Category: Prayer - River of Life Church

Does Prayer Work?

5/1/2014

Today is the National Day of Prayer and there will be more prayers prayed in our nation than any other day throughout the year. With all these prayers lifted up to God from gatherings all across our nation, we should experience more answers today than any other day. Is that how it works? Does prayer work?

I pray three passages from the Bible each morning, as a reminder to myself about the effectiveness of prayer.
Matthew 7:7-8
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Matthew 21:22
“If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
1 John 15:14-15
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him.

This seems like a sure fire formula for answered prayer: ask, seek, knock, believe, and ask in His will. However, not all of my prayers and not all of your prayers get answered. You may be told that God answers all prayers. Others may say that they just are not answered in the way I expected. God answers either, “yes, no or wait”.

Perhaps you have seen times when God answers in an amazing way and even have seen Him answer in a miraculous manner. I have experienced both and also experienced times when He does not even answer, “wait”.

Prayer does work. God expects you to pray. God is in control and there are times when the sin stain of this world is allowed to produce suffering and injustice. Prayers are not answered. But, prayer is more than making requests to God. It is deepening a relationship with God. It is conversing and listening.

Unanswered prayers does not mean that prayer does not work. The work of prayer in your life includes a growing love towards the LORD because you share an ever-growing love for the God who made you, gives you a destiny to live and will one day be with us face to face.

Prayer works.

7 Things I Did Not Know About Ash Wednesday

3/7/2014

This is a posting I did last year on Ash Wednesday. The Lenten season has begun and I am looking forward to celebrating Jesus as risen Lord on Easter Sunday!

Ash Wednesday was something that other denominations observed, but it was not a part of the church I grew up attending. I knew that it was the start of a season before Easter when people gave up things like sweets and meat on Fridays. As a child, I was glad I was not required to give up stuff I liked. Since my childhood, I have met Christians that observe Ash Wednesday and I am learning that there are some significant things I did not know about the occasion. Here are seven:

1.       Ash Wednesday marks the first day, or the start of the season of Lent.
2.       It occurs forty days before Easter not counting Sundays.
3.       During some Ash Wednesday services, the minister will lightly rub the sign of the cross on the foreheads of worshipers.
4.       The ashes used are typically from the burning of palm leave s from the previous year’s Palm Sunday.
5.       Ash Wednesday is primarily observed by Methodist, Lutheran, Catholic, Presbyterian, Eastern Orthodox and Anglican denominations.
6.       The Bible does not mention Ash Wednesday or the custom of Lent, however, the practice of repentance and mourning in ashes is found in 2 Samuel 13:19; Esther 4:1; Job 2:8; Daniel 9:3; and Matthew 11:21.
7.       The observance of Ash Wednesday began around the 8th century.

I appreciate the prayerful preparation leading up to the celebration of Easter. Prayer and fasting are to be a regular rhythm of life for all Christians. This is a good opportunity to emphasize both. Our church will not hold a special service on Ash Wednesday, but all of us are invited to pursue a deeper walk with our Lord Jesus Christ.

Luke 5:16
But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

Two Truths for the Dying

12/27/2013

Steve is a member of our church who is battling cancer. The cancer is winning and Steve’s body is dying. He has lost a significant amount of weight, eats very little and simple tasks exhaust his energy.

I visited Steve yesterday. He was in a hospital bed set up in the living room, so he could be near family activity. Steve is married and has two young children. His daughter is in first grade and his son is in preschool.

I shared two truths with Steve and his wife.
Psalms 103:2-5
Praise the Lord, my soul,
    and forget not all His benefits--
3 who forgives all your sins
    and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
    and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Fact: a benefit from the LORD is that He heals ALL diseases. We are praying for this healing and link other Bible verses on God answering prayer offered in faith as our basis of belief.

The second truth comes from Hebrews 9:27-28
Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.

Fact: every human being will die sometime.
The Bible teaches us that God heals all diseases and yet, everyone will die sometime.

Two truths.
We pray for a miracle healing for Steve.
We acknowledge God’s holy timing when Steve will pass from this life into forever life with the LORD.
For those whose faith is in Jesus Christ, these are two truths that should not conflict our faith, but complete our faith.

Is Wimpy Praying Better than Not Praying?

10/3/2012

Is wimpy praying better than not praying?
Do you ever discover that your time spent talking and listening to God has lost its spark?

I have noticed this recently in my life. It became evident when I prayed with others who had spark and fire in their prayers. In a weak moment of defense, I asked the Lord if my wimpy prayers were better than not praying at all.

My mind went to God's judgment on a church that lost its spark.
Revelations 3:15-16
"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth."

It appears to me that it would be better not praying than lukewarm praying.
Do you agree?

Three Values of the Wait

9/26/2012

I am writing this blog from a hospital waiting area. My daughter-in-law has been in the maternity floor of our local hospital since 1pm and is ready to have her first child today! My wife and I came at 7:30pm and left at 3am for a couple hours of sleep. Each of us headed out for work at 5:30am, but I have dropped some commitments and juggled my schedule to join the waiting.

My son cannot believe it is taking this long and I remind him that good things take time. The arrival of a baby is a very good thing!

I am learning the value of the wait. My prayers as a young follower of Jesus used to be, "Lord, give me patience and be quick about it!" I was foolishly praying for patience when a farm accident injuring my thumb got me time in the hospital from Thanksgiving Day until a day before Christmas. I have learned to be careful what to pray for when I pray!

The Bible records stories of people waiting.
A wife and husband, Sarah and Abraham, waiting decades for the baby God told them they would have.
A suffering man named Job, waiting for justice.
A nation of people waiting for their Messiah.

If you are waiting for an answer from God, a relationship to be restored, a position to open or a return to health - remember these three values that come from wait:

1. Patience - that God's timing is always better than our timing.
2. Confidence - that God is going to come through.
3. Joy - the anticipation brings greater joy when the waiting is over.

Psalms 130:5
I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
and in His word I put my hope.

Recycling and Prayer

9/20/2012

I am a huge recycling fan. My recycling efforts went viral when the "no-sort" recycling came into effect in our area. One container: all types of material. My theory when there is an uncertainty if the material is recyclable or not: "When in doubt, recycle it out!"

The recycling comes to the end of our half mile driveway every other week. The container is quite full by the time it is picked up. Plastic milk cartons are squeezed flat, little cans are put inside of big cans. One day while stuffing a plastic lid in a plastic can in a plastic container I began to wonder what happens at the other end.

There must be some sorting process on a conveyor belt separating the materials for recycling. It is doubtful that the sorting is automated. So, I am picturing someone trying to unpack my space saving, crushed together, mixed material and having to stop the conveyor belt to sort out the mess I created.

I am not certain that my thoughts are accurate, but I no longer stuff mixed items into each other.

I am equally uncertain how God handles prayers from the entire world. Is there a conveyor belt of prayer post-it notes going by and His angels are helping sort them out. Prayers for healing, prayers for finding a lost pet, prayers for fixing a bad boss and a bunch of post-it notes stuck together - those would be my prayers.

My prayers can get like my crunched and mixed up recycling. A prayer for my friends healing, prayer for the well-being of my family, prayer for victory over failures, prayer for our church, prayer for our nation and then things I am reminded to pray about in various emails and blogs. Some prayers have been recently answered and I gave prayers of thanks to the Lord for His answer that I liked. I am not so happy when God answers differently than I expect.

Do my prayers stop the conveyor belt of prayers in heaven and bring all conversation with God to a grinding halt?

Pretty certain that is not the way it works. God is infinite and He has the ability to hear every prayer around the world as though it is the only conversation He is having. God personally hears and answers every dialog that you have with Him. When our prayers get crunched together, the Holy Spirit brings clarity to the jumble. When we do not even know how or what to pray, the Holy Spirit looks into our hearts and brings what we are unable to articulate to God.

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.

What, not Why.

8/16/2012

Asking the right question is the key to getting the right answer. I believe in a God who has all the answers to any and every question. Many people become frustrated because they do not get an answer. It could be because they are asking the wrong question.

A frequently asked question to God is, “Why?”.
Why did this accident happen?
Why is this relationship not working?
Why is my friend or family member suffering?
Why did they die so young?
Why?

People feel compelled to tend to give an answer in an effort to bring comfort, but often give a wrong answer. Wrong answers include: “God is punishing you”, “You do not have enough faith” “God is bringing suffering so you realize that you need Him to help you” and “God ended their life because He needed help in heaven.”

You are most likely to ask God, “Why?” during a crisis in your life. There are no good answers other than understanding that our world has a sin stain that goes back to Adam and Eve. Because of sin and the free choices of humankind, bad things happen to good people. Even this does not answer why God has chosen to step into our world and directly make changes by healing or resolving in a direct manner.

During a crisis, the answer God has for you is what He wants you to do or in response to the situation. The best question during a crisis is “what?”.
“What do you want me to do, Lord?”
“What do you want me to learn about you?”
“What do you want me to be in response to this?”
“What, Lord?”

Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.

Is It OK to Pray For Little Things?

8/10/2012

Wise parents have the ability to raise a child in a way that lets them know they are the most special and most loved member of the family. While raising them in this security of love, they also raise their child to be responsible and carry their load. The child knows that the world does not revolve around them and that there are endeavors beyond themselves.

God is a wise God. He loves us with a never-ending love. God hears the prayers of people around the world, but when you talk to Him, you have His complete attention. While God is giving you this security of love, He has expectations that you would serve and love Him. There are endeavors that are beyond us. The world does not revolve around us, but it does revolve by the very command of God.

Yesterday’s blog, “Parking Spaces and Tsunamis” addressed the paradox of Christian’s praying to God to rescue cats out of trees and finding them a parking space close to the front entrance while not praying about the problem of 33,000 children dying each day from hunger and disease.

So, maybe it is not OK to pray for things that are less urgent and is more self-centered.

The followers of Jesus asked Him how they should pray and Jesus taught them what we call, “The Lord’s Prayer”.

Matthew 6:9-13 “ Pray, then, in this way:
‘Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 ‘ Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 ‘ Give us this day our daily bread.
12 ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

This prayer calls us to pray about things beyond us; God’s kingdom operating on earth in the same way it is operating in heaven, forgiving others and being delivered from evil. It also calls us to ask for one of the most basic needs we have, enough food for the day.

Jesus also tells His followers that even the less than perfect parents on this earth do whatever they can to give good gifts to their children that ask them. God is perfect in His love and will certainly give us what we need, especially the Holy Spirit.

So, we can still pray for help balancing the checkbook and for help with homework. We are called to pray for God’s perfect justice to come on this earth as it is in heaven and respond to what we can do to bring healing and wholeness to a broken world.

What To Do When God Says No

7/11/2012

I have a magazine or two in the car to pull out and read during times I am waiting for a meeting, to pick up someone, or waiting for an appointment. I was on a short wait before six this morning for the weight room to get unlocked and read a great article by Perry Stone titled, “What to Do When God Says No”. The full article can be found at http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/features/2012/april/32607-what-to-do-when-god-says-no.

Perry Stone, an evangelist, Bible teacher and author writes that God opens doors for His people. Open doors from God mean that something good is happening to us. We are to pray for open doors from God that leads us into a deeper measure of His will for our lives.

Each of us experiences times when we have prayed for open doors, believed for open doors, and expected open doors, but the door was closed. God did not answer and we wonder why. Most of the time, God did answer by doing what we did not expect. He closed the door and said, “No”.

I have prayed for God to open doors that I was certain was His desire and His will for my life. My wife and I saw the door close for buying the farm I grew up on and we pursued options of buying other farms. We wanted an operation that allowed more time for ministry and each time we thought we had something that would work the door closed. When I finally sensed God may be leading me to the path of Bible college and preparation for full time ministry, all the doors opened widely.

Stone reminds us that if God says no, we are in good company. The Bible tells of many people who had a “no” from God. Sometimes God’s answer “No” is a delay of His “Yes”. Abraham and Sarah were promised a child, but the answer was no, until they were past child-bearing years.

Sometimes the no is unexplainable such as the death of a child or a loved one. Stone gives four facts about the unexplainables in life.
1.       We are all going to die. Sooner or later, we all will pass away, so it is not a matter of if, but when.
2.       We live in a violent world. Because of the stain of sin, bad things happen to good people.
3.       We run “red lights”. There are times that God warns us about potential danger and we ignore the warning. People try to beat the red light and crash because they ignored the signal.
4.       God is sovereign. He alone fully sees, fully knows, and fully understands the past, present and future. Determine to trust Him through the good and the bad.

Shining in the Dark

6/29/2012

Our community has an area church youth group meeting each Wednesday night called ROC for high school students. ROC is led by Jeff Rud and meets at 8:30pm when most church youth groups are done. Cell phones are dropped off voluntarily in a basket as an intentional step to focus on Jesus Christ. There is a time of worship led by young people and leaders. A message from the Bible is shared by a variety of pastors, leaders and students. Students pray for one another at the close of the mtg which is just before 10pm. I attend when I have the evening free because I am encouraged seeing what God is doing among the young people in our community.

This past Wednesday, the youth surrounded Matt with prayer. Matt has attended ROC, graduated from high school and is heading out to basic training in Georgia. Prayer was lifted up for God’s protection and watch over the Cambridge-Isanti wrestlers attending a wrestling camp in Wisconsin. Students surrounded Eric and offered prayers tinged with tears for him, his sister and his father. Andrea “Annie”, his mother, died at the young age of 47 from pancreatic cancer on Monday. Her funeral will be held Sunday and many of the students praying had Mrs. Maltrud as a second grade teacher at Cambridge Elementary.

I held my breath, hoping no one would pray a bad prayer. A bad prayer goes against who God is or what He does. Often people do not know what to say during times of great loss and intense emotion. People have prayed that God needed help in heaven so, this person died. They pray that it was God’s will that a person was racked with an illness and suffered in pain.

Annie’s death and every death is a reminder of two things. One, we still live in a world corrupted by the stain of sin. Before sin, there was no illness, no pain, no sorrow, and no death. Although, Jesus broke this curse on the cross all of us will die until Jesus returns.

The second reminder is that death has lost its sting for Eric and his family, for you and I. We have a hope that looks forward to a reunion of those who have passed before us when the dead in Christ are raised, given a new body and live forever with Jesus Christ. The decision you and I make now affects where our forever will be spent.

My heart was filled with a mixture of sadness and hope hearing and joining the prayers of the students. Their tears expressed more than words. The loss of a mother, teacher and friend is painful. They prayed that Eric and his family would be surrounded by the love of God. They thanked God for the life Annie lived that made a difference because she reflected Jesus into their lives and the lives of many others. They stood in love and support; letting Eric know he was not alone. They prayed God’s destiny and purpose over Eric’s life. Good prayers.

God is doing wonderful things among our young people that came to shine during the dark times of grief.

What things are you seeing God do among young people?