Category: Pray

Crossing the line

On By MarkIn Gospel, Pray, SalvationLeave a comment

I know it’s just an expression. But around here, it means something.  Often as I tell someone about the good news of God’s love and grace toward them, I finish by telling them they need to cross the line.  You know, like make a decision. Take a stand.  Do it.

The gospel is simple, not easy.  We are sinners. All of us. God made us, loves us, hates our sin. Jesus was sent to us by His father. God in the flesh. Jesus is all God, as is the Holy Spirit.  Jesus lived a sinless life. Died on the cross in my place. Took all my sin upon Himself.  He paid the price I would never be able to pay. He did that for me.  He came out of the tomb. Risen!  Death conquered.  He did that for me.

Then in His amazing grace, He brings that message to me.  And to you. We have only two responses. Reject it, or accept it. To reject it is pretty stupid actually.  It’s to tell God, thanks but no thanks, I got this.  Lot of people make that decision.  To accept it is to acknowledge the message as true. Jesus is God, He did die for your sins, and He did it all so you could be in a relationship with Him, just like we were created to be.  He loves you. Hates your sin. Our sin cost Jesus his life. But, after He shed his blood and died for our sins, He arose and now we can have true life with Him by faith in Him. Believing Him and the message God has now given us. Accept it. Repent of your sin. Confess you’re a sinner before God. That means tell God you get it. You’re a sinner and He’s our only hope, because He died in our place!

That’s it. Pray to God now. Tell him.  Acknowledge you’re a sinner before a holy God who loves you and has made a way for you to be reconciled with God. That’s through Jesus. He did it all for you.  Now, cross the line of faith.

Want to read about it? Romans 3:10-11, 21-23; 5:1-11; 6:23; John 3:16; 1 John 1:9; 5:13

Pray.

On By MarkIn PrayLeave a comment

How gracious of the Lord to teach us to pray.  I guess He didn’t have to, but it only figures that He would, because He loves to hear from His kids!  We know the facts of prayer, yet most people I talk with still struggle with prayer.

We’ve spent two weeks studying prayer, as only Paul can teach it.  It started a few weeks ago as we looked at Ephesians 1:15-23. Then this past Sunday, we looked at Paul’s second prayer in Ephesians 3.  These passages have sparked some great conversations in Grace Groups throughout Flagstaff.  It’s simple really.  God wants us to spend some time, and thoughtful time at that, only because He loves us. Not because we are in some kind of a “I have to in order to…”. No. He loves us.  So, really let’s just pray. Don’t make a big deal of it. Talk to God. Often. He really doesn’t care if you’re driving, or walking, or washing the dog.  Talk to Him.

What you’ll learn in Ephesians is that He wants you to know what He’s done for you. Paul helps us see that prayer is way more than rattling off a list of things we’d like God to fix, remove or add to our current life.  No, it’s way more. It’s about realizing who we are IN CHRIST and what we can look forward to.

I did have two different people tell me this week of acronyms that help them:

PRAY: Praise, Repent, Ask, Yield

ACTS: Adoration, Confess, Thanksgiving, Supplication

For those that remember from the sermon, I guess it would be SACTS!  “Selah, before you speak!”

Hope that helps. Whatever it takes, let’s not be shy about talking to our Father.  I think He’d really like that.

Praying for what matters

On By MarkIn church, GraceGroups, PrayLeave a comment

I’ve noticed whenever I’m asked to pray for someone or for some event, it’s because it really matters.  We don’t ask for prayer about things we don’t care about, or at least we’re not too concerned about.  Right?

We pray for a job interview, a potential new relationship, a decision to be made, help for the test, for someone’s health issues, we pray for strength, wisdom, and even patience.

Can I invite you to pray for your church and your pastor?

Whatever church you attend, pray today.  This thing we do called ‘church’ is a pretty big deal. We are the church as we are saved and following Christ in our local community.  This is not man’s idea. It’s not some denominational mucky mucks idea. This is God’s church.  We are His people.  And when things seem to be clicking along, the enemy would love nothing more than to take our feet out from underneath us. This can happen through a subtle apathy, or a divisive issue. It can happen when we are too comfortable or too busy. It shows up in gossip as well as good works. Let’s not let the enemy inside our church!

So, as your church follows the Lord’s leading and is teaching the grace of God to the lost as well as to the maturing followers of Christ, let’s pray for God’s protection and blessing. Let’s be a part of the harvest of seeing people trust Jesus with their lives and in obedience, give the Lord first place in everything!  We live right where we do and in the time that we do for a very specific reason.  Therefore, let’s pray. It really matters.

For those that attend Grace, there is a weekly prayer meeting open to everyone. They meet on Sunday mornings at 9:25.  Head to the welcome table and enter through the door right there.  I love that these people are gathering as people are making their way to church. I love that each week prayer is happening in Grace Groups throughout the community.  I love that this matters. So, join me in praying for God’s Word as it goes out tomorrow to His people and those He’s pursuing.

News and Thoughts

On By MarkIn Cancer, church, Pray, Zac2 Comments

Resurrection Sunday is coming. I can’t wait.  Not just because most churches have a lot of people. And not because I get to have an extra special meal on that day.  I can’t wait because it really does mean something to me personally.  I get it.  Jesus rose from the dead.  If you’ve been in church-world very long you say and sing those words almost without thinking.  But stop and think about it.  “Because Jesus rose from the dead…”

Last Sunday I preached on the cross and my points each started with; “Because Jesus died on the cross…” I’m not done with my sermon for Sunday, it may or may not have that familiar sound to it, but I’m liking it.  So, what is different in your life ‘because Jesus rose from the dead’?  I’m thinking that’s huge.  Go ahead, think about  it and I’d love to read your comments below.

Here’s some news.  This morning I was told that Duane and Becky Witt’s daughter was on CNN.  Here’s the link if you want to check it out. I know her as Vanessa, but her name is now Giada! Pretty cool.  This is a great reminder to pray for her and many others that are serving in our military operations around the world.

As you pray this week, please pray for Mary Olson and her sweet family.  Mary learned yesterday that cancer has spread in her body, particularly to her bones. This is hard news, but they are confident of God’s love and care for Mary, as am I.  They are pursuing answers so they can make good decisions.

I noticed today Zac has a new blog update. You can click on it on the top right side of this page.

Haiti: Continued

On By MarkIn PrayLeave a comment

This is just a reminder to continue to pray for and help minister in Haiti.  As we all know, there are disasters and devastation around the world on any given day. Sometimes by natural causes, sometimes by war or disease, crime or terrorism.  What’s unique about Haiti is that you already have one of the poorest places on our planet. Add to that the sheer size of the earthquake and mounting damage, this certainly has us all awakened and concerned.

As you pray for God’s work in Haiti during these days of recovery, please know that God hears you.  Let’s be active in praying and helping.

At our church, we’ve simply adopted two of the many organizations that are on the ground in Haiti.

For personal donations, please go online and help Samaritans Purse.

As a church, we’ll send some additional help to a new initiative called Churches Helping Churches.  This is being led by Mark Driscoll and James MacDonald with a specific target to see the churches in Haiti helped along with perhaps new churches being planted as the Lord opens doors.

Remember, just because our fast-paced news moves on, the day-to-day life in Haiti will be slow going for a long time. Let’s pray, and as God leads us, let’s give.

Pray and Help for Haiti

On By MarkIn PrayLeave a comment

Words fail when we realize just how bad the news is in Haiti after yesterday’s earthquake.  Like me, you may be wondering what you can do.  I honestly don’t know what we can do. I do know that there is an immediate desire to pray.  Pray for God’s mercy on those whose lives are in the balance. Pray for the thousands who just lost a family member, a home, and a way of life.  Pray for those trying to help.

Here are some pictures to help us realize how bad this is.  http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/01/earthquake_in_haiti.html

If you feel that you want to help financially, there are probably many good ways to do that. Many organizations and ministries that are designed to help and are somewhat prepared.  Let’s help them. Let’s pray they can be the hands and heart of Jesus to these who are hurting.  Let’s pray and help.  One such organization is: http://www.samaritanspurse.org/.

Praying for…

On By MarkIn PrayLeave a comment

In John 17 Jesus prayed to His Father.  Not only is it an amazing chapter because we get to listen in to what Jesus said to the Father about what was about to happen, but also because we can observe a model in praying.

Much like the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6 [sometimes called the Disciple’s prayer, while this one in John 17 is the Lord’s Prayer] Jesus shows us that prayer begins with the Father. It’s about Him. His will. His glory. Jesus begins with the relationship between the Son and the Father. Our prayers should begin with God, not us and our stuff.  Get a vision of the greatness of God as you pray.

Then Jesus prayed for his guys. The disciples that were no doubt listening in.  He prayed for them. He knew what they were about to encounter.  He prayed that the Father would now ‘keep them’.  That’s awesome. We should pray for each other. We should think of our brothers and sisters as the team we’re on and the team we need to pray for.

Then he prayed for those who would believe. As you might know, that’s us. He prayed for us.  How cool would it be if in our prayers, we prayed for those that are going to get saved.  At church, what about the empty seats?  What about your neighbor?  Let’s pray for those that will soon be on the team.

Cancer Free!

On By MarkIn Cancer, Pray, Zac12 Comments

How about this for a ‘faith-check’. Did I really believe? Yes, I did. I believe God is amazingly and sovereignly gracious in all His acts. He is glorified through life and death. He is glorified even when we can’t understand and struggle accepting His actions. And sometimes He is glorified as He delivers what we call ‘really, really good news’.

Today, I received word that my nephew Zac is cancer free! The Friday before Mother’s Day he was diagnosed with stage 4 (worst possible) colon cancer with spots on his liver and spleen. Many of you have followed him on his blog (listed to the side of this one) and have prayed with him and for him. Many of us have believed the whole time that God is certainly able to heal, but we also know that God sometimes brings glory to Himself with the news that we don’t want to hear.

Today God has showered us with a huge blessing. Zac is healed of his cancer. Read his blog for his words on what’s next.

So, as we trust God for His plans for Zac and all of us, let’s also pause to celebrate and thank Him. The Jewish people would celebrate for days, with lots of food, dancing, musical instruments, etc as a response to God’s goodness and His favor. Somewhere, somehow, enjoy the celebration with us today on Zac’s behalf.

Even the smallest blessings

On By MarkIn Pray, Thanks2 Comments

The front passenger tire had a slow leak.  Stopped by the tire place and was told it would be about 30 minutes.  So I made use of the coke machine and sat down with my iphone to twitter away the 30 minutes.  I realized how little of an inconvienience this was. There have been times when I’d be irritated to be told to wait for 30 minutes. But now I have this great little tool that can keep me busy for a long while.

The other small benefit was the guy has espn on and I was able to multitask and get somewhat caught up on sports news that I’ve missed lately.  I was surprised to see Edgerrin James may be on his way to Seattle.  I’ve been ‘out of the loop’ so this was news to me.

Then when I went to go pay for the repair I was told those coveted words, “no charge Mr. Smith”.  Huh?  “You bought your tires here, so, no charge.”  Sweet.  It’s not their fault a screw wound up in my tire.  But what a nice policy.

You know, sometimes it’s the small things that remind us that really, it’s gonna be alright.  I’ll have much larger issues to deal with soon enough. For now, well… ‘thanks Lord for the tire man’s policy and for the orange soda and for espn and for time to mess with my iphone.’  Amen.

Holy Anticipation

On By MarkIn church, GRACE, Jesus!, Pray, Worship2 Comments

I’m in my office on a Saturday morning going over notes for tomorrow, cleaning up the place, and…oh yeah, listening to the Grace Worship Team rehearsing for tomorrow. As I’m listening to them, I’m thinking of tomorrow morning at Grace. I’m anticipating God’s blessings on His people as we come together FOR Him. I’m picturing hundreds of people lifting their voices and some even their hands as we worship God as His holy community. We are HIS. He’s our Abba, our God, our Saviour, our Life-giver, and our Friend.

Whether you attend Grace on Sunday or your church in your community, do you go with a sense of anticipation? Here are some thoughts to help you get ready for the holy gathering of the community:

  • Lord, what will you teach me about YOU?
  • Who will I see tomorrow that needs a fresh look at YOU, someone I can love and encourage?
  • What will I learn from your WORD?
  • How can you use ME to bless someone else in this holy community?
  • Who will be there tomorrow for the first time, seeking YOU?
  • Who will be there hanging on by a thread, needing more of YOU?
  • Lord, what can I give you?
  • Lord teach me your ways.
  • Lord show me your glory.
  • Lord, bless our holy gathering.
  • Lord, may I be rested and thoughtful as I approach this sacred moment.

I seriously can’t wait to gather with God’s people and our many guests to see what He’s got in store for us as we bring our offering of praise to Him. To the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

Rom 16:27
to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Chris