Where Is Your Prayer Life Today?

 Where is your prayer life today? I read that question in a handwritten note in a prayer notebook I received at a prayer conference while serving this very Spring Creek congregation as a youth minister. I wrote that note on February 8, 1993. I also made a note that I was to answer that question with one word. What word did I write 30 years ago? "LAZY."

When I look back on those days I recall the weakness of my prayer life. I did not know how to really pray because I did not really pray much. The only real way to learn how to pray is to actually pray. Sure you can learn some things by reading. Just reading about how to hit a baseball will not really teach me to hit the ball when I come to the plate with bat in my hand. It takes batting practice. In the same way, it takes practice in prayer to grow in it. 

When I think back over the past three decades, and the countless hours I spent shut up in the prayer closet, I can honestly say that I have grown in prayer. I have infinitely more growth to learn and experience, but I am not where I was back in 1993. 

If I were to answer that same question of where my prayer life is today, I would answer differently. I would say it is GROWING. I am still learning as I wade my way through reading E.M. Bounds. He mastered prayer. He could write about prayer in a way that is foreign to me because I have not progressed as much as he did. That does not mean that I cannot learn. With pen in hand I read the pages. With prayer journal in my lap I try to pray what I am learning. 

The focus of my prayers this morning was much different than three decades ago. I prayed, "Lord, what do you want me to believe you for today?" One of the key difference in my prayers these days is the greater emphasis on what God wills to do and wishes me to believe Him for instead of my petitioning my endless wants. What God wants and wills to do is much more important than anything I want. 

Two things are critical in learning to pray effectively. One, is to pray with genuine faith. Not wishful thinking but fervent faith. To truly believe. To be assured and persuaded that not only God can but also that God will do the very thing we ask Him to do. Faith gives fuel to our prayers. 

The other critical factor in praying is praying according to the will of God. To put that another way, it means to ask God for things He desires and delights to do. That is the assurance that we will get what we ask for. I am learning to put aside my wants in favor of what He wants. Why waste my time asking God for things He does not will to give me or do for me. Why not maximize my praying by asking God for He already wants to do. 

By the grace of God I am growing in prayer. I am not as lazy in prayer as I was three decades ago. I still have a tendency to drift back into laziness when prayers are not answered like I would like them to be or as quickly as I would like them to be. Not lazy on a continuous basis. I AM NOT WHERE I WANT TO BE AND MOST CERTAINLY NOT WHERE GOD WANTS ME TO BE. With that in mind I must keep growing. 

If I were asked the same question where is your prayer life three decades from now, how would I answer? I would be 97 at that point. I hope I would be able to answer, "PROGRESSING." What about you? How do you answer today? May God teach all of us and we willingly and exuberantly learn those lessons of prayer. 

In Hot Pursuit

 I awakened this morning with a burden for a couple of people. A couple of people that God is in hot pursuit of redeeming and drawing to Himself. He does that. He convicts, draws, opens blinded eyes, and reveals Himself to people who otherwise do not give Him the time of day. 

I am encouraged that because of the burden it is proof that God is working on the other end too. I do not know how. I do not know to what extent. I just know He is working. God is in the seeking and saving people who are far from Him business. He is on mission. In hot pursuit with the hounds of heaven nipping at the heels of those who do not know Him. He loves to rescue the perishing. 

He does it all over the world. He is in hot pursuit of Muslims, Hindus, and those caught up in African witchcraft religions. He chases after the wealthy, the impoverished, the famous, the obscure, the dark skinned and lite skinned. He desires to bring into His fold children, teenagers, and adults. Nobody is so far gone that He cannot reach, so hard that He cannot break, and so depraved that He cannot forgive. 

John Newton wrote those famous words in the hymn Amazing Grace, "Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost but now I'm found was blind but now I see." All over the world, every single day, people grow weary of running from God. Once He seizes a heart there is no stopping Him. When He sets His sights on a soul it is only a matter of time before they are brought into His family. 

I wonder who are all the people God is in hot pursuit of redeeming. Skaters. Lawyers. Doctors. Mechanics. Police officers. Long shore men. Soldiers. Construction workers. Nurses. Janitors. Chefs. Cooks. Teachers. Coaches. Oil field workers. Stay at home moms. All over the world He is in pursuit of people. 

I am thankful that 40 years ago He set me squarely in His cross hairs and targeted me at a junior varsity football game. He sent a messenger with a gospel message burning in His heart. He shared that message with me. The God who had been in hot pursuit of me all my life broke through. He won my heart and affection. I have not been the same since that October day back in 1983. 

I wonder if God will use this writing in someone's life around the world to hotly pursue their salvation. I pray He does. I pray He does so soon. I also pray He will remain relentlessly in hot pursuit of the ones He woke me up about this morning. There is always room for more in His family. 

The Fountain of a Thousand Blessings

 Right in the middle of preaching yesterday morning God stopped me in my tracks. He convicted me about a vow I made to Him years ago I had broken. 

Very well do I remember the morning I was praying some years ago. I sensed the Lord say in my spirit, "I want you to enroll in the school of prayer and intercession. I have many things to teach you. Give yourself to prayer." I sat there for a long while that morning. I knew how easily I can be excited about prayer and then the emotionalism wear off. I have fought this for three decades. I did not give a flippant response to the Lord. I knew myself too well to commit to something I knew I could never live up to. 

The truth is I want to be a man of prayer. I want to grow in prayer. That morning I sensed God was calling to a deeper level. A level I could not get to on my own effort. I finally submitted and told God I was willing to enroll in His school of prayer and intercession. I pleaded for Him to put the desire and discipline in me to follow through. Whatever it meant and whatever it might cost. 

I grew. My times with the Lord were rich. He enabled me to spend much time in prayer. I believe He spoke to me in those days some profound things. Something happened a few years ago that changed all of that. I will not go into detail. I have never spoken of it publicly. Let me suffice it to say it was not sin. It was something else that wrecked my faith and prayer life. I have never fully recovered from that incident to this day. Brenda knows about it. She is the only one. 

Don't get me wrong. I still pray. It isn't the same though. It is different. Less intense. Shorter amount of time spent in the prayer room than in previous years. I was still sincere. Really the only way I can explain it is that something broke inside me that has never healed. I did not give myself to prayer as God had instructed me to do. Sometimes it felt more like I was going through the motions of prayer.

Fast forward to yesterday morning. I preached from Ecclesiastes about keeping vows to God when suddenly the phrase, "School of prayer and intercession," jolted my mind. In a matter of seconds I recalled my God encounter calling me to enroll in the school of prayer and intercession. Conviction came as I stood silent in the pulpit. I am unsure of how long this conviction lasted and I stood there silent lost in God's convicting work in my heart. He convicted me publicly and I repented publicly. 

My habit for months had been to get up early and hit the gym. I knew if I worked out early I could get it out of the way and afterward I would spend time with God. Only most mornings my workouts cut into any chance for me to have long sustained prayer times. I repented of that yesterday and committed to readjust my schedule. Prayer first. 

This morning I got up at my usual time, but instead of going to the gym, I came to the office to pray. I recommitted to the Lord to devote myself to prayer. While sitting and listening, I felt impressed to browse through my books for an old classic volume on prayer by E.M. Bounds. I found it. 

Later, when I got a chance to read in that book I came across these words. "Prayer is the fountain of a thousand blessings." - Chrysostom

Everything in my ministry flows out of prayer. Revelation of His word. Inspiration for messages and writings. Direction for future plans. Anointing to preach and teach. To have a tender heart to shepherd the sheep. To believe God for impossible dreams. To trust Him for provision. All flowing from the stream of prayers and time spent with Him. 

Sitting alone with the Lord this morning in solitude and silence I could feel my soul lapping it up like a thirsty dog lapping water. My soul craved God. It drank in the silence and solitude like a parched person on a hot summer day. 

Time with God is a fountain. A never ending forever flowing fountain from which I drink. It flows endlessly satisfying the deepest cravings of my life. From that bubbling brook flows a thousand blessings I could never fully list or explain. 

I have missed that free flowing fountain for some time now. I still frequented the fountain but I was always rushed. In a hurry to move onto the next item on my to do list. Today prayer was my to do list. From that and reading just a few pages of scripture and the Bounds book the blessings flowed. My spirit feels more alive and awakened than it has in some time. 

There is more of God to drink in and more blessings to discover. Today was the first step in a long journey of prayer and times spent with God. I plan to drink long from this fountain and go places spiritually I have never been before. 

Like a school boy headed to his first day of class, I head to the prayer closet. I sit at the Master's feet to learn what He wishes to teach me. It is a school from which I will never graduate. There will always be more lessons to learn. While I do not feel like I am in kindergarten of prayer, nor do I feel like I am in advanced graduate level courses of prayer either. There is much to learn. Today I drink of the fountain from which a thousand blessings flow. 

Strong Support

 Right now there are people struggling under oppressive burdens. Some are sick. Some are watching loved ones die a slow death. Others are impoverished. They have no way to make it to the next pay check. Groceries are scarce and so is hope. There are broken pastors and parishioners who see no future to keep the doors open after decades of faithful service. The offerings are low as well as the attendance. 

There are others out of work. Doors keep shutting on them to find employment. They have applied and interviewed for jobs and had their hopes spun up and down like a yo yo. Nothing has worked. They keep getting passed by and they do not understand. Pleadings for God to help seem unheeded. 

Others have given their lives to organizations in faithful employment. They have been passed over for promotions but they stayed and did a good joy anyway without bitter resentment. Worse they have been terminated. Loyalty has meant nothing to the top brass of the company. Experience has been cast aside for younger faces with less wisdom and experience. The aging faithful have been cast to the wind. Nobody wants to hire people on the backside of life. All they need is a chance. Nobody will give them one. Hope is fading fast. 

Married couples are on the brink of divorce. They put on a good face in public but behind closed doors they fight and cut each other with dagger like words. It appears the marriage will not survive. 

There are many who are caught up in addiction they cannot break free from. They have tried in vain. Many times they have vowed they would not go back to the bottle, to the drug, or to pornographic websites. Then a trial comes and they look for a quick fix to relieve the stress even though the addiction is slowly killing them. 

Some have been sexually abused. They cannot get past the horrid nightmarish event where they were violated. They carry the secret shame. They walk around feeling dirty and unworthy of love. The mind is cluttered with countless thoughts screaming with fiendish demonic voices, "Where was your God? Why did He not protect you? Why did He let that happen to you?"

All of these people need God. They need His support. I came across II Chronicles 16:9 today. The eyes of the Lord go to and fro throughout the whole earth that He might strongly support those whose hearts are completely His...

Even as I write this next sentence God sees who desperately needs to read this and be reminded He is watching. He sees and He supports His children. He comforts the brokenhearted. He opens closed doors. He provides for those needy. He offers deliverance for those in bondage. He heals the psychological, emotional, and physical wounds of those traumatized by sexual abuse. He can mend and reconnect distanced married couples drifting toward divorce. He still has plans for usefulness for the aging. 

How many today need to be reminded that God sees. Not only that, but He also strongly supports His children who have loved and served God with a whole heart. What does that mean. Strongly support? It means God will encourage, hold fast, keep firmly in His grasp and strengthen with His might. 

Maybe God will see fit to use this blog to encourage someone. Maybe He will use it to hold someone fast and remind them they are not alone. Maybe He will hold someone up today overwhelmed who cannot stand on their own. Perhaps He will give the courage and strength to get out of bed and to battle another day the same old trials and summon new faith to pray again. God can do all that and more. 

Whatever your need might be today I just want to remind you that God has not forgotten you. He sees and He knows. His support is available. He will come through. That is His character. It is is His nature. He has done it for others and I am confident He will do it for you too. 

I Don't Know Anything About This Book

 She was covered in tattoos. She had dark hair and seemed a little reluctant to be in the room. Someone invited her to our Bible study for 1 Way at the detox center. It did not take long for her to express her fierce anger at people in her family who hurt her. 

That statement inspired the direction of our study for the day. We dug into the scriptures with some familiar faces and and this one new lady. When we gave her a Bible she had no clue where to turn. That is when she said, "I don't know anything about this book." I knew from that statement that she was probably lost in her sins without a saving knowledge of Jesus. One of the other residents gave her the page number and helped her find the chapter and verses we studied. 

Instead of being bored in the study she seemed interested. Clued in. I could see God was working. Softening. Convicting. Drawing. 

When we got to the end of the study my attention turned to this lady we will call Mary even though it is not her real name. I could tell God was stirring Mary. I explained how to be saved and forgiven. Instead of turning a deaf ear she seemed interested. Others in the room who were recently saved encouraged and prayed for her. 

She answered God's call. Jesus gloriously saved Mary this past Sunday. She did not know anything from the Bible. Did not know how to use it. She met the Savior of the Bible. Her life is transformed. She is a new creation. The old has passed away and the new has come. 

When we left the study one of the other residents sat with Mary showing her some basic things about using her new Bible. We encouraged her to start reading in the gospels. Over the past nine months we have encouraged many other new believers to do the same thing. 

God's word is living and active. It is sharper than a two edged sword. It divides soul and spirit. It discerns the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. That is why we must teach it, preach it, read it, study it, and learn from it. Through His word God saved Mary who was an outsider, a stranger to the faith, maybe even a little hostile toward God. It did not appear to Mary God had ever heard her prayers or done anything to help her. That all changed when He rescued her last Sunday afternoon. He died on the cross to purchase her salvation. She will never be the same again. 

We all rejoiced for her just like the angels in Heaven. Do it again Lord. Do it again and again. Save more Marys. 

What's the Hardest Thing You've Faced

 I stood around a circle of young athletes who had just completed our weight workout. I had just put them a pretty grueling abdominal workout to end our session. There was plenty of groaning. Some were mentally stronger than others and powered through. Others stopped repeatedly to rest, but they finished. 

We discussed how in life we have to deal with hard things. Much harder than a weight workout. That is when I asked the question, "What's the hardest thing you've faced?" Those students were silent. I looked from face to face hoping for an answer. Then a tall tangly kid finally said, "Cancer. Four years ago I had cancer." What a sobering moment. Everyone in the room was stunned into further silence. 

I shared [Phil 4:13] how Jesus gives us strength. Not just strength as athletes. Strength to endure life and the multiple challenges presented to us. Strength to persevere. Strength to not quit. Strength to summon His strength in us to get back up when we get knocked down. Strength to fight another day. Strength to believe for better days when you are blinded by the blizzards of life. Spiritual strength to keep trusting. Mental strength to set your mind on things of heaven and not earth. Emotional strength not to crater under the heavy load. 

Jesus gives us strength to endure all things. Cancer. Death of a spouse. A devastating divorce. Terminal illness. Financial set backs. Death grip of depression. The vice of substance abuse. The loss of a job. Defiant children. So much. People are suffering everywhere. Some silently and stoically. Others kicking and screaming. 

People are battling hard things. Even as I write this sentence the faces of several people come to mind. Each battling their own hard thing. I can do little to ease their suffering other than to pray and point people to scripture.

 Jesus helps us through hard things. Sometimes when we can hardly breathe He helps us with our next breath. Just breathing can be a chore. He can calm the storms in our minds like He did the storm on the sea while in a boat. He can multiply little into much just like He did with the loaves and fish feeding thousands. He can tame the most untamable people like He did the demoniacs. He can heal ones who seem too far gone like the woman with the issue of blood or the man who had been paralyzed for 38 years. He can reclaim prodigals. He can part the waters of dead ends and impossible circumstances. He can conquer enemies, defeat the wicked, take people from prison to the palace over night. NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH HIM. I have spent a lifetime discovering this over and over again. He is the God that can open doors. He can rescue the perishing. He can send a flood or hold the rains back in drought. He can turn water into wine and wimps into courageous warriors. He can stop the flow of rivers as well as release the flow of the Holy Spirit into spiritual awakening. He can bring the dead back to life as well the spiritually dead to spiritual life. He can open closed wombs. He can convict the hardest sinner and turn them into a missionary. He can cure cancer, defeat disease, and cure through bringing the saints to glory shouting. He can comfort the grieving and brokenhearted. He can provide refuge for the troubled. He can defeat giants. He can encourage the discouraged, lift up the down trodden, and handle anything other hard thing that may come our way. 

May we remember these things and a young teenaged boy who has already gone through something harder than I have ever faced. Lord forgive me for whining, doubting, and many time pouting when the hard times come. You are our source of strength and joy. 

Chapel

One of my new roles is to speak at chapel every Tuesday morning. There are children present from 5-18. It's a joyous challenge to speak on things that are relevant to all age groups. My topic today was evangelism. Yet I wanted to present it in such a way that all age groups could understand. 

I used [II Cor 5:21] as my text about being made righteous in Jesus. I put on a white shirt and had students list different sins they had committed. For each sin we wrote it down on the white shirt. Sins like telling a lie. Fighting with siblings. Disobeying parents. Losing tempers. Having bad attitudes. It did not take long and the once perfectly white shirt was stained with the black marks of listed sins. 

As we discussed Jesus taking our sin and offering forgiveness, one of the students took a red marker and drew a red cross down the center of the  white shirt. Little children immediately recognized it as the cross. As we discussed forgiveness and what Jesus did for us, another student brought out a white robe. She slipped the robe on covering all the black marks on the shirt. 

This is when we discussed righteousness. To put that another way, we discussed how Jesus cleanses and purifies us. He covers our sin. He clothes us in righteousness. 

At this point, we dismissed the younger students but kept the older ones behind. I asked any of the older ones to stay put who wanted to talk further about salvation. Many parents were in the room waiting for a meeting with the Head of School after the chapel service. They got to hear the message just like the students. Quietly everyone filed out of the room. Everyone but two boys. They came up where I was standing and sat down. Both wanted to know how to be saved. We talked our way through the plan of salvation. 

They both prayed a simple prayer asking Jesus to forgive them and to save them. What a tremendous way to start the school day! Two saved! The angels in heaven rejoice. God allowed me a front row seat to witness His glorious saving work. He did the convicting. He opened their eyes. He did the drawing, the forgiving, the saving, and I just got to be there for the final work. 

Those two young men had a life transforming God encounter today. I am still walking on clouds this morning. It fires me up. So humbled and honored to play any role at all in God's work. Even speaking in chapel. 

People Need the Lord

 When Brenda and I started dating we adopted a theme song for our relationship, People Need the Lord. The song's message is that people go about in private pain, they pass by everywhere needing to hear the good news about Jesus. When we came to Spring Creek in view of a call, we sang that song during the worship service. We had no doubt we were supposed to serve God there. 

Fast forward to yesterday. We both had an appointment with someone who has come to mean a great deal to us to talk. It did not take long to discover the person had questions about salvation. We listened and presented the plan of salvation. There was a little reluctance. It was hard for this person to surrender control. The pain and conviction were stronger than the fears of losing control. 

We bowed our heads and prayed trusting Jesus for salvation. Through faith we believed God to wipe away the past, to make all things new on the inside. What a beautiful moment and all the more meaningful because I got to share it with my bride. The angels rejoiced and so did Brenda and me. 

She has always been a part of this ministry. It started back in college when we joined together to start a Bible study for dating couples in the home of the President of the college. Then she followed me to my first church in Rochelle, TX as youth minister. That church had few members, but we were thrilled to teach students the Bible. God even saved some of those students in that little white wooden chapel. 

Just before we got married God called us to Spring Creek. We were married about two months later after we started. What a ride that was. God saved teenagers often. We rejoiced. We thrilled to see them follow in baptism. We started with a group of seven. God increased that number to an average of 40. Many times, we saw God save multiple students and then celebrated with numerous baptisms. 

Brenda stood by my side when I transitioned into pastoral ministry. Again, we saw God save numerous people. We celebrated those salvations. I spent four years traveling full time. I hated being away from Brenda and our four sons in those days. Life on the road was lonely without her. I did it for the sake of the call of God to preach Jesus. I was able to take her and the four T's to a few youth camps. What a thrill to watch God save children and teenagers. 

One of the highlights of our ministry was the revival God broke out at FBC Seminole lasting 23 straight days and God saving 37 people during that time. We baptized someone nearly every night of that revival Brenda stood right there praying for me as I preached night after night and working in the counseling room leading people to meet Jesus as Savior. We have not experienced anything like that since then. It was like haven came down and kissed Seminole for those days. 

She talks to people about Jesus at work, drive throughs, and other places she frequents. She pours her life into women in a small group class on Sundays and into children on Wednesday nights.  

When we walked home after our appointment yesterday, I reminded her of our song People Need the Lord. She teared up and we kissed. I told her I could get used to her being by my side day in and day out in ministry. God saved another one. Even now we turn with expectation to see whom God will save next. We are humbled God chooses to use us to be a part of His great salvation plan for others.