The power of prayer is an incredible thing. At Philanthropy, we know that prayer is something important – but let us attempt to explain how much the Lord blesses us every day. About a year ago, Philanthropy started The Prayer Wall based on a story of a personal battle with cancer, and a mission set on our hearts from one of our customers. A random interaction turned into a very important day for all of us.
Each year, students gather around their school's flag pole for SYATP - the Global Day of Student Prayer. This year, SYATP is on September 25 and we want to show the power of prayer in the Nashville community.
A clarion call has been made to gather the saints for a grassroots effort across the state of Tennessee. We will serve those in authority from the Courthouse to the White House. We will serve through intercession for and interaction with governmental leaders in order to impact our cities, our state and nation. We will not only minister to those in the high place, but also those in the forgotten place. We will discern the heartbeat of cities and communities from mayors and city and county officials to determine how we can best serve those in authority. May we rise up rather than fall back in this hour and walk through the gates of government to serve with the heart and mind of Christ.
The following article, containing dozens of spiritual quotes by our United States Presidents, is taken from Ed Moore's book, Prayer Force One: Across America. It is presented here in order to preserve the foundations of our nation's spiritual heritage. You may order Ed Moore's book by clicking on the book at the right.
Welcome to The Belonging! We are a Church that loves God and loves people. We are passionate about seeing people encounter God through worship, and experience the freedom that comes through knowing Jesus. Whoever you are, and wherever you come from, you are welcome!Heroes and Heroines
Heroes and Heroines fight. They are courageous and strong. They save the day in some way.
We are all familiar with Superman, he is a fictional super hero. He was rocketed to earth by his father . He was found, adopted and raised by a farm couple as Clark Kent and they instilled in him strong moral values. With his super vision and super strength coupled with good moral values, he was able to protect mankind from evil by fighting . . . evil villains.
A hero or heroine should be aware of what’s going on around them and the difference between good and evil.
Heroes and Heroines have a cause.
Superman’s cause was. . .
The never ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way."
On Memorial Day, the last Monday in May, we remember real life heroes and heroines. . .men and woman that died fighting for our freedom. We could call them war heroes and heroines.
A Christian can be a hero or heroine by being praying people. We do not lose our lives by praying, at least not yet we don’t, but in a way, we do lay down our lives by praying for truth, justice and the WAY, for they are definitely under attack today.
We need to stand in the gap and fights for what’s right!
King David was a hero and David was a praying man. David took down a giant, who was defying the armies of God.
Moses was a hero and Moses was a praying man. Moses withstood Pharaoh, who was holding the children of God as slaves.
Esther was a heroine and she believed in prayer. Esther saved her race from annihilation.
All three, stood for what was right and stood in the gap for others.
King David wrote many songs and prayers. I would think he had ample time to pray while keeping a watch over his father’s sheep. When David heard about the giant who was defying the armies of God, he said. . . who does he think he is? His oldest brother got angry and accused him of being prideful and naughty, to which David answered. . .Is there not a cause? God had delivered David from the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, and David knew God would deliver him out of the hand of the giant. David took only his staff, 5 smooth stones and his sling to meet the giant, and of course his God. 1 Samuel 17
Moses prayed all the time.
He prayed for the people when they made gods of gold. He asked God to forgive them and not to blot them out of His book. Exodus 32
Once Moses prayed to God to take away the serpents from the midst of the people and God did. Numbers 21:7
After Esther’s uncle Mordecai told her....who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this, Esther had him gather all the Jews to fast for her before she went into the king to ask him to reverse the decree to destroy all her family, the Jews. As a result, the king told the Jews they could gather themselves together and stand up for their lives. Book of Esther
Jesus, the ultimate Hero of mankind, prayed all the time for us when He walked among us and even still. Christ came to save the human race.
. . . Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. . . 1 Timothy 1:15
He stood for what was right and stood in the gap for the entire world.
Many people down through the ages have wondered how God could possibly see and hear every person praying or even want to? Well, today we are living in an age where we can practically hear and see everyone, though crude in comparison with how God can, but you get my point. We can stay connected to each other via the world-wide-web, Face Book, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc… How many times have we been enthralled in something, or talking to someone and lose connection? Our power to stay connected is limited, but God’s is not. He can see every one of us and He can hear every one of us at all times and He wants to because He loves us. His signal is always strong.
We can get praying ideas from social media places. We can apply Christian prayer apps to our phones, just be sure they line up with our beliefs. When we see prayer requests on our news feeds, we can PRAY. We can tweet and re-tweet prayers. We can pin prayers. We can do a lot with our smart phones these days, but. . .they are not all powerful and all knowing, God is! Let us never neglect to connect with God every day.
Love is the key to powerful prayer. We know how our hearts feel whenever we pray for a stranger verses praying for a loved one? When we hear that a loved one is in a bad way, it grabs a hold of our hearts. . .we can actually feel our hearts ache for them. And the prayer we pray for them tends to be more passionate. Surely we should approach every prayer in this way, but usually we don’t and that’s sad.
Love is powerful. Love doesn’t give up. A life of prayer can help grow the love of God in our hearts so we can pray passionately for all people. So praying without ceasing is very important.
Faith works by love. Galatians 5:6
Jesus said,
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. Matthew 6:6
I like the idea of praying in a literal closet too. We do not leave our houses without entering our closets to get dressed each day, do we? Nor should we leave our houses without praying every day. Praying equips us spiritually, with protection and wisdom and grace to stand.
It is important that we, not merely, ‘fit’ God into our busy schedules but prayer should be intentional…we should have an hour or time of prayer.
Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. Acts 3:1
Why pray? What do we pray about? Who do we pray for? I suggest to you that all these questions usually get answered on our knees. When we pray we are voicing our inner belief that God can be trusted, in other words, prayer isn’t for God’s benefit, but for ours, because when we pray we are showing that we have chosen to trust God instead of on man or on ourselves, and when we pray, we are reminded of Who God is and what God can do.
Jesus gave us, what I refer to as, a prayer template. It is the prayer of all prayers that covers the gamut of how and what all we should be praying about.
Jesus taught it to His disciples…
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. Matthew 6:9-13
- Prayer should have a place where we can ponder without distraction
- Prayer should have purpose
- Prayer should prepare us
Paul wrote about prayer. . .
But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. . . Book of Jude
and….
be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; Read Ephesians 6