Thursday, July 31, 2014

Please Print and Pray--A One Month Prayer Guide


Day 1
Worship.  The heavens cry out for the Father to be worshipped.  It goes beyond three songs and prayer before service.  This includes skilled musicians seeking out the Presence of the Almighty, leading others to corporately honor Him and experience His pleasure.  Pray for worshipers to arise.

Day 2
Business transforms entire communities.  What that transformation looks like depends on the nature of the business and how that business is run.  Pray for the removal of unrighteousness business and replacing it with righteous business that blesses the people.

Day 3
A healthy social life is necessary for a community to be strong. Pray for the connection of relationships.

Day 4
Entertainment is a part of who we are, but there is a difference between entertainment that brings life and entertainment that brings distance.  Pray for righteous entertainment that brings life to the people.

Day 5
Churches are beacons of light in the community.  Their vibrancy matters.  Pray for their work, especially with children’s ministries.

Day 6
So much time is spent in schools growing up that the relationships are very influential.  Pray for a loving school system that teaches truth and supports youth.

Day 7
On the seventh day God rested.  There is often extremes of those who “rest” too much and those who work to the sacrifice of their family.  Pray for righteous rest for the people.

Day 8
A town does not need to have an ebola epidemic to have a massive health issues.  Obesity, lack of fitness and isolation can be big risk factors.  Finances also play a part in obtaining good healthcare.  Pray for the desire to pursue one’s health and the means to take care of health problems.

Day 9
Athletics often are a binding force in a community.  They can give a kid pride, teach them how to work in teams while giving the community a connecting point.   Pray that God would use sports to build up the town.

Day 10
Music opens our spirit which creates a platform for words.  Pray that God would raise up musicians who would use their music to encourage, build up and inspire.

Day 11
Artists are often hidden but their work can change history and minister life.  Pray that God would open a platform to artists to share their creation.  Pray that their art would encourage, inspire and build up those around them.

Day 12
Skilled and unskilled workers minister to the community through their services.  Pray that employees would have integrity in their work and find fulfillment in what they do.

Day 13
The Word is a foundation for all of life.  Pray that God would create a hunger for His Word.  Pray that every home would have a Bible and that God would put a yearning to regularly engage His Word.

Day 14
The governing leaders are the gateways to the city.  Pray that they will make righteous decisions that will help develop the city.

Day 15
As stewards of the land, it matters how we treat it.  Pray that the there would be desire to care for the land in our city and on our properties as well as the means to take care of them.

Day 16
Local newspapers both reflect culture and change it.  Pray for righteous reporting and that newspapers and other forms of communication would hold fast to Biblical values without compromise.

Day 17
Health care providers are trend setters in our care.  Pray that they will know how to provide and do so in righteousness, holiness and with the help of the people in mind.

Day 18
Government service ministries such as police and firefighters contribute to the community.  Pray for their wisdom and protection.

Day 19
Pray for the town’s minorities people that they would feel a place of belonging.

Day 20
Pray for families to walk in love and commitment towards one another.  Pray for the strengthening of marriages and for parents to raise their children in wisdom, truth and love. 

Day 21
The nation we live in touches the world either in good or bad ways.  Pray God’s mercy over our land and that God would use our nation to be a blessing to the world.

Day 22
Every life has seasons of the soul.  Pray for the city’s poor that God would give them courage and solutions to get back on their feet. 

Day 23
Leadership is not always about position but about people who influence.  Pray that God would raise up righteous leadership in the community, schools and government as well as in social circles.

Day 24
Pray that God would raise up initiative among the people that they would be proactive in bringing righteous change.

Day 25
Intercessors change history and shape culture.  Pray that God would raise up intercessors who would travail for the land.  Pray also that they would connect with one another.

Day 26
Pray that the gospel would be preached both in words and in action.  Pray for workers to be raised up for the harvest.

Day 27
Pray for the elderly population that they would find purpose and care.  Pray for family members to have the wisdom to know how to care for their family in the later years.

Day 28
Pray that the churches in the town would not only be united but they would work together to reach their towns for Christ.

Day 29
Pray for the Mayor and governing leaders of the town to lead with wisdom.  Pray for their spiritual protection.

Day 30
Pray that the people who have financial ability for “daily bread.”  That there would be wise and self-controlled stewardship of finances that families could be cared for and  bills could be paid on time.

Day 31
Pray for employment among the peoples, that those without jobs could obtain work and provision.


Sunday, July 20, 2014

Poor man, Rich man

 From http://reformedhispanic.blogspot.com/2007_03_01_archive.html

"Having nothing--and yet possessing all things." 2 Cor. 6:10 This is a riddle the world cannot understand. A holy man cannot be a poor man. A holy man is always the richest man. The riches of a Christian have no bottom. All a saint's bags, are bottomless bags. Experience tells us that unholy men's bags, purses, coffers, and mints--may be drawn dry. But the treasury, the riches of a saint--can never be exhausted, for he possesses all things in Christ and with Christ! The Christian has the God of all--he has Him who has all. Though he has nothing in hand--yet he has all thingsin hope. A holy man is the richest man in the world, for he has the great and glorious God engaged by many thousand promises to own him, to bless him, to stand by him, to give grace and glory to him, and to withhold nothing from him that may be good for him. When wicked men brag of their great possessions and riches, a holy man may make his boast of God, and say, "God is mine! God is mine! He is my great all; He is my all in all; and therefore I am richer and a greater possessor than any wicked man in the world--yes, than all wicked men in the world put together!""

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Gifting

A word from Darlene from the Lord: "I have given you the gifts you have; the ones you do NOT have are also part of my design."

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Naivete vs. Innocence

I was at a party the other night with friends when they were talking about jello shots.  I told them I had no idea what a jello shot was and they explained it was an alcoholic concoction.  Then I was asked if I was naive.  I said no.  The response was, "I said, are you naive?"  No, I said,  "I chose righteousness."  "Are you naive?" asked this Christian man again. 

Later that night I talked to a girl who humbly admitted she was racked in student loans because she partied her first semester of college into nothingness.  She said it was because she had lived a sheltered life.  I know her parents.  They are godly people.  She went to public school and did normal things.  Except things her parents forbade.   

To call righteous choices naive and to call living in a parented home as "sheltered" is a reflection on society.  Even our church society.  Yet would I call a young man naive if he didn't rape someone?  Or if he didn't beat up his girlfriend?  Would I call a young woman naive if she didn't sleep with a married man?  Or didn't steal from a store?  Would these constitute a "sheltered" upbringing?  We would be ashamed if we or others did these things as we see them as evil.  But drinking?  Sexual looseness?  Perhaps some weed?  These are just rights of passage.  Anything less is living "naive" and "sheltered."

Perhaps that's why Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount.  Society had reached the lowest common denominator and Jesus upped the bar.  So much that it is almost impossible to conceive of keeping these ideals.  Get angry at someone and you're in danger of hell?  Think immoral thoughts about someone and that alone is an act of adultery?

But what a wise way to go.  If we aim high, we'll leap higher.  If we aim low we'll leap over that too.  And even stumble trying to do so.

As the song says, "It's a slow fade, when you give yourself away."