Order of Prayer: God Draws (with Updated Prayer Requests)

Check out http://allheartsoulstrengthmind.wordpress.com/ to learn about prayer and give prayer requests.

The prayer requests, praises, and stories of answered prayer are attached to the bottom of this post.  I am excited to share about prayer, learning about what it is, where to pray, how to pray, why we pray, who we are praying to, and when we are to pray.  Before the prayer requests, there is a section about what the Bible says about prayer.

God’s will for us in prayer is not about opinion.  It isn’t just talking to God and hoping He’s listening.  It is not about simply sharing some requests and hoping someone will pray for them.  It is much more than that.

His will for us in our walk with Him is that we continue to find joy in obedience to Him.  That we search out His ways, which He says are not our ways.  That we learn about Him in Scripture and that we have intent to honor His name in our deeds and when we pray to Him.

I couldn’t be more convicted of the fact that while Jesus is the only way to salvation, once someone confesses with their tongue that Jesus is Lord over their life and believe in their heart that God raised Jesus from the dead that there are essential commands to live by according to Scripture.  They aren’t simple suggestions.  They aren’t whimsical.  They aren’t opinion.  They are things that God says “Do this” and we should comply.

It would be easy to skip over learning about things like prayer and to the action step of the command, which is in this case, praying.  However, God demands more from us than that.  He has laid out a process that leads to Spirit-led prayer, which is much different than ignorant prayer, idol prayer, and the prayers of unbelievers.

Hebrews 6:1-2 states:

^“1Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,

²Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.”

And Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:

^“1 Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. ² I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.”

With these things in mind, if the Bible gives a command such as “Pray ceaselessly” and says of prayer in Romans 8:26-27, “²⁶ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. ²⁷ And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.” Then do we not know that we lack in knowing what we ought to pray, yet are to pray ceaselessly?  That we are to learn and no longer be infantile in our spiritual thoughts and not continually having to lay out what the Bible is calling base doctrines?

The Bible gives many commands and each one of them is we should learn through study.  Jesus told His disciples to go and begin “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20).  In order to do this, it is self-apparent that we must read Scripture, pouring over it so that we may internalize it.  Paul calls it solid food and something that as we study more, we can receive more.

Therefore, if God says to pray ceaselessly and yet we lack in knowing what we ought to pray, wouldn’t it be glorifying to God and obeying His desire for us that after receiving Christ as our Lord and Savior, our Prophet, Priest, and King that we do the very thing Jesus tells us to do by learning and going out, teaching the world to obey everything that He commanded us, including how to pray?

In order to do this, we must open up the Bible and intake it like food for our souls.  If we don’t, we hinder spiritual growth in our lives and become stagnant.  We lose our saltiness and are no longer are much of a light to this dark world.

It’s a great and powerful thing to know what prayer is and what it is not.  A great message about prayer that addresses this can be seen here

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“Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;

Praise Him, all creatures here below;

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.”

Ken Thomas wrote this stanza to conclude the hymn “Awake, My Soul, and with the Sun” in 1674.  These well-known lyrics have ironically become a common doxology, even though Ken Thomas believed that only Scripture should be used in corporate worship, pray, and song.  He wrote the words and instructed others to only sing them at home during their personal devotions.

We can invision hosts of people singing these words then concluding them with a prolonged, “Ah-men” in a low octave.  As tradition goes, words can be repeated so often that they lose their meaning and purpose.  Thus, when praying or worshiping God, words can become hollow.  It is sinful, human nature to grow lazy in reverence of God and having a heart to plunge the depths of his goodness.

Being sinful creatures, we tend to fail to focus on the meaning of God’s words and often lack obedience to daily come before God in prayer.  We miss daily communing with God and do not even know the purpose of prayer.  We rarely, if ever, think, “Why do we pray?” and “How do we come to pray?”

Meditating on the meaning of Ken Thomas’s hymn, we realize it resembles the prayer Jesus taught his disciples as an example of how to pray.  The focus is on thanking and praising the God from whom all blessings flow.  Soon, we realize that an obedient way to thank and praise God is to obey His words.  This may seem obvious, but how often do we neglect the fact that God is a God of order and has told us what He desires from us?

God has declared Himself ruler over all things of all things, full of purpose, and worthy of study and worship.  It is important to know how He wants us to learn about Himself.  Because He is a God of order, He has designed an order that, when followed, fills our lives with joy that can only be found in His holy presence.

The order is as follows:

God draws —–>  Repentance  —–>  Confession/Belief  —–>  Grace  —–>  Faith  —–>  Indwelling  —–> Obedience  —–>  Prayer

God draws His elect to Himself, softening their hearts and giving them ears to hear according to His will so that they may repent of their sins and turn towards Him.  Repentance spurs on the spoken confession that Jesus is Lord and belief in one’s heart that God raised Jesus from the dead.  With that, God graciously grants us eternal life because of our faith in Jesus, filling us with the Holy Spirit.  Those who are called and believe are to obey God’s laws and grow in stature through prayer and reading the Word.

Each part of God’s plan deserves study and each are individually important.  If one is missing, the rest do not happen or do not happen correctly.  For example, if God does not draw someone to Himself, they would never know to repent and so on.  Therefore, it is important to know what God has said about each one of these things in His inspired Word.

It’s important not only to know something exists, but the qualities of that particular thing.  For instance, it’s important to not just know that a wheel turns, but also know who made the wheel, what they made the wheel out of, when the wheel was made, where it was made, why it was made, and how it was made.  If you know these things, you won’t be inclined to try and reinvent the wheel and make one of your own that is prone to flats.

In this case, God is the “who” that created prayer.  He has showed us what to pray, when to pray, where to pray, why to pray, and how to pray.

Isaiah 64:8 says,

“⁸But now, O LORD, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.”

Similarly and more expansively, Romans 9:15-23 says, “¹⁵For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” ¹⁶So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. ¹⁷For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” ¹⁸So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

¹⁹You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” ²⁰But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” ²¹Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? ²²What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, ²³in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—.”

God has made it abundantely clear that unless he chooses to draw someone to Himself, then they will never choose Him.  In fact, the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 3:10, “None is righteous, no, not one.”  Unrighteousness will never choose righteousness.  They cannot share the same space.

Therefore, It is a blessing to know that God chooses us and molds us.  If He didn’t, then we’d never know Him and is it not a glorious, wonderful thing to know the LORD?  In fact, Isaiah 6:10 says,

“¹⁰ Make the heart of this people dull,
and their ears heavy,
and blind their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”

It is clear that if we were to understand God with our own minds, we would become prideful and deny Him, claiming that we are able to do works that only God can do.  We would deny God and His power over us.

God has chosen His own from all peoples.  Acts 13:48 says, “⁴⁸And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.”  In fact, being chosen is part of God’s expressed plan.  Ephesians 1:5 says, “⁵ he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will”.

It is a wonderful thing to know that God graciously gives us an inheritance of eternal life spent in His perfection in heaven.  “¹¹In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,” the Apostle Paul states in Ephesians 1:11.

We should continually thank God for what He has chosen to give us.  God makes it known in 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14, “¹³But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. ¹⁴To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Most importantly, John 6:44 says, “⁴⁴No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.”  Without this drawing of us to God, we would never receive the Holy Spirt and we are told in Scripture that because of our sinful nature, we don’t know how to pray.  Romans 8:26 states, “²⁶Likewise 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.

Studying the sovereignty of God fills us with reverence, humbleness, and thanksgiving.  What better way to enter the presence of God in prayer than in such a state of mind, with a sincere and broken heart?

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Prayer Requests, some new, some repeated, and some answered:

Continue to pray for Japan and for those affected worldwide by natural disasters.  The devil continues to seek out people to devour and destroy God’s creation.

Update:  My friend Derek Johnson’s prayer for support to finish out school had seemingly been answered.  He was offered a loan by a fellow school mate.  However, about a day later, Derek received news from the school mate that he had decided to not give the loan.  Therefore, Derek is back at square one and in need of prayers for support to finish his schooling at Elim College.  He has thanked those who are praying for him.

Update:  My friend Taran asked for prayer for a friend’s sister who has several internal problems and needed surgery to keep her alive.  She had surgery and it went well.  Please continue to pray for her health and healing, as she will have further surgeries in the future.  Also, please continue to pray for Steve Pierot, a man that Taran knows, who was recently arrested for death threats towards and physical abuse of his ex girlfriend. He used to know the guy, and he was always really quiet. Taran has been praying for him and for the situation that he’s in. He’s a troubled kid who just couldn’t control himself. Just pray that he’ll stay safe in this situation, learn from it, and for his own salvation.

My good friend Dan Bowen in Michigan asks for prayer for his friend’s dad who broke his leg and also is a diabetic and struggling with infection, which has caused him the partial loss of one of his feet.  Pray for his mother who was laid off from her job of 12 years.  He also prays that he can find a new job because he may be laid off soon from his current position because there is word that his office may close in a few weeks.

Chad Toelke, a friend who graduated with me from high school, asks for prayer as he begins raising support to be a leader of Adeline Camp.

Continue praying for Julian in the UK who asked that we pray for his parents Ian (87) and Beryl (84) and for their difficult marriage and most importantly of all, for their salvation.  He said that he hears of few who are saved at their age.

Please pray for a young woman that I met very recently who was on many sedatives and psychotropic drugs that the doctors had put her on.  She had a three year old son that had been taken from her custody.  I don’t know her back story, but she asked for prayer and said she believes in Jesus.  She said she misses her little boy.

Roy Rodriguez, who disciples me, asks for prayer that he grows in obedience to God, walking into a burning passion for Christ.

Pray for Roy Rodriguez Jr. who asks for prayer for revival and justice in the Rockford area.

Pray for Cody Miles, a friend of mine from my days as a student at Northern Illinois University.  He will be going to a Christian concert with an unbelieving friend and is praying for the salvation of his friend.  Also, pray that he may get a permanent teaching job so that he and his wife can qualify to buy a house.

My friend Ricky Walz asks for prayer for his dad and that his dad stays away from alcohol.  He also asks for prayer for the salvation of his dad, mom and sister.

Pray for pastor Keith Doster, who I met at a conference for pastors and has given me sound advice. He asks for prayer for Robert Morgret and his plans to go to Mexico at some point. It will truly be a miracle if he ever gets there.  Robert Morgret is a deaf missionary who loves the Lord.  He has been trying to start a sign language ministry in Mexico.  Deaf Mexicans are outcasts and almost none of them know what sign language is.  They barely survive and are a population unreached with the gospel.

Pray for Cheryl Kolb, the wife of Bob Kolb who is the pastor of Faith Community Church where I have attended services since I was five years old.  Praise God!  Their son and daughter in law, Bobby and Rachel, were granted a visa for their adopted son, Nico, who they adopted in Africa while on a mission.

Pray for Chris Cellura who I met in Korea.  He says, “I would really appreciate it if you could pray that the LORD would grant me more zeal. Leading and teaching has made the spiritual battle much more difficult than it has ever been before and instead of zealously putting up a fight, I’ve become slack in areas where I should not be. These are normal struggles, I assume, not just for leaders, but everyone.  If you can, pray that the LORD would restore my zeal for His Kingdom cause and not let me get so easily discouraged…!”

Continue to pray for Trevor Johnson who is a missionary in Papua New Guinea.  He and his family, as well as his neighbors, are regularly sick with malaria and dengue fever.  Currently, Trevor is healing after a severe bought of dengue fever and malaria, which caused a low platelet count in his blood and weakened him so that his trip inland has been postponed.  Pray for healing.

Thank God for answered prayers for my friend Dan Sullivan who was able to find another job.  He asks for prayer that he can find work in ministry because that is the desire of his heart.

Pray for Gayle Boos and her husband Harlan.  Harlan’s mother past away last week and Gayle’s mother’s health is failing.  Pray for comfort during this time.

Pray for my cousin Christopher who is looking for a job.

Pray for my friend Amber Wallace who asks for prayer for political situation in Wisconsin which is affecting her ability in finding a teaching job for the fall.  Amber is newly engaged to Josh Lamb.  I met both of them while employed as a camp counselor in Wisconsin.  Josh asks for prayer for the political situation in Wisconsin, also.

Pray for Deb Hartman, my aunt, who says, “I would like prayers for my father-in-law who has lung cancer, I have a friend at work that has cancer everywhere and a co-worker that just finished radiation for breast cancer. I would really appreciate your prayer requests on their behalf.”

Favor Kim in Korea asks for prayer about a lawsuit against her neighbor and choir at church.

Please pray for Jaimee Kartheiser, a friend I met during my time as a missionary in New Orleans, who asks that she will stay focused on Jesus and that my quiet times will be glorifying to God.

Hyeonju Jeon from Seoul asks for prayer as she takes class to be an art therapist so she can practice art therapy with North Korean refugee children and for her life at home with her family.  Also, please pray she grows in her courage to share the Lord and pray with others.

My friend Matthew Taylor, who I met in Louisiana, is preparing to be a missionary with a group called To Every Tribe.  He is preparing to move to Texas for training in September and is asking for prayer that the support is raised for him to go at that time.

Paul Snider, a missionary and awesome man of God, is preparing to go to Papau New Guinea in September.  Pray that he is prepared.

Joshua Yun, a friend and godly man in Korea, asks that the gospel be spread in Seoul.  Korea is sadly a huge proponent of the prosperity message, which is a false gospel that preaches that if you believe in Jesus you will get all the worldly things that you desire.

Warren Young, my grandpa, asks for prayer for his wife asking that the Lord grant her some relief from her health related problems.  He also asks, “Pray for my good friend Bill and his family. This month his wife fell and broke her shoulder, Bill was hospitalized and had a heart stint put in to remove a blockage, On the 20th of the month his mother passed away, and his Dad is currently in the hospital. Please GOD help them in this time of need.”

I ask for prayer that God will continue to grow me in deed and wisdom through His Spirit and that I wait on His sovereign timing for my life.  Pray for the new job that I a working.  Pray that I may be a light to the people I work with that are in darkness.  I am looking for partners in desire to share the gospel and the importance of building up prayer.  God has put a desire within me to begin networking with others to build up the desire of prayer in others and the desire to evangelize locally.  Please pray for my family.  I just started a new job at a rehab facility and have been substitute teaching a lot in the past week.  Pray that I don’t overdo it because I’ve been working 17 hour days and that I am a light to the rehab patients and students.  Also, there has been some issues with the hours at work that I am currently discussing with my supervisor and Human Resources.  Pray that it is worked out and without much stress.

Praise God for His goodness.  Thank Him for His grace and mercy.  Pray that his name is hallowed and His will is done.

Prayer: In His Name

Check out http://allheartsoulstrengthmind.wordpress.com/ to learn about prayer and share prayer requests.

A friend of mine posted a status update yesterday that simply said, “Matthew 21:22″.  I couldn’t recall the verse, so I looked it up and read it.  It says, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

I remembered hearing this verse preached and spoken about at length.  Many use it to justify what is often called the prosperity gospel.  The prosperity gospel is basically the following message, “If you believe in Jesus Christ, he will bless you with your desires and give you the things of your prayers.”

The true gospel is, “Repent!  You are a sinner, unable to stand in the presence of Holy God.  Yet, God sent Jesus, His only son, to live as a man both fully God and fully man without sin so that he may die on a cross.  His blood is the propitiation, or the only satisfying thing before God, as the one thing that can cover our sins so that we may stand forgiven before God.  If we repent of our sins, acknowledging that we have done wrong before God and turn from them, and confess with our tongue that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be saved.”

John 14:13-14 expands on Matthew 21:22:  ”¹³ And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”

Today, when I was reading about prayer, I came across a link to a video that specifically speaks about John 12:13-14:

The Bible never says that God will give of the desires of the heart without adding a clause about the glorification of God.

I believe that it was important to reiterate what the gospel is and what it is not because without that understanding, there is no purpose to prayer.  If one does not believe in the true gospel, then they have not been grafted into the body of Christ and therefore they are unable to do anything for and ask for anything in the name of Christ.  They are still spiritually dead.

Secondly, I believe it is important to begin rightly dividing the Word and taking a deep look at what prayer is scripturally.  In other words, learning the WHY and HOW of prayer according to God.

Prayer: What is it? Why do it? How do I pray? (Updated prayer requests)

Check out http://allheartsoulstrengthmind.wordpress.com/ to learn about prayer and share prayer requests.

In the past week, I have been humbled yet again; this time about prayer.  God has shown me that the importance of prayer cannot be over exaggerated.  Without prayer, Christians will never know the will of God for their lives.

I have been praying that God will reach those that I know and love, friends and family, and work in them the importance of prayer just the same.  It’s my desire to see people sharing their prayer requests freely amongst each other through this site and in their lives without myself or someone else having to pry their prayers from them like a dentist pulling teeth.

The devil has done a work in most people’s lives.  He did a work in my life, I know.  He convinces people that prayer doesn’t matter.  He convinces people that they are too busy to pray.  He works to keep people away from learning how to pray and why to pray.

If people are anything like me, they tend to keep their desires and petitions to themselves.  They have no idea how to praise and thank God through prayer.  They don’t even know how imperative it is that they pray and do it constantly.  It’s as if prayer is an off-topic, a no-fly-zone in their spiritual lives.

Let me put it bluntly:  Without prayer, Christian life becomes worldly life.  Without prayer shared between friends and family, those relationships are nothing but the same as worldly friendships and bonds.  They may look outwardly different, but they are dead inside.  Individuals who do not prayer to God or pray but don’t know how to pray and why are like ponds.  In the Bible, it says that God pours out a river of His pleasure to us.  If we aren’t praying, that water comes into our pond, so to speak, and we act like beavers.  We dam up the other end of the pond and very little escapes or nothing at all.  The water becomes stagnant and anyone knows that stagnant water is poison.  It’s not worth drinking.  Yet, this water is supposed to be life giving.  We turn it into something worthless.

Imagine that you enlist as a soldier.  At boot camp, you are told you will be a radio man.  Soon, you’re sent off to war and called into a fight.  Instead of loading your weapon with ammunition, you throw all of your ammunition into a hole before charging into battle.  You also destroy the radio, so you and your platoon no longer have any contact with air support and your commanders.  Soon, you’re being shot at and asked to cover your fellow troops as they try to take strategic positions to defeat the enemy.  You watch as your platoon is shot down one by one and you can’t defend them because your threw away your ammo.  You can’t call for support or medivac because you destroyed the radio.  There is no communication with your commanders.  Then in an attempt to reconcile the situation and defeat the enemy, you charge them head on with nothing to defend yourself with other than your bear hands.

That’s what it’s like to live a Christian life without prayer.  You cannot produce spiritual fruit without prayer.  You can’t grow as a Christian.  You are not communing with God.  You’ll never know the will of God for your life without prayer.

Prayer was designed to thank God for all that He has done.  Jesus gave an example of prayer in Matthew 6:9-13:

“Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.”

Most people do not notice that the main point of Jesus’s example of prayer is that God is to be exalted.  He is in control.  He alone is holy.  Everything in life is according to His sovereign will.  We should live our lives according to His will.  How do we do that?  We must pray and learn His will which he has made explicitly clear in Scripture.

Also, Jesus shows us the importance of repentance.  True prayer acknowledges that we are sinners and fall short of the glory of God.  Repentance means in Greek to “turn away from”.  There is a difference between telling God your sorry and having a change of heart by truly seeking to cease and desist a specific sin, turning away from it.

Without prayer, we are not letting our petitions to God be known.  Jesus shows us that we can trust God to be the provider, but we are also praising Him and showing our allegiance to Him when we pray to God, letting Him know that we need Him as our provider.

Lastly, 1 Peter 5:8 says that the devil is like a roaring lion, looking for people to devour.  God is our deliverer and we show Him humility in acknowledging He is our deliverer from the evil one.  A poet, William Cowper, said, “And Satan trembles when he sees The weakest saint upon his knees.”

Nothing about prayer is actually about us.  It’s all about God.  Most people make prayer about themselves.  Prayer is about knowing God.  Andrew Murray, a South African minister once said, “Some people pray just to pray and some people pray to know God.”

It is my desire and prayer that God continues to break me and teach me about prayer and that I stay on task, sharing what it means to pray, why to pray, and how to pray.

Last night, my friend Roy told me a story.  He said to imagine a man that says he is a Christian like a man with a stick of dynamite.  Then he said to imagine a man who states he is a Christian AND prays as a man with a stick of dynamite WITH a match.  Which one is useful?  Which one is going to cause an explosion?

The Holy Spirit is our match.  God has graciously given the Holy Spirit to us.  If we don’t pray, we are actively snuffing out the flame of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  We are dynamite with no boom.

We should desire to want to cause explosions of Holy Spirit all around us.  We should love to petition the Lord, interceding for the people all around us, for our government, for those in need, all in the name of Christ Jesus.

I implore you to join me in prayer.  Not say you’ll pray and never do it.  Not say you’ll do it and only do it once.  Grow in prayer.  Seek out what it says in the Word about prayer.  Share your sins, desires, and needs here so that others may pray with you.  It doesn’t matter that you may not know who you are praying for by name and maybe have never met them in person.  They are your brother.  They are your sister.  God is our father.  Christ is our bride.  The Holy Spirit intercedes for us even now.

Prayer: What is it? Why do it? How do I pray? (Updated prayer requests)

Prayer: What is it? Why do it? How do I pray? (Updated prayer requests).

04MAR

In the past week, I have been humbled yet again; this time about prayer.  God has shown me that the importance of prayer cannot be over exaggerated.  Without prayer, Christians will never know the will of God for their lives.

I have been praying that God will reach those that I know and love, friends and family, and work in them the importance of prayer just the same.  It’s my desire to see people sharing their prayer requests freely amongst each other through this site and in their lives without myself or someone else having to pry their prayers from them like a dentist pulling teeth.

The devil has done a work in most people’s lives.  He did a work in my life, I know.  He convinces people that prayer doesn’t matter.  He convinces people that they are too busy to pray.  He works to keep people away from learning how to pray and why to pray.

If people are anything like me, they tend to keep their desires and petitions to themselves.  They have no idea how to praise and thank God through prayer.  They don’t even know how imperative it is that they pray and do it constantly.  It’s as if prayer is an off-topic, a no-fly-zone in their spiritual lives.

Let me put it bluntly:  Without prayer, Christian life becomes worldly life.  Without prayer shared between friends and family, those relationships are nothing but the same as worldly friendships and bonds.  They may look outwardly different, but they are dead inside.  Individuals who do not prayer to God or pray but don’t know how to pray and why are like ponds.  In the Bible, it says that God pours out a river of His pleasure to us.  If we aren’t praying, that water comes into our pond, so to speak, and we act like beavers.  We dam up the other end of the pond and very little escapes or nothing at all.  The water becomes stagnant and anyone knows that stagnant water is poison.  It’s not worth drinking.  Yet, this water is supposed to be life giving.  We turn it into something worthless.

Imagine that you enlist as a soldier.  At boot camp, you are told you will be a radio man.  Soon, you’re sent off to war and called into a fight.  Instead of loading your weapon with ammunition, you throw all of your ammunition into a hole before charging into battle.  You also destroy the radio, so you and your platoon no longer have any contact with air support and your commanders.  Soon, you’re being shot at and asked to cover your fellow troops as they try to take strategic positions to defeat the enemy.  You watch as your platoon is shot down one by one and you can’t defend them because your threw away your ammo.  You can’t call for support or medivac because you destroyed the radio.  There is no communication with your commanders.  Then in an attempt to reconcile the situation and defeat the enemy, you charge them head on with nothing to defend yourself with other than your bear hands.

That’s what it’s like to live a Christian life without prayer.  You cannot produce spiritual fruit without prayer.  You can’t grow as a Christian.  You can’t communicate with God.  You’ll never know the will of God for your life without prayer.

Prayer was designed to thank God for all that He has done.  Jesus gave an example of prayer in Matthew 6:9-13:

“Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.”

Most people do not notice that the main point of Jesus’s example of prayer is that God is to be exalted.  He is in control.  He alone is holy.  Everything in life is according to His sovereign will.  We should live our lives according to His will.  How do we do that?  We must pray and learn His will which he has made explicitly clear in Scripture.

Also, Jesus shows us the importance of repentance.  True prayer acknowledges that we are sinners and fall short of the glory of God.  Repentance means in Greek to “turn away from”.  There is a difference between telling God your sorry and having a change of heart by truly seeking to cease and desist a specific sin, turning away from it.

Without prayer, we are not letting our petitions to God be known.  Jesus shows us that we can trust God to be the provider, but we are also praising Him and showing our allegiance to Him when we pray to God, letting Him know that we need Him as our provider.

Lastly, 1 Peter 5:8 says that the devil is like a roaring lion, looking for people to devour.  God is our deliverer and we show Him humility in acknowledging He is our deliverer from the evil one.  A poet, William Cowper, said, “And Satan trembles when he sees The weakest saint upon his knees.”

Nothing about prayer is actually about us.  It’s all about God.  Most people make prayer about themselves.  Prayer is about knowing God.  Andrew Murray, a South African minister once said, “Some people pray just to pray and some people pray to know God.”

It is my desire and prayer that God continues to break me and teach me about prayer and that I stay on task, sharing what it means to pray, why to pray, and how to pray.

Last night, my friend Roy told me a story.  He said to imagine a man that says he is a Christian like a man with a stick of dynamite.  Then he said to imagine a man who states he is a Christian AND prays as a man with a stick of dynamite WITH a match.  Which one is useful?  Which one is going to cause an explosion?

The Holy Spirit is our match.  God has graciously given the Holy Spirit to us.  If we don’t pray, we are actively snuffing out the flame of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  We are dynamite with no boom.

We should desire to want to cause explosions of Holy Spirit all around us.  We should love to petition the Lord, interceding for the people all around us, for our government, for those in need, all in the name of Christ Jesus.

I implore you to join me in prayer.  Not say you’ll pray and never do it.  Not say you’ll do it and only do it once.  Grow in prayer.  Seek out what it says in the Word about prayer.  Share your sins, desires, and needs here so that others may pray with you.  It doesn’t matter that you may not know who you are praying for by name and maybe have never met them in person.  They are your brother.  They are your sister.  God is our father.  Christ is our bride.  The Holy Spirit intercedes for us even now.

Pray!

The following prayer requests came in this week:

Pray for Derek Johnson who is attending school in New York who asked for prayer for his uncle who had surgery on his shoulder.  The surgery went well.  Praise God for the surgery going well.  Derek asks for prayer for his last year as a student and that the Lord provides so that he can finish out the year.

Chad Toelke asks for prayer, saying:  Yesterday a great man of God passed away.  He was very close to Dana’s (Chad’s wife) family and friends.  He also was a very dedicated and strong advocate for Adeline Christian Camp (The camp that Chad helps direct in Illinois).  Please pray for the family and friends of Clarence Lubbs.

Continue praying for Julian in the UK who asked that we pray for his parents Ian (87) and Beryl (84) and for their difficult marriage and most importantly of all, for their salvation.  He said that he hears of few who are saved at their age.

Roy Rodriguez asks for prayer that he grows in obedience to God, walking into a burning passion for Christ.

Pray for Cody Miles.  He was looking for work for a long time and just received a temporary, substitute teaching position.  He would like prayers that the job becomes a permanent position.

Pray for Taran Bainter who asks for prayer for a guy at a nearby school district, Steve Pierot, was recently arrested for death threats and physical abuse of his ex girlfriend. He used to know the guy, and he was always really quiet. Taran has been praying for him and for the situation that he’s in. He’s a troubled kid who just couldn’t control himself. Just pray that he’ll stay safe in this situation, learn from it, and for his own salvation.

Pray for a pastor Keith Doster who asks for prayer for Robert Morgret and his plans to go to Mexico at some point. It will truly be a miracle if he ever gets there.  Robert Morgret is a deaf missionary who loves the Lord.  He has been trying to start a sign language ministry in Mexico.  Deaf Mexicans are outcasts and almost none of them know what sign language is.  They barely survive and are a population unreached with the gospel.

Pray for Cheryl Kolb, the wife of Bob Kolb who is the pastor of Faith Community Church.  Pray for their son Bobby and daughter in law Rachel who have adopted a child, Nico, while missionaries in Africa.  They are currently trying to get a US Visa for Nico to return with them to the US in April.

Pray for Chris Cellura in Korea.  He says, “I would really appreciate it if you could pray that the LORD would grant me more zeal. Leading and teaching has made the spiritual battle much more difficult than it has ever been before and instead of zealously putting up a fight, I’ve become slack in areas where I should not be. These are normal struggles, I assume, not just for leaders, but everyone.  If you can, pray that the LORD would restore my zeal for His Kingdom cause and not let me get so easily discouraged…!”

Pray for missionary Trevor Johnson who says, “I am having some super bad malaria right now. Almost too weak to stand. Plus, our neighbors here, another american family, the wife has dengue and is pregnant. Lots of illness. She is also too sick even to stand up. It is like the plague here right now for some reason.”

Pray for Dan Sullivan who was fired from his job because he did not show up for a shift he did not know he was scheduled to work.  He asked for prayer looking for another job.

Pray for Gayle Boos and her husband Harlan, who ask for prayer for their mother whose health is currently failing and will soon be put in hospice care.

Pray for my cousin Christopher who is looking for a job.

Pray for my friend Amber Wallace who asks for prayer for political situation in Wisconsin which is affecting her ability in finding a teaching job for the fall.

Pray for Deb Hartman who says, “I would like prayers for my father-in-law who has lung cancer, I have a friend at work that has cancer everywhere and a co-worker that just finished radiation for breast cancer. I would really appreciate your prayer requests on their behalf.”

Favor Kim in Korea asks for prayer for her health and stamina.

Please pray for Jaimee Kartheiser who asks that she will stay focused on Jesus and that my quiet times will be glorifying to God.

Hyeonju Jeon from Seoul asks for prayer as she takes class to be a art therapist that will practice art therapy with North Korean refugee children and for her life at home with her family.  Also, please pray she grows in her courage to share the Lord and pray with others.

Kaitlyn Young asks for safety while traveling.  She is driving from Maryland to Illinois in two weeks.

Joshua Yun asks that the gospel be spread in Seoul.  Korea is sadly a huge proponent of the prosperity message, which is a false gospel that preaches that if you believe in Jesus you will get all the worldly things that you desire.

Warren Young asks for prayer for his wife asking that the Lord grant her some relief from her health related problems.  He also asks, “Pray for my good friend Bill and his family. This month his wife fell and broke her shoulder, Bill was hospitalized and had a heart stint put in to remove a blockage, On the 20th of the month his mother passed away, and his Dad is currently in the hospital. Plese GOD help them in this time of need.”

I ask for prayer that God will continue to grow me in deed and wisdom through His Spirit and that I wait on His sovereign timing for my life.  Pray for the new job that I took today.  I will be working 3rd shift at a facility for rehabilitating drug/alcohol abusers.  Pray that I may be a light to the people I work with and help as a technician.  Please pray for my family, also.

Thank you for the prayers.

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Feel free to leave prayer requests in the comment section.  Also, if you’d like to share a worship song, story about what God is doing in your life or someone else’s life, poetry, etc. then you can email campingdude84@gmail.com

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Why the Online House of Prayer?

Why the Online House of Prayer?.

Why the Online House of Prayer?

Timothy Young

Recently, while attending a conference, I heard one of the keynote speakers say to those in attendance, “The hardest thing to get people to do in ministry is pray.”  The conference was large, surpassing capacity, and lasted for two day and if you are anything like me, your focus can easily be displaced and you quickly are focusing on things like the most attractive people in the room, trying to figure out who is wearing too much perfume or cologne, or trying to be cool and attractive enough to meet new friends.

The focus is not on God.

I had volunteered to be an usher at the last minute and was nearly overwhelmed meeting new people over the two days, feeling somewhat pounded by the messages I heard (ah, repentance) and distracted by things like how good the worship band’s drummer and guitar player were at playing their instruments.  As an added bonus, I had the pleasure of running into old friends, some of them who I had not seen for a series of years.

Even with so much to distract me, the quote, “The hardest thing to get people to do in ministry is pray” stuck with me.  In fact, a few days after the conference, it was one of the few things that continued to replay in my mind’s eye.  Like a tree, it took root in my mind and I knew that God was teaching me something.

Why would a pastor who speaks to tens of thousands of people every year say something like, “The hardest thing to do get people to do in ministry is pray?”  This point started to eat ate me and I began to realize that I almost never prayed myself unless I wanted something or was asking for forgiveness for my sins.

During the same conference, another speaker said, “Jesus didn’t die for forty-five minutes and twenty dollars” and that our prayer time shouldn’t be taken up majoritively by pleads for forgiveness.  He meant that Jesus’s life and death meant so much more than attending church on Sunday morning for a short service and giving the minimum amount of effort and support.  He also challenged that once we’ve committed a sin, we know how not to commit the sin again and through prayer and practice, we can sin less and less and spent more time praising God in prayer.

I let these things sink in and take root and realized that they are true and not only that, but more than likely the truest statements ever made about individual walks of faith in the majority of Christian brother’s and sister’s lives worldwide.  I began to recall the dozens of invitations that were extended during church services growing up that were basically begging people to come and learn how to pray through discipleship courses, the many discussions I had had with friends in the past about prayer that were quite empty because no one understood and knew how to pray, and the innumerable amount of times that I had spent asking God for forgiveness and feeling guilty because I had fallen right back into the same foxhole again, committing the same exact sin that I had prayed for forgiveness for just days or even hours prior.

Realize, as I did, brothers and sisters that our faith will not grow without prayer.  It will stagnate like a dammed up pool.  Just think, God the Almighty, the Alpha and the Omega, the one without beginning and end, that can hold the oceans in one hand, He who can stand back and look at the entirety of the universe and beyond, has given us a way to communicate with him very similar to the way we communicate with our friends and family right now!

We are commissioned to share the gospel throughout the world by Jesus himself.  How can we do so confidently without prayer?  Why would we share it without prayer?

The Bible, God’s living word, which he gave to us so that we may know Him has much to say about prayer.  To list just a few:

Ephesians 6:18 says, “With all prayer and supplication praying at all seasons in the spirit, and watching thereunto in all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.”

James 5:16 says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”

Philippians 4:6 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, “ Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

These are just a few of the many things it says in God’s Word about prayer.  To just begin to glean what it says, we see that God wants us to pray in all seasons (happy, sad, angry, depressed, etc.), pray for all other believers, to make known our struggles and pray over them together, that prayer takes away anxiousness, that we can make our requests known to the creator of all things, that we should never stop conversing with the Lord, and to give thanks.  All of these things are the will of our Savior, Jesus, for us.

In fact, the Old Testament prophet Isaiah prophetically proclaimed, “[M]y house will be called a house of prayer for all nations”.  If God names His own house a house of prayer, then how important is it that I pray?  That we pray together?

I don’t know about you, but I want to learn how to pray.  I want to start praying together, which is something most people are afraid to do.  I want to communicate with God at all times, not just during times when I want something from him or have sinned.

There are so many divides between believers, but prayer should not be one of them.  We should throw away our fears of prayer, forget about our guilt, and realize that we have been made new creations in Christ.  We have been told to share our prayers so that others can pray for us.  God has made it clear that prayer is mighty.  It is through prayer that we meet and talk with Him.  It is through prayer and time spent in His Word that we get to know Him.

Come.  Share.  Pray.  Love.

Please, Kill This Dream

Avalon Academy, of which I work, has loads of great ideas.  They always work.  They are marvelous and should be shouted from mountain tops.  The top educators around the world should take notice, fall to their knees, and collectively shout, “Hail Avalon, king of the schools!”

OR NOT!

The newest plan to accomplish “school unity” is to gather up the kids 24 times within the next three weeks and have all of them, every single grade 2nd-6th, come together in the lobby and learn to sing in unison the song “I Have a Dream” by Abba.

As if the nightmare of trying to control a crowd of hundreds of Elementary students is not enough, all of whom are embarrassed even to answer a question in class, and trying to get them to sing in front of each other in unity a song is the song itself.

Don’t get me wrong, Abba has some catchy tunes, such as “Dancing Queen,” but their song “I Have a Dream” is putrid.  Just plain terrible.

See and listen for yourself:

Coming Home!!!

Attention!  Attention!

The headline reads, “Tim Young Returns Home!”

For those of you back in the U.S., I will be returning home to the U.S. on February 12th.  I will be flying to Denver and spending time with my grandparents there and decompressing, getting over jetlag, taking naps, mountain hiking, and skiing.

After my time in Colorado, which has no specific dates (I may stay there longer than a week because I am looking forward to time to decompress, slowly work myself back into Western society, and spending time alone with God in one of the most beautiful places on Earth), I will return to Lake Summerset, Illinois.  I plan to be in Illinois for roughly a month.

I will try to visit as many people as I can, so keep me in mind for the end of February and for March.

Then, at the end of March or very beginning of April, I will be heading off to New Orleans to work with Sovereign Grace Homeland Missions, rebuilding and being a steward of God.  I am super excited about this.  Continue to pray for me as I prepare for this part of my life and consider supporting me through ongoing prayer and/or financially.  I will be there for at least a year.

Muse

Last night, I went to see Muse live in concert at Olympic Stadium in Seoul.

The show was amazing.  The light show was very well done and the sound was pretty impeccable.

I was pleasantly surprised by how hard Muse rocked out live and how good the musicmanship was throughout.  On their albums, Muse tend to hold back when it is outside the perimeters of a certain formula, but on stage they broke with that formula with jams and solos by all the members.

At the door, no one was searched.  If I had known this, I could have taped the entire show on my camera and posted it.  But, 20/20 hindsight can’t be redone.  I still had a very enjoyable time.

I went with a co-worker, Laura, whom I haven’t spent any time with outside of work.  It was nice to get to know her a bit.  We were on the subway together for a total of over three hours throughout the night.

The set list for the show is as follows:

Uprising (#1 Resistance)
Map Of The Problematique (#4 Blackholes & Revelations)
Supermassive Black Hole (#3 Blackholes & Revelations)
MK Ultra (#7 Resistance)
Butterflies & Hurricanes (#10 Absolution)
Interlude (#7 Absolution)
Hysteria (#8 Absolution)
New Born (#1 Origin of Symmetry)
Nishe
United States of Eurasia (#4 Resistance)
Helsinki Jam
Resistance (#2 Resistance)
Undisclosed Desires (#3 Resistance)
Starlight (#2 Blackholes & Revelations)
Time is Running out (#3 Absolution)
Unnatural Selection (#6 Resistance)
Stockholm Syndrome (#5 Absolution)

Encore:
Plug In Baby (#5 Origin of Symmetry)
Knights of Cydonia (#11 Blackholes & Revelations)

SNOW: Witnessing History, Literally

Today, I literally witnessed history in Seoul, South Korea.

South Korea began to take snow measurements in 1937.  The most snowfall in Seoul since 1937 was a little over 10 inches of snow.

Well, today, that record from 1969 was broken.  More than 11 inches of snow fell in parts of Seoul.

Therefore, I have witnessed the most snow in 73 years of recorded history of meteorology.

73 YEARS!!!

Wow.

Even still, some meteorologists predicted this was the most snow in over a century.  Amazing:  http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=67013 and http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2010-01/04/content_12752746.htm

To top off the day, which was a snow day for school, I received a call saying tomorrow will also be a snow day.  I also had stuffed crust pizza while studying the Bible with my friend Dan then later went to have microbrewed beer at a microbrewery in an area of Seoul called Apgujeong at Platinum Brewery.  I had three different kinds of beer: a pilsner, a golden ale, and a cream beer much like Guinness.

What an amazing day!

Oh, and p.s.:  All of this was definitely brought on by global warming, so run for the hills all ye liberals.

You Are a Smile (Just Not Mine)

You Are a Smile (Just Not Mine)
by Tim Young
01.01.10

There’s that smile
The real one you save
For true friends and sunny days
I’m in a different place
I am a purpose
But are there means
To sow up the ends
Of a friendship strong,
Open ended and fraying
When you discover love
And push comes to shove
Will there be any reason for you worth staying

Here inside this circle we’ve built with trust
A set of feelings consistently focused
Denied by timing and shunned by circumstance
I crave love plus faith that equals romance
And so I’ve tried to bring you closer
Adding things up and you’re a large factor
I’m a confidant with flowered ideals
Like a carriage with no wheels
I can’t pick you up and ride into the sun
Where stressors relax and come undone
Hands tie into knots
And hair intertwines on merging cots
I’ve got your number, but no digits
With no follow through, but all the diligence
You are there and I am here
I can’t be any less than this sincere

You are a smile
Just one I never see
You are a smile
One that can’t ever be
You are a smile
But not mine
You are a smile
Just not now at this time