WWHYIP For One Thing

What would happen if you prayed focused prayers instead of praying like we did when we were children – you know, "God bless everybody in the whole, wide world"?

When we began our 40-day (now 71-day) challenge, I wrote a list of a few things to pray about. It's not a very long list. If I list too many things, I probably won't pray for them all. But I listed just a few things that I can be sure to pray about. In most cases, I just list people's names. When I see their names, I know what I had planned to pray for them. For some it is salvation, for some it's for God to open their eyes, for others it's for jobs. I have a separate list of those who committed to the prayer challenge with me. And I am seeing God's hand at work. Praise God!

When I focus on these few things, I feel as if I can get more accomplished in prayer. I (we) will wear ourselves out trying to pray about everything. But as God answers us, we can thank Him for the answer and add something/someone new to the list.

We can be like the lady in the parable that Jesus told so his disciples would always pray and not give up. (Luke 18). She just wanted ONE THING from the judge, "Avenge me of my adversary." Sometimes we might want to only seek God and pray about ONE THING.

Actually, this may be a good starting point for those of us who are learning to pray. We can pray the Lord's Prayer daily. We can daily give Him praise. And then we can pray for that ONE THING. What is the most important thing that you need to pray for? You can pray about that and ask God what is the ONE THING I need to pray about?

After Jesus taught them the Lord's Prayer, Luke says Jesus shared a parable and then He told them:

⁹So I say to you, Ask and keep on asking and it shall be given you; seek and keep on seeking and you shall find; knock and keep on knocking and the door shall be opened to you.

 ¹⁰For everyone who asks and keeps on asking receives; and he who seeks and keeps on seeking finds; and to him who knocks and keeps on knocking, the door shall be opened. Luke 18:9-10

My friend, ask God and keep on asking God for that ONE THING. Seek God and keep on seeking God for that ONE THING. Knock on Heaven's door and keep on knocking on Heaven's door for that ONE THING. And you will see what would happen if you prayed for ONE THING.

Pray with me (out loud of course):

Father, thank You for Jesus' teaching about prayer. If there was anyone on earth who could teach us how to pray, it is God the Son. Help me to focus my prayers and to not try to pray for the "whole, wide world" but to start by praying for people around me and situations around me. Please show me what is the most important thing that I should pray about right now. My goal is not to see how many things I can pray about, my goal is to effectively pray Your will. I know that if I ask, seek, and knock You will respond. I will be persistent and faithful to pray about at least ONE THING. And I will praise You for answering. Thank You for increasing my prayer life. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Woohooooo! The Challenge Continues

I mentioned yesterday that I believe we, or at least I, need to continue my quest through July to find out what would happen if I prayed. It's not that I'm not praying, it's just that I'm asking myself questions like:

WWHIYP (what would happen if you prayed)  . . .

For your family more

For my church more

For my workplace more

A little longer

In the Spirit

Etc.

I'm building a culture of prayer. I have to strike the ground a few more times.

This morning I picked up my mail and there was a package from my friend. She asked me last week if I wanted to participate in something her church is doing. It's a prayer challenge called "I Dare You to Pray." Throughout the month of July, the Church on the Rock St. Louis has calendars where you can write what you're going to pray about. There is a little business-sized card that says, "I dare you to pray." on one side and other the other it says, " You are called to pray stand in the gap for a person, a city, a nation, and the world until the situation changes. This is your mission." There are even postcards that say, "I prayed for you." I had that idea of making postcards like that, but never followed through with it. Thank God it's not too late.

I like that. On the church website it says-- I Dare You Mission:
"I accept the challenge to change, stretch, and redefine my prayer life. I realize that my life will experience miracles, wisdom, and intimate closeness with God. I don't take this dare lightly. I rise to the challenge."

That's basically what I've been saying. As a matter of fact, most of the time when I write WWHIYP, I'm thinking, "I dare you to pray." That's something that another friend and I say to each other. I love having friends who pray and encourage me to do the same. 

Hebrews 10:24 NIV says: 
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

We're supposed to motivate each other and encourage each other to do good things. My friends don't stop. Make a concerted effort to connect to God in prayer. We've just begun. Let's continue to read the Word about prayer and pray.

Pray with me:

Father God, bless Your holy name today. I praise You for all that You've done in my life. You have started me on this journey of prayer. I can't stop now. You and I have much to accomplish. Thank You that when Your people cry to out You, You respond. You are God who answers. As we continue to as ourselves what would happen if you prayed, through the month of July, help us to pray like we never have before. Bless us with responses as You've never responded to us before. We are ready for You to move in our lives. We are ready to pray effectively and to press in and not give up. Thank You that we can pray in Jesus holy name and through Him we know that the best is yet to come. So be it!

WWHIYP With Me Through July?

Today is the last day of our 40-day prayer challenge. It been great. I'm learning a lot about prayer. But here's my question to you: What would happen if you prayed and read Faith to Pray through July? I don't know about you, but I feel as if I'm just getting started. And some days, I forgot to read my scripture book (and that's embarrassing). So, I want to give more time and effort to this worthwhile prayer endeavor.

Since we've begun our WWHIYP challenge, I have been praying more at work with one-minute prayers. Tuesday morning prayer at my church has been more interesting. Last week I joined my friend's prayer time, that was so good for me. A co-worker and I have begun praying together at work. I can't stop now; this is just the beginning. There is so much going on with the people around me, on my job, in this state, in this country, and in the world. I have to continue until I see answers to my prayers.

There is an example in scripture of someone who stopped short of victory.

¹⁸ Then he said, “Take the arrows”; so he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground”; so he struck three times, and stopped. ¹⁹ And the man of God was angry with him, and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Syria till you had destroyed it! But now you will strike Syria only three times.” 2 Kings 13:18-19 NKJV

The king had gone to the prophet of God for help because Syria was attacking them. They had few horses and chariots left. The prophet told him to strike the ground with his arrows. Now the king was so close. If he would have simply struck the ground two or three more times, it would have meant victory. How much effort does it take to hit the ground with arrows? It was no big deal, but it represented a big deal spiritually and it represented a big deal for his army. This simple act would have saved many lives.

Maybe it is like that for us in prayer at times – a simple act of obedience and continuing instead of stopping could mean the difference between defeat and victory for us. If you have not seen victory yet, I suggest you continue to search for the answer to what would happen if you prayed.

To be honest, I knew a couple of weeks ago that I would not be ready to end this prayer challenge at the end of the month. I have so much more I want to learn and write about prayer.

My heavenly Father, thank You for blessing me with friends who want to pray and learn more about prayer. I love them. They enrich my life and encourage. I'm so tired of negativity. Please forgive me for being a part of it. Help me to not be a producer of it. Thank You for blessing me with people who love You and who have good things to say. You have surrounded me with people who want to do what's right in Your eyes. They challenge me and motivate me and I can't thank You enough for that.

Thank You for blessing my friends to pray with me and read the scriptures with me through these 40 days. I have no doubt that You are going to continue to bless their lives. Help those who are to continue to find out what would happened if they prayed to strike the ground a few more times. Help my brothers and sisters to not stop short of their victory, but to press in to see Your kingdom come and Your will being done on earth as it is in Heaven. Thank You for all of the victories we have seen so far. Thank You that I can come and pray to You in the name of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

WWHIYP The Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

In April at work, we heard that people were going to be laid off. At the same time, we were preparing for a possible government shut down if congress did not pass a budget or a continuing resolution of last year's budget. As you can imagine, there was a lot of stress in the workplace. I was trusting God, but not everyone was.

I wondered how I could help people through this. I didn't feel that I had the words of comfort to speak to them. What could I do? I remembered these words: Lord make me an instrument of Your peace. . .

I had heard a prayer like that. That was what I wanted and still want. I want to be an instrument of God's peace.

Blessed are the peacemakers,
   for they will be called children of God. Matthew 5:9 NKJV

I Internet searched "make me an instrument of your peace." I found that this begina the prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi. Didn't know who he was, but I liked the prayer and printed it to lay on my desk so I could pray it at work. A little research found that St. Francis lived in the late 12th to early 13th century. This prayer was written on the backs of cards with his picture on the front. He did not write the prayer, however.

History aside, I like the prayer. But I think the peace that they are talking about is the opposite of war. But I was thinking about peace as in the opposite of anxiety and stress.

Peace is peace.

So the question is of course WWHIYP? What would happen if you prayed the prayer of St. Francis regularly?

Pray out loud with me with the help of and in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

Where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

To be understood as to understand;

To be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

WWHIYP To Replace Negative Thoughts

Recently, I noticed something was bothering me. I kept thinking about something that annoyed me and it was bringing me down. I was thinking about something that someone had done. It was nothing personal, but it was offensive and it happened weeks ago. Suddenly it was bothering me.

I'm building a culture of prayer so I have to ask myself: what would happen if you prayed instead of continuing to think about something annoying?

2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV tells us:

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Negative thoughts go against the nature of God in me. So I have to arrest that thought and make it obedient to Christ. Instead of allowing a memory to annoy me, I began to pray for the person involved. I asked God to bless the offender to see Truth. And I have to pray that with pure motives. I pray for that person to be blessed, not for my sake but for their sake.

Pray with me:

Father, You know our hearts and You know our ways. Bless me to be pure in my heart to be a blessing to others. Help me to not be easily offended, but to be a blessing. Help me not to react, but to respond with Your love. Let me not worry over perceived offenses, but to capture every negative thought and make it obedient to the will of Christ Jesus. It is in His name that I pray. Thank You for victorious thoughts. Amen.

WWHIYP The Lord's Prayer

On Thursday, I downloaded some podcasts on prayer. I want to learn about prayer and I like to hear what others have to say. Well, I found a two-part teaching on the Lord's Prayer. And since I had just written about it two days before, I thought it would be good to listen to. When I heard it, I thought it might be good to share, but I wanted to pray about it.

The message is Damon Thompson from The Ramp ministry in Hamilton, AL. I've heard friends speak of him, but I had never heard him. He says some things that I thought about but I did not mention in my post Lord, Teach Us to Pray. I forgot to mention that we can use the Lord's Prayer/Disciples' Prayer as a pattern, but we can also pray that prayer. Damon says that back in the day, rabbis gave people short prayers to pray. Praying the same prayer promoted unity.

There are many good truths in Damon's teaching that can help your prayer life. There may be parts in it that we don't understand or agree with, and that's okay. Use the parts that you can. I pray that it will bless you.

There is one part in which he uses the analogy of having a fitness trainer help him plan his workout routine. Damon says how much time he could waste having access to all of the gym equipment, but not knowing how to use it. His trainer came in and wrote down the order of the machines to use, the amount of weight, and the number of repetitions. This program gave Damon's workout infrastructure. The prayer Jesus gave us also gives infrastructure to our prayer life. That's a cool way to explain it.

What would happen if you prayed the Lord's Prayer? Some days you may try to pray, but you won't know how to begin. Or you may begin and not know where to go next. What would happen if we just prayed the words that Jesus said? Or what would happen if we used those words as a model or infrastructure for our prayer?

The Lord’s Prayer (Part 1)

At the end of part 2, Damon explains how to pray each part of the Lord's Prayer for five minutes so that you have a 30-minute prayer time.

The Lord’s Prayer (Part 2)

The Lord's Prayer in five-minute sections

  I. Our Father in Heaven (approach God as Father)

     Pray:

¹⁴ For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. ¹⁵ For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” ¹⁶ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. Romans 8:14-17 NKJV

⁴ But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵ to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
⁶ And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” ⁷ Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Galatians 4:4-7 NKJV

⁴ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, ⁵ having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, ⁶ to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. ⁷ In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. Ephesians 1:4-7 NKJV

 II. Hallowed be Your name (pray the names of God)

III. Your kingdom come; Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven

for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Philippians 2:13 NIV

IV. Give us day by day, our daily bread.

a.     Ask for provision for the day for our families.

b.     Our bread – ask for provision for the community

c.     Ask for provision for those in need

V. Forgive us our sins as we forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

a.     Specific repentance.

b.     Releasing those who have wronged us.

VI. Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Pray out loud with me:

      Our Father 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 forgive our debtors.
       ¹³ And do not lead us into temptation,
      But deliver us from the evil one.
      For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Don't Stop Now . . . You're Doing Good

I have a box of teeth whitening strips. I've had it for years. I've used some of them. They promise whiter teeth in 14 days. Sadly, I just couldn't make that kind of commitment.

Is it just me or does anyone else have difficulty sticking with a good habit at times? The diet? The exercise routine? I understand. I know I'm not the only one who struggles with these commitments because now they make 10-day whitening strips and even a 5-day kit.

God understands too and sends us a word of encouragement:

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9 NIV

Reading the entire Faith to Pray scripture booklet for 40 days is a commitment. But when you really want change in your life, you do what you have to do. If you want to make yourself available to be a blessing to others, you do what you have to do.

You're doing good. Yes, to be grammatical correct it seems like I should say, "you're doing well." But that's not what I mean. You're doing good things by reading the word and praying. Don't give up, cave in, or quit. Don't get tired and think it's not working. It's definitely going to produce the fruit of change in your life. Scripture tells us that we will reap a harvest. We will see answers to our prayers. We will see the hand of God moving in our lives and in the lives of the people we're praying for.

The statements two verses above lead us into the promise of verse 9:

⁷ Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. ⁸ Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Galatians 6:7-8 NIV

I think of it like this: Don't let anybody fool you. God knows what you're doing and no one can fool Him. Whatever seeds you plant, that's the kind of plants you're going to grow. If you plant seeds of evil and selfishness you will harvest ruin and destruction. But if you plant seeds related to God's goodness, you will reap the blessings from God including eternal life.

And for these reasons . . . Let us not become weary of doing good . . .

You're planting the Word and prayer in your heart, my friend. God knows. There's no way you won't be blessed. You're going to have a harvest of blessing—no doubt. There's no way you're going to plant watermelon seeds and end up with a garden full of brussel sprouts. Be encouraged, at the end of the season, you're going to see the full results. Don't stop; you're doing good.