Category: The Importance of Prayer (Page 2 of 3)

How many people like to wait? Not many that I know of. In fact, they can become very angry at being forced to wait in traffic or even in a checkout line at the store. God’s word tells us that waiting can be helpful. Continue reading

Years ago I began intercessory praying.  I read a book entitled, “Rees Howells: Intercessor”.  You can read it free HERE.

After reading Rees Howells biography, I began focusing on intercessory prayer.  When people made prayer requests in the church meeting, or to me personally, I added them to a mental list.  I also prayed about the needs of people in ministry and our nation’s leadership.  I reached the point that I was praying for several hundred people.  It became a task to keep up with all the names and answers to prayer, so I purchased a notebook to record everything in.

Presently, Cheryl and I intercede for thousands of people each morning.  It is sometimes very difficult, especially when an emergency wipes out our prayer time.  However, for many years I have never failed, even when very sick with flu, to pray through the prayer manual each day.  I keep a copy of my prayer manual on my tablet and smart phone.

I mention our intercessory ministry here, not to bring honor to us, but to encourage people to pray.  Most professing Christians do not pray—they say prayers, and short ones at that.  If they would begin to actually pray each day for people who request prayer, they would develop an intercessory ministry.  Interceding for the believers and lost souls to be saved is one of the basic duties of a Christian. Continue reading

Here we are at the beginning of another year.  It is amazing how the last year closes its pages on 12 months of procrastination, mistakes, bad decisions, calamities, prayerlessness, faithlessness, no productivity, materialism and love for the world system, et cetera.  And we believe the very next day somehow begins a different paradigm.  Oh, we mean well with those resolutions and all.  But we do not stick with any of them.  Instead, we creep to the first day of the next year when we can again breathe a collective sigh of relief with the pseudo-certainty that the next 12 months will be different—ad infinitum, ad nauseam.

Somewhere people are reading this and saying with barely contained rancor, “See how this man rains on everyone’s parade.”

That’s not my intent.  I just want people to realize that life is not necessarily corrected by flips of the calendar.  It takes a conscious and dedicated effort to change what can and needs to be changed in us.  A new calendar will not help anyone quit smoking tobacco.  It certainly will not help a professing Christian to stop smoking spiritually.  Vance Havener once said, “I was born in the fire, and I’m not about to die in the smoke.” Continue reading