Prayer is the most powerful form of evangelism, and everyone can do it! It is my personal belief that no one comes to Christ apart from prayer. Many of us had parents, grandparents or friends who prayed that we would know Jesus personally. Some of us may not know who prayed for the eyes of our hearts to be opened, and may never know until we arrive in heaven. What we do know, through Scripture, is that no one comes to the Father except through Jesus Christ (John 14:6). A

Most church prayer ministry teams are predominantly female. There’s a reason for this. In most situations, women pray more than men. C. Peter Wagner notes that of those who have been identified as being primarily intercessors, about 80% are female. Consider why this is so, remembering that we are dealing in generalities here. Women are typically more compassionate than men, which naturally leads them into praying for others. Again, generally speaking, women are more spiritual

A pastor in California led his family to pray for yet-to-be-followers of Christ who lived in five neighboring homes. Within the first eight weeks of prayer, one of their neighbors began asking faith questions and ended up committing her life to Christ. Another neighbor wanted to give up drug dealing and asked for prayer help. A non-churched couple living next door asked the pastor to start a neighborhood Bible study. The family continued to pray. By the six-month mark the cou

It’s easy to get caught up in the frenzy of activity as we push hard to advance the Kingdom of God on earth and manage our work lives, family lives, church responsibilities, etc. If we use Jesus Christ as our example, as well we should, we see that His approach to advancing God’s agenda was first – to retreat. Retreating, not in the sense of acceptance of defeat; but rather, withdrawing from normal activity for a period in order to prepare for intense activity. Jesus began Hi

I will always remember November 11, 1997. It was a holiday, so my family and I went to Indianapolis to relax and to do some shopping. After a full day, we went to the airport to pick up some relatives and drive them back to Terre Haute. My mother’s brother was waiting there for us. He had driven to the airport to give us the news that my mother had suffered a major stroke earlier that day. Suddenly, getting back home was an urgent matter. We drove quickly home and went straig

Recently I met with a pastor who shared that he had missed his customary morning prayer time with the Lord due to an unforeseen schedule conflict. He went on to tell me that this occurrence led him to question what it might be like for the people in his church when they, too, miss regular times of prayer. Would they struggle with feeling out of sync and slightly “off” for the day? As we mulled this over, we explored what the Lord might have to say. Must we experience a “disco

How does prayer actually work? The best and simplest answer we have ever heard to this question involves a wonderful graphic developed by Dr. Alvin VanderGriend. Follow the directions below to get a good visual as we walk through the amazing miracle called prayer! Do this quick exercise with a paper and a pencil or pen: 1. Draw a circle on your paper. 2. At the top of the circle write GOD. 3. Going clockwise, to the right of the circle write HOLY SPIRIT. 4. Continuing clock

Today’s culture is desperate for a fresh infusion of extraordinary love. The Lord’s Church has been uniquely designed to provide it. Yet many of us are distracted or even paralyzed by the negative, angry, polarizing climate surrounding us. This prayer guide examines what Scripture says about love, and then encourages God’s people to pray and boldly demonstrate that extraordinary love in action. May we as believers be known as people who love completely and without reservation

One of the most neglected aspects of our prayer lives–whether individual or corporate, is the need for confession and repentance. We all know that we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We all know that when we ask for forgiveness with a truly repentant heart, it is freely given to us by the grace of God through the blood of Christ. So, if we as Christians know this and believe it….why are we so negligent in practicing it? Why is confession so often overlooked o

Holiness might be considered a strange topic by many to be addressed at the beginning of the third millennium after Christ. In our culture today, it’s almost a forgotten topic. It is given brief consideration but not taken seriously by many. The reason lies in the fact that many aren’t living holy lives and have very little to say to others about holiness. I want to say at the outset to those who may get uncomfortable about the topic of holiness, that the doctrines of grace

There is no doubt that we live in an age of terror. The threat of terrorism affects us every time we go to an airport, or cast a vote. It affects the policies of nations and the daily lives of individuals. Nations are mobilizing to face this increasingly dangerous threat. What is the Church’s response to terrorism? It certainly affects us. In some places, the Church has been the target of terror attacks. In order for the Church to fully engage this threat, we must see the spi

“How lovely is Your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young – a place near Your altar, O LORD Almighty, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; they are ever praising You. Blessed are those whose strength is in You, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.

With all that has been happening in our nation and around the world, it eventually becomes very easy to allow our attention to be diverted back to what we call “normal.” Unfortunately, “normal” often means life without God and without a dependence upon Him in prayer. I believe it is vital for us to hold on to our first response – – the response of prayer. The Church desperately needs to both issue and respond to a new call for extraordinary prayer. Extraordinary prayer goes b

“Lord, teach us to pray” was a request of the disciples to Jesus 2000 years ago. It still seems to be a popular request of His disciples today. In spite of years of sermons and lessons on prayer, Christians are still saying, “I don’t know how to pray.” Often what is taught is more motivational and theoretical than practical teaching on how to pray. It is assumed that prayer is a spiritual discipline that all Christians will automatically do. I am finding, as I travel the coun

I love a good rain in the summer–especially after it has been awhile since we have had a downpour. Rain changes so much. There is a fresh, sweet smell that comes with it, a coolness in the heat, and all vegetation perks up and greens up. It makes one feel good. Rain is also a metaphor for the pouring out of the Spirit in our lives and churches. When our souls become parched and dry spiritually, we need something to fill them with fresh spiritual vigor. We need rain. What is t

The following is edited from a message given at the Midwest Prayer Conference of Harvest Prayer Ministries, in October 2006 at Maryland Community Church in Terre Haute, Indiana. Every believer is called to be a spiritual watchman to some degree in his or her prayer life. It may be a watchman upon the walls of your family, or the walls of your church or your city, or God may entrust you with being a spiritual watchman on the walls of the nation. Some may have a more advanced c

There is far greater spiritual significance to gratitude than many Christians realize. The Bible is filled with both command and example regarding giving thanks to God, and teaches that being grateful is a key to walking in right relationship with God and growing spiritually. While there are hundreds of Scriptural texts that relate to the issue of giving thanks, here are a few that give a good overview of the Biblical teaching on this subject: “Therefore, since we are receivi

I remember as a young man reading the classic by E.M. Bounds, The Power of Prayer . The author told story after story of great men and women of prayer who would often spend hours and hours in prayer each day. I was excited about the prayer lives of these amazing prayer warriors, yet something that so intrigued me, also disturbed me. These great prayers, after spending hours praying, would often cry over their prayerlessness and lack of devotion to prayer. I remember thinking

“I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD, give yourselves no rest, and give Him no rest till He establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth” (Isaiah 62:6-7). “Then He returned to His disciples and found them sleeping. ‘Could you men not keep watch with Me for one hour?’ He asked Peter. ‘Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is wea

In May of 1995, I had the wonderful opportunity to spend several weeks in South Korea for a missions conference. One of the highlights of my time there was to worship at the world’s largest church. Pastor David Yonggi Cho’s Yoido Full Gospel Church with its 800,000 members is an amazing thing to see. The role of prayer in its establishment and growth is well-known. What may not be so known is the role of the Lord’s Watch, or continual prayer. Yoido Full Gospel has several pra

When Jesus prayed for us in John 17, His primary desire was that we would all be one: “I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, protect them by the power of Your name – the name You gave Me – so that they may be one as We are one” (John 17:11). Christians have failed to be obedient in keeping the unity for which Jesus prayed. The tragedy in this failure is that God’s purposes are evangelistic – that the whol

There are many types of prayer. Prayers of confession, praise, petition, spiritual warfare, and thanksgiving are just a few examples. But if there is one type of prayer that God seems to be bringing to the forefront in the current movement of prayer it is the prayer of intercession or intercessory prayer. Intercessory prayer is very simple. It’s someone asking God to do something in a person’s life, in the church, or in a certain situation. It is coming to God on behalf of so

When focusing on the Second Coming of Jesus, most Christians seem to want to talk of nothing but speculation concerning future events: Will the Temple be rebuilt…where? Will the rapture happen before, in the midst of, or after the tribulation? Will there be a great tribulation? Which world leader is the anti-Christ? After examining Scripture, you will find that the focus is not on trying to figure out the details in advance, but rather on the response of the Chris

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful” (Colossians 4:2). Devotion to prayer was one of the marks of the early Church. In Acts 2:42, Luke lists four areas of devotion that marked the Jerusalem church: Apostles’ teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer. The rest of Acts demonstrates their devotion, as a praying Church breaks out of Judea and embarks upon its mission to the world. God’s call to His people today is for nothing less than that dem