More Than Bread

Send me a Text Message!

This one is a bit different. A combination of a report on joining with 10 other congregations and two campus ministries for 36 hours of non-stop prayer and worship and another look at my favorite prayer in all of scripture.

Enjoy!

Send me a Text Message!

Sometimes people make a distinction between praying big prayers and praying small prayers. But do you realize that according to Paul in Ephesians 3:14-21,    every prayer we will ever pray is smaller than His power to accomplish it. They are all small prayers because He can do far beyond the greatest good we can imagine. Sometimes our problem is that not that we don't believe in God's power, it's that we don't trust his heart. We believe God can do more than we can imagine, we're just not sure He will...at least not for me. 

But what if at this very moment, God is whispering, "ask me for more?"

Send me a Text Message!

Ephesians 1:15-23 is a prayer for power, resurrection power that is available for us. Can I tell you why this is so important?  It's so important because what we need we can't get on our own. Who we need to become we can't become on our own. We can't know God better...on our own.  We need help. We can't find the hope we need in the midst of times that drain the encouragement  out of our hearts. We can't make a difference that matters on our own. We need help. We can't  experience the glorious riches of community on our own.  We can't find a forever home without help.  It's too hard. We can try but sooner or latter we'll mess it up, we'll fall short.

 That's why I love this prayer, if God inspired Paul to ask for resurrection power, He must want to give us resurrection power. But it's a gift given only to those who recognize they need help. God we need your help!

Send me a Text Message!

In Ephesians 1:15-23, Paul prays a prayer for his friends and in the midst of this prayer are the words, the request, "God give them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that they can know you better." Later he will ask God to open the eyes of their heart. His prayer brings to mind the simple question, "How well do I know God?" If there was one and only one question we should ask ourselves
on a daily basis, it might be, "How well do I know him? 

Jesus once was overheard praying, he said, "Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." (John 17:3) Moses spoke with God like a man does with his friend, and yet he cried out to know more of God. Paul said, nothing matters to me more than knowing Christ. I want to know Christ. So how well do you know Him?

Send me a Text Message!

The prayer for this episode is found in Romans 15:13. It’s a very simple but powerful prayer that Paul prays for his friends. Here it is: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." God of hope fill us with joy and peace so we overflow with hope. Is that you right now? So full of joy and peace that you overflow with hope? 

While our prayer is in Romans 15, most of our episode will focus on Romans 8, which talks about groaning in hope, travailing in prayer. It is one of my favorite chapters in all of scripture. Let His hope pour into your soul as you listen!

Send me a Text Message!

In Acts 4, the church prays for courage and boldness in the face of threats and persecution. I've seen this in other places, Myanmar, Iran. Courage and compassion in the midst of hardship and persecution. And so often the partnering activity in those times are bold prayers. I'm not sure what happens to our bold prayers. Sometimes life's disappointments beat them out of us.  Sometimes we are trying to guard God's fragile reputation...we don't want people to be disappointed. But in Acts 4, the church was grabbing hold of a God who is the God of creation, the God who keeps his Word, a God of power.

And God showed up with such an immediacy that the place they gathered was shaken up and the people were filled up and they continued to tell others about Jesus. And it causes me to pray, "God would you do it again."

Send me a Text Message!

John 17 contains a dream on Christ's heart. His dream is to unleash upon the world a people who love more, and love deeper, and love longer than anyone else in the world. And so it's not surprising that in John 17, the great dream on Christ's heart becomes the great prayer on Christ's lips. This is the longest recorded prayer of  Christ in the Bible. The whole prayer is the whole chapter of John 17. We are just
looking at the last section of his prayer, because that's where he prays for us. He prays first for himself, then he prays for his friends. And then he looks down through the centuries to come and he prays for you and me. 

So you might say, that as we listen to Christ's prayer, we're kind of on holy ground. As we listen in on Jesus' prayer for us, your name is in there. And what is his prayer? "Father make them one. Help them to love better."

Send me a Text Message!

I call this story in Luke 5, the fellowship of the mat. Four guys bring their paralyzed friend to Jesus. But here's the point that grips me, Jesus told the four friends that their faith is what brought their friend in need, a miracle. This is really the heart of this episode. My faith matters for others. Your faith matters for others. The faith you express when you bring someone to Jesus in prayer; when you take it even farther and tell them you are praying for them; or when you take it a step farther than that and pray with them, right there in the moment, that faith matters in Jesus’ eyes for them.

Your faith matters for your neighbors. Your faith matters for your prodigal child. Your faith matters for the next generation. Your faith matters for your workplace. Your faith; what does Jesus see when he looks at your faith? 

Send me a Text Message!

In Mark 9, a man come looking for Jesus. This man came with a need; a parent who found the child of his heart beaten up and locked up by some force beyond his control. He had tried everything else, but nothing worked. Then he heard about Jesus. And even though he's a sensible man, he's a needy man and Jesus is his last hope. You do realize that's often when we come to God in prayer, when we have no other hope. In his prayer he asks Jesus to do something "if he can." And Jesus responds, "If I can, all things are possible if you have faith." And the man responds with this famous prayer. 

"Jesus I believe. Help me in my unbelief." It's woven together in our lives too, isn't it. We believe and we doubt. In the end the man's prayer was answered. His son was saved. But he left us an example of prayer, that more than once I have followed. "Lord I believe, and I doubt. Help me to have more faith."

Send me a Text Message!

Mark 5 contains a prayer for healing. A woman who had experienced chronic brokenness that left her spiritually, relationally, and emtionally isolated. She heard about Jesus, so she came. A somewhat common beginning to prayer. She heard about Jesus; she came to Jesus and she touched the hem of his robe. That was her prayer. She didn't come boldly. This was not a spiritual giant or an intimate  intercessor. She snuck in the back. She reached out and touched his cloak...and she was healed. But I think the greatest gift was not her physical healing. Jesus called her out and she came face to face with her healer.

And he called her daughter. The only recorded time in scripture that He called any woman...daughter. He gave her a family with just a touch. Where are you in need of a touch?