Daily Reading for Sunday, Jan. 20: Prayer

“Is anyone among you afflicted (ill-treated, suffering evil)? He should pray. Is anyone glad at heart? He should sing praise [to God]. Is anyone among you sick? He should call in the church elders (the spiritual guides). And they should pray over him, anointing him with oil in the Lord's name. And the prayer [that is] of faith will save him who is sick, and the Lord will restore him; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart]. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]. Elijah was a human being with a nature such as we have [with feelings, affections, and a constitution like ours]; and he prayed earnestly for it not to rain, and no rain fell on the earth for three years and six months. And [then] he prayed again and the heavens supplied rain and the land produced its crops.”

James 5:13-18 The Amplified Bible

What beautiful promises are spoken in these passages! When we are afflicted, or when we are in great joy, we have an entry way to the eternal one so that He may comfort us in our troubles and rejoice with us in our elations. And this is accomplished through the medium of prayer, through the timeless artwork of conversation with the Almighty, infinite God who cares intimately about his creation and longs to hear from us and speak to us. We know that when we pray, we will see great things happen in our lives and in the lives of others, for this is what the Word and the presence of the Lord promises us. Therefore Saints, let us pray. And let us place great value on the time spent in prayer. For if we do, we shall see many great things occur in and through us—as individuals and as a church.

Daily Reading for Saturday, Jan. 19: Prayer

“Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood-- and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father--to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen." Revelation 1:4-7 The New American Standard Bible

“...a preacher needs must to be a man of prayer. For every hour spent in his study-chair, he will have to spend two upon his knees. For every hour he devotes to wrestling with an obscure passage of Scripture, he must have two in which to be found wrestling with God. Prayer and preaching; preaching and prayer! They cannot be separated The ancient cry was: ‘To your tents, O Israel!’ The modern cry should be: ‘To your knees, O preacher, to your knees!’” E.M. Bounds

We are a kingdom of priests to our God and Father. We are preachers of the word in a very real sense to the world that is perishing. As E.M. Bounds exhorts, we must have preaching and prayer, prayer and preaching! We must lead a life that we cannot undertake any task, any conversation, any witnessing moment, without prayer. We need to be “prayed up” and praying in all seasons. And as we do, we fulfill the call of God on our lives. We walk in the destiny of God for our lives. We become what he has already proclaimed—priests of God almighty, standing before God on behalf of men so that we may proclaim the risen Christ and the hope he gives.

Daily Reading for Friday, Jan. 18: Prayer

“And He began to teach and say to them, "Is it not written, `MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL THE NATIONS'? But you have made it a ROBBERS' DEN." Mark 11:17 The New American Standard Bible

“Without prayer, a church is like a body without spirit; it is a dead, inanimate thing. A church with prayer in it, has God in it. When prayer is set aside, God is outlawed. When prayer becomes an unfamiliar exercise, then God himself is a stranger there.
As God’s house is a house of prayer, the divine intention is that people should leave their homes and go to meet him in his own house. The building is set apart for prayer especially, and as God has made special promises to meet his people there, it is their duty to go there, and for the specific end. Prayer should be the chief attraction for all spiritually minded churchgoers. While it is conceded that the preaching of the Word has an important place in the house of God, yet prayer is its predominate, distinguishing feature. ...As prayer distinguishes Christians from non-Christian people, so prayer distinguishes God’s house from all other houses. It is a place where faithful believers meet with their Lord.” E.M. Bounds

In our striving for relevance in this world, we must remember that we are still distinct from this world. When Jesus turned out the money-changers from the Temple, it was because the Temple had become too much like the world—not too distinct from it. The world has plenty of itself—it can finds its own pleasures anywhere it seeks to. Only we can offer the world a conduit to that which it truly seeks, that is a conduit to God Almighty. And we can only be that conduit when we pray.

Daily Reading for Thursday, Jan. 17: Prayer

“For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples." Isaiah 56:7b
The New American Standard Bible

“Prayer is perfectly at home in the house of God. It is no stranger, no mere guest; it belongs there. It has a peculiar affinity for the place, and has, moreover, a divine right there, being set therein by divine appointment and approval.
The inner chamber is a sacred place for personal worship. The house of God is a holy place for united worship.”
E.M. Bounds

When we examine the core value of Prayer as it relates to the church, we must ask ourselves, “How much precedence do we as a church place on prayer?” We as individuals pray in our homes, our closets, our cars, our offices. But how much time do we spend praying together as a body for the body? How many times have we neglected the opportunities to pray with other members of our body? If we feel that the “church” does not place enough emphasis on prayer, it is up to each and every one of us to restore that emphasis to its rightful place. It is not up to the pastor or the elders. If we are to be a praying church, we must be a praying people. We must not neglect either our prayer times in solitude or our corporate prayer times. Both are necessarily to have a vital, vibrant healthy house of prayer.

Daily Reading for Wednesday, Jan. 16: Prayer

“Even those I will bring to My holy mountain
And make them joyful in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar;
For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples."
Isaiah 56:7 The New American Standard Bible

“Prayer stands related to places, times, occasions and circumstances. It has to do with God and with everything which is related to God, and it has an intimate and special relationship to his House. A church is a sacred place, set apart from all unhallowed and secular uses, for the worship of God. As worship is prayer, the house of God is a place set apart for worship. It is no common place; it is where God dwells, where he meets with his people, and he delights in the worship of his saints.

Prayer is always in place in the house of God. When prayer is a stranger there, then it ceases to be God’s house at all.” E.M. Bounds

If we are to be a praying church, we must be praying individuals. If prayer is to be of highest priority as a church, it must be of highest priority as individuals. Throughout the ages, God established fixed places of worship where individuals would leave the ordinary activities of life to join together in the extraordinary activity of worship. Of course we can pray separately, but we can pray together too. And, even more, we should pray together. As we gather together, representatives of all peoples that the Lord has made full of joy by Christ’s sacrifice, we must pray so that the Lord’s house may fulfill the purpose for which is was established.

Daily Reading for Tuesday, Jan. 15: Prayer

“Be unceasing in prayer [praying perseveringly]”
1 Thessalonians 5:17 The Amplified Bible

Prayer, to believers, should be as automatic as breathing. It is interesting when one examines the breathing mechanism that God has given us. On one hand, we can control and contain our breathing, on the other hand, we continue breathing without having to give it a second thought. Prayer is like that. There are many times of concentrated prayer when we are praying singularly with a definite purpose and agenda. Those times are necessary times for us in our communications with God. We need to bring our petitions before Him, we need to communicate our needs to Him, and we cannot move forward until we hear from heaven. There are other times of unconscious, unplanned, uncontrolled prayer. Those are the spontaneous outbursts of joy, sorrow, fear, happiness, exaltation, and gratitude. We may enter into a conversation with the Almighty not knowing where it will end—but enjoying every moment of it. We come away from these times refreshed, energized, motivated. There will be times when we call to God but for a moment, and then life rushes in to demand our attention. A rich prayer life will include all these elements and more. To pray without ceasing is as easy as breathing, yet it takes the discipline of a master musician to live in such a manner. As Paul says in his letter to the Colossians, fix your heart and mind on things above. When we fix ourselves in thought and action on Christ, we will have that discipline and we will pray without ceasing.

Daily Reading for Monday, Jan. 14: Prayer

Core Value:
Prayer

Prayer is the key to an intimate relationship with God.

God desires to have an intimate relationship with each of us. Therefore, we value prayer as a means through which we communicate with God and through which He brings about life change. Prayer strengthens our relationship with God and one another. We believe in praying together, in order that we might hear and know God’s voice and leading in our individual lives, as well as our church family. We know fervent, effective prayer produces much in life!

~Lighthouse Fellowship Core Value #1

Introduction

Last week, we discussed the impact a value driven lifestyle has on the individual. We, as a church, have identified and prioritized our core values so that we may view all ministry through value driven lenses. This week we will be discussing the core value of prayer and its importance in the life of an individual and the life of a church, for prayer is the cornerstone upon which we must build our values and ministries.

Daily Reading for January 14th

“And it happened as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.’" Luke 11:1 Greene’s Literal Translation

“Lord, teach us to pray.” What follows these words is perhaps the best known prayer in all the world—the Lord’s prayer. This beautiful model of interaction between the divine and the mortal was the immediate response to a simple request— “Lord, teach us.” They themselves were praying and knew it not. They were asking of God for wisdom, knowledge and understanding. And God answered. He taught them more than mere words to recite. He introduced them to the One to whom they were praying and gave them the cornerstones of relationship upon which to build the conversation. One of our church’s core values is Prayer. We pray not because it is the right thing to do, but because we love our heavenly Father and we need His guidance, wisdom, and provision. Prayer is essential to pressing into the will of the Father, to obeying the commands of the Son. When we pray, we ask, we seek, and we knock. Read Luke 11:1-13, and you will see how the Lord will answer us when we pray. But it all begins with these three words… “Lord, teach us.”