The Spirit Prayer Activation (SPA) experience

The Spirit Prayer Activation (SPA) experience ministered to me deeply! I would have never thought 10 years ago that I would have signed up for something like the SPA. I grew up highly critical of “prophetic ministry,” or anything that was “spirit led,” but, God has completely delivered me from the anti-deliverance mindset, thinking only males can minister to me, and a critical spirit.

I was invited to the SPA from Candi Christman, a member of Heritage Christian Fellowship in San Clemente, CA. Pastor Roger Gales introduced me to Candi and I immediately felt her spirit and knew she was all about healing, recovery, and spiritual freedom. There were four months between the time I met Candi and when I attended the SPA and I looked forward to it the entire time expecting to see the Lord at work in a miraculous way.

The SPA is advertised as “Spiritual Renewal: a ministry of Heritage Christian Fellowship.” It is conducted on the 2nd Saturday of every month from 10:00 to 12:30pm. It is conducted on the church property and contains four ministries designed to “draw you closer to God.” I experienced the four ministries in this order:

• Prophetic art station
• Prophetic ministry station
• Healing prayer station
• Soaking prayer station

Prophetic Art 

I was led to the art table and a girl named Harmony prayed over me. I closed my eyes. The entire time was conversing with God and had my hands opened and palms facing up symbolizing a posture of humility and willingness to receive whatever God had for me. Harmony showed me her painting; it was a tree! I started crying and saying, “that’s incredible.” I knew she had heard from the Lord. It was the same exact tree that I had been drawing since 2014. It was a tree with roots showing! I showed her the back of my pocket sized ESV Bible, my preaching Bible. It had the tree next to it! She explained that God is rooting me in him. That was a different perspective that God gave me for the same tree. 

Prophetic Ministry

After returning to the waiting area, I was led to a room with four ladies. I was immediately grateful that the Lord would have four women pray over me. The ladies told me later on that the spirit I brought into the room was peaceful.  I told them once my session was done that I was thanking God because he had delivered me from sexism years ago. 

When the session started, I was asked, “Have you ever had prophetic prayer before?” I answered, “yes.” They explained that they have no other agenda, but to listen to the voice of God and communicate what He was telling them.  It was silent for a minute. The first girl to speak was Candice (?). She said, “Ryan. I’m getting an image of a tree.” I couldn’t believe what my ears were hearing. Another lady (Sandy?) said, “I’m seeing that tree as well. But I see that you are the tree and that you will provide shade for others to enjoy.  The gal next to her said, “I’m seeing you as a Ninja Warrior but spiritually.” She had no idea that I had competed in Ninja Warrior type games. The gal across from me said, “God is telling you to continue being a shepherd and he wants you to continue to feed his sheep.”

The first girl who spoke said she saw that God was putting me back together and healing me. At that point, I began sobbing uncontrollably. I came into an agreement with all the prayers. I received their prophetic words. I received them with joy and hope (full expectation). 

Sandy looked at me and asked me, “Do you know where Trestles is?” “Absolutely! I live there” I replied with joy. She told me to go down the Trestles Trail and find a mighty Oak Tree. She said that the tree is special and her son finds it easy to hear truth there. I gladly accepted her recommendation.

Everything these ladies were communicating was spot on and in line with my life. When my session was over, I asked them if they had spoken with the other stations; they laughed. They had no interaction with the prophetic art table and I knew that, but thought I’d ask anyways.

Prophetic Healing  

The third station was for healing. Once again, led by all ladies; three this time. Lorra looked over my paper that I filled out at registration and told me, “You have been through so much trauma. And God is healing you.” This was the only station where someone took notes for me. This is what the scribe wrote during my session:

Presence of the Lord to give forgiveness to those who have hurt you and handed people over to the Lord. Released them from their debt because you have forgiven me my debts. God is the judge. Break soul ties. Choose again to forgive until gone. Forgive for consequences you have endured. Bless with Grace, mercy & peace.

The leader of this group asked me to close my eyes and imagine myself meeting Jesus in a special place. The first place that came to mind was the Mighty Oak Tree down the Trestles Trail. She asked me to visualise meeting Jesus there and handing him over every person that I have ever needed to forgive. I started going down the list in my mind. She led me through a “repeat-after-me” prayer, but at the end the Spirit took over and gave me what to say and prayers flowed out of me. Prayers of forgiveness of naming people who have hurt me, what they did, how it made me feel, and ending with a prayer of blessing on them. I asked God to bless every single person who has caused me harm.

The word I kept hearing in this station and in the soaking prayer station was, “God is my defender.  Ryan, I am your defender and you never need to defend yourself.”

The Next Day

The next morning I got on my bike and found the Oak Tree.  Actually, I had no idea what an Oak Tree looked like so I picked one and started to go down my list of people I needed to forgive. What the SPA reiterated for me was the importance of ongoing work in forgiving those who have hurt me. It’s not a one-time deal, but ongoing and daily. 

I highly recommend the SPA for anyone wanting to hear from God and experience inner healing. Humble yourself and he will lift you up.

Resurrection Prayer For All Believers

2k years ago today a guy named Jesus resurrected from the dead! Because he lives, believers can rise above anything life throws. Never ask God to calm the storm; just start surfing. Below is a string of verses used for imaginative prayer. ---------------- From the rising of the sun to its setting, your name is to be praised! - Psalm 113:3 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. - Galatians 2:20 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. - Romans 6:4 ...You were also raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead. - Colossians 2:12 Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance…” - Hebrews 12:1a ...Looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. - Hebrews 12:2 Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. - Romans 12:1 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for you are with me; - Psalm 23:4a The Lord himself goes before you; he will be with you. He will never leave you or forsake you. - Deuteronomy 31:8a Those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. -Isaiah 40:31 Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he dies, yet shall he live. - John 11:25 The spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you. - Romans 8:11

Imaginative Prayer: Jesus Washes His Disciple's Feet (John 13:1-17)

We have launched a new series called, "The Imaginative Prayer Series."

Jesus activated people’s imagination with stories. “...In fact, he never spoke to them without using such parables” (Matthew 13:34, NLT).

Imaginative prayer uses scripture and our God-given imaginations to bring us into the presence of God. We are called to love God with all that is within us, which includes our imagination.

Imaginative prayer helps us to visualize and worship God as he really is.
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“Set your heart on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1)

Parents, let’s face it, our schedules are jam-packed. I’m trying to lead my kids into life in the kingdom of God, yet find myself rushing from the moment I wake up. By the time I get home, it’s getting my boys to wrestling practice, showering, dinner on the go and bedtime routine. Other days, there’s just enough time to play when I get home before mommy calls us to the dinner table for a meal together.  Then it’s clean up time, bedtime routine, and an hour of winding down for sleep time. How is there any time to teach the kids to make what matters most matter more when the majority of the day is preoccupied with doesn’t matter most?

Last year I stumbled upon “the Practice Podcast.”  It’s amazing. They have a series called the “imaginative prayer series,” which their way of meeting with the Lord by using imagination to enter a Gospel story. Using the imagination to experience the sights and sounds of the scene to help bring the whole self into the presence of Christ. The purpose of this prayer, they say, is to meet Jesus face-to-face and grow in intimacy with Him.

“...we’ve been mainly more concerned with getting our kids to believe the right things and getting them to behave the right way when I think we’re missing out on an opportunity to help them show up in the world in this imaginative way with God just trusting that as I interact with scripture that there is something new and fresh in there experientially for me.” -Jared Patrick Boyd, Author of “Imaginative Prayer.”

Read more at The Practice Podcast

Background Music by my friend, Luke Spehar.

Jared Patrick Boyd on Imaginative Prayer

The Deconstructionist Podcast - Episode 77 - Jared Patrick Boyd on "Imaginative Prayer."

“...we’ve been mainly more concerned w/ getting our kids 2 believe the right things & getting them 2 behave the right way when I think we’re missing out on an opportunity 2 help them show up in the world in this imaginative way with God...” Jared Patrick Boyd

How to Pray for Florida

Thankful I Don't Need Jesus! (Thanksgiving Sermon)

This thanksgiving I'm truly thankful in all things because I believe I don't need Jesus...because I HAVE Jesus.  It has changed my prayer life and how I engage in spiritual warfare.  I no longer ask God for help; I thank him for the help that he has already provided in Christ and through the Holy Spirit.  ALL the promises of God are YES and AMEN and I choose to live in light of victory instead of uncertainty and wishful thinking.  Realizing that I possess the living God has changed my perspective and my life.  Join the revolution.  We HAVE Jesus.

Exegesis

Give thanks (2168)(eucharisteo [word study] from eucháristos = thankful, grateful, well-pleasing - Indicates the obligation of being thankful to someone for a favor done <> in turn from eú = well + charizomai = to grant, give.; English - Eucharist - root of these words is charis = grace) means to show that one is under obligation by being thankful. To show oneself as grateful (most often to God in the NT).

NOTE: Don't miss the fact that give thanks is in the present imperative which calls for this to be our habitual attitude and action! The active voice means that his is a personal choice (enabled by grace and the Spirit) we each must make continually.

Here's the "power pack" of verses that keep me thankful in all things!

Genesis 1:27 ESV

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Galatians 2:20 ESV

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Romans 6:4 ESV

4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Colossians 3:4 ESV

For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Just imagine what our communities, our families, and our congregations would look like if we all believed that we have been crucified in Christ and we no longer live but Christ lives in us.  Wouldn’t we then be thankful in ALL circumstances?  Thankful when disrespected.  Thankful when betrayed.  Thankful when our boss puts us down.  Thankful when a kid spills milk and throws a tantrum.  Thankful when we don’t get our way.  Thankful when we get cut off in traffic by the person texting.  Thankful when our spouse doesn’t see something the way we see it.  

We CAN be thankful in all circumstances because we now know WHO WE ARE and who we were always meant to be.  FULLY HUMAN as God intended us to be.  Naked and unashamed.  FULLY HUMAN as Christ was; always responding to adversity without anger and in the spirit of not-my-will-but-yours-be-done.  YES AND AMEN!

Thanksgiving.  It's impossible!  But it is… Him-possible!

In closing, consider these four points...

One, Now, I wonder if you’re thinking, "man, that sounds good, it preaches, well, but its impossible and I'm just not there..." What if I told you that you ARE there!?  What if I told you that, whether or not you feel delivered, that in you, in reality, in Christ have been completely set free!  Over and out!  Period!  Done! Ad Infanitum!  FOR-EV-VURRR!  And what if the only reason you and I weren’t experiencing the Joy of TRUE THANKSGIVING was because we were believing a lie!?  Something that was never true about us.  What then????  What if I confessed that lie as a sham and renounced that lie then went immediately into thanksgiving and repentance.  Wouldn’t it then loses its power and push me right back into freedom – freedom that Christ created me to walk in?  yes and amen!

Two, We were never meant to be THANKFUL IN ALL THINGS on our own strength!   From the beginning we were created by and for God.  So, if you feel like you can’t “do it” praise God!  Say this, “Lord I can’t GIVE THANKS right now!  But thank you that you do it for me and through me and that I no longer need to draw on my own strength to be thankful.  Thank you that apart from you I can do nothing! (John 15:15).  Thank you that I was never meant to do anything apart from you.  Thank you that it is NOT my life goal to not need you as much today as I did yesterday!  Thank you Jesus!!!!

I wonder how this might change the way we live - if we admit that we can’t do anything apart from him, nor were we ever meant to! - and that everything righteous we do is because the Holy Spirit is empowering us to do so.  

Three, Jesus lived the perfect life.  He showed us what it looks like to be thankful in all circumstances.  Jesus showed us what it looks like and what it means to be fully human as we were intended to be. We can do whatever he did because we have the same power source.

Four, We can be thankful in ALL circumstances because he lives in us.  We can do this because he empowers us.  We can do this because we died to ourselves.  We can do this because HE has not left us alone.  Just look around you…

Notes

http://www.preceptaustin.org/index.php/1_thessalonians_518_commentary

The Daily Prayer

Finally typed up my own “Daily Prayer.”  I dedicate this one to my big Brother on his birthday.  Thank you Neil Anderson, John Eldrege and Sons, for motivating me to write out a "daily prayer."  

Father God thank you for giving me another day of life.  

Thank you for every step I take and the breath of life that fills my lungs.

Thank you for the beauty of the rising sun.  From its rising to its setting, I will praise your name!

Jesus, I adore you.  Your name is higher than the rising sun!  

Thank you for giving me the example of pleasing the Father!

Holy Spirit, you are my teacher and you are in control.  

I have worshipped CONTROL.  Thank you for your forgiveness.

Thank you that I am forever SET FREE from the worship of 

CONTROL, COMFORT, APPROVAL, AND POWER.

Today I choose only to listen to you.

I choose to look to Jesus, the author, and perfecter of my faith.

I have been crucified with Christ and that it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.

I have been buried with Christ by baptism into death (Romans 6:4; Col 3:1).

I have been raised with Christ through faith by your powerful Spirit.

The same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in me!

I have been raised to the newness of life with Christ and I set my sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand (Col 3:1).

Thank you that you have raised me up with Christ and have been seated with him in that heavenly realm!

Father, today, I choose to allow my hands to be conduits of grace, mercy, and peace.

May the gentle touch of my hands and the tenderness of my words point my wife and children to a gracious and kind God.

Father thank you that I am not my own and that I no longer have to identify myself as broken, but all put together.

Thank you that you alone supply all my needs and that I lack nothing.

Thank you that today, I no longer have to sin, because I consider myself dead to sin and alive in Christ.

I rejoice in the truth that I am not hurt because you are not hurt and you live in me.

I rejoice in the truth that I am not broken because you are not broken and you live in me.

I rejoice in the truth that I no longer have to be frustrated, angry, disappointed, or impatient because you are perfect in every way and you live in me.

Put the Animals in Their Place

In his book, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis painted an image that will forever be etched on my heart:

…the real problem of the Christian life comes where people do not usually look for it.  It comes the very moment you wake up each morning.  All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals.  And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in.  And so on, all day.  Standing back from all your natural fussing and frettings; coming in out of the wind.1

My mornings have never been the same.  Every morning when I wake up I can imagine a pack of wolves storming my room and my immediate task is to push those animals back outside.  My alarm is set for 0530.  As I awaken in a drunken stupor, a stagger towards my phone “cock-a-doodle-doing” in the living room, down the hall.  I’m moving as fast as I can so that the kids are not awoken from the annoying farm animal noise!  In the 30 yards I travel these thoughts came to my mind:

“…I wonder if I got an email…”“…should I brush my teeth or shave first?”“…man, I really need to put that pile of clothes away.”“…maybe I should do some push ups right now.”“…I feel like picking up my phone and checking for text messages.”“…should I heat up my oatmeal while I get ready for the day.” “…should I read my Bible first or my devotional classics?”“…maybe I should brush my teeth first to wake up…”

And this is all within the first two minutes of the day!

So here’s how God has given me a vision in order to shepherd my family and encourage those he has placed in my life; I live to demonstrate what it looks like to constantly re-direct my focus from things below to things above.  When the “things” of the day start to fill my soul with worry I want to take the proverbial knee, face outboard, and redirect my focus by telling myself, “Lord, what are you doing in this moment?  I just want to do that.”  Lewis also captured this vision by boldly stating, 

“…the Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs…God became Man for no other purpose.  It is even doubtful, you know, whether the whole universe was created for any other purpose.”2

The struggle I face is straightforward; namely, giving all areas of my life to God.  And right when I confess this to my friends and family, they are given a dilemma: to admit or deny that reality. I think its best if everyone just join the club!  This week I’ve been struggling with desiring the control of my wife’s emotions.  If Christ wants all of me, including these desires to control/regulate my wife’s emotions, I must confess (out loud) and renounce (out loud) that temptation.  

I want the desires of my heart exposed in order that it loose its power and a life of constant and complete surrender is demonstrated for all to see; first in my house, then out and about in my daily life.  I choose to live not only transparently, but in vulnerability - and there is a difference.  I simply don’t want to be known, I want to be fully known.  How else can anybody pray for me if they are in the dark concerning my real struggles?  They can’t.

One of my favorite quotes from my wife is, “Lazy people work twice as hard!”  She told me that years ago and it has been playing in my mind like a broken record.  Lewis is certain that the hardest road we can take in life is the one that appears as the easiest.  For the first seven years of my marriage I was convinced that keeping secrets was a good thing.  This poisonous mindset was reinforced by my theology and my like-minded friends who re-reinforced it.  I heard a sermon in Bible College Chapel that reinforced it too (or so I heard it that way), “It’s good to remain a mystery in your marriage.”  

Choosing a life of secrecy and emotional insulation or isolation is the “easier route” that leads to destruction.  The lies that I believed and that the enemy continues to whisper in my head sound like this, “Just maintain the peace and keep this one to yourself.  Your wife doesn’t want to hear about this again!  If you confess this one, you will definitely pay for it and there will be chaos, hate, and discontent in the house.  Just keep this one to yourself.”  But I reject that voice because it is from “the enemy,” which I don’t limit to the Devil.  I believe my enemy is either/or, my flesh, the world, the Devil, his demons, and sin itself.  Since they all exist to flood my mind with thoughts that take my focus off of God, they ARE my enemy.  I am my worst enemy because I am the reason why I believe all of the lies that I believe; namely, to keep a few secrets.

God tells me the opposite. Be fully loved by being fully known.  To be 99% known is NOT to be known.  So, as my favorite Dustin Kensrue song, “It is Finished,” proclaims: “…and go bravely into battle knowing HE has won the war.  It is finished, lift your head and weep no more.”

The cost of discipleship is crystal clear.  Luke 14 says,

25Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, 26"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' 31Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

Following Christ has cost me my comfort, my longing for power, my desire for approval, and wanting control of people and circumstances.  At any moment of the day, these four animals tug at my clothes and I have to smack them in the nose with a rolled up newspaper and put them in their place.  I do this through confession to God while people are listening.  There is nothing that I confess to God that I have not confessed to the body of Christ.  Sounds weird right?  So, let me say it this was.  I trust God by trusting the people he has put in my life.  I am called to “do life” with other people.  So I am constantly reminding myself, “If God knows this secret, why am I afraid to share it with Andy, Chad, or Nicholas?”  Here goes my comfort, control, and approval Lord…

And the result every single time is grace and peace in my soul.  Thank you Lord for delivering on your promise.  The Gospel truly is Good News - a goodness that only comes by being fully loved by being fully known.

————————————————

1. C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (1952; Harper Collins: 2001).  pp. 198-199; Richard J. Foster, Devotional Classics: Selected Readings for Individuals and Groups.  Harper: San Fransisco, 1993. pg. 9.  
2. Lewis, p. 171; Foster, p. 10.

Every Married Man's Prayer

Last week, as I was confessing sinful thoughts of indifference towards my wife my friend Dan prayed with me and gave and exhortation and an encouragement.
After praying for me and with me, he encouraged me to pray through the Fruit of the Spirit towards my wife.  
This is based on Galatians 5 and the "fruit of the Spirit."

Lord, I choose to allow you to Love my wife through me.

Lord, I choose to allow you to demonstrate your Joy to my wife through me.

Lord, may my attitude of peace be evident as you demonstrate it through me.

Lord, would your patience be manifested and seen by my wife through me.

Lord, I choose to allow you to demonstrate your kindness to my wife through my words.

Lord, let your goodness be evident in my attitude as you express it through me towards my wife.

Lord, I choose to take on your faithfulness in with my heart, mind and eyes in my marriage as you do this through me.

Lord, may your gentle touch be given to my wife through my arms and mouth.

Lord, I choose to allow you to demonstrate godly self-control to my wife through me.

Amen.

Book Review: "Working The Angles" by Eugene H. Peterson

Eugene Peterson caught me by surprise.  All I ever knew of him was that he wrote “The Message” translation, which was not taken very seriously throughout Bible College and seminary.  It never seemed as if the “Academia” took him serious.  All of that changed when I read, “Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity.”  The three angels of which the pastor is to keep his flock attentive to God are: prayer, reading Scripture, and Spiritual Direction.

At the outset of his book, Peterson captured my attention with conviction!

People hear us pray in worship, they listen to us preach and teach from the Scriptures, they notice when we are listening to them in a conversation, but they can never know if we are attending to God in any of this.1

For the first seven years of Pastoral ministry I believe this statement was true for me.  I did not know how to pray, read scripture, or play the role of spiritual director without my dogmatic theology gnawing its way into every conversation.  The truth of the matter is I experienced the “Dark night of the Soul” and immediately after God changed my spiritual DNA, and I became fully known by my wife, friends, and family, I prayed, read scripture, and spiritually directed people in a new way.  I do not want to over simplify that change, but it seemed to me like an overnight change and my wife is my witness :)

Like any sport or challenging endeavor, the game is won far in advance.  The hard work of refining and working on these three angles of pastoral ministry is done when nobody is watching before it is executed in public for the, “win.”   I know hard work pays and I am also not ignorant to know that God gets all the glory even for the hard work since apart from him I can do nothing (John 15:15).

That being said, I would reframe the statement that these angles are “hard work.”  Perhaps it should be said like this: “Prayer, proper scripture reading, and spiritual direction are hard work when fueled by human will versus the power of the Holy Spirit.”  I suggest we begin every endeavor with a confession followed by surrender: “Lord, I am incapable of doing this.  I choose to allow you to do it…and yes, I submit myself so that you can accomplish this through me.  Here I am.  Use me Lord. Amen.”

I highly recommend this book for Pastors, ministry workers, or any other sinner in need of a Savior on the areas of prayer, scripture, or spiritual direction.  Okay, everyone should get this book.  

#SUFFICIENT

What if our prayers were never about God bailing us out of the waves of life, but rather that He give us the tools to ride those waves.  What if we went bravely into every battle knowing he has won the war?  What if we were free in the midst of the struggle knowing that we are not struggling to be free?  Would we then not boast in the greatness of God in the midst of our weaknesses?

Why I Stopped "Praying For People"

I no longer pray for people to change the way the treat me. I no longer "pray" for God to change the situations that I am facing. I now pray that God change my heart. I pray that God change the way I see my situation and how I perceive those around me. I stopped settling for a cheap substitute of the mulligan and started asking God to renovate my heart to the point where His thoughts became my thoughts and where my thoughts were simply His thoughts. And I pray this for you too my friends...

Prayer Requests: The Sneaky Kind of Gossip

I have gossiped so many times in the form of "prayer requests" and talking to others about who I think "be saved."  I have come to learn that what I thought was a genuine concern for the salvation of others was just a deceptive form of gossip embedded in a prayer meeting, dinner, or in a coffeeshop talk.

If I truly cared for that person, why didn't I just go straight to them and love on them rather than hope they get saved?  Even in that, am I praying for their deliverance because I have already been there and done that?  Certainly not.

What if we (believers) changed our prayers from  "I hope X gets saved" to "Lord, would you love people through me; X in particular..."

Keeping My Anger In Check

There were a couple times this week where I wanted to chew out a cashier, but remembered I might see them at my church!  Then I remembered the words of james 1:19, “be quick to listen, slow you speak, and slow to become angry…”

Earlier today I was draconian and harsh with my 7-yr old son who was purposely trying to provoke his little sister to anger. 

I asked him, “how did your heart get like this son?  Did you do anything today that was sinful that would cause this behavior?”

He replied, “okay. I have to be honest. When we were at the store, when we were looking at the movies, I looked at a scary movie cover.”

I was ecstatic. My boy gets it. He blew me away.  He grasps spiritual warfare and how to connect a behavior to a root cause to a confession.

Now it was my turn.  With minimal thought God brought my bitterness toward those cashiers to light.

I told my son, “hey bud, remember when I was being mean today? I realized that I had bitterness towards those ladies at home depot and against that ding repair guy who messed up my surfboard. So I’m going to forgive them right now. ‘Lord, I choose to forgive them man who messed up my surfboard and the ladies who were arguing with me at home depot.  Would you bless them and please work on my heart so that I don’t put my joy in silly things that I don’t get to take to heaven anyways? Thanks Lord. Amen.’”

We hugged each other, shared the good news with mommy, and enjoyed the evening.  Victory.

The Root Cause of a Lazy Prayer Life...

Maybe the root cause of a lax prayer life is deception.  Maybe we don't get down on our knees and pray over our kids because we forget that their enemy is full time on thinking of ways to cloud their thoughts with junk so that they cannot hear the voice of God.

I've been so convicted lately.  I am comfortable with praying with people in any setting.  A restaurant, a coffee shop, in the middle of campus; thats easy.

But why do I feel awkward when my wife asks me to pray with her?

When I traced this feeling back to a root cause, I ended up at self-deception.  I chose to believe that the enemy is on the move everywhere else besides in my home.  But I think the opposite is true.

I think this is a huge tests for spiritual maturity.  Here's a question for all those (married folk) who think they're spiritually mature.  Do you pray with your spouse?

On top of that, I'm feeling the conviction I heard during one of Professor Howard Hendricks' class: "Gentlemen, if it doesn't work in your house, DONT export it."

Last week, I prayed with my spouse.  Holding hands.  On the floor.  In all seriousness.  On top of that, she was the one that initiated.  Before, I would have chosen to be offended (i.e. how dare a woman take the lead, etc... a bunch of junk like that).  Now, I'm thanking God that he has changed my heart.  Now, I know where those thoughts come from and I have all the means and ways to take those thoughts captive and expose them.  Now, I'm not afraid to tell the world of the thoughts I had yesterday.  I'm free.

This is the kind of change that the Gospel has brought in my life.  I know the enemy is after my kids.  So, I spend time on my knees praying over them.

I sent a text to my buddy Sean a few days ago.  It was about hate and pride in my heart.  He shot back right away, "humble yourself bro.  Die to yourself...prayers being sent your way."  THAT is the kind of prayer coverage I need.  There is power in prayer.  Prayer is our way to ask God for stuff.  And I can't think of anything better to ask for than HIS perspective on my situation.  HIS eyes for the world.  HIS thoughts.

Men, go grab your wife and pray for God's thoughts to be yours...Let God love your wife through you today.

How To Fight the Enemy

What if someone told you there was a man down the street who is planning to attack your family?  And he worked out every day and gathered intel on your family so that he would know when to attack and make it look like an accident?  His goal is to steal, kill, and destroy.  How does that make you feel?

This is exactly what our enemy does; and if we are not ready for him, we may think it was "just an accident."

Let's be real.  You and I have given into anger, rage, bitterness and bought into a load of lies recently - perhaps this morning.  And all of which were motivated by our flesh, mimicking the world or listening to doctrine of demons.  Let's call all three of those attacks "the enemy" because they all exist to drown out what God is telling us.

Let's make it even more personal.  Last time my wife was angry, I sat back and had chose this "sucks-to-be-you" attitude - a completely evil and offensive mindset in God's eyes.  Here's what was really happening; my wife was under attack from the enemy and I sat back and did nothing.  With absolute clarity, this picture hit me: imagine there was a dude in unibomber type outfit pummeling my wife in the corner.  Would I sit back and say, "sucks-to-be-you!"  Absolutely not!  I would lay down my life for my wife.

When I fail to realize what is really going on, I become selfish.  When I realize the attack that is occurring, I can take my thoughts captive and attack the enemy instead of the victim of the enemy.  Practically speaking, my gentle answer may turn away wrath.  Speaking truth is easy.  Speaking the truth in love is the more difficult, but most effective strategy in defeating the enemy.

Every time I'm chewing out my kids and they respond with a gentle answer, my wrath almost always dwindles like air rushing out of a popped tire.

Its like a robber comes and points a gun at my face from the doorway while i'm laying in bed.  Rather than trying to fight him and getting blasted, I call my friend who is a trained sniper in the room behind him.  Choosing to combat the enemy myself is equivalent to trying to fight all the temptations in my mind with my own power.  Choosing God to demolish the enemy for me is equivalent to calling on him in the midst of the attack.  Instead of fighting the situation, I now say, "Lord.  I can't win this fight.  You do something.  And yes, I submit my mind, mouth and hands to let you say what you want to say in this situation, even if its nothing at all.

The Word is the primary weapon in spiritual warfare; prayer is the means by which we wield the sword.  The Word is the gun, scripture is the bullets.  Time to shoot bullets into the lies that the enemy throws our way.  Time to shoot holes into the enemy that has my wife, children and neighbors in a rear naked choke.  No more laughing at people who are being attacked, but to take God's perspective and have heart full of compassion.

Something like that... hope that made sense :)