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Answered Prayer, God’s Providence, Gospel Opportunities, and Hungry Believers: Encouraging Experiences in South Africa
My recent two-week trip to South Africa was full with dispensing of our goods, lots of opportunities to preach the gospel and teach the Bible, and numerous experiences of God answering prayer along the way. I spoke or led almost 20 individual sessions and meetings, which was physically tiring, but I sensed the Lord sustaining me and clearly assisting me at various times. Upon reflection, I wanted to highlight the following five encouraging experiences I had while in South Africa.…
11 Ways to Enliven Group Prayer
We don’t have to settle for cold, lifeless group prayer. Here are some strategies to bring heat and life into those times together. [1] God looks not at the elegance of your prayers, to see how neat they are; nor yet at the geometry of your prayers, to see how long they are; nor yet at the arithmetic of your prayers, to see how many they are; nor yet at the music of your prayers, nor yet at the sweetness…
Paul and Prayer: Colossians 4:12-13
Colossians 4:12-13 “Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis.” Epaphras was, according to the Apostle Paul, the person who started the church at Colossae. This was his hometown, situated about 100 miles…
George Muller on Prevailing Prayer
My life and ministry has been guided significantly by the insights God gave George Muller in the 1800s. Here is his answer concerning what is necessary in prayer. He stated that he had seen over 50,000 answers to prayer, 30,000 in the day or hour they had been requested. Let’s take his counsel. Note: I’m unable to connect this graphic to its source.
The Lord’s Prayer: Something is Missing
It turns out that the Lord’s Prayer does not model every aspect of prayer. Thanksgiving and intercession, two aspects of prayer which characterize both Christ’s and Paul’s prayers, are strangely missing. A key may be in Mt. 6:8 just before the model prayer: “FOR THE LORD KNOWS WHAT YOU HAVE NEED OF BEFORE YOU ASK HIM.” It appears that the model prayer demonstrates sincerity and brevity related to our prayers about our NEEDS. ——- “And when you pray, you must…
Losses of a Prayerless Christian
Though God is sovereign over all things, He ordains the means of prayer. There are some things He will not do unless we pray, though He always does all He purposes (Psalm 135:6). The mystery does not change this truth: You do not have because you do not ask (James 4:2). If you do not ask . . . 1. Evangelistic work will be hindered. “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of…
Audacious Prayer
Christians must be people who pray with audacity, not because we deserve an answer, but because God will give it. When one of Jesus’ followers requested of Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples,” Jesus’ response was two-fold. He first gave an example of how we ought to pray, and then he told a story about a man who desired bread from a friend. “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to…
Nine Characteristics of Biblical Prayer
True prayer is not merely a matter of saying the right words. Biblical prayer is characterized and motivated by the right attitude-right thinking about the greatness of God, the beauty of Christ, and our own unworthiness and weakness. Ask yourself if your prayers are characterized by: An Understanding of Your Own Insignificance and Sinfulness When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; what is man that You take thought…
A Brief Review of D.A. Carson’s A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers
D. A. Carson, A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1992, 230 pp. D. A. Carson is research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Deerfield, Illinois). He is also the author of numerous books that have reliably served followers of Christ for several decades. This trend continues with A Call to Spiritual Reformation, a book in which the pastor’s heart of the author beats loudly as he…
Better Prayer Meetings and Prayer Groups: Less Confusion, More Communion
Most of us have experienced both “good” and “bad” prayer meetings. Eventually we may find out that the “good prayer meeting” which seemed to go very well was actually tainted. Those who prayed sounded spiritual, but they were full of pride. And Peter tells us, “God is opposed to the proud” (1 Pet. 5:5). Alternatively, a seemingly “bad prayer meeting” which felt totally flat might one day be revealed as the time when God heard the prayers of a meek…
The Whisperer, The KJVer, and Other Types of Group Prayer Participants You Dont Want to Be
My first opportunity to pray in a group came when some of my fellow students and I were standing in a circle, holding hands. The leader told us we could either pray or squeeze the hand of the person next to us. I was a squeezer that day. Since then, I have enjoyed praying and hearing others pray hundreds of times in both planned and impromptu settings. However, I have learned through my mistakes and the conduct of others that…
Introduction to A Million and a half in answer to prayer by George Muller
The following article is an introduction written by Jim Elliff for the book Autobiography of George Muller, or, A Million and a Half in Answer to Prayer by George Muller Hardcover | 736 pages | Westminster Literature Resources ________________ On November 8, 1840, a slender, 35 year old man with wiry black hair held a diamond ring in his hand. His wife, a Brethren woman, would certainly not have worn it—much too audacious for a woman of God of her…
Thinking Biblically and Strategically About Inter-Church Relationships
I am focused in this article on “inter-church” relationships, not “intra-church” relationships. There is a significant difference. An online dictionary (www.dictionary.com) gives this information: “Inter– is a common prefix that means between or among groups,” whereas “intra– is a prefix which means within or inside one group.” So the content to follow is not about relationships within a single church (intra-), but relationships between multiple churches (inter-). My church is part of a fellowship of churches that meets annually for…
When Pastors Aren’t Able to Pastor
The church is medium-sized in attendance, yet, on paper the membership roll is even larger. Its solo pastor is a frustrated man. There are some good days, and certainly some fine people who encourage him, but he’s frustrated because the job God called him to do just cannot be done. He has many people to tend to, numbers of which are missing, and even those who are present are more than any average man could possibly care for—that is, really care for. So,…
When Ball Becomes Baal
It’s rare to see kids playing sports in the neighborhood anymore. We’re now organized and “professionalized”—including uniforms, state-of-the-art facilities, endless trips to the field, competitive coaches, equally competitive parents, and the after-season tournaments designed to give parents “bleacher bottom.” In addition, you’ve got to pay to play—and when you’ve paid that much, you’ll be sure to play. It is also fun, and it can be instructive. I love to watch my kids play sports. In fact, they need to play—some.…
Asahel Nettleton: The Forgotten Evangelist
The year was 1812. America had just declared war on Great Britain in June and lost its first battle in October. In the midst of that climate, a young, unimpressive minister on his way to an assignment in New York stopped at a church in the community of South Britain, Connecticut.[1] When he was invited to preach, no one could have anticipated the impact his ministry would have, not only on this small church, but also on all the East Coast over the…