Prayer

Jim Cymbala began at the Brooklyn Tabernacle as an ill-equipped, under-educated, time-strapped preacher who led a second congregation in New Jersey. The Brooklyn church had no money to pay him, a ramshackle building, and barely enough attendance to bother with weekly meetings. Today, the Tabernacle hosts around 6,000 spirit-filled worshipers. The difference came when Jim, in a moment of desperation, set aside his planned message and called the church to pray. The weekly prayer meeting, not the Sunday worship, became the focal point of the Brooklyn Tabernacle.

Jim’s belief that “God can’t resist those who humbly and honestly admit how desperately they need him” (p. 19) guides his work. It is Prayer, not preaching that brings Revival.

Prayer pointers:

· Our humanly devised programs and strategies can produce a few results, limiting what God can do because of our pride. Repent for relying on your own strength and wisdom without seeking God first.

· Pray that God will help you to understand that all that we ever need can be found in Him, having child-like faith, being totally dependent on Him, just like a child would unto their parents.

“At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.” (Luke 10:21)

· Prayer does not automatically lead to revival. God’s people must expose and expel sin. Humble yourself to pray and seek God’s face, exposing any hidden sin in our hearts and show us places where we are not partnering with him.

“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

· Once God has shown you what these sins are, acknowledge them and allow God to do a deep work in your life.

· Christian people are the means by which God awakens and renews communities, cities and countries. Make yourself available and ask God to use you as His earth partner where He can work through you to establish His will here on earth.

“Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10)

We are called to be the salt and light of the earth.

“You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.” (Matthew 5:13-14)

Salt – a preserving effect

In the old days, when Jesus walked the earth, salt was very valuable. There were no refrigerators and salt acts both to add flavour and preserved food so that it can last for weeks. Salt is still important and valuable today. We add it to our food for flavouring and we still preserve some food using salt. When Jesus said that we are the salt of the earth, that makes us very important and very special.

We must preserve and flavour the earth. How do we preserve and flavour the earth? We flavour the earth by using God’s Word. We must learn about God so that we can tell others. That is preserving the earth. When salt loses its saltiness, it is no good anymore. If we don’t learn, we can’t tell others. If we can’t tell others, we have lost our saltiness.

Prayer Pointers:

• Pray that God will help you to be like salt, creating a spiritual thirst amongst people to seek Him through the way you live your life for Him
• Ask God to embed a love of His truth in your heart in which you can tell others about Jesus
• Light – a visible effectSalt is a hidden affect. That means what can’t be seen.
  Light is a visible affect. That means what can be seen.
  Jesus tells us that we are not only to be only the salt of the earth but also the light of the world. He is telling us to make a visible effect on the world around us. That means to have an effect that can be seen by everyone.

  How do we do that?
  We do it by living the way Jesus told us to live. We need to be an example to everyone. When we do something good, Jesus knows. We have allowed our light to shine.

  Spend time with God, the source of all light, that you may grow to be like Him, shining His light.

  Prayer Pointers:

• Seek God, to bring forth His fruit so that others can taste and see His goodness and be attracted to Him
• Pray that you will develop His character and remove any hinderances(hidden sin) , that may prevent you from shining forth His light
• Ask God to help you to manifest His character in your life

“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)

Light – a visible effect

Salt is a hidden affect. That means what can’t be seen.
Light is a visible affect. That means what can be seen.
Jesus tells us that we are not only to be only the salt of the earth but also the light of the world. He is telling us to make a visible effect on the world around us. That means to have an effect that can be seen by everyone.

How do we do that?
We do it by living the way Jesus told us to live. We need to be an example to everyone. When we do something good, Jesus knows. We have allowed our light to shine.

Spend time with God, the source of all light, that you may grow to be like Him, shining His light.

Prayer Pointers:

• Seek God, to bring forth His fruit so that others can taste and see His goodness and be attracted to Him
• Pray that you will develop His character and remove any hinderances(hidden sin) , that may prevent you from shining forth His light
• Ask God to help you to manifest His character in your life

“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)

Truly we are living in the last days before the second coming of Jesus Christ. There have been massive cases of floods, earthquakes, famines, wars, etc “this know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come” (2 Timothy 3:1). We ought to make ready our hearts and set our homes in order. We need to have a sense of urgency like never before to reach out to our unsaved loved ones, friends and acquaintances by telling them about the salvation plan of God. If no one would tell them, would you be the one who make a difference that could result in eternal value by simply taking a step forward to share with them?

Would that God make hell so real to us so that we cannot rest; heaven so real that we must have men there. – J. Hudson Taylor

Prayer Pointers:

• Ask God to give you an understanding of the time that we are living in; to have wisdom to know how to reach out to those who aren’t saved yet

“of the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do” (1 Chronicles 12:32)

• Pray that we would make use of our time wisely to prepare ourselves before the second coming of Jesus
• Pray and ask God to help you to invest in things that have eternal value rather than temporal things

“But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:” (Matthew 6:20)

We are called to be witnesses.

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

Loving Jesus and Loving People

I came to realize that to love Jesus and to love people mean we will do our best to bring the two together. To reduce it to the simplest terms, loving Jesus and loving people is what Christianity and the church are all about. I came to understand that unless I genuinely care about the person with whom I am sharing, my witness will lack compassion and sincerity. Also, unless I study the Word of God, my witness will lack content. The caring witness sharing the message of the Word of God give the balance needed to reach people.

Taken from ‘People Sharing Jesus” by Darrell W. Robinson

Prayer Pointers:

• Pray for boldness in the Holy Spirit, to empower every saint to invite their friends, relatives and acquaintances

“and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.” (Acts4:31)

• Ask God to give you a heart of compassion for the lost; guidance to know how to care for people as He reveals their needs to you
• Pray that God will give you understanding to His word till it becomes like honey to your soul; that you may have a great desire to share this goodness with others.

“How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:103)

Read (2 Kings 4:1-7)

This is the story of Elisha and the widow’s oil. Just as how God asked the widow to gather many empty vessels so that He can supply the oil to do a miraculous work, He is indeed still gathering and looking for empty vessels such as us, that He can fill with His oil, the Holy Spirit, to do the miraculous in this present time. He cannot channel His power and show forth His glory when there is no one who would present themselves empty in surrender – past emotional hurts, unsaved loved ones and dreams and submit to the One who holds our tomorrow.

God is eagerly wanting to use people who will be in total surrender to Him and come empty before Him so that He can shine forth His glory by using ordinary people to demonstrate His extraordinary power.

Prayer Pointers :

• When we go to Him in emptiness, God will surely fill us and satisfy the longings of our soul
• Ask God to help you to trust in His word and meditate upon His greatness and wonder
• Pray that God will align our vision with His, that we will be able to yield to Him and surrender every aspect of our lives to Him
• Present yourself before Him as a willing vessel; asking God to use past hurts to glorify Him to reach and bless the lost.

Travelling on My Knees

Last night I took a journey to a land across the seas; I did not go by boat or plane, I travelled on my knees.
I saw so many people therein deepest depths of sin, But Jesus told me I should go, that there were souls to win.
But I said, “Jesus I cannot go and work with such as these.” He answered quickly, “Yes you can by travelling on your knees.”
He said, “You pray; I’ll meet the need, you call and I will hear; be concerned about lost souls, of those both far and near.”
And so I tried it, knelt in prayer, gave up some hours of ease; I felt the Lord right by my side while travelling on my knees.
As I prayer on and saw souls saved and twisted bodies healed, and saw God’s workers’ strength renewed while labouring on the field.
I said, “Yes, Lord I have a job, my desire Thy will to please; I can go and heed Thy call by travelling on my knees.”

-Sandra Goodwin

What is prayer?

Webster defines prayer as:

An act of communion with God, A reverent petition made

The basic principle of prayer:

Prayer is simply communication with God. We are made of flesh and blood and God is a spirit. Prayer bridges that gap between flesh and spirit. Talking with the Father brings his presence in our lives. It is also very important in our prayer time to remember to get quiet so God can speak to us.

Prayer pointers:

• Ask God to give you the revelation of the power of prayer
  

  “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17)

• Renew your commitment of devotion time unto God. Begin to set aside a portion of your time to talk with Him
• Pray and ask God to rekindle a passion and an earnest desire to seek Him
  

  “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all of your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13)

• Ask God to give you a heart after His own heart; one that will seek His face continually and be a worshipper unto Him
  

  “When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You, “Your face LORD, I will Seek.”” (Psalm 27:8)

• Remember that God’s desire is to talk to you daily
  

  “I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere…” (1 Timothy 2:8)

• Spend time talking to God and set aside a time to hear His voice