Posts Tagged ‘prayer’

Feb
15
2012

5 Ways to Pray for Your Church

A couple weeks ago I wrote a blog, How to Help Your Church. It was one of the most popular posts of this year so far, perhaps because it struck a chord with pastors and church leaders working hard to serve God’s people. Interestingly, I wrote a similar post a few years ago.

However it occurred to me that neither of those posts mentioned perhaps the best way to help your church: prayer. Perhaps this speaks to my woefully inconsistent prayer life or the tendency among leaders in my generation to rely on our own strength to do God’s work.

But I’m realizing ever more the need, my need, for God’s help in serving the church. I’m realizing the need for us to fall on our faces before the Lord. Only God can grow the church. So, as you consider how to make your church better, here are five ways to help your church:

1) Pray for your pastor. I know this is clique. I know people pray for me. But I really, really need prayer. And your pastor does too. He may not ask you for it. He may seem strong and courageous and “with it” all the time. But underneath that is a fragile, desperate soul often squeezed by the pressures of serving God’s people. So pray for faithfulness, refreshment, wisdom, creativity, humility, people skills. I never fully realized the need to pray for pastors until I actually became one.

2) Pray for the pastor’s wife. This is a tough role. There is really no template for the pastor’s wife. She’s thrust into a role that often asks more of her than she can handle. She’s the one keeping the home life somewhat normal and consistent. She’s the one holding things together when the pastor is at the bedside or meeting with someone in crisis. And sometimes the pastor’s family has their own crises that need prayer. Pray for your pastor’s wife.

3) Pray for God’s spirit to move in the hearts of people in the community. In our community, something like 85% of people are unchurched, likely unconverted. That’s a huge mission field. And it seems that with every passing day the church is becoming less of a factor in people’s lives. Pray that your church would be a lighthouse, a place where people discover the eternal truths of the gospel, where the Word would shine and the Spirit would convict hearts to repentance. Sometimes we get so program-oriented that we forget to pray for a mighty moving of the Spirit.

4) Pray for unity among God’s people. The devil loves to divide and conquer. He loves to sow seeds of strife in a church. He loves to prey on the natural, human, sinful tendencies of God’s good people. Unity has to be intentional. It’s not natural. It must be a spirit-connected thing. It’s fragile. And here’s a secret. If you are praying for church unity, you will be spending less time focusing on the hurts and faults of others that moves to destroy that unity.

5) Pray for the church staff and leadership. Don’t just pray for the pastor, as if he’s the only one who is on the frontlines, as if he’s the only important, exalted member serving your local body. He isn’t. Pray also and earnestly for the paid and volunteer staff, for the leadership team–elders, deacons, team leaders. Pray for their families, their spirituality, their faithfulness. Pray for God to enrich and refresh them and give them strength for His work.

 

Oct
28
2011

John Chrysostom on the Power of Prayer

 

The potency of prayer has subdued the strength of fire, it has bridled the rage of lions, hushed anarchy to rest, extinguished wars, appeased the elements, expelled demons, burst the chains of death, expanded the fates of heaven, assuaged diseases, dispelled frauds, rescued cities from destruction, stayed the sun in its course, and arrested the progress of the thunderbolt. There is (in it) an all-sufficient panoply, a treasure undiminished, a mine which is never exhausted, a sky unobscured by clouds, a heaven unruffled by the storm. It is the root, the fountain, the mother of a thousand blessings!

- John Chrysostom (HT: R. Kent Hughes)

Oct
21
2011

Friday Five: Craig Von Busek

Today I have the privilege of interviewing my friend, Craig von Buseck. Craig is the Ministries Director for CBN.com, one of the largest Christian websites in the world. He is a prolific writer and popular speaker. His latest book, Praying the News has recently been released by Regal.

Today, more than ever, we are inundated with news across a variety of platforms. How does this affect our psyche? 

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Sep
24
2010

Friday Five Interview: Jennifer Kennedy Dean

When my first book was published, I remember attending my very first ICRS (then it was call CBA Convention). It was in Indianapolis and I had a radio interview scheduled. I was as nervous as a cat. I had just driven 5 hours from Chicago area, got a speeding ticket, and was a bit overwhelmed by all the publishers and books and agents and media.

I was met at CBA by a fellow New Hope author named, Jennifer Kennedy Dean. We waited together outside the recording room where the interview was to be held. She leaned over and said, “Hey, you’ll do just fine. Just relax, take a deep breath, and talk about your book.” I never forgot that. I’m thinking the interview was less than memorable, but that experience gave me insight into Jennifer’s life and ministry. Since then, she’s become a great friend.

Jennifer Kennedy Dean is a multi-published author, most famous for her book, Live a Praying Life. She is the executive director of The Praying Life Foundation. She is the author of numerous books, studies, and magazine articles specializing in prayer and spiritual formation. Her book, Heart’s Cry, has been named National Day of Prayer’s signature book.  Her book, Live a Praying Life, has been called a flagship work on prayer.

Jennifer is in demand as a speaker and has spoken in such venues as The Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove and Focus on the Family.

She is a board member for Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, a member of America’s National Prayer Committee, a board member and broadcaster with WebTV4Women and a member of National Professional Women Association.

1) How did you get your start in writing, publishing, and a speaking ministry?

I started teaching a Sunday School class when I was student at Baylor From that, I had invitations to speak at different college events, and things grew from there. After I had been speaking a few years, I had honed my message to topics related to prayer. In today’s vocabulary, I guess you would say that prayer became my brand. At some point, a publisher approached me about writing what I was speaking. Writing and speaking grew hand-in-hand from then on.

2) You travel around the country speaking to big and small groups on a variety of Bible subjects, but you’re main focus is prayer. What led you to dive so deeply into prayer?

I consider my Bible study, Live a Praying Life, to be my life’s purpose. That’s how important it is to me. It is the culmination of almost 40 years of searching. I’m trying to think back and trace the beginnings of that consuming passion, and I find it interesting to remember that, even as a child, I was always experimenting with prayer. By experimenting, I mean putting it to the test. Trying it out. Trying to figure out its intricacies and what made it work. So maybe it is the culmination of more than forty years of searching. Maybe 57 years of searching. Decades ago, the Lord introduced me to a praying life. When that phrase came to my mind, it changed the way I thought about prayer and opened the door to a whole new concept.

My mother had a great interest in prayer, and always had prayer groups and prayer partners. We had front-row seats for all her prayer adventures, I’m sure I was infected by her. When I started defining my own relationship with Christ, prayer was its center.

God created me to be a left-brain thinker. I need logic. Part A has to fit into Part B. An argument has to hold together from beginning to end. I can’t take things at face value, no matter how hard I try. I need to know how things work. Isn’t it funny that such a person would be called to a passion for prayer? On the surface, prayer seems to be the most illogical proposition ever tendered.

I’m delighted to be in relationship with a God whose invitation is, “Come, let us reason together.” As I probed and questioned and searched, I found that God welcomed my questions and could teach me prayer in a way that satisfied both my heart and my mind. To my relief, I found that faith does not cancel out understanding. In fact, faith produces understanding.

Live a Praying Life is the record of my search. Of course, the search continues. I will never understand everything about prayer, but every day I can understand more. The more I understand, the more I am compelled to put it in practice. Prayer is the conduit through which the power of God is released into the circumstances of earth. That’s what motivates me.

3) You talk about the difference between a “prayer life” and a “praying life.” What do you mean by that?

A praying life is a life lived in an open and receptive attitude toward God.  An undercurrent of prayer is always flowing in the life of a believer… sometime articulated in sentences, sometimes not. When you begin to live a praying life, you leave behind the idea that prayer is a group of words sandwiched between “Dear God” and “Amen.” You are always walking in the flow of God’s power and provision; always engaged in an interchange between heaven and earth.

4) You’re latest project is Life Unhindered. You write about walking in freedom. Do you think many Christians live unnecessarily shackled?

Because the Scripture has so much exhortation and instruction on living in freedom, it seems that this is a topic that requires continual growth and reinforcement. We are so accustomed to the things that hold us captive that we often consider them irreversible. We might not even see them as holding us back. But the Scripture strips away the pretense and exposes shackles for what they are. And gives us the keys to throw off every hindrance.

5) What advice would you give to an aspiring Christian writer or speaker?

Everything starts small. Do faithfully what the Lord has put in front of you to do. Live the message you speak from the platform. Trust that God will place you where He wants you, obedience by obedience.