Pre-21-Day Prayer/Fast Information

Matthew 6:16

“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.

The prayer/fast is coming soon.  On January 10^th we will begin a 21-Day prayer/fast.  I hope you will join the fellowship at Mt. Oak and fast of something so you can spend more time in prayer and more time with God.

I will try to blog my journey through the 21 days and would love to hear your stories and what God is saying to you through the journey.  It would be interesting to hear what others are fasting from and how God is using that freed up time touch our lives and the lives of others.  I believe if we are sharing to encourage others we will not be sharing to receive a pat on the back – at least that is my heart – being transparent to encourage.  I will carry on as usual – no sad face on this guy!

Rather than fast from only one thing – I am in the process of picking several things in my life to fast from so that I can free up more time to spend with God.  I am already reducing my food intake for health reasons – limiting myself to 2,000 calories a day.  I have been under that count since December 23^rd and have lost some weight already.  I am trying to reduce my weight to reduce my blood pressure.  Rather than go on a total food fast – which would put my body in starvation mode – my doctor recommended against this for health reasons – I am going to pick several things to fast from and invite you to join me by picking some things in your life too.

For instance – at the start of January I began to fast from Words with Friends – a game on Facebook.  I reflected on this before the start of the year and tried to put together how much time I spent on this game and I figured at least ½ an hour each day was spent connecting with friends in this game.  Although connecting with friends was good – if I use that time to connect more with God – I think He will show me better ways to stay connected with my friends.  A pastor friend of mine who knew I was fasting from WWF sent me an invitation to play a game yesterday – Carolyn thought it was a test!  I passed!

My wife is after me to give up my Diet Pepsi for the 21-day fast so that will be my second item.  Along with Diet Pepsi – I will give up all soda products and try to drink only juices – green tea and water for the 21-Day prayer/fast.  Although this item won’t give me more time – swapping one drink for another – Diet Pepsi is something that has chemicals in it that can be addictive and harmful when taken in the amounts I consume.  I know I will have withdrawal symptoms the first three days of the prayer/fast and the staff has asked me to stay away from the office those days – lol.

I’m searching for more items in my life that are barriers between me and God or more time with God.  If you can think of any for me – please share them.  If you can think of some for you – please do them and share your journey.

Just something to think about today as you go on your way.

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Spending Five Minutes with God Each Morning

Psalm 5:3

In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.

I’ve asked this question before: How’s your prayer life?  I mean it!  When do you spend time in prayer?  How long to you spend in prayer?  What do you mention in your prayers?

The Psalmist writes: In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.

If you don’t have a regular prayer time or devotion time – try what the Psalmist mentions and spend time in the morning – first thing.  I know it is tough for some.  If you are a single mom and you have children to get ready for school before you go to work – it might be tough finding even 5 minutes to sit before the Lord.  If you rise at 4 or 5 am to go to work – turning over for that last 5 minutes – hitting snooze on your alarm can be the best few moments.  But I believe if you made it a habit (not all habits are bad) to spend even just 5 minutes first thing in the morning before God you would shortly notice the difference in your day.

Here’s a simple example prayer for the morning.  Lord, thank you for awakening me this morning.  You are an awesome God and I love you very much.  I offer You my day.  You know what is in store for me – even if it is not part of my plan for the day.  When the opportunity arises today for me to be a witness for You – I pray now for the boldness to witness for You.  Thank you for Your grace given to even me.  Help me to walk with You all day long!  Amen.

Of course you could add what your schedule is for the day – like help me to remember what I have studied for my test today or give me peace as I go to that important meeting today.  You could pray for your children or your unsaved spouse or your mom in the hospital as well.

Most people who say they couldn’t pray for 5 minutes – will – once they begin the habit (practice) – find their time going longer and longer – as their intimate relationship with Jesus improves through communication (prayer) with Him.

How about trying it?  We usually get around 150 readers or so each day.  If each of us spent just 5 minutes each morning for the next two-and-a-half weeks – Thanksgiving will be different this year – I just know it will.  Many of the readers are from our local church – Mt. Oak Fellowship.  I know it would make a difference in our church family if more of us were committing our first moments each day to God (I know some of us already are doing this – maybe we could add five minutes to our time each morning).

So who is up for the challenge to respond to the Psalmist’s words: In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation?  I will!  Will you?

Just something to think about today as you go on your way.

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Praying in Your Closet – Is This Necessary?

Matthew 6:6

But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

I have been having a discussion with a brother today on Facebook (private messages).  The subject was my occasional posting of some things I am praying about.

Recently I have posted the following (since early February):

† Spending a few moments in my office praying for the morning at Mt. Oak Fellowship! 4th of 5 in sermon series called Guardrails!

† Spent some time today praying for the lost in our church and in our community – this is often on my heart!

† Spending time praying for the lost in our church and community!

† Been up since 2:30 am – praying for the sisters and brothers at Mt Oak Fellowship – love this congregation and want to serve them in Christ!

The question is whether Matthew 6:6 tells us to pray privately or if sharing our prayers publicly is being boastful.  The passage is found in this section of the Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 6:5-8 – 5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

As I read some commentaries – I found some that said this was a teaching about the hypocrites who prayed to hear themselves pray – to use many words to be honored by the community for their skill at praying.  God teaches that in order to guard our hearts – our attitude when we pray – it is best to pray in quite – where God hears our prayers just as clearly as public prayer.

Question: Is this a teaching that says there should be no public prayer?

When I post a prayer thought that I am lifting before the Lord – my intent is to encourage the body that I am praying for us and for the lost among us.  As a pastor I am trying to set an example of what to pray for and am not trying to boast about my prayer life.  But am I boasting when I post my prayers?  I do not post all of my prayers – just those that seem to be encouraging to the Body.

I would be interested in the opinions of others for sure.  I would not want to do something that would be seen as boastful – but at the same time – if posting some prayers encourage the Body – I want to be able to do this.  Your thoughts?

Just something to think about today as you go on your way.

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Letting God Help Deal With Our Troubles!

Psalm 55:22

Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall. NIV

Pile your troubles on God’s shoulders — he’ll carry your load, he’ll help you out. He’ll never let good people topple into ruin. THE MESSAGE

So – what is impacting your life today?  A quick read of Facebook shows some folks dealing with injuries – memories – school – tests – family issues – recovery from surgery – chasing boxes down the street in their PJs – the death of a parent – the weather – and more.

The Psalmist knew about troubles:

Psalms 55:4-5 – 4 My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death assail me. 5 Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me.

Have you tried piling your troubles on to God’s shoulders?  I have found that His shoulders are large enough to not only take our troubles – but give me a sense of relief as well.

I remember a time when a fort we were making as children collapsed on us.  I remember standing – bent over – with the top of the fort on my back – holding it up as my friends scurried out from under the load.  Thankfully they ran to get some boards to prop up the top so I too could get out from underneath the load.

God wants to be there for us when we have troubles.  He wants to be there all the time – actually.  I can remember taking my troubles to God as I knelt at the altar in prayer.  Far too often – as I laid my troubles before Him – I would rise and take some of them back!  My prayer today is that we will not only lay our troubles on God but allow God to work through them with us and not try to take them on ourselves.

Just something to think about today as you go on your way.

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My Prayer for the People of God at Mt. Oak

Philippians 1:9-11

9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ — to the glory and praise of God.

As a pastor – I often spend time praying for the congregation I am blessed to serve – and the other people I have served or know in my life.  It must come with the territory!  As a church planter – Paul had a heart for the congregations he helped start – by God’s grace and mercy.  In today’s passage Paul speaks the heart of many pastors I know – for the people they serve.

He prayed for this congregation – and his prayer was that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight.  Love is so important.  We spoke of the importance of love in our Vision and Mission series – the need to fully love with our hearts our Lord and His cause.  Loving others is what allows us to minister to others – to reach out to others.  We want to build people up in knowledge – but if we haven’t grabbed the heart along the way – the knowledge will be destined to be merely knowledge.  Paul connects the abounding love with the growing knowledge in his prayer for these folks – and I pray this for us at Mt. Oak.

With a growing love and deepening knowledge comes a depth of insight, so that we may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless . . . filled with (or producing) the fruit of righteousness. . . to the glory and praise of God.  That is my prayer this morning – and many mornings – that Mt. Oak will be filled with people who will seek after the love of God – the knowledge of God – in order to discern the best way to serve God and bring Him glory.

Just something to think about today as you go on your way.

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What Is Your Prayer Life Like? How Does It Stack Up Against Your TV Time?

Luke 6:12

12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.

What is your prayer life like?  I mean – do you have a regular time of prayer – of conversing with God?  As we strive to model Jesus – and His life and ministry – as His disciples – His prayer life is held before us.  In this passage he went aside from the others and spent the night praying to the Father.  Have you ever spent a whole night praying?  What is your regular prayer life like?

I think that most of us would be embarrassed if the amount of time (so little) we spend in prayer were added up and compared to the amount of time we spend – say – watching our favorite team play a single game.  It is football season and the Ravens and Redskins just won big games this past Sunday and both are in first place.  I got home from church and switched between both games from about 1-4 pm – 3 hours.  That didn’t count the pre-game radio show I listened to on the way home from church or the after game show!  It was probably about 4 hours of football (and I didn’t even watch the second game and might not watch the night game).

If you were to watch three games on a Sunday – that might add up to anywhere from 9-12 hours or so of football.  Add up all of the time you spend in a single week and it probably doesn’t add up to that total.  What does this say about our love for football vs. our love for God?  I could even cut us some slack and allow us to add up the 2-3 hours we spent at church Sunday morning and the few hours we spend during the week.  We could even add in the time we spend in the Bible for a whole week and for most of us – it still wouldn’t equal the time some of us spend on Sundays watching a sport!  And that isn’t counting Monday & Thursday night football or Saturday’s college games.

What is your prayer life like?  Does your prayer life show God that you love Him?  Do we love Him more than a sport?  Are we more upset when we miss our favorite team on TV or in person or when we miss worship or our devotional time?

Just something to think about today as you go on your way.

Prayer

How about some discussion about our prayer life?

Do you have a “normal” place for prayer? A prayer closet so to speak?

Do you set aside a time in the day – or several times in the day – to pray?

Do you pray out loud or silently or both? When and why?

Do you pray with someone on a regular basis?

Do you pray written prayers?

Do you pray at work?

Do you stop and pray when someone presents you with a need or wait till your prayer time?

What is the most important part of your prayer life?

How many minutes would you estimate you spend in prayer most days?