The Power of Prayer...

Great story about the power of prayer from a book called If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of The Boat, by John Ortberg.

" One of my favorite adventure in prayer involves Doug Coe, who has a ministry in Washington, D.C., that mostly involves people in politics's and statecraft. Doug became acquainted with Bob, an insurance salesman who was completely unconnected with any government circles. Bob became a Christian and began to meet with Doug to learn about his new faith.

One day, Bob came in all excited about a statement in the Bible where Jesus says, "Ask whatever you will in my name, and you shall receive it."

"Is that really True?" Bob demanded?

Doug explained, " Well, it's not a blank check. You have to take it in context of the teaching of the whole Scripture on prayer. But yes- it really is true. Jesus really does answer prayer."

"Great!", Bob said. "Then I gotta start praying for something. I think I'll pray for Africa."

"That's kind of a broad target. Why don't you narrow it down to one country," Doug advised.

"All right. I'll pray for Kenya."

"Do you know anyone in Kenya?" Doug asked.

"No”

"Ever been to Kenya? Doug asked

"No". Bob just wanted to pray for Kenya.

So Doug made an unusual arrangement. He challenged Bob to pray every day for six months for Kenya. If Bob would do that and nothing extraordinary happened, Doug would pay him 500 dollars. But if something remarkable did happen, Bob would pay Doug 500 dollars. And if Bob did not pray every day, the whole deal was off. It was a pretty unusual prayer program, but then Doug is a creative guy.

Bob began to pray, and for a long while nothing happened. Then one night he was at a dinner in Washington. The people around the table explained what they did for a living. One woman said she helped run an orphanage in Kenya- the largest of its kind.

Bob saw 500 dollars suddenly sprout wings and begin to fly away. But he could not keep quiet. Bob roared to life. He had not said much up to this point, and now he pounded her relentlessly question after question.

"You're obviously very interested in my country," the woman said to Bob, overwhelmed by his sudden barrage of question. "You've been to Kenya before?"

"No."

"You know someone in Kenya?"

"No".

"Then how do you happen to be so curious?"

"Well, someone is kind of paying me 500 dollars to pray...."

She asked Bob if he would like to come visit Kenya and tour the orphanage. Bob was so eager to go, he would have left that very night if he could.

When Bob arrived in Kenya, he was appalled by the poverty and the lack of basic health care. Upon returning to Washington, he couldn't get this place out of his mind. He began to write to large pharmaceutical companies, describing to them the vast need he had seen. He reminded them that every year they would throw away large amounts of medical supplies that went unsold. "Why not send them to this place in Kenya?" he asked.

And some of them did. This orphanage received more than a million dollars' worth of medical supplies.

The woman called Bob and said, "Bob, this is amazing! We've had the most phenomenal gifts because of the letters you wrote. We would like to fly you back over and have a big party. Will you come?"

So Bob flew back to Kenya. While he was there, the president of Kenya came to the celebration, because it was the largest orphanage in the country, and offered to take Bob on a tour of Nairobi, the capital city. In the course of the tour they saw a prison. Bob asked about a group of prisoners there.

"They're political prisoners," he was told.

"That's a bad idea," Bob said brightly. "You should let them out."

Bob finished the tour and flew back home. Sometime later, Bob received a phone call from the State Department of the United States government.:

"Is this Bob?"

"Yes."

"Were you recently in Kenya?"

"Yes."

"Did you make any statements to the president about political prisoners?"

"Yes."

"What did you say?"

"I told him he should let them out."

The State Department official explained that the department had been working for years to get the release of these prisoners, to no avail. Normal diplomatic channels and political maneuverings had led to a dead end. But now the prisoners had been released, and the State Department was calling to say thanks.

Several months later, the prisident of Kenya made a phone call to Bob. He was going to rearrange his government and select a new cabinet. Would Bob be willing to fly over and pray for him for three days while he worked on this very important task?

So Bob-who was not politically connected at all-boarded a plane once more and flew back to Kenya, where he prayed and asked God to give wisdom for the leader of the nation as he selected his government. All this happened because one man got out of the boat."

Now I ask you, What's Impossible for God? Doesn't He deserve our best effort?

Obama or Satan?

I follow a guy on twitter named Dr. Russell Moore. He is a huge adoption advocate as well as the Dean of the School of Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. I have a lot of respect for him so I usually pay attention when he talks. Earlier this week in the midst of the whole Obama healthcare debate he posted the following on his twitter account:

Question: What consistently and consciously makes you more upset: that Barack Obama is president or that Satan is the god of this age?

When I read the post I have to admit it was a little hard to swallow. Now let me make it clear by saying this is not a political blog and my reaction had nothing to do with Obama. However, it was an instantaneous realization that I spend way too much of my time aggravated about politics. It's an interesting question and one that we should all probably ask ourselves. On an intellectual level the right answer is obvious, but how do our lives and our conversations answer the question for us? Take a look at your life and think about what consistently and consciously makes you more upset, Obama or Satan?

If I answer the question honestly I’d have to say I can get pretty fired up when people talk politics. There’s not a day that goes by that someone in my office doesn’t bring up Obama and his latest agenda and I have no problem chiming in with my views on this and that. Start talking to me about taxes or healthcare reform and I can give you an earful. When the president is speaking to children in elementary school while they’re in class, trust me I have an opinion. Even today everyone is talking about the Representative from South Carolina that told the president “You lie!” The St Petersburg Times said “People talked about it and blogged about it all day Thursday. It was the top story on Google News. It was the top topic on Twitter.” Our culture is saturated with politics, and unfortunately these types of conversations consume way more of my time then they should.

But Satan? When was the last time I honestly got angry over him leading college students astray. When was the last time I spent some time discussing how to reach out to people that Satan clearly has under his control? When was the last time I prayed that the Lord would bind Satan from working against the unsaved people that walk in the doors of our church every single week? To be honest I’ve become pretty accustomed to hearing how he works. Do I yawn and think of other things when my pastor talks about Satan prowling around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour? I have to admit that over the last few weeks the political landscape of the US has consistently and consciously made me more upset then Satan being the god of this age.

During any given week most of us, myself included, can get pretty caught up in things that will mean absolutely nothing in eternity. I love my church and this audio clip is in no way a reflection of the people I worship with. However, when I was writing this I couldn't help but think of a Sunday earlier this year when our head pastor recited an Adrian Roger's quote. His point was to demonstrate how caught up we can get in needless conversations that ultimately pull us away from a kingdom focus. There is no doubt in my mind this quote could have been read in any church in America and received the same response, and I believe it shows where most people stand on the question of what gets them fired up.

I can probably count on one hand the number of times in the last five years that I’ve heard the entire congregation clap during a message. Not that they don’t get excited and shout amen because they do, and not that Pastor Ken’s sermons aren’t Spirit filled and passionate because they are; people just don’t clap during messages. I can’t explain why, we just tend to listen and nod our heads. But when a group of 3,500 people get excited it means something, and when they get excited about a political quote in church that means something too.




I was in service that day and I remember clapping right along with everyone else. I smiled, kind of puffed up my chest and started justifying my disdain for high taxes. I mean the nerve of the government for trying to take my hard earned money and give it to someone who clearly didn't try as hard in school or someone who is simply satisfied with a low paying job. It's sad, but I often try and justify that mindset before a Holy God that has given me every penny I have ever earned.

I think my pastor summed it up the best at the end of the clip when he said “Is that the kind of conversation that God wants us to have with each other?” Probably not! And in the same breath Satan being the god of this age should consistently and consciously make me more upset than Barack Obama being president.

Ephesians 6:12-13

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.

Guaranteed to Make You Smile!

And they all need Jesus :-)

Actions and Truth

I've spent the majority of my life TALKING about things I need to do for the Lord. I sit around with friends and family and we talk. We talk about the homeless in America or we talk about kids in foster care or we talk about the AIDS epidemic in Africa. But at the end of the day that's all it is...it's talk. There is a verse in I John chapter 3 that says:

(18) Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

When I first read those verses it sparked flashbacks of hundreds of conversations I'd had about helping people and reaching out to those around me. Unfortunately most of them never progressed beyond a conversataion. My fear is when I'm at the end of my life I will look back and regret the fact that all I ever did was talk about helping people and talk about the power of prayer and talk about the power of the Holy Spirit. Don't get me wrong, conversations about helping those in need aren't all bad. I honestly believe the Lord uses those conversations in our lives to develop passion, but at the same time the devil uses that same passion for conversation to make us think our word is action.

Obviously a blog is nothing but word and tongue, but my prayer is that by posting my conversations the conviction of the Holy Spirit will lead to action regarding the truth in God's word. In the end I hope to be challenged to live the life I preach. At the same time I hope the few of you that actually read this will do the same.