Posts Tagged ‘battles’

Work and the Wilderness – part 3 of 15

August 23rd, 2010

The life of Jesus is one of great activity and challenges. Every day people crushed in around Him and made demands on His time and energy. There were people to heal and deliver, there were challenges from the religious leaders, and there was the ongoing training of the disciples, especially the Twelve. If every there was a man who faced the pressures of work, it was Jesus. And this was not just any work, but literally life changing work. It had to be done and no one else could do it. Jesus knew the pressure of work.

This is common for men and women today; there is more and more pressure of work. This is true in every type of work; in business, struggling economies demand more done, faster, and using fewer resources. In families, the work is greater than ever, but now most families do not have a stay at home person like an aunt or grandmother to help with the work. Everywhere we face the pressure of work.

But He Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.

Luke 5:16 (NASB) 

Notice what Jesus did when He faced this great pressure. He prayed! Jesus made it a point to get away from the crowds and the pressure of the work. He went to the wilderness to pray. This is where He spent time with the Father, renewed His strength, received plans for the next day, and was empowered with the anointing of the Holy Spirit for service. If He needed wilderness time, how much more do we?

For successful work go to the wilderness and pray!

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Fear Not

May 11th, 2010

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)

This is a powerful statement of faith, “Be anxious for nothing”, there seems to be plenty to be worried about. Even Jesus tells about things that could cause worry.

 

And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.
Matthew 24:6-7 (NKJV)

Yet Paul wrote, “Be anxious for nothing.” How is it possible for us to be anxious for nothing? Is Paul talking of some sort of denial of what we see? How can he tell us this? The answer is, Paul knows His God. He knows who Jesus is and what He has done. With this knowledge he is able to confidently tell us to “Be anxious for nothing”. He knows things like this:

 

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.
John 16:33 (NKJV)

The question we are faced with is, has He or hasn’t He overcome the world? This question is really the crux of the matter. If Jesus has overcome the world then Paul is correct. Christians need not be anxious for anything. However, for some people this verse and others like it mean nothing. They do not believe Jesus’ claims to have overcome the world. These people view the world through their eyes and experience. They see the tribulation, not Jesus’ overcoming. They have decided to believe what they see.

 

Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,
1 Tim. 4:1 (NKJV)

Jesus’ claim to have overcome must be received by faith. It is a matter of who you believe. I worked in an American High School and I had two girls who are in my office often. They always had a story of what happened, unfortunately their story most of the time did not have anything more than a remote resemblance to the truth. I just did not believe their claims, as most of the time their story is wrong. The question then comes back to you, who do you believe? What evidence are you going to believe? In this matter your choices are what you see or the testimony of the Bible. You can believe your experience or the testimony of many saints.

The Bible tells of many example of the overcoming power of Jesus. The books Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are filed with examples for us. The rest of the Bible is also filled with examples and statements by men and women of the faithful testimony of the Bible to the overcoming power. There are also many examples from the testimony of saints as well. George Müller, Andrew Murray, Rees Howells, John G. Lake, Oral Robert and the list goes on and on. These lived by and demonstrated the overcoming power of Jesus. And like John’s their testimony is true.

 

This is the disciple who testifies of these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true.
John 21:24 (NKJV)

Paul tells us “Be anxious in nothing” and then he gives us instruction on the way to do this. He explains we are to let our requests be made know to God. The first point of this process in to make our request know by prayer and supplication. The word translated prayer in this verse means a prayer of worship. We are to come to God honoring His name, His deeds, and abilities. We must honor Him as God. When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He began with the prayer with prayer of worship.

 

So He said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
Luke 11:2 (NKJV)

To hallow the name of the Father is to honor His name and Him. The word translated supplication means a petition; that is a request. This fits in with what Paul has been telling us, we are to let our requests be made know to God. That is, we need to come to God in prayer and tell Him of our needs and wants.

 

Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
Jeremiah 29:12 (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)

All of this is to be done with thanksgiving. We honor God when we recognize our need to ask of Him, we also honor Him when we thank Him for what He has done for us. Too often we forget to recognize His hand in our life, His provision for our day, and His protection of our family.

 

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
Psalm 100:4 (NKJV)

 

And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
Col. 3:17 (NKJV)

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Dealing with Gaps so We Can Deal with Gaps

February 15th, 2010

Success in the Christian life requires our dealing with the issues of life. We need to place a hedge or wall around our heart. A productive prayer life also requires protecting our heart. A strong and effect hedge around our heart, protects our heart and gives us opportunities to pray effectively.

Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way to you. And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.

1 Thessalonians 3:11-13 (NKJV)

For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:6 (NKJV)

In addition to dealing with this hedge or wall, part of a prayer ministry is to stand in the gap for the land. This is a ministry that is so important and necessary today. Unfortunately few are able to stand in the gap. Like the man without a belt, who can do nothing else, having to hold up his pants, it is hard to stand in the gap for the land, if we are constantly attacked through the gaps in our personal life. Until we deal with the gaps in our hedges and walls, we limit our effectiveness in prayer.

So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.

Ezekiel 22:30 (NKJV)

God continues to seek men and women who will make a wall and stand in the gap on the behalf of the land; that is for nations and peoples. However, to be effective workmen standing in the gap for nations, we must be careful to maintain the hedge around our personal heart. Then we can effectively stand in prayer for others. God is seeking, will He find someone? Will He find you? Today is the day to check your hedge. Is it solid? Are there gaps that need repair?

Let the Holy Spirit show you areas where you need to do repair work. Let Him show you areas where you need to build up the hedge. Let Him show you areas that need improvement. Let Him show you what to do to make the repairs. Do what you must do to make them and make your hedge secure and strong.

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More Effective Prayer

February 3rd, 2010

There was a man who people called Father Nash. His real name was Daniel Nash and he lived in upstate New York from 1763 to 1837. Nash, who served as a pastor in the area near his home, caught an eye ailment. His eyes were inflamed and he was almost entirely blind for about six months. He could not read or write, so he spent almost all of his time in prayer. This brought a dramatic change in his life; he became a man of prayer. He worked day and night in prayer. The focus of much of his prayer was the salvation of lost men and women.

At age 48, Nash decided to give himself totally to prayer. He spent much of his time praying for Charles Finney’s meetings. Nash became the man of prayer behind Finney, praying for revival and the ministry. And from his knees came hours of prayer and wonderful answers to his prayers.

Stories of Nash are nearly legendary, but several documented stories serve our purpose here. For example, Nash carried a prayer list. On this list were names of specific people he had made the focus of prayer. Every day and often several times a day, he would pray for these people. People described his prayers as “wonderful” and “almost miraculous”, but the most important point was he prayed for the people on his list until they got saved and time after time he got answers, they were saved.

His power in prayer could be overwhelming. There was a man named Dresser who went out of his way to rail against the local revival and to swear and blaspheme if he saw Christians. He took special delight in attacking young men who had just been converted in Finney’s meetings. Nash heard about Dresser and put him on his prayer list and prayed. A few days later Dresser came to the local meeting, confessed his sins, and was converted.

There were other men associated with Finney who were called to prayer, for example Abel Clary. Clary was described as a good man and an elder of the church, who had been licensed to preach, but he had a heavy burden for winning men to Christ and for prayer. The burden was so strong he gave all of his time to prayer.

Nash, and often another man or two, often this was Clary, would go quietly into towns three or four weeks before Finney was scheduled to have meetings. They would rent a room and give themselves to prayer, to much prayer, to effective prayer. They would be so burdened for the meetings and for people that they would not be seen for days. For example, Finney records the following:

When I got to town to start a revival a lady contacted me who ran a boarding house. She said, “Brother Finney, do you know a Father Nash? He and two other men have been at my boarding house for the last three days, but they haven’t eaten a bite of food. I opened the door and peeped in at them because I could hear them groaning, and I saw them down on their faces. They have been this way for three days, lying prostrate on the floor and groaning. I thought something awful must have happened to them. I was afraid to go in and I didn’t know what to do. Would you please come see about them?” “No it isn’t necessary,” I replied. “They just have a spirit of travail in prayer.”

From Lectures on Revival by Charles Finney

This was Nash’s norm, travail in prayer. He did not attend many of the meetings, but would pray for the power of the Holy Spirit to convict people of their sins and soften their hearts, so they would be saved. If there was opposition to the meetings, Nash prayed harder.

When he was seen in public, Nash could be bold as well. There was a time when some young men decided to break up Finney’s meetings. Nash had been praying nearby and stepped out of the shadows and announced to them,

“Now mark me, young men! God will break your ranks in less than one week, either by converting some of you, or by sending some of you to hell. He will do this certainly as the Lord is my God!”

Finney in relating this story tells how he thought his friend had “lost his sense”. However, by the next week the leader of the group had come, confessed his sinful attitude, been saved, and began to tell all his friends about Christ. Before the week was out nearly the entire group had come to Christ.

Time and space in this article do not allow other stories of Nash and Clary, nor of other men and women of effective prayer, like Brainerd, Backus, Bounds, Erskine, Edwards, Guyon, Howells, Hyde, Knox, McGready, Murray, Müller, Studd, and others. Not satisfied with the conditions around them, they gave themselves to prayer, and not just prayer, but effective, fervent prayer that avails much.

There is a high call, from God, a call to Christians to step up to effective, fervent prayer that avails much. Response to this call will be the deciding factor of success or failure of churches and ministries, families and individuals. Will you step up to the call?

Without the backing of effective prayer our attempts to touch this generation, with the Gospel, will fail. We cannot go enough, preach enough, give enough, broadcast enough, minister enough, or any of the other good things we must do to reach this generation, if we do not have effective prayer backing our efforts. Without the prayers of Father Nash there would not have been the revivals of Finney. Without the effective prayers of men and women today, stepping up to the high call of Christ concerning prayer, there will not be the revivals we so desperately want and need. I ask you to make the dream come true; pray, and pray more, and pray effective prayers that avail much. Will you pray?

This excerpt is taken from Prayer: A Force that Causes Change – volume 4 – Effective in Prayer available Spring of 2010. Go to the Voice of Thanksgiving website at www.voiceofthanksgiving.com for more information.

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Are You Looking for a Route to Success? Then Pray!

January 22nd, 2010

Prayer succeeds when everything else fails. Often, far too often, people try everything first before prayer. People try help from other people, help by using money, help from the government, and other sources. They are willing to look for help anywhere, even if there is no assurance of success. However, there is a source that is available and far too often left untapped. What is that source? God answers prayer. He is willing and able to help us in our time of trouble and need.

 

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)

Prayer succeeds when everything else fails. Prayer is the source of great victories and triumphs. Even in times when things looked as though there was no hope; when things looked the bleakest, and seemed to be impossible. Pray has brought answers from God. It has seen a turn around and the seemingly impossible made possible.

How about for you today? You are facing difficulties, trials, and problems. Some of these seem as though there is no possible solution. The situation seems to be impossible. Now is the time for prayer, now if the time to seek God and His amazing answers!

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Confidence in Him!

November 9th, 2009

In the 1970s as a member of the US Air Force, my duty station was Wiesbaden, Germany. My mother and father came to visit me. We spent a lovely two weeks visiting many of the famous sites and towns of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and Netherlands. While we were in Amsterdam, we stumbled on a celebration. In the main square, we notice that the Dutch flag was flying over the queen’s palace. We knew this meant she was in residence. We also notice people setting up barricades blocking off part of the square. Soon bands and military groups arrived. Crowds gathered and we moved up against the barricades. We decide to stay and see what was going to happen.

We had stumbled onto a celebration in remembrance of the Dutch resistance in World War II. The bands played, men and women marched, and the Queen came and placed a huge wreath on the monument to the faithful efforts of these men and women. It was quite a sight, made even more spectacular as the Queen of the Netherlands walked right in front of us. We could have reached out and touched the Queen who had indeed been in residence in her palace.

The palaces and castles of Europe are some of the many famous sites everyone goes to see, just as we did. One of the first things most Americans would mention when describing Europe is the castles. The castle is a symbol of the region. It was for centuries central to life in Europe. Behind its walls, people were safe from predators, bandits, and armies. Any one who would conquer a region had to undermine, breakthrough, or in some way overcome the walls. The king and all those with him were safe and secure as long as the walls remained sound. The castle was important, but in the Christian faith, there is more than a castle for our confidence.

The world places its confidence in many things; these range from the silly to the sublime. For example, people have absolute confidence in a red piece of metal that says STOP. Our confidence is so strong we will drive through an intersection positive the other car coming to the intersection will stop. We have many other confidences, many we do not think about, but are important in life. Sometimes we get into trouble because our confidences are unfounded and fail us; like the car that runs through a stop sign.

The castle for the Christian life is Jesus Christ. In Him we can have great confidence. There was protection, provision, and safety for those in a strong castle. However, history is filled with examples when the secure castle walls fail to protect, but in Jesus Christ we can have complete confidence. There is protection, provision, and safety for those in the castle of Christ.

Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: “For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.

Hebrews 10:35-39 (NKJV)

Through out the centuries castles have faced attacks by many forces. Battle after battle the castle had to stand firm. Like wise Christians face many battles and attacks. These come in many forms. Some are overt, for example our bothers and sisters in Christ who are dying for the faith in some countries today. Other attacks are more subtle. These are like attacks where the enemy would attempt to undermine the walls of the castle. This type of attack seeks to bring a breach to the walls by weakening and undermining the soundness of the foundation of the structure.

The undermining type of attack is an effort to destroy our faith and beliefs. For example, the so called philosophies and thoughts of great thinkers is this type of attack. Many of these seek to declare God is dead, to undercut the authority of the Bible, or to challenge the Book of Genesis and our origins. In this type of attack, the attack is waged at one subject, say, for instance the Book of Genesis, but the goal of the attack is an effort to weaken men and women’s confidence. If Genesis is not reliable, this undermines confidence in the entire Bible.

When the enemy attacks on an issue, especially one close to home, the walls of our castle must be strong enough to withstand the attack. Our confidence in Christ must not fail. If the walls fail, we think or say things like, God loves some, but does not love me, God heals some, but not me, or God provides for some, but not me. God answers prayers for some, but not for me. If this happens then our faith has failed.

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV)

Another means of attacking the castle is to batter the gates. The ram was a designed to break down the gates, the weak point in the wall of the castle. Christians face battering rams every day. Like the rams of old, these just pound on you day and night. Western society has many rams. They may be subtle, but are effect nonetheless. There is a barrage of words spoken of doubt, fear, and death. For example, most advertisements warn of impending disaster for all who fail to use their product. Support for every cause is whipped up by calling on fear of death and destruction. We must counter these attacks standing on God’s Word; for example this verse.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)

In addition, there is the attack that we have seen so often in election years, but used in many areas of life; the so-called expert. This attack is base on an exchange that has been made in Western society; we have exchanged knowledge for opinion. As Os Guinness has said, “There is a huge gap between knowledge and opinion­—and ours is an age that is short on knowledge and long on opinions (and the cult of statistics and opinion polls).” The attack is this barrage of ideas and opinions, not based on the facts of the Bible and often not supported by any facts. They pound on a person like the ram on the castle door, to breakdown weak points in our faith. These experts claim to have knowledge, or more often than not, the claim to have the truth on an issue. What they espouse as truth is just opinion or polling data. Their claims are false and not based on truth. Truth is found in Jesus Christ; He is the truth.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”.

John 14:6 (NKJV)

Attacks also come over the walls; like a flurry of arrows shot from bows. The arrows of words fly though the sky circumventing the walls with their reign of death. Words of death and destructions, words of catastrophe and calamity, words dearth and doom, these are the arrows of the enemy who has sworn to kill, steal and destroy.

He comes with negative words. His goal is to fill our ears with negative words. They fill the airways and byways, the media, and neighborhood. Our hearts and minds can become filled with these deadly arrows; with negative words. They are enough to make us grow we wary with the constant barrage. It is so important today, that we remember to not grow weary.

And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

Galatians 6:9 (NKJV)

Under the walls, though the walls, and over the walls attacks come. The goal of the attacks is destruction of our faith. Like the castle of old, there are walls, but for the Christian these walls are our stand with Christ Jesus and our confidence in Him. By His saving grace and power He is able to protect us in the midst of any and all attacks. His full and complete salvation is for us today and is capable of meeting and exceeding our every need. We can depend on His provision. He is the wall of our castle.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

Ephesians 6:10 (NKJV)

You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

2 Timothy 2:1 (NKJV)

The promise of the Father is salvation, which has been described as “nothing missing, nothing broken”. Our confidence stands firm on His ability and willingness to perform. In prayer and intersession, just as in personal and corporate life, our confidence must be in Him. The enemy will provide us with help in casting away our confidence, if we let him. But those who endure, those who will not cast away their confidence, they will receive the promise.

Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: “For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.

Hebrews 10:35-39 (NKJV)

Let nothing undermine, breakthrough, or overwhelm our confidence in Him. We must withstand the attack, the undermining, the battering ram, the arrows, and every device of attack designed to breakdown our walls. Our job is to stand firm in Christ Jesus.

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

Ephesians 6:13-14 (NKJV)

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Labor in Prayer

September 22nd, 2009

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.
Col. 4:12 (NKJV)
 

For who or what are laboring fervently in prayer?

The word, fervently, here means to struggle, to complete for a prize, to contend with an adversary, or to endeavor to accomplish something.
 

Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit,
that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me,
Romans 15:30 (NKJV)

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Growing Quality Prayer Time

August 16th, 2009

Willingness is one key ingredient of quality time in prayer. Isaiah also includes obedience in his recipe for success (Isaiah 1:19). He states, the willing and obedient, will enjoy the good of the land, or in our study as a part of the good of the land, can enjoy quality time in prayer. He knew that good intentions without obedience, will not lead to good results. How often have we come to God and said something like, “Whatever you want Father, that is what I will do,” only to not follow through.

The practice of not following though on what we say is far too common today. Jesus spoke directly to this practice; he asked a group, which of a man’s two sons did the will of his father? The first son said, “I will not go and work in the vineyard”, but later he did go. The second son said he would go, but did not go. Which son was obedient? Do we say, yes and do not? Are we obedient to our Father and what He says for us to do? 

Willingness and obedience tied together bring quality to our prayer times. Are we like Isaiah, when he heard the voice of the Lord? He responded with willingness and then he was obedient to the Father.

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

Isaiah 6:8 (NKJV)

Coming Soon – Quality Time to a Prayer Time Near You!

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Question Three of an Inventory of Prayer

June 20th, 2008

Questions the Inventory of Prayer – Warfare
Daily there are battles that face the Christian. We must work our way through problems and hindrances. To be successful in prayer we must wage a good warfare. So here is the question for today; are you day-by-day winning the battles of warfare? Are you hindering hindrances to prayer or are they hindering your prayers?

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
2 Corinthians 10:3-6 (NKJV)

This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare,
1 Timothy 1:18 (NKJV)

No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.
2 Timothy 2:4 (NKJV)

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