The Prayer Habit

I just completed auditing a great ISOM course on Prayer and Worship. I plan to require myself to re-study these principles on a regular basis. Below, I have pasted the outline from my sermon yesterday which was based on notes from the class. If you need a sermon, "This will preach" :


"The meaning of prayer is that we get hold of God, not of His answer. It is God we must have. He is more than enough for all that we need."

Life is too busy, and the important always gets swallowed in the tyranny of the urgent.


Prayer is the pathway to God’s Presence (John 7:37-38)

Jesus told us to come to Him if we are thirsty.

The neglect of the soul is a sure path to burnout

What does a healthy soul look like?

1. A continuing experience of grace
2. A sense of expectancy that is rooted in faith
3. The ability to respond to and see life from God’s perspective
4. Resilience
5. Compassion
6. Zeal
7. Integrity
8. Gratitude

Prayer was a common feature in the lifestyle of the early church
Prayer was the vehicle by which the Holy Spirit was poured out
Prayer was the vehicle for Miracles, Signs, and Wonders
Prayer was the means of Confirming and Commissioning God’s choice of Leadership
Prayer was the vehicle for Divine Guidance
Prayer was the Church’s Response to Persecution and Opposition

Prerequisites for hearing God’s voice

We must recognize the importance of Seeking God’s voice
We must commit to obeying God’s voice
We must stop long enough to hear God’s voice
We must learn to recognize God’s voice
We must anticipate hearing God’s voice

Seven Habits of Effective Pray-ers

1. Hearts in order
2. Houses in order
3. Persistence
4. Eternal Perspective
5. Bold Expectancy of Results
6. Pray according to the Will of God
7. Recognition of the seasons of the soul

Too easily satisfied

I read a line this morning about hunger. It said that contemporary society is hungry for spiritual reality. I am not so sure that this is only a contemporary thing. Man has always desired something real from the spiritual because we are created in the image of God. The Bible says that God is a spirit and our worship needs to be in spirit and in truth. We were created with the need for a relationship with God. It has been referred to as the God- shaped hole. A void that only God can fill. Way back in about 400 AD St. Augustine said, “You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” Until that relationship is sought and found, there will always be an emptiness at the core of our being. There is a huge significance in knowing God.

One of my favorite Christian artists is Kirk Franklin. In his song “I’ll be Satisfied” , he sings to God in worship:

Any way you bless me
I'll be Satisfied
You can wipe the tears from my eyes and put joy in side

Any way you bless me I won't complain
Power of your spirit ease the pain
Any way...
Any way...I'll be satisfied

Bless my grownin out
And my comin in
Put your spirits round about
And your joy within

Any way...
Any way...I'll be satisfied

Bless my grownin out
And my comin in
Put your spirits round about
And your joy within

Any way...
Any way...I'll be satisfied

Any way
Any way
I’ll Be Satisfied
We must decide today what is going to satisfy us. Let’s go for excellence rather than mediocrity.

Grape Conscious or Giant Conscious

I read an article this morning written by L Alton Garrison about one of my favorite portions of Scripture. The account of Moses sending out the twelve spies to check out the land that God had promised to the children of Israel. It was a place of promise. The two reports that came back were opposite in focus. Ten of the spies came back with a report that said there would be no way that they could possess the land. They said there were giants there that would be too strong to defeat. Two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, said the land is wonderful and had the biggest clusters of grapes they had ever seen. The first group asked, “Didn’t you see those giants?”. Joshua and Caleb asked “Didn’t you see the size of those grapes?” The minority was grape conscious. The majority was giant conscious. The minority did not deny the existence of the giants, but they believed with God’s help they could possess the land.

That is the kind of passion God is looking for in His people. He has placed inside of you a vision of promise. If you choose to be giant conscious, you will opt for the safety of hunkering down where you are and you will miss the blessing God intends for you. If you are grape conscious, you will step out with faith as your safety net and find blessing. Big dreams require you to trust God. Have some God sized dreams today and go for them. You are equipped, empowered and released today to do wonderful things. Don’t get to the end of life with regret that you settled for mediocrity when excellence was available.

Of all the nerve

There is some troubling data in a book I have been picking up from time to time. The book is “Unchristian: What a New generation really thinks about Christianity….And why it matters” In their data about the unchurched they have found an increasing number of people who are not as much opposed to Christianity as they are offended by Christians. It has long been a standard line among unchurched people that the reason they do not go is because the church is “full of hypocrites.” One article I was reading this morning said,”It is hard to be a witness to someone whose nerves you are standing on, especially if you are not even aware you are on them.” It brings up the challenge to live a life of excellence before our fellow man. It is a good habit to take inventory on a regular basis of how we are coming across to those around us that we are needing to lead to Christ. When they see me coming, do they cross to the other side of the street to avoid me or do they come to my side of the street because they want to interact? One of my goals today is to not step on the nerves of others if I can avoid it.

By the way, the road goes two ways. I also need to not be easily offended when someone else steps on my nerves either accidently or on purpose.

Press upward

I had the opportunity last night to attend a session in my role as a school board member where we learned about assessing our goals by first accurately figuring out our current levels and then successfully and measurably moving up from there. In life, pursuing a reform agenda without clarity of where we are does not make sense. We often settle for only slight gains when we are positioned to go for big ones.

It seems to me that I need help in determining current need. I need a source that will hold me accountable and knows me well enough that I cannot pull the wool over their eyes. For me, the answer has to be a spiritual one. The Holy Spirit is that perfect source of help and data because He knows me inside out. His consultant fee is manageable. He only asks for my all. My desires, my abilities, and my assets become His and in return I get assessment reports downloaded to my heart on an ongoing basis. I get power and energy to make necessary adjustments to take me as high as I am willing to go. The more I avail myself of that kind of Holy Spirit help, the more I move from mediocrity to excellence.

Philippians 3:12-14

I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”Press On!!!!

Raise the bar through the day

In my strategy to keep the main thing the main thing in life, I am constantly on the watch for new ways to express time honored goals. My school board hat gives me a flow of material that helps me raise the bar not only in school things but in my pastor role and life generally. If I am to be an effective communicator and leader today, I need to understand what is possible to expect from people. In order to do that efficiently, I need to clarify needs and establish improvement goals and targets. There needs to be benchmarks in my life to tell me my level of achievement. The best way I have found to do that is to create conditions that are conducive to that improvement by studying, praying, listening and serving. I find that I really need to be a better learner and the rest will take care of itself.
There needs to be an awareness and urgency to improve. Without that I become satisfied with status quo. Current state may be good but it’s not great. Excellence recognizes that there is always room for improvement and new levels.

“Start early and begin raising the bar throughout the day.”
-Bruce Jenner

Excellence vs. Mediocrity

One of the hats I wear is that of a school board member. We are in the midst of a new elementary building project.We are about at the place of ground breaking. We are dealing with figures in the 9 million dollar range. I am glad I do not need to know all the details on how to construct the building but I am expected to have a handle on the project. It all brings to mind a blog I wrote last year about wall building. Here is an excerpt:

"One of my favorite leadership teachers is John Maxwell. His insight into practical ways of doing hard tasks is refreshing. The walls of Jerusalem lay in shambles and Nehemiah was called on the rebuild them. Maxwell says, “Leaders don’t know everything, but they know enough to act.” Nehemiah’s intuition about this project gave him knowledge in the following areas:

How long the project would take
How to get there
What he would need to get the job done
Knowledge that God’s hand was on him

That kind of intuition is a gift from God. Today is a good day to listen to our intuition and see where it leads. Don’t forget to pray first. It will clear your mind of intuition blockers. God created you to operate at a higher level with insight from creator God. The Bible says we are wonderfully made. It would be a shame to settle for mediocrity."

Excellence is worth it.