Monday, February 20, 2017

FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS

I want to address Prayer Warriors and those of you who long very much to become prayer Warriors. In the Old Testament book of Esther Mordecai spoke to his niece the queen, saying  “Who knows perhaps you have been raised up for such a time as this.”
You have been raised up for this very day. I am not qualified to determine exactly what kind of era we are living in. The beginning of A Tale of Two Cities may well apply to our age. It is the best of times and the worst of times. We are enjoying the rich blessings of God. We may be on the verge of apocalypse. But it really does not matter what unique day we are living in. God has raised you up to be a prayer warrior in these days.
God may have raised you up to be a prayer warrior in days in which we are so blessed that it is difficult to find time to pray, when there are so many distractions entertainments and blessings to enjoy. You may have to sacrifice watching your favorite your favorite television program or going to a game where your favorite team is playing an archrival. These may be days in which God raises up an army of people who love him more than the things He gives us. Instead of taking long relaxing vacations people take could go on mission trips to pray for people in other countries. This may be a day when people pray despite allurements the enemy throws in front of us.
While I certainly believe this is partially true. I am also convinced that you are raised up to pray in times of great moral crises. You and those around you will face heartache and trials. I believe we are going to see terrible judgment in these days. In fact, prayer movements in history have accompanied or preceded judgment. A case in point is the great prayer revival of 1858. It preceded the Civil War that God brought upon our country because of the sin of slavery. People were able to endure those days, many went to heaven, because of that revival.
I believe the return of Christ is imminent. If that is the case, we are about to enter into the greatest tribulation the world has ever seen. And we may have been raised up to pray that the greatest spiritual awakening the world has ever seen will come about simultaneously.
Now, whether the return of Christ is near or not, most of you know that you are going to face severe difficulty and heartache in your life, and your family, in your neighborhood, in your city, in your nation. This is your day! In John 12:27 Jesus admitted that His heart was troubled. And He asked rhetorically if He should pray to be delivered from those days. “But,” He said, “for this purpose I have come to this hour.” You are hear for this very purpose. God has raised you up for such a time as this.

Monday, February 6, 2017

PRAYING FOR THE HEARTS OF PEOPLE

I have been much alarmed over the violent, blasphemous and obscene language in books and other entertainment, on social media, in politics, and in daily conversation in these days.
Of course the problem is deeper than the coarseness of our speech. In Luke 6:45 Jesus said “The mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”
I see a lot of medical professionals in these days. I pray for each one. And I want to witness to them. Several times I have them use bad language with me. And while I continue to pray for them, I make a point not to comment on their fault language. I want my witness to be the gospel. It alone deals with the heart where the real problem lies.
While I believe God will speak to them through me, God must strike the heart. In Isaiah 6 the prophet told about God meeting him in the temple. God speaks thunderously to our hearts. Isaiah cried out,."Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, for I have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts."
I want to be open a to soul shaking, life changing encounters with the living God. I always need Him. And I am praying for our nation, for our leaders, and for individuals I come in contact with to be open to a life changing encounter with Almighty God! Nothing less than a personal encounter with God will change our hearts. Nothing else will change what comes out of our mouths.