Prayer

Every Bible-believing Christian sees the need to pray for our nation and its leaders. But knowing we need to pray is not the same as praying.

When I pray, sometimes I feel sad when God does not answer the way I think He should, but God always has the best in mind for His child when He denies a prayer request.

The theme for 2015 at Liberty Baptist Church is “I Believe God.” I am speaking to our church on different ways we can show others that we believe God—not just believe in God. I recently spoke on the subject of how we can believe God through prayer. I handed out the content of this blog to our church because I wanted them to see what a life of prayer can do. I hope that this will be a blessing to you.

There are so many areas for parents to invest themselves in raising their children. And there are many resources available in learning to be godly parents. But there is one resource that is more powerful than any book, seminar, or method.

You know the traction-gaining tool for social media: hashtags. Whether it’s #WeAreN or #icebucketchallenge, people turn to hashtags to use their Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram posts to make a difference.

We have a God who delights in answering the prayers of His children. Praying is a holy privilege and resource that every one of God’s children has at their disposal. However, in order for our prayers to be answered, there are unchangeable biblical principles that must be met.

Hannah’s story is about far more than intensity in prayer. It is about a woman who poured out her heart to everyone but God. And it is about the change God worked in her when she poured out her heart to Him.

There’s not a committed Christian in America who wouldn’t like revival. But I’m afraid there are few who are desperate for revival. We stand in dire need of revival, but we don’t always carry a personal urgency for revival. Much of the book of Lamentations is the cry of a prophet who sensed the immediacy of his nation’s need for revival. Yet his cry was one of anguish because the people to whom he ministered were content to live without it.

What are these “great and mighty things?” In Jeremiah’s day it was the miraculous prophecy that God would one day return Israel to Jerusalem in great glory. At the time they were being overtaken by the most powerful nation (Babylon), under the threat of the most powerful King (Nebuchadnezzar) on earth. for us, the great and mighty things are the blessings God wants to give us if we will simply yield ourselves to Him. Our Heavenly Father knows what is absolutely best for us. He wants to give His best to us. Some of it, we cannot even comprehend.

In case you haven’t already noticed, December is a busy month. Whether or not you are a pastor, your schedule is surely more filled this month than is comfortable. As a pastor, December is literally the most challenging month of the year for me. There are three specifics I pray for (and ask others to pray for on my behalf) this month:

If you look around you will find plenty of reasons to worry. The trouble with worry is that it doesn’t seem all that harmful. The sun blasts cancer-causing rays. Air vents blow lung-clotting molds. Potato chips have too many carbs. Vegetables have too many toxins.

History tells us Abraham found shade for his family under a grove of large oak trees known as the “Plains (or the Oaks) of Mamre.” The trees were situated at the top of Mount Hebron as it looked over the area known as Sodom and Gomorrah. This site became known as “Abraham’s Oaks.”

For years the Israelites had observed fasts for special days in their history that God had not commanded them to observe. Though commendable, they were to be willing to adjust their disciplines to make sure they were doing what God had commanded with the right heart attitude.

For a nation that has adopted a mantra of tolerance, someone seems to have missed the memo. In the 9/11 commemorative services at Washington National Cathedral, representatives from several religions will be leading—including a Buddhist nun, an Imam, a rabbi, and a Hindu priest—but no Protestant or evangelical Christian.

I’ve never been more thankful to be an American. I’m thankful for the men who pledged their “lives, fortunes, and sacred honor” to sign the Declaration of Independence and then gave of themselves in unspeakable sacrifice to birth this great nation.

We go to prayer conferences and even preach on prayer. But do we truly pray? I found the following thoughts about prayerlessness to be thought provoking and decided to share them with you.

The early Christian churches resorted to prayer meetings as a means of facing challenges and getting help from God. This is clearly shown to us in the accounts given in the book of Acts.

After twenty centuries of church history, the words of Jesus in Matthew 9:37 are still applicable, “The laborers are few.” Only a few pastors, evangelists and churches are really soul conscious.

I wonder what my spirit would have been like as a fourteen year old boy if I had been abducted by invading conquerors and taken seven hundred miles from home to serve in a foreign country.

I am glad there is a God in Heaven who is not too busy to help me with my needs. Too often, though, we do not avail ourselves to the privilege of prayer as we ought.