PRAYER
Purpose In Prayer
How much time do I spend alone with God each day?
The prayers of Gods saints are the capital stock in heaven by which Christ carries on His great work upon the earth. Great throes and mighty convulsions in the world have come about as a result of these prayers. The earth is changed, revolutionized; angels move on more powerful, and more rapid wings; and God’s policy is shaped when the prayers of his people are more numerous and more efficient.
“For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all people” (Isa. 56:7)
“I will declare the decree … ask of me, and I will surely give the nations as thine inheritance” (Ps.2:7-8)
God desires a praying people, willing and obedient
The Fire that Consumes
Prayer has an incredible power to arrest and change the purposes of God. The stroke of His power is relieved by the prayers of righteous men. We can see both the possibilities and the necessity of prayer when we see how in the following examples from scripture, the prayers of Gods saints brought about a change in Gods plans.
In Genesis 20:17-18, Abimelech had been smitten by God.
Job 42:8-10, Job’s miserable, mistaken comforters had so behaved themselves in their controversy with Job that Gods wrath was kindled against them.
Jonah chapter 1, it’s doesn't pay to run from God.
Jonah chapter 3, it was the purpose of God to destroy the city of Nineveh.
The message of God to Hezekiah was a warning of death as can be seen in the passage from Isaiah 38:1-5
What other events can you think of where prayer affected the purpose of God?
All these people of God knew how to pray and how to prevail in prayer. Their faith in prayer was no passing attitude that changed with the wind or with their own feelings and circumstances.
Everything was possible to the men and women who knew how to pray, and it still is today. The prayers of these saints were short lived. The praying ones were few and far between. They had no survivors, none to imitate their devotion to God, none to preserve the roll of the elect
“The prayers of holy men appease God’s wrath, drive away temptations, resist and overcome the Devil, procure the ministry and service of angels, rescind the decrees of God. Prayer cures sickness and obtains pardon; it arrests the sun in its course and stays the wheels of the chariot of the moon; it rules over all gods and opens and shuts the store houses of rain; it unlocks the cabinet of the womb and quenches the violence of fire. It pleases god and supplies all our needs.”
Jeremy Taylor
1613-1667
Know when to speak #17
At first glance it may seem that a great deal of material has been covered to share the good news. In reality, it doesn’t take several months of study, or many weeks to understand, or even three days to explain the gospel. It takes about an hour to fully explain everything we have covered in the last 16 months. God has provided the armament necessary to show people in an easy, logical, factual and most of all, loving way, how we may share His most important message. We are the messengers!
During these past months we covered five main points that people are concerned about. They are; Grace, Man, God, Christ and Faith. As we go through each of these, you can see how objections and questions in general are answered. It has been found that most people have the same questions and concerns. They range from a simple, ‘who is Jesus?’ to ‘I have been so bad that I would not qualify to go to heaven.’ As you can see, the two sample concerns are easily answered before the question or objection even comes up.
The gospel is so complete that entry into a conversation usually presents itself any time a discussion about ‘religion’ shows up. As an example; A discussion may ensue about Jesus. Those in the conversation may have said something like Jesus being a good man, or even a prophet, or perhaps a teacher. What do you think might happen in this conversation if you mention that Jesus is God? Oh boy!
Let’s take another example; A discussion may be centered around whether or not we are qualified to go to heaven, that we are ‘too bad’ to even be thought of to go to such a wonderful place. Think of how the conversation will go when you state that everyone is not qualified, that all mankind is a sinner, and in the same breath explain where man is in the scope of heaven and earth. This usually brings about a movement into grace, and the explanation that heaven is a gift. And, of course, you have the scripture to back you up.
You will always encounter the objection, ‘God loves us, He created us, and would not destroy us.’ Nice try, but it won’t work. Yes, God does love us. There are countless scriptures where He indicates this. However, He also says He will not let sin go unpunished, and you’ll know exactly where this is stated in scripture. Do you see how God has provided powerful armament? The scripture is short and simple to understand. If you will notice, this also deters those who would try to twist scripture to fit their own needs.
One more example. This is a good one. In your ‘religion’ discussion you may hear, “I believe in God or Jesus.” Is that good enough for you? Your first response to that statement might be, “That’s really great! When were you baptized?” If this person is trying to derail you, a response might be, “Oh, I was baptized when I was two weeks old.” You will know where this person is at this point. You may want to explain that the demons also believe in God and Jesus, but are in a state of shudder. From there the door may open to explaining how heaven is really a free gift and how the gift may be obtained.
Enough examples….The easy part is done. Now it gets tough. What are you going to do with this person who wants a relationship with Jesus? How about, send them to a new believers class. That’s the first mistake. Think about it. If you are a new Christian and sent to a class, would you be prone to ask personal questions? I think not..
How about personal one on one discipleship? What would we study? How about going through the gospel in detail? What an idea! From there you can help them understand church, and after a period of time introduce them to a home Bible study.
As a result, you have the making of a new Christian with a solid foundation…………
A Little Humor
Judas Asparagus
Purpose In Prayer
How much time do I spend alone with God each day?
The prayers of Gods saints are the capital stock in heaven by which Christ carries on His great work upon the earth. Great throes and mighty convulsions in the world have come about as a result of these prayers. The earth is changed, revolutionized; angels move on more powerful, and more rapid wings; and God’s policy is shaped when the prayers of his people are more numerous and more efficient.
“For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all people” (Isa. 56:7)
“I will declare the decree … ask of me, and I will surely give the nations as thine inheritance” (Ps.2:7-8)
God desires a praying people, willing and obedient
The Fire that Consumes
Prayer has an incredible power to arrest and change the purposes of God. The stroke of His power is relieved by the prayers of righteous men. We can see both the possibilities and the necessity of prayer when we see how in the following examples from scripture, the prayers of Gods saints brought about a change in Gods plans.
In Genesis 20:17-18, Abimelech had been smitten by God.
Job 42:8-10, Job’s miserable, mistaken comforters had so behaved themselves in their controversy with Job that Gods wrath was kindled against them.
Jonah chapter 1, it’s doesn't pay to run from God.
Jonah chapter 3, it was the purpose of God to destroy the city of Nineveh.
The message of God to Hezekiah was a warning of death as can be seen in the passage from Isaiah 38:1-5
What other events can you think of where prayer affected the purpose of God?
All these people of God knew how to pray and how to prevail in prayer. Their faith in prayer was no passing attitude that changed with the wind or with their own feelings and circumstances.
Everything was possible to the men and women who knew how to pray, and it still is today. The prayers of these saints were short lived. The praying ones were few and far between. They had no survivors, none to imitate their devotion to God, none to preserve the roll of the elect
“The prayers of holy men appease God’s wrath, drive away temptations, resist and overcome the Devil, procure the ministry and service of angels, rescind the decrees of God. Prayer cures sickness and obtains pardon; it arrests the sun in its course and stays the wheels of the chariot of the moon; it rules over all gods and opens and shuts the store houses of rain; it unlocks the cabinet of the womb and quenches the violence of fire. It pleases god and supplies all our needs.”
Jeremy Taylor
1613-1667
Know when to speak #17
At first glance it may seem that a great deal of material has been covered to share the good news. In reality, it doesn’t take several months of study, or many weeks to understand, or even three days to explain the gospel. It takes about an hour to fully explain everything we have covered in the last 16 months. God has provided the armament necessary to show people in an easy, logical, factual and most of all, loving way, how we may share His most important message. We are the messengers!
During these past months we covered five main points that people are concerned about. They are; Grace, Man, God, Christ and Faith. As we go through each of these, you can see how objections and questions in general are answered. It has been found that most people have the same questions and concerns. They range from a simple, ‘who is Jesus?’ to ‘I have been so bad that I would not qualify to go to heaven.’ As you can see, the two sample concerns are easily answered before the question or objection even comes up.
The gospel is so complete that entry into a conversation usually presents itself any time a discussion about ‘religion’ shows up. As an example; A discussion may ensue about Jesus. Those in the conversation may have said something like Jesus being a good man, or even a prophet, or perhaps a teacher. What do you think might happen in this conversation if you mention that Jesus is God? Oh boy!
Let’s take another example; A discussion may be centered around whether or not we are qualified to go to heaven, that we are ‘too bad’ to even be thought of to go to such a wonderful place. Think of how the conversation will go when you state that everyone is not qualified, that all mankind is a sinner, and in the same breath explain where man is in the scope of heaven and earth. This usually brings about a movement into grace, and the explanation that heaven is a gift. And, of course, you have the scripture to back you up.
You will always encounter the objection, ‘God loves us, He created us, and would not destroy us.’ Nice try, but it won’t work. Yes, God does love us. There are countless scriptures where He indicates this. However, He also says He will not let sin go unpunished, and you’ll know exactly where this is stated in scripture. Do you see how God has provided powerful armament? The scripture is short and simple to understand. If you will notice, this also deters those who would try to twist scripture to fit their own needs.
One more example. This is a good one. In your ‘religion’ discussion you may hear, “I believe in God or Jesus.” Is that good enough for you? Your first response to that statement might be, “That’s really great! When were you baptized?” If this person is trying to derail you, a response might be, “Oh, I was baptized when I was two weeks old.” You will know where this person is at this point. You may want to explain that the demons also believe in God and Jesus, but are in a state of shudder. From there the door may open to explaining how heaven is really a free gift and how the gift may be obtained.
Enough examples….The easy part is done. Now it gets tough. What are you going to do with this person who wants a relationship with Jesus? How about, send them to a new believers class. That’s the first mistake. Think about it. If you are a new Christian and sent to a class, would you be prone to ask personal questions? I think not..
How about personal one on one discipleship? What would we study? How about going through the gospel in detail? What an idea! From there you can help them understand church, and after a period of time introduce them to a home Bible study.
As a result, you have the making of a new Christian with a solid foundation…………
A Little Humor
Judas Asparagus
A child was asked to write a book report on the entire Bible.
I wonder how often we take for granted that children understand what we are teaching???
Through the eyes of a child:
The Children's Bible in a Nutshell
In the beginning, which occurred near the start, there was nothing but God, darkness, and some gas. The Bible says, 'The Lord thy God is one, but I think He must be a lot older than that.
Anyway, God said, 'Give me a light!' and someone did.
Then God made the world.
He split the Adam and made Eve. Adam and Eve were naked, but they weren't embarrassed because mirrors hadn't been invented yet.
Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating one bad apple, so they were driven from the Garden of Eden.....Not sure what they were driven in though, because they didn't have cars.
Adam and Eve had a son, Cain, who hated his brother as long as he was Abel.
Pretty soon all of the early people died off, except for Methuselah, who lived to be like a million or something.
One of the next important people was Noah, who was a good guy, but one of his kids was kind of a Ham. Noah built a large boat and put his family and some animals on it. He asked some other people to join him, but they said they would have to take a rain check.
After Noah came Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob was more famous than his brother, Esau, because Esau sold Jacob his birthmark in exchange for some pot roast. Jacob had a son named Joseph who wore a really loud sports coat.
Another important Bible guy is Moses, whose real name was Charlton Heston. Moses led the Israel Lights out of Egypt and away from the evil Pharaoh after God sent ten plagues on Pharaoh's people. These plagues included frogs, mice, lice, bowels, and no cable.
God fed the Israel Lights every day with manicotti. Then he gave them His Top Ten Commandments. These include: don't lie, cheat, smoke, dance, or covet your neighbor's stuff.
Oh, yeah, I just thought of one more: Humor thy father and thy mother..
Bible guy to use spies. Joshua fought the battle of Geritol and the fence fell over on the town.
After Joshua came David. He got to be king by killing a giant with a slingshot. He had a son named Solomon who had about 300 wives and 500 porcupines. My teacher says he was wise, but that doesn't sound very wise to me.
After Solomon there were a bunch of major league prophets. One of these was Jonah, who was swallowed by a big whale and then barfed up on the shore.
There were also some minor league prophets, but I guess we don't have to worry about them.
After the Old Testament came the New Testament. Jesus is the star of The New. He was born in Bethlehem in a barn. (I wish I had been born in a barn too, because my mom is always saying to me, 'Close the door! Were you born in a barn?' It would be nice to say, 'As a matter of fact, I was.')
During His life, Jesus had many arguments with sinners like ;the Pharisees and the Democrats.
Jesus also had twelve opossums.
The worst one was Judas Asparagus. Judas was so evil that they named a terrible vegetable after him.
Jesus was a great man. He healed many leopards and even preached to some Germans on the Mount.
But the Democrats and Republicans put Jesus on trial before Pontius the Pilot. Pilot didn't stick up for Jesus. He just washed his hands instead.
Anyways, Jesus died for our sins, then came back to life again. He went up to Heaven but will be back at the end of the Aluminum. His return is foretold in the book of Revolution..
-------------------------
A thought…
Is hell just a place of punishment?
Many think it is, but in reality it’s designed as a place where Jesus is not. There are those people who have said, ‘no thank you’ to the gift that is offered through grace and faith.
As a result, these people have elected to go to place where they will not see or have any type of relationship with Jesus.
Another thought….
Four things you can't recover:The stone........after the throw.
The word.........after it's said..The occasion....after it's missed.
The time..........after it's gone.
