ARTICLE SEARCH 

“O God, You are my God, earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You, my body longs for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and Your glory. Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You. I will praise You as long as I live, and in Your name I will lift up my hands”  (Psa. 63:1-4). When King David wrote these words, he demonstrated why the Lord considered him to be a man after His own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). He wanted to know the Father better and more intimately. He desired God more than anything else…and, as king, he could certainly have had anything he wanted. David’s everyday lifestyle was devoted to the passionate pursuit of God. How would the lifestyles of our families today be different if we were as focused on seeking the Lord as earnestly as David? Worldly Passion or Godly Passion? There are many experiences that cause people to change their behavior in significant ways. Normally quiet people can become loud and excited, those who are usually talkative can be hushed to an awed silence, and those who would never think of doing anything out of the ordinary may suddenly find themselves behaving in unusual ways. Think about the fervent enthusiasm displayed for sports or other events. Consider how some individuals will travel great distances and stand in lines for long periods of time for a special event or to get a glimpse of a famous person. Perhaps you can remember a time when you, or someone in your family displayed the same kind of excitement. However, when was the last time your family was at least that passionate for an experience with God? When did you last marvel at something the Father created? Did you experience great rejoicing when He answered your fervent prayer? Have you ever sat in silence, in awe of the Lord’s glorious majesty or might? When was the last time your family was so excited to join with others in worship that you could hardly wait to get to church? Have you ever experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit so strongly that you couldn’t leave His presence until He clearly released you? It seems that in this earthly realm we have been captivated by things around us that have nothing to do with experiencing the glory and presence of God, but everything to do with the glorification of man and man’s experiences. Believers are settling for less than God’s best. We are no longer captivated by the things of God, but by the wonders of technology and the ways of the world! When our priorities get turned around, we can certainly find ourselves focusing more and more upon things that have earthly importance rather than eternal significance. Can it be said of you, or anyone in your family, that you are truly a person after God’s own heart? Is He, as David Bryant so succinctly expressed it, “your Monarch, or your mascot?” Is He just there to cheer you on and answer your prayers and protect you from disaster…or is He at the heart of your life? Christian families, it is time to rend our hearts in repentance and turn our lives back over to the living God. It is time to give Him the honor due His name, and to be thrilled and excited to dwell in His presence and in the company of His people. It is time to  “exalt the Lord our God and worship at His footstool; He is holy”  (Psa. 99:5). In other words, we must regain our passion for Jesus Christ and His kingdom! How do we get back that which has been lost, and reignite the flame of our first love? We must first allow the Father to break our hearts in confession and repentance. Then, with renewed resolve, we must spend time seeking His face in prayer, and listening to His loving voice. We must delve into the Word in reverence, honor and obedience! The prophet Isaiah spoke about God’s willingness to respond to our desperate need to turn from our earthly distractions and passionately go after the face of the living Lord:  “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him…How gracious He will be when you cry for help! As soon as He hears, He will answer you…Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it’”  (Isa. 30:18,19,21). Have you ever longed to hear from God? Perhaps you have never considered spending time listening for His voice. Passion will follow obedience, as we earnestly seek after His holy presence to fill our lives, to restore our families, and to lead us toward finishing our time on earth well! Here are some prayers from Scripture and some action steps to help you and your family to turn ordinary lives focused on worldly pleasures and experiences into extraordinary lives lived with passion and faith because our hearts are fixed on Jesus! Read each Scripture and pray together as a family that God will develop in all of you, a passionate desire for Jesus Christ. The Israelites Re-ignite Their Passion “They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the LORD their God”  (Neh. 9:3). When was the last time you spent time reading the Word of God together as a family for six hours? And then spent another six hours in confession and worship? Action:  Take a family retreat together (even at home with the phone off the hook). Talk about who God is as you read the passages below. Spend time in confession and worship as you pray. As you talk about who God is, continue to ask Him to reveal more of Himself to you. As you get to know His heart better, and as He has an opportunity to search your hearts and speak into your lives, see if your passion for Him begins to grow in significant and real ways. Prayer: Lord, help us to have passion for and delight in Your Word! Action : Read these passages together and talk about why God’s Word is so important: “I delight in Your decrees; I will not neglect Your Word” (Psa. 119:16).     • “Direct me in the path of Your commands, for there I find delight”  (Psa. 119:35).     • “…for I delight in Your commands because I love them”  (Psa. 119:47).     • “But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night”  (Psa. 1:2). Prayer: Lord, help us to worship You! “You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship You” (Neh. 9:6).     •   “Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name; worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness…”  (Psa. 29:2).     •   “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker…”  (Psa. 95:6). You might want to try bowing down together, and/or kneeling before Him.     •   “Worship the LORD with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs”  (Psa. 100:2). Sing joyous songs of worship to the Father together!    •  “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks”  (John 4:23). Talk about what it means to worship the Father in spirit and truth. Prayer: Father, forgive us! “For the sake of Your name, O LORD, forgive my iniquity, though it is great” (Psa. 25:11). •   “Help us, O God our Savior, for the glory of Your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for Your name’s sake”  (Psa. 79:9).     •   “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors”  (Matt. 6:12). Prayer: Lord, help us to thirst for You. We need You desperately! Give us time and places to meet with You face to face. Forgive us for placing our dependence upon the things of this earth that will fade away. “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” (Psa. 42:2). Action:  Take some time to confess sins privately and/or to one another. Lift up your hands to the Lord and ask Him to fill your thirsty heart and spirit.  “I spread out my hands to You; my soul thirsts for You like a parched land”  (Psa. 143:6). Jesus responds to the thirsty, blessing and filling them:  “…for He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things”  (Psa. 107:9).  “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled”  (Matt. 5:6). Prayer: Father, we seek Your face. We look to You and Your strength. Help us to devote our hearts and souls to seeking You always! “Look to the LORD and His strength; seek His face always” (1 Chron. 16:11).     •   “Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the LORD your God …” (1 Chron. 22:19).     •   “One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek Him in His temple”  (Psa. 27:4). Action:  Think about what the house of the Lord must look like…share this with one another, or draw it! Imagine that you could gaze upon the beauty of the Lord. What does His house look like? Again, share and/or draw together. Read, reflect and pray after reading these passages: “My heart says of You, ‘Seek His face!’ Your face, LORD, I will seek” (Psa. 27:8).     •   “I seek You with all my heart; do not let me stray from Your commands”  (Psa. 119:10).     •   “Look to the LORD and His strength; seek His face always”  (Psa. 105:4). As you seek God individually and as a family, you will soon see that there are certain things He will do to draw you closer into a more passionate love relationship with Him: If you seek Him, You will find Him! “But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you look for Him with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deut. 4:29). •   “I love those who love Me, and those who seek Me find Me”  (Prov. 8:17).     •   “You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart”  (Jer. 29:13).     •   “Come near to God and He will come near to you…”  (Jas. 4:8). If you seek Him, you will rejoice! “But may all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; may those who love Your salvation always say, ‘The LORD be exalted’” (Psa. 40:16). •   “Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice”  (1 Chron. 16:10). If you seek Him He will never forsake you! “Those who know Your name will trust in You, for You, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek You” (Psa. 9:10). If you seek Him you will lack no good thing! “The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing” (Psa. 34:10). If you seek Him you will be blessed! “Blessed are they who keep His statutes and seek Him with all their heart” (Psa. 119:2). He rewards those who seek Him! “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him” (Heb. 11:6).     •   “The LORD is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him…”  (Lam. 3:25).     •   “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well”  (Matt. 6:33). Seek His kingdom and righteousness first – then everything else in your lives will fall into place. Your passion will be a red-hot fire, your joy will be contagious and your worship will be pleasing to the Father.  “Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart”  (Psa. 37:4). As your family delights in the Lord first, you will quickly see that what you desire will be in harmony with what He desires! May  “Your kingdom come, Your will be done”  be your family’s most earnest prayer!

I love the written word. Books, new and old, have made a major difference in my life. I have been taught, encouraged, rebuked, and given fresh vision by great authors. Some of my favorite books are still being written. The Lord is using my contemporaries to minister to me through their writings. However, I most often find myself irresistibly drawn to older authors. There seems to be a depth and a passion that is rarely matched today. It could be likened to drinking from the clear, cold water of an old well that goes deep.  I’d like to share with you some of my favorite quotes from a few of these authors. Some might be from centuries ago, while others are as recent as the last generation. My prayer is that your heart will be stirred, as mine was, and that your longing for revival will grow as you read these gems from the past:  “Oh! men and brethren, what would this heart feel if I could but believe that there were some among you who would go home and pray for a revival – men whose faith is large enough, and their love fiery enough to lead them from this moment to exercise unceasing intercessions that God would appear among us and do wondrous things here, as in the times of former generations.” – C. H. Spurgeon “Revivals begin with God’s own people; the Holy Spirit touches their heart anew, and gives them new fervor and compassion, and zeal, new light and life, and when He has thus come to you, He next goes forth to the valley of dry bones…Oh, what responsibility this lays on the Church of God! If you grieve Him away from yourselves, or hinder His visit, then the poor perishing world suffers sorely!” –Andrew A. Bonar “To arouse one man or woman to the tremendous power of prayer for others, is worth more than the combined activity of a score of average Christians.” – A. J. Gordon “I would rather train twenty men to pray, than a thousand to preach. …A minister’s highest mission ought to be to teach his people to pray.” – H. MacGregor “The true man of God is heartsick, grieved at the worldliness of the Church… grieved at the toleration of sin in the Church, grieved at the prayerlessness in the Church. He is disturbed that the corporate prayer of the Church no longer pulls down the strongholds of the devil.” – Leonard Ravenhill “Does it grieve you, my friends, that the name of God is being taken in vain and desecrated? Does it grieve you that we are living in a godless age? …But, we are living in such an age and the main reason we should be praying about revival is that we are anxious to see God’s name vindicated and His glory manifested. We should be anxious to see something happening that will arrest the nations, all the peoples, and cause them to stop and to think again.” – Martyn Lloyd-Jones “The history of missions is the history of answered prayer. From Pentecost to the Haystack meeting in New England and from the days when Robert Morrison landed in China to the martyrdom of John and Betty Stam, prayer has been the source of power and the secret of spiritual triumph.” – Samuel Zwemer “We give ourselves to prayer. We preach a Gospel that saves to the uttermost, and witness to its power. We do not argue about worldliness; we witness. We do not discuss philosophy; we preach the Gospel. We do not speculate about the destiny of sinners; we pluck them as brands from the burning. We ask no man’s patronage. We beg no man’s money. We fear no man’s frown…Let no man join us who is afraid, and we want none but those who are saved, sanctified and aflame with the fire of the Holy Ghost.” – Samuel Chadwick “The evangelization of the world in this generation depends first of all upon a revival of prayer. Deeper than the need for men; deeper, far, than the need for money; aye, deep down at the bottom of our spiritless life is the need for the forgotten secret of prevailing, world-wide prayer.” – Robert E. Speer “Oh, for closest communion with God, till soul and body, head, face, and heart – shine with Divine brilliancy! But oh! for a holy ignorance of our shining!” – Robert Murray M’Cheyne “Some people do not like to hear much of repentance; but I think it is so necessary that if I should die in the pulpit, I would desire to die preaching repentance, and if out of the pulpit I would desire to die practicing it.” – Matthew Henry “There is need of a great revival of spiritual life, of truly fervent devotion to our Lord Jesus, of entire consecration to His service. It is only in a church in which this spirit of revival has at least begun, that there is any hope of radical change in the relation of the majority of our Christian people to mission work.” – Andrew Murray “The love-slave has no pleasure like that of serving his master. This is his joy, and his very ‘crown of rejoicing.’ The love-slave is altogether at his master’s service. He is all eyes for his master. He watches. He is all ears for his master. He listens. His mind is willing. His hands are ready. His feet are swift to sit at the master’s feet and look into his loved face, to listen to his voice and catch his words; to run on his errands, to do his bidding, to share his privations and sorrows, to watch at his door, to guard his honor, to praise his name, to defend his person, to seek and promote his interests, and, if needs be, to die for his dear sake; this is the joy of the slave of love, and this he counts his perfect freedom.” – Samuel L. Brengle

There is a great deal of confusion concerning the Word of God today. The confusion is not among those who doubt the authority or authenticity of the Bible. Instead, it is happening virtually every week among conservative, Bible believing Christians. It comes from blurring the distinction between hearing and doing the Word of God, and is, unfortunately, an easy trap for so many of us to fall into. It may begin like this: We go to church on Sunday and hear a powerful sermon based on Scripture. We may leave the church building saying, “What a great sermon!” And how do we feel inside as a result? We feel good. That’s the beginning of deception. We feel good because we heard and agreed with God’s Word; however, we have yet to do anything in response. When it comes right down to it, our church structure sometimes encourages us to become hearers of the Word rather than doers. In many churches we can hear one passage of Scripture taught in Sunday School, and then another one in the worship service. There may be an additional passage taught on Sunday night or Wednesday evening, and perhaps even another teaching during a small group. In a very real sense, we can be trained to merely  hear  the Word rather than to  do  it, by being overwhelmed with too many different teachings in a short amount of time. James is the one who gives us the clearest Biblical teaching on this matter. “Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the Word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does”  (James 1:22-25). Hebrews gives us another warning about not merely being hearers, using the nation of Israel during its forty years of wandering in the wilderness as a negative example. Most of the third chapter of Hebrews warns us of the danger of not believing God as Israel in the wilderness failed to do.  “So, as the Holy Spirit says: ‘Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert’”  (Hebrews 3:7-8). In Hebrews 4:2 we read,  “For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.” Let’s go back to the book of James again. He warns us,  “In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead”  (James 2:17). That’s what happened to Israel. They heard the Word of God from Moses time and time again. Eventually, hearing the Word and not doing it led to hardening of their hearts. What a warning for the Church today! Could it be that hearing a sermon Sunday after Sunday might be dangerous for us? Yes…if we repeatedly fail to act upon it. Scripture warns us that we can begin to experience a hardening of the heart. Spiritual matters can begin to become unimportant. There fails to be a stirring within us as we hear the Bible expounded upon because we are not committed to doing what we hear. James gives us a wonderful encouragement to do the Word as he writes,  “The man…not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it  –  he will be blessed in what he does”  (James 1:25). What a marvelous gift is offered to us! We will be blessed in what we do, because we are paying attention to the Word of God and doing what it says. In case you are wondering what sort of blessings God has in store for the one who does His Word, the Psalmist gives us the answer in Psalm 112: “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who finds great delight in His commands. (vs. 1) (Here the blessings are enumerated for us): His children will be mighty in the land. (vs. 2) Each generation of the upright will be blessed. (vs. 2) Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever. (vs. 3) Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man. (vs. 4) Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice. (vs. 5) Surely he will never be shaken; a righteous man will be remembered forever. (vs. 6) He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. (vs. 7) His heart is secure, he will have no fear; and in the end he will look in triumph on his foes. (vs. 8) He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor, His righteousness endures forever; his horn will be lifted high in honor.” (vs. 9) I don’t know about you, but those are the blessings I would like to receive from God. They come from being a people who not only  hear , but also  do  the Word of God. One of the simplest ways to stay on course as a doer of the Word is to pray as we hear or read the Scriptures. Always ask, “Lord, what is there in this passage for me? Is there a sin to repent of? Should I stop and thank You, Lord, for something You have done for me? Is there a relationship I need to begin to repair? Lord, how does what You have said here change the way I spend my time or money today? Father, teach me today from Your Word what I am to do. Give me ears to hear.”  You may also benefit greatly from using the Word of God to fuel your prayers - praying the word of God into your life! The third verse of the old hymn,  Break Thou the Bread of Life , says it well: “O send Thy Spirit, Lord, Now unto me, That He may touch my eyes, and make me see: Show me the truth concealed Within Thy Word, And in Thy Book revealed I see the Lord.”

There is a tendency for us to think of confession as a personal act we do before God. Certainly much confession is of this personal, private nature that is only between ourselves and God. But God’s Word gives us another picture of confession that is corporate in its practice. It is confession from a group of people who are aware of the corporate aspect of their sin and aware that private confession is inadequate to deal with this problem. I believe that the call of God to the Church today is for confession of this type. If we are to see revival in our day, it will come to a people who have humbled themselves together before their God and sought His face. This humility comes as we recognize that much of what has passed for Christianity in our day has been self-centered, worldly and an affront to the Lord. The only way to deal with the sin of the Church is for the Church to confess its sins and repent. The biblical example that comes to mind is the story of Israel during the time of Ezra, when the people of God were dealing with the sin of intermarriage with the pagan tribes around them. The seventy years of exile in Babylon had ended. The exiles returned to Jerusalem over a number of years in different groups. One of these groups was led by the great biblical scholar and man of God, Ezra. Ezra’s godly presence prompted the people to confess that they had once again damaged Israel’s standing with God by disobeying His clear command not to intermarry with the non-Jewish peoples around them. The sorrow and prayer of Ezra following this revelation is powerful. As you read the text from the Book of Ezra printed below, notice several points that we need to bring into our own lives: 1. Ezra identified with the sins of the people. Even though he himself had not committed this sin, he prayed about “our sin.” 2. Ezra (and his people) had a great sorrow over this sin. He would pray, “I am too ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face.” 3. Ezra based his awareness of sin on Scripture, not just his own tradition. He literally quoted Scripture back to God in his prayer to demonstrate his awareness of the gravity of the rebellion that had taken place. 4. He affirmed the righteousness and mercy of God. He even tells God, “You have punished us less than our sins have deserved.” 5. Following the prayer of repentance and confession, there is action taken to make right the situation. It was a hard choice for many. Families were torn apart in order to bring the nation back into right alignment with the Word of God. This was not mere religious talk, but hard action in obeying God. EZRA 9:1 – 10:4: After these things had been done, the leaders came to me and said, “The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the neighboring peoples with their detestable practices, like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians and Amorites. They have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, and have mingled the holy race with the peoples around them. And the leaders and officials have led the way in this unfaithfulness.” When I heard this, I tore my tunic and cloak, pulled hair from my head and beard and sat down appalled. Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel gathered around me because of this unfaithfulness of the exiles. And I sat there appalled until the evening sacrifice. Then, at the evening sacrifice, I rose from my self-abasement, with my tunic and cloak torn, and fell on my knees with my hands spread out to the LORD my God and prayed: “O my God, I am too ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face to you, my God, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens. From the days of our forefathers until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our sins, we and our kings and our priests have been subjected to the sword and captivity, to pillage and humiliation at the hand of foreign kings, as it is today. ″But now, for a brief moment, the LORD our God has been gracious in leaving us a remnant and giving us a firm place in his sanctuary, and so our God gives light to our eyes and a little relief in our bondage. Though we are slaves, our God has not deserted us in our bondage. He has shown us kindness in the sight of the kings of Persia: He has granted us new life to rebuild the house of our God and repair its ruins, and he has given us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem. ″But now, O our God, what can we say after this? For we have disregarded the commands you gave through your servants the prophets when you said: ‘The land you are entering to possess is a land polluted by the corruption of its peoples. By their detestable practices they have filled it with their impurity from one end to the other. Therefore, do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. Do not seek a treaty of friendship with them at any time, that you may be strong and eat the good things of the land and leave it to your children as an everlasting inheritance.’ ″What has happened to us is a result of our evil deeds and our great guilt, and yet, our God, you have punished us less than our sins have deserved and have given us a remnant like this. Shall we again break your commands and intermarry with the peoples who commit such detestable practices? Would you not be angry enough with us to destroy us, leaving us no remnant or survivor? O LORD, God of Israel, you are righteous! We are left this day as a remnant. Here we are before you in our guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in your presence.” While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself down before the house of God, a large crowd of Israelites—men, women and children—gathered around him. They too wept bitterly. Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, one of the descendants of Elam, said to Ezra, “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the peoples around us. But in spite of this, there is still hope for Israel. Now let us make a covenant before our God to send away all these women and their children, in accordance with the counsel of my lord and of those who fear the commands of our God. Let it be done according to the Law. Rise up; this matter is in your hands. We will support you, so take courage and do it.”This is true confession and repentance. The people of God stood convicted of their sin by the Word of God. In sorrow and humility they bowed before God in prayer and in action. God heard their prayers and restored their nation. Will we have the courage of their prayers and deeds? God, send a spirit of repentance upon your people. Help us to accept the judgment of Your Word in our lives and assemblies. May we walk in that humility that continually confesses that You alone are righteous. Give us the courage to stand together as Your people in confession and repentance, that we might experience a fresh sense of Your Presence in our midst.

One major spiritual step every family must take is to obey Jesus’ call for unity: “ May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me”  (John 17:23). In order to become one as a family, it is important to seek God’s heart in the relationship of prayer. It is in praying with and for one another while listening to the voice of the Father that agreement and harmony is possible. Jesus clearly taught that the Holy Spirit teaches, as the Lord directs:  “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you”  (John 14:26). When your family learns to discern the voice of God together, He will bring wisdom, direction, confirmation, healing, forgiveness, power and purpose into your day-to-day relationships and ministry so that He will receive honor and glory through your unity of heart. There are many times when it is difficult to know what to do in certain situations, and how we are to respond in times of challenge or adversity. It is during such times that prayer must always be our first response as a family. An excellent and clear example of a leader who called families to unite together in prayer, can be found in the book of 2 Chronicles. Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, had set his heart on seeking God:  “His heart was devoted to the ways of the Lord…”  (2 Chronicles 17:6). Although he made some serious mistakes during his reign of twenty-five years, he was considered to be a good king. He personally went out among the people in the areas surrounding Jerusalem and  “…turned them back to the Lord, the God of their fathers”  (2 Chronicles 19:4). He appointed judges and admonished them to consider carefully what they did as they were judging for the Lord, who would be with them whenever they issued a verdict. Jehoshaphat also appointed Levites, priests and heads of Israelite families to administer the law of the Lord and settle disputes. He told them,  “You must serve faithfully and wholeheartedly in the fear of the Lord”  (2 Chronicles 19:9). Jehoshaphat’s kingdom prospered, and he had great wealth. He was a very busy man, as you can tell; however, he loved the Lord his God with passion and devotion and did not neglect any opportunity to point his people toward true love, obedience and commitment to the King of kings. There came a day, however, when the Moabites and Ammonites came to make war upon Jehoshaphat. When he heard the news that a “vast army” was coming against him from the other side of the Dead Sea, his first response was to seek the face of God:  “Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the LORD, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. The people of Judah came together to seek help from the Lord; Indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him”  (2 Chronicles 20:3-4). Most powerful leaders would take charge and give orders to build up defenses and prepare for physical battle with the approaching enemy. Instead, this godly king went immediately to God in prayer and then called all of the people in his kingdom to come together to pray, from the youngest to the oldest. As  “all the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones stood there before the Lord”  (2 Chronicles 20:13), Jehoshaphat prayed a great prayer of faith ending with this powerful, yet humble statement,  “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You”  (2 Chronicles 20:12). Has your family ever faced a situation in which you didn’t know what to do? Did you try to figure it out in your own strength, or did you seek the Lord’s help? There are several important lessons to learn from King Jehoshaphat which can be applied to the life of a family dealing with uncertain or overwhelming situations. Look and see what he did to bring about unity in his people as they sought the Lord together in prayer: Prayer was Jehoshaphat’s first response:   “Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord and he proclaimed a fast for all of Judah”  (2 Chronicles 20:3). Note that prayer was his first reaction and not his last resort. He called the family to join him in prayer:  Jehoshaphat called all of Judah to come together to seek help from the Lord. He had an intergenerational prayer meeting as everyone stood before the Lord in unity. Jehoshaphat didn’t excuse the youth or younger children to another meeting or to a back room to wait until the adults were done with the work of prayer. He knew that God’s call to prayer is issued to everyone – from youngest to oldest:  “All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the Lord”  (2 Chronicles 20:13). He set an example:  Jehoshaphat’s leadership left no doubt that he would cry out to the Lord no matter what the circumstance, and have faith that He would hear and save them!  “‘If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in Your presence before this temple that bears Your Name and will cry out to You in our distress, and You will hear us and save us’”  (2 Chronicles 20:9). He had humility to know that it would be God’s power and not his own:  Jehoshaphat and his people stood before the Lord in complete humility…  “For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You”  (2 Chronicles 20:12). He didn’t try to pretend that he had the answer for the problem, or that he could fix it for them. He didn’t want his people to depend upon his wisdom, but upon God’s! After Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah prayed, the Spirit of the Lord came upon a Levite in the assembly who said,  “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s’”  (2 Chronicles 20:15). As the people stood before God, they heard the Lord’s answer through the lips of one in their midst. Is your family listening to hear the voice of God speak through His Word, through His Spirit, through His people, or however else He chooses? Your family should always be prepared to hear the voice of your Shepherd. We should not be afraid or discouraged because of the vast armies (situations, etc. that happen in our lives). The battle is not ours – it’s God’s! What a reassurance! Our job is simply to give up control of the battle to God – not to be afraid or discouraged. Is there a battle you are facing? Are you afraid or discouraged? Give your circumstances to the One who can defeat the enemy on your behalf! It takes humility to let go and not fight in our own strength. We need to recognize that God’s strength is so much greater than our own .  The Levite continued, saying,  “You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out and face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you”  (2 Chronicles 20:17). Prepare your family to never be afraid or discouraged. We are to take up our positions (perhaps a posture of prayer) and stand firm and then see the deliverance the Lord will give us. The response to God’s promised deliverance was praise, worship and thanksgiving:  “Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord”  (2 Chronicles 20:18). The next morning, bolstered by the fresh, exciting word from the Lord, Jehoshaphat stood and said,  “Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in His prophets and you will be successful”  (2 Chronicles 20:20). He  “appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise Him for the splendor of His holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: ‘Give thanks to the Lord, for His love endures forever!’”  (2 Chronicles 20:21). Obviously, Jehoshaphat had done some thinking in the night because he appointed a choir to praise God, and to walk out in front of the army which was simply going to take up its position but not have need to fight – FAITH! Can you rally the troops at your house in such a manner? Begin to consider how your family will respond if God does something that is outside what you expect. Will you be so in tune with His Spirit that you are able to discern His voice and know His plans? As the army of Jehoshaphat began to obediently worship the Lord, God defeated their enemies : “As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated”  (2 Corinthians 20:22). Are you a family of worshipers? Would you like to see God respond as you honor Him?  “The fear of God came upon all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard how the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side”  (2 Chronicles 20:29-30). Others who saw what the Lord had done for the people of Judah now had a healthy respect for their God! Do others know what the Lord has done for your family? Does your family experience rest on every side because you have obediently done what is right in the eyes of the Lord? In summary, King Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah have set an example of unity before us. He recognized the danger; he didn’t try to figure out what to do in his own flesh; he sought the Lord in prayer because he knew the One who was faithful would take care of them; he called all of his people from youngest to oldest to come together to pray; he heard from the Lord because they humbled themselves before Him and were listening and waiting upon Him; he believed that the Lord would do what He said He would do; he obediently followed His instructions; he received the victory; he gave the Lord thanks with rejoicing and worship; he demonstrated the power of God to others through their great faith; he experienced rest on every side. Parents – you are the spiritual directors of your homes. You do not have to have every answer. What you need to do is seek the face of the One who does! Jesus gave us two commandments: love God, and love others. Every other instruction He gives us in His Word falls into one of those two categories. If we love Him, we will seek His face in prayer – it is how we establish, grow and maintain an ongoing relationship with Him. As we begin to hear His voice and follow Him obediently, we can have faith in His ability to handle every circumstance in our lives and in the lives of our families. The power is not in us, it’s in Him. If our eyes are upon ourselves, we will fail, but when our eyes are upon Him, He will fight for us, and we will have the victory that will honor Him the most. We must give Him praise through worship and thanksgiving – even in advance of the answer to our prayer – even if we are unable to see His hand at work in this lifetime. Others will be drawn to the light of Jesus Christ because of what the Lord has done in our lives, advancing the kingdom! And, we will have peace and rest on every side – even in the midst of difficulty. Seek His face together as a family, united in the bond of love in Jesus Christ, and watch Him work in and through your circumstances to bring glory to the Lord God Almighty!

Jonathan Graf, president of the Church Prayer Leaders Network, stated: “Several years ago, I was in a church that clearly “gets it” where prayer is concerned. Mountain View Community Church in Fresno, CA, hosted our “Can Prayer Save America?” From the time the conference opened, it was evident that prayer is simply a part of this church’s DNA. “When we lead such a conference, we ask that the host church provide worship. We did not coach the worship team at Mountain View to lead in a certain way, yet the worship experience was loaded with prayer. Multiple times the worship leader prayed in between songs. His song selections were clearly related to the theme—crying out for God to send revival and spiritual awakening. “Several times during a worship song, Mountain View people approached a microphone and prayed, reflecting the song’s content. At one point during a particular song, the main prayer leader asked people from the audience to pray bold, transforming truths related to revival and awakening. It was a powerful moment. “But this church wasn’t just putting prayer front and center because it was a prayer conference. Prayer permeates its ministry each Sunday and throughout the week. Pastor Fred Leonard models prayer and disciples his staff to engage in prayer. They all keep prayer/spiritual growth journals—and for accountability, they must regularly share from their journals during staff meetings. Their weekly two-to three-hour staff meetings are characterized by an hour to even half of their meeting time, given to praying together. “In Sunday school and small groups church leaders provide regular training regarding prayer. Every year they schedule at least two prayer initiatives—from a week to 40 days—during which the entire congregation is praying on the same theme. Mountain View wants every congregant to be discipled in prayer so that he or she knows how to pray with confidence. The leadership does not leave it to chance! “The most intriguing thing that sets them apart from every other church I know: Anyone who steps into leadership (such as elders, small group leaders, and those in teaching roles) must take a 12-week “prayer usher” class before they are qualified—and then they must receive ongoing prayer training. “A prayer usher (a term coined by Dr. Terry Teykl) is trained in taking individuals and their issues before God’s throne of grace. They usher people—through praying for and with them—into God’s presence. These trained ushers are the ones who pray with people at the altar, visit the sick, or encourage those in need of ministry support. The church also trains prayer ushers who are not directly involved in other leadership. “Finally, Mountain View demonstrates a regional prayer influence by encouraging Fresno churches to pray together. Now a significant number of churches participate in a yearly prayer calendar that includes ten joint prayer events. Pastors pray together, within geographic clusters, weekly or monthly around the city.” (As Natural as Breathing, by Jonathan Graf, Prayer Connect, Issue 4) If you’ve served any length of time in any Christian congregation, you know what it is to deal with complaining saints. It’s one of the sad realities of church life. Lest we think it's a modern phenomenon, just look at Acts 6: 1 “…the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.” Complaining Christians have a long lineage! It’s fascinating to see how the leaders of the church in Jerusalem dealt with the situation that created complaining. It certainly would have been easy for them to step up and handle the unequal distribution of food to widows themselves. But they didn’t. They asked the church to choose other qualified leaders to handle this situation. Why didn’t they do it themselves? Because they had a prior commitment. “We will . . . give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4). One of the key marks of spiritual leadership is knowing your calling and priorities. The apostles had those marks. They knew that heaven’s calling to them was for prayer and the ministry of the Word. It wasn’t that other things were not important or necessary. It’s just that they needed to make sure that prayer and the ministry of the Word was given the priority. My friend, Daniel Henderson, often says that when he graduated from seminary, he came out with his sword sharpened on only one side. We often train our leaders in the ministry of the Word, but neglect the ministry of prayer. A sword sharpened on just one side is not as sharp or effective as one sharpened on both sides. I believe that is a good description of much of leadership ministry today. It’s not that Christian leaders today are against prayer. That’s just not so. But prayer is not necessarily high on their priority list, especially when you gauge it against the other things that compete for their time. At least part of the reason for this is they have not been trained in prayer for their personal life nor in leading a church to become a praying church. How did it come about that so few pastors feel equipped to lead in prayer? Spiritual warfare definitely plays a role in our prayerlessness. Most of what we deal with in spiritual warfare is what I call micro level. That’s personal temptations and issues we face regularly. But there is also macro level warfare that moves to a higher level. It is on that macro level that I believe Satan won a great victory many centuries ago. Satan’s Victory Somewhere along the line, hundreds of years ago, Satan convinced good, godly scholars that prayer was not a topic worthy of academic study. I can almost hear the thoughts diabolically placed in their minds: “Of course prayer is important, but we can’t take up classroom time to teach it. Our students should just pray.” It sounds true doesn’t it? There’s just enough truth to be deadly. Through the years, prayer has become completely experiential, with little to no serious theological thought given to it. Look at the books that seminarians have studied called “systematic theologies.” You will find the study of salvation (soteriology), the church (ecclesiology), second coming (eschatology) and many other “ologies.” But you won’t find prayer.Here’s the problem with that. A theology of a topic requires that you think deeply about the area. It will push a student to delve into it and examine it from every angle. Because we have not done that with prayer, we have the common situation where pastors believe that prayer is important, but they aren’t sure why. If an area of the Christian life has not been studied in the academic setting, it will often take a backseat when it comes to actual practice. Of course, there is always the danger of making prayer merely an academic topic for study instead of a dynamic encounter with Jesus Christ. But we have clearly allowed the pendulum to swing the other way and have ignored the opportunities to train our pastors and church leaders in powerful personal prayer and what could happen when they lead their congregation to become a praying people. Seminaries and Bible colleges must become laboratories for dynamic prayer ministry. A few years ago, America’s National Prayer Committee looked at the current situation and moved to commission a textbook on prayer for use in our schools. Giving Ourselves to Prayer: An Acts 6:4 Primer for Ministry is increasingly being used as seminaries become aware of this deficiency in pastoral preparedness. More than a textbook is needed though. Some brave academicians will need to fight the curriculum wars to see that a serious study of prayer becomes required training for pastors. It isn’t only at the level of training that this battle must be fought. Christian leaders will need to educate the local church of the need for praying leaders. One of the saddest illustrations I know comes from a church in the Midwest that told their pastor, “Your work on our time. You pray on your own time.” What grief that perspective must bring to the Lord! Contrast that to Andrew Murray’s comment: “Time spent in prayer will yield more than that given to work. Prayer alone gives work its worth and its success. Prayer opens the way for God Himself to do His work in us and through us. Let our chief work as God’s messengers be intercession; in it we secure the presence and power of God to go with us.” Countless generations have failed to see the spiritual work of prayer in the church. Prayer has been a tool to call meetings to order, and has been seen as the work of a few spiritual giants. We don’t necessarily expect or even want our pastors to be people of prayer. If you disagree, then look over the job descriptions of most congregations when looking for a pastor. Prayer is often completely missing! Rarely does a church say to a potential pastor: “Tell us about your prayer life.” It will not be easy to turn this ship around. It will take godly, visionary leaders at all levels to see this happen. From seminaries and Bible colleges to pastors and congregational leaders, all will need to stand together to say, “This must change! We must give ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word!” Many of the greatest leaders of the Church through the years have testified to the critical need of prayer for those in leadership. See if these words stir you as they have me: “I would rather teach one man to pray than ten men to preach.” –Charles H. Spurgeon “Prayer is my chief work, and it is by means of it that I carry on the rest.” –Thomas Hooker, Puritan “[The] power of prayer can never be overrated. They who cannot serve God by preaching need not regret. If a man can but pray he can do anything. He who knows how to overcome with God in prayer has Heaven and earth at his disposal.” –Charles H. Spurgeon “What the church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use–men of prayer, men mighty in prayer.” –E.M. Bounds “Ministers who do not spend two hours a day in prayer are not worth a dime a dozen–degrees or no degrees.” –Leonard Ravenhill “Out of a very intimate acquaintance with D. L. Moody, I wish to testify that he was a far greater prayer than he was preacher. Time and time again, he was confronted by obstacles that seemed insurmountable, but he always knew the way to overcome all difficulties. He knew the way to bring to pass anything that needed to be brought to pass. He knew and believed in the deepest depths of his soul that nothing was too hard for the Lord, and that prayer could do anything that God could do.” –R. A. Torrey Points to Ponder How committed to prayer are the leaders of your church? Were you surprised to hear of the lack of training in prayer in Bible colleges and seminaries? Why or why not? What do you believe can be done to restore a proper understanding of the role of prayer in spiritual leadership? Are there steps your church can take to make prayer a prerequisite for leadership? –Adapted from Forgotten Power: A Simple Theology for a Praying Church by David Butts. (C) 2015.

Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton wrote a sobering book entitled,  Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers,  in which they describe the current religion among the vast majority of youth in our nation. In the largest study ever conducted on the spirituality of U.S. teens, researchers pored over transcripts from written interviews with thousands of teens and follow-up face to face interviews with 250. Most identified themselves as Christians; however, there were also youth from other religious backgrounds, or who claimed to be non-religious. Researchers found that most teens were unable to adequately articulate their belief system, and the majority had never been asked questions about their own faith. The basic creed of the religious thought among teens in the United States appears to include the following: “A God exists who created and orders the world and watches over human life on earth. God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions. The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself. God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life except when He is needed to resolve a problem. Good people go to heaven when they die.” Most teens in America today are not even thinking about living as disciples of Jesus, obeying His Word and living out His commands for the sake of His kingdom. My heart is grieved by this stark revelation, as well it should be. Basically, what the study reveals is that most teens believe God created the world, set it in motion and backed off…except when He is “needed.” As God watches from a distance, He wants us to be good, moral people who are happy and who feel good about ourselves. Researchers interviewed teens who are completely disconnected from religion of any kind as well as many Christian teens who are very strongly grounded in their faith identity and are actively living as followers of Jesus. Unfortunately, the answers given by the Christian teens did not sway the final results of the study in any significant way. This revelation alone is enough to send every parent, teacher, pastor and youth leader to his or her knees in repentance. Christian Smith has also written an article based on the book in which he states:  “This is not a religion of repentance from sin, of keeping the Sabbath, of living as a servant of a sovereign divine, of steadfastly saying one’s prayers, of faithfully observing high holy days, of building character through suffering, of basking in God’s love and grace, of spending oneself in gratitude and love for the cause of social justice, etc. Rather, what appears to be the actual dominant religion among U.S. teenagers is centrally about feeling good, happy, secure, at peace. It is about attaining subjective well-being, being able to resolve problems, and getting along amiably with other people.” God was mentioned often in the study, but rarely was there any reference made by the young people to Jesus or to the Holy Spirit. The importance of the Trinitarian nature of God has diminished or even disappeared amongst teens in America. As one news editor notes, “What  Soul Searching  reveals is a generation of kids who claim to be Christian, but many of whose beliefs are not even remotely orthodox.” It is no wonder that truth is perceived as relative and not absolute. Many teens and even adults believe that anything is okay as long as no one gets hurt and they are happy. Recently, my husband spent time with a young Christian couple who wanted to get married. He was puzzled because they were attending a Bible believing church, but were living together while unmarried. When he talked to them about what the Bible says, they were shocked to find out that their living situation was not pleasing to the Lord. The question is,  “Why didn’t they know this?”  Fortunately, they wanted to obey God and were more than willing to rearrange their living situation and cease their physical intimacy until after their wedding. As we struggle with why our children are walking away from their Christian faith, living with their boyfriends or girlfriends, worshiping other idols as gods, etc., we must, with the help of the Holy Spirit, look deep within ourselves to ask what has gone terribly wrong. Don’t make the assumption that your child’s faith is his or her own. Many of them may have some measure of their parents’ faith…but this alone will not sustain them amidst the assault of the “religion” of the culture. If our children are accepting a religion that feeds off of traditional religious roots but really looks nothing like what we have presumably taught them, how do we call them back to the Truth? If we have raised our children in the best way we know how before God, and they still choose to walk away, what steps do we take with God to draw their hearts back to His? The answers are far too complex for this short article; however, now that the alarm bell has rung, there are some basic steps that godly parents can and should take: No Condemnation (Romans 8) The first response of many parents tends to be an unproductive thought process which condemns: “I should have done a better job of teaching Scripture.” “Maybe we should have done a better job with family devotions.” “Why didn’t I see this coming and do something about it earlier?” The enemy of our souls is very pleased with such accusations. He would keep us feeling guilty and miserable, rather than accepting the grace of God. He wants to keep us from moving forward in a positive way toward steps that will bring victory into our children’s lives. No matter how far our children wander, they can be redeemed by the Holy Spirit and transformed into the image of Jesus Christ for the glory of God and for the sake of His kingdom! Of course it is better that they don’t walk away from their faith in the first place; however, the reality is that the pull of our seductive culture is very strong and enticing. The need to fit in and to be like everyone else is strong in teenagers. They are being bombarded with technology, movies and music we couldn’t even imagine when growing up. These things are not an excuse for failure to shepherd our children towards a genuine faith in Christ, but they do explain why a lot of unsuspecting Christian teens have been lured away from the Truth. Prepare for Battle! As I just mentioned, do not allow the enemy to condemn you for the unwise decisions your children make. He wants to take you down through your children, if he hasn’t already won the battle with your heart and mind. If he hasn’t been able to damage your life because of the quality of your character, he will start working on the hearts and minds of your precious children. Remember; do not allow their mistakes to be your fault. Confess anything you may have done to contribute to their struggles, and then allow the faithfulness and grace of God to remove that guilt from your heart! Then, with that guilt covered, fight back by putting on the full armor of God  “so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood…against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints”  (Eph. 6:11-18). The devil won’t give up our children without a fight! If we are not prepared by God, and attempt to “fix” things on our own, we cannot win. But if we are clothed in His holy armor, the battle will be fought and won by the Lord. Pray! If ever there is a time for prayer to be our first response rather than our last resort, this is it! When our children have been drawn into worldly pursuits or thinking, it is not by our efforts that they will be snatched from the enemy – it is only by our fervent and heartfelt intercession. If we need to be drawn into repentance for our own actions, and the possibilities that we have also bought into the lie of our culture, then so be it! As we confess our weaknesses before God, He will remove condemnation and flood us with His grace and forgiveness:  “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”  (1 John 1:9). Now we must earnestly seek Him for the hearts of our children. It is so important to pray the plans and purposes of God for our children rather than for what we think is best. Sometimes a child must walk a difficult road in order for true transformation to take place. Praying the Word of God into their lives is asking Him to move in power, in agreement with His own perfect will. Here are a few to get you started: “The One who calls  (child’s name)  is faithful and He will do it”  (1 Thes. 5:24). “…being confident of this, that He who began a good work in __________ will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus”  (Phil. 1:6). “And this is my prayer: that __________’s love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that __________ may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God”  (Phil. 1:9-11). Love Your Children Unconditionally As parents, we must be able to separate our children from the sinful choices they may choose to make. If we only show them love when they do what we want and follow our expectations, it will be hard to keep their trust. We can speak the truth in love by sharing that we don’t approve of their choices or behavior; however, they must always know that we love them no matter what, and that we will be praying for them to walk in godly ways. Know That God Is Able It is time to bring our children to the foot of the cross. Our loving Father has their best interests at heart. He loves them even more than we do, and wants them to live in ways that bring honor to Jesus Christ. We must place our trust and confidence in God’s ability to redeem and restore what may be broken or damaged in our homes and/or in the lives of our children. Jesus said,  “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me”  (John 14:1). “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen”  (Eph. 3:20-21).

God is doing a new thing today. If you want to be “in” on what God is doing, you must begin praying with greater passion and intensity. If you want purpose and meaning to life, and if you want your life to really count for God and to make a difference in this world…PRAY! Prayer is what God is calling His people to do today as a part of His plan for this world. God is moving all things toward completion. I don’t pretend to know when or how or any of the details that people often get so excited about. But I do know the key to the completion of God’s purposes on this planet. It is evangelism. And the key to evangelism is prayer. Let me show this to you through the words of Scripture: Jesus said,  “And this Gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations, and then the end will come”  (Matthew 24:14). The Gospel is going to be preached to all nations…Jesus said so. If Jesus said it, I firmly believe it will happen. Sometime after the Gospel has been preached to the whole world, the end of all things will come. Evangelism is tied to the second coming of Christ. Without delving into issues of dates and times, the question for us today is, “Do we want to be a part of the fulfillment of Jesus’ words?” Jesus ties together prayer and evangelism in Matthew 9:37-38:  “Then He said to His disciples, ‘ The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.’”  The instruction of Jesus to His disciples regarding reaching the lost is that it begins with prayer. There is certainly more to do after we have prayed. But evangelism will never be truly effective apart from the biblical beginning place of prayer. The Apostle Paul continues this teaching in his first letter to Timothy:  “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone – for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth”  (1 Timothy 2:1-4). Notice that Paul urges that prayers be lifted up, because God wants everyone saved. Prayer and evangelism are brought together in a powerful way and linked to the very purposes of God. Not to be left out, the Apostle John shows us in his unique way that prayer and evangelism are inextricably connected. There are two passages of Scripture in Revelation that you may not have noticed before that are exciting in their presentation of prayer and evangelism:  “Each one has a harp and they are holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints”  (Revelation 5:8).  “Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel’s hand”  (Revelation 8:3-4). After each of these incidents, in which the collected prayers of God’s people are poured out before God, angels are loosed upon the earth to cause events intended to bring people to repentance and salvation. God uses the prayers of His people to bring about the establishment of Christ’s Kingdom. The second passage in Revelation comes in the midst of a half an hour of silence. Author Walter Wink explains the connection well: “Heaven itself falls silent. The heavenly hosts and celestial spheres suspend their ceaseless singing so that the prayers of the saints on earth can be heard. The seven angels of destiny cannot blow the signal of the next times to be until an eighth angel gathers these prayers…and mingles them with incense upon the altar. Silently they rise to the nostrils of God. Human beings have intervened in the heavenly liturgy. The uninterrupted flow of consequences is dammed up for a moment. New alternatives become feasible. The unexpected becomes suddenly possible, because God’s people on earth have invoked heaven, the home of the possibles, and have been heard. What happens next, happens because people prayed. The message is clear: history belongs to the intercessors.” Dick Eastman said it this way: “God’s ultimate purpose for mankind, the completion of Christ’s bride and the establishing of His eternal Kingdom on earth will result only from the release of the prayers of God’s saints.” Graham Kendrick and Chris Robinson wrote the hymn,  All Heaven Waits . See if their words call to your heart and stir within you a passion to be a person of prayer: “All heaven waits with bated breath for saints on earth to pray, Majestic angels ready stand with swords of fiery blade. Astounding power awaits a word from God’s resplendent throne. But God awaits our prayer of faith that cries, “Your will be done.”

There’s a fascinating change taking place in the way the Church perceives prayer. From dusty devotions and meeting personal needs, prayer has taken center stage in our attempts to reach the lost. Prayer seems to have become the Divine Strategy for the completion of the task of world evangelization. Wherever the church is growing the most, you find the Church praying the best. The explosion of prayer evangelism is happening in Korea, in Argentina, in many places in Africa…and it’s beginning to happen in North America as well. Christians are creatively bringing together prayer and evangelism in ways that are overcoming both natural and spiritual barriers to Christian conversion. I think it’s important at the outset to understand that prayer evangelism is not some sort of mystical weirdness where we pray and then sit back and do nothing else. It is rather, a releasing of God’s power through prayer that is focused on overcoming barriers to evangelism and on preparing the soil of an individual’s life to receive the gospel. We pray powerful biblical prayers and then our evangelistic efforts follow, with far greater effectiveness. We shouldn’t be surprised by this. The New Testament speaks of the connectedness between prayer and evangelism in a number of places. When Jesus told His followers to look around them at the white fields (potential spiritual harvest), His first instruction to them was to pray.  “Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field’”  (Matthew 9: 37-38). Later, when Jesus had given His disciples the assignment to go to all people everywhere, teaching, preaching, baptizing and making disciples, their first step was to have a prayer meeting.  “They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers” ( Acts 1:14). Paul wrote to Timothy that God wanted us to pray…interceding for everyone (1 Timothy 2:1-4). Why? Because God wants everyone saved. The New Testament teaches us much on the power of prayer in evangelism. Somehow the Church has lost the connection. My friend Terry Teykl of Renewal Ministries says that sometime after the first century the great divorce occurred–the divorce between prayer and evangelism. Prayer became devotional and liturgical, but not very practical, while evangelism was more and more a matter of human effort or even coercion at times. Fortunately, this New Testament concept is being recovered as prayer and evangelism are once again wedded together. It’s happening in many exciting ways. One preacher in Texas asked his congregation to turn in the names of 100 people who needed to come to Jesus. Those names were prayed over by a trained team of intercessors and by the end of the year 92 of those people had come to faith in Christ. This type of focused praying by those who have been well-trained is central to effective prayer evangelism. One way of praying for the neighborhoods around your church is an innovative method known as prayerwalking. Christians gather at the church building for a time of prayer and preparation. Then they go in groups of two or three through a particular neighborhood, walking up and down the street, praying for each house, that God would be at work in each home. It’s done quietly, without calling attention to those who are praying, but effectively releasing God’s power into people’s lives. There’s a great resource book written on the topic entitled “Prayerwalking: Praying Onsite with Insight” by Graham Kendrick and Steve Hawthorne. One minister I spoke with some time ago prays for everyone in his church by name every week. To help him remember who is who, he has put all of their pictures on his laptop computer so that he can see their faces as he prays. Oh, did I mention that their attendance has gone from 150 to 1300 and he still prays for everyone by name every week! Many churches are sending cards to homes in their neighborhood asking if there is anything they can be praying about. They are not asking them to come to church…not asking for money…or advertising a special program…just wanting to know if there is any way they can pray about what is important to them. It’s not long before such a church is attracting people who are looking for a church that cares enough to pray. The power of blending prayer and evangelism is not something that is limited to local churches. Whole groups of churches and large evangelistic outreaches are beginning to see the importance of prayer. One of the most exciting and ambitious efforts to reach this nation for Christ is called Table Coalition (formerly Mission America Coalition). Its goal? To pray by name for every man, woman and child in the U.S. and to present them with the gospel. It’s a goal that no one group within the Church can do by itself. It will take the cooperation of many organizations, fellowships and congregations. One of the things I like about Table Coalition is its emphasis on local congregational involvement and voluntary cooperation. There is no monolithic program for everyone to buy into. It is simply a networking of ideas and strategies with a common goal–“The whole church taking the whole Gospel to the whole nation in this generation.” Another missional way to pray for neighbors and nations is to establish Lighthouses of Prayer. Over one and a half million Lighthouses of Prayer have been established in the United States with many more being added daily. A lighthouse is any person, family or group of people who will commit to pray, care for and about, and sensitively share Jesus Christ with their neighbors, co-workers, schoolmates or friends as God directs. Billy Graham has said of this effort: “The Lighthouse Movement has brought the Body of Christ together in a way that is unique in American history. I am praying that God will use this movement to help bring about a massive nationwide renewal and spiritual awakening in the months ahead.” It is exciting to see what God is doing in the midst of His people as he draws us to Himself in prayer. Prayer is re-igniting the Church’s fire of evangelism as we reach out to this nation and to the ends of the earth. “Lord, teach us to pray…in your way…and in your will” seems to have become the battle cry of the Church in these exciting days!

A missions-minded church in Indiana produces a prayer calendar every year focused on the missions and mission partners they support. Calendars are very easy to produce and share with today’s technology! This church has pictures of their missions partners and their family with names, ages of the children, etc. They also post some interesting facts about each family member. The calendar has a map of the area where each missions partner is serving, whether at home or in another nation and tells a bit about the culture, people group, etc. that the family is located in. Also, they give a brief description of the mission they are associated with, their mission statement and the ministry God has called them to specifically. They check with each family to see what specific prayer requests they have for the coming year and share those as well. Other scriptures and blessings are posted on each day of the week or month to pray for this family…or multiple families depending on how many missions partners there are. You can divide up the 12 months any way you wish. As you can see, the calendar can either be physical or digital, and there is much creativity that can be utilized depending upon the church! Encourage families to pray daily for the featured missions partners and their families, as well as their people group, nation, etc. If possible, for those who are not serving locally, try having a Zoom or Facetime Live call with your missions partner on a Sunday morning in the month you are featuring their family and pray for them in real time! You will need to set this up creatively due to the time differences that may exist. This is a great way to engage people of all ages with the missions partners your church supports and is a tremendous blessing to those who are serving on the mission field locally or globally!