Praying Circles Around God's Will

I am reading the book, The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson. Amazing book! It is a book primarily on prayer. One of the lessons I am learning in this book on prayer is to pray specifically and pray audacious prayers.  Mark Batterson says this, “It is absolutely imperative at the outset that you come to terms with this simple yet life-changing truth: God is for you. If you don’t believe that, then you’ll pray small timid prayers; if you do believe it, then you’ll pray audacious prayers.” Secondly, Mark explains that being specific in our prayers means to “Define your dream, claim your promise and spell your miracle.”  

When  it comes to Children’s Ministry I have heard countless leaders say, “There are always holes in the volunteer ministry. It’s just the nature of the ministry.” But thinking about what Mark Batterson said,this paradigm does not give God permission to invade our faithless thinking. I believe that He can fill every hole and that we can be a different  ministry than most; we can have a Children’s Ministry that is completely staffed with people who are passionate for children and people who are willing to set aside other things in life so they can make an eternal impact on the life of a child. I am circling this audacious prayer for Kids Quest, and I implore you to pray this with me. We serve a big God who can do all things! Amen?

Dear God, the all powerful and all present God. Your will is to reach the children with the sacrificial love and grace of Jesus Christ, your Son. I believe with all my heart 1 Timothy 2:3-4 is true: …God, our Savior, who wants all people (adults, teens and children) to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. Make your will our reality by bringing forth the volunteers needed. We believe that you can fill every need! Because you can, we know you will.  Draw all those that have a chosen place to step forward and serve your children. If there is fear in some, demolish their fear. If there is doubt, change it to faith. If there is busyness, open doors for them to walk through. Make provision in every way possible that enables your desire: filling every position open in Kids Quest! Make it possible for us to have a second service at 9:30am with a full staff of 6 teachers and 6 assistants. You can do this and I am praying until it happens. In Jesus name, we confidently ask, because you have said that whatever we ask in your Son’s name, you will do it. Amen.

Ask and You Will Recieve

"If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." John 15:7

These are the words of Jesus speaking to His disciples and to each of us. This is a powerful promise, "...ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you."  Looking more closely at this verse, I pondered that promise and realized that it was conditional. It's condition is remaining in Jesus and having His words remain in us. Looking at this condition, the word "remain" stood out to me. I asked, "What does this word really mean?" Looking it up, I read that it means the following: not to depart, continue to be present, to remain as one - not to become another or different, and finally, to wait for.  

When we take one of those meanings and place it in the verse, we read "If you wait in Me and My words wait in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." 

I saw the connection of waiting in Jesus, His word waiting in me, and waiting on the prayers that God will answer.  Waiting is so much more than just longing, it's abiding, trusting, and marinating in the One Who accomplishes what He promises. There is no doubt for what He will give; there is a knowing, an assurance and a waiting with expectation for what we have asked for. There is this close connection that intimately knows the character of The One Who gives. What are you asking for? What are you waiting expectantly for? Are you marinating in Jesus? Are His words marinating in You? Is your waiting a saturation of assurance?

For Kids Quest, I am waiting with expectation for leaders for our 4/5th Grade Ministry and our K-3rd Grade Ministry. God has been grateful to supply wonderful leaders for our Nursery, Preschool and Special Needs ministry and I am assured that He will provide for these ministries as well. Pray with me.

Dear God, You are our great provider! Jesus told us to beseech the Father for the workers and we are asking with great expectancy for the leaders You have already picked out for the K-3rd grade and 4/5 grade ministry. Open our eyes so we can see them and be assured of Your choosing! In Jesus Name, Amen.

We Call, He Answers

“I call with all my heart; answer me, Lord, and I will obey your decrees… May my cry come before you, Lord; give me understanding according to your word…I call on the Lord in my distress, and he answers me.” (Psalm 119:145, 169 & 120:1)

The book of Psalm is a great guide for prayer. David has given us ways to approach God in all situations. No matter what we are going through or the stresses we experience, we can call upon the Lord and He will answer us!

Dear God, Our Faithful Counselor,

We call upon you and trust you will answer us. We desire to obey your word; we need understanding as we obey your commands and as we walk in your will. We know that your will for each child that attends on Sunday morning is to know you personally, to feel loved by you, to experience your peace. Thank you for each child that you have given us to shepherd on Sunday morning. We ask for more Shepherds to come forward. Your word instructs us to pray without ceasing; the one who persists in prayer will realize answers. We ask for workers to attend to your harvest. Thank you for the eight who have come forward in this last week! We are blessed! You are answering! You are faithful! We continue to ask until each position is filled. We want your heart, your will, your ways!

In Jesus Name,

Amen

An Example to Follow

In Bethany, while Jesus was reclining at the table, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar containing very expensive perfume. Out of an act of worship, she poured this perfume upon his head. Indignant, the disciples claimed “What a waste! This could have been sold and given to the poor!” Certainly, the disciples had good intentions. I mean, isn’t feeding the poor a good thing? (Matthew 26:6-10) 

As with Martha and Mary, Jesus isn’t interested in His disciples doing the “good thing” but instead He is interested in his disciples doing the best thing! Worshiping our God is the best thing! Out of that worship, feeding the poor will come. Because when we worship our God, He plants His passions, His burdens, His desires and His will in our hearts and empowers us to fulfill them.

This woman was preparing Jesus for the death that would pay for all of mankind’s sins. She was about God’s will in this preparation, which ultimately would save the poor and all people from eternal poverty (a forever life without God). This woman is held in memory of her best deed, because her best deed helped propel the finish of the gospel.

Dear Jesus,

Thank you for a woman like this, who has given us an example to follow. While we are intent on doing good things in this world, give us insight into what the best things are so that we are about Your Will! In this children’s ministry, Your will is relationship. Your will is to build a bridge between the relationships leaders and children develop that ultimately lead to relationship with You. We pray for connection between leaders and children; between children and You. May our service to you be as the expensive perfume that the woman poured upon Your head. My we prepare the hearts of these children with the Gospel of Your saving grace. May we see ourselves as giving of our time as the best thing we can do, never as a waste. Guard us against the good and propel us toward the best. Reward us with seeing the fruit of our labors. In Your holy name, Amen.

Foundations

This morning I began reading 1 Corinthians 3:10-16 and my heart was drawn to pray for the parents of the children in our ministry at River Club. I am so glad that we have the opportunity to teach them on Sunday, but they need more. I sympathize with parents with all the demands parenthood and their workload that weighs heavily upon them. There is much in our culture that distracts and hinders them from building effectively upon the foundation of Jesus Christ in the lives of their children. Our prayers for them will encourage them and give them strength to discard the unimportant and stay focused on the activities that last for all eternity.

By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds.    For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,  his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work.  If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.  If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.   Dear God, You are our wisdom and our strong foundation. Thank you for giving us Jesus. We pray, Lord, for your strength and your Spirit to infuse courage in parents today; help them to discard that which is temporary and trade it for that which is eternal, especially when it comes to building upon the foundation of your Son in their children's lives. Constantly remind parents in various ways the need for their children to know You through Your word, prayer and worship.  For what is important to parents, becomes important to their children. Help them have the power through Your Spirit to overcome the distractions and hindrances of our culture. Give them discernment to know the difference between what is good and what is Your best. In Jesus Name, Amen.      

Greater Glory

But now be strong, O Zerubbabel,' declares the LORD. 'Be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,' declares the LORD, 'and work. For I am with you,' declares the LORD Almighty. 'This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.' "This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land.  I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the LORD Almighty. 'The silver is mine and the gold is mine,' declares the LORD Almighty. 'The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,' says the LORD Almighty. 'And in this place I will grant peace,' declares the LORD Almighty." Haggai 2:4-9

This is one of my favorite passages. Many years ago our Pastor at a former church spoke on this passage; at the time, Dan and I were struggling with so many things in our life: I was on bed rest during my pregnancy with our daughter, Dan had been laid off from work and had been out of work for 5 months, we lost our home and we were financially stressed to say the least. But this passage gave me great hope that the former glory of our home would change to a greater glory because God owned the gold and the silver…He was sovereign and had us and all that we were facing in the palm of His hands. All we needed to do was not fear and remember that God’s Spirit was with us. In the end, God proved to be faithful to us and He did provide for us in amazing ways that we could not fathom or think up on our own.

As we leave 2011 and all its’ glory, successes, and struggles, we can look forward to 2012 with hope that God’s Spirit is with us and what he had planned for us in 2011 doesn’t even compare to what He has planned for us in 2012. With this promise we pray for our future and we trust in His provision. I look forward to His handiwork in our lives and in the ministry of Kids Quest at River Club.

Dear God,

Thank you for your provision, your covenant, and your Spirit. Thank you for being faithful to us in 2011 and for continuing your faithfulness to us in 2012. We start a new year with new hope for greater glory than the past glory we have experienced. We pray specifically for the children of Kids Quest that this year would be marked as the year they grow deeply in YOU and widely in INFLUENCE at school, their neighborhoods, and their family.  Empower the leaders and the volunteers with Your wisdom, with Your vision, with Your heart, with Your character, so that we only implement what YOU desire in the lives of these children. Grow the volunteer team numerically and spiritually so that we are equipped to do Your will and help each child and each family know you intimately through Your word and Your presence. You have promised that if we honor You, You will honor us. Honor our request, Lord. And give us success in Your kingdom work! Shake us Lord, Fill us with Your Glory!

In Jesus Name, Amen.

Fervent Cries and Tears

"During the days of Jesus' life on earth, He offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverent submission." Hebrews 5:7

Jesus, being our gentle, faithful, and persistent Savior, prayed with fervency and reverence. Fervency means to show great warmth and intensity of spirit. Reverence means an attitude of deep respect tinged with awe. With the warmth of great love and with the intensity of His own spirit, Jesus prayed to His Father with such respect, His posture was in awe of Who His Father is.

It takes serious contemplation on our parts to pray in this manner. Life is so busy, often times we can pray on the fly. Without intention, we can neglect the warmth and awe of our prayers. As we approach this Christmas, let us take time to be in awe of our Great God, Who, without hesitance gave us His Son as our perfect High Priest.

Just imagine the awe and the exhilaration the shepherds felt when the angel said to them "Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord." (Luke 2:11). "Today" meant that finally true redemption, eternal salvation has been born and total freedom to enter God's rest through His Son is here! Bask in this concept reflecting on what life would be like "Today" if we did not have Jesus. My heart pangs at the thought! I shudder to know what my life would be like. I'm so grateful to our Savior who loves us with tears of love and the persistence to show this to us on the cross!

Dear God, 

We love you and we honor You today with our stillness. You have given us Jesus, a gift we cannot repay. But we receive Him with great warmth and awe. Lord, our life would not be filled with joy and peace without Your Son, Jesus. Thank you for giving us salvation and gracing us with Your eternal salvation that resides in our souls. We pray with fervency that each person in Fredericksburg would feel the tug for You and be drawn by Your Spirit to come to the Christmas Eve services at River Club; we pray that they receive You as their High Priest and Savior. Never give up on these people who are caught up in the distractions of sin and life; give them reason to pause and reflect on their deep need for You; and give them courage to do something about it. 

In Jesus Name, Amen.