Several of the pray-ers met for a luncheon on the last day of our prayer time in Acts 29. It was good to hear from all of you who shared. I received guidance from the words spoken: boldness, expectation, repentance, hunger & thirst, revival, prophetic & supernatural signs.
Dream teams are being formed to take this prayer to the next level, the level of action. 2009 is the 30 year anniversary of lay involvement in healing for FUMC Tulsa. I wonder how God will lead us in the next several years? Let's keep praying and find out.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Godly Invasion Through Worship
God invade our worship, privately and corporately according to your plans and purposes. Give us new hearts to worship you and fill us with new wine that brings glory to you, drawing new believers unto you and believers into deeper relationship with you. Invade our hearts, our sanctuary, and our worship as never before that you may be glorified as never before. Revive us, oh Lord, as your kingdom comes through annointed worship that overpowers, overcomes and sets the captives free. In the mighty name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen & amen.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Weapons of our warfare
I was blessed to find Cheri Fuller's devotion in The One Year Book of Praying Through the Bible yesterday, right in line with our prayer effort. The scripture she quoted was:
II Corinthians 10:3,4
We are human, but we don't wage war with human plans and methods. We use God's mighty weapons, not mere worldly weapons, to knock down the Devil's strongholds.
She then used a quote from Oswald Chambers:
THE PRAYER OF THE FEEBLEST SAINT ON EARTH WHO LIVES IN THE SPIRIT AND KEEPS RIGHT WITH GOD IS A TERROR TO SATAN. THE VERY POWERS OF DARKNESS ARE PARALYZED BY PRAYER. . . . NO WONDER SATAN TRIES TO KEEP OUR MINDS FUSSY IN ACTIVE WORK TILL WE CANNOT THINK IN PRAYER
Here is Cheri's prayer from yesterday:
LORD, thank you for your weapons of warfare, which are mighty, invincible, and supernatural. Teach me to wield them as I stand against the enemy. Strengthen me as I intercede for others. I pray that you will demolish the devil's dark strongholds and estabish your kingdom of light and truth.
Here is my prayer as we come to the end of our 50 days of prayer:
LORD, we have come to you, seeking your face, seeking to hear your voice. May we be singleminded in our purpose as we come together to share what you have been speaking to our hearts. May our hearts be undivided and may we find unity as we move forward in this ministry. Your heartbeat is our priority. We lay down all of our lofty plans, ideas, and anything from our flesh to find your purpose for this time in this ministry in this church. Pour your love out in our hearts according to your WORD in Romans 5. Bring "every thought (and project) into captivity to the obedience of Christ. . . "(II Cor. 10:5)
Lead on O King eternal.
In the Name of Jesus and under His authority, Amen
II Corinthians 10:3,4
We are human, but we don't wage war with human plans and methods. We use God's mighty weapons, not mere worldly weapons, to knock down the Devil's strongholds.
She then used a quote from Oswald Chambers:
THE PRAYER OF THE FEEBLEST SAINT ON EARTH WHO LIVES IN THE SPIRIT AND KEEPS RIGHT WITH GOD IS A TERROR TO SATAN. THE VERY POWERS OF DARKNESS ARE PARALYZED BY PRAYER. . . . NO WONDER SATAN TRIES TO KEEP OUR MINDS FUSSY IN ACTIVE WORK TILL WE CANNOT THINK IN PRAYER
Here is Cheri's prayer from yesterday:
LORD, thank you for your weapons of warfare, which are mighty, invincible, and supernatural. Teach me to wield them as I stand against the enemy. Strengthen me as I intercede for others. I pray that you will demolish the devil's dark strongholds and estabish your kingdom of light and truth.
Here is my prayer as we come to the end of our 50 days of prayer:
LORD, we have come to you, seeking your face, seeking to hear your voice. May we be singleminded in our purpose as we come together to share what you have been speaking to our hearts. May our hearts be undivided and may we find unity as we move forward in this ministry. Your heartbeat is our priority. We lay down all of our lofty plans, ideas, and anything from our flesh to find your purpose for this time in this ministry in this church. Pour your love out in our hearts according to your WORD in Romans 5. Bring "every thought (and project) into captivity to the obedience of Christ. . . "(II Cor. 10:5)
Lead on O King eternal.
In the Name of Jesus and under His authority, Amen
Thursday, September 4, 2008
God is Moving!
One of the many results of our prayer time is....more prayer. You may have heard Dr. Paschal announce Sunday that we are having a week of 24-7 prayer in October. Stay tuned for more information.
Some of us are praying with and for the church each Wednesday evening in the 24-7 Prayer room. All are welcome to join us and pray for our church and our world. By the way, if you haven't been in the Prayer Room lately, stop by. Kelly Junk, Elizabeth Hughes, and Margaret Nunnery have been decorating in preparation for prayer for Muslims in September/October.
Also, FUMC Healing Prayer teams are participating in a training collaborative with Heritage United Methodist, Potter's Hand Ministries and Abba's Family in September.
Our prayers are having an impact. Let's keep pressing on for the next 10 days!
Some of us are praying with and for the church each Wednesday evening in the 24-7 Prayer room. All are welcome to join us and pray for our church and our world. By the way, if you haven't been in the Prayer Room lately, stop by. Kelly Junk, Elizabeth Hughes, and Margaret Nunnery have been decorating in preparation for prayer for Muslims in September/October.
Also, FUMC Healing Prayer teams are participating in a training collaborative with Heritage United Methodist, Potter's Hand Ministries and Abba's Family in September.
Our prayers are having an impact. Let's keep pressing on for the next 10 days!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Don't Walk Alone
One of the blessings of praying Acts 29 this time is sharing my experiences with other pray-ors. I am blessed to have several persons working with me with whom I can share each day. Thank God for the support of others. In reading another chapter of "Introduction to the Devout Life" today the topic is "The need of a guide for those who would enter upon and advance in the Devout Life". How true this is for me! I must have someone to share my devotional experiences with for confirmation or discussion.
Are you sharing your insights with others? Do you have a spiritual guide to help instruct you in the Christian walk?
I trust that you are keeping the insights written down so we can discuss them together on September 14.
Here is Chapter 4:
CHAPTER IV. The Need of a Guide for those who would enter upon and advance in the Devout Life.
WHEN Tobias was bidden to go to Rages, he was willing to obey his father, but he objected that he knew not the way;--to which Tobit answered, "Seek thee a man which may go with thee:" [10] and even so, daughter, I say to you, If you would really tread the paths of the devout life, seek some holy man to guide and conduct you. This is the precept of precepts, says the devout Avila,--seek as you will you can never so surely discover God's Will as through the channel of humble obedience so universally taught and practised by all the Saints of olden time.
When the blessed Teresa read of the great penances performed by Catherine of Cordova, she desired exceedingly to imitate them, contrary to the mind of her Confessor, who forbade her to do the like, and she was tempted to disobey him therein. Then God spoke to Teresa, saying, "My child, thou art on a good and safe road:--true, thou seest all this penance, but verily I esteem thy obedience as a yet greater virtue:"--and thenceforth S. Teresa so greatly loved the virtue of obedience, that in addition to that due to her superiors, she took a vow of special obedience to a pious ecclesiastic, pledging herself to follow his direction and guidance, which proved an inexpressible help to her. And even so before and after her many pious souls have subjected their will to God's ministers in order the better to submit themselves to Him, a practice much commended by S. Catherine of Sienna in her Dialogues.
The devout Princess S. Elisabeth gave an unlimited obedience to the venerable Conrad; and one of the parting counsels given by S. Louis to his son ere he died was, "Confess thyself often,--choose a single-minded, worthy confessor, who is able wisely to teach thee how to do that which is needful for thee." [11]
"A faithful friend," we are told in Holy Scripture, "is a strong defence, and he that hath found such an one hath found a treasure;" [12] and again: "A faithful friend is the medicine of life; and they that fear the Lord shall find him." [13] These sacred words have chiefly reference, as you see, to the immortal life, with a view to which we specially need a faithful friend, who will guide us by his counsel and advice, thereby guarding us against the deceits and snares of the Evil One:--he will be as a storehouse of wisdom to us in our sorrows, trials and falls; he will be as a healing balm to stay and soothe our heart in the time of spiritual sickness,--he will shield us from evil, and confirm that which is good in us, and when we fall through infirmity, he will avert the deadly nature of the evil, and raise us up again.
But who can find such a friend? The Wise Man answers:--"He that feareth the Lord:" [14] that is to say, the truly humble soul which earnestly desires to advance in the spiritual life. So, daughter, inasmuch as it concerns you so closely to set forth on this devout journey under good guidance, do you pray most earnestly to God to supply you with a guide after His Own Heart, and never doubt but that He will grant you one who is wise and faithful, even should He send you an angel from Heaven, as He sent to Tobias.
In truth, your spiritual guide should always be as a heaven-sent angel to you;--by which I mean that when you have found him, you are not to look upon him, or trust in him or his wisdom as an ordinary man; but you must look to God, Who will help you and speak to you through this man, putting into his heart and mouth that which is needful to you; so that you ought to hearken as though he were an angel come down from Heaven to lead you thither. Deal with him in all sincerity and faithfulness, and with open heart; manifesting alike your good and your evil, without pretence or dissimulation. Thus your good will be examined and confirmed, and your evil corrected and remedied;--you will be soothed and strengthened in trouble, moderated and regulated in prosperity.
Give your guide a hearty confidence mingled with sacred reverence, so that reverence in no way shall hinder your confidence, and confidence nowise lessen your reverence: trust him with the respect of a daughter for her father; respect him with the confidence of a son in his mother.
In a word, such a friendship should be strong and sweet; altogether holy, sacred, divine and spiritual. And with such an aim, choose one among a thousand, Avila says;--and I say among ten thousand, for there are fewer than one would think capable of this office. He must needs be full of love, of wisdom and of discretion; for if either of these three be wanting there is danger. But once more I say, ask such help of God, and when you have found it, bless His Holy Name; be stedfast, seek no more, but go on simply, humbly and trustfully, for you are safe to make a prosperous journey.
Are you sharing your insights with others? Do you have a spiritual guide to help instruct you in the Christian walk?
I trust that you are keeping the insights written down so we can discuss them together on September 14.
Here is Chapter 4:
CHAPTER IV. The Need of a Guide for those who would enter upon and advance in the Devout Life.
WHEN Tobias was bidden to go to Rages, he was willing to obey his father, but he objected that he knew not the way;--to which Tobit answered, "Seek thee a man which may go with thee:" [10] and even so, daughter, I say to you, If you would really tread the paths of the devout life, seek some holy man to guide and conduct you. This is the precept of precepts, says the devout Avila,--seek as you will you can never so surely discover God's Will as through the channel of humble obedience so universally taught and practised by all the Saints of olden time.
When the blessed Teresa read of the great penances performed by Catherine of Cordova, she desired exceedingly to imitate them, contrary to the mind of her Confessor, who forbade her to do the like, and she was tempted to disobey him therein. Then God spoke to Teresa, saying, "My child, thou art on a good and safe road:--true, thou seest all this penance, but verily I esteem thy obedience as a yet greater virtue:"--and thenceforth S. Teresa so greatly loved the virtue of obedience, that in addition to that due to her superiors, she took a vow of special obedience to a pious ecclesiastic, pledging herself to follow his direction and guidance, which proved an inexpressible help to her. And even so before and after her many pious souls have subjected their will to God's ministers in order the better to submit themselves to Him, a practice much commended by S. Catherine of Sienna in her Dialogues.
The devout Princess S. Elisabeth gave an unlimited obedience to the venerable Conrad; and one of the parting counsels given by S. Louis to his son ere he died was, "Confess thyself often,--choose a single-minded, worthy confessor, who is able wisely to teach thee how to do that which is needful for thee." [11]
"A faithful friend," we are told in Holy Scripture, "is a strong defence, and he that hath found such an one hath found a treasure;" [12] and again: "A faithful friend is the medicine of life; and they that fear the Lord shall find him." [13] These sacred words have chiefly reference, as you see, to the immortal life, with a view to which we specially need a faithful friend, who will guide us by his counsel and advice, thereby guarding us against the deceits and snares of the Evil One:--he will be as a storehouse of wisdom to us in our sorrows, trials and falls; he will be as a healing balm to stay and soothe our heart in the time of spiritual sickness,--he will shield us from evil, and confirm that which is good in us, and when we fall through infirmity, he will avert the deadly nature of the evil, and raise us up again.
But who can find such a friend? The Wise Man answers:--"He that feareth the Lord:" [14] that is to say, the truly humble soul which earnestly desires to advance in the spiritual life. So, daughter, inasmuch as it concerns you so closely to set forth on this devout journey under good guidance, do you pray most earnestly to God to supply you with a guide after His Own Heart, and never doubt but that He will grant you one who is wise and faithful, even should He send you an angel from Heaven, as He sent to Tobias.
In truth, your spiritual guide should always be as a heaven-sent angel to you;--by which I mean that when you have found him, you are not to look upon him, or trust in him or his wisdom as an ordinary man; but you must look to God, Who will help you and speak to you through this man, putting into his heart and mouth that which is needful to you; so that you ought to hearken as though he were an angel come down from Heaven to lead you thither. Deal with him in all sincerity and faithfulness, and with open heart; manifesting alike your good and your evil, without pretence or dissimulation. Thus your good will be examined and confirmed, and your evil corrected and remedied;--you will be soothed and strengthened in trouble, moderated and regulated in prosperity.
Give your guide a hearty confidence mingled with sacred reverence, so that reverence in no way shall hinder your confidence, and confidence nowise lessen your reverence: trust him with the respect of a daughter for her father; respect him with the confidence of a son in his mother.
In a word, such a friendship should be strong and sweet; altogether holy, sacred, divine and spiritual. And with such an aim, choose one among a thousand, Avila says;--and I say among ten thousand, for there are fewer than one would think capable of this office. He must needs be full of love, of wisdom and of discretion; for if either of these three be wanting there is danger. But once more I say, ask such help of God, and when you have found it, bless His Holy Name; be stedfast, seek no more, but go on simply, humbly and trustfully, for you are safe to make a prosperous journey.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Waiting, praying and praising!!
I was reminded this third time around that praise is a powerful weapon against Satan. I found great encouragement in Ruth Myers' book, 31 Days of Praise. In it Ruth emphasizes that any praise thwarts Satan. She suggests that combining praise with God's Word, especially with verses that magnify Jesus as Victor; praise for the blood of Christ;the victory won on the Cross; and the triumph of the Resurrection, lifting up His name in triumphant faith, will send him cowaring away! This is nothing new to any of us, it is just that we get distracted with all the stuff going on that the enemy sends our direction and we so easily forget to stop, pray, and PRAISE!!
As we continue in this prayer effort, we have all experienced attacks. I could certainly add several to Jerry's list--things that have tried to irritate, grab my attention, and frustrate life on a daily basis. Ruth Myers quotes someone who said, "It's a serious mistake to underestimate the power of Satan; it's a tragedy to overestimate it"--and she adds that it is also a mistake to be overly occupied with it.
So we have two more cycles to go and I sense that the Lord is ready to speak if we are listening and in an attitude of worship.
As we continue in this prayer effort, we have all experienced attacks. I could certainly add several to Jerry's list--things that have tried to irritate, grab my attention, and frustrate life on a daily basis. Ruth Myers quotes someone who said, "It's a serious mistake to underestimate the power of Satan; it's a tragedy to overestimate it"--and she adds that it is also a mistake to be overly occupied with it.
So we have two more cycles to go and I sense that the Lord is ready to speak if we are listening and in an attitude of worship.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Day Twenty-Five: Midway
What an interesting trip this is becoming! There have been all types of mechanical difficulties at our house, some I handled well, others I lost it over. Beth and I have decided that these things are attempts by the enemy to steal our joy, especially during our time of prayer for the church. I praise God for the church, Celebrate Recovery and my sponsor at times like this.
Things are stirring, I feel it and I trust that you are as well. Thanks for praying and post your insights as they arise.
We are half-way through the journey. Watch and see what happens next!
Things are stirring, I feel it and I trust that you are as well. Thanks for praying and post your insights as they arise.
We are half-way through the journey. Watch and see what happens next!
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