Tomorrow is the first of four special days that the General Overseer of my denomination has called to be set aside as special days of concerted prayer.  Starting at midnight and going till midnight there should not be a minute of any hour when there are no prayers being poured out to God on behalf of ourselves, our families, our churches, and our nation and world.  It should be an awesome time of communion with our Father.  I intend to pray as much as I can.  I have actually determined in my heart and mind that I will pray more tomorrow than I ever have. 

What is prayer to you? 

I could go on quite a bit on this but that is not the focus for now.  So for now, I will keep this simple.  I believe prayer to be, at the simplest level, communication with God.  A discussion with our Lord.  A talk with our Father. 

I actually heard an evangelist say once that this is not what prayer is.  He said prayer was asking and receiving from God.  I have to disagree with this.  If this was all prayer is, then how in the world are we supposed to pray without ceasing?  I want and need a lot of things but, I can’t even begin to come up with enough to continuously, never cease, to ask from God.  And if prayer is also receiving and we look to James 5:16 to see that righteous men’s prayers accomplish much, then why aren’t some receiving a whole lot?

Tuesday, in my first attempt to stimulate discussion, I posted and posited a scenario and some questions in hope of provoking thought on prayer, its effectiveness, and to ask if it was truly enough, in a given situation. 

I thank the three, only three, that responded with their comments.  They were good, loving responses to the situation I put forth.  But they didn’t get to the place I wanted to get to. 

I am one of the first ones that will say we have to love, and love, and love some more.  But I also believe, no, I know, that that love will look different depending on the person, the situation, and the circumstances. 

In that post, I asked the following questions.  What do you do?  How do you pray?  What do you ask for?  And do you think it would be effective?

The answers I got were great answers, and loving answers in a way, but the whole post was really designed to let me ask this question.

When is it time to stop letting people off the hook, so to speak, and tell them in no uncertain terms, that your praying for them in their current state, is probably a waste of time? 

Whew!  I got it out.  You will never know how hard it was for me to write that question. 

When I asked; what do you do; I knew that the vast majority say to simply pray.  Don’t confront, that has been done.  Don’t instruct, they already know.  Don’t judge, they need compassion. 

When I asked; how do you pray; I knew the vast majority of the faithful would say to pray for his salvation, his healing or comfort, and for God to be glorified.  I didn’t think anyone would pray for strength and instruction on how to disassemble the lies and deception our adversary had woven in this man’s life.

When I asked; what do you ask for; I knew the requests would mainly be in how to show love to the man, how to show compassion and how to love him.  I somehow knew that no one would ask God how to tell the guy that he is on his own if He doesn’t do a little more himself, like joining in the battle for his soul, than just relying on other warriors. 

Finally, when I asked if the prayers sent up would be effective; I somehow knew that most thought they would be.  I would have been very surprised if James 5:16 had not been brought up.  It was, by two out of the three commentators.  I even used it above.  It is a powerful verse but, we all have to admit that sometimes, no matter how fervent, no matter how much faith we have, what we ask for does not come about.  Sometimes people are not saved, sometimes people are not healed, and sometimes God is not glorified in a given situation. 

Jas 5:13-16  Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises. Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

Who is James talking to?  He is talking to the brethren; those who walk in service to our King.  The man in my scenario was not described to be one of the brethren.  Just going to church does not mean you are fighting on the side of the Kingdom.  But you say, I am the one that is righteous and asked to do the praying.  Look at the part I emboldened.  It is the first part of James 5:16.  It is the part that no one bothers to memorize.  In my scenario the man never said he wanted to confess, or get forgiveness.  I purposefully implied that he only wanted healed.  Most of the people in church who don’t have nothing to do with you, the true prayer warriors, will quickly turn to you when they really, selfishly, need something.  But does that mean God will do what we ask?  Because of our service, and our faith?

It is time that we did a little bit more.  Prayer is our most effective weapon in the spiritual warfare we are involved in.  But we have to get it out of our head that it is to simply ask and receive.  In my scenario it is actually more about discussing the battle plan with our King. How do we let this man know that He can be healed, and forgiven, if he will only turn from his iniquity? 

 Isa 59:2  but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.

The man in my scenario, and many of those out there that ask for prayer, have caused God to hide His face from them because of their iniquity.  Some of my own children are in this group.  Do I stop praying for them?  No.  But do I let them know that that is probably not enough?  That they have a part to play in their own salvation?  Every chance I get. 

What is wrong with letting those that are on the wide path to destruction know that they bear the responsibilty for their choice?  As the people in the culture we live in accelerate ever faster towards their doom, isn’t it time we joined in the fight, to ram into them if need be, to knock them off the path to destruction? 

Sometimes, love hurts.

Love you all

Tags: Boldness, Christianity, Christians, Compassion, Faith, God, Healing, Iniquity, Judgment, Love, Prayer, Responsibility, Self, Selfishness, Servant Hood, Service, Sin, Spiritual Warfare, Weapons

Jonathan Wallis was born on April 4 1975.  His father was a steelworker and his mother was a waitress.  He didn’t have much when he was a child because his parents split up early in his life.  But he was a good boy and when his mother had to work at two jobs he had a lot of time alone.  He loved to read and stayed out of serious trouble and after a rough start, did very well in school.  He put himself through college and graduated with two doctorates.  At the age of thirty one in 2006 he developed a laser treatment that removed tumors in the brain without invasive surgery.

Susie Johnston was also born in 1975.  Her parents were in college when she was born and the strain on their relationship was tremendous but, they worked through it and were able to raise Susie in a good, loving, giving environment.  She became a nurse and in 2003 moved to South America to open an orphanage and medical clinic.

Josh Burroughs was born in August 1975.  He was placed in a state home immediately because his mother was in a rehab program and didn’t want him.  He was moved around for a few years and was abused.  But the Burroughs, Bill and Gloria, adopted him at 10 years of age.  With a lot of love and affirmation they motivated him to also finish college and move into research.  Just this year he announced, along with his team, that they had developed a cure for AIDS.

By this time you might be saying to yourself, “Wait a minute.  I haven’t heard of any of this.”  And you would be right.  None of the above happened.  I made it all up.  I was just wondering, what might have been. 

These three fictitious people, born thirty three years ago, might have been real.  They might just be three of the over one million casualties of war that happened in the worst battleground that existed in 1975.  That battleground was the womb of a woman that was told it was her right to kill an innocent.  An unwanted and unplanned child could be slaughtered in the womb and discarded as trash by any woman for any reason.  What an age of compassion and enlightenment we live in. 

Legislation was passed as the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), and signed into law in 1970.  This established the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Council on Environmental Quality

In 1972, the United Nations held the first Human Environment conference which led to the development of special government agencies like the UN Environment Program to help regulate and set environmental standards.  This was so we could make sure and protect this earth we live on. 

In 1973 came the Endangered Species Act.  Peter Singer was also working on his book, Animal Liberation, which was published in 1975.  His main thesis is that if women can have rights, then animals should too. 

Our enemy also won a major victory in 1973.  Around the same time so many came to the defense of the planet and the animals that live on it, a few men sold out to the enemy and overturned many state laws that had protected the innocent child. 

And look at how far we have come.  We have a multitude of laws protecting the environment and animals.  We have groups out to convince us of global warming and animal species extinction.  We can go to jail for inhumane treatment of an animal.  We can’t even, by law, put a dog out of its misery in old age but instead, must let a veterinarian do it, in case we cause it to inadvertently suffer.

Peter Singer has moved on to teaching that a child is not even a person until some elusive time when it obtains, “rationality, autonomy, and self-consciousness.” These are required for a child to have the “essential characteristics of personhood.” 

So it’s okay that since 1973, because of some of our most prestigious judges being sold out to the enemy, we, as a nation, have slaughtered almost forty million innocent children in the name of selfishness. 

Imagine the potential that has been wasted.  Some of the earlier casualties of this warfare would be reaching the ages of maximum contribution to society.  God had a plan and a set of abilities and gifts for each one of them.

In the fiction I wrote at the beginning of this article, Jonathan was aborted because the parents didn’t really love each other and didn’t want a kid.  Susie was aborted because her parents found her to be inconvenient and an unfair burden to come from an evening of fun.   And no one was there for Josh’s mother to tell her that she could do something different.  The center she was in just wanted the child out of the way. 

There are many reasons that some think they should murder the innocent.  And I really hate that I sound so harsh.  And I do not judge or condemn anyone that has made this decision.  God loves you no matter what you might have done.  He can forgive you for whatever you might have done. 

I just wanted to point out one thing. 

Satan told Eve a lie.  She believed it and brought all of us into a war we didn’t ask for.  He is still lying.  He is telling some that murder is okay and he is telling some that it doesn’t matter if others do it as long as they don’t.  If anyone is okay with abortion, whether a woman having one, or a politician okay with it, or a person ignoring this by their vote, they are serving the enemy.

Anyone that could be a party to the dismemberment of an innocent, helpless child is deceived by the enemy of all of our souls.

Don’t buy into his lie?

I really love you all

Tags: Abortion, Church Issues, Enemy, Evil, Kingdom, Lie, Lies, Murder, Pain, Selfishness, Silence, Spiritual Warfare, Value, Worth