Tag Archives: Prayer

3.22.12 My 2007 Resolution

            My New Year’s resolution for 2007 was a simple prayer: “Lord, help me to be a generous giver just like you.”  If you read my last post, I confessed that giving the tithe check each week lacked joy.  Please understand – I don’t regret writing God my “thank you” note.  I am grateful for everything He gives me.  What I do regret is that I let my heart get to a place that the tithe was a habit without the heart.  When I took my concern to the Lord the eve of 2007 and asked Him to help me find joy in giving, this prayer or “resolution” is what He gave me.  May I share why this prayer was so powerful to me?

            The major presupposition to this prayer is that God generously gives to us.  My mind started to flood with a variety of Scripture passages that demonstrate the generosity of God.  The very first thing that came to mind was John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”  God’s love for us was so great that He was willing to give up His only Son so that we could have a love relationship with Him for eternity.  That level of generosity is overwhelming!

            Another picture of His generosity is found in Acts 1:4-5, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.  For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is an expression of God’s generosity. 

           Those of us who have placed our faith in Jesus Christ for our salvation have the promise found in Eph 1:13-14, “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.  Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession.”  God generously gifts us with His Holy Spirt by sealing the Holy Spirit in our hearts.  The Holy Spirit gives us the power necessary to do God’s will in conformity with the purpose of His will (Eph 1:11). 

         Then there is God’s generosity in terms of abundance.  Check out how generous He is:

  • Whatever we can ask or imagine when we come to God in prayer, He does “immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine” according to Eph 3:20-21.
  • According to Eph 1:8, God has lavished us with His grace with all wisdom and understanding.
  • According to I John 3:1, great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!
  • Numbers 14:18 says, “The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion.”
  • He is generous with forgiveness.  We can ask as often as we need to, and He tells us in I John 1:9 that “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  There is no quota!  He freely gives forgiveness upon the asking.
  • He tells us in James 1:5 that “if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding  fault.”
  • Rom 8:32 says, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave Him up for us all– how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things.”  How much more generous can He get?!

        There is another underlying assumption in this prayer. I can be a generous giver just like God.  Is there a scriptural basis for such a desire? Absolutely.  I Tim 6:17-18 says, “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. (Did you catch more generosity?) Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.”  Please don’t get stuck on the word “rich” in this verse.  There are plenty of statistics that support we are the wealthiest nation on this Earth.  If your household brings in $40K/yr or more (it may even be a lower number than this), you are in the top two percent of the richest people in the world.  We live in such a materialistic culture that we have been fed the lie that we are only rich if we have a million dollars in the bank.  Nothing could be further from the truth. 

          Here are two more verses that support this desire.  2 Cor 8:7 says, “But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us –see that you also excel in this grace of giving.”  Look at 2 Cor 9:6 which says, “Whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”  It says in verse 11 of this same chapter, “You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”  God wants to put us in a position that we can be generous on every occasion.  Isn’t that incredible?  Am I the only one excited about this?!

        This prayer is an integral part of my giving story.  It catalyzed change in my heart in 2007.  A heart that was once calloused is now softened.  My giving no longer feels like a habit without a heart.  A deepened gratitude toward God for all of His generosity toward me allows me to experience joy as I write my “thank you” notes.  I pray boldly asking God how I can do more to glorify Him and further His work through generous giving.  God is doing a serious and exciting work in my heart, and I will continue to unfold it.  The vision for living giving will be shared, but I need to lay more groundwork.  It is an exciting ride, and the Lord welcomes anyone who desires to “excel in the grace of giving.”  There is no patent on this prayer.  I can’t take credit for it because it came from Him.  This prayer is nurturing and growing my heart for giving, and it will do the same for you. 

Blessings,                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Lee Ann

3.16.12 Giving Had a Beginning

     There’s a difference between learning to give and desiring to give. Giving doesn’t happen overnight, nor does it happen naturally. When we are born, we have a default setting to possess things rather than to give.  As toddlers didn’t we all assume that whatever was in our possession was ours? Anyone who dared to take it out of our hands heard a boisterous, defiant “Mine!!” We start out with a bent toward selfishness, and our parents have the task of teaching us to share. Parents have the opportunity to shape the hearts of their children toward giving at a very early age, and my parents did that. Just grasping that something I had in my possession could be shared with someone else at age two was an accomplishment on their part! 

     I was blessed to be raised in a Christian home. My parents did a great job of teaching me the why behind giving. At one level I was taught the importance of giving because God commands us to give a tenth (tithe) of what He provides to us. But there was a much greater lesson in giving. It was about acknowledging that we have a perfect Father in heaven who takes care of us, and our tithe is our way to cultivate a heart of gratitude toward God. How did I learn to give a tenth? My “income” was an allowance received for doing chores. I know there are debates about paying a child to do chores since chores should be a shared responsibility among family members. However, my parents utilized allowances as a way to teach me how to handle money and to give it. I learned that the allowances I earned were NOT all mine. I was taught to bring ten percent out of the allowance and put it in the offering plate, and the rest was divided between saving and spending. Learning to give a tithe early helped me to acknowledge God as my provider. 

     By the time I was old enough to work summer jobs through high school and college, giving to the Lord was so ingrained that it felt unnatural not to give. Then I entered into the workforce. Being an Accounting major, I gravitated to serving on the Finance Committee at my church to help steward God’s resources and prepare budgets. The experience of serving on this committee was an eye-opener. First, I saw how paramount it is for all members to tithe to support the budget. Our giving not only supported our pastors, but missionaries who were sharing the gospel around the world. I observed dollars going to the poor. I could see that the church allocated God’s money to God’s work. Second, I saw the frustration of staff when giving was not what it should be. The church could do so much more ministry if every believer was obedient to God’s command to bring in the firstfruit of their income into His church (Malachi 3:8-10).  There is plenty of data on giving patterns in the church, and I understand why staff get discouraged. According to ­Barna Research done in 2001, between thirty to fifty percent of active church attenders give nothing. 

     How depressing. As I served on the Finance committee, I could sense a callousness developing in my heart. Giving a tithe to support the church budget was an expectation from God, and I was going to be faithful to Him. But I began to operate in automatic pilot. The tithe check started to feel perfunctory. In fact, I started calling my checks “thank you” notes to God to get my heart more involved. But I wanted my heart to be engaged with giving beyond the experience of dropping my “thank you” note in the offering plate as it went by. There was an absence of joy in giving that’s described in Scripture.  If Macedonian churches in 2 Cor 8:2 could experience “overflowing joy” while “giving generously out of extreme poverty”, then surely joy is just waiting to be experienced in generous giving regardless of my level of resources. There has to be more to giving than increasing my percentage of giving to the church. I decided to do something about that. 

     It was New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2006, and I remember wanting a New Year’s Resolution for 2007. As the clock ticked, I decided that my resolution was not going to take the form of a goal. We all know how that goes! I decided that my resolution would be in the form of a simple prayer that I would commit to pray regularly throughout the year. This was my resolution for 2007: “Lord, help me to be a generous giver just like you.” 

     This prayer began to change my heart and my life.  God began a new work in my heart.  My giving went from something I should do to something I desired to do. God ignited a desire in my heart to share His resources as often as possible. I immediately altered my Excel budget spreadsheet. My old version had only one line item for my “thank you” note to the church. A new line item was added entitled, “Those in Need.”  I started with a fixed dollar amount and prayed that God would reveal to me those in need.  In return I would respond immediately. Luke 6:30 says, “Give to everyone who asks.” I trusted God to reveal who needed the resources without me judging the person, and He did so. The joy of giving took off!  I would wake up each day having no idea who God would reveal to me to share His resources, and I couldn’t wait!  If I had any remaining dollars that were not given, they were rolled into the following budget cycle as an addition to the set amount I had established. In addition, if expenses I budgeted for didn’t happen or were lower than expected, I took the extra and rolled it into the “Those in Need” line item as well. That line item came alive and is alive today!  It’s the one line item in my budget that has the most spiritual energy and gives me the greatest joy. 

     I thank my parents who taught me to give at a very early age.  I learned to give to God as a discipline, and this foundation remains my springboard to accomplish His purposes through additional giving. I also thank God for hearing my heartfelt prayer in 2007 and answering it!  I continue to pray this prayer. By God’s grace, I now experience the joy of giving and have transitioned from learning to give to desiring to give.  

Blessings,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Lee Ann

1.16.11 Are We a House of Prayer?

When Jesus stated in Luke 19:46 that “my House will be a House of Prayer”, I have found myself asking how Jesus would describe His Houses or churches today.   Would He label the majority of our churches as “Houses of Prayer”, “Houses of Praise”, “Houses of  Biblical Teaching”?  I wonder what a House of Prayer looks like.  

When I look at Jesus’ prayer to His Father before His crucifixion and the New Testament churches we read about in Acts, it appears that prayer should be an integral part of our gathering as believers because it appears that UNITY with the Father is important to Him.  Here are the Scripture passages that come to mind (underlining is my emphasis):

John 17:11, 20-23- 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.  20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me–so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 

Acts 2:42 -They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 

Acts 6:1-4 – 1 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” 

There is no doubt in my mind that churches have prayer warriors among them and that many of our leaders who are pastoring or leading ministries have strong prayer ministries.  I have the privilege of being a part of dynamic prayer teams behind the scenes.  I am just wondering how all members come together as ONE through prayer.  How do we obtain UNITY as an end result if we don’t know what our pastors are praying for, or our neighbors in the pew?  Matthew 18:19-20 says: 19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth AGREE about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”  It seems that in order get traction on becoming ONE, we need to intentionally pray in agreement  as a body of believers on the things that matter to God.  Are we really engaging in “corporate prayer” in order to become a “House of Prayer”?  Do we really believe His promise in Matthew 18? 

I couldn’t sleep last night because this topic of achieving UNITY in the body of Christ through prayer wouldn’t shut off!  In fact, a quote from “Servant Leadership” kept floating across my radar screen: “A team cannot succeed if they don’t share the same goal.”  Shouldn’t we be praying for the same things as a body?  So I just want to share the ideas that I hope were from the Spirit that I just feel I need to share: 

  1. For churches who have multiple services, what if we considered converting one of the services into strictly a prayer service?  This would allow anyone in the body of Christ who wants to pray in agreement with the pastor and their staff to join together and pray with a holy boldness to become the House of Prayer He has called us to be.  This service should not require “preparation” by the pastor, nor an order of worship, etc.  It is just a group of believers who want to achieve unity in the Spirit and let it build.  It also allows the pastor and their teams to communicate with the body of Christ what they are actually praying for and let us join them!  I picture this as a time for conversational prayer.  I think it would also lead us to be much more other-centered in our prayer life.  I envision this as a weekly opportunity just like a worship service is a weekly opportunity.
  2. For churches who have only one service, what if you considered having a Friday evening, or a mid-week meeting that allows the members of your church to come strictly for the purposes of prayer?  There may only be two or more at first, but the Lord will honor it and grow it.
  3. For any of us who are leading any ministry, what if we made prayer time as the entree instead of a side dish?  For example, I have a teaching ministry and most people come to my study expecting the bulk of the time to be a bible study.  But what if it was a devotional with the bulk of the time being spent in prayer?  Or what if I offered another time for the sole purpose of praying in addition to the bible study?  I totally believe that supernatural results start to happen when His people pray!!
  4. I think it would be most interesting if we would journal what we are praying for as a church body and record when and how He answers the prayer and then PRAISE Him for the result!  What a powerful testimony we would have to share with others.
  5. I think it would be powerful to pray for God-sized requests that absolutely, positively cannot be achieved in our strength or abilities.  Let’s come together in agreement before the Lord with bold, specific requests.   Remember, nothing is impossible for God! (Matt 17:20) 

What would be some goals we could be praying about as a body of believers?  These are just ideas:

  • Perhaps we seek that His kingdom would come and that His will would be done on earth as it is in Heaven.  (Jesus taught his disciples to pray this specifically.)
  • Perhaps we should pray for obedience to the Great Commission.  Jesus gave us a mandate, not a suggestion.
  • Perhaps we should pray for obedience in the area of giving.  It is saddening to read the statistics among conservative evangelicals who aren’t even close to tithing 10% of their income. 
  • Perhaps we pray for a strong urgency to become the House of Prayer that He called us to be in the first place. 
  • Perhaps we pray for God to create an intense desire within every member of the church to serve in and through the church so that all spiritual gifts represented in the body of Christ are activated for His purposes.
  • Perhaps we pray against all forms of pride and personal agendas in the church such that humility becomes the attribute of our churches.
  • Perhaps we pray on the full spiritual armor of God so that we are most effective partners with God in His kingdom.
  • Perhaps we come together for the sole purpose of listening to God’s voice and share what thoughts came to mind and test them with the body of believers to see if a theme emerges. 

Corporate prayer is heavy on my heart.  I have come to a place in my spiritual walk where it has really struck me that there is way more to the Christian walk than my participation at the individual level.  God has called us to pray together  because united prayer yields increased power and authority in His kingdom.  Because God has really grown me in the area of intercessory prayer over the last two years and has shown me how much more is possible through prayer, I have not only felt so much closer to Him, but I am really hungering to see the larger body of Christ come together on bended knee.  I just believe that the power of the Holy Spirit resides in all of His believers, and He is waiting to be UNLEASHED if we would just believe that we could move mountains in His name as ONE in the Spirit who will be brought to complete unity with the help of our Triune God through prayer!  I want to partner with a church body who is not afraid to come together and make corporate prayer one of the most regular, central things we do.  The natural byproduct will be supernatural results that will only cause us to praise His name even more.  

As you contemplate this writing, if you find yourself desiring to ask the Lord to help you be an integral part of a prayer ministry with the right heart, then meditate on the following hymn “Breathe on Me, Breath of God” to get yourself in the right frame of mind: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/ttl/ttl-b.htm and click the title of the song.  For those of you who resonate with this writing, let’s have the courage to contact our pastors and staff to see if there is an openness to cultivate corporate prayer and offer to help launch such a prayer time.  I would love to hear your thoughts.  May God’s blessings abound to you in 2011. 

Blessings,

Lee Ann

10.4.10 Tug of War

Do you remember as a kid playing Tug of War?  Do you remember the sandpit, the rope with the red ribbon in the middle, and the goal line that the red ribbon had to cross to declare a victory?  It was always a test of not just strength, but also endurance. Teams could have comparable strength on both sides of the rope, but the team that endured the longest in the tug of war usually won.  The winning team was the one whose arms had rope burn and were ready to drop off from extreme fatigue.

This word picture came to mind after a dear friend sent me spiritual encouragement.  The Scripture was Ephesians 6:18 that says, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”  Those who are familiar with Scripture know this verse follows the well known admonition by Paul for each of us to put on the full spiritual armor of God, and the reason he tells us to do this is because Eph 6:12 says, “For our struggle is not against  flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”  We’re obviously up against the evil one and his demons!   Thus, it’s no surprise that Paul commands us to “be alert and keep on praying for all of the saints”.  But I will also tell you that we should  be praying for lost souls too. 

The reality of spiritual warfare reminds me that there is a major tug of war for souls.  Each of us can probably identify family members, friends, colleagues, etc, who do not know the Lord and need us to pray for them.   The problem is I am not sure how many of us are consistently taking our place on the rope to ask the Lord’s assistance to reach a lost soul.  I even wonder if some us are so wrapped up in ourselves and enjoy our gift of salvation that we have walked away from the rope?  Do we have the heart of God that breaks knowing that a loved one is going to face a Christless eternity unless they turn their heart over to Jesus? 

I am a huge believer in the power of prayer.  I believe this tug of war can be won for lost souls if we would just be willing to take our place on the rope and start praying for them.  There is no question that it takes spiritual energy and time to get on our knees.  There will be times as we persist that we are tempted in our discouragement to walk away from the rope because our red ribbon hasn’t moved in years.  On the other hand, if ALL believers made it a priority to start praying for lost family members and friends on a consistent basis, my bet would be that we would see many more victories, and it would motivate us to pray even more.  

Scripture shows that  Jesus was a soul-winner.  Christ came to Earth to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10).  In John 17:18 he prayed to his Father that just as God had sent him into the world, he is now sending us.  In Acts 2:8 we see recorded Jesus’ last word to his disciples before ascending into heaven saying “you will be my witnesses”.    He trained his disciples to be soul-winners.  He trusted us so much with the gospel message that he commanded us to “go and make disciples…” and promised to be with us on the journey (Matt 28:16-20). 

This tug of war is not a game to God.  For each engagement at the rope, for every time the red ribbon comes across the goal line, it means that a lost soul becomes a child of God and crosses over from death into eternal life.  God was so invested in this tug of war that He sent Jesus incarnate to die on a cross and pay the penalty of our sins with His blood.  Jesus was clearly about winning the lost, and we should be too.  He is not willing that anyone would perish, but that all would turn to Him with prayers of repentance (2 Peter 3:9).   Let’s be faithful prayer warriors and take advantage of the fact that “Christ who is in us is greater than he who is in the world” (I John 4:4) is our anchor at the end of the rope.

It’s time to get our knee pads and assume our positions at the rope.  This tug of war is real.  We have family and friends who deserve our spiritual energy to reach out to them with prayer.  NEVER GIVE UP.  We need prayer warriors to stay on the rope for however long it takes to win.  See you at the rope!

Blessings,

Lee Ann

8.16.09 The Spiritual Gift of Prophecy

Please do not panic over the title.  I have not gone off the deep end, but I can’t wait to tell you what I experienced at an all day retreat at Camp Mary Dell just south of Abilene, Kansas, yesterday.  My spiritual mentor happens to be the senior pastor at Community Bible Church in Abilene, and he and I have stayed connected in our friendship through a leadership mentoring group that meets once a month.   At our last meeting he invited our group to attend a day retreat led by Pastor Brad Brinson, who pastors Two Rivers Church outside of Knoxville, TN, and who has the spiritual gift of prophecy, and he led it yesterday and really opened my eyes to how God wants to speak into our lives.  I left a changed person.

First, if you’re like me, we have a fuzzy idea about how this gift really functions in the church.  I don’t know of anyone in Hutchinson who professes to have this as their primary gift, but after yesterday’s retreat, I learned that there is a universal level for the gift of prophecy, which is simply  a means by which God chooses to speak into our lives for the purposes of strengthening, encouraging, comforting others, and edifying the church.  There is a universal level for it because in Acts 2:16-18 ALL will prophesy.  And in John 10:1-5, 26-27, ALL believers hear the voice of their shepherd.  This gift is meant to be experienced for and in the context of the church community.  There are probably a good number of believers with this gift, but because of fear of abuse or ridicule, they are not speaking up to share what God is trying to communicate for the purposes of strengthening, encouraging, comforting and edifying the church.  Pastor Brad made it very clear that this gift is not a “thus saith the Lord” with fingers pointing at you as if anyone had the corner of truth.  In fact, the bible tells us that we will only know things “in part” (I Cor 13:9).  You and I will only have a piece of the puzzle that needs to be tested and confirmed by others.  So the first change in me that I experienced is realizing that God speaks to ALL of us (not just some of us, or the pastor, or those with the specific gift of prophecy), and he wants to use us to speak into the lives of others in the church.  (We heard many accounts of how God used this gift in Pastor Brad’s life and in the church community, and it just gave us chills as to how God spoke His voice through multiple believers to speak into each other’s lives.)

Second, this retreat confirmed a phenomenon I have not experienced in my Christian walk until this year.  Many of us intercede in prayer for others because people ask for us to pray for them.  Or we choose to intercede on behalf of leaders in our country because the bible commands us to do so.  But I have to tell you that it wasn’t until March of this year that I experienced being called into the role of an intercessor on a daily basis for an individual and their family that has given me great joy and has been so much fun.  I have walked with the Lord for 38 years, and this strong burden to just start praying for this individual and family members is a first.  I have spent many months processing why I have had such a strong desire to pray for this person, and I have tried to rationalize it instead of just embracing that God has called me out to participate with him as he continues to anoint this very special family.  When I ran this phenomenon by our speaker, he immediately confirmed that I was being called out as an intercessor.  He has had this experience as well and could totally identify with this dynamic and the joy I am experiencing with it.  I left feeling not so weird!

Third, I left the retreat with a commitment to not let another powerful teaching register as good knowledge to store, but instead apply it as soon as possible and start risking with God and how He speaks to me and use the teachings of this retreat to step out in faith.  (For those who would like the talking points that were given to us at this retreat, you may simply ask me to email the pdf for your file.) My application began this AM.  Since I was already praying for this individual and family, I decided to use the order of worship where this person’s son-in-law just got installed as pastor and pray through each of the elements of worship while the worship service was going on.  It was one of the most powerful worship experiences I have had where tears began as soon as I started praying, and God gave me words of encouragement to share along with an image to share.  This is the exciting and the scary part.  I need to risk and share it and let this young pastor test it!  He doesn’t even know who I am, so those of you who feel inclined to pray, please pray that the Holy Spirit will go in advance of my email to prepare this pastor’s heart to receive it and be willing to submit it to the Lord to test it.  If I don’t risk, it will essentially be a form of disobedience, and I will never experience how God really wants us to use prayer to loose and bind things here on Earth.

Blessings,

Lee Ann