Saturday, January 22, 2011

Day 20

Rom 12
12Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

This could almost become our code of life, that by what we live by. Rejoice, patience and constant prayer. Life isn't resolved by spasmodic prayer based on circumstantial faith but a relentless, persistent practise of seeking God regardless of the circumstance.
If we find ourselves in a constant prayer life we will also find ourselves in a joyful life, we will discover new patience in tough times. Our stamina in prayer increases as we pray more often. The reason why we are unable to sustain spiritual activity is that our stamina in that area is not high.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Day 19

Rom 1
8First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you

Paul had never been to Rome but when he did eventually arrive it became the place of some of the important NT writings. Even though he had never met the people he prayed for them. Sometimes we can feel that our praying for others, even those we don't even know that we pray for in a prayer request, can seem a waste. But Paul receives incredible revelation whilst praying for others. His prayers also opened doors to him. Our passion prayers today are an indicator of what awaits tomorrow. At Elevation we have prayed for 4 years to have a church in the Tweed district, we have prayed for a people that we didn't know but now they are our future congregation in our new facility.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Day 18

Matt 6
7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
  • God isn’t moved by the number of our words
  • God is not moved by the choice of our words
  • God is not moved the length of our prayers
You don’t conduct relationship with formulas and memorized lines. You don’t move the heart of God with our rhetoric, you move the heart of God with your humility, you move the heart of God with your brokenness, you move the heart of God with the fact that you have turned up.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Day 17

Ps 34
10 The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

Resource comes to those who seek God.Even the king of the jungle will go hungry and go without. However no matter what the circumstances, those who seek God will never lack anything good. God makes sure that we dont lack just because we seek him. The desires and dreams of our hearts become a reality as we seek the Lord.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Day 16

Acts 20
36And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. 37 there was much weeping on the part of all;And they embraced Paul and kissed him, 38being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again.

Their "father" was leaving them and they may never hear from him again. His last act, his final words, the parting comment needed to to leave a mark on the leaders of the Ephesian church. What could Paul say or give that would cause them never to forget?
Money? Encouragement? How about prayer! He prays for them all! Was this each member individually? Sometimes our best gift isn't the wisdom of our words but its simply our faith.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Day 15

Acts 16
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.

Oh to pray so fervently, so passionately that the very foundations of peoples problems shake. That the very core of demonic strongholds are unfastened. Where people with cancer are set free, where broken relationships are restored, God give us this kind of prayer! Immediately things happened, this is the kind of faith that I am after. Why don't you stop and ask God now, "Lord help me to prayer foundation shaking, door opening and bondage unfastening prayers.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Day 14

Acts 16
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.

What are you normally doing at midnight? Paul and Silas beaten and bruised thrown into the belly of a prison are praying and singing. What's your first response when you are cast into the depths? Anger, questions of "Why me", or finger pointing. Singing today for what we desire tomorrow is a vital key in living a faith filled life. If we wait to see it before we can pray and sing then our faith is circumstantial but if we can nurture a song of praise daily and prayer in our hearts then regardless of whether we are in the prison or the palace we can overcome.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Day 13

Acts 16
16As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. 17She followed Paul and us, crying out, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation." 18And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out that very hour.

It never ceases to amaze me how many times "on the way to prayer" distractions come my way. Did I remember to turn the oven off? Is there a email waiting for me? I will just fix this first! Not only are we distracted from prayer we are also attacked against finding the place of prayer. Like what confronted Paul in this scripture we to need to take authority over whatever it is that is trying to divert us away from the place of intimacy.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Day 12

Acts 16
13And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together.

Why is it that the women had come to pray? Why does it always seem a struggle to get more men at a prayer meeting? Women seem more easily given to prayer maybe because a man's ego doesn't give itself to the concept of depending on another. A man wont look at instructions, he wont ask for directions and avoids seeking help. That aside the women that gathered were used by God to lay a strong foundation for one of the great churches, the Philippian church.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Day 11

Acts 13:2-3
2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

Its better to be "sent" then to "went". Many people just leave a church because of offense or because their life is void of spiritual life so they just slip out the back door, others have a vision and because they cant get the pastor to support them they uproot and leave. But here during a season of prayer and fasting Barnabas and Saul (Paul) are sowed out. When you are sown you go with the strength of the sower. A farmer only sows seed that he expects a harvest from. Prayer and fasting humbles us so we can be sent not just went.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Day 10

Acts 10
9
The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray.

Your bedroom, kitchen, a study, office, in the park, on the beach the place doesn't matter because there is never a place that prayer cant go. As long as we have our rooftop somewhere! The person committed to prayer will always find a place to pray. Peter climbs to the rooftop to pray where God drops a vision in his heart about reaching the gentiles, this rooftop moment changed Peter and the spread of the gospel forever. What is God waiting to drop into our hearts that will change us forever? Find your rooftop.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Day 9

Acts 10
1At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, 2a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. 3 About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, "Cornelius." 4And he stared at him in terror and said, "What is it, Lord?" And he said to him, "Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God.

A memorial is something that provokes the memory of a thing. Our prayers and our giving ascend to God and become a memorial or they provoke God to remember us. Think about that our prayers reside in a place in heaven. God has a heavenly warehouse full of the generosity of our prayers and of our sowing, they form a place in the mind of God.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Day 8

Acts 12:5
5
So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.

Thank God for the church! People may knock it, they may criticize it but when it works there is nothing more powerful. In this verse the church never petitioned to have Peter released, they didn't write to the government, they prayed. All of us need to find our knees for others. Prayer isn't something done by the person up the front but its lived out by all of us its lived out by the church. Whats sad is that it often takes a crisis like imprisonment to arouse people to pray and yet everyday there are people imprisoned spiritually all over the world.
You will never keep yourself happy by trying to keep your "self" happy. Live generously and find your knees for others.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Day 7

Acts 9
40
But Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, "Tabitha, arise." And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up.

We must fill the room with faith we must fill the place with prayer. In Mark 5:40 Peter had been in the room when Jesus raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead. The first thing Jesus did was to remove some of the negative people out of the room. So Peter now follows the great master. Then he drops to his knees and prays! No one knows how long Peter prayed for or what he said, we are just told that he prayed. Then he turns to Tabitha and her eyes, that were once pale open and her limp body springs to life. He doesnt pray whilst looking at the deathly circumstances he prays and then he turns to see the miracle that God had done.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Day 6

Acts 9
10Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision,"Ananias." And he said, "Here I am, Lord." 11And the Lord said to him, "Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, 12and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight."

All of us are in search of vision. What we often need is someone to inspire, encourage, challenge and reveal to us just what that vision is. When God speaks a person of prayer will hear it first. While Paul was praying he saw Ananias coming and praying for him to receive his sight, this was a dangerous vision for Ananias due to Paul's hatred of the church. But a person of prayer has their fear dissolved and over ridden by obedience. Two men who prayed meet in a moment that changes the world forever.

Day 5

Acts 6
6These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.

They prayed and then chose. When we pray we arouse the gift with us so that others may receive. The question is not how did we choose but more importantly how did we pray.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Day 4

Acts 6:4
4
But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word."

We all devote ourselves to something, we all give ourselves to what we choose. This verse is on the back of a administration tension that has arisen. The apostles were approached for help but they refused, instead they appointed men to cover this role. Possibly the greatest challenge we face is our preference for management over prayer. Our primary calling remains our highest calling.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Day 3

Acts 4:31
31And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

The end of prayer should become the starting point of something else! As they prayed things began to happen, at the "amen" of their prayers the whole house was shaken, then they are filled with a new boldness which provoked them to speak the word.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Day 2

Acts 2:42
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

It wasn't meant to be hard! Just commit ourselves to the same 4 things and we could shake the world. These need to be the foundation of every believer that desires their life to have a ripple effect long after they are gone.

"God shapes the world by prayer. Prayers are deathless. They outlive the lives of those who uttered them" E.M Bounds

Monday, January 3, 2011

Day 1

Acts 3:1
1Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.

Prayer isn't reserved for only when we are feeling inspired. The early church had set times of prayer, so should we. Two men together at the set time going to pray. If you are struggling in prayer maybe you need to find someone that will go up with you at the set time!

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Elevations 14 days of prayer and fasting

Elevation starts its 14 days of prayer and fasting next Monday but there are some who want to get a kick start tomorrow. Below is a guideline on fasting. Remember the key isn't going without! The key is being filled with the right things.

1/ HOW TO BEGIN
Start with a clear goal. Be specific. Why are you fasting? Do you need direction, healing, restoration of marriage or family issues? Are you facing financial difficulties? Ask the Holy Spirit for guidance. Pray daily and read the Bible.
2/ PREPARING SPIRITUALLY
Confess your sins to God. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal areas of weakness. Forgive all who have offended you and ask forgiveness from those you may have offended (Mark 11:25; Luke 11:4; 17:3-4). Surrender your life fully to Jesus Christ and reject the worldly desires that try to hinder you (Romans 12:1-2).
3/ DECIDING WHAT
The type of fast you go on is between you and God. You could go on a full fast in which you only drink liquids, or you may desire to fast like Daniel, who abstained from sweets and meats, and the only liquid he drank was water. Remember to replace that time with prayer and Bible study. Giving up T.V, Facebook, Alcohol, XBox are other things that can be incorporated into the fast.
4/ DECIDING HOW LONG
Most people can easily fast from one to three days, but you may feel the grace to go longer, even as much as 3-14 days. Use wisdom and pray for guidance. Beginners are advised to start slow.
5/ WHAT TO EXPECT
When you fast your body detoxifies, eliminating toxins from your system. This can cause mild discomfort such as headaches and irritability during withdrawal from caffeine and sugars. And naturally, you will have hunger pains. Limit your activity. Exercise moderately. Take time to rest. Fasting brings about miraculous results. You are following Jesus’ example when you fast. Spend time listening to praise and worship. Pray often throughout the day. Get away from the normal distractions as much as possible and keep your heart and mind set on seeking God’s face.
6/ HOW TO END
Don’t overeat when the time comes to end your fast. Begin eating solid food gradually; eat small portions or snacks.