Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Chat canceled today - please pray

I need to cancel my 3 pm chat today because my father-in-law needs our help. He's walking better, using his walker, but he's trying to go home. He actually walked out the front door and started walking. I'm headed over there, and we need to figure out what to do for him. We'll probably get an aid to stay with him at least part of the time, but we need to sort out the details.

Thanks!

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

40 Day Prayer Devotional

Day 5 - April 27

Reconciling Others to Him

Scripture:
2 Corinthians 5:15, 17-18 (NLT)

15 He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. 17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.

Prayer Points:
• Ask God to search your heart and see if you are living in anyway for yourself – be
honest - repent, surrender, forsake
• Commit to the Lord that in the next 1 – 3 months you will intentionally give
yourself to reconciling one person to him – expect the opportunity (contact us for
helpful tools) and act on it
• Pray regularly for the individual people you know in the domains (fields of influence) of education, business, sport, art’s/media/entertainment, government, family, church, military to discover new life in Christ and experience the reality that their old life is gone. Pray they will be inspired as well to the task of reconciling others to Him.

Karen Braun
Director/Consultant of Breakthrough & Mothers Who Care
Prayer Ministries of Power to Change (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ, Canada)
Langley, BC

40 Day Prayer Devotional

Day 6 - April 28

Be Prepared

Scripture:
1 Peter 3:15 "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect"

Prayer Points:

• Pray that Canadian Christians will be prepared in season and out of season to share the Good News of Jesus to those who ask.

• Pray that more Canadians will begin asking.

• Pray that we will be clear about the reason for hope.

• Pray that we will show increased gentleness and respect as we live our lives in an attractive Christ-like way.

The Rev. Ed Hird
National Chaplain, Alpha Canada
Author, Battle for the Soul of Canada

Monday, April 28, 2008

40 Day Prayer Devotional

40 Day Prayer Devotional

Day 3 - April 25

Why God Blesses

Scripture:

Psalm 67
1 May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us,
2 that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.
3 May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you.
4 May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth.
5 May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you.
6 Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us.
7 God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him.

In this Psalm David prays for God’s blessing but not for himself or even for the nation of Israel, his prayer is an affirmation of God’s covenant with His people made with Abraham in Genesis 12:1-2:
1 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.
2 "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

There are two things of particular note in these texts.

First it is helpful to note that the bottom line in the prayer of David, as in the covenant, is not the people of God but the world. David does not pray for God’s blessing exclusively for Israel but for all nations; the people of God simply act as agents of God in blessing others.

Therefore the mission of the church is not to receive blessing for itself but to receive blessing in order to bless others. The moment a church ceases to be a blessing to others is the moment the flow of God’s blessing ceases for the church. As such God’s people who desire His blessing are driven by a vision to win the world; being to the world what God is to us. How we bless others is a reflection of God’s image in us and a sign of our true commitment to Christ.

Second, God by virtue of His nature does everything with excellence and as such His blessing is His best for us. Therefore we who are his representatives also live and bless others by that same standard of excellence. God’s vision is not for adequacy, mediocrity or maintenance but it is nothing short of excellence in blessing others. How we live and bless others is how others see God in us, and God in action; we receive only God’s best in order to give our best in service to God and to others.

Prayer Points:
As you pray and invite God’s blessing in your life and in your church:
• Invite God to bring someone into your life that you can bless today
• Give the best of what you have in serving God and others today
• Prepare yourself for an outpouring of God’s blessing so that you will become an increasing blessing to others in the days to come

Rick Wells
Lead Pastor
The Creek Community Church
Stoney Creek, Ontario

40 Day Prayer Devotional

Day 4 - April 26

Instruments of Revival

Scripture: “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” Ephesians 1:18

Prayer Points:
Pray for a powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit that:
• Canada will be a nation that honours and serves the Lord,
whose leaders seek His guidance, wisdom and inspiration
• all who do not know the Lord will come to believe in and walk
with Him
• all Christians will be united as instruments of revival across the nation

Susan Finlay
National Director
Nation At Prayer

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Liz is offline for 24 hrs

I don't know why yet but Liz posted on facebook that she won't have internet for about 24 hrs so if your looking for her you'll have to wait till sometime tomorrow nite.

Canadian 40 day Prayer Ramp

In Canada we have a 40 day prayer ramp happening and I thought perhaps those that read this blog would enjoy participating even if you don't live in Canada, after all intercessory prayer is something that we are exhorted to do and the benefits will be in our blessings also.

Dear Prayer Partners,

Today is the first day of the 40 Day Prayer Ramp. Please join believers across Canada in prayer using the following devotional suggestions. Each day has a few verses of Scripture and a few suggested points to pray about.

You can download a PDF of the devotional materials for the entire 40 days (April 23 to June 1) at
http://files.efc-canada.net/min/ni/NI-PrayerRamp2008.pdf.(www.40dayprayerramp.com).

Or else just watch you e-mail inbox, because we will also be sending you a message each day consisting of that day’s devotional material.(I will be posting my daily messages here in the blog ;-})

Here is your Day 1 - April 23rd Devotional

Day 1 - April 23

Being good servants of the gospel

Scripture:
Eph 3:7-8 I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all God's people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,

Thought: As followers of Christ we are here as servants of the gospel. How do we do that? Paul tells us: to preach (in word and deed) … the unsearchable riches of Christ. May we be both humbled and excited about being given such a wonderful task!

Prayer points:
Effective: That all congregations become very effective servants of the gospel.
Powerful: That we feel the power of God as we serve the gospel to others
Humble: That, in true humility we serve others for the cause of Christ.
Available: That we be ready and open to serve others throughout our day as servants of this precious gospel.

David Arrol Macfarlane
Director, National Initiatives
The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada


40 Day Prayer Devotional

Day 2 - April 24

Authentic Witnesses

Scripture:
“He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.” Psalm 23: 2,3

What has this passage got to do with evangelism and outreach? Simply put, you cannot give out what you do not possess.

Prayer Points:
• Nothing replaces spending quality time with Jesus. Pray that disciples everywhere would discipline themselves to pursuing the presence of the Lord and to set that time aside as consecrated.

• Pray for willing, honest and yielded hearts that allow the Lord to lead us to the spiritual places of peace, refreshing, and restoration.

• Pray that the evidence and overflow of personal restoration would spill over as a witness to the goodness, joy and saving power of Jesus to everyone that we encounter.

Terry Long
Associate Director
National House of Prayer, Ottawa

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Momof6 Getting MRI

Please pray for Momof6 who is getting an MRI next week, both for her as she gets the MRI and about the results.

The process of having the MRI done will be difficult for Mom because she is severely claustrophobic and she needs to have a closed MRI.

The doctor is telling Mom that she has sciatica and he expects to find she has bulging disks in her back along with arthritis.

Thanks!

God's Plans for Us

A lot of us have memorized Jeremiah 29:11 about God having good plans for us. I came across and article by Joshua Harris about this verse in the context of the chapter it appears in. Here is part of Jeremiah 29:

This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: "Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." [...] This is what the LORD says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place."
- Jeremiah 29:4-7, 10
The Israelites were in exile and they were baffled about why this has happened. Then Jeremiah brought word of God's plan: they would be in this strange land for 70 years and they should make lives for themselves there instead of putting all on hold until they return.

We, too, find ourselves in a strange land of sorts -- dealing with things we didn't expect to deal with at our age (or ever) and most of us expect, barring a miracle, that we will be dealing with these things for the rest of our lives, needing to adjust to a "new normal". But we, like they, have a promise from God:
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
- Jeremiah 29:11
Our lives mostly don't seem good now -- we don't like to think about how God's plan might involve discipline! From the article by Joshua Harris:
When we think of God doing us good, we don't often think of trial and difficulty. And yet what we learn from Jeremiah 29:1-14 is that God uses discipline for our good. Sometimes this discipline is God's loving response to sin that He wants us to turn from. Other times His discipline is like a coach who pushes an athlete to work harder so that he or she can perform at a higher level. In either case, God's discipline is redemptive—it is for our good.
God does have a purpose in His plans; Jeremiah 29 continues:
"Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."
- Jeremiah 29:12-14
Many of us have found that in our illnesses, we do seek God with an urgency or sense of desperation and deep need that we did not have before we were ill. And we do find Him. We have not yet been "brought back from captivity", but we have His promise; that this, too, will pass.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Consider it all joy?

There's a verse in James 1 that I've tended to skip over when we're talking about why God allows chronic illness and pain in our lives:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds. - James 1:2
I guess none of us have quite liked that scripture, and I didn't know what to do with it. Then the other day, I was listening to the Janet Parshall's America. Janet was interviewing Dr Gary Smalley who said something that really caught my attention:
When I find myself facing a new trial, I find myself getting excited about what Jesus is going to do. [not an exact quote]
In our chat today, none of us could say we were glad we're ill! But we do know joy in our lives -- some examples:
  • We have all experienced His Presence in a way we never knew before -- that is amazing and we are grateful for that!
  • We can slow down and have long lunches with friends.
  • Slowing down also means noticing more of God's world -- some of us take photographs.
  • We have more time to read.
  • Trials bring God's glory.
  • We can serve others who are suffering because we know & understand what they're going thru; God gives us a heart for them.
Being ill requires a lot of adjustments and we (and our spouses!) miss our old selves. I worry about what I can't do for my son because of being ill. This verse comforts me:
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. - 2 Corinthians 12:9
Though I don't always see Him working, our weaknesses do cause us to lean on Him which we often don't do until we get to the end of ourselves! Sometimes we are helped to see how God works by reading Christian fiction, especially when we know of people with similar experiences. Sometimes we see better that God is working when we look back. One chatter said:
God is changing my hopeless thoughts into a burden to share and help others living with illness locally as well. [...] That is my joy now, serving others and letting them know I am here and understand.
But it takes time; we take one step at a time. Sometimes, we get depressed and struggle with understanding why. Other times, we know God's precious Presence in such a way that it's easy to trust Him. And we know it's Him working in us cause when we're sick, we really know we couldn't do it without Him.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

QuietSoul's Dad

QuietSoul's dad passed away this evening about 9:30 pm central time. They were home praying that he would pass peacefully at the time and her sister was with her dad and said that it was peaceful. They are feeling relieved that he is free now, but it is a difficult time, of course. Please pray for Quiet & her whole family. Thanks!

Monday, April 14, 2008

Yet Another Schedule Change

Sorry for so many changes in schedule here...

As many of you know, my father-in-law is now living in an assisted living facility near where I live. We're going over to visit him and the evenings and often do not get back until late enough that having my chat in the evenings is a problem. So, my chat time will be changing to 3pm eastern, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

I am in the chat rooms most evenings for at least part of the evening, but I can't always be.

If you'd like to volunteer to host a chat, please let me know! Thanks.

The photo above is a daffodil from a neighbor's yard. Spring in northern Virginia is quite nice.

Friday, April 11, 2008

sorry folks

Due to circumstances beyond my control the Prayer chat will only be held Tuesday and Thursday until further notice. The week that my daughter comes to town I imagine I won't be able to do prayer chat as we will be in the city during that time and I will also need a few days afterwards to recover. At this time I don't yet know the exact date of her arrival but tentative plans at this point are for the end of the month or the beginning of May. I'll post the dates I will be away as soon as I know. Today's chat will only be for half an hour due to pain levels.

Romans 4:17-25 from the Message Bible

(17) We call Abraham "father" not because he got God's attention by living like a saint, but because God made something out of Abraham when he was a nobody. Isn't that what we've always read in Scripture, God saying to Abraham, "I set you up as father of many peoples"? Abraham was first named "father" and then became a father because he dared to trust God to do what only God could do: raise the dead to life, with a word make something out of nothing. (18) When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn't do but on what God said he would do. And so he was made father of a multitude of peoples. God himself said to him, "You're going to have a big family, Abraham!" (19) Abraham didn't focus on his own impotence and say, "It's hopeless. This hundred-year-old body could never father a child." Nor did he survey Sarah's decades of infertility and give up. (20) He didn't tiptoe around God's promise asking cautiously skeptical questions. He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, (21) sure that God would make good on what he had said. (22) That's why it is said, "Abraham was declared fit before God by trusting God to set him right." (23) But it's not just Abraham; (24) it's also us! The same thing gets said about us when we embrace and believe the One who brought Jesus to life when the conditions were equally hopeless. (25) The sacrificed Jesus made us fit for God, set us right with God.


Thursday, April 10, 2008

Pray for Alana -- preemie

Please pray for Alana who is a newborn preemie, whose parents are friends of Angie's. Alana is home from the hospital but stops breathing at times and her parents are afraid to sleep. She should be on a sleep apnea monitor, but her parents haven't been given one. She cannot lay on her back, either, because she has reflux problems. The baby was tested for three days in the hospital but the did not figure out what's going on with her.

Please pray that her parents get the monitor and answers, and that the baby doesn't stop breathing when her parents aren't able to help her.

Thanks!

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Prayer request from Momof6 & her husband

Momof6 and her husband are struggling more in their marriage. Praise God that their daughter's wedding this past weekend was beautiful, but they are under a lot of stress now. Pray for Mom that she has wisdom about what she should do and that God would show her husband what he needs to do -- especially that he be willing to go with her to counseling.


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