January Prayer Topic: REVIVAL and SALVATION
Pray wherever you are at the following times with Center 31:
6am, 10am, 2pm, 6pm, 10pm........Call it the "6-10-2-6-10 times"!
Happy
New Year - its 2009. Let's pray for a revival of men's hearts
responding to God. Let's pray for salvation for a lost generation. Pray
for the Spirit of God to touch our nations with His revival. Psalm
80:18 says, "Then we will not turn back from You; Revive us, and we
will call upon Your name". May we repent and walk in holiness before
our God.
Also, be sure to pray everyday for:
1) the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6)
2) those in authority over us (1 Tim. 2:1-2).
Join forces: Daily Prayer
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1 puts a thousand to flight, 2 put ten thousand to flight.
God's Name Reveals who He is: ELOHIM
January 2009: 7 Reasons to Pray
God
has given us a great gift of communication ... With Him! We communicate
with God through prayer. Prayer is vitally necessary in our lives as
Christians. Here are some interesting reasons for prayer.
1. Prayer reveals our faith in God.
Have
you sat in a mall and just watched the people walk by, and some will be
talking to what appears to be ... nobody? Then you notice the "blue
tooth" device attached to their ear. There is someone responding to
them, perhaps fulfilling requests or giving instruction. We serve a God
invisible to our natural eyes, but WOW!!! ... He is real and powerful
and with us everyday. He is ELOHIM - the Sovereign God of covenant
relationships,
the God of power and might, the Creator. When the
Son of God returns, will He find faith on the earth? When we pray to
our God, we use faith, believing He is and He will do what He said,
even though we don't see
Him. Hallelujah!!
Jesus said
to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed
are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29)
2. Prayer provides communion with God.
Mark
and I like to sit together closely, drink tea together, and quietly
talk. We may want to express appreciation or discuss and event or
situation. It's an endearing time. One time I was feeling so thankful
and blessed, I felt I could burst. I called Mark and told him how
thankful I was for him and his kindness to me, Mark was blessed that I
called, but the "bursting" feeling wasn't relieved. So I started
praising God and thanking Him - extolling His greatness and thanking
Him for His presence, salvation and kindness to me, I was relieved! It
was a precious time that I could enjoy as I worshipped Him. God is
real, and in prayer we can commune with Him and enjoy His presence. In
His presence is fullness of joy, Psalm 16:11.
3. When we pray, we follow Christ's example.
Jesus
went to a solitary place regularly to pray, Mark 1:35, Luke 5:16, Luke
6:12, Luke 9:18. Jesus knew that prayer pleases the Father, He
acknowledged God as sovereign and Jesus sought Him. He knew the
strength and power available to Him through prayer. When we follow
Jesus' example to pray, we humble ourselves by acknowledging our need
of God. Set aside time each day to pray at a regular time. As you
acknowledge (recognize God's existence, admit Him to be real and true,
and express appreciation or gratitude for Him), you begin to think
differently.
4. Prayer allows us to stand in the gap and pray in agreement with others.
Joshua
23:10 and Matthew 18:19-20 speaks about two people agreeing, asking of
God and it being done. When we pray in agreement, our prayers must line
up with God's Word. For example, the Bible says that if a man doesn't
work, he can't eat. So according to that scripture, I prayed with a
friend recently who lost her job, we prayed together and asked God for
work for her with an increase in pay. A couple months later she
received her job, with the increase. Prayer works!
5. In prayer we can "throw our worries and cares on God" 1 Peter 5:7.
Phil
4:6-7 (NLT) says, "Don't worry about anything but pray about
everything. Tell God what you need and thank Him for all He has done".
Worry is faith in the negative situation. We must have faith in God. A
good way to build faith is to confess a scripture over and over again
until you are assured that God's Word will occur in your life. I had a
couple of miscarriages after my first son, David. When I got pregnant
again, thoughts of worry about miscarriage threatened again. Linda
Thompson gave me a book that contained this scripture, "None shall
miscarry or be barren in the land, and I will fulfill the number of
days" Exodus 23:26. I prayed and asked God for a child, then spoke this
scripture over and over. Exactly 40 weeks after conception, Josh
arrived - the number of days of pregnancy were fulfilled. Prayer
enables God to act on your behalf, while being in faith, without worry.
6. God gives hope when we ask Him in prayer.
Romans
15:13 (NLT) says, "So, I pray that God, who gives you hope, will keep
you happy and full of peace as you believe in Him. May you overflow
with hope through the power of the Holy Spirit." Our hope is not cut
off no matter what is happening in our city, country or the world. We
keep praying and trusting Him to have His way in our lives as we obey
Him.
7. Prayer makes God's power available to us.
Think
about a time that you were racing down the road in your car and saw
police lights in your rear view mirror. When the policeman stopped you,
you yielded. Why? You are not only facing the one mere man, but a
whole police department, in all states, with detectives and judges
available to bring you to justice. Just as the mere man has a host of
authority represented in his badge, we have God's power at work with us
as we agree with His Word in prayer. We have God’s authority according
to Matthew 28:18. Greater is He who is in us, than He who is in the
world, 1 John 4:4-5.
Well, I hope this has encouraged you to pray.
Written
by Colleen Aitkenhead. Wife of Mark Aitkenhead district pastor at
Family Harvest Church in Tinley Park, Illinois. Mark and Colleen have
three children – David, Josh and Shaylee.