Join us at 10 AM Sunday Mornings for Prayer

Dear Grace Church and people from the Wyoming-Forest Lake, MN community:

Every Sunday morning at 10 (immediately following the Sunday school time) we spend time in prayer in the sanctuary. We pray for the morning service, for the sermon in particular, the coming week and the special prayer requests of people in the congregation.

Please join us. This is a helpful way of preparing your hearts for the corporate worship of God's people (the service starts at 10:30).

Don't pass over the gracious and amazing invitation that God has given to us in prayer. Last night I was talking this over with my oldest son, Paul, and he said it this way (in answer to the question - why do we pray before the service?) - "because God does the work and He told us to ask." Amen! Do we really ask? Do we really believe that He will do the work? Do we really know Who we are talking about when we doubt?

God does the heavy lifting and He instructs us to ask, seek and knock and it will be answered, found and opened to us.

Imagine what God intends to do in your heart, in the heart of your family, in the hearts of the people of Grace Church, and in the hearts of our community when we give ourselves to corporate (and private) prayer.

Here is a helpful prayer and meditation to ponder that helped my heart and spirit this morning. Please pray this for yourself and others this morning as you come to the Worship of God in the Word.

Psalm 119

25 My soul clings to the dust;
give me life according to your word!
26 When I told of my ways, you answered me;
teach me your statutes!
27 Make me understand the way of your precepts,
and I will meditate on your wondrous works.
28 My soul melts away for sorrow;
strengthen me according to your word!
29 Put false ways far from me
and graciously teach me your law!
30 I have chosen the way of faithfulness;
I set your rules before me.
31 I cling to your testimonies, O Lord;
let me not be put to shame!
32 I will run in the way of your commandments
when you enlarge my heart!

Praying for Your Pastor-preachers

As I was reading from Spurgeon's "What the Stones Say" this week I came across this powerful illustration that emphasizes the need for people to pray for their pastors.

We may say what we will, but it is true that God does bless all by one. But every man, however much God may have helped him in the past, will grow weary, unless he be upheld by the loving sympathies and earnest prayers of those around him. I thank God for my Aarons and Hurs. I have heard of a minister, some of the members of whose congregation complained to him that his sermons of late had not been so good as aforetime. “Well,” said the good man, ‘there’s but too much truth in the charge; but this is how it is, I’ve lost my prayer book.” “But,” said they, “we did not know you used a book for prayers.” “No,” said the minister, “but my prayer-book is in your hearts, and I’ve lost your prayers.” I am sure the quality of a sermon often depends upon the prayers of the congregation.

Please pray for your pastor/preachers.

Serious Preparation for Evangelism

In four weeks Grace Church will be engaging in evangelistic efforts in ways and to degrees in which it has never done in the past. As we come nearer to these days; I myself, and perhaps many of you, have been feeling a great heaviness or weight come upon you in ways that you may not have in the past. Some of you may be feeling a strong pull to run away from this new, perhaps strange and scary territory. Others may even be feeling a great eagerness to bring the gospel in words and love to Wyoming, Forest Lake, the surrounding communities and people you know in your own neighborhoods and jobs.

No matter what the case, I would like to suggest that over the next four weeks, as we come closer to the start date of our evangelistic focus at Grace, that we all be praying daily for Grace Church as a whole and for those whom we will be coming in contact with during the summer. I would also like to suggest that some of us even consider fasting between now and then as an offering of dependence to God and as a reminder to ourselves that it is God who will bring the fruit from our efforts not our own wisdom or strength.

Prayer Suggestions:

1) Pray that God gives wisdom, strength and courage to the leadership at Grace as they lead us into this "new territory" of evangelism.
2) Pray for a deep love for the lost that overcomes selfish desires to run away from bringing them the good news of Jesus Christ.
3) Pray against demonic forces at work trying to thwart our efforts and discourage us from bring glory to God and salvation to the lost.
4) Pray for good weather on the days that we are scheduled to be doing evangelism outdoors.
5) Pray that God gives us all courage and peace in knowing that He will be with us and will give us the right words to say.

Fasting Suggestions:

1) Please consider fasting from certain forms of entertainment (i.e. TV, internet usage, etc.) and consider, instead, preparing your hearts for evangelism by:

• Increasing your Bible reading and memorization
• Prayer and meditation
  
• Discussing God-centered topics with your family
• Reading good books on evangelism or the gospel

2) Please consider an actual food fast as a worshipful gesture to God that states that we are dependent on God for satisfaction and strength and not the world's table. (Please see Pastor Daniel's post on fasting).

I am going to work with Pastor Dave and Pastor Daniel to try to find a day and an hour that we could possibly devote to a corporate prayer time each week to pray for this up coming summer and the work we will be doing.

The Prayers of One Obscure Person - from Jonathan Edwards

Jonathan Edwards wrote in his diary:

Wednesday, Feb. 5 [1724]. I have not in times past, in my prayers, enough insisted on the glorifying of God in the world, on the advancement of the kingdom of Christ, the prosperity of the church, and the good of man. Determined that this objection is without weight, viz. that it is not likely that God will make great alterations in the whole world, and overturnings in kingdoms and nations, only for the prayers of one obscure person, seeing such things used to be done in answer to the united prayers of the whole church; and that if my prayers should have some influence, it would be but imperceptible and small.

Thoughts about Edwards' Thoughts

CONVICTION OVER THE LACK OF PERSONAL PRAYER

I have not in times past, in my prayers, enough insisted on the glorifying of God in the world, on the advancement of the kingdom of Christ, the prosperity of the church, and the good of man.

WHAT HE SUGGESTS HE SHOULD BE PRAYING FOR

• the glorifying of God in the world,
• the advancement of the kingdom of Christ,
• the prosperity of the church,
• the good of man.

ARGUMENT OF THE FLESH THAT HINDERED HIS PRAYERS

Determined that this objection is without weight, viz.
that it is not likely that God will make great alterations in the whole world, and overturnings in kingdoms and nations, only for the prayers of one obscure person, seeing such things used to be done in answer to the united prayers of the whole church; and that if my prayers should have some influence, it would be but imperceptible and small.

IMPLICATIONS, GIVEN THE OBJECTION IS WITHOUT WEIGHT

It is very possible that God will make great alterations in the whole world, and overturnings in kingdoms and nations, only for the prayers of one obscure person, even though such things used to be done in answer to the united prayers of the whole church.

A CALL TO BOLD, FAITH-FILLED PRAYER

Pray earnestly (insisting on) for the glorifying of God in the world, the advancement of the Kingdom of Christ, the prosperity of the church, and the good of man, knowing that it is very possible that God will make great alterations in the whole world, and overturnings in kingdoms and nations, even from the prayers of one obscure person, even though such things used to be done in answer to the united prayers of the whole church.

Pray for Your Pastor Each Weekend

If I am your pastor, please pray for me each weekend. Pray for me throughout the week and especially on Saturday (as I finish preparing my sermon through prayer) and on Sunday while I deliver God's message through preaching. If I am not your pastor, pray for your own pastor who will get up and proclaim the Word this weekend. If you don't have a pastor who preaches the Word -- for your soul's sake -- FIND ONE!

Be like the "illiterate lay-brother" in this story that Charles Spurgeon gives in his book to pastors (Lectures to My Students). He writes:

A certain preacher, whose sermons converted men by scores, received a revelation from heaven that not one of the conversions was owing to his talents or eloquence, but all to the prayers of an illiterate lay-brother, who sat on the pulpit steps, pleading all the time for the success of the sermon.

I pray that God would raise up many "pulpit step sitters."

"Brothers and sisters, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored..." (2 Thess 3:1)

Free Audio Book - "Spiritual Disciplines"

As a follow up to my last post on the discipline of prayer, I recommend taking advantage of the free book of the month from christianaudio.com called "Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life" by Donald Whitney.

Here is the link to the free audio book. You will have to register with audiobooks (which is free) and you need to enter the coupon code to get the book for free (MAR2009).

The disciplines Whitney writes about are:

* Bible intake
* Prayer
* Worship
* Evangelism
* Serving
* Stewardship
* Fasting
* Silence and solitude
* Journalling
* Learning

Discipline Yourself to Pray Daily

I read this post a few weeks ago by Justin Taylor from one of John Piper's sermons on prayer. It is short and inspiring. We need to pray and we need to get away from the mindset that it is legalistic to insist on set apart times for prayer on a daily basis. I am not legalistic when I set aside time three times a day for eating--why should I not set apart time for something much more important. We are neglecting a spiritually life-sustaining reality in our lives if we forsake disciplined prayer. We need it but we foolishly starve ourselves.

John Piper:

But the hard truth is that most Christians don’t pray very much. They pray at meals—unless they’re still stuck in the adolescent stage of calling good habits legalism. They whisper prayers before tough meetings. They say something brief as they crawl into bed. But very few set aside set times to pray alone—and fewer still think it is worth it to meet with others to pray. And we wonder why our faith is weak. And our hope is feeble. And our passion for Christ is small.

And meanwhile the devil is whispering all over this room: “The pastor is getting legalistic now. He’s starting to use guilt now. He’s getting out the law now.” To which I say, “To hell with the devil and all of his destructive lies. Be free!” Is it true that intentional, regular, disciplined, earnest, Christ-dependent, God-glorifying, joyful prayer is a duty? . . . Is it a discipline?

You can call it that.
• It’s a duty the way it’s the duty of a scuba diver to put on his air tank before he goes underwater.
• It’s a duty the way pilots listen to air traffic controllers.
• It’s a duty the way soldiers in combat clean their rifles and load their guns.
• It’s a duty the way hungry people eat food.
• It’s a duty the way thirsty people drink water.
• It’s a duty the way a deaf man puts in his hearing aid.
• It’s a duty the way a diabetic takes his insulin.
• It’s a duty the way Pooh Bear looks for honey.
• It’s a duty the way pirates look for gold.

I hate the devil, and the way he is killing some of you by persuading you it is legalistic to be as regular in your prayers as you are in your eating and sleeping and Internet use. Do you not see what a sucker he his making out of you? He is laughing up his sleeve at how easy it is to deceive Christians about the importance of prayer.

God has given us means of grace. If we do not use them to their fullest advantage, our complaints against him will not stick. If we don’t eat, we starve. If we don’t drink, we get dehydrated. If we don’t exercise a muscle, it atrophies. If we don’t breathe, we suffocate. And just as there are physical means of life, there spiritual are means of grace. Resist the lies of the devil in 2009, and get a bigger breakthrough in prayer than you’ve ever had.

Praying for Your Preacher

Please partner with me and Dave as we preach the Word of God. Pastor Dave is preaching tomorrow morning and his sermon is entitled - "Lesson on Prayer from the Saints."

Here are the things I asked you to pray for me in last week's sermon:

1) Pray that I would preach the Word with accuracy. Pray that I would not add to it or leave something out.

2) Pray that I would preach the Word with clarity. Pray that I would be given a gift and I would work hard to make the truth clear and understandable (use of words and language).

3) Pray that I would preach the Word with power. Pray that I would have what the old timers called “unction in the pulpit.” Pray that God would use His Word to bring life.

4) Pray that I would preach the Word with perseverance. Pray that I would not be weary in well doing but faithful regardless of apparent fruitfulness.

5) Pray that I would preach the Word with my life. Pray that my walk would match a faithful preaching of the Gospel.

Heading To Wisconsin - Asking for Prayer

I would like to ask you to pray for Molly and me (as well as Grace, Paul, Elijah and Barnabas) as we take a short vacation this Thursday-Monday to my parent’s house in Northeastern Wisconsin. We will be celebrating my grandmother’s 80^th birthday as well as taking a few days to rest and spend time together as a family.

Life has been quite stressful these days, yet the Lord has been so gracious and so have so many of you. I am thankful to be your pastor at Grace Church and hope to be here for a long time. At the risk of sounding self-serving (although I think it is Church-Serving) I would like to share with you these words from a great book on pastoral ministry by R. Kent Hughes called Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome. This is a book I read in college. Please keep the VanAckers and Patzs in mind as you read this:

Every pastor knows that the strength of the ministry rests on prayer, and that it is those faithful souls who pray regularly for him and the church who bring God's special blessing upon the ministry. This fact invites a marvelous "what if" scenario. What if not just a few but the entire leadership and congregation prayed in detail every day for the pastor and their church? What would happen to his heart, to his preaching, to worship, to evangelism, to missions? Can there be any doubt that the minister and his people would know greater enablement than ever before in their lives?

Prayer is where the congregation must begin in this whole matter of encouragement. Will you make a personal commitment to encourage your pastor by daily prayer for him and his work? If so, we leave you with this suggestive outline, from which you can draw your own prayer list.

Pray that he will be a true success: that he will be faithful, true to God's Word and hardworking; that he will be a servant, following the example of our foot-washing Lord; that he will love God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength; that he will truly believe what he believes about Christ; that he will lead a holy life, and not succumb to the sensuality of our culture; that he will lead a life of deep prayer, following Jesus' example; that he will have a positive attitude free from jealousy.

Pray for his ministry--for his preaching, for time to prepare, for understanding the Word, for application, for the power of the Holy Spirit in delivery, for Sunday's services, for his leadership, for immediate problems he is facing.

Pray for his marriage--for time for each other, for communication, for a deepening love, for fidelity.

Pray for his children by name. Perhaps you might ask the pastor or his wife how they would like you to pray for their children.

As a reminder – Please join many from the church on Friday evening at the Holm home in Linwood for prayer. You are invited to eat together starting at 6:30. Prayer will begin at 7 PM. (contact Tony Cooper for more info at tcooper@visi.com )

Thank you,

Pastor Daniel Patz

Praying for Your Pastors

At the risk of sounding self-serving I'd like to draw your attention to an article that I read this morning by Pastor Thabiti Anyabwile.

"Hey, have you prayed for or encouraged your pastor today? At the risk of sounding self-serving, could I suggest that every Christian church member consider one of their main ministries the ministry of encouragement for their pastors and elders. I received an email from one brother stating that he knew of over 20 pastors leaving the pastorate in one region of the U.S. I've had opportunity to interact with at least three pastors experiencing deep struggle. That doesn't include the normal battles for encouragement, joy, and perseverance that are just normal to pastoral ministry. So, have you prayed for your pastor(s) today?"

http://purechurch.blogspot.com/2008/10/odd-bits-and-pieces.html

Please realize that we need it!

Teaching Your Kids to "Say Their Prayers"

Bedtime at home with four kids five and under is challenging. Often I find myself saying short prayers with little time to really focus and concentrate on what I am doing. I came across this interesting article and I thought I would share it with you.

BEDTIME PRAYER WITH OUR CHILDREN.

I would love to hear what you do and what you would suggest.

Piper's Prayer Life

I found Adrian Warnock's interview with John Piper in the U.K. helpful. He talks about many subjects and here is a portion of his discussion on his own prayer life.
----
Adrian
So, what you’ve described — I suspect there may be many preachers out there saying, “Okay, I get what you’re saying, but how do I get to that place?” You mentioned prayer. I know prayer is important to you. You often talk about prayer in your books. Could you talk a little bit about what your own prayer life looks like? How you get, if you like, connected to God in that way you’re describing?...

John
I surely am not a model to hold up for prayer because I have models and I fall short of them. But, my life is a combination of private prayer, family prayer, corporate prayer at church—it’s a rhythm of those things. I try to be with the Lord every morning for an hour or so. The way it works for me is mingling together Word and prayer. I don’t read the Bible for twenty minutes and pray for twenty minutes, or forty and forty, whatever. It’s in and out and in and out. I learned that basically from George Mueller, who said he made the big mistake in his early Christian life of trying to pray for an extended period of time, and his mind inevitably went everywhere except toward the Lord, so he began by whispering up a one minute prayer for help, and then he took the Word and turned everything he’d read into prayer. He said I laid sixty things before the Lord this morning, and I laid them through the Word. And that’s pretty much the way I go about it.

When it comes to praying for things, besides what’s in the text, I pray in concentric circles. The most needy person I know is me. Therefore I pray about me first, because if I can’t be fixed, I won’t fix anybody. I won’t bless my wife or children or the Church. So I pray about this soul and my passion for God here, and then I move out to my wife and my children. I pray for them about whatever was in the text. Then I move out to my elders and my staff, and I name all the staff every day and our elders. And then I move out to the church, and move out to the city, and the nations. That’s the way I pray. And that can fill up a lot of time as God brings different things. I use helps. I have lists. I have lists of the names because I can’t even remember the names of 34 elders sometimes, and I have to say those. And then I use things like Operation World to pray for the nations. I keep it on my computer. I keep it in the book beside my old prayer bench at home.

By the way, I have a place of prayer. In my study there’s a little corner with a built wall, like this—it’s got a bench, it’s got books, it’s got a Bible. So I can kneel, it’s got a little rug. In 1975, so it’s now thirty-two years ago, I realized when I finished graduate school and owned my first home that this home should have a prayer place in it because otherwise, I think if you don’t have a place that’s designated that’s relatively secure, you tend to kind of sit on the couch, cross your legs, put some coffee beside you, and go to sleep, and call it prayer time. You don’t tend to do that if you have a place that’s just set aside for prayer.

You can read or view all the interviews here.

Medicine or Prayer? We Need to Know Our Bibles!

Wednesday night during our discipleship group someone asked about the girl in Wisconsin, Madeline Neumann, who died because she did not get the appropriate medicine for her treatable form of diabetes because her parents insisted on prayer instead. They are being charged with second-degree reckless-homicide. This reminds me of a story that Haddon Robinson mentioned in a sermon he preached at Moody Pastor's Conference in 2007. He told the story of John Liberger.

Jessica Ann Liberger was a 5-week-old baby girl. Jessica became ill with pneumonia. Her father, John Liberger, was a preacher. He did not believe in medication. He prayed for the healing of his daughter. He believed that God would answer prayers. He prayed day and night. He prayed fervently. Unfortunately, Jessica died. The police found that John, Jessica’s father was guilty of criminal negligence. He went to court and the judge found him guilty. Instead of putting him behind the bars, his sentence was five years of probation and community service in hospitals. When they asked Liberger about the verdict, he said: “God is my judge. I’ll give an account to Him.”

This brings up the question that many believers and unbelievers ask -- "what do Christians believe?" "Is that the Christian answer? No Medicine and only prayer." "Where was God for these people?"

Here are a few thoughts and a few links to read more on this subject:

1. The Bible states that we are completely dependent on Him for everything. Acts 17:28
2. Prayer that God would heal the sick is not only sanctioned but instructed although physical healing is not always promised (Paul prayed for his affliction to leave but God chose not to). James 5:13-18
3. The Bible never forbids the use of medicine but warns against our reliance and trust in medicine rather than in God. Doctors in the Bible are never seen as equivalent to wizards or sorcerers (Luke was a doctor). Jesus calls himself the great physician and I don't think he meant to say that all other physicians of the body are anti-Christ. Paul told Timothy to take some medicinal wine for his upset stomach--this seems strange if the only answer is to pray). Asa in 2 Chron 16:12 is condemned not so much because he went to doctors, but his lack of seeking the Lord was the general direction of his life by that time. See this page about Christians and medicine.
4. The Bible tells us that human labors are in vain or useless unless God graciously blesses them. I get this principles from Psalm 127. "Unless the Lord builds the house, we labor in vain." The point here is not that we pray for a house and hope that God sends a angelic version of Noah to build it. The point is that we build and do the work (and the house he is talking about is more than physical--the family) in trusting reliance that it is God that must do it --"without me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).
   
5. People whose zealous "faith" drives them to reject all medicine, especially for their family, demonstrate what Haddon Robinson called "The Danger of a Strong Faith and Weak Theology." I encourage you to read these sermon notes by Robinson on this topic and look at the example of Jephthah in the book of Judges.
   
6. A Zealous Faith must always be accompanied by a proper seeing of God and His Word. Jephthah did not know the Law rightly and consequently killed his daughter as a human sacrifice (Judges 10:1–11:40). Unfortunately, I think the parents of Madeline lacked a proper understanding of the Word of God.
7. A Zealous faith with poor theology can result in great tragedy. I think the crusades, Jephthah, parents who let their children die of treatable sickness because of their "faith", and many others find so much grief and tragedy because of a failure to see God and His Word rightly.
   

A Hunger of for God - Part 1

I was reading John Piper's Hunger for God: Desiring God through Fasting and Prayer today.  He made this convicting statement about our lack of desire for God and His glory because of our desires that are too fixated on the world's table. He recommends the discipline of fasting with the purpose of weaning our desires from the molding bread of the world unto the true Bread of Life -- Jesus!

If you don’t feel strong desires for the manifestation of the

glory of God, it is not because you have drunk deeply and are

satisfied. It is because you have nibbled so long at the table of

the world. Your soul is stuffed with small things, and there is

no room for the great. God did not create you for this. There

is an appetite for God. And it can be awakened. I invite you to

turn from the dulling effects of food and the dangers of idolatry,

and to say with some simple fast: “This much, O God, I

want you.” ("Introduction - page 23)