Connections

How to Get Your Prayers Answered {part 3}

3. Pray with Persistance.
When Elijah heard a word from God in 1 Kings 18 concerning the rain that was coming, he not only sent his servant away to watch with expectation the rain cloud form, he sent him back 7 times until what he heard from God manifested in the natural.

Elijah could have stopped when his servant saw the "cloud the size of a man's hand."  However, he sent Ahab ahead to Jezreel so that he could pray that small cloud into a dark sky that would produce rain.

This is not just an Old Testament concept, Jesus talks about persistence in Luke (The Gospel explaining the prayer life of Jesus).

How to Get Your Prayers Answered {Part 2}

2. Pray with Expectation (Faith)
Faith is seeing without seeing.  Noah saw the first drop of rain hit the earth 120 years before it actually did. The word that he received from God drove him even when his circumstances communicated something different. 

When you get some time, read this story of Elijah's prayer life. He heard a word from God and believed that God was going to deliver on the word that he received.  Even when it appeared that the promise was only the size of a man's hand, Elijah went to praying until the promise was fulfilled.

The author of Hebrews states that it is impossible to please God without Faith.  Faith is the soil where prayer grows.  It's believing that He will do more than all we can ask (pray) or imagine.

How to Get Your Prayers Answered {Part 1}

(This is not an exhaustive list...simply my take on prayer)

1.  Pray God's will.
The author of Hebrews and Paul both say that Jesus is the exact representation of the Father, the image of the invisible God.  Jesus also told his disciples in the Gospel of John that if you've seen him, you've see the Father.

A few years ago, my buddy and I committed to reading the Gospels all year long.  That means when we finished John, we would start over in Matthew....ALL YEAR LONG.  We captured a glimpse of Jesus that revolutionized our prayer lives that year.  Mainly because we saw the heart of the Father and learned how to pray God's will....in part of course.  Prayer is not a destination but a journey!

Prayer is simply, "an active pursuit of communicating with God."

Please Pray!

I have a heavy heart as I type this post.  One of my dear friends went home to be with Jesus this week.   I met Chris Smock 2 years ago when he was first diagnosed with cancer.  Chris and I became good friends and started meeting each week to talk about Jesus, healing, reconciliation and what it means to shepherd the hearts of his kids.

Chris went home to be with Jesus yesterday with friends and family around him praying.  In the background, just moments before he passed, the CD player was playing Come to Life by David Walker. How appropriate! 

Do I understand physical healing completely?  NO.

I am called to pray for physical healing? YES.

Were there intercessors that prayed for his healing for 2 years? YES

Is God good all the time? YES

In the last 2 years of Chris' Life:
* Chris' marriage and family was restored.
* Chris gave his life to Jesus.
* Chris lead his 12 year old son to Christ.
* Chris' life has been a reminder to all those who knew him that Jesus is alive, He is still performing signs and wonders and still reconciling families and saving souls (the greatest miracle of all.)

Please continue to pray for Chris' wife Teri, his daughter Kalli, and his four sons (John Jacob, Christopher, Benji, and Ricky)!

Prayer for a Change

Anyone going to DC? Also, stay tuned for a Greenville city-wide prayer and intercession gathering later this summer to meet downtown at the Larkins Outdoor Pavillion to pray for Revival for our city.

Fastforgreenville.com will have the info. soon!

PRAYING FOR OUR WORLD

Today is the Global Day of Prayer. Check out globaldayofprayer.com for more information. Also I am going to attempt the 90-Day Through the Bible Plan. Go to the website and sign up with thousands around the world who will be all reading the same chapters each day.

National Day of Prayer

Today was the National Day of Prayer. Dustin and I went downtown to pray in the center of our city, along with the mayor, some other local pastors and our buddy Ben Daniel. Ben was asked to pray for Revival and Church Unity. If you know this guy, you will know that this is his heartbeat.

What a beautiful day to stand with our mayor and a few hundred people to ask God to visit Greenville with Revival.

New Eyes

Living in the Upstate of South Carolina has it's perks, among which are going to the mountains and being relatively close to the coast. Today was one of those days where we took one of those opportunities.

This morning the Executive Pastoral Staff went along with another pastor in our area to breakfast and then to Bald Rock to overlook the world and pray.

It's amazing how you pray differently when you can overlook valleys and trees as far as the eye can see. This morning's view made this passage come alive.

It's good to be WOWED by God. It puts things into perspective.

Do you need to be WOWED?

Ask Him to give you new eyes....you'll see things that make you just want to give Him glory. I thought this morning, "The same God that spoke the word and created all that I see, wants to be intimate with me?" If that thought doesn't wake you up, you need to go get an EKG, because something is wrong with your heart.

Hinge: Greenville, SC

Fastforgreenville.com will host a mini conference called the Hinge on August 24-25. Check fastforgreenville.com for itenerary and details.

All of those who are interested in learning how to strategically intercede for your city are welcome to attend!

Mr. Potato Head Prayer

Tonight I tucked Ella Tays in for bed like I normally do. We engaged in our regular routine that included reading our Cinderella book, making up a story about a bird named Tainkeen (not sure about the spelling of this name, but it is just the make believe bird's name in every story and my best phonetic attempt at spelling it), said our prayers and sang Elvis' "Fools Rush In."

Before we snuggle, we pick up the toys and put them in their boxes, organize all of her ponies on the shelf in a straight row, and say good night to mom and Patton (The chihuahua). Tonight I spent alot of time picking up noses, lips and ears scattered from the closet to the bed belonging to Mr. Potato Head. When I prayed over Ella Tays tonight I found myself praying the model "Mr. Potato Head" prayer.

A "Mr. Potato Head" prayer for myself might be something like this:

Lord, Give me....

The mind of Christ (He has wisdom and knowledge beyond compare)

The eyes of Noah (He had vision to see it raining 120 years before it actually did.)

The ears of Joel (He heard the sounding of the alarm of the Lord calling a nation to repentence)

The lips of John the Baptist (He cried out in the heart of the desert, "Prepare the way of the Lord")

The Heart of David (He knew about intimacy and warfare)

The legs of Chuck Norris (He is not scared of the dark, the dark is scared of him)

The feet of Shaq (He can use his size 22 feet to get to his destination quicker than the average human)

What about your "Mr. Potato Head" Prayer?