Prayer’s Unpopular Sidekick

Fasting!

 

The Bible has a lot to say about it. It certainly isn’t emphasized or taught on as it should be. Do I look forward to doing it? To be honest, no I don’t. It is denying this flesh, which is always uncomfortable, but there certainly are benefits and blessings attached to it. Our church recently went on a 3 day fast(all those that were physically able), and I can see how God is blessing the sacrifice. There is a greater liberty in our services, and it seems people are responding more to the preaching and coming to the altar and being touched by God. It is wonderful to see! I’m no expert on the subject of fasting, but I just want to share a few quotes I came across that have some good information about it.

 

Fasting confirms our utter dependence upon God by finding in Him a source of sustenance beyond food.

Dallas Willard

Is fasting ever a bribe to get God to pay more attention to the petitions ? No, a thousand times no. It is simply a way to make clear that we sufficiently reverence the amazing opportunity to ask help from the everlasting God, the Creator of the universe, to choose to put everything else aside and concentrate on worshiping, asking forgiveness, and making our requests known-considering His help more important than anything we could do ourselves in our own strength and with our own ideas.

Edith Schaeffer

 

Prayer is reaching out after the unseen; fasting is letting go of all that is seen and temporal. Fasting helps express, deepen, confirm the resolution that we are ready to sacrifice anything, even ourselves to attain what we seek for the kingdom of God.

Andrew Murray

 

Fasting is important, more important perhaps, than many of us have supposed,… when exercised with a pure heart and a right motive, fasting may provide us with a key to unlock doors where other keys have failed; a window opening up new horizons in the unseen world; a spiritual weapon of God’s provision, mighty, to the pulling down of strongholds. (God’s Chosen Fast)

Arthur Wallis

 

In Shansi I found Chinese Christians who were accustomed to spend time in fasting and prayer. They recognized that this fasting, which so many dislike, which requires faith in God, since it makes one feel weak and poorly, is really a Divinely appointed means of grace. Perhaps the greatest hindrance to our work is our own imagined strength; and in fasting we learn what poor, weak creatures we are – dependent on a meal of meat for the little strength which we are so apt to lean upon.

James Hudson Taylor

 

Our greatest victories are won on our knees and with empty stomachs.

Julio C. Ruibal

 

When the devil, the foe and the tyrant, sees a man bearing this weapon [fasting], he is straight-away frightened and he recollects and considers that defeat which he suffered in the wilderness at the hands of the Saviour; at once his strength is shattered and the very sight of this weapon, given us by our Commander-in-chief, burns him.

Isaac of Syria

 

Do you have a hunger for God? If we don’t feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because we have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because we have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Our soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great. If we are full of what the world offers, then perhaps a fast might express, or even increase, our soul’s appetite for God. Between the dangers of self-denial and self-indulgence is the path of pleasant pain called fasting.

John Piper

 

 

Blown Away – Part 1

It was Saturday, October 22, 2011 and we had just been dismissed from an anniversary service we were attending for a pastor and his family with whom we are friends. We would head over to a nice dinner and fellowship in another room, but before we did that, I decided to check my cell phone for any calls or messages. I saw I had missed calls from both of my sisters, a voicemail and a text from my sister-in-law. I clicked on the text from my sister-in-law and was alarmed to read that my older brother Tom had been rushed to the hospital. I stepped outside and tried calling my older sister. I was only able to get her voicemail, so I called my younger sister. I got through to my sister Ann who tearfully informed me that our brother had passed away. It was so sudden, so unexpected. I felt like my mind was reeling, whirling and trying to grasp what I had just heard. I was blown away.

The next day was Sunday, and I was praying that morning. We had already been in revival for a couple of weeks with an evangelist. I remembered when my dad passed away in 1994, my pastor at the time told me and my sisters who attended the same church that God would make it up to us. I remembered telling God how I wanted Him to make it up to me. I had a friend at the time who was coming to church with me, and I was also teaching her a home Bible study. I told the Lord I wanted Him to make it up to me by filling her with the Holy Ghost. She did receive the Holy Ghost in a church service just a short time later. I remembered this as I was praying, and I asked God to do it again. I asked God to fill someone with the Holy Ghost that Sunday morning, October 23, 2011. Do you know what? God answered my prayer that morning as 14 year old Emily received the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues during the altar call. I was blown away!

To be continued………………

 

Trail Of Tears

Great things happen when Zion travails

with weeping and moaning and wails

when our spirits are humble

those walls start to crumble

the Spirit of God, it prevails!

 

I am so excited about how God is beginning to use our young people to intercede for lost souls! Sunday night was an awesome service in church, and I believe, the start of something really great. A heavy spirit of prayer and intercession came upon the church. There was weeping and groaning and travailing. Our evangelist, Bro. Trevino, spoke briefly about intercession, and then there was more praying. Bro. Trevino gave a challenge to the young people to take up the burden of intercessory prayer, and they took it to heart. Those young people were weeping, talking in tongues, groaning and some even had snot running down their face, but they didn’t care. They were getting a hold of God. After service the young people talked and decided that they wanted to fast and get together Monday evening and pray. I was there for the prayer meeting, and it was just as powerful as Sunday night. They prayed for an hour and a half, which is especially long when you haven’t eaten all day. I am believing that we are going to see

new souls receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues

physical healings

financial miracles

revival and renewal among the saints of God

 

Great things happen when we earnestly, fervently pray!

When was the last time you wept for a soul

As tears from your eyes did freely flow

With agony over one’s lost condition

Of eternity without God, perdition?

 

If to win one to God is your noble goal

When was the last time you wept for a soul?

Before this great gospel we can share

We must take some time to wrestle in prayer.

 

Have you witnessed, it seems, to no avail?

Perhaps you’re lacking this thing called travail.

When was the last time you wept for a soul

With heart wrenching sobs you could scarcely control?

 

Ever take time to wonder why

Your spirit just seems so lifeless and dry?

Over this question, you may want to mull.

“When was the last time you wept for a soul?”

written

 

 

4-9-09

 

 

Psalm 126:5  Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!

126:6  He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

 

 

James 4:9  Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.

4:10  Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

 

2Chronicles 7:14  if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

 

Romans 8:26  Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

 

“Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God.”

Bob Pierce

 

 

 

Why Is This Happening?

A family member you have been praying for gets in a car wreck.

Some are having serious financial problems.

Someone you have been teaching a Bible study to comes to church and seeks God in the altar. Later that person is assaulted while walking to the store.

A man who is taking steps towards God and trying to get his life together suddenly ends up in the hospital with an unexpected malady.

Saints in the church become disgruntled over really minor things.

You start feeling depressed, even though you really have nothing  about which to feel down.

Your church burns to the ground.

 

These are all things that have either happened(or are happening) in our church or with some other churches that we know.

When things like this happen it may cause us

to feel sorry for ourselves

to try to work out situations on our own

to wonder if God really loves us and knows where we are at

to lose our focus, which is to share the gospel and reach out to lost souls

 

The real truth is……………………………..

When the devil starts to mess, THE LORD IS FIXING TO BLESS!!

Adverse circumstances do not mean that we are out of the will of God. When we are praying, fasting and witnessing as we ought to, there is going to be opposition. We need to remember that

We will reap what we sow. Psalm 126:6, Galatians 6:7

Our labor is not in vain in the Lord. I Corinthians 15:58

and finally

If we hold on, God will give us the victory.  Romans 16:20, I Corinthians 15:57

 

I am holding on!!

 

 

 

Tenacity

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yesterday, as I was walking the dog, I came across this weed that had busted through concrete. It’s not the first time I have seen something like this, but as I looked at it, a thought in the form of a question came to my mind.

What would happen if we had this kind of tenacity in living for God?

 

Staccato #1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Staccato # 1

 

Some think it’s wise to just ride with the flow,

but compromise is not the way to go.

Take care! Take care! The path you trod

must line up with the Word of God.

Consider what voice leads you on your way.

Take care, your heart must not be lead astray.

*******************************************

Dissenters, they might say you preach too hard,

but preachers, this I pray, “Don’t drop your guard.”

Stand strong! Stand strong! The truth declare,

for men are searching everywhere.

They need illumination, God’s true light.

Stand strong, although it surely is a fight.

******************************************************

Though some would urge, “You should tear down that fence.”

Resist the surge, in spite of their offense.

Hold on! Hold on! There is a need.

To old landmarks, we must take heed.

The door will one day close for you and me.

Hold on, the prize to win – eternity!

3-24-11

 

This type of poem is called a staccato. You can learn how to write one here.

Proverbs 16:25  There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Proverbs 4:26  Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.

2Timothy 4:2-5  Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

Proverbs 2:20  That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the

righteous.

Psalm 119:130  The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.

Proverbs 22:28  Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.

1Corinthians 9:24-27  Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.

And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.

I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:

But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

 

Afterward

We have experienced a lot of rain recently in the area of California where I live. I must confess that I’m getting kind of tired of it, and as I was looking out the sliding glass door in our bedroom, this limerick came to mind, which I entitled Afterward.

Afterward

 

It’s easy to gripe and complain

when it seems there’s abundance of rain

but superfluous showers

give way to sweet flowers

and loveliest hues of terrain.

When it seems like it has been raining for a long time, I enjoy when it stops, and I appreciate the after effects.

_ the clean look of the outdoors around me

-droplets of water that look like artwork on plants

-the fact that the sun is out again

- I can be outside doing things

There is an application to this spiritually, but I’m not going to write about that here. Do you see how this can relate to somebody’s walk with God? Do you know what Bible verse came to my mind and gave me the idea for this title? I would be interested in hearing from……………………………………………..you.

 

The Road To A Dream

Another great message I heard at On Course was preached by Brother Tim Lackey and dealt with the dreams God has for us. Here are a few things from my notes and memory.

Dreams. God has dreams and plans that He can put in our hearts, but will they come to pass? It really is up to us.

God gave Joseph some dreams in the book of Genesis. He had a plan for Joseph’s life, but before Joseph’s dream could be realized, he had to overcome some things.

-bitterness toward his brothers selling him into slavery

-temptation to commit adultery with Potiphar’s wife

-bitterness toward God for allowing him to be thrown into prison for not giving in to the temptation

Before Joseph’s dream came to pass(which was over 20 years from the time he first had the dream) he went through some times where he was isolated, lonely and seemingly forgotten. We may experience periods like this too, before God brings our dreams to pass, but it’s in times like these that God builds character into us.

We need to beware of the dream killers. Bitterness, rebellion, fornication, adultery and laziness are things that can kill our dreams, but the biggest dream killer is not realizing that every day matters.

If we are to see the dreams God has for us come to pass, we need to dedicate ourselves to Him each and every day. We need to spend time in prayer and devotion every day. Our daily consecration is what will keep us when the hard times come.

The Daily Solution

 

Every day does matter when it comes to a dream

All our choices do count in God’s grand scheme

Though it seems a steep climb up a long, tall ladder

When it comes to a dream, every day does matter.

Let thy soul take heed of the many dream killers

Like laziness, bitterness or fleshly thrillers

To conquer these things, there is a great need

Of the many dream killers, let thy soul take heed.

Our daily consecration, this is the solution

To keep godly dreams alive, crush ungodly pollution

Stay devoted to God and His great salvation

This is the solution, our daily consecration.

3-11-11

 

Whatever Your Lot In Life………

Last night we had an evangelist with us in service, and he told an interesting story of his younger days when he was evangelizing with his wife and daughter who was just an infant at the time.  He was in another state and going to a home of a pastor he had never met before. He pulled up to what on the outside looked like a nice home.  The pastor greeted him at the door, and although he smiled and was cordial, the evangelist sensed an air of sadness about him. Entering into the house, the evangelist and his wife were stunned to see the house in shambles. It wasn’t a filthy place, but it was a mess from obvious construction that had been going on. The evangelist and his wife discovered later that evening that the room in the house where they would be staying was infested with ladybugs. Seeing as they would only be staying there for a few days, they decided that they would just put up with it.  After they had gotten things settled in their room, they went out to the living room to spend some time with the pastor and his family.  Conversation turned toward the evangelist’s infant daughter, and someone asked what the baby was named. When the evangelist said his daughters name, he immediately felt tension in air. He wondered what he had said or done that would evoke such a feeling. The pastor asked him in a barely audible voice, “What did you say her name was?” Upon the evangelist repeating his daughter’s name, one of the pastor’s sons turned 360 and walked out of the room. The pastor then began to relate an incident that happened a couple of years back. He had a granddaughter with the same name as the evangelist’s daughter. One day, when the granddaughter was a toddler, she was playing there on the pastor’s(grandfathers) property. Somehow, while the grandparents got distracted, the little girl wandered off, and when her grandparents noticed, they began looking for her. The pastor’s wife(grandmother)ended up finding her face down in a pond they had on their property. They were devastated. The pastor’s son who was the father of the child, became bitter and turned his back on God. This was another devastating blow.  About a year or so later, the pastor was on his way to church on a Sunday morning and driving in inclement weather. He failed to see a stop sign, went through it and ended up hitting a car. The driver of the car was a woman, and she had her young daughter in the car with her. Both of them died.  The pastor was distraught over this, and the sad incident was also printed in the local paper.  In the midst of the turmoil that followed, the assistant pastor at this church ended up leaving and pulling half the congregation out with him.  The evangelist found out later that the reason the house was in shambles was during this period when all these trying things happened, they had been remodeling their house. (First they remodeled the church, and then they decided to work on the house, which was actually left in shambles by a former pastor.) They got to the point where they just lost heart and couldn’t continue with the remodeling. The evangelist, upon finding out all this information had a question he needed to ask the pastor. The question he asked went something like this.  “After all that has happened to you in the past few years, how can you keep on pastoring here? How do you keep going on? The pastor’s answer?

Whatever your lot in life, build on it.

 

I just thought that was so profound.  In spite of this man’s struggles and troubles, he had purposed in his heart that he would still do something for God. Life can sure throw us some curve balls. We all will have our share of troubles , but whatever happens, I pray that I could have a victor and not a victim mentality and the attitude of this pastor. May God help us to view our troubles according to His Word.

Psa 27:4,5

 

 

 

One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.

Psalm 32:7

 

 

 

Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah

Psa 59:16

 

 

 

But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble.

Note : The evangelist and his wife were asked by the pastor to stay longer than originally planned. In spite of the ladybugs, they said yes. Several souls were filled with the Holy Ghost and baptized in Jesus’ name in those meetings. The pastor and his wife were thrilled!

.

 

Love This Quote

Optimism is a cheerful frame of mind that enables a teakettle to sing though in hot water up to its neck.

Unknown