Why we don't pray ....

The highest privilege ever afforded to man is the power of prayer.
...then why don't we pray?

The right to talk to the highest potentate in the entire universe...
...then why don't we pray?

The most powerful force accessible to man is the potential of prayer...
...then why don't we pray?

The greatest longing in the heart of God is to talk to His children...
...then why don't we pray?

Nothing is impossible to those who pray...
...then why don't we pray?

No man ever fainted or faltered who gave himself to prayer...
...then why don't we pray?

Every sin is forgiven, every stain is washed clean, all guilt diminished to
The man who prays...
...then why don't we pray?

Hell moves farther away, Satan flees from the man who prays...
...then why don't we pray?

Anointing will come, mountains will be moved, valleys made smooth, rivers made crossable, the inaccessible made accessible, the impossible made possible, dreams come through to the man who prays...
...then why don't we pray?

God said that men ought always to pray...
...then why don't we pray?

Paul encouraged prayer without ceasing...
...then why don't we pray?

The riches of heaven are open to those who pray in His name...
...then why don't we pray?

Everyone can pray, the young, the old, the rich, the poor, the strong, the weak, the child, the aged, the sinner, the prisoner, in any nation, in any language, all can pray...
...then why don't we pray?

Leave Your Requests For Prayer Here

Did you know that to pray is the Most Commonly Mentioned Command of God in scr i pture.
It's True, It's Mentioned more than “go to Church” or “Love love thy Neighbor” it's even mentioned more than to Evangelize.

We should be people of great Prayer!

FATHER GOD, when you were on earth, you prayed. You prayed in the morning, the night,you prayed alone, you prayed with people. Even in your hours of distress ,you retreated into times of prayer. Help us to be more like you in this way father. Father help us to pray in both times of trouble and in times of Joy. Help us to Lift our hearts and hands to the father. Bless the people of all the nations who call out your name lord God through prayer.

Romans 5:1-5

Therefore, Having been Justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, Through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces preseverance; and preseverance, charecter; and charecter, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by his Holy Spirit who was given to us.


If you have a special Request for prayer please leave it here for us to pray for you!



To God be the Glory Amen!

Jesus saved me

For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
For God didn't send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him
He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn't believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. 19This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil. 20For everyone who does evil hates the light, and doesn't come to the light, lest his works would be exposed. 21But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in God." 22After these things, Jesus came with his disciples into the land of Judea. He stayed there with them, and baptized. 23John also was baptizing in Enon near Salim, because there was much water there. They came, and were baptized.

When You feel Overwhelmed

I looked up the word ’overwhelmed’ in the dictionary. It means ’to be submerged under the weight of something. To be overtaken by a superior force. Or to be overpowered by your thoughts and feelings.’ How many of you have ever felt overpowered and overwhelmed by all the stuff going on in your life? How many of you have ever felt like saying, "Enough is enough! I can’t take this anymore?!!!"

We can be overwhelmed by any number of things. Some of you are overwhelmed with busyness. You have so much going on at work. And so much going on at home. And so much on your plate that you literally feel submerged under the weight of it. You feel overpowered.

And some of us are overwhelmed by fear. The fear of rejection. Fear of the future. Or fear of what other people might be saying about us. And we feel so overwhelmed with these feelings of fear that it is interfering with the quality of our Christian lives.

That’s why 2 Chronicles 20 is such a relevant chapter. When we’re done going through the story, we will know EXACTLY what to do the next time we feel overwhelmed.

As the story begins, Jehoshaphat is the king of Judah. Ruler over the city of Jerusalem. And like his ancestor King David, he was a godly leader. 2 Chronicles 17:6 says that his heart was devoted to the ways of the Lord. In fact, he feels so strongly about his faith, that when he appointed priests and judges throughout the land, he challenged them. In 2 Chronicles 19:6, He says "You’re not working for me. You’re working for the Lord. So make sure that you follow Him faithfully with all your heart."

But not too long after this, the king finds out that the country is under attack. 2 Chronicles 20:1 says that "After this, the Moabites and Ammonites with some of the Meunites came to make war on Jehoshaphat." These people have been enemies of Judah for hundreds of years. And now, they are joining forces to form a vast army. And their one unified purpose is to wipe the people of God off the face of the earth! To kill the Jewish people once and for all!

And when Jehoshaphat hears about this massive invasion, we read in verse three that he is alarmed. That same word in Hebrew is used in Exodus 14:10 to describe how alarmed the Israelites were when they saw the Egyptian army following them into the Red Sea. It is a word often used to describe someone’s first reaction to an overwhelming situation.

There’s nothing wrong with being alarmed. Sometimes God wants us to be alarmed so that He might get our undivided attention. But sometimes, people respond by panicking. They say "I can’t believe this is happening! I’m in way over my head! I’m not going to make it!" And then the person either quits their job. Or they run away. Or they try as long as possible to avoid having to deal with the situation. Kind of like what the Israelites tried to do with Goliath. They blew that off for 40 days. Hoping that the problem would just walk away. And it didn’t work.

And sometimes we respond to overwhelming situations by trying to handle everything ourselves. We say, "If I was the one calling all the shots to begin with, we wouldn’t be in this predicament! I can solve this problem all by myself. All you have to do is listen to me!" And then we start manipulating people. Telling them what to do. Telling them what not to do. We stubbornly refuse to admit that the situation is bigger than we are.

Panicking is not the way to handle overwhelming situations. And being a control freak is not the way to handle them, either. The way to handle overwhelming situations is to do what the king did. Verses three and four tell us that even though he is alarmed, he resolves to inquire of the LORD. And he calls upon the entire nation to come together for a national day of prayer and fasting. In other words, the king is saying, "I am determined to hand this entire situation over to God! I am going to call upon the One person in the whole universe who can do something to change our circumstances!"

And in verses five through twelve, the king stands up in the courtyard of the temple. He’s got all the people praying with him. And he says, "Oh, Lord, you are the God of heaven. You rule over the kingdoms of the earth. Power and might are in your hand."

"But now, we are under attack by the very same people you told us to refrain from attacking many years ago. And look how they are repaying us!

O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you."

When we start feeling overwhelmed by the worries of this life, we need to stop trying to fix everything ourselves. We need to stop fretting over the things that are out of our hands. And we need to put everything back into God’s hands.

One thing we learn over and over again in Chronicles is that when the people of God pray, the power of God is on display. In 1 Chronicles 5, three of the tribes of Israel fought a war against the Hagrites. And verse 20 says that the reason why God gave them the victory was ’because they cried out to him during the battle. He answered their prayers, because they trusted in him.’

And over in 2 Chronicles 13, the kingdom of Judah was being attacked by the northern kingdom. And they were outnumbered 800,000 to 400,000. It didn’t look like they had a chance. But in verse 14, the people of Judah cried out to the Lord, and God gave them a tremendous victory. And they drove those invaders all the way back to Samaria. Because when the people of God pray, the power of God is on display.

And in 2 Chronicles 14, the nation of Cush attacks. But in verse 11, the king calls upon the Lord and says, "There is no one like you who helps the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O Lord." And then God comes through and the Cus**tes got beat so bad, that they ran all the way out of the country, and they never came back again. Because when the people of God pray, the power of God is on display.

And that’s what happens here in chapter 20. After the king prays, a prophet of the Lord stands up in verse 14. And he says, "Do not be afraid of this vast army. For the battle belongs to the Lord. You will not even have to fight this battle! Take up your positions. Stand firm. And see the deliverance of the Lord!"

In verse 20, they left for the desert of Tekoa. The king gives them one final pep talk. And then he puts the singers at the head of the army. He’s saying, "I want my military to be led by worshippers, not by warriors. I want God to know that I have so much faith in Him, that I’m putting the singers ahead of the soldiers."

Now if I was one of the singers, I’d be thinking, "The king’s got more faith in God than I do. I don’t know if I want to go through with this!

Maybe I should call in sick!"

But the king said, "Have faith in the Lord, and you will be upheld." So the entire army walks into the desert singing "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His love endures forever."

While this is going on, the Lord throws the invading armies into confusion. And they end up attacking each other instead of the people of God.

And in verse 24, the people of Judah arrive at the desert. They see all the dead bodies of the invading army. And they say, "Yeahhhhhhhh!!! Woohooo!!!!! Praise the Lord! He did it! He saved us!!!" And they went down to gather up all the clothing and the equipment and the articles of value. And there was so much stuff down there that it took three days to gather everything up.

And then they carried everything back to the temple. And they had a huge celebration before the Lord. With loud music. And lots of rejoicing. Because when the people of God pray, the power of God is on display. And from that moment on, as long as King Jehoshaphat was alive, no one dared to attack the land of Judah ever again.

This story is a reminder of how important it is to pray about our problems. Too many times, we tell ourselves, "I don’t need any help. I can handle this. I’m a grown person. I’m responsible." And we either end up falling flat on our faces. Or the stress associated with handling everything ourselves takes its toll on our well being.

The way I see it, it’s so much easier to let go and let God. And when I say that, I’m not talking about letting go of our responsibility to live for Jesus a life that is true. I’m talking about letting go of unnecessary anxieties and worries. When I was a little kid, I sometimes had problems getting along with other kids. And I would come home. And I would tell my dad. He didn’t always make the problem go away. But just letting him know what was going on in my life made me feel better. Because I knew that I was handing my problem over to someone who cared about me.

The same principle is true with God. Just the act of telling your heavenly Dad about what’s going on in your life will make you feel so much better. 1 Peter 5:7 says "Cast your cares upon Him because He cares for you."

Some of you are thinking, "Linda, I’ve tried. I’ve been praying about my problems for years. Yet after all this time, I still struggle with the same issues I’ve been dealing with since day one! What do I do now?"

You are not the only one who has ever asked this question. In 2 Corinthians 12, the Apostle Paul pleaded with God three times to take away his thorn in the flesh. But God told him, ’My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

It may not be God’s will for us to be free from every single problem in this life. We need them as tangible reminders of how much we need God’s help every day of our lives. That’s why Jacob walked with a limp for the rest of his life. He needed that handicap as a reminder of how handicapped he really is without God.

But while we are waiting for our ultimate deliverance, we can put our faith in the One Person who has already won the battle for us! Romans 7:24 says "Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

Whenever the people of God pray, we can see the power of God on display in our lives. Giving us shelter from the storms of life. Giving us victory over our stresses and our circumstances. Giving us the capacity to praise His holy name even in the midst of adversity.

Let me ask you this: How many problems in your life have become worse than they needed to be because you didn’t hand them over to God in prayer? How many times have you tried unsuccessfully to manipulate your circumstances when all you really needed to do was to give them over to the Lord?

God loves you so much, that He WANTS to hear your prayers! He wants to handle your overwhelming situations. And He wants to have an intimate relationship with you.

And when we pray, we should follow the example of the Judean army and praise God for who He is. Too often when we pray, we spend a lot of time asking God for what we want. And not enough time appreciating God for being the wonderful Father that He is. We need to say, "I praise you because your love endures forever. I praise You for being a part of my life. I praise You because there are certain battles that I will never have to fight. I praise You because You are out there fighting hard on my behalf. I praise you because when this life is over, I will fly away into your presence."

Because we serve such a caring Father, why wouldn’t we want to praise His name? And why wouldn’t we want Him to help us with the overwhelming challenges of life? At this time, we are going to do what King Jehoshaphat did so many years ago. We’re going to bow our heads. And we’re going to hand everything over to God. We’re going to let Jesus Christ have His way in the circumstances of our lives. Because when the people of God pray, the power of God is on display. SO let’s pray.

Put On Jesus

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, 'You will be made free'?" Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. - John 8:31-36.

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts. - Romans 13:14.

When I was in the sixth grade I had been doing fine, at least I thought I was doing fine, back in the back of the classroom. All of that came to an end one day when Mr. McCall looked back at me and wanted me to answer a question he had written on the blackboard. I had no clue as to what the answer could be although it was not that I didn't know the answer. It was just that I could not see the words he had written. Because of that I was suddenly transported to the front row for the rest of the year, and soon I was wearing those dreaded things called, eyeglasses. The law of nearsightedness had disrupted my life and learning experience.

Thank God, another law overcame the law of nearsightedness in my life. The law of corrective lenses overcame it. You would think that I would have more freedom to live life without being hindered by glasses. After all, you have to keep them clean, wear them, and it is very hard to swim in them. Actually, I am truly free to live my physical life only if I wear those eyeglasses. When I am wearing my glasses I am free to drive, to read, to see faces clearly and so many other things that would not be possible without them.

In our spiritual lives we are overcome and held captive by sin. But just as glasses are able to overcome nearsightedness so can sin be overcome. To overcome sin, we must put on the Lord Jesus Christ. When we do that we are still slaves; instead of being slaves to sin, we have become slaves of righteousness. Jesus says, "My yoke is easy and My burden is light (Matthew 11:30)." The yoke of Jesus cancels out and overcomes the sin in our lives. By taking on the yoke of Jesus, we can be free to live life to its utmost. As Jesus says, "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed." Only by putting on Jesus can we truly have freedom that brings real life.

Each day we have a choice. We can choose to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, or we can make provision for sin. We can choose life, or we can choose death (Romans 8:5-6). Which will you choose today, and for eternity?

A Loving God and Eternity

Matthew 25:31-46

The scr i ptures clearly speak of existence after death--people will spend eternity in either heaven or hell. Yet many individuals consider this truth inconsistent with other facts about the Lord. While their objections are understandable, the Bible provides the answers to their questions:

How can the Lord be good if He lets some people spend their afterlife in hell? God is love (1 John 4:8) and doesn't want anyone to live without Him (1 Tim. 2:4). Everyone can turn from sin and receive the Savior, thereby avoiding eternal separation from Him. But some reject Christ and live apart from Him all their days. They will continue to exist apart from His presence throughout eternity.

Why would the Lord create certain individuals, knowing they would never turn to Him? To some, this seems unloving. Yet the alternative would be worse. He created us with free will--we can choose to obey and follow Him. If our Father gave us no choice, we'd be mere robots, unable to truly respond, love, and worship.

An endless penalty seems unfair, particularly if non-Christians never heard a clear presentation of the gospel. As long as unbelievers are alive, the heavenly Father does everything He can to keep them from eternal punishment--except to violate their free will. He gives enough time and evidence so that nobody has a valid excuse for rejecting the one path to salvation (Rom. 1:20; John 14:6).

Do you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior? He wants you to spend eternity with Him.

HOW DO YOU SEE GOD??

At first I saw God as my observer, my judge, keeping track of the things I did wrong, so as to know whether I merited heaven or hell when I die. He was out there sort of like the president. I recognized his picture when I saw it, but I didn't really know him.

But later on when I recognized my higher power, it seemed as though life was rather like a bike ride, but it was a tandem bike, and I noticed that God was in the back helping me pedal.

I don't know just when it was that he suggested we change places, but life has not been the same since, life with my higher power, that is. God makes life exciting!

When I had control, I knew the way. It was rather boring, but predictable. It was the shortest distance between two points.

But when he took the lead, he knew delightful long cuts, up mountains, and through rocky places and at breakneck speeds; it was all I could do to hang on! Even though it looked like madness, he said, "PEDAL."

I worried and was anxious and asked, "Where are you taking me?" He laughed and didn't answer and I started to learn to trust.

I forgot my boring life and entered into the adventure. And when I'd say, "I'm scared," he'd lean back and touch my hand.

He took me to people with gifts that I needed, gifts of healing, acceptance and joy. They gave me their gifts to take on my journey, our journey, God's and mine.

And we were off again. He said, "Give the gifts away; they're extra baggage, too much weight." So I did, to the people we met, and I found that in giving I received and still our burden was light.

I did not trust him at first, in control of my life. I thought he'd wreck it. But he knows bike secrets, He knows how to make it bend to take sharp corners, jump to clear high rocks, fly to shorten scary passages.

And I am learning to shut up and pedal in the strangest places, and I'm beginning to enjoy the view and the cool breeze on my face with my delightful constant companion, my higher power.

And when I'm sure I just can't do any more, he just smiles and says, "pedal."