Prayers That Changed History

“This is the confidence we have to approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us”

(I John 5:14).

 The film starred by Jimmy Stewart, “It’s a Wonderful Life” teaches the value of a man who gives up his dreams and looks after the affairs of others. The life of “George” was a life that changed history because of his unselfish desires for others. Lives were saved, families were made whole, and individuals were elevated to better personalities and jobs.

 What about praying to God? Praying is asking Him for a certain thing. Praying is allowing God to change your heart to match His. Praying can be done anytime, anywhere. The more we pray according to God’s heart, the more we are changed. The more we are changed, the more we impact the world. Praying changes things, starting with us. When we pray, our prayers can also change history.

 “What can happen when I pray?” That’s a “Wonderful Life!” You’ll never know all that happens when you pray, but the results are often bigger than you think or imagine. Lives are different. Prayers of people, just like us, ordinary people, opened the doors to God’s work. And your prayers can do the same.

 

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  • Watch and Pray

     
    “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak” (Matthew 26:41).

    David was at it again. Another day of being a king. It had taken its toll on him. He was tired, mentally tired. Not long before, he had sent his troops off to fight and die in the wars against the hated Ammonites. He had stayed behind, though the weight of his kingship rested heavily upon him.

    David was in bed about all day. He decides to get up and take a stroll on the rooftop in the evening. The man was under pressure. Ruling a country and running a long-distance war can do that.

    We all face pressure. We all seek something to take our minds off of the struggles of work and the battles at home. We all would love an escape. There are many ways we can get that little respite.

    We can take a walk, just like David. We can watch a college basketball game. We can take the wife out for dinner (even McDonald’s). We can mow the lawn. We can play a round of golf. We can grab a good book. Or we can find a woman–man–whose looks and wiles we cannot resist. Umm!

    Don’t yield to the temptation to do something wrong to get your minds off of that which is wearing you down. David’s sin on that cool spring evening followed him the rest of his life.

    We all face pressures and temptations. But we can run to Jesus. He defeated everything that came His way. And you and I can defeat anything that comes our way. How? Why? Jesus lives in us and we are more than conquerors.

     

     

     

     

     

  • Get Alone

    “For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after he is killed, he shall rise the third day” (Mark 9:31).

    Why did the Lord Jesus have to teach His disciples about His death and resurrection when it should have been plain to see? One reason was that the nation of Israel was in denial and ignorance because they had not been taught the pure Word of God. Past generations were in the dark concerning God’s remedy for sin and its dominion. They did not take time to hear.

    Sin will blind and deafen a soul to the voice of God. In Daniel’s day the LORD revealed by books and scripture the plan and purpose of God to Daniel. Daniel realized the people had sinned, and brought reproach unto their own head, which degenerated the minds of the people toward their promise. God’s chosen people did not hearken to the servants, the prophets, who spoke God’s name to the Kings, princes, and the fathers, and to the people of the land (Daniel 9:6).

    Do you want to know how to know God? Get alone with God and allow Him to instruct you. Read His word, pray unto Him in prayer, in secret private prayer. It’s been said that the pious, religious hypocrite needs an audience to pray because he prays to be heard. To impress. But, friend, if you and I really desire God’s voice then we need to take time to hear and to be heard by God above. There in the secret place He will instruct in righteousness which yields fruit everlasting.

  • The Christian Faith Entrusted to Us

    “As for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1).

    Biblical knowledge is meant to be both intellectual and experiential. There are two sides to the same coin and it is meant to be enjoyed together. Knowledge without response is like an incomplete sentence or a song without a chorus. We have to go beyond merely quoting the truth….to obeying it.

    Why are we to contend for the faith? Because there are false teachers, wolves in sheep’s clothing, counterfeits, apostates in our pulpits across the church scene.  Theology was important to Jude and Paul. God takes the truth seriously. We must know what and why we believe. That is God’s call on every believer.

    Our faith is not primarily a feeling. It is belief based on fact. It is more about a grounded assurance than personal philosophy. We can not simply make up facts or imagine things about God and then base our lives on those thoughts.

    Faith fads, theological trends, popular contemporary thinking, is carrying an unthinking church away from strong historical beliefs and Scripture. Just believing something doesn’t make it true. It’s either true or not, independent of our belief in it. Everything that is not Scriptural and experientially defended in our daily lives sets up misrepresentation of the God of doctrine and truth. Just ask the woman at the well in John’s gospel chapter four.

    It may feel as if the Word of God is rocking back and forth, swaying to the fads of Christianity, but it is not…for the Word of God is stable, it is not changing, progressing, or emerging. We are called to stand for and proclaim what is true, and even when necessary to expose false teaching and heresy. Always ask, “What does the Bible say? And not “Does it make me feel good, happy, or accepted by others?”

     

     

     

     

  • Accountability

    “Practice these things; be committed to them, so that your progress may be evident to all” (I Tim. 4:15).

    Over the years, our understanding of discipleship has changed — and not always in a good direction.  Discipleship has shifted — from an ongoing process over the course of one’s life to a class you sign up and hopefully complete.  Usually after some time the class that started with twenty dwindles to eight or ten.

    I grew up on the tail end of the “training union” of the late 1960s and early 70s.  But even in this the shortcomings were felt.  Again, it was based upon this premise…you come and sit, I’ll teach.  You and I ought to be dissatisfied with mediocrity.  God has placed in each of us the desire to minister and develop through others.

    Discipleship should not be left to chance.  The Lord Jesus was intentional and calculative from the beginning.  In fact, as Jesus discipled the twelve men who would change the world, He gradually released them into ministry through a definitive four-step process.

    First, Jesus ministered while the disciples watched.
    Second, Jesus allowed the disciples to assist Him in ministry.
    Third, the disciples ministered with Jesus’ assistance.
    Finally, Jesus observed as the disciples ministered to others.

    If Jesus had a model and a plan, shouldn’t we have one?  If discipleship was then, should it not be for today?

  • God’s Throne Rebuilds Us

    “And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius, the king” (Ezra 6:15).

    Remember that God is in control. When the words and actions of world leaders disturb you, remember that God is on His throne and has all things under control.

    Israel had rejected God’s warnings of judgment, but the prophet’s word came through. Jeremiah warned, cried, and the people ignored and rejected God’s warning to their own well being. The temples was torn down and the people of God were exiled in a land of idols.

    Yet, God still restored His people to the land as promised. He used a pagan ruler by the name of Cyrus to fulfill prophecy. The temple was rebuilt and great joy was found in the midst. Over seventy years in captivity, tears that soaked the clothing and the ground, God made a way for His people to get back into the land of His choosing.

    The trip was difficult for the Jews, life in the land was demanding; however, the courageous Jews paid the price to do God’s will. No matter how you and I may have failed in the past, God gives us the opportunity for a new beginning. God is still at work!

  • Those Who Refresh

    “The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain: But, when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me. The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day: and in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well” (II Timothy 1:16-18).

    Here is a man who, as far as we know, never preached a sermon, wrote an epistle, or sang an anthem. He was quiet in his efforts, unassuming in ministering in his love to the lonely Paul, reaching out in grace to a great missionary statesman by the name of Paul. Onesiphorus refreshed Paul in every possible way that he could. He was the object of Paul’s intercession and doubtless will receive a great reward in heaven for his love and kindness shown to Paul.

    When we look into the field of Christianity there are many who want to be refreshed but few Christians who are refreshers. Being refreshed is much easier than being a refresher. This is probably the reason Jesus so sadly lamented, “…The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest” (Luke 10:2).

    The great God of glory never forgets those who serve Him and who serve and refresh others. The true refreshers will shine in glory and will receive a great reward. Unknown on earth in many ways but known in heaven. “For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister” (Hebrews 6:10). Who we are is more important to God than what we do.