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Category: Prayer (Page 24 of 30)

Pray Big!

September 16, 2009 / / 2 Comments

When Christ gives us the gift — the privilege — of praying to our Father in his name, he tells us to ask for anything.

ANYTHING!!!

 He wants us to pray big. And in order to pray big, we’ve got to think big. We have to dream big. Most of us, though, think small. We pray small. You hear it when we pray together on Sunday mornings, in our homes on Sunday nights, in our Bible classes, and in our own family settings. Most of us pray little.

Help me to have a good day.
Keep us safe on this trip.
Help us to get a good night’s rest.
Forgive us our sins.
Help the elders make good decisions.
Bless our Give Away Day.

These prayers just sound so anemic, so puny, when compared to the language Jesus uses when he talks about asking God for help. Whatever you ask! Anything, he says. Everything in heaven and earth belongs to him. Ask for it. Anything!

Pray Big!“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us — whatever we ask — we know that we have what we have asked for.” ~1 John 5:14-15

This willingness for God to be so over-the-top generous and gracious as to give us anything we ask challenges our logic and tests our faith. But Jesus says it three times around the table at the end of John. And the apostle repeats it several times in his letters. Whatever you ask. Anything you ask.

The truth is that God has much more to give than we’re normally willing to ask.

What is your wildest possible dream for your family? Pray for it!

What’s the most outrageous huge thing you could possibly imagine for your congregation? Ask God for it!

What’s the biggest mind-blowing, earth-altering thing you could ever hope for your neighborhood or your community or the whole world?

Are you asking for it?

Peace,

Allan

Pray Big!

September 16, 2009 / / 0 Comments

When Christ gives us the gift — the privilege — of praying to our Father in his name, he tells us to ask for anything.

ANYTHING!!!

 He wants us to pray big. And in order to pray big, we’ve got to think big. We have to dream big. Most of us, though, think small. We pray small. You hear it when we pray together on Sunday mornings, in our homes on Sunday nights, in our Bible classes, and in our own family settings. Most of us pray little.

Help me to have a good day.
Keep us safe on this trip.
Help us to get a good night’s rest.
Forgive us our sins.
Help the elders make good decisions.
Bless our Give Away Day.

These prayers just sound so anemic, so puny, when compared to the language Jesus uses when he talks about asking God for help. Whatever you ask! Anything, he says. Everything in heaven and earth belongs to him. Ask for it. Anything!

Pray Big!“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us — whatever we ask — we know that we have what we have asked for.” ~1 John 5:14-15

This willingness for God to be so over-the-top generous and gracious as to give us anything we ask challenges our logic and tests our faith. But Jesus says it three times around the table at the end of John. And the apostle repeats it several times in his letters. Whatever you ask. Anything you ask.

The truth is that God has much more to give than we’re normally willing to ask.

What is your wildest possible dream for your family? Pray for it!

What’s the most outrageous huge thing you could possibly imagine for your congregation? Ask God for it!

What’s the biggest mind-blowing, earth-altering thing you could ever hope for your neighborhood or your community or the whole world?

Are you asking for it?

Peace,

Allan

Just Ask!

September 15, 2009 / / 1 Comment

Just Ask!Before we can expect our God to give us the things we need, we have to ask. It’s super obvious. But I think we sometimes need to be reminded. We need to ask.

Around the table during that last meal with his apostles, Jesus told them several times, just ask. “Whatever you ask.” “You may ask me for anything.” “Whatever you ask.” “Whatever you ask.” “Ask and you will receive.”

The question for Jesus and his disciples — the question for us — is never, “Does God have the power to meet my needs?” The question always is, “Do I have the dependence on him and the presence of mind to ask?”

But that sounds too simple. Just get on my knees and recite my needs? That’s it? There’s gotta be more to it than that. Don’t I need to be doing something else? Something more? And if we’re not careful we wind up sounding like Naaman at the Jordan River: “This is it? If this is it, I’m outta here. Never mind.”

That’s why a lot of the times prayer is our last resource. We want to exhaust all of our own resources first. We want to do everything we can first — something tangible and practical. And if that fails (WHEN that fails), then we pray. You walk into a hospital room and say, “Let’s pray” and the patient panics. “Oh, no, has it come to that?!?” No, prayer is the first thing we do, not the last thing we try when everything else has failed.

See, I think Satan loves that. As long as he can keep us from asking God, as long as he can keep us depending on ourselves and not God, he’s got us.

“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.” ~1 Chronicles 29:11-12

The only uncertainty as it relates to prayer is in our willingness to ask. God knows what we need. And he can’t wait to give it. But we have to ask. It’s the asking that displays our dependence.

Peace,

Allan

Just Ask!

September 15, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Just Ask!Before we can expect our God to give us the things we need, we have to ask. It’s super obvious. But I think we sometimes need to be reminded. We need to ask.

Around the table during that last meal with his apostles, Jesus told them several times, just ask. “Whatever you ask.” “You may ask me for anything.” “Whatever you ask.” “Whatever you ask.” “Ask and you will receive.”

The question for Jesus and his disciples — the question for us — is never, “Does God have the power to meet my needs?” The question always is, “Do I have the dependence on him and the presence of mind to ask?”

But that sounds too simple. Just get on my knees and recite my needs? That’s it? There’s gotta be more to it than that. Don’t I need to be doing something else? Something more? And if we’re not careful we wind up sounding like Naaman at the Jordan River: “This is it? If this is it, I’m outta here. Never mind.”

That’s why a lot of the times prayer is our last resource. We want to exhaust all of our own resources first. We want to do everything we can first — something tangible and practical. And if that fails (WHEN that fails), then we pray. You walk into a hospital room and say, “Let’s pray” and the patient panics. “Oh, no, has it come to that?!?” No, prayer is the first thing we do, not the last thing we try when everything else has failed.

See, I think Satan loves that. As long as he can keep us from asking God, as long as he can keep us depending on ourselves and not God, he’s got us.

“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.” ~1 Chronicles 29:11-12

The only uncertainty as it relates to prayer is in our willingness to ask. God knows what we need. And he can’t wait to give it. But we have to ask. It’s the asking that displays our dependence.

Peace,

Allan

Wrestling Together In Prayer

September 11, 2009 / / 0 Comments

“For hands were lifted up to the throne of the Lord.” ~Exodus 17:16

God’s people are battling the enemy in the valley. Up on the mountain, Moses is lifting his hands in prayer. He’s Intercedinginterceding for the people. He’s taking them to God.

And his arms get tired. His hands drop. He can’t go on. It’s too much.

True intercession is a demanding activity. Paul describes it in Colossians 4 as wrestling. True intercession will wear you out. It’ll cost you.

And that’s why we do it together. As Aaron and Hur joined Moses and physically held his arms high, we help each other by praying together. We strengthen each other. We raise each other up as we pray. We give and receive mutual encouragement. We declare together our trust in God to deliver.

And he does.

The Legacy 24 Hours of Prayer begins one week from today. It’s one of my top two or three most anticipated and favorite events of the year. The men of this church family are meeting in one-hour shifts from 8:00 next Friday morning through 8:00 next Saturday morning, around the clock, to raise close to two-thousand prayer requests to our God.

Together.

24 Hours of Prayer September 18-19 at LegacyNothing builds community and relationship and trust like spending an hour together in a foxhole, battling Satan in open and honest prayer. You can learn more about your Christian brother and his heart and his mind and his soul in one hour of prayer than you can in one year of going to football games or taking hunting trips together. Wrestling together. Supporting one another. Bearing one another’s burdens and giving them to our gracious God together.

The Rock here at Legacy becomes our mountain of prayer one week from today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anthony WrightTwo more days until the Dallas Cowboys kick off their 50th season in the NFL. And today’s #2 in our Red Ribbon Review of the second-best players in Cowboys history according to jersey number is backup quarterback Anthony Wright. A free-agent out of South Carolina, Wright actually started five games for the Cowboys in his two seasons here, 2000-2001. He went 1-4 as a starter, his lone win coming against the Redskins at Texas Stadium by a score of 9-7. Wright completed 46.4% of his passes as a Cowboy, throwing five TDs and eight picks. He finished with a QB rating of 50.8 and as the second-best #2 in Cowboys history.Billy Cundiff

Catching up on the countdown from the past couple of days: #3 is kicker Billy Cundiff, a 2002 graduate of Drake University who never missed a field goal of less than 30 yards as a Cowboy. He played in Dallas from 2002-05, missing only one PAT in those four seasons (100/101) and hitting 73.2% of his field goals.

Toby GowinThe second-best #4 in Cowboys history is punter Toby Gowin. A Mean Green Eagle from North Texas, he punted for Dallas for three seasons, from 1997-99, and was then released as a free agent. He bounced around the league for a couple of years and then re-signed with Dallas in 2003 on an unheard of five-year-contract. It lasted one year. Gowin punted a total of four seasons for the Cowboys: 64 games, a 41.7 yards per punt average, and a long punt of 72 yards in 1997. The most interesting thing about Gowin’s Cowboys career is his rushing average: 33 yards per carry. On one carry in ’98.

Peace,

Allan

Wrestling Together In Prayer

September 11, 2009 / / 0 Comments

“For hands were lifted up to the throne of the Lord.” ~Exodus 17:16

God’s people are battling the enemy in the valley. Up on the mountain, Moses is lifting his hands in prayer. He’s Intercedinginterceding for the people. He’s taking them to God.

And his arms get tired. His hands drop. He can’t go on. It’s too much.

True intercession is a demanding activity. Paul describes it in Colossians 4 as wrestling. True intercession will wear you out. It’ll cost you.

And that’s why we do it together. As Aaron and Hur joined Moses and physically held his arms high, we help each other by praying together. We strengthen each other. We raise each other up as we pray. We give and receive mutual encouragement. We declare together our trust in God to deliver.

And he does.

The Legacy 24 Hours of Prayer begins one week from today. It’s one of my top two or three most anticipated and favorite events of the year. The men of this church family are meeting in one-hour shifts from 8:00 next Friday morning through 8:00 next Saturday morning, around the clock, to raise close to two-thousand prayer requests to our God.

Together.

24 Hours of Prayer September 18-19 at LegacyNothing builds community and relationship and trust like spending an hour together in a foxhole, battling Satan in open and honest prayer. You can learn more about your Christian brother and his heart and his mind and his soul in one hour of prayer than you can in one year of going to football games or taking hunting trips together. Wrestling together. Supporting one another. Bearing one another’s burdens and giving them to our gracious God together.

The Rock here at Legacy becomes our mountain of prayer one week from today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anthony WrightTwo more days until the Dallas Cowboys kick off their 50th season in the NFL. And today’s #2 in our Red Ribbon Review of the second-best players in Cowboys history according to jersey number is backup quarterback Anthony Wright. A free-agent out of South Carolina, Wright actually started five games for the Cowboys in his two seasons here, 2000-2001. He went 1-4 as a starter, his lone win coming against the Redskins at Texas Stadium by a score of 9-7. Wright completed 46.4% of his passes as a Cowboy, throwing five TDs and eight picks. He finished with a QB rating of 50.8 and as the second-best #2 in Cowboys history.Billy Cundiff

Catching up on the countdown from the past couple of days: #3 is kicker Billy Cundiff, a 2002 graduate of Drake University who never missed a field goal of less than 30 yards as a Cowboy. He played in Dallas from 2002-05, missing only one PAT in those four seasons (100/101) and hitting 73.2% of his field goals.

Toby GowinThe second-best #4 in Cowboys history is punter Toby Gowin. A Mean Green Eagle from North Texas, he punted for Dallas for three seasons, from 1997-99, and was then released as a free agent. He bounced around the league for a couple of years and then re-signed with Dallas in 2003 on an unheard of five-year-contract. It lasted one year. Gowin punted a total of four seasons for the Cowboys: 64 games, a 41.7 yards per punt average, and a long punt of 72 yards in 1997. The most interesting thing about Gowin’s Cowboys career is his rushing average: 33 yards per carry. On one carry in ’98.

Peace,

Allan

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