Tag: prayer

Posted on

Hopes, Wishes and Prayers for 2025

As we prepare for the start of another new year, I’d like to state a few of my wishes for family and friends. Of course, wishes and hopes and dreams have little power to actually bring about good things but prayer based on faith and optimism is a powerful force. 

I hope you’re at peace with God, with others and with yourself. Inner turmoil and emotional agitation creates a chaotic life. That’s not God’s plan for us.

I wish you healthy and happy relationships. Being loved and loving others is foundational for our wellbeing. May you have much joy that comes from great friendships and personal relationships. 

I pray for growth in your life. May your intellect increase, may your talents expand and may your influence and impact multiply. If we don’t grow next year, we’ll shrink. 

I hope for resolve and endurance. No doubt, life hits hard sometimes. Rather than praying for fewer problems, I’d prefer to see us determined to overcome whatever comes against us. 

I hope you dream big dreams. Don’t allow disappointment and frustration to squash your ability to visualize better things. With hard work and God’s favor, your dreams may become reality. 

I pray that you will experience true fulfillment. This happens only when we know for certain our God-given purpose in life and we live it out. There is no greater feeling! 

I wish you joy; genuine, deep, and lasting joy. This kind of joy doesn’t come from anything or anyone other than the Lord. It’s not based on our circumstances or outside influences. I hope you have the joy that Jesus gives!

I’m asking God to give you wisdom. You need prudence and judgement in today’s crazy world. The Holy Spirit will provide this wisdom if we ask.

My prayer is that you will have increased passion for God. May He be your top priority, your reason for living, the greatest desire of your heart. 

Finally, I ask God to give you His perspective of your life. May you see yourself as God sees you. May His opinion of you be the most important influence in your life. 

These are my hopes, wishes and prayers for my friends and family for 2025! 

Posted on

Leadership 101

Leaders must make the best decisions possible for the people and the organizations they serve. Sometimes, some people won’t like the decision, sometimes many people won’t like it, but leaders are tasked with assessing situations and making the calls that are necessary. This is not always easy. In fact, there are times that the last thing a leader wants to do is to make a tough decision in a contentious issue. But courageous leaders lead on, regardless.

Before reacting to a leader’s decision and before expressing disapproval, consider that the leader knows details that are not common knowledge, and an integrous leader cannot and will not share those details. Perhaps if we knew the details the leader knows, we would have a different opinion.

Remember, leaders will give an account to God for using discretion, discernment, and integrity regarding the organization and the people they are called to serve. And rest assured that in any respectable organization, the leader is also accountable to other leaders. Corrupt leaders will be judged, and honorable leaders will be rewarded – by the One who sees all and knows all.

So, pray for your leader.

Understand that they know details that you don’t.

Support your leader as much as you are able.

And know that, how you treat your leader is how you can expect to be treated by those you lead.

Posted on

A Theory on Generational Prayer

Allow me to run a little theory by you, see what you think. 

My brilliant daughter, Jessica and I were talking at a family funeral last week about her children and how they have multiple generations of prayer covering over them. We can trace back at least 4 generations, by name, grandparents who prayed for their progeny. Although they had no way of knowing the names and specifics of my grandchildren, these precious saints of God prayed for their “Children and their children’s children.” That includes Sophie and Judah! 

But here is where we landed. The Scripture indicates that, “golden bowls full of incense which are the prayers of the saints” are kept before the altar of God. As I understand it, these prayers that are prayed throughout the history of humankind remain before God, as an active agent. They are not prayed one time, heard by God and discarded. They remain in the ears of God throughout eternity; it is as though they are continuing to be prayed long after these Christians are in heaven. 

So, the idea is cumulative prayer. The prayers stack up. For each generation, the amount of prayers prayed for them just keeps increasing. Think of these prayers amassing, heaping up, multiplying, snowballing!

Here is what Jess and I concluded: The closer we get to the end of days, the more sin is compounded and the more spiritual pressure our children will experience. My grandchildren face things unimaginable in my childhood. I must confess, I worry for them. BUT! The Word of God teaches that, “where sin abound, the grace of God abounds all the more.” (Romans 5:20). God knew that our children would be faced with spiritual opposition like no generation before them. So, He planned for an ever-increasing system of prayer support for them. My grandkids have more prayer covering that I did, because they need it. For every person who prayed for my early Christian foreparents, they are also praying for my grandchildren and their children and their children’s children – until the end of time. How powerful is that!?

We worry about the future for our families. But God has supplied a cumulative prayer structure that dates back to the time of Christ. Thousands, perhaps millions of prayers! 

Satan may fight our kids, but God has an army of prayer warriors that have gone ahead with the weapon of prayer to keep the enemy at bay. God will win!

I have a new sense of assurance and excitement for my grandchildren and their children!

And this also reminds us of how crucially important it is that you and I pray for our progeny.            

Posted on

New Life for an Old Church

Churches, like people, age. Growing older isn’t a bad thing, (it beats the alternative!), but churches that age without adding new attenders won’t continue to grow old, they will die. All over America, churches are closing their doors because no one is attending anymore; the old attenders passed away and no one replaced them.

We don’t want our churches to die! So, what can we do?

Let’s bring New Life to Old Churches!   

A “new” Pastor. I am not a proponent of automatically bringing in a new pastor when the church stops growing, although sometimes that is needed. But it’s better for the current Pastor to become, “new.” New vision, new passion, a new burden for the community…all these are characteristics of a Pastor that can lead new life for the church. 

In other words, new life for the church begins with new life for the Pastor. 

Pastor, if you desire a fresh wind to blow over the church you serve, start reviving yourself. You may be tired, you could be burned out, but as long as you’re the leader, God has spiritual refreshing for you. 

New Leaders: Once again, it may not be a bad idea to recruit a new crop of local church leaders. But much preferred is when the old leaders get revived! If the leaders follow the example of their Pastor, they will enjoy times of spiritual refreshing and a return to their passion for the Lord. This passion must be more than a desire to do things the way they used to be done. This fervency must be for the presence of the Lord, compassion for the lost and a desire to reach the community. This passion must overpower our tendency to prefer the old ways. 

“New” leaders will bring new life to an old church.    

A new Vision. Slogans aren’t enough. A fresh coat of paint and planting new shrubs may be helpful, but this is not new vision. God has a fresh vision, a new dream for each season of the church. This is not to say that what God did in the church in the past was bad, but He hasn’t run out of fresh ideas. What innovative ideas, what creative new approaches may the Spirit be inspiring? What is God saying to the church about new ways to reach the people of the community? Here is a hint: find a need and meet it! 

A new Pastor and new leaders will dream new dreams about a new church. 

New Changes! This is the part that is hard for those who love the old church. The new church won’t look like the old church. The people who are drawn to a new church won’t necessarily look like those who’ve been around for years. There will be new families with new babies and new needs will arise. Old nurseries will be brought back to life. Old Youth Rooms will need to be renovated. Empty activity calendars will fill up. And old worship services will be revived with new people, new worship styles and new results. New members, new training, new volunteers, new ministries, new energy and new excitement! 

An old church will become new when the old church attenders embrace the joy and beauty of newness in their church. They won’t refuse to adapt, they will lead the charge! 

A new Pastor and new leaders and new vision and new changes will result in a new church! And the results will be new names written in God’s book! (Revelation 21:27)   

Let’s bring New Life to our old churches! 

Posted on

Bowls of Prayer

65185704_10157380289694214_6884856528520609792_nPsalms 141:2 says, “May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.”

The Bible speaks of “bowls of prayer” that are in front of the golden altar of God in heaven (Revelation 5:8 and 8:4). It says that these are the prayers of the saints, those Christians who have prayed to God throughout the generations.

Apparently, when we pray, the prayers stay before God, even after we have stopped praying. Even after we have died. Think about that!

Every prayer ever prayed is saved by God.

God is still hearing and answering prayers that were prayed thousands of years ago.

Once a prayer is offered, nothing can remove that prayer from God’s altar.

If your grandmother prayed for you 20 years ago, her prayer is still working.

When we pray for people, our prayers will last.

We are all benefiting from the prayers that people prayed on our behalf.

Our ancestors whom we’ve never met prayed for future generations that they never met, their prodigy – that’s you and me! We are riding on those prayers, still today. Any good thing that is accomplished by us is happening because someone prayed for us.

Let’s be sure to invest in the future by praying today. Prayer is the most powerful resource we have!

Posted on

5 Things Ministry Leaders Should Expect From and Provide for One Another

design-20

  1. Assume the best. Don’t assume that another leader is corrupt or disingenuous. Expect and assume the best for one another. Let’s not become cynical about our colleagues.
  2. Give the benefit of the doubt. Don’t be quick to believe everything that is said about someone else in leadership. If they are accused, wait before judging, and assume the accusation is false.
  3. Innocent until proven guilty. Be slow with your judgments and even slower with your condemnation of other leaders. If solid evidence of wrongdoing is presented, gently engage in Biblical discipline. But if not, absolve the accused.
  4. “I got your back.” Stick up for one another. Your turn for being attacked will come soon enough; you’ll be grateful for the support.
  5. Treat with honor. Respect other leaders, practice mutual deference. Don’t think, feel or act negatively about them. Never speak disparagingly of other leaders. Practice mutual honor.

In a day when leaders are highly mistrusted and eagerly destroyed by an antagonistic culture, we must stick together, fight for one another and watch out for the good of our co-laborers.

Posted on

Who Should Be A Pastor? (10 things a pastor must be able to do)

There are a few jokes about the perfect pastor that continue to make the rounds:

35 years old with 30 years experience.

Doesn’t dress too flashy or too trashy.

Has a lovely but modest wife, and 1.5 well-behaved children.

Can preach, teach, sing, play, administrate, cut grass, clean toilets, visit all the sick and elderly, attend all the church kids school plays and ball games and find time to pray for 3 hours every day.

These are jokes.

But it’s not funny when we see a person trying to serve as a pastor when they lack some basic necessary gifts and abilities.

From my 30 plus years in ministry, I have a few (10 for now) indispensable skills a successful pastor must possess. Please, let’s take some for granted. In other words, don’t scold me for omitting praying or whatever. These things are obvious. The points I want to cover may not be as obvious.

1. Must be able to personally lead someone to Christ. It is shocking to learn that some pastors have never led anyone to salvation outside of a church service. If the pastor doesn’t, the people won’t.

2. Must be able and willing, even eager, to work hard. Sometimes the work is manual, sometimes it is intellectual, but it is always strenuous. In my opinion, pastors cannot work less than 50 hours per week on average if they hope to build a growing, effective church. While we must prioritize our family and health, excessive television, golf, napping or any other “recreation” is a sign of slothfulness. Please don’t be guilty of adding to the “lazy preacher” perception. Of course the above numbers are considering full time pastors.

3. Must be humble. Arrogance, pride and an inflated ego by a pastor will destroy a ministry quickly. Get over yourself.

4. Must be a learner. Whether the education is formal or informal, there is no space for intellectual anemia. You never know it all so learn until you die. You speak on behalf of God; know what you’re talking about.

5. Must not be a racist. Now, this should be a given, but it is not. Pastors cannot discriminate against people of other races or nationalities. Mistreating anyone is not allowable. If you cannot love all people equally, and minister to anyone, you disqualify yourself from effective ministry, and perhaps Christianity altogether.

6. Must be compassionate. Some score higher on the mercy scale than others, but a hard-hearted pastor is an oxymoron. Shepherds must care.

7. Must value other generations. If you can only lead people who are close to your age, you have a very limited harvest field. If multigenerational ministry doesn’t come naturally to you, work on it. The long term effectiveness of your ministry is at stake.

8. Must not fall in love with methods, style or genres. If you simply must preach a certain way, or if you only allow a certain type of worship music, or if you insist that church ministry be conducted in your preferred method, perhaps there is an ownership problem. The ministry does not belong to you; the ministry belongs to the Lord. God never changes. But times change, people change, and what’s effective in ministry changes.

9. Must be accountable to and for others; must be responsible to and for others. Independent pastors (those who answer to no one) are operating outside of biblical guidelines. Followers should not follow this type of a leader.

10. Must be able to increase the impact of the church they serve. If a pastor cannot lead the church to grow, the church will die. A pastor that leads a church to die isn’t a good pastor.

Well, there is the list of 10. Of course, there are tons more, perhaps they will come in the future. In the meantime, pastor on!

Posted on

Leader’s Devotional

design[25]This morning, I was praying for my grandbabies for the New Year. I was asking God to keep them safe and trouble free. I never want to see them suffer for any reason. Then the thought struck me – how will they be strong; how will they be prepared for what God has ahead for them in the future if they never have to endure any trials? I (reluctantly) began to ask God for His will for them, that He would prepare them to do awesome things for Him in the future. Because I am not naïve, I realize that, if we never struggle in life, we will be weak. I don’t want that for my grandbabies or for anyone I love.

Phillips Brooks said, “Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be the miracle.“

Leaders – God has plans for you. They will require that you are strong and equal to the task. The only way to get strong is to endure difficulties, learn from them and grow.

Meditate on this verse: “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” – 1 Peter.5:10

Don’t be discouraged by the difficult times you are enduring or the ones that are ahead. If you remain strong, learn from your environment and trust God – you will be ready for whatever comes your way in the future!

Posted on

Healthy Church Staff Relationships (Or How to Keep Your Staff from Imploding)

IMG_0138Working well with other leaders and staff members is essential for ministry success. Having worked with paid church staff for over 20 years, I believe that this is more challenging than working with church members or volunteers. In fact, I think it’s generally easier to pastor 100 people alone than 200 people with a team. Because of this, some churches avoid hiring staff. I have friends who purposely keep their ministry small and manageable. I disagree with this approach and believe the benefits of working with staff far outweigh the challenges. On the contrary, I know a few smaller church leaders who can’t wait for the day when they have staff – so their jobs won’t be so hard. You, my friend, are mistaken.

Church staff relationships are tricky, to say the least. We must figure this out because if the staff is broken, the church is broken.

Here are some of the greatest threats to healthy church staff relationships:

  • Jealousy of the success of others (this reveals spiritual immaturity and insecurities).
  • Sharing limited resources (there is only so much money and volunteers to go around). Staff members sometimes fight over support.
  • Undermining others in an effort to look better. We must realize that, as a team, when one of us wins, we all win and when one of us loses, we all lose.
  • Ministry silos. Tony Morgan writes about how some church staff members divide and are only concerned about their specific ministry. http://tonymorganlive.com/2014/04/23/ministry-silos-leadership/
  • Lack of loyalty to the mission and vision of the church/senior leader. Some staff members have secret ambitions to take their boss’ job.

So, how do we prevent these threats from doing irreparable damage to our church staff?

  • Hire spiritually mature people. Regardless of one’s ability, if there is a weakness in one’s spirituality, it will reveal itself in a church staff setting.
  • Create open and honest communication among the staff. Freedom to address perceived issues will allow a staff to address problems as they arise, rather than allowing them to build up over time.
  • The primary leader must stay personally engaged with the staff. While another staff member may be the first point of contact on a larger staff, the leader must be accessible and in relationship with team members.
  • Personal as well as professional relationships must be intentionally developed. A staff that dislikes one another outside of church will dislike one another inside of the church.
  • Staff prayer is vitally important. This prayer should be scheduled, frequent and treated as a priority.
  • Required reading. The staff should read and discuss current leadership development materials.The church staff should celebrate individual victories as a team and mourn individual losses as a team.

These are just a few ideas on how we may prevent threats to the church staff from destroying the staff (and church). I’d be interested to hear your ideas. Healthy church staffs result in healthy churches. And God wants a healthy Church!

Posted on

It’s Time to Simplify Church Planting

designMy church planting friends may think that I’ve regressed about 30 years. I have not. Possibly, I am looking ahead a few years into the future of effective church planting.

I am increasingly concerned with how complicated church planting has become. I’m afraid that, in our efforts to systematize the starting of new churches, we have eliminated a lot of would-be planters and new churches.

Think about it:

Sign up for two years of training, travel to conferences, meet regularly with your coach/mentor. Submit to multiple personality assessments. Raise $30,000 – $50,000 (cash). Build and train a launch team. Engage in the latest social media marketing campaign. Do a direct mail blitz. Rent a local school or theater. Have preview services. Start a church.

There are only a few people who can realistically comply with all of these requirements. Do we really believe that they are the only ones who should start new churches? I think not. I personally know guys who want to start a church but they are waiting for everything to line up. If we wait for everything to be just right, we’ll never start.

I am a proponent of building a solid infrastructure before launching a church. I have no beef with the very successful church planting organizations around the country. My concern is that some would-be planters are stuck because they think they can’t plant unless they are immersed in the process with one of these organizations. I think we have inadvertently overcomplicated the process of starting churches.

Eventually, the current church planting pot of gold will run out. All of the school auditoriums in town will be rented. Facebook ads will no longer be effective. I think it’s time to reconsider our approach. While stats prove that a strategic system increases the odds of success, I am not convinced that everyone fits into the mold.

I want to encourage any aspiring church planters who read this. Don’t allow the status quo to hold you back. “Best practices” are awesome but God is not limited to what is considered conventional thinking.

If you want to plant a church, try this:

Pray like crazy. Make sure God is calling you. Start meeting with people. In coffee shops, in your home, just come together for prayer or Bible study. You don’t need permission to get together with friends. If the group grows and the need becomes evident, you can start a church. Successful church planting is simply evangelism and discipleship that results in the need for a new church. Rather than starting a church so you can reach people, reach people so you can start a church.

Don’t worry if you don’t have a 6 digit budget. You don’t need a fog machine. No one has ever come to salvation in Christ because of the amazing countdown video your creative team produced.

Simplify.

I believe that in the future, the big production churches will suffer. People are looking for authenticity and relationships. That can’t be manufactured.

Just love people. If you can love enough people, you can start a church.

It’s time to simplify church planting.

Posted on

Why Some Churches Don’t Grow

why some churches don't grow 2

It’s not a perfect science. Increasing the impact and influence of a church can be very difficult. We all agree that numerical growth does not necessarily mean spiritual growth. But it is vital that churches around the world reach more people for Jesus. The church is God’s “Plan A” to reach the lost – and we are surrounded by lost people.

Here are 10 simple reasons why churches don’t grow. The list is not complete and these reasons are not written in stone. This is not an attack on pastors who lead plateaued churches. I simply wish to provide some discussion for churches and church leaders who hope to grow.

No passion for growth. Some churches stay the same because there is no desire to reach more people. Possibly there is a lack of awareness or maybe there is a disconnect with the surrounding culture. Many churches seem to be okay with the status quo. It’s business as usual. The tendency is to rely on our abilities more than we rely on God’s miracles. Spiritual lethargy sets in and corrodes a church. Churches that do not want to grow won’t. A lack of intensity will ensure that we stay stuck. We must pray until we receive the fervor; it takes passion to get “unstuck.”

No strategy for growth. It is rare to hear a pastor say that he doesn’t want the church to grow. But without intentionality, a church is not likely to grow. Even when specific strategies are followed, there is no guarantee of increase. But no plan will quickly lead to stagnation. Rather than thriving, our goal becomes to maintain and survive. Have you outlined your blueprint to grow your church?

Unwillingness to change. Some churches know what to do in order to reach more people but they are unwilling to make the necessary adjustments in order to do so. We do the same things the same way – because of tradition. The past is more important than the future; our rearview mirror is bigger than our windshield. This kind of ministry atrophy is especially difficult to overcome. Lack of change will result in lack of growth. Lack of growth will result in extinction.

Lack of “know how.” Don’t believe the “experts” who tell you that church growth is a matter of taking “these 3 easy steps.” You can do certain things that will gather a crowd but true church growth is much more complex and spiritual than simply amassing warm bodies. Many pastors and leaders would gladly do whatever it takes to grow. Many times, church is a matter of doing the right thing the right way long enough that the results finally come. If you don’t know what to do, keep trying. And find out what to do! Leaders must approach the acquisition of this kind of expertise as a life-long ambition.

Intimidation about culture. The world is becoming a scary place for Bible-believing churches. There is now a level of resistance and animosity that many of us have never experienced. It can be easy to see the church as a fortress that serves as a safe place from the evil world. Jesus did not establish His church to be a hiding place. The church is to be a force in our culture. Only the ministries that are confident enough to engage our culture will impact it. Be bold! God has given you the courage you need to overcome.

Fear of increased responsibility. Some leaders dread the responsibility that comes with more people. Let’s face it – fewer people = fewer problems. However, God did not call us to an easy task. While a larger church equates to more pressure and stress, the rewards are that more people find Christ and experience the joy of being His disciples.

Desire to control. There are a few (or many) control freaks who must hold the reigns on everything that happens in their organization. Growth means shared responsibility and authority. Unless a leader is confident and competent enough to share control, new people will be a very limited commodity. A pastor who is in charge of everything won’t be in charge of much. Please don’t limit the size of your ministry to only a few.

Misidentifying relevance as compromise. This one is touchy. Some churches do not grow because they mistakenly think that if they connect with culture, they are somehow being less than true to the Gospel. This simply is not true. Jesus is always pertinent. The Gospel cannot be irrelevant. The church can, however, make the Bible irrelevant. Our job is to stay true to the Scriptures but to preach them in a way that makes sense to the people who hear it. That is not compromise, it is effectiveness. It’s what Jesus did and that seemed to work pretty well.

Ministry schizophrenia. This is where a church gets its identity from other churches. Whatever the next big ministry bandwagon is, they are jumping on! I am all for successful ministry models and I believe that there are principles that apply across the board. But God does not wish to duplicate in every church what works in well-known churches. Be true to yourself and to your calling. Know what will work in your neighborhood, and do it. Know who God called you to be and whom He called you to reach.

A lack of missionality. Churches that exist for their own good are doomed to fail. Inwardly focused ministry is a major turnoff for people who do not go to church. Jesus came, not to be served but to serve (Matthew 20:28); the church must give itself to God and to the needs of the people He loves. We are on a mission from God; if we fulfill it, our churches will grow.

Here is the truth about church growth: churches that don’t grow will shrink and eventually die. In our post-Christian culture, church growth is getting more and more complicated. We need to pray and work like never before. It is possible that you can pray and work hard and your church may still not grow. But we do NOT want to be the reason our church doesn’t grow!

Let’s get on with the responsibility of reaching the world for Jesus Christ. (Matthew 28:19-20).

Posted on

A Prayer for Judah (our new grandson)

photo[240]

 

Dear Lord,

Thank you for sending Judah to us today, he is a gift from heaven. We are not quite sure what to do with him, since we never had a son. A grandson is a unique and precious gift. We thank You for entrusting him to us. We commit to do our very best in helping to raise him the way that You desire.

I pray for him on this first day of his life on this earth.

I pray that:

He will be strong and healthy and safe.

That you will provide his parents with everything they will need in order to raise him to honor You.

That he and his big sister, Sophie will have a wonderful childhood together and an even better relationship as adults.

That He will come to know You at the earliest possible opportunity.

That he will grow up to be a leader, not a follower.

That he will grasp the power of Your love and share that love with others.

That he will help the culture of his day to embrace the Gospel of Christ.

That he will be an earth-shaker for You, one who influences others to follow You.

That he will have courage, strength, confidence, integrity, passion, and faith.

But most of all, I pray that he will be a man of God, a genuine Christian, every day of his life.

Thank you for reminding us, by sending Judah to us, that you have not given up on the world. Our new baby assures us that there is hope.

All in the name of Christ,

Amen

Posted on

Pastor, There is a Target on your Chest!

13882422-young-businessman-showing-a-target-on-his-chest-under-his-shirt

Pastor, you are being targeted. It is no secret that if the enemy can take you out, many of your followers will also be taken out.

In Matthew 26:31 Jesus informed His disciples that they would scatter when He was attacked: “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written “‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ He was referencing the prophecy in Zechariah 13:8 which detailed His brutal death.  He was also telling them that none of them would be there for Him in His darkest hour.

If you are a spiritual leader, make no mistake; the devil is zeroed in on you. He has you in his crosshairs.

Should you be afraid? No, but you should take some precautions:

`Surround yourself with a prayer covering – both from yourself and from other people. This needs to be more than casual. Intentional and strategic prayer is needed.

`Don’t take unnecessary risks: don’t go where you don’t belong, stay away from the things that tempt you, avoid people that pull you the wrong direction.

`Maintain your spiritual disciplines. It is in prayer and meditation and fasting and the Word that you remain strong.

`Stay accountable. While solitude is important, too much time alone is unhealthy. Be close to your spouse, your family and your friends.

`Stay close to God – it is in Him that you are secure.

There is a target on your chest! Don’t underestimate your vulnerability and don’t undervalue God’s protection.

Posted on

you have no idea what you are praying for

Ten years ago, I was involved in a several month series of prayer walks around a particular community. We were praying for a new ministry that was starting. Well, the ministry didn’t survive 6 months. However, five weeks ago, I moved into a house that is on one of the streets that we walked up and down. Irony? I think not. The thing is, I had no idea that I would ever live in this state again, never mind on the very street we were praying for! We moved away 8 years ago only to return in an unexpected fashion. But God knew the whole time.

He knew that when I was praying for the neighborhood, I was praying for my neighborhood. He was fully aware that I was sowing spiritual seeds in a field that would come back to bless me. I did not one time ask him to bring my family back or give me one of the houses to live in – but he did both.

When we pray, we are connecting with a God who already knows what is going to happen. We have no idea what we are praying about, but He does. That’s why prayer is so important. We probably ask too small, believe too little and limit Him too much.  We rely too much on our words and understanding. We pray small because we know so little. Let’s start praying big.

When you pray, remember:

God is bigger than your imagination.

Open minded prayer is the way to God’s will.

Once you realize what God is up to, don’t fail to come back – with thanksgiving.

I wonder, had I refused to do the prayer walks, would we have ended up back here? Only God knows.