Moved to Prayer Through "Non Sequitur"

Yesterday I was on my exercise bike and opened up the daily comics. The "Non Sequitur" comic reminded me that people without Jesus will burn in eternity for ever and ever. Brothers and sisters, we need to pray more urgently for those who are not followers of Jesus. At the same time, we need to build relationships with them so they can see a genuine Christian.

Bryan

Severe Weather is Coming to Omaha

It appears that severe weather is coming to Omaha, Nebraska this evening and tonight. There will be thunderstorms and perhaps large hail. Right now the wind is howling (6:25 pm). We need the rain, but hopefully there will be no damage from hail and wind.

In Acts chapter 2, on the day of Pentecost, the early followers experienced the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit came as a violent wind. The Holy Spirit has been poured out on the church, but there is a need for a fresh wind of the Spirit to blow through American churches.

Do We Know How to Cry Out to God?

George Barna points out that few American Christians really cried out to God in brokenness...

"Very few American Christians have experienced a sense a brokenness that compelled them to beg God for His mercy and acceptance through the love of Christ. We have a nation of 'Christians' who took the best offer, but relatively few who were so humiliated and hopeless before a holy God that they cried out for undeserved compassion. That helps to explain why in practical terms it's hard to tell the difference between those who have beliefs that characterize them as born again and those who don't" (quoted in David Bryant, Christ is All! A Joyful Manifesto on the Supremacy of God's Son, pg. 244)

If revival is going to come to America, then more of us who claim to follow Jesus must rediscover or discover that sense of broken and desperate prayer to the Lord.

The Prayer Wisdom of Satchel Paige

I have no idea if famous baseball player, Satchel Paige was a follower of Jesus, but I did come across a pretty good quote of his about prayer...

"Don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines"
~Satchel Paige, 1974

Our prayers (and our cries for revival) are to be daily and consistent despite if life is good or bad.

How Do We Pray?

Below is today's devotional from the "Seeking Him" website (http://www.seekinghim.com/radio/today.php). It is a challenge to how we pray. Do we pray safe prayers or do we go to the edge of faith and pray that God will shake us up as people and as churches?

Nancy Leigh DeMoss: Does it seem safer to ask God to look down on us or to come down to us?

In Isaiah 63 the prophet asks God to look down from heaven. He asks God to look at the people's sin.

Then, in the next chapter, he changes his request: Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down. Isaiah is asking God to become more directly involved, to stir things up, to change the hearts of people.

It's easy to ask God to look down: Lord, please watch over us. Please keep us safe. Keep us in Your care. It's more challenging to ask God to come down: Lord, please convict us of sin. Please interrupt our routine and show us Your plans, help us to embrace suffering so we can be more like You.

Lord, rend the heavens, and come down.
With Seeking Him, I'm Nancy Leigh DeMoss.

Day of Fasting

Below is an e-mail I sent out this morning to God's people at Harvey Oaks Baptist Church...

Good Morning:

Today is the second Tuesday of the month. Thus, it is the day we fast. Some will fast from food for the entire day. Others will fast during the daylight hours. Others will skip a meal or two. Others will fast from television or another activity. We fast in order to seek the Lord. We do so for spiritual breakthroughs in Harvey Oaks Baptist Church and in our lives.

Revival may even result! Elmer Towns writes in his book: Fasting for Spiritual Breakthrough the following…

“Each of the sixteenth-century reformers also practiced fasting, as did the leaders of the evangelical revivals in the centuries to follow. Jonathan Edwards fasted for 22 hours prior to preaching his famous sermon, ‘Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.’ During the Layman’s Prayer Revival in America in 1859, Christians fasted during their lunch hours and attended prayer meetings in churches near their places of employment. This revival broke out in large industrial cities of the northeastern United States.

Prayer was often accompanied by fasting as people sought the Lord for spiritual blessing during worldwide awakening in 1906. Billy Graham reports fasting and praying during his voyage to England to conduct his first British crusades in the early 50’s. The response in his meetings as that time has been described as one of the greatest revivals of our time. Many revival movements have advocated a return to the early Christian practice of fasting two days each week” (pg. 27).

Let us fast and pray that revival will come to Harvey Oaks Baptist Church.

Pray also for Neil Hughes, Heartland Baptist Director of Church Health. He will be preaching this Sunday at Harvey Oaks (“Fire & Reign: Emboldened by His Courage).

Reminder: There will be a time of fervent prayer for revival this Saturday in the church board room at 8:00 pm. This will be a time for us to really cut loose and pray for the fire of the Holy Spirit to come and for the reign of Jesus over us.

Let us stay ablaze for Jesus!

Pastor Bryan