At our Core Team meeting last night we began to talk about the Jim Cymbala (Pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle) book Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire. The team has been asked to read the book over the next few weeks. Some people will be reading this book for the second or third time. I felt that it was important for us to read this together and see how it may speak into the planting of The Compass.
This is a continuation of what I said in the last blog. If we are going to be a church that stands on prayer, which is one our core pillars (Ephesians 6:18), we are called by the Word of God to pray at all times in the Spirit keeping alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.
Our conversation kept us in the first two chapters. We first understood that this is not a book about how to pray but a book on how he (Pastor Cymbala) committed to a life of prayer for the ministry that had been given to him.
I believe that one of the greatest points of the book is found in the first chapter. Here’s the quote, “I discovered an astonishing truth: God is attracted to weakness. He can’t resist those who humbly and honestly admit how desperately they need him.” Did you catch the truth? As God’s people we need to understand that we need God’s hand on us to succeed. Not my hand as pastor, not the hand of those that would lead worship, run children’s ministries, work with young people, be board members for Phase II life, handle the finances or the many that would sit in the seats on Sunday morning. We need God’s hand on us.
We must also live our lives despairing at the thought that our lives might slip by without seeing God show Himself mightily on our behalf. This means staying in prayer at all times in the spirit. We should want a ministry that goes beyond reading about the power of God’s Word and Spirit to a ministry that is seeing the power of God’s Word and Spirit at work. Lets hunger (as stated by Pastor Cymbala) for God to break through in our lives and ministry.
The second chapter opens with this statement, “From this day on, the prayer meeting will be the barometer of the church. What happens on Tuesday night will be the gauge by which we will judge success or failure because that will be the measure by which God blesses us.” I have personally taken this as a challenge. People will come to Sunday morning worship, but would they give up another evening to come before God in prayer to cry out for His help? We (the church) have forgotten that we are called to gather together in prayer. When we gather in prayer as one body God seems to move. This is what happened for the early church as they waited on God in prayer. God showed up, His Spirit fell down and the church blew up. If we are going to be a church of unity for the city we need our God to show up, if we are going to be a church that sees lives being transformed, we need God’s Spirit to fall and if The Compass is going to blow up as a church, we need to wait on Him in prayer.
I shared one of my most favorite scriptures with the group last night. Genesis 18:14, which states, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” This is after Sarah is told that she would have a child. Knowing that she was old and Abraham was even older she began to laugh. Is anything too hard for the Lord? There is so much that needs to happen to see The Compass come into reality you may feel like laughing or crying out of not know how in the world it is all going to come together. So I will leave you with what is a statement of fact and not a question. IS ANYTHING TOO HARD FOR THE LORD!
Please feel free to give me your thoughts and comments on the power of prayer. Our homework is to continue reading Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire as we drive this truth deep into our foundation.
Peace, Pastor T
Monday, August 20, 2007
Sunday, August 5, 2007
The Energy of Prayer
At Our Core team meeting last night we centered our time around prayer. At The Compass we believe prayer to be at the top of the list of importance. In fact it is one of our four Azimuths: an azimuth is a direction set on a fixed position - Our azimuth is CHRIST. To the north is kneeling in prayer. We discovered that Paul calls us to hold up prayer in some very specific ways.
Prayer is the energy that enables the Christian to wear the armor and wield the sword. We cannot fight the battle in our own power, no matter how strong or talented we may think we are. When Amalek attacked Israel, Moses went to the mountaintop to pray, while Joshua used the sword to fight in the valley (Ex 17:8-16). It took both to defeat Amalek-Moses' prayer intercession on the mountain, and Joshua's use of the sword inbattle that was taking place in the valley. Prayer is the power for victory, but not just any kind of prayer. Paul tells how to pray if we would defeat Satan.
Pray always. Do not miss ubderstand me this does not mean "always saying prayers." God does not hear our prayers for our "much words" (Matt 6:7). "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thess 5:17) says to us, "Always be in communion with the Lord. Keep the receiver off the hook!" Never have to say when you pray, "Lord, we come into Thy presence," because you never left His presence! A Christian must "pray always" because he/she is always subject to temptations and attacks of the devil. A surprise attack has defeated more than one believer who forgot to "pray without ceasing."
Pray with all prayer. There is more than one kind of praying: supplication, intercession, thanksgiving (Phil 4:6; 1 Tim 2:1). The believer who prays only to ask for things is missing out on blessings that come with intercessions and giving of thanks. In fact, thanksgiving is a great prayer weapon for defeating Satan. "Praise changes things" as much as "prayer changes things." Intercession for others can bring victory to our own lives. "And the Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends" (Job 42:10).
Pray in the Spirit. The Bible formula is that we pray to the Father, through the Son, and in the Spirit. Rom 8:26-27 tells us that only in the Spirit's power can we pray in the will of God. Otherwise, our praying could be selfish and out of the will of God. In the Old Testament tabernacle, there was a small golden altar standing before the veil, and here the priest burned the incense. The incense is a picture of prayer. It had to be mixed according to God's plan and could not be counterfeited by man. The fire on the altar is a picture of the Holy Spirit, for it is He who takes our prayers and "ignites" them in the will of God. It is possible to pray fervently in the flesh and never get through to God. It is also possible to pray quietly in the Spirit and see God's hand do great things.
Pray with your eyes open. Watching means "keeping on the alert." The phrase "watch and pray" occurs often in the Bible. When Nehemiah was repairing the walls of Jerusalem, and the enemy was trying to stop the work, Nehemiah defeated the enemy by watching and praying. "Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch" (Neh 4:9). "Watch and pray" is the secret of victory over the world (Mark 13:33), the flesh (Mark 14:38), and the devil (Eph 6:18). Peter went to sleep when he should have been praying, and the result was victory for Satan. God expects us to use our God-given senses, led by the Spirit, so that we detect Satan when he is beginning to work.
Keep on praying. The word perseverance simply means "to stick to it and do not quit" or P.U.S.H. (pray until something happens). The early believers prayed this way (Acts 1:14; 2:42; 6:4); and we also should pray this way (Rom 12:12). Perseverance in prayer does not mean we are trying to twist God's arm, but rather that we are deeply concerned and burdened and cannot rest until we get God's answer. Most of us quit praying just before God is about to give the victory. Not everybody is so constituted that he/she can sincerely spend a whole night in prayer, but all of us can persevere in prayer far more then we do. The early church prayed without ceasing when Peter was in prison and, at the last moment, God gave them their answer (Acts 12:1-19). Keep on praying until the Spirit stops you or the Father answers you. Just about the time you feel like quitting, God will give the answer.
Pray for all the saints. The Lord's Prayer begins with "Our Father" - not "My Father." We pray as part of a great family that is also talking to God, and we ought to pray for the other members of the family. Even Paul asked for the prayer support of the Ephesians - and he had been to the third heaven and back. If Paul needed the prayers of the saints, how much more do you and I need them! If my prayers help another believer defeat Satan, then that victory will help me too. Note that Paul did not ask them to pray for his comfort or safety, but for the effectiveness of his witness and ministry.
As we understand the importance of prayer to the life of the believer more time is needed to grow in our understanding of prayer. I have asked that we all read the book Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala. Please read as much as you can by our next core team meet that is August 19th. We will sent our time talking about how this book relates to our ministry together.
As always if you have any thoughts or comments please leave it below.
Prayer is the energy that enables the Christian to wear the armor and wield the sword. We cannot fight the battle in our own power, no matter how strong or talented we may think we are. When Amalek attacked Israel, Moses went to the mountaintop to pray, while Joshua used the sword to fight in the valley (Ex 17:8-16). It took both to defeat Amalek-Moses' prayer intercession on the mountain, and Joshua's use of the sword inbattle that was taking place in the valley. Prayer is the power for victory, but not just any kind of prayer. Paul tells how to pray if we would defeat Satan.
Pray always. Do not miss ubderstand me this does not mean "always saying prayers." God does not hear our prayers for our "much words" (Matt 6:7). "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thess 5:17) says to us, "Always be in communion with the Lord. Keep the receiver off the hook!" Never have to say when you pray, "Lord, we come into Thy presence," because you never left His presence! A Christian must "pray always" because he/she is always subject to temptations and attacks of the devil. A surprise attack has defeated more than one believer who forgot to "pray without ceasing."
Pray with all prayer. There is more than one kind of praying: supplication, intercession, thanksgiving (Phil 4:6; 1 Tim 2:1). The believer who prays only to ask for things is missing out on blessings that come with intercessions and giving of thanks. In fact, thanksgiving is a great prayer weapon for defeating Satan. "Praise changes things" as much as "prayer changes things." Intercession for others can bring victory to our own lives. "And the Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends" (Job 42:10).
Pray in the Spirit. The Bible formula is that we pray to the Father, through the Son, and in the Spirit. Rom 8:26-27 tells us that only in the Spirit's power can we pray in the will of God. Otherwise, our praying could be selfish and out of the will of God. In the Old Testament tabernacle, there was a small golden altar standing before the veil, and here the priest burned the incense. The incense is a picture of prayer. It had to be mixed according to God's plan and could not be counterfeited by man. The fire on the altar is a picture of the Holy Spirit, for it is He who takes our prayers and "ignites" them in the will of God. It is possible to pray fervently in the flesh and never get through to God. It is also possible to pray quietly in the Spirit and see God's hand do great things.
Pray with your eyes open. Watching means "keeping on the alert." The phrase "watch and pray" occurs often in the Bible. When Nehemiah was repairing the walls of Jerusalem, and the enemy was trying to stop the work, Nehemiah defeated the enemy by watching and praying. "Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch" (Neh 4:9). "Watch and pray" is the secret of victory over the world (Mark 13:33), the flesh (Mark 14:38), and the devil (Eph 6:18). Peter went to sleep when he should have been praying, and the result was victory for Satan. God expects us to use our God-given senses, led by the Spirit, so that we detect Satan when he is beginning to work.
Keep on praying. The word perseverance simply means "to stick to it and do not quit" or P.U.S.H. (pray until something happens). The early believers prayed this way (Acts 1:14; 2:42; 6:4); and we also should pray this way (Rom 12:12). Perseverance in prayer does not mean we are trying to twist God's arm, but rather that we are deeply concerned and burdened and cannot rest until we get God's answer. Most of us quit praying just before God is about to give the victory. Not everybody is so constituted that he/she can sincerely spend a whole night in prayer, but all of us can persevere in prayer far more then we do. The early church prayed without ceasing when Peter was in prison and, at the last moment, God gave them their answer (Acts 12:1-19). Keep on praying until the Spirit stops you or the Father answers you. Just about the time you feel like quitting, God will give the answer.
Pray for all the saints. The Lord's Prayer begins with "Our Father" - not "My Father." We pray as part of a great family that is also talking to God, and we ought to pray for the other members of the family. Even Paul asked for the prayer support of the Ephesians - and he had been to the third heaven and back. If Paul needed the prayers of the saints, how much more do you and I need them! If my prayers help another believer defeat Satan, then that victory will help me too. Note that Paul did not ask them to pray for his comfort or safety, but for the effectiveness of his witness and ministry.
As we understand the importance of prayer to the life of the believer more time is needed to grow in our understanding of prayer. I have asked that we all read the book Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala. Please read as much as you can by our next core team meet that is August 19th. We will sent our time talking about how this book relates to our ministry together.
As always if you have any thoughts or comments please leave it below.
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