Week 4 Cashing In On God’s Promises

I love this picture of God’s promises as checks to be cashed. I first read this metaphor in Spurgeon’s book, Faith’s Checkbook. Then, later, I heard Corrie ten Boom, refer to God’s promises as something her name was attached to. I loved that picture and heard Corrie say it again and again, applying God’s promises in her own life. She personalized them and spoke of presenting them to God with her name attached on every one. Incredible, when you think about it!! I think we need to get serious with God about what He says in His Word. That’s the profound truth I came away with this week as I read the in-depth views of some of God’s best promises. I’m more committed than ever to know God’s Word, pray using what God says as the main contents of my prayers, and then plead God’s promises as I talk with Him about those things that press in on my life the most. I don’t know about you, but I surely have things that weigh me down and press in on my heart. I am choosing to turn each weight and burden into an opportunity to pray. I am storming the doors of heaven and bowing low before the throne of grace, confidently talking with God. We are to be confident prayer, according to Hebrews 4:16. And if God’s Word endorses confident prayer, then surely our lives can demonstrate such boldness at the throne of grace. So, dear friends, take those promises and write a check on each one, presenting them to the Father. Here’s the encouragement from Spurgeon for those who write “checks” on the promises: “If he has come to Heaven’s bank at the right date, he will receive the promised amount at once. If the date should happen to be further on, he must patiently wait till its arrival; but meanwhile he may count the promise as money, for the Bank is sure to pay when the due time arrives.”

Spurgeon goes on to say: “I believe all the promises of God, but many of them I have personally tried and proved. I have seen that they are true, for they have been fulfilled to me. I have been cast into “waters to swim in,” which, but for God’s upholding hand, would have proved waters to drown in. I have endured tribulation from many hails. Sharp bodily pain succeeded mental depression, and this was accompanied both by bereavement and affliction in the person of one dear as life. The waters rolled in continually, wave upon wave. I do not mention this to exact sympathy, but simply to let the reader see that I am no dry-land sailor. I have traversed full many a time those oceans which are not Pacific: I know the roll of the billows, and the rush of the winds. Never were the promises of Jehovah so precious to me as at this hour. Some of them I never understood till now; I had not reached the date at which they matured, for I was not myself mature enough to perceive their meaning.
How much more wonderful is the Bible to me now than it was a few months ago! In obeying the LORD, and bearing His reproach outside the camp, I have not received new promises; but the result to me is much the same as if I had done so, for the old ones have opened up to me with richer stores.”

And then, Spurgeon says this to you and to me in our trials: “My brethren, God is good. He will not forsake you: He will bear you through. There is a promise prepared for your present emergencies; and if you will believe and plead it at the mercy-seat through Jesus Christ, you shall see the hand of the LORD stretched out to help you. Everything else will fail, but His word never will. ”

Those are the words of Charles Spurgeon, called by many the Prince of Preachers. He understood the importance of the promises of God and you and I must also, for the promises are a great secret to passionate prayer that discovers the power of talking with God.

God bless you all as you continue on in this great adventure of knowing Him.

Week 3 Learning Prayer By Example

How can we go deeper in our life of prayer? One of the best ways is learning by examples given to us by God Himself in His Word. In Week 3 of Passionate Prayer we had the privilege of learning from five great examples - Hannah, Nehemiah, Daniel, Jesus, and Paul. My favorite this week was Jesus. I am profoundly moved at His intentional prayer constantly in every situation. If He prayed, I need to pray - always, not sometimes. I am learning through this journey of Passionate Prayer the priority of prayer. I need to pray first, not last (1 Timothy 2:1). We see the habit and priority of prayer again and again in the Bible. Hannah prayed in her deep distress. Nehemiah prayed when he received discernment from God about a situation. Daniel boldly prayed when faced with opposition. Jesus ALWAYS prayed. Paul prayed for others and prayed at all times. Again and again, I see the priority of prayer in their lives. Lord, make us passionate about prayer and make prayer the priority of our lives. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Week 2 - The Journey Of Prayer

After reading week 2 in Passionate Prayer, my heart was even more on fire to pray. I pulled out a Psalms commentary and I am going to go deep in the Psalms to fuel my prayers. And I’m taking some big things to God and believing Him to hear and answer. I’m “watching eagerly” as David did in Psalm 5:3 to see what God will do. I’m thinking He’ll do MORE (Ephesians 3:20) than I ask or imagine. He promises. We are learning together that prayer is a journey as we grow in the life of passionate prayer. Some of my favorite quotes this week were:

“…seriously consider the steps I take to grow spiritually in my relationship with the Lord…” (page 60 from 1 Cor. 9:24)

“You have been given an audience with the all-powerful, all-knowing Creator of the universe. What will you say. How will you talk with Him?” (page 69).

“Dear God, Your will, nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. Amen.” (Bobby Richardson’s prayer on page 73).

“Remember to give thanks always for all things. Whether you like the packing case or not, you may be sure that the contents are the very best that God could send you.” (F.B. Meyer’s words on page 77).

“Your greatest claim in life is that you know God…E.M. Bounds said, ‘Those who know God the best are the richest and most powerful in prayer. Little acquaintance with God, and strangeness and coldness to Him, make prayer a rare and feeble thing.” (page 97)

I liked the questions at the end of the quiet time on page 105: Think carefully about your relationship with God. Are you walking and talking with Him, or do you live a life of independence? These are good questions for us to consider as we continue on in this adventure of Passionate Prayer. What did you take away with you that you are still thinking about from Week 2 of our Passionate Prayer study on this 30 day journey? Let’s share our thoughts and insights from Week 2 in the Comments here. God bless you as you continue on in the adventure.

Week 1 - Keeping Up With Jesus

More than anything, this week, I was impressed with the pace of Jesus. He is never in a rush. He moves with grace. The verses that stood out to me were Matthew 11:28-30 in The Message. So real. Clearly Jesus knows my daily challenges, better than I know myself! He asks, “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” I love those words and they help me understand that the pace and rhythm of Jesus is so different than the world. Our current culture moves at breakneck speed and offers no time to think great thoughts or meditate on spiritual things from God’s Word. Jesus takes us on a different path altogether. And He invites me to walk with Him and work with Him and watch how He does it. When I keep in step with Him I experience His grace. And I “keep company” with Him. Walking and talking with Jesus IS the essence and reality of passionate prayer. May we experience this amazing adventure of passionate prayer every day of our lives! Until we meet again, dear friends. Enjoy your reading of Passionate Prayer and be sure to share what God is teaching you in the Comments here at this blog.

May We All Become Passionate in Prayer!

This week we are going to be reading the Introduction and Week 1 - Days 1 to 6 in Passionate Prayer - A 30 Day Journey. For all who are taking this journey together, I want to encourage you to read the Introduction as it will set the stage for everything in the book. I also forgot to mention before in my previous post - at the end of the first day, in the My Response section, we are asked to write a Letter To The Lord. This is especially important as you will re-read what you wrote at the very end of the book. The amazing part of this is seeing all that the Lord does in our lives in just 30 days as we think deeply about prayer together. Feel free to share all that the Lord is teaching you here in the Comments section of the blog. I think we will have others joining us as many have friends they are inviting in other parts of the country.

These are our Passionate Prayer small groups at the church. We currently have 11 groups and may grow to 12 at the church on Thursdays. We also have 2 groups meeting on Monday evenings, and groups also meeting on Wednesday and Thursday evenings. And then we have our online group here. Also, there are some in the different groups at the church who are going to be traveling and are excited to be able to stay connected online here. I wanted to mention that if you would like to watch or listen to my messages online, the videos and audios are available individually and as a series for purchase at our Quiet Time Ministries Online Bookstore here. My Introduction Message is available to watch online free here. You can download the Handout for the Introduction message here - Just print it out and you can use it to take notes. You can also order the DVD messages or CD audio messages if you so desire.

Again, I just want you to know what a joy it is to study together with you all about prayer. I can’t wait to see what the Lord has for us.

One final note, I invite you to become my friend on Facebook as I often post notes and insights that may be of interest to you. And I would love to stay connected as we continue on in this great adventure of knowing God! God bless you.

Welcome To Passionate Prayer ~ A 30 Day Journey!

I am so excited about our journey together in Passionate Prayer. We are going to spend the next 30 days going deeper in our life of prayer with the Lord. I define prayer as walking and talking with God. As we walk and talk with Him daily, we grow in our intimate relationship with the Lord. It’s an adventure - I like to call it the great adventure of knowing God. This week we will begin with the Introduction and Week 1 - Days 1-6. Each day you will read and then write responses on the daily “My Response” page. I encourage you to interact with everything you read, look up the most significant verses mentioned in the chapters (underline them in your own Bible), and then pray, pray, pray. Talk with your Lord about everything that is on your heart. It will be exciting to see what the Lord does in our lives as we take this journey together into a life of passionate prayer.

If you are joining me in this journey over the next 5 weeks and you found us online here, I invite you to click on the Comments here and introduce yourself to everyone. Share where you’re from and anything else you’d like to share.

Also, if you’d like to join this journey, you can buy the book from Quiet Time Ministries, Amazon, or your local Christian bookstore. If you would like to get an online version immediately, you can go to Amazon.com and download Kindle for PC or Kindle for Mac (depending on your computer:)). Then, you can purchase the Kindle version of Passionate Prayer - A 30 Day Journey and read it on your computer.

God bless you dear friends.