God's peace through prayer

Philippians 4:7 (ESV)

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

The peace of God is one of the many blessings God promises his people who pray.

Occasionally we hear people talk about having “inner peace,” and we can get the impression that inner peace is a personality trait that some people who are calm by nature have more than others. Other times, inner peace is described as something people can develop by following a pattern of relaxing meditation techniques.

But the kind of peace Paul describes is very different. It’s not something only a few people can experience; it’s a gift that everyone can receive. And when Paul says this peace “transcends all understanding,” he indicates that it is not something we can produce by our own efforts.

Paul is describing the peace that comes from God and that guards troubled hearts. The word translated as “guard” here is a strong military term. It refers to the close supervision a Roman soldier would have over someone entrusted to his care. In fact, in Paul’s day prisoners were often chained to the Roman guards assigned to watch over them.

The picture in this verse is compelling. Our prayers connect us directly to God. The best inner peace is the kind that God alone can provide. If your heart needs that peace, ask God to give it to you. He will surely do it.

Dear Lord, thank you for giving us your peace. Thank You for assuring us that we are always protected by the power of your love. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Thankful for prayer

Philippians 4:6(ESV) 

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

The great hymn “Amazing Grace” summarizes biblical faith well: “Grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.” If grace reveals that joy is a gift, then prayer is the Lord’s gracious means through which he daily sustains that joy.

We sometimes believe we are independent, self-sufficient people. Our tired minds, aching backs, and callous hands that produced a successful career and a comfortable home seem to affirm that myth. But what if corporate restructuring takes away the paycheck, or terminal illness robs our strength and vitality? Anxiety, worry, and fear set in, taking the place of our pride.

Life comes from the Lord, and so does daily help. We come to the Lord through prayer, and the fruit of prayer is peace. Yet prayer is not a mantra, and we can’t use it to try to manipulate God. Prayer is a divine gift to strengthen the bonds of love between us and God. The act of prayer itself affirms our dependence on him for peace and joy.

Peace is knowing that death is overcome by resurrection, falsehood by truth, confusion by wisdom, hatred by love. This is the joyful fruit of believers who seek the Lord! Then, when all else has failed, we can still say, “I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior” (Habakkuk 3:18).

Dear Lord, we rejoice in you. We will be joyful in God our Savior. Thank you for this gift of prayer, for listening to our heart, for speaking to us of your grace. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Prayer

Colossians 4:2 (ESV)

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.

To be devoted to something means to continue steadfastly and to persist in it. It's worth noting that in the New Testament it is about prayer more than anything else that we are told to persevere, to be tenacious.

In his book The Life You've Always Wanted, John Ortberg says prayer is learned behavior; no one is born an expert or ever masters it. We're always just beginners.

How, then, is prayer learned? I don't think it happens by mastering a set of techniques, though techniques may be helpful. Prayer is learned as we are mastered by the resurrection. Prayer operates in a resurrection atmosphere. It requires a commanding sense of God's presence, of being a citizen of the kingdom of God. John Piper writes that prayer is not a hotel intercom that we use occasionally for room service; it's a walkie-talkie that keeps us at all times in touch with headquarters.

Pray and be watchful, says Paul, using the imagery of guard duty and keeping alert. We are engaged in a spiritual war. The world seeks to squeeze us into its mold; the routine of ordinary life lulls us into complacency, blinds us to the great mystery of our place in Christ's kingdom. Be watchful.

And be thankful. We are watchful not in a spirit of fear but with confidence that our resources in Christ are greater than whatever the opposition can throw at us.

Dear Lord, we pray that You will enable us through Your Spirit to keep the lines of communication open with You, that we may be watchful, wise, and effective in the way we act toward others. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Longing for Jesus

Psalm 63:1 (ESV)

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;

    my soul thirsts for you;

my flesh faints for you,

    as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

In prayer we express our longings. We utter our deepest needs. We ache. We hurt. We cry. We wait.

In a sense all our longings are the same, even though we are all different people with unique lives and individual feelings. But our longings, our friends’ longings, and even our enemy’s longings point in the same direction. The objective of all our longings is God.

God designed us to long for him. Every hunger pang, every craving to buy, to belong, or even to right a wrong shows that in our deepest heart we long for God. We want to know and be known by him, to love and be loved by him.

One day Jesus met a woman carrying a water jug. She was thirsty for God but didn’t know it. Divorced five times and ostracized by her community, she avoided people, preferring to draw water alone. She tried dodging Jesus’ conversation with religious chit–chat.

But the more he talked, the more she craved what He had. Soon the woman with the water jar found herself asking Jesus for a drink. Who could guess that the living water He was talking about was the gift of His own blood by which her life could be redeemed?

This woman didn’t know she had been praying, but she was. Going from husband to husband, from fad to fad, she was pleading. She was searching for God.

Dear Lord, our hearts are restless until we find our rest in You. Thank You for finding us in our need and for filling us with Your love and giving us life. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

You are loved

Ephesians 1:16 (ESV)

I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.

When we write letters or emails today, we place our signature at the end. And, depending on whom we are writing, we adjust the way we sign. You don’t sign an email to your boss with “Love, George.” And you don’t treat your spouse aloofly by signing “Regards, Jane.”

Back in Paul’s day, people signed their letters at the beginning, and the greeting often gave a preview of what was to come. In Philippians we can tell right away that this letter is going to be full of love and warmth. Paul calls his readers saints, “God’s holy people,” and showers them with grace and peace “from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Then he makes clear how thankful he is for them. They are gospel partners, coworkers in whom God is doing a great thing—and this comes with a promise that God will bring his work to completion. Paul reveals his pastor’s heart here by offering great encouragement and displaying deep care and affection for the Christians living and working in Philippi.

We all need to know that we’re loved, and we all need encouragement. We need someone to see God’s work in our lives, call it out for us, name it, and give thanks for it.

The Philippians needed that kind of encouragement. So Paul makes sure it is the first thing they receive in this loving, pastoral letter.

Dear Lord, thanks You for loving us and for encouraging. Thanks You for giving us Your grace and each and every day. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

The TACO prayer

Colossians 4:2 (ESV)

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.

I used to really struggle with praying, do you struggle with praying? When my mind draws a blank and I don’t know what to say or what to pray for, I think about TACOS: Let us take a look at how TACOS can help us when we pray.

Thanksgiving: What are you thankful for? Family, friends, your home, your church — the list goes on. Start by thanking God.

Adoration: God is awesome! Adoration means “worship” or “great and profound love.” Let Jesus know how much you love him.

Confession: Prayer is a lot easier when we get rid of the barriers between God and us. We all sin. In prayer, we can confess our sins and receive God’s forgiveness.

Others: So many people we know (and even those we don’t) could use our prayers. Praying means taking the focus off of ourselves and lifting up the needs of others.

Supplication: Pray for yourself and your own needs. These prayers should come last. Otherwise, we are tempted to spend all of our prayer time talking about ourselves.

If you love tacos what a great way to help you when you pray. With TACOS, prayer will seem a whole lot easier — and delicious.

Dear Lord, we thank You that we can openly talk with You through prayer. We pray that we would practice our special time with You. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

The Power of Pizza

Luke 9:23 (ESV)

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

Generally speaking, there are three steps to making a pizza — buy the ingredients, put them into the form of a pizza and then cook it.

Consider three ingredients: onions, pepperoni and mushrooms. They all taste pretty good on their own. They are like the nuggets of wisdom that God provides us during the day, if we’re open to them.

The second step of making a pizza is putting the ingredients onto the pizza. If we take the “ingredients” of prayer and put them onto the “pizza” — ourselves — we might get a bite or two that tastes even better than the ingredients did on their own.

But it takes the third step for a pizza to become worthy of the name — it must be cooked in the oven, in a fashion that is both structured (turn to 400 degrees, for 25 minutes) and organic (how many of us calculate exactly how each pepperoni or pepper will settle into the cheese?).

Likewise, we can only grow closer to God the more time we spend with Him, in prayer styles that combine structure and our own individual path — the “oven” of prayer, if you will.

Dear Lord, we pray that we would make it a priority in our life to draw closer to You through prayer. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

The power of habit: Prayer

James 5:16-18 (ESV)

16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

Why we don’t pray more? I can only speak for myself, but I sometimes don’t pray more because I think I can get more done if I actually “do” it than if I pray about it first. I think that my thinking, my working, my worrying, and my planning are more powerful than actually praying about it.

When I write it down it sounds pretty foolish, doesn’t it? But our lack of prayer says just that. Our lack of praying says to God that our activity and our working is more important than asking him to act and work and do.

James inspires us to believe that prayer is a powerful thing. He tells us that our prayers are powerful and effective. Our prayers matter. Our prayers change things. Our prayers make a difference.

If you believed that something was powerful, would you do it? Of course. If you thought something would make all the difference in the world, you would make sure it happened. If you thought something mattered, you would make time for it, intentionally, purposefully, regularly. That’s what we do for things that make a difference and matter to us.

James gives an example of an effective prayer. He reminds us of the story of Elijah in 1 Kings 17 and 18. Elijah prayed that it would not rain—and it didn’t rain. God withheld rain for three and a half years because of Elijah’s prayer. Then Elijah prayed again that it would rain—and God sent rain.

Prayer works. Prayer matters. It is powerful and effective, not because of the person who is praying, but because the person praying invokes God’s powerful name and humbly relies on God’s gracious promises and saving will. The story of Elijah—and many other stories throughout the Bible—show us that this is true.

So pray. Make a habit of it. Your Father in heaven loves you. He has forgiven all your sins, and he now invites you to call on him in prayer. In his love for you, he hears your prayers and works powerfully for you and for the world.

Dear Lord, You teach us that prayer is a powerful thing. In Your grace, Father, you invite us to pray. Help us to understand how powerful prayer is so that we make it a part of the very fiber of our life. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

What to do when you’re worried

Philippians 4:6-7 (ESV)

6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Martin Luther once wrote in a letter to his wife, “Pray, and let God worry.”

God isn’t going to worry, of course. But we still need to pray, because we worry about a lot of things. And sometimes we even will elevate worry as a virtue, saying things like, “I worry because I care.”

But is worry actually a virtue? I don’t think so. In fact, I think worry can be a sin. I’m not saying that all worry is a sin, but I am saying that it can be. And I have to admit that worry is a sin I have committed.

I’ve unnecessarily worried about things. I’ve fretted and have been filled with anxiety. So why is it potentially a sin? Because it’s a lack of trust in God. When we worry, we’re essentially saying, “God isn’t in control. He isn’t taking care of me in this situation. I’m not trusting in the providence of God.”

But if you are a real Christian and believe the Bible, then you will know that God is in control of all circumstances that surround your life, and there are no so-called accidents in the life of a believer.

That is an important thing to remember, because worry doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrows; it empties today of its strength.

Philippians 4:6 tells us, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.”

Turn your worries into prayers. The next time you are gripped by fear and worry, turn it into a prayer like this one: “Lord, I don’t know what to do, but I trust You. You are in control, and I commit this to You right now.” Look to the Lord, and let Him give you His peace.

Dear Lord, help us to not give into worry but instead to fully trust You knowing You are in control. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

See What God Can Do

Isaiah 40:29 (ESV)

He gives power to the faint,

    and to him who has no might he increases strength.

Can God use our weakened condition? Yes! That is one of the main points in my book It’s Time to Pray. God does not require a huge amount of strength, nor does He shun our human weakness! We are His instruments—it is God who sculpts a masterpiece from our human fragility.

Hudson Taylor was a missionary and wonderful man of God. Prayer was the foundation of his life and his ministry. He once said, “God chose me because I was weak enough. God does not do his great works by large committees. He trains somebody to be quiet enough, and little enough, and then he uses him.”

Ray Buker, an Olympic runner, began his junior year at Bates in the fall of 1920. For the first time since the war the college entered a team into the New England cross-country event held in Boston at the Franklin Park course.

Ray was a member of that team. It was a strange course, and although it had some gentle slopes, it had none of the steep hills that were characteristic of all his cross-country races in Maine. At about a mile from the finish Ray was so far behind the leaders that he was convinced that humanly speaking he could never place, even if he used his sprint for the last part of the race.

He prayed, telling the Lord that perhaps it was not His will that he should win and that he didn’t know how he could. The Lord answered, “Start to sprint.” Ray replied, “Lord, You know that one can’t sprint for a mile!” He felt that God’s answer entered his soul: “You obey Me, and you will see what I can do.” Ray began to sprint. He soon drew even with the leaders—and finished first.

Its amazing to see what God can do when we let Him. Will you let Him today?

Dear Lord, we want to be used by You today. Help us to put our complete trust in You and then to not forget to thank You for the answer. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Courtroom of prayer to God's throne

Hebrews 4:16 (ESV)

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Every time we pray, we invoke the courts of Heaven. How do we enter the courtroom of God? When we enter the courts of Heaven for prayer, we don’t go in scared like when we enter the courts of our country. We enter the courts of Heaven as a Child of God because the One seated on the throne is our Heavenly Father. We go in boldly by the Blood of Jesus.

Daniel 7: 9-10 describes his vision of the throne room of Heaven. He saw innumerable angels ministering unto Him. When God’s Presence entered the courtrooms, demonic powers of hell, the dead spirits stood up and trembled. God sat down and books were opened.

What were these books? Even before you were born, God had a plan for you. He has written and planned things for you. The Bible says, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has felt what God has planned for those who love Him”. Those who have the Holy Spirit through Christ, to them God reveals His plans. So if you seek God, He will reveal His plan. And according to His plans, He will pass judgments on your behalf.

When we go into the throne room of Grace, that room becomes the throne room of Judgement for our enemies. Your victory in the battleground is dictated by your victory in the courthouse. Your battleground will become your playground if you handle your courtroom in prayer. Get your orders from God Almighty and don’t get up till you sense in your Spirit the victory that comes from God. Hallelujah! Amen!

Dear Lord, what a privilege we have to enter Your throne room of grace that we might obtain mercy and grace in any time of trouble. We thank You that we serve a great and mighty God. Let Your plans be revealed over our lives. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Efficient prayer

Luke 18:11 (ESV)

The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

There are three characters in the parable narrated by Jesus in Luke 18 – a poor, justice-pleading widow, an uncaring judge, and an accuser. The helpless widow sought justice. She needed to clear a blame inflicted on her by the accuser. It seemed that she looked to restore that which was taken away from her. But the judge paid no heed to her plea.

There are two unique aspects to this parable:

1. This is the only mention where God compares prayer time to a judicial-court situation.

2. This is the only place where God talks of getting quick answers.

Like the widow, how many times have we prayed passionately and got no answers? In the parable, the widow didn’t give up. Day and night she kept pleading her case for justice against her adversary. The Bible says that though the judge didn’t care about the widow, her relentless behavior gave him quite a haunting headache. Finally, the judge gave in and granted her justice.

Jesus goes on to tell us that if the widow got her speedy response from an earthly judge, how much quicker will Our Heavenly Father answer those who cry out to Him day and night.

In verse 8, Jesus wondered if He’d find this quality of faith when He returns to earth. There are three things to learn from the widow’s ‘never-give-up’ faith: She was consistent before the judge, she was persistent in the presence of her adversary, and she was insistent by nature.

Jesus said this quality of faith in prayer will get us speedy answers.

Dear Lord, today we look to You for speedy answers in Jesus name! Nothing is too hard for You Lord and we declare Your word upon our situation. We thank You for holding our lives in Your hands. We declare You are in control of our world and You are the right Judge over all. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

The 3 P’s

Luke 11:9 (ESV)

And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Have you seen people waiting to take their exams? Do they watch TV aimlessly or sit around doing nothing. No! They prepare by studying for their exams. In the same way, studying the Bible takes ‘waiting’ with ‘preparation’, which is the essence of ‘waiting’ in prayer. That’s why the Bible says in Isaiah 40:31 – “They that wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like the eagles. They shall run and not grow weary.”

Ask, Seek, and Knock are the elements of waiting (preparation) in prayer. These elements position us to handle God’s answers and revelations in wisdom, dignity, and anointing. Whenever we pray, we ought to open our mouths and ask God. We may think - God knows what I’m thinking. While that is true, it is important for us to talk to God so that we can hear from Him too, and thus make it a 2-way conversation.

Jesus teaches us to Ask, Seek, and Knock. They can be called the three Ps - - Pray, Perceive and Possess. Ask is to ‘Pray’, Seek is to ‘Perceive’ and Knock is to ‘Possess’.

Ask (Pray) - Whenever you go to ask God, pray and talk to Him.

Seek (Perceive) - Begin to seek God’s plan over your life. Begin to sense, begin to perceive what God wants you to do.

Knock (Possess) - Knock to possess God’s plan for your life by faith in Jesus name.

Dear Lord, thank You for the privilege to ask, seek and knock on heaven’s door for your Kingdom to be established over our lives. We thank you that you are preparing us to reach our destiny with you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Jesus' prayer life

Luke 11:1 (ESV)

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”

There are differences in the ways we pray because all of us are raised differently. Thus, our upbringing shapes our prayer style. For example, some religions focus on posture while others concentrate on chants. When we accept Jesus in our lives, we bring with us our old perceptions and mannerisms of speaking to God. We can’t say that any one style is the right way. What would then be the ‘ideal way’ to pray to God? Let’s follow the teachings of Jesus. Let’s neutralize our backgrounds and in its place develop a culture of prayer life based on the Holy Bible.

Luke 11:1 – Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”

What can we learn from Jesus’ prayer life?

1. Jesus had a ‘certain’ place and time for prayer – that’s value and discipline for prayer.

2. Jesus started praying and He finished praying which means Jesus prayed with some sense of order and dignity.

3. Notice that Jesus’ disciples came to Him after He ‘ceased’ praying. Why? Because they knew that they could disturb Jesus while He multiplied bread, when He was tired and resting, or when He slept during the storm to wake Him to calm a storm. But the disciples knew that they couldn’t disturb Jesus when He was praying.

Dear Lord, thank You for showing us the right way to pray. We want our prayer life to be taught individually by You because our life cannot be compared with another and because You have a plan for our life. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

The Blessing

Luke 24:50-51 (ESV)

50 And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. 51 While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.

What was this blessing that Jesus gave to these disciples as He ascended to heaven? Whatever He said, it caused the disciples to stop and worship Him. Then they returned to Jerusalem with great joy—not just joy, but great joy! How could these disciples, who had been through so much with Him, leave that place full of joy, even after Jesus had vanished to heaven?

The answer is simple: Jesus had all authority, and now it was going to be bestowed on them. In a short time they would engage the most powerful force in the universe—Spirit-empowered prayer. How could they not be filled with unspeakable joy?

Those in the teaching profession recognize that there are many ingredients that make an effective teacher. Nonetheless, no matter how many teaching theories or strategies emerge, the greatest and most effective method that teachers identify is example, example, and example. Jesus’s life was the supreme example of prayer. He began His ministry in prayer at His baptism. He prayed about all things. Now, Jesus was ending His time on the earth in prayer as He ascended to the Father.

Because we have many different gifts and unique parts to play in Christ’s church, we will leave a variety of legacies. However, there is clearly one great legacy open to all of us. I believe it is one to which we all should aspire. Let this be our prayer, Lord: “May the legacy of our lives be answered prayer, as was Yours.”

Dear Lord, we thank You that we can come to You in prayer. Thanks that we are each given unique gifts to use in Your ministry. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Persevering Prayer

Matthew 26:36 (ESV)

Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.”

How much time in prayer is sufficient? Fifteen minutes? Thirty minutes? An hour? Jesus was distressed and troubled, and He needed the disciples to watch with Him in prayer. He had modeled prayer, and now it was time for them to support Him in prayer. But they couldn’t even pray one hour. Is prayer this tough for you?

When we pray in the flesh, we are like couch potatoes trying to run a marathon—we are winded and simply do not have what it takes to finish. When we pray, we must pray in the Spirit. It is the Spirit who provides the strength and the energy to pray. The Spirit, pneuma in the Greek, is more properly termed “breath” or “wind” (Acts 2:2). Just like the couch potato trying to run, our flesh has no strength and no breath, but the powerful wind of the Holy Spirit fills us and gives us the strength and breath we need to pray. By praying in the Spirit, we can finish the marathon of life without running out of breath. We can persevere (Ephesians 6:18). We can develop the discipline of prayer. We can “run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1).

One of the lessons about prayer our Lord repeatedly taught is we must persevere. This may be the greatest stumbling block to the prayer life of most Christians. Answers to prayers don’t come as quickly as we anticipate.

Let’s be completely honest with ourselves here—patience is not exactly something we practice a great deal in our nanosecond-response-time culture. My definition of lust is “I want it, and I want it now!” If there is a sure prescription for failure in prayer, it is the attitude of “I want my answer, and I want it now.” Our love of ease, impatience, and spiritual laziness don’t contribute to persevering prayer.

But why doesn’t God just go ahead and answer our prayers? That’s a great question. God has an end game with us—an eternal, essential purpose. That purpose is oneness with Him and being conformed into His image. Above all things, including answering our prayers, He wants to draw us deeply into Him. Persisting in unanswered prayer is the training ground for increased faith. It’s the place where God extends grace to us, and it is the perfect soil for character building. Unanswered prayer leaves us vulnerable before the Lord, the ideal place for surrender.

Dear Lord, help us to draw deeply into You. Help our trust be completely in You so that we can grow to be the people You would have us to be. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Engaging the Enemy in Spiritual Warfare

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (ESV)

4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.

We need to learn this lesson—we experience the Lord three ways: through our personal experience, through the Word and prayer, and through our fellowship with others in our community. In all three of these realms Satan is at war to destroy God’s essential purpose: unity.

Satan lies to us about our personal relationship with Christ. He constantly attacks the credibility of God’s Word and diverts our attention away from prayer. Satan does this because he knows it is through the Word and prayer that we mature as Christians and become equipped to battle against him. And the enemy schemes to create division in our fellowship with other believers because he understands that division will discredit the love of Christ. Disunity in the body of Christ will cause people to doubt if Jesus really is who He said He is, the Son of God. Much of Jesus’s prayer in John 17 addresses His plea to the Father for the unity of believers with them (the Father and Son) and with one another (vv. 11, 21-23).

The Word of God reveals that there is a furious spiritual battle taking place right now in the heavens and the unseen realms (Ephesians 6:12). Most of us are unaware of this war. And if we are aware, there is an additional rebutting that takes place with many Christians when it comes to spiritual warfare. The thought of battling demons, evil spirits, or Satan himself is overwhelming and frightening.

The truth is that we are to war against Satan. God has called us to use the weapons of our warfare to defeat the enemy and crush him underfoot (Romans 8:37-39; 16:20; 1 John 2:13-14). Everyday people such as you and me are called to put on the armor of light and cast aside the works of darkness (Romans 13:12). We are called to bring God’s kingdom of heaven to earth (Matthew 6:10).

Through prayer and the Word of God we are able to discern the strongholds of the enemy and tear down his defenses (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). The powers of darkness will be broken in our lives and the lives of others as we learn to war in the spirit. We will be God’s warriors, fully equipped to see the forces of evil destroyed and His kingdom and unity established in our midst.

Dear Lord, we pray for strength so that was can stand against the enemy. We thank You for Your word that shows us how to stand firm. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

The Miraculous in the Mundane

Luke 9:28-29 (ESV)

28 Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white.

Too often we believe that we must answer the call to a particular service or put forth some heroic act to elicit the miraculous. I believe what the transfiguration of Christ reveals to us is that as we pray and seek God, we are changed and the miracles of God will slip into our ordinary life (2 Corinthians 3:18).

What qualifies as miraculous in our everyday mundane lives? It is one thing for us to encounter a great injustice and stay true to God as others see our godly character.

But what about praying for a coworker’s salvation? What about the wife who works and takes care of a home and prays for the ability to keep it all together? Are answers to prayer in these situations any less than miraculous? No, they are not.

Flashes of lightning, visions, dreams, revelations, and what we typically view as miraculous aren’t daily occurrences for most of us. I believe the Lord does want us to have huge answers to prayer every day and see miracles. That is what I am contending for in my prayer life. Truthfully I am not there. But I am a holding on, and I am putting into proper perspective the miraculous events in my daily life that aren’t lightning bolts from heaven.

When we go to work every day, we are plunged into toil and worldly things. The everyday sameness or lack of spirituality at work could cause us to miss what the Lord is doing. The same is true for those who care for children and the home or an elderly parent. But there is a great breakthrough that the Holy Spirit has planned for us. He wants us to experience His miraculous power in the dailiness of life. Prayer is the key to this experience. We can indeed live in an attitude of prayer the entire day, in every conversation and through every task we undertake. And it is through this that the mundane is truly transformed into the miraculous.

But the transformation of prayer can go much deeper. As we face the world every day, we face temptations, and this is where we need the Lord to purify us. Prayer is the vehicle that frees us from the bondage of flesh. Prayer is our road to transformation. “As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning” (Luke 9:29, NIV).

Dear Lord, help us to be faithful as we pray. We ask that that prayer will be our road to transformation. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Be Still. Be Quiet.

Matthew 14:23 (ESV)

And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone.

Silence is a stranger to most of us. To discover silence, we have to be like Jesus and go off to find a place where we can turn off the cell phone and the TV, a place with no bustling businesses or chattering people to deal with. The Lord calls us to this silence as much as He calls us to be with one another. What should our times of silence and being alone before the Lord consist of? This is where the prayer life of Jesus is such a profound example for us. Jesus shows us that these times of intimacy must first center on being quiet and listening.

We cannot put God in a box and make our relationship with Him a formula. But if we are going to follow the example of Jesus, we must get alone with God and silence ourselves. The silence that He invites us into is a silence of listening, a respectful stillness before our God. This kind of silence brings great joy, clarity, and purity to our lives.

Finding stillness may be one of the greatest challenges in our relationships with Christ and our prayer lives. There are two great hindrances we face every day in our search for stillness: our busy lifestyles and the constant noise of our culture. Are you busy? Where are you on the Facebook addiction scale? Enough said.

As simple as it may seem, we find stillness by making a choice, deciding to sit down away from all the clamor of our life and technology. God bestowed on us free will; it is not an illusion. We are not victims of our culture. We have control over the way we respond to everything that comes our way.

The science of neuroplasticity (the ability of the brain to reorganize itself by developing new neural connections) makes it very clear that when we make a decision, we change the matter in our brain. It is the scientific confirmation of God’s Word: “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23: 7). Every time we steal away with the Lord in quiet retreat, we transform and renew our minds and conform to the communication pathways of the kingdom (Romans 12: 1-2). And it is in the stillness that our zeal for the Lord and His ways is given the chance to grow.

Dear Lord, help us to be still. Help us to transform and renew our minds. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Pray This Way

Matthew 6:9-13 (ESV)

9 Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

10 Your kingdom come,

your will be done,

    on earth as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread,

12 and forgive us our debts,

    as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation,

    but deliver us from evil.

Of all the things the disciples could have asked of Him, they asked to be taught how to pray. As you read Jesus’s words of how to pray, ask the Holy Spirit for fresh revelation, for how you can practically respond to His instruction.

Worship is the beginning and end of prayer. “Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name, for Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” (Matthew 6: 9, 13, MEV) Jesus taught the disciples and us that in prayer we are to pay homage to the reality that this is His kingdom. God has control over everything, and He can and will answer our prayers. There is nothing impossible with God (Luke 1:37).

“Your kingdom come; Your will be done” (Matthew 6:10). He desires His kingdom to come. It is His will, His purpose. He has set before us a vision of a renewed community and people in unity. Jesus’s prayer reminds us that extending God’s kingdom is included in our decision to follow Him.

“Give us this day our daily bread.” (Matthew 6:11) Can we live in this kind of simplicity and trust, like a little child? Can we be grateful for the food, how little or much, set before us today? This is one place we repeatedly allow our peace and contentment to be stolen. We compare our provision to others.

“Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matt 6:12). To be forgiven, you must forgive. You must live in forgiveness daily toward everyone: your spouse, friends, enemies, children, and most of all yourself. There is great freedom in forgiveness; it is the key to the kingdom—confessing our sins, seeking forgiveness, and forgiving others.

Christ instructs us to pray a very honest prayer, “Lead us not into temptation” (Matthew 6:13). As shocking as the thought may be, the Lord tests us (Psalm 139:23-24; Jeremiah 17:10; 1 Peter 1:6-9). The Lord desires to produce pure gold out of our lives. Also, far too many of us are not in a position to face the temptations of sin and attacks of the enemy when they come. For our protection the Lord is able to chain up the roaring lion that seeks to tempt and destroy us (2 Peter 2:9).

Do you count yourself among those who need Christ to teach them to pray? I do. So let us come together and learn from the master teacher on prayer. Let’s pray for God’s purposes, provision, pardon, and protection.

Dear Lord, we ask that You would show us how to pray. Help us to study Your word and learn the lessons that You show us. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.