Life at the Speed of Prayer

When? Ever wonder when God's going to answer a prayer? God sent the prophet Daniel an angel to answer that question...

Dan 9:23 At the beginning of your petitions an answer went out, and I have come to give it, for you are treasured by God. So consider the message and understand the vision... Holman Christian Standard Bible.

An answer given, at the beginning of the prayer...Isn't that exactly what we want God to do? Read more about Daniel's prayer in Daniel, chapter 9. Other translations say, "a word was given". So let's just look at the order here-

• At the beginning of Daniel's prayer
• An answer went out
• OK, so we don't all get an Angel to deliver the message : )
• For we are treasured by God
• So consider the message and understand the vision...

Consider how that might change how we pray. We know that one of the purposes of prayer is to get us into God's presence.

Think for a minute about just that. In our real lives, when we take a minute and sit down with someone we love- what's the first thing we want to talk about? Often, it's a "how are you?" or something related. Would we ever ask God, "So, how's it going?" Probably not, and yet we, who are made in His relational image could reflect back to Him what He is to us. Words of worship, gratitude, His own words form the Word, or silence- just gathering ourselves into His presence.

And then, at some point, knowing that an answer will be sent, we can pour out our hearts and requests. Knowing He's a big God whose ways we may not always understand...but we know Him and that we are treasured even beyond our capacity to understand. And it is that God on the receiving end of all our prayers...

Twenty Four- Seven- Three Sixty Five Prayer

Waiting this morning for the sun to rise... here is the view from yesterday. This is the quietest time of my day as I remain on assignment in the Florida Keys : )

Sixteen days ago, three of us started a 40 day prayer challenge (See Mark Batterson's Book - "Draw The Circle") and we are praying for each other through the day. Yesterday's focus was from Psalm 35:23... Contend for me, my God and Lord.

Mark reminds us we are double circled in prayer , every hour of every day, by the Holy Spirit and Christ Himself, interceding on our behalf. Think about how that changes everything in our lives. We are never alone in our struggles. Every battle is won in the spiritual realms. We are always covered in prayer. The God of The Universe is praying for us every single hour of every day.

Stop for a minute and reflect on what Jesus and the Holy Spirit might be praying for specifically right now.

Ask them to bring you into alignment with their prayers. Ask them to encourage your heart. Ask them to step into the details of this day and make their power and majesty evident as the next 24 hours unfold.

Therefore He is able to save completely we who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for us.      Hebrews 7:25 NIV (personalization mine)

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.                     Romans 8:26 NIV

A Life Manual Moment From Jeremiah

In The Message, Eugene Peterson, provides us with a 'To Do" list from the Prophet Jeremiah ) "When life is heavy and hard to take,

Go off by yourself.

Enter the silence.

Bow in prayer.

Don't ask questions:

Wait for Hope to appear.

Don't run from trouble. Take it full-face.

The "worst" is never the worst."

Lamentations 3:28-30 MSG Capitalization added.

Maybe life isn't heavy, just frustrating. Or maybe decisions have to be made. Maybe we're restless or facing new challenges or whole new seasons of life...this short checklist really packs some punch.

Joyce Meyer frequently reminds us, "Go to the Throne, not the phone..." and this surely gives us some "how to's" for actually going to the Throne. The admonition "Don't ask questions"is direct and what follows tells us what to do when we don't ask questions "Wait for Hope to appear."

As Leaders, many of us are list driven in our work, so why not develop some God lists? The when people ask if the Bible is really relevant to today's life, we can share our answers right out of God's Word on a 3x5 card or as a calendar note- enticing them to look deeper into God's Word : )