Tag Archives: Prayer

Billy Graham Hospitalized

Billy Graham has been admitted to a hospital suffering from respiratory congestion.

A spokesman for the Billy Graham Evangelical Association said that Graham has been hospitalized for similar issues over the past few years and they expect him to return home in a few days.

Graham has curtailed his public appearances after suffering from macular degeneration and hearing loss related to his advanced age. The 95-year-old Graham made an appearance as a star-studded celebration of his birthday that also celebrated the release of his new book “The Reason for Hope: Salvation.”

The BGEA asked everyone to join them in prayer for Dr. Graham.

Earliest Known Jewish Prayer Book Found

A rare Jewish prayer book has been discovered by researchers connected to The Green Collection and has been shown to pre-date the earliest known copy of the Torah.

The researchers say scholars dated the prayer book and Carbon-14 tests also showed the book to have been created around 840 A.D. The 50-page book was 4.3 inches tall and 4 inches wide. The researchers said the printing is in an “archaic” form of Hebrew.

“This Hebrew prayer book helps fill the gap between the Dead Sea Scrolls and other discoveries of Jewish texts from the ninth and 10th centuries,” Dr. Jerry Pattengale, Green Scholars Initiative executive director, said in a press release.

The book includes Jewish blessings and covers the Passover Seder, poems on Song of Songs and the end times and a section called “Salvation in Zion.”

Steve Green, president of Hobby Lobby who funds The Green Collection, said the book will be available to the public when their group opens a Bible museum in Washington, D.C. in spring 2017.

Return to Prayer

Jim tells a story about one of his darkest days in prison when he turned his face to the wall and cried out to God. Suddenly, he felt as though he was being lifted up out of his troubles and he asked God, “what is this?” God replied, “these are the prayers of the saints.”

There is nothing in this world any more powerful than the prayers of the saints. Prayer can and does affect every single aspect of our existence in this world. It will comfort, cover, correct, caution, and encourage us and others for whom we pray. Continue reading →

“I Pray and I Obey”

Sometimes it’s hard to get our priorities straight but it doesn’t have to be.  One of the greatest leaders of our times, Paul Youngi Cho of South Korea who has a church of over one million members, simplified the way he conducts his days by doing two things FIRST.

Every morning, Cho prays for five hours before starting any other work. Many have asked him how he can find time to pray that much. He answers, “You don’t understand. If I don’t pray for five hours, I don’t have enough time to do everything. But when I do, then God does everything I need.”

What a simple, yet profound TRUTH in this statement! Jesus’ life was one of constant PRAYER!  We can read in the Bible where many times that Jesus went up into the mountain to PRAY – Matthew 14:23 & Mark 6:46 & Mark 1:35 & Luke 6:12.   Jesus removed all distractions and focused on communion with God. Even though He was God, Jesus prayed and so should we!

Since Jesus, who is the Son of God, understood the need to be in constant prayer, we should do the same. Jesus heard the Voice of the Father, and then He obeyed exactly what He heard the Father say!

This is a time like never before in the history of the world.  This is a time that we should be in constant communication with the throne room of God so that we can hear His voice and DO what He tells us to do!

Lord, remind me to PRAY and OBEY every day so that I can be sure that what I am about to do is what You have said to do with my day!

Amen!

Our Prayers Live On

Prayer is an often misunderstood topic for a lot of people.  Some people think that for prayer to be effective, it has to be done a certain way.  There is much written and taught on the subject of prayer.

I’ve always taken the simple approach to prayer.  Heartfelt prayer can never be done wrong.  You won’t offend God by praying from your heart in the manner you choose.  Sometimes prayer can only be expressed in tears that flow from a broken place inside.

I know that there have been times when I have had no words for the things that  I took to God… but He knew.  There are times when I’ve seen women wail and cry out, indescribable grief and travail that only He could understand.

I also remember my Grandmother and Mother praying for me and not giving up – even when I ran from God for so many years.  Those prayers didn’t fall on the deaf ears of an uncaring God.  No, they were all saved as they rose up to God.

In the Book of Revelation, chapter 5, verse 8, John writes, “And as he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense — the prayers of God’s people! (NLT)

David, in Psalm 56, verse 8, writes this of the Lord: “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.” (NLT)

Tears in Scripture play a unique role in spiritual prayer.  This passage, along with numerous others in Scripture regarding a spirit of brokenness, pictures a variety of reasons and functions related to what might be termed “the ministry of tears,” a ministry Charles H. Spurgeon defined as “liquid prayer.”

Don’t ever think that your prayers are just here and gone and that God forgets.  Your prayers do, in fact, live on in the spirit realm.  If you have petitioned God for something that is in keeping with His will, your prayers rise as incense to a loving God, and He saves them until such time that He works all things together to accomplish His will and purposes for you and through you and your loved ones.

Even if your prayers are just tears – God hears and understands, and your prayers live on in Heaven.

Prayer a Priority in the Last Days

So often, the attitude of many Christians today is:  “When all else fails, pray.”  Or how many times have you heard this:  “Well, brother, just pray about it.”  Just pray?  How about starting with prayer?  How about believing that if anything good is going to happen in the church, it must begin with prayer!

To the first-century Christian community, prayer was their first choice, not their last resort (Acts 2:42).  They prayed about almost everything:  spiritual direction, food, finances, and supernatural healing.  Throughout the Scriptures, we are encouraged to pray, even commanded to pray, yet prayer continues to be one of the last resources we turn to when problems, decisions, or opportunities arise.

I was greatly encouraged when one of the prophetic words that I was privileged to hear at a conference concerned the prayers of the body of Christ.  The prophet shared a message that clearly proclaimed God planned to restore divine healing in the last days.  Not contrived or manipulated “healings”; not psychosomatic healings (although mental and emotional healings will no doubt be included); not sweeping, broad generalizations regarding healing; not the sort of “pay-per-prayer”  manipulation of people’s sincere faith that has been so prevalent among healing ministries.  But God is going to restore genuine, supernatural healing on a widespread basis.

The prophet shared a vision he had received from the Lord, in which hundreds and hundreds of people were praying for each other and multitudes were being healed.

Interestingly, the prophet reported that, in the vision, the people who were praying appeared to be “faceless”.  He interpreted this to mean that the healings would not take place through “high-profile,” well-known ministers, but through common, everyday folks.  Furthermore, the message implied that God will continue to do miraculous healings so long as we do not care who gets the glory.  And when we really stop to think about it, all the glory for any genuine healing belongs to our Lord God, not to the vessel through which He chooses to bring about the miracle.

As you know, Lori and I believe in doing all you can to take care of yourself so that you will be healthy.  As much as you can affect your health by eating right and making other healthy choices, you should do it.  But when you need a supernatural healing, don’t hesitate to call on the Lord in prayer!  He is the Healer and all those times recorded in the Bible of supernatural healing are for today as well.

Love,

Jim