If your home is like most, life can be hectic. You often wonder, “What did I accomplish today?” Perhaps there were constant interruptions which kept you from things you were determined to complete, and your “to do” list got longer instead of shorter. Or, it could be that you spent much of your time chasing after little ones, or driving children from activity to activity. Maybe you are determined at the end of each day that you will spend your time more wisely so that you can

Before launching into intercession for others, corporate prayer, or even personal prayer, here are some powerful questions to utilize as a way to examine the condition of your heart so that God will hear and respond! Spend some time meditating on these scriptures as you answer the questions. Have I confessed all known sin?  Isaiah 59:1-2 says, “Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your G

It happens to all of us! We see a homeless person, come upon the scene of an accident…or hear of a family in financial need. Immediately, we may think to pray in each of these situations, “Lord, please help that person. Send someone to meet that need!” What if God wants to use you and your family to be the answer to your prayer? Are you prepared to back up your prayers with action if the Lord directs? I believe that our Father wants us to learn how to be the hands and feet of

When our Lord is up to extraordinary things in His world, is your family aware of it? Are you alert enough to be drawn into the deeper things of God as He creatively and sovereignly moves toward bringing the story of man to a close? Is your family preparing for the return of Jesus by paying attention to the signs of the times in which you live? Is your spirit in tune with the Holy Spirit so that you can hear His voice as He instructs you in the way you should live? These are

Many churches have poor attendance at prayer gatherings. Here are two ways to boost attendance for those with families, as “child care” is often an issue: Offer Prayer Care instead of Child Care  for young kids. If parents know that their kids will be trained to pray in fun, creative ways, and also be prayed for by loving people while they attend the prayer gathering with other adults, it is a good way to encourage them to come. This requires preparing some simple prayer mate

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:43-45a). “But I tell you who hear Me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” (Luke 6:27-28). Choosing to love and pray for those who persecute or mistreat us mystifies unbelievers, and yet this is the li

Christians around the world are praying for revival. What are they praying for and do they have good reason to expect revival? Is revival something God wants to do for His people today? To answer these questions, we need to understand that God has always worked in the area of revival with His people. From the earliest days of Israel, on through the history of the Church, God’s method of dealing with His people has been to grant periodic times of special blessing in which His

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

As Christian parents, it is not difficult to discern whom we wish our children to be like. We desire for them to be like Christ, and our greatest hope is that others will be able to see Him in them. However, it is not enough just to “wish” that our children will emulate Jesus. We must be godly examples of Christ to them. And, we must pray His character into their lives. It is a joyful task to discover the character of God in His Word. Whenever I see what God is like, I want t

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

Here are ten ways to pray for your pastor(s) so they will see their churches become houses of prayer for all nations! Pray for your pastors to be: people who seek intimacy with God and who have discipline and passion regarding fasting and prayer in family life and ministry. models of prayer, demonstrating prayer as the basis from which all other ministries develop and grow. diligent in planning dynamic and creative prayer experiences. preachers and teachers on the subject of

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

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

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

Originally published as a blog post by Harvest Prayer Ministries Here is a creative prayer idea to do individually, as a couple, a family, small group or Sunday School class, etc. in order to cultivate thankfulness. You can tweak it to fit your needs in many ways, as you will soon see! Here are two ways to utilize Psalm 103 as a means of expressing thankfulness/gratefulness to God using The Living Bible translation (feel free to use whatever translation you wish…or even multi

What is your family dressed like today? There are two very distinct Biblical commands that tell us how Christians should be clothed:  in  armor, and  with  Christ. This clothing serves three main purposes: it protects us against the enemy, it gives us the ability to fight the enemy, and it allows us to live the kind of lifestyle that reflects Jesus Christ before others. If there is any kind of clothing more important that this, it would be difficult to convince me. In an age

For many years as I’ve been traveling in the prayer movement worldwide, I’ve been asked many questions. One of the questions asked most often is, “What is the most formative moment in your life for giving you a heart for prayer?” That is an easy one to answer. It goes back to 1970 when I was pastoring a little church adjacent to Kent State University in Ohio. I stood on the campus the day the National Guards shot into the students, killing four, maiming about eighteen others.

Our nation, and indeed, every nation, is in great need of targeted intercession! There are so many different ways to seek God on behalf of America; however, here are five topics to prompt your prayers and guide your heart towards whatever else the Holy Spirit places on your heart: 1. Presence “I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people” (Lev. 26:11-12). Nothing is more important than the P

Do you ever run out of words to describe our powerful, amazing Lord as you pray? The Bible has a well that never runs dry. We can dip into this wondrous source of praise and lift our voices together as a family to glorify God. Here are 31 days of prayers that offer praise to Him in a multitude of ways. As you begin to praise Him in prayer about His character and attributes, you will begin to see how Scripture becomes a vital part of your prayer vocabulary. Each day you can ex

Be assured, His word says that He will never leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6)...

It may happen during worship, or in our daily quiet time. We’ve all experienced it and been frustrated by it – distraction! It is the number one enemy of our attempts to worship, to pray and to listen.