Archive for Prayer
How To Ascertain The Will of God
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How to Ascertain The Will of God
by George Muller
1) I seek at the beginning to get my heart into such a state that it has no will of its own in regard to a given matter. Nine-tenths of the trouble with people is just here. Nine-tenths of the difficulties are overcome when our hearts are ready to do the Lord's will, whatever it may be. When one is truly in this state, it is usually but a little way to the knowledge of what His will is.
2) Having done this, I do not leave the result to feeling or simple impression. If I do so, I make myself liable to great delusions.
3) I seek the will of the Spirit of God through, or in connection with, the Word of God. The Spirit and the Word must be combined. If I look to the Spirit alone without the Word I lay myself open to great delusions also. If the Holy Ghost guides us at all, He will do it according to the Scriptures and never contrary to them.
4) Next I take into account providential circumstances. These often plainly indicate God's will in connection with His Word and Spirit.
5) I ask God in prayer to reveal His will to me aright.
6) Thus, through prayer to God, the study of the Word and reflection, I come to a deliberate judgement according to the best of my ability and knowledge, and if my mind is thus at peace, and continues so after two or three more petitions, I proceed accordingly.
7) In trivial matters, and in transactions involving most important issues, I have found this method always effective.
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Four Answers to Prayer – sermon outline
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Following is a great quote by Bill Hybels that can be easily turned into sermon that will really feed people.
If the request is wrong, God says, "No."
If the timing is wrong, God says, "Slow."
If you are wrong, God says, "Grow."
But if the request is right, the timing is right and you are right, God says, "Go!"
(Bill Hybels, Too Busy Not To Pray, page 74.)
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Soaking in His Presence
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Soaking in His Presence
by Rev. Jim Bevis, CSRMinistries.org
TEXT: Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God;….
Isaiah 40:31 But those who wait on the LORD
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
Matthew 11:28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Soaking prayer, per se, is not mentioned by the term "soaking" but what I am referring to has to do with the
"Presence of God" and its impact upon us as we still ourselves before Him.
Please consider these six observations about what it means to soak in the Presence of God:
1. Relishing in His Presence – enjoying and abiding
2. Reflecting – it is a time to reflect upon God and Who He is and What He means to you.
3. Receiving – As you are still before the Lord, listen for His voice and receive from the promise that He is with you.
4.Renewing Ourselves in His Presence – As Isiah said, as we wait before Him, there is a renewing that takes place.
5. Regaining Perspective- Soaking in His Presence is a time for us to regain the proper perspective in life. As we bring our problem before God, we can be reminded of how Big He Is. When we see our problem in light of His largeness, then our problem is seen in its true perspective. As we magnify Him we minimize our problem.
6. Resting in the Lord – Jesus invites us to come to Him and to learn from Him. When we do this, we find rest for our souls.
Jim and Anne Bevis have a wonderful ministry of renewal and a special ministry to pastors. Their teaching on marriage is authentic, inspiring and something every congregation should hear. I highly recommend them to you for consideration in doing a seminar or retreat in your church or ministry. Learn more at CSRMinistries.org.
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GOD DOES MORE – sermon on prayer
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This sermon on prayer just needs your personal touch and stories and people will be blessed.
Jeremiah 33:3 'Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’
A lot of preachers have preached at one time or another from this powerful little verse. This verse shows us when we pray God does some awesome things for us. Notice four particular actions on God's part that are mentioned.
We do one thing then God does four. We call and then God:
1. HE Answers
Jeremiah 33:3 'Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’
2. HE Reveals
Jeremiah 33:3 'Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’
3. HE Demonstrates
Jeremiah 33:3 'Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’
4. HE Surprises
Jeremiah 33:3 'Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’
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Maximizing Your Life – Bible lesson
Posted by: | CommentsThe following is a wonderful Bible lesson written by my wife, Mikki. It contains a lot of really good material for you to put in your own style and share with your people.
How to Maximize Your Life
by Mikki Lawrence (www.mikkiblogs.com)
It’s often been said that life is a great teacher, but perhaps the greater truth is that life has the potential to be a great teacher. Life is composed of both good and bad days, wonderful and terrible seasons, Potentially we can learn from everything from everyday, every experience. However, often we fail to really gain all that is potentially ours.
We sometimes speak of how we suppose we didn’t get a particular lesson on the first go-round so we have found ourselves going around again.
Those of us who are Christians often offer that example referring to the children of Israel who wandered around in the wilderness for forty years because of their unbelief. Around and around the same mountain they went. But in reality, the Israelites who didn’t believe, died in the wilderness and never entered the Promised Land. It was the new generation who were allowed to enter.
We would all agree that we don’t want to be the generation who never learned, or who learned too late to make a difference.
So how do we maximize our lives? How do we learn? Here are a few ways that I am learning and have learned – and I hope to keep learning because I want to be all I can be. I want to maximize my life for the glory of God.
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Deal with the cards in your hand. There are certain things, problems, issues, that we “get”. We didn’t choose them, but nonetheless, we find them in our hand. Deal with them. They are part of your story. They don’t have to freeze you forever.
For example, I didn’t choose to experience the results of being raised in an alcoholic home, but I was. When I began to realize the effect that it had on me emotionally, relationally, I faced what I was learning and asked for God’s grace to change. I sought out help from others. I opened my eyes and my heart to the opportunity to grow. It hasn’t always been easy and it certainly hasn’t been linear, but it has been painfully good.
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Seek spiritual direction from another. God often crosses our paths with those who can “see” and give direction to us in areas where we need help.
Life is meant to be lived in relationship, in community. None of us are an island to ourselves. God has destined us to learn from others and to receive from those who can strengthen us (and we can offer ourselves to others as well). This interdependence, this interrelatedness, protects us, humbles us, and grows us.
No “spiritual director” will be perfect so we don’t blindly follow, but look for and ask for God connections to others who can shore you up, so to speak, in your weak areas. We should look for those who will challenge us in healthy ways to grow.
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Make time to reflect. Pay attention to your spirit. Reflection, meditation, mindfulness – these disciplines allow us to learn to hear God more clearly.
A productive way that I have found to do this is something like this: I sit quietly, inviting the ministry of the Holy Spirit. I try to quiet my mind to all other thoughts. (I keep a notebook to write down thoughts that distract me. For example, while I am meditating I think of what I have to do later that day. I jot that down in my notebook so that I know I will think of it again later and by doing so, I put that thought aside and allow myself to focus on hearing God.)
God often brings things to my mind during this time. He shows me things that He has for me to do. He shows me sin that I need to deal with. He reveals His love to me. He shows me things I need to learn from. He reminds me of others who need love and encouragement.
This reflection is a type of prayer because I am communicating with God and He is communicating with me. Oftentimes it serves to center me, making me more aware of my own heart and the heart of God. Failing to take time to reflect is failure to receive. Failure to maximize. It is one of the paradoxes of God. Giving up time to “do” and making time to “be” with God actually maximizes our lives. I used to say that we can actually get more done in each day when we make this time each morning (best for me) but now I just say that it is a more healthy, holy, whole way to live. God is not always as concerned about my “to do” list as I am
He is concerned about me.
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Pay attention to your emotions. Although we are not to be ruled by our emotions in negative destructive ways, they can be wonderful signals to us. Signals that we are violating our conscience. Signals that we have allowed our God-destined boundaries to be violated. Signals that we are too tired. Signals that we have sinned.
God gave us emotions. When we fail to pay attention to them, we are neglecting part of our humanity. Remember, God made us body, soul, and spirit. All three are to work together. Yesterday, I spent some time reflecting with my husband because I just haven’t been able to write anything lately. As I processed with him, God reminded me that I had been through a lot emotionally as of late. I watched my husband almost die. Yet I had not really taken time to cry, to process, to feel what my heart was saying. I felt the dots connect.
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In the same way, pay attention to your physical body. I remember going through one season of my life when my stress level was so high. I ignored, or rather, denied, my emotions, and my physical body was screaming at me. The end result was dangerously high blood pressure. My body was speaking to me and I failed to listen. Although I had never had high blood pressure before, my lack of attention to my emotions and my physical body- and my spirit- lit the fuse of my genetic disposition to high blood pressure.
There are many other truths that I could offer about how to learn all you can from your life and perhaps I will continue on that another day. But for today, will you stop long enough to ask God if any of these five points need some attention in your life?
Do you need to deal with what is in your hand?
Do you need to receive spiritual direction from another?
Do you need to make time to reflect?
Do you need to check your emotions? Your physical body?
God is speaking. May we ever grow in our ability and desire to hear and learn and value His voice and the voice of our own heart.
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Eleven Names to Shout About – sermon on praise
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ELEVEN NAMES TO SHOUT ABOUT
By Eddie Lawrence
The following is a simple sermon outline about praising the Divine names of God. It focuses on the compound Divine names and can be used to teach people about praise, prayer, and the nature of God all in one sermon. Of course, they all point to the Jesus and what He has done for us.
Learn to Voice and Praise God using the various names we find attributed to God in Scripture. They tell us something about His nature and character. They give us insight into what He does for us. The compound names sometimes referred to as the Jehovah names are full of application and meaning for us. They also point to Jesus as He was God come in human flesh.
1. Jehovah Jireh means God will provide.
Genesis 22:14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.
-When you need provision praise Him as Jehovah Jireh.
2. Jehovah Rophe means God is the one who heals.
Exodus 15:26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in His sight, and wilt give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD That healeth thee.
-When you need healing praise Him as Jehovah Rophe.
3. Jehovah Nissi means God is our banner, our victory.
Exodus 17:15 And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi: 16 For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.
-When you are in battle praise Him as Jehovah Nissi.
4.Jehovah Mekaddish means God is our sanctifier.
Exodus 31:13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily My sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD That doth sanctify you. See also Leviticus 20:8; 21:8; 22:32 Ezekiel 20:12
-When you are in need of cleansing and you have confessed your sin, praise Him as Jehovah Mekaddish.
5. Jehovah Shalom means God is our peace.
Judges 6:23 And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die. 24 Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it Jehovah-shalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abi-ezrites.
-When you sense confusion and distraction praise Him as Jehovah Shalom.
6. Jehovah Sabboath means He is the God of hosts.
1 Samuel 1:3 And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, were there.
-When you feel intimated or fearful praise Him as Jehovah Sabboath.
7. Jehovah Rohi means God is my shepherd.
Psalms 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
-When you are needing direction or you feel uncertain and unsafe, praise Him as Jehovah Rohi.
8. Jehovah Sidkenu means God is our righteousness.
Jeremiah 5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. 6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is His name whereby He shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. See also Jeremiah 33:16
-When the enemy accuses you praise Him as Jehovah Sidkenu.
9. Jehovah Elyon means the God Most High.
Psalms 7:17 I will praise the LORD according to His righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD MOST HIGH. See also Psalms 47:2; 97:9
-When you feel overwhelmed, praise Him as Jehovah Elyon.
10. Jehovah Shammah means God is present.
Ezekiel 48:35 It was round about eighteen thousand measures: and the name of the city from that day shall be, The LORD is there.
-When you feel isolated, abandoned, or alone, praise Him as Jehovah Shammah.
11. Jesus means Jehovah Saves.
Matthew 1:21And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
We pray now through the name of Jesus. All the other names mentioned find their fulfillment for our lives through the Lord Jesus Christ. Think of how God has provided for us through Christ. He heals us through Christ. Christ is our peace. Christ is our sanctifier. Jesus is our victory and so forth. He embodied these truths as God in human flesh who offered Himself for us.
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A Prayer for Haiti
Posted by: | CommentsA Prayer for Haiti
by Eddie Lawrence
Dear Father in Heaven,
-We glorify you as Great and All Powerful God. We know you are not surprised by any of the events on Earth. We also know that your heart is always directed toward those who suffer.
-Oh God, hear the cries of those who suffer in Haiti. Draw near to them and draw them near to you. Grant strength, courage, power, peace, and hope to them.
-Yes, Oh God, as the God of all hope, call for hope to arise in the hearts of those in Haiti. May they know of your nearness to them in this hour.
-We ask that you release the comfort of your Holy Spirit into the hearts and spirits of those that suffer in Haiti. Give strength and hope to those who hurt and grieve.
-We ask you to pour your love out on the Haitian Isle from coast to coast. May the Presence of You be strong among the people that live there and the people who arrive there.
-We ask you to grant wisdom to relief workers in Haiti that they may know the best strategy of how to connect arriving resources with the human needs. In their tiredness give them supernaturally imparted strength to persevere.
-We ask that you would grant strength and courage to rescue workers as they dig, move, listen and risk their lives to save another life.
-We ask you to help those who are raising support to keep the supplies, aid, and help coming toward Haiti. Give them understanding of how to approach, how to ask, how to meet the massive needs by appealing to unseen givers.
-We ask for your healing virtue to flow to people through the hands of medical personell and emergency care givers on the scene. We petition You to show your grace of healing that triumphs pain and human suffering.
-We ask that you would release peace and harmony between the thousands called to Haiti to help. May there be an unseen grace that unites their hearts and mulitplies their efforts.
-We ask you Dear God to transform the chaos into peace, bring up from the rubble a new Haiti filled with awe and wonder reflecting your glory.
-May the world in which we all live, be brought together into your heart as we too hear the cries of the afflicted. May we all experience the change that comes when love meets hurts and help meets need.
-Dear Father in Heaven, help each of us to pray as we ought for Haiti, to give as we ought for Haiti, and to ask you to give us your heart for Haiti. May you move our hearts beyond sympathy to a place of engaging and action. Help our works to follow our words. Help our tears to be followed by our sweat. Help our viewing to be followed by a working vision to help build a new Haiti.
-May Jesus shine brightly during this dark hour. May He, the One Who suffered for us, now once again, bring mercy, peace, and grace to those who suffer.
-Be glorified our Father in this tragedy now and in all things forever more! In Jesus Name, Amen!
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Prayer Tips and Sermon Starters — advice about prayer
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HOW TO AVOID SABOTAGING YOUR PRAYER LIFE
from wikiHow – The How to Manual That You Can Edit
"…if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father in heaven forgive yours." Matthew 6:15, Mark 11:26 Do your prayers work? "Father, bless my enemy with your peace…"–is a prayer that makes sense! A lot of people wonder why some prayers are answered while others–or their own prayers–seem to never get answered. Here are some ideas. So here are things to consider if you actually want power in prayer.
Steps
1. Revere God: Do what it takes for Christ and maintain your reverence for God. Know that He is mighty, is the creator of the Universe and deserves Glory, Praise and Honor. Your prayer life should acknowledge the Lord in His rightful place in your life.
2. Pray thankfully and praise God, especially to end prayers positively, and thereby overcome attitudes like begging and pleading to God (there is of course a time and a place for that); for happiness (rather ask for joy) or for trying to stop anxious thoughts or bad dreams (ask the Lord to show you the root cause of these and take them to him in prayer).
3. Increase or start thanking and praising others and lift up (be a booster of) God and Jesus for any good things (called blessings) in your life. God and Jesus have promised to bless one who blesses others and who thanks God for blessings.
4. Stop harboring sin in your life: Yep, this would kill it from the get-go! God can not look upon sin.
5. Forgive others: You need to seek forgiveness, but remember you must also forgive, or you will not be forgiven.
6. Obey God: The Lord calls us to repent of our sin and turn to Him. Sin separates us from Him. Harboring sin in your life is a sure way to cause a wedge between you and our Heavenly Father. Always ask the Lord to forgive you your sins through the blood of Jesus and strengthen your Spirit through reading the word, praying, serving others etc.–so that you can withstand the temptation of sin in your life. Whatever you feed in your life, grows and wins.
7. Believe — never waffling: Be sure of what it is you want and be sure that He can and will do it, or guess what: Forget it. Faith makes it happen.
8. See the results and be inspired. How? Make a prayer journal or a prayer list of things, people and missions you pray about. Your prayer journal enables you to keep up with the progress in the things you pray about.
9. Confirm God’s will in prayer — God is not mocked: whatever a man plants into the lives of others will come back to him (Good or Bad!)! Always ask for God’s will to be done.
10. Stand firm — without giving up: Sometimes God wants us to persist in prayer… when we quit… that’s it.
11. Love your enemy and never treat others wrongly: love one another as He has loved you. Love mercy and do it!
12. Bless and "curse-not"–as much as possible. Seek goodwill and the good of others in all you do or say! Pray for God to bless your enemies with good things. Considering that is a direct instruction from His word, we need to practice that whether we like it or not.
13. Pray without Ceasing. So be in a spirit of thankfulness and blessing others for God hears such things as a "living prayer."
14. Open up towards God, and ask him what you will in faith. God obviously knows every aspect of your life (lying won’t help), and He knows your struggles and sins. He knows how you feel. He loves and cares for you without limit. Since he is love and mercy–He doesn’t unfairly favour anyone–because he created and seeks to heal and save all of us if we have faith and follow in God’s will.
Tips
* Read the Bible. It is full of plain talk on how to pray, what works and what doesn’t. God speaks through the Bible when you read it, not all the time though (for it depends on him and what you prayer for).
* "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength; and your neighbor as yourself."–Luke 10:27
* Love your neighbor sacrificially for what greater love is there than this: that a man should risk or give his own life for a friend (or even for a stranger)?
* Pray sincerely: for example pray the sinners prayer of repentance–when you ask Jesus Christ to save you — then accept God’s plan for your real life: that’s it!.
* Christians: Read the Gospels on Jesus; praise God, and ask for help "in the name of Jesus." Jesus said: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”(Matthew 7:7–8) God (and Christ the Saviour) will answer if you wait in his time (yes, no, maybe.)
* Persevere in prayer. He knows what your next motives are because He (and the Son of God) knows the truth (because he is the truth) and knows your life (past, present, future). He has a plan for all of us personally; it is good–not bad. So, if you give you’re life to Jesus, and ask for mercy, God will forgive you and your sins.
Warnings
* "Be careful what you pray for… you just might get it."
* When you pray, you need to be in God’s will. If what you are praying for is not in God’s will, then you will not get it. Prayer is not a simple "I ask for it, and I get it." God will always hear you when you pray, but sometimes God’s answer to a prayer is "No".
* Praying against ordinary people is not going to work!
* Pretentious or bragging prayer is not worth your breath.
* Consider:
o "…cleanse your minds all you double minded!" (James 4:8)
o "…he that wavers is unstable in all his ways and should expect nothing from God…" (James 1:5-8).
* Jesus said:
o "…if you remember that your brother has anything against you; go and make it right, then come back to the altar…" (Matthew 5:23-24)
* Don’t ask pointlessly, but ask Jesus when you need help, guidance or mercy — and ask for God’s will to be in your heart (to the "core" of your being).
Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Avoid Sabotaging Your Prayer Life. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.
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