PRAYER CAMP

I wonder why we think that Christians should know instinctively how to have a good prayer life. You know, there isn’t much evidence for that assumption, even Jesus’ own disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray. Most of us are not satisfied with our prayer life. Most of us sense that we can have deeper intimacy with the Lord, be able to hear His voice better, and certainly we would like to see a great flow of power and life in our prayer life. Yet, we don’t approach prayer as something to be learned.

Someone might say, “But prayer is nothing more than communication with God. Why should that be something I need to learn?” I can tell you, after working with people for the last couple of decades, that to assume that we are all natural-born communicators is a huge mistake. Most married couples benefit greatly from a study of good communication skills. If we have this much difficulty communicating with another human being whose eyes we can see, and voice we can hear with the natural ear, why would we assume that two-way communication with God, who is a spirit, would be more natural to us?

Besides, prayer is much more than just two-way communication with God. Certainly that is the foundation of all life-giving prayer, but much of Christian prayer consists of the declaration, or proclamation, of the things that God is revealing to us. In other words, we are seeking to hear or see what is on God’s heart at a particular moment in time, and then to speak that out over our homes, churches, nation or world.

Then, we have to take into account the fact that some prayer is personal and individual, but Jesus made it clear that there is an increased power to prayer when a group of believers prays together in agreement. Knowing this, we need to learn, not only how to develop a strong individual prayer life, but how to harmonize together with others in prayer. All I can say is thank God for the Holy Spirit who is our personal coach, and teaches us to pray.

To that end, we are going to begin to study and practice prayer during our Wednesday night Bible Study. We are going to approach this subject as “Prayer Camp.” We are going to take one or two nuggets of truth about prayer each week. We will study these truths, discuss our various understandings of them, and then “practice” prayer. Our goal will be to coach one another into a more satisfying, effective, and powerful prayer life. I hope you will join us at 7pm on Wednesday evenings for Prayer Camp.

DIVINE COMPASSION

When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. (Matthew 14:14, NIV)

Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him. (Matthew 20:34, NIV).

Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” (Mark 1:41, NIV).

Have you even noticed the connection between the times when the Bible says that Jesus was “moved with compassion,” and the dynamic flow of God’s healing or delivering power? The word translated “compassion” in all of these verses means much more than feeling pity for someone’s condition. This term is very descriptive and powerful. It speaks of a deep yearning that comes up from the center of your being. Biblical compassion is more than an emotion. What Jesus was feeling was the deep, insatiable, almost overpowering, desire to set a person free from their affliction. This kind of compassion always moves a person to action, and that action releases the power of God on the scene.

Certainly in our modern language, we use the term compassion to describe what we feel when we see people in various kinds of distress. You might feel compassion for the needy, the downtrodden, those who are hungry or in need of medical attention. All of that is fine, but today I want to direct your attention to another kind of compassion–a compassion that flows through you right from the heart of God.

I believe that the same flow of compassion that preceded many of the miracles of Jesus, flows through His disciples today. After all, Jesus said that those who believe in Him would do the same works that He does, and even greater works. I think it’s important for us to stay sensitive to the flow of, for lack of a better term, God-compassion, that rises up within us. This compassion may arise in a time of prayer, and lead you to pray for people and situations that you may or may not even know about personally. This compassion may rise up and lead you to lay hands on a desperately ill person and see them recover. Compassion may lead you to give beyond your limits, or simply share a word of encouragement.

Whatever the case, if you will respond to this compassionate flow you will become a conduit for the life of God. Some of the most powerful times of ministry that Karen and I have ever experienced have been preceded by this sense of God’s yearning toward an individual. I haven’t always even known exactly what the Lord wanted to do, but there was no mistaking what He was feeling toward that person. In every case, if I have been obedient to do what God showed me to do in that moment, I got to be a part of something truly miraculous.

Let’s let our prayer lives be led by His compassion. Let’s go into each day asking the Lord who He wants to touch through us today. Then simply keep your eyes on Jesus, and stay sensitive to His instructions. You will be amazed at what He wants to do through you.

YOU ARE ON GOD'S MIND

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV).

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV).

This verse from Jeremiah has been on my mind all day. I posted these two translations because they handle the word translated “thoughts” or “plans” differently. The verse can be accurately translated either way, and some translations use both words together. God is thinking thoughts toward us, and those thoughts include plans, designs, or dreams that He holds in His heart for us.

No matter how long I do this, no matter how much I study the Bible and attempt to communicate it to people, I never cease to be amazed by this very thing–God has us on His mind. He thinks about us, dreams about our success, our peace, and our prosperity in all areas of life. That, my friends, is amazing.

Some people may tell you, or at least imply, that God is busily planning your demise. These folks think that because every one of us is imperfect to say the least, God is contemplating the best way to punish us and snuff us out. I’ve got news for you. If God wanted us snuffed out, we would long since have been snuffed. This verse says that God’s plans are to prosper us, and not to harm us. Doesn’t He know that we have messed up big time? Yeah, He is aware of that fact, but He already took all of our sin upon Himself through His Son so that we could be forgiven, our lives redeemed and restored, and so that we could be reconciled to Him (2 Corinthians 5:18, 19). He loves you that much.

People that think that God is planning our destruction have missed some vital information about His true nature. Furthermore, they have underestimated the power of what Jesus did at the cross. I am not criticizing these folks; they have simply not understood the true meaning of the Gospel–the good news. The truth is that God loves you dearly and He has a great plan for your life. All that is left is for us to accept what God says about Himself as the truth, and to begin to interact with Him on a daily basis. He will gladly show us Himself, His plans, and bring those plans to pass in our lives. You are on God’s mind, and that’s a good thing!