do we measure up? E.M. Bounds describes the measure of prayer as, “men with whom prayer is a mighty force, an energy that moves heaven and pours untold treasures of good on earth”. Are our prayers a mighty force? Are our prayers an energy that moves heaven and earth? Have you been praying and by your prayers pouring out treasure of good on earth?

If we do not measure up to this standard, what can we do to change? Even if we do measure up, are their things we can do to be better? There are many possible answers, but one fundamental answer that we must investigate. We must check ourselves and see if we meet God’s standard of personal purity. Too often people are comfortable creating their own personal standard. However, we are people of His covenant or we are not, we cannot change the terms and conditions to suit our wants and desires. We are bought with a price and if we claim to be His, if we long to have His power in prayer, then we must meet His requirements.

While he wrote a hundred and fifty years ago, E. M. Bounds captures the problem we too often face today.

The age of Church organization and Church machinery is not an age noted for elevated and strong personal piety. Machinery looks for engineers and organizations for generals, and not for saints, to run them. The simplest organization may aid parity as well as strength but beyond that narrow limit organization swallows up the individual, and is careless of personal purity; push, activity, enthusiasm, zeal for an organization, come in as the vicious substitutes for spiritual character. Holiness and all the spiritual graces of hardy culture and slow growth are discarded as too slow and too costly for the progress and rush of the age. By dint of machinery, new organizations, and spiritual weakness, results are vainly expected to be secured which can only be secured by faith, prayer, and waiting on God.

The man and his spiritual character is what God is looking after. If men, holy men, can be turned out by the easy processes of Church machinery readier and better than by the old-time processes, we would gladly invest in every new and improved patent; but we do not believe it. We adhere to the old way—the way the holy prophets went, the king’s highway of holiness.

There is a path for us to walk, a way of holiness. If we are to measure up in prayer, we must walk in His way. Let us be holy even as He is holy, so we can pray.

A highway shall be there, and a road, And it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, But it shall be for others. Whoever walks the road, although a fool, Shall not go astray. No lion shall be there, Nor shall any ravenous beast go up on it; It shall not be found there. But the redeemed shall walk there, And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, And come to Zion with singing, With everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Isaiah 35:8-10 (NKJV)

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Romans 12:1-2 (NKJV)

1 comment »

Posted in The Prayer Life

Tags:

A Company of Prayer

June 21st, 2010 by David 1 comment »

Hello,

 

This is also a good time to mention that I am always looking to expand the company of subscribers to Voice of Thanksgiving. The call for men and women of prayer is first for more and more people praying; so I am always seeking people who will respond to the need of the day and pray. The second part of the call is encouraging more prayer; not just more people praying, but for all of us to pray more. The third part is to working for more effective prayer; issue by issue I seek to challenge a higher level of faith for prayer and teach powerful ways to success in prayer.

I hope Voice of Thanksgiving has been a called to you; to pray, pray more, and pray effective prayers. I also ask that you encourage friends, family, and folks to subscribe and be a part of what God is doing with this company.

http://voiceofthanksgiving.com/Subscribe.htm

Thank you for your faithful prayers and intercession. You are changing the course of individuals, churches, and nations. As we prepare for the soon return of Christ, there is a growing need and importance for prayer. You are a special part of fulfilling the great need of the day; prayer.

Let us pray!

 

Visit Voice of Thanksgiving for more information on effective prayer and victorious Christian living. Also available is a searchable archive of articles, a prayer blog, and book order form. We are gathering men and women from around the world who will pray effective, fervent prayers that avail much. Together we are reaching nations for Jesus.

Voice of Thanksgiving is the weekly version in English.

Stimme der Dankbarkeit is the monthly version in German

Głos Dziękczynienia is the monthly version in Polish

From Voice of Thanksgiving, a series of powerful books on prayer!

            Prayer: A Force that Causes Change – volume one – A Life of Prayer

Prayer: A Force that Causes Change – volume two – A Call to Prayer

Prayer: A Force that Causes Change – volume three – Faithful in Prayer

Prayer: A Force that Causes Change – volume four – Effective in Prayer

1 comment »

Posted in Call to Prayer

Tags:

Amazing Powerful Prayer

June 13th, 2010 by David 4 comments »

It is an amazing time to live. There are so many new and exciting happenings in technology and communications. There was a time when new technology was the telephone. When It was invented the telephone was a modern marvel. It was amazing to one and all that you could speak into an apparatus and some one could hear your voice at the other end, even miles away. Today we take phone communication for granted. We think nothing of calling people on a whim and calls to far away places are common place. Now there is no need for bulky equipment or even wires. We take all this in stride, but if you stop and think about it, it is amazing. We speak into a device so small it fits in your pocket, or sets on your ear, and you can send your voice to any place on earth. That is a marvel.

Communications have come a long way. Phone calls especially calls to and from overseas were difficult. Today we carry phones and can call anywhere in the world at any time. One time while I was in Poland at a conference, I had some free time so I went to a nearby park. I thought I should call someone to make sure that my cell phone was working. So I called my mom. No set up or plans were needed, just dial, correction, I just entered a few numbers, the phone rang, and I was talking to my mom.

While it is not new, another marvel is prayer. No modern invention can compare. From the prayer closet you can affect the course of men and events in your home, up the street, across town, or even in some far away place. This is the power of prayer. Far reaching and irresistible, prayer is an agent of change of heart, mind, and action. It has toppled kings and kingdoms. It has turned the course of lives and hearts. No fortress or government is immune to its power, nor can law or army stop it.

As powerful as is prayer, however, there are many who shy away from prayer. Like those people who first saw the telephone. Convinced they might be electrocuted or suffer calamity they refused to touch or use it. Today there are very few who are afraid of the phone, some are afraid that their children spend too much time on the phone, but they are not afraid to use it. The phone is okay, but for many there is still a fear and awe concerning prayer. They refuse to learn its ways; to practice prayer, to learn its secrets and plumb its power.

Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.
Isaiah 55:6 (NKJV)

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
Matthew 7:7 (NKJV)

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;
Philip. 4:6 (NKJV) 
 

God is calling us, one and all, to come and pray. Even as people learn to use the phone; as they made improvements in range, power, and capability of phones, so we must learn to pray. There is a world of prayer that is waiting for us to explore. God is calling you to be on the cusp of the exploration and exercise of prayer. Will you let the Holy Spirit teach you and lead you? Come let us pray!

4 comments »

Posted in Power in prayer

Tags:

Prospect of Succesful Prayer

June 7th, 2010 by David 1 comment »

In 1859 gold was found in Colorado, a lot of it, those were gold rush days. Fortunes were made overnight. The early years of the rush, gold was found on or near the surface. Prospectors just scratched around and were successful. Soon this changed, most of the gold was still here, but it had to be mined.

Mining is hard and expensive work. Prospectors quickly got out of the gold business. They sold their claims and moving on to something else. However, there were a few individuals who stayed; they bought the claims and developed mines. Their challenge was to dig deep into the hard rock, following the veins of the precious minerals. This was expensive and very hard work, but they were successful, tons of gold was extracted from the mines.

Prayer sometimes is treated like the prospectors looking for gold during a gold rush. Many people pray just scratching the surface of the ground. They hope something will turn up. They look for quick riches, like that nugget of gold, just waiting to be found. Like the prospectors there are some successes. But they are few and far between; this does not meet the needs of most people and is far short of the needs answers to prayer for people and nations.

The gold of the mine is held in quartz, a rock so hard new techniques had to be developed to release the prize. Prayer is much the same. To go beyond the perchance finding of a nugget on the surface; prayer requires dedication and hard work. Obstacles such as doubt, fear, and unbelief, to name but a few will stop the faint hearted. It is only the most dedicated student of prayer who will continue.

What about you, are you willing to work hard to be effective in prayer?

What is working against you, keeping you at the surface?

What must be changed, if you are to go deep?

What in your life contributes, not to your success, but to your failure in prayer?

Will you change, so you might mine the depths of prayer?

Lord teach us to pray!

1 comment »

Posted in Power in prayer

Tags:

Bring on the Answers!

June 3rd, 2010 by David 1 comment »

There is great power in prayer. The power in prayer is from the answers and God answers prayer! This is wonderful, God answers prayer! The more we know about this wonder the better it gets. There is hope for today, hope for dealing without problems, and our hope is real.

Some who pray have a vague understanding of the power of prayer. They say God answers prayers; however they used this as a general statement. For these people, God is far off when it comes to prayer and their expectations and beliefs do not include God working directly in their life or prayers. Their God is a great God, but it is as though He is now retired. They do not make specific requests in prayer because they do not expect answers. They place no expectation on God and they get what they expect.

Other people believe God is involved in people’s life. They know that there is a long record of faith of men and women received answers to prayer. Most people of the Bible are just ordinary people; the spotlight of the Holy Spirit is their only claim to fame. The difference in these people and most people is very simple, these people dared to believe that God answers prayer.

Though there were many Shepard boys in Israel there was this one named David, he believed God answered prayer. Goliath wishes David had not believed in answers to prayer. There were many tentmakers in Israel, but few who believed God answered prayer. The Roman Empire was changed because Paul expected and got answers to prayer.
 

How about you? There are many places around the world with desperate need for revival, and there are plenty of other problems; many seem impossible to overcome. Without men and women who believe that God answers prayer, the battles of life will be lost. So will you pray? And more to the point, will you commit to the proposition that God answers prayer? With this commitment will you pray?
 

Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”
Psalm 50:15 (NKJV)
 

He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.
Psalm 91:15 (NKJV)

1 comment »

Posted in Power in prayer

Tags: