How one pastor and church were bad at prayer and now can’t stop praying
How one pastor and church were bad at prayer and now can’t stop praying
Brandon Showalter is a reporter with The Christian Post. He enjoys exploring the intersection of faith and public life, and has reported on a wide range of theological, political and ethical themes and topics.
He was first inspired to break into a career in writing/journalism while mopping floors and scrubbing toilets as a church custodian in April 2015.
He earned a B.A. from Bridgewater College of Virginia, is a fellow of the John Jay Institute for Faith, Society, & Law, and graduated from a three-year program at Bethel School of Ministry in Redding, California.
His most favorite thing to do in life is to sing.
Prayer sounds simple enough but many Christians often complicate it or hardly engage in it at all. Pete Grieg, author of How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People, explains how he and his church went from “bad at praying” to starting a 24-7 global prayer movement — where prayer hasn’t stopped in the last 20 years.
Listen to the Podcast: How one pastor and church were bad at prayer and now can’t stop praying – The Christian Post
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How to Pray for Your Daily Bread
Jesus teaches us how to pray. Here is a great article on praying for our daily bread.
“This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread” (Matthew 6:9-11).
As we read this prayer our Lord gave, remember it is the model prayer. The Lord did not say “Pray this prayer,” but “Pray in this manner.” He taught us something wonderful about prayer: it’s not the length of our prayer, the logic of our prayer, or the language of our prayer, but the faith, the focus, and the force of our prayer that causes it to be heard in heaven.
“Bread” in this prayer is really symbolic of any need you have. Do you have a need today? God delights to meet your need.
Here are four important steps to follow when praying for “daily bread.”
Read the article here: How to Pray for Your Daily Bread – Topical Studies
What does God expect when we talk with Him?
So what is prayer? The most basic definition of prayer is “talking with God.”
Prayer is not meditation or passive reflection; it is direct address to God. It is the communication of the human soul with the Master who created the soul.
Prayer is the primary way for the believer in Jesus the Messiah to communicate his emotions and desires with God and to fellowship with God.
10 Powerful Prayers for Healing – Praying for Strength, Recovery & Comfort Now
Here are some great prayers: 10 Powerful Prayers for Healing – Praying for Strength, Recovery & Comfort Now
Are you facing a difficult disease, illness or malady and want to cry out to God for healing but don’t know what to pray? If you feel scared, alone, unsure of the future, or don’t understand how healing works, pray these words below in faith today! Below are ten healing prayers, an interview with Max Lucado explaining how we should pray for healing, and some of our favorite Bible verses on healing.
God tells us that through prayer, He can speak to us and use us to work miracles for His glory. When you use this prayer for healing you are coming to God completely surrendered and expectant to let His Holy Spirit work in and through you. I pray that you will find miraculous healing as you seek God’s plan for your life – His plan to prosper you and to give you a hope and future!
Read them all here:
10 Powerful Prayers for Healing – Praying for Strength, Recovery & Comfort Now
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If you would like to donate to the Christian Training Center, please click here.
Check out our upcoming ministry programs for young adults and families. Please click here.
Our programs are like an immersion into a new language – the language of living in Jesus. The goal is fluency in the language of relationships. Programs share a sequential vision, building an understanding of relationships and family culture. The foundation is an encounter with Jesus. This encounter is the means for both insight and vision. Encountering Jesus leads a radical change in living and relationships.
Heroes Semester is a 10-week residential, “family style” living experience like no other! | — Sept 2 – Nov 9, 2019 | Participants ages 18-26 come with one purpose – to go deeper with the Lord. ow.ly/Nhag30oRYRK
Strengthening & Restoring Family Relationships — Train to Reign Program — Oct 20 – Nov 2 | Family is the most vital relationship and the one under the most pressure and attack. Come strengthen your family in a strong relationship with God. http://ow.ly/l5SU30oS5pQ
Are my prayers just monologues?
Prayer
I am hoping that God doesn’t feel this way when I pray. I have heard lots of prayers (including my own) that feel like a monologue.
It has me thinking for sure. I am wondering.
God’s goal for us is for us to pray in a way that is a conversation. God also wants us to listen to Him.
What is God saying?
Do I hear Him?
Is my focus on understanding what God wants?
May my prayers be a conversation (not a monologue) with my Father!!!
“Most conversations are simply monologues delivered in the presence of witnesses.” ~Margaret Millar
If you would like to donate to the Christian Training Center, please click here.
Check out our upcoming ministry programs for young adults and families. Please click here.
A Prayer for Supernatural Protection
Are you feeling exposed today? Seeking the kind of shelter described in Psalm 91? Run to the Father’s fortress with these words on your lips and in your heart, knowing that God will stand guard over any area of your life you surrender to Him. Will you pray with me now for his divine protection?
Lord Jesus,
The world is changing so fast. Every day the media relays tales of those who disregard law, devise evil, and destroy both people and property. And because of what’s happening, fear sometimes rises up in my heart—for me, for those I love, and for people everywhere. Yet I know you are in control.
The Ancient Enemies of Israel Have Entered Our Land — Who are the Philistines?
Thank you for joining us today as we study the fourth part of our series. We are looking at the ancient enemies of Israel, who and what they represent, and how these spirits are still relevant today in our nation and world. This is extremely valuable information to raise our awareness of the battles we fight daily. We know these battles are not of flesh and blood, but of spirits and principalities.
What happens when enemies enter our land?
Exodus 34:10 says “As of right now, I’m making a covenant with you: In full sight of your people I will work wonders that have never been created in all the earth, in any nation. Take careful note of all I command you today. I’m clearing your way by driving out Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. Stay vigilant. Don’t let down your guard lest you make covenant with the people who live in the land that you are entering and they trip you up”.
Who were these enemies that had entered the land of Israel? Let’s define them and compare them to our America in today’s world.
Part 4 – Who are the Philistines? ~~ by Susan Pons
Philistine – The name Philistine means strangers, emigrants, foreigners, forces foreign to the Spirit of God.
A person who is guided by a Philistine agenda is usually disdainful of intellectual or artistic values. Philistine also means a people who are contentedly commonplace in ideas and tastes. They are called Allophyli, foreigners, in the Septuagint, and in the Books of Samuel they are spoken of as uncircumcised. Philistines are a people who are lacking in, hostile, or smugly indifferent to cultural values such as art work, theatre, manners, respect, homes in God’s order, etc. Christian and Godly cultural values are taught and learned in the home. Uncleanness can enter our homes in what we view, read, and the way we speak to each other. Tolerance of the Muslim faith but persecution of the Christian faith, this is the giant Philistine spirit operating in our nation.
Before we pray it’s worth mentioning that the Philistines were known to have giants among them. Do you remember the story of David and Goliath (the Philistine)? This is a giant problem in our nation today.
Father God, we pray for Your mercy and we repent for the sin of allowing uncleanness into our homes. We have slowly faded into a nation that allows things that You hate. We don’t even notice or see it as a sin anymore. Our values should and do begin in our homes. May we have eyes that see the areas that we need to change to please You. Let us be the change we want to see in this world and let us stand out as Christians to be an example for others.
Here at CTCI, our conferences and retreats throughout the year provide a time for Christians from far and wide to come together for insightful teaching, sincere worship and life-changing ministry. We have been blessed to host a number of outstanding Bible teachers including Lance Lambert, Derek Prince, Bob Mumford, Johannes Facius and Gary Bergel. We are please to welcome Dave Kubal from Intercessors For America this summer as our repeat speaker during our Appeal to Heaven conference. Bob and Kathy Fittts will be leading worship! Most importantly, in all we do, we seek the presence of the Lord.
If you would like more information about our upcoming conferences or our ministry, please go to our website at www.lifeisrelationships.com, or fill out this contact form below and we will get back with you promptly.
If you would like to donate to the Christian Training Center, please click here.
Check out our upcoming ministry programs for young adults and families. Please click here.
A Place of Encounter
Welcome from all of us at CTCI. We trust you’ll enjoy this short yet extremely profound devotion from day three of Mike Bickle’s Growing in Prayer Devotional book.
“Prayer should not be regarded as a duty which must be performed, but rather as a privilege to be enjoyed, a rare delight that is always revealing some new beauty.” -E. M. Bounds
“First and foremost, prayer is about encountering God and growing in relationship with Him. In prayer we position ourselves to receive fresh insight into His heart as new desires are formed in our hearts, enabling us to commune deeply with Him. Prayer positions us to be energized to love – to love God and people. Yes, it is biblical to pray to get answers and to see God’s power. But prayer is first of all an opportunity to commune with God.
The call to prayer is a call to participate in the love that has forever burned in God’s heart. From eternity past, the Father has loved the Son with all His heart, and the Son has loved the Father with the same intensity. This love is the foundational reality of the kingdom of God. It is this very reality that we participate in as we grow in prayer, and it is what prayer is mostly about – that is, participating in the family dynamics of the Godhead.
God created the human race to share His love. Why? Simply because “God is Love” (1 John 4:16).
God’s heart burns with love, and He calls us to experience it – to enter into what I refer to as “the fellowship of the burning heart.” Salvation is an invitation to this fellowship.
WHAT CAN I DO?
As you pray today, actively position yourself to receive the love of God, and ask the Holy Spirit to draw you into the fellowship of the burning heart.
FOR REFLECTION
“And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16).
Lord, I will seek daily prayer encounters with You, not only to strengthen our relationship but to partake of the abiding love that is only found when I am in Your presence.”
Prayer is a huge part of our walk with Lord. If you have a prayer request and you would like us to join you in prayer, please fill out the contact form below and we will pray for and with you.
If you would like to donate to CTCI please click here.
Check our upcoming ministry programs for young adults and families. Please click here.
The Ancient Enemies of Israel Have Entered Our Land — Who are the Canaanites?
Welcome, and thank you for joining us today as we share the third part of our series. We are looking at the ancient enemies of Israel, who they are and what they represent, and how these spirits are still relevant today in our nation and world. This is extremely valuable information to raise our awareness of the battles we fight daily. We know these battles are not of flesh and blood, but of spirits and principalities.
Part 3 – Who are the Canaanites? ~~ by Susan Pons
What happens when enemies enter our land? Exodus 34:10 says “As of right now, I’m making a covenant with you: In full sight of your people I will work wonders that have never been created in all the earth, in any nation. Take careful note of all I command you today. I’m clearing your way by driving out Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. Stay vigilant. Don’t let down your guard lest you make covenant with the people who live in the land that you are entering and they trip you up”.
Who were these enemies that had entered the land of Israel? Let’s define them and compare them to our America in today’s world. Today we will talk about the Canaanites.
Canaanite – The name Canaanite means trafficker. This is the exact same description given to satan in Ezekiel 28:13-18. This spirit is behind addictions and sexual impurity. This is why in the Scriptures, Sodom and Gomorrah were said to be Canaanite cities as told in Genesis 10:19. Jezebel was the daughter of Ethical king of Sidon, which means she was Phoenician, who were Canaanites. The Canaanite spirit uses wealth and material gain to bring God’s people into compromise and backsliding. Sexual trafficking, labor trafficking, and drug trafficking are start examples of the Canaanite spirit that has invaded our land.
Father God, we repent on behalf of our nation for all of these trafficking offenses that are so evil in Your eyes. When we look from a heavenly perspective it’s so hard to believe what our nation has become. We know that Your promises are real, and if we repent and turn away from these things You will heal our land. We pray for Your help and Your healing, holy, and righteous Spirit to increase in our nation. We pray in Jesus’ name, amen.
Here at Christian Training Center International, we put much time and effort into making sure we are all updated and at least aware of current news and happenings in both the spiritual and also the physical realm in this world. The spiritual battle on earth is not new nor has much changed in the enemy’s tactics. It is so important for us all to be involved in prayer to Almighty God for our government and nation and other current world events.
If you would like more information about our ministry, please go to our website at www.lifeisrelationships.com, or fill out this contact form below and we will get back with you promptly.
If you would like to donate to CTCI please click here.
Will you join us at the Christian Training Center this summer? Heroes Week — Ages 14 – 18 — July 15-20, 2019
Welcome, here is a little taste of what you can experience here at the Christian Training Center this summer during our Heroes Week program. Ages 14 – 18 — July 15-20, 2019
If you are interested in becoming a hero and would like more information about how you or someone you know can attend this summer, visit our website by clicking here or fill out the contact form below and we will get back with you promptly.
Learn More and Register
If you would like to donate to and/or pay for a young person to attend this summer here at CTCI, please click here.
Changing Things…By Prayer (Part 3 of 3)| Jay Fesperman
Now, there is one more thing: believing that we have a great High Priest, an intercessor – Jesus Christ, seated at God’s right hand. We hear Jesus say something like this, “Now, Father, you hear what Jay is asking; release it to him, in My Name.”
If we pray the way Jesus told us to, we will pray to the Father, “in Jesus’ Name.” “The Father will give you whatever you ask IN MY NAME,” Jesus said (John 15:16). But then He says, “In that day you will ask IN MY NAME. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No. The Father HIMSELF loves you because you have loved Me AND HAVE BELIEVED that I came from God” (John 16:26-27). What is Jesus saying? I think He is trying to get our identity with the Person of God, the Father settled into our spirit, by clearly defining to us who He is as He relates to the Father, and who He is as He relates to US.
Changing Things…By Prayer (Part 2 of 3)| Jay Fesperman
Here is the second part of our series! We hope you are enjoying Jay’s God anointed teachings!
Next, we need to be encouraged by coming to an understanding that God has put an important limitation to what we should pray for. He has made many, many promises to His people in the Bible. So we need to know His Word and what He has given as a promise. Just as FAITH is the SUBSTANCE of our desires, so His promises are the raw material of His desires, His hope for us. Get that! His PROMISES are His DESIRE for us! We can hove our faith electrified by repeating that phrase again and again: “His promises are his desire for us…”, and they are expressed in words, phrases, sentences in the Scriptures!
Changing Things…By Prayer (Part 1 of 3)| Jay Fesperman
What do you really need prayer for? Join us for the next three Wednesday’s as we study this series by Jay Fesperman!
This morning I began to pray in our usual time assigned for prayer. And in the ways of the Holy Spirit, that voice began to speak: “Your prayers are meant to bring about CHANGE in the lives of those for whom you pray! If your prayers come from the impulse of the Spirit of God, you should be sensing and even seeing change. You have been praying for weeks for ____________. Are you seeing change? Sure you are! He’s not the same! but do you take courage to know that, through your praying, God has seen fit to hear your own prayer and alter the life of another person? Isn’t that incredible! To think that your conversation with God has totally changed the course of another human life?”
Appeal to Heaven Conference: Session 1 – The Mordecai Mandate
The Mordecai Mandate: moving from the sword to the scepter. In this session, Dave Kubal, president of Intercessors for America, speaks out of the book of Esther and talks about the important shift taking place in how we are to pray and interceed for our nation – we are in a season of moving from defensive prayer (the sword) into praying with favor extended (the scepter).
Watch the full video HERE.
Christian Training Center International
lifeisrelationships.com
Intercessors for America
ifapray.org
An Appeal to Heaven
This weekend CTCI had the privilege to partner with David Kubal, President of Intercessors for America (IFA), and international worship leaders Bob and Kathy Fitts to host the Appeal to Heaven: Worship and Intercession Conference. We were blessed to participate in the IFA First Friday prayer conference call where a few of our summer interns were asked to pray for our nation based on seven specific points. In light of this conference, and in light of this Day of Independence, we would like to share those pertinent points, as well as two of the interns’ prayers, and invite you to join us in interceding for our nation.
- Prayer for the judicial system and prayer for the appointment of righteous judges. (Is. 1:26)
- Prayer for our relationship with Israel. (Gen. 12:3)
- Prayer for the acknowledgement of God. (Ex. 20:2)
- Prayer for the protection of life. (Ex. 20:13)
- Prayer for marriage. (Ex. 20:14)
- Prayer for protection of property. (Ex. 20:15)
- Prayer that God’s people would turn from their wicked ways. (2 Chr. 7:14)
A prayer for the protection of property:
“(Exodus 20:13, ‘You shall not steal.’) Heavenly Father, right now, I acknowledge Your sovereignty. You are perfect in all of Your ways. You are faithful to forgive and accept those who bow before You in humility and recognize their need for Christ as their Lord and Savior. You are faithful to forgive and accept those who love Christ and obey Him out of love for Him. But I confess to you now that we have not been obeying You, or Your Son, Lord. I have sinned. We have sinned. We have defiled Your land. And I ask that You would please forgive me – forgive us – so that we may walk away from our sins and sin no more. Please, Lord, protect the property that You have blessed us with. We would not have this land if You had not given it to us. We are one nation under You. We bear Your name. On this property marriages are made, education is taught, names are built, business is dealt, and Your Word is proclaimed. Cleanse Your property. Redeem Your property. Thank You for blessing us with it. Help us to be better stewards of it by Your wisdom and strength. ‘O Lord, hear. O Lord, forgive. O Lord, listen and act! For Your own sake, do not delay, O my God; for Your [nation] and Your people bear Your name’ (Dan. 9: 19).” (Rebecca Duncan, CTCI Summer Intern)
A prayer for the judicial system:
“Isaiah 1:26, ‘I will restore your leaders as in days of old, your rulers as at the beginning. Afterward you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City.’ Father God, forgive us for we are responsible for electing corrupt officials in our government. Forgive us for the evil that we’ve allowed to pollute our judicial system. In light of our circumstances, Lord, we pray for our justice system and that Your name be glorified through the next supreme court justices. For the rest of the justices, Lord, I pray that they will open their eyes to see the destruction and impurity in our nation. Father, I pray that they will seek forgiveness and come to know Your Son, our Savior Jesus. God, I pray for lawyers that will prosecute on behalf of Your Word! On behalf of Your heart, God! Father, I pray that Your will be done through our supreme court justices. Lord, I pray for an uprising of justices that believe in Your Word, God. We pray that the laws of this nation will reflect Your plan for government. God, forgive us for boldly living outside of Your plans! Father, have mercy on this nation! On us! Lord, help us to become a City of Righteousness, the Faithful City. Father, bring back justice to our judicial system. In Your name. Amen.” (Zoe Hudgens, CTCI Summer Intern)
Train to Reign and Children with Melissa Lee
Melissa Lee has been overseeing CTCI’s children’s ministry for 26 years. Find out how the Lord is working in children’s lives during our Train to Reign Program.
Changing Things…By Prayer (Part 2 of 3)| Jay Fesperman
Next, we need to be encouraged by coming to an understanding that God has put an important limitation to what we should pray for. He has made many, many promises to His people in the Bible. So we need to know His Word and what He has given as a promise. Just as FAITH is the SUBSTANCE of our desires, so His promises are the raw material of His desires, His hope for us. Get that! His PROMISES are His DESIRE for us! We can hove our faith electrified by repeating that phrase again and again: “His promises are his desire for us…”, and they are expressed in words, phrases, sentences in the Scriptures!
Changing Things…By Prayer (Part 1 of 3)| Jay Fesperman
This morning I began to pray in our usual time assigned for prayer. And in the ways of the Holy Spirit, that voice began to speak: “Your prayers are meant to bring about CHANGE in the lives of those for whom you pray! If your prayers come from the impulse of the Spirit of God, you should be sensing and even seeing change. You have been praying for weeks for ____________. Are you seeing change? Sure you are! He’s not the same! but do you take courage to know that, through your praying, God has seen fit to hear your own prayer and alter the life of another person? Isn’t that incredible! To think that your conversation with God has totally changed the course of another human life?”
Changing Things…By Prayer (Part 3 of 3)| Jay Fesperman
Now, there is one more thing: believing that we have a great High Priest, an intercessor – Jesus Christ, seated at God’s right hand. We hear Jesus say something like this, “Now, Father, you hear what Jay is asking; release it to him, in My Name.”
If we pray the way Jesus told us to, we will pray to the Father, “in Jesus’ Name.” “The Father will give you whatever you ask IN MY NAME,” Jesus said (John 15:16). But then He says, “In that day you will ask IN MY NAME. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No. The Father HIMSELF loves you because you have loved Me AND HAVE BELIEVED that I came from God” (John 16:26-27). What is Jesus saying? I think He is trying to get our identity with the Person of God, the Father settled into our spirit, by clearly defining to us who He is as He relates to the Father, and who He is as He relates to US.
Lessons from Our Forefathers
This Fourth of July, as we celebrate and reflect upon the positives in our American heritage, and as many of us seek solutions for restoring those troubled areas in our current culture, there are a few things that come to mind that can encourage us to hold on to the valuable lessons that were passed down to us by our country’s forefathers.
The first lesson(s) are found in the above video (you’ll have to watch it to find out what they are).
Praying for Our Troops
Recently, my son swore the following oath to uphold the constitution of the United States as he enlisted in the Marine Corps: I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to the regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.
The Preciousness Of Your Prayers
When you are a part of a Ministry that spans the years and is still in existence and flourishing, it becomes very clear that prayer has been a major part of that. We have a Prayer Room on the third floor dedicated for that purpose. Recently we had a day of prayer, and all the staff and everyone here took an hour to pray for our very busy upcoming Summer. This caused me to wonder just how many prayers have been prayed in this place over the years? Far too many too count, I am sure. The amazing truth is, God hears our prayers and is faithful always to answer. If only we had a record of those prayers, I believe we would be leaping up and down and shouting our praises as we saw the amazing and miraculous answers our God has given!