The Future

It is GOOD FRIDAY: Pray for the NEXT Great Awakening. The best is yet to come.

As early as the 1720's, isolated signs of a Great Awakening began to emerge in small village churches throughout New England. Never despise the day of small things.

The future Anglican evangelist, George Whitefield, was only a six year old boy in England. The 13 colonies were under the control of an all powerful government, imposing its will on the people of America.

Before The Awakening, Whitefield showed no signs of becoming a powerful preacher. The 13 colonies showed no signs of becoming a great nation. As the saying goes, "BUT GOD."

In 1733, The Presence of God's Spirit swept into and saturated the village of Northampton, MA. Now known as The First Great Awakening, it had been prepared for in prayer, and it was subsequently nurtured under the preaching, of Puritan Pastor Jonathan Edwards.

The Awakening would be fueled by the tireless efforts of itinerant Anglican Evangelist George Whitefield. He was not saved until he was 21 years old, and he did not arrive in America until 1739. Until his death in 1770, Whitefield crossed the Atlantic 13 times by ship. He road on horseback, from Georgia to New England, fanning the flames of Spiritual Awakening.

Local Puritan Pastor Jonathan Edwards and itinerant Anglican Evangelist George Whitefield, different in so many ways, became dear friends and great partners in this powerful movement of God's Spirit. Their synergistic efforts energized pastors of churches throughout the colonies. Lifting up the name of Jesus higher than their own preferred denomination, they saw a great harvest. The remnants of the fruit still remain.

NOTE TO SELF: Your nation is in desperate need of the NEXT Great Awakening. It doesn't deserve it. It just needs it. If God chooses to use you to prepare the way for Awakening, do not be surprised if He requires you to give Him elbow room in your life. He may choose to connect you with someone very different from you. Until then, stop counting Awakenings, and start praying for the NEXT one.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Shield

"Pray that you may not enter into temptation."
Luke 22:40

When Martin Luther addressed the issue of temptation, he observed, "I cannot stop the birds from flying over my head, but I can stop them from building a nest in my hair." He spoke like a man of experience.

Temptation is inevitable. Yielding to it is not. Jesus warned His disciples of the dangers of facing temptation without prayer. He still does.

The prayerless are prone to yield to temptation. The prayerful raise their shield against it. Choose wisely.

With Hjs betrayal, and crucifixion drawing near, Jesus spoke some of His final words to His disciples, on the power of prayer. He knew they had no hope of ever breaking the power of temptation without preparing to face it in prayer.

Whenever Jesus prayed, He sought to conform His mind, His will and His emotions to the will of His Father. What was revealed in The Garden had been His way of life. Make it yours.

Praying reveals a willingness to hear from God. Raising up a shield against temptation is a result of yielding to The Father's direction, protection and correction. Anything less is the mark of a rebellious child, or a defenseless warrior.

Talking about temptation attempts to convince yourself and others to agree with a defenseless position. Praying leads to agreeing with God, and yielding to His sense of direction. Again, choose wisely.

Temptation is not sin, but it leads to it. Prayerless people follow a well worn path to sin. Prayerful people are trail-blazers to a new way of life.

Jesus still holds power over sin. He forgives it. Following Him leads to prayer, and away from sin. Taking His advice to pray in order to avoid sin has never been an option for His followers.
Treating prayer like it is chrome on a car, rather than the Law of Gravity, leads to a head on collision with sin. This only happens...every time.

Why? Because prayerlessness is simply an expression of pridefulness. Proverbs, The Wisdom Literature of The Bible, warns repeatedly that pride comes before a fall. Jesus knew this. He was well versed in it. His call to prayer is a call to humility. It is an ancient call, not a new one.

People full of themselves are full of pride and void of prayer. Their crash patterns in life are predictable, but they are not inevitable. Jesus said His followers should pray, could pray, and would pray, if they wanted to avoid falling into temptation. Those who do, won't. Those who don't, do.

NOTE TO SELF: Never be tempted to believe prayer is a non-essential part of your walk with Jesus. What one word best describes your prayer life? Active or Inactive? The choice is yours. Prepare to pray, or prepare to fall. Shields up!

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Words

"But if you bite and consume one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another." Galatians 5:15

Words mean things. Too often, they are just plain mean.

Apology: a regretful acknowledgment of an offense or failure. Apologize: to make excuse for or regretful acknowledgment of a fault or remark.

Daily comments ebb and flow from the left and the right on a huge laundry list of issues. The offense of the day is seized upon and paraded relentlessly through the news cycle.

The next day's news begins with demands for an apology from the offender. Statements crafted in legalese and grudgingly released are rarely accepted by the offended.

Politically correct words strangled from the throat of the offender typically gag the offended. Word-smithed language camouflages genuine contempt, and attempts to deceive the offended into receiving it. This rarely ends well.

NOTE TO SELF: Before you take a bite out of an offender, try saying a blessing over them. Your appetite will change. God is not mocked. You can't erase what you meant to say with, "Bless their hearts!" God knows what you meant the first time. Word to the wise, PRAY IT before you say it.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Invitation

"Come, follow Me."
Jesus //  Luke 9:59

Some preachers cast doubt on the validity of a prayer to ask Jesus into one's heart, as a step towards salvation. Their point seems to be that a prayer prayed does not always initiate a changed life. Point well taken. Still, the question remains, "What is the proper response to a personal call from God?" Perhaps we can all agree on this answer. Receiving a genuine call from God produces an authentic follower of Jesus.

Jesus didn't expect everyone He called to obey His voice. He called them anyway. Every person who has prayed a prayer to ask Jesus into their hearts has not always followed through with a life of obedience. Many have. Some haven't. Every prayer to Jesus is not fruitful, because the heart of man is deceitful. People simply don't mean everything they pray or say. From the beginning, the Church has always had its share of posers. It always will. James warned the members of the first church.

"You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives."
James 4:3

Apparently, Jesus had the same experience. The rich young ruler let his riches interfere with His call. Judas heard, responded and followed Jesus. In the end, he strayed and betrayed Jesus.

Not every call receives the right response. Not everyone who starts to follow Jesus proves to be a radical disciple of Jesus. Still, His call continues to go out, and our prayers should be prayed for people to follow Him.

The vital sign of a changed life has always been a fully devoted follower of Jesus. Many pray a prayer and follow Jesus as their guide. Many pray the same prayer, and remain lost in the tall grass. Remember, the problem is not with the prayer. The problem is with the heart. Prayer is not fruitful, when the heart is deceitful.

"The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?" Jeremiah 17:9

Jesus commissioned His disciples to, "Make Disciples." Going was not His imperative. Making disciples was His command. The Steve Green song, "The Mission" says it all.

"Across the street
Or around the world
The mission's still the same
Proclaim and live the Truth
In Jesus' name."

Jesus said to His disciples, "Follow Me!" He still does. Those who hear His voice, have a choice. Respond or rebel. The choice requires a change of mind, heart, and direction. In other words, following Jesus reveals a changed life. Praying a prayer to Jesus only initiates a relationship with Him. Continuing to pray for His direction, protection and correction matures your relationship with Him. One scripted prayer does not fit all. One prayed prayer certainly does not accomplish all. Those who follow Jesus will keep praying.

"Knowing the will of God for your life, comes out of consistent companionship with God."
Lloyd John Ogilvie

Jesus did not invent disciples. Great leaders and charlatans produced disciples long before Jesus called The Twelve. Three things are true of a real follower. A disciple...

1. Embraces a personal relationship with the teacher.
2. Allows the teacher to exercise authority and jurisdiction over his life.
3. Endures persecution or inconvenience for what he believes.

From the starting point to the finish line, salvation begins and ends with following Jesus. He offers the right way, but it is no easy road for the prayerless, or the deceitful.

Jesus invites no easy "believism." Praying a prayer is a proper, initial response to a call from Jesus to follow Him. Continuing to pray is the mark of a changed life.Praying provides the staying power to keep following Jesus. His followers are in the yoke. Are you in it?

"Take My yoke upon you."
Jesus // Matthew 11:29

When the great Welsh Revival broke out in the first decade of the 20th Century, it had it's followers and detractors. Those who provided leadership applied a unique litmus test. To determine if all those who were attending the meetings were serious about their faith in Christ, they looked at their behavior. They did not consider a person radically changed until they showed up for prayer meeting. Radical followers, indeed.

What Jesus initiates, His Spirit perpetuates. Peter had his moments of great faith and great deceit, until The Spirit of the Risen Christ came to indwell Him. Peter readily followed Jesus. He just couldn't bring himself to follow through. When the Spirit filled him, and empowered him, he was a changed man.

Perhaps this is the key to the next Great Awakening. Peter came to the end of himself, when he recognized he was full of himself. Once emptied, he could be filled, again, and again, and again with The Spirit.

" 'Brethren, what shall we do?' Peter said, 'Repent...' "
Peter // Acts 2: 37-38

Contemporary preachers should plead for no less, and contemporary churches can expect no more.

NOTE TO SELF: When it comes to following Jesus, He initiates the invitation. Following Jesus was God's idea, not yours. It always will be. Too often the question is, "What do you believe?" The right question is, "Who do you follow?" When you fail to pray, you start to stray. RSVP ASAP. Jesus is only a prayer away.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Grip

Let me invite you to take a look at your dominant hand. Beginning with your little finger, assign one of these five words to each one.

"Lord, teach us to pray."
Luke 11:1

The last word is pray. Assign it to your thumb. To get a grip on anything, you need your thumb. The final word on getting a grip on life is, pray. The disciples made this request to Jesus, after hearing Him pray. They didn't ask Him to teach them to preach, teach, give, serve or love. There was something about His prayer life that made them realize they needed to get a grip on prayer.

"I would rather teach one man to pray, than to teach ten men to preach."
CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON

Paul longed for the capacity to know Jesus, and "the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death." (Philippians 3:10). This Easter, pray for no less.
Taking hold of the power of the resurrection requires a tightening your hold on God's Word, and a yielding of your heart to God's will. Prayer accomplishes both.
Jesus promised His disciples that answered prayer was a direct result of residence, not eloquence.

NOTE TO SELF: Answered prayer resides where you abide. Prayer tightens your grip on God's word, and yields your heart to God's will.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you." John 15:7

The Crossing

"One day, Jesus said to His disciples, 'Let's cross to the other side of the lake.'...As they sailed across, Jesus settled down for a nap. But soon a fierce storm came down on the lake. The boat was filling with water, and they were in real danger. The disciples went and woke Him up, shouting, "Master, Master, we're going to drown!"
Luke 8:22-24

When the storms of life rush in, pray. Dust covered systems and bloated bureaucracies are no substitute for the power and authority of Jesus. Systems should never overshadow the Savior. Putting your faith in a system to see you through a crisis only leads to disappointment. Trusting in Jesus, in the face of a crisis, sees you through to the other side.

"When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and the raging waves. Suddenly the storm stopped and all was calm. Then he asked them, 'Where is your faith?' "
Luke 8:25

Perfunctory prayer is powerless over a crisis. Panicked praying is often a step towards believing prayer. Believing prayer is a powerful weapon of warfare in the hands of a seasoned prayer warrior.

Jesus knows the difference, between going through the motions and the emotion of believing prayer. Speaking His name in panic is not the same as taking it in vain. He can transform genuine panic into genuine faith. Luke records that the disciples of Jesus had witnessed Him perform many miracles. As they rowed from one side of the lake to the other, a storm arose. Fresh from a recent victory over evil, disaster threatened. It always does.

"Master, Master, we're about to drown!"

Let's not get technical here. Prayer is calling on Jesus, in the face of a crisis. Believing prayer is trusting in Jesus, before the crisis is over. The disciples were calmed after the storm, but they were panicked in the middle of it. Believing prayer brings calm in the midst of a crisis, not just at the end of it. He asked.

"Where is your faith?"

Jesus wasn't asking for information. He was delivering a rebuke. He often sends a message in the form of a question. Jesus is the answer. Crises challenge faith. They are designed to bring us to the end of ourselves, and our systems, and to lead us to put our total trust in the Savior. Don't let your support system or your belief system overshadow your Savior. Jesus can be trusted to lead you through what He led you to. Remember, crossing the lake was His idea.

"Let's cross to the other side of the lake."

What Jesus starts, He always finishes. Crises of faith put His finishing touches on His disciples.

"For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you, will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus."
Philippians 1:6

Crises don't build character, they reveal character. Prayer builds character. Believing prayer is the foundation of it. The greater the crisis, the greater the prayer. The greater the crisis, the greater the faith. Jesus is present in the midst of any and every crisis. The purpose of the crisis isn't to shake your faith, but to build it. Believing prayer places confidence in Jesus, not the system. Believing prayer feeds your faith in Jesus, and starves your fear of the crisis. Again, don't let the system or your fear overshadow the Savior. Trust Him.

Seasoned prayer warriors are often storm tossed, but they learn never to launch out on a great adventure, without a word from Jesus. Where He sends you, He goes with you. Believing prayer warriors cross over the lake, only at His command. Believing prayer passes through the crisis, comforted with a sense of His Presence.

NOTE TO SELF: Panic may come when your faith is tested by the storms of life, but through believing prayer, you learn to trust in Jesus. Prayer turns your eyes towards His calm face. This is the key to believing prayer. When Jesus panics, feel free to panic. 'Til then, trust Him. It is always too early to panic, and never too late to pray.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Question

"That same day two of Jesus' followers were walking to the village of Emmaus,...as they walked along they were talking about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking with them...He asked them, "What are you discussing so intently as you walk along."
Luke 24:13-17

There is no walk with Jesus without talking to Jesus. Talk about walk the walk and talk the talk all you want, but without talking to Jesus you are on a blind man's journey. Only Jesus can make sense out of the senseless, give hope to the hopeless and turn the impossible into the HIMpossible.

Jesus invited these two discouraged disciples to stop talking about Him, and to start talking to Him. There is a huge difference. Talking about Jesus ignores His Presence, and magnifies the crisis. Talking to Jesus embraces His Presence and releases the crisis to Him. No matter what the crisis is, it always shrinks in His hands.

The empty tomb has meaning, only if our hearts of full of Jesus. Talking about the empty tomb without talking to Jesus robs us of a sense of His Presence. He is here. He is listening. He knows the subject under discussion, and He hears the intensity of the anguish of every human heart. He still asks the question, "What are you talking about?" His Spirit still prompts the human heart to stop talking about Jesus, and to start talking to Him.

Every Easter people rush to the empty tomb and still miss Jesus nine ways from Dallas. For those in the north, that is a big miss. Easter Egg Hunts, Bunny photo ops, new clothes, family dinners, overblown pageants, well-rehearsed concerts, massive mail outs, and multiple services all provide opportunities for an encounter with Jesus. The problem is that after all the Easter excess, the question of Jesus has gone begging. "What are you talking about?" A great deal was done for Him and said about Him, but not much was said to Him.

When these two folks on the road to Emmaus encountered Jesus , they missed him. People still do. More than that, they were annoyed by Him. People still are. Jesus interrupted their conversation, and when He did, one of them gave Him an earful of Aramaic angst.

"You must be the only one in Jerusalem who hasn't heard about all the things that have happened there the last few days."

The next two words will turn a talker into a walker. The answer to the question forces the talker to turn away from the problem and to turn and face Jesus.

" 'What things?,' Jesus asked."
Luke 24:19

What happened next was a spewing out of all the pain of the past tense. They had been eye-witnesses to what looked like the worst thing that man could do to another human being. They could not see God's hand at work in it. Sometimes God wraps up His greatest gifts in some of the scariest packaging. Receive them.

Talking to Jesus began the healing process, by taking the pain of the past and moving it into the present tense. Prayer is a matter of talking to Jesus, and allowing Him time to make sense out of whatever tense is filling your life with tension. Sometimes it is the pain of the past, the intimidation of the present or the fear of the future. Prayer covers them all, and places them all in the hands of Jesus.

NOTE TO SELF: This Easter, don't miss Jesus. His tomb is empty, but let your heart can be full of Him. When Jesus asks you, "What things?" Like the old song says, "Tell it to Jesus."

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Fellowship

"That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering, being conformed to the His death."
Philippians 3:10

NOTE TO SELF: The Resurrection is not only historical. It is applicable. The Spirit of Christ transforms your character when you die to self. There is no resurrection without a death. The Resurrection of Jesus prepared the way for the Risen Christ to offer His power over death to you. Dying to self releases His power in you. Prayer embraces His fellowship with you.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Preparation

“It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭6:12‬ ‭NASB‬‬

"A man who is intimate with God will never be intimidated by men.”
Leonard Ravenhill

NOTE TO SELF: Praying power provides staying power. Jesus did some of His best praying in the face of great opposition, and before making major decisions. Your life should be marked by nothing less than believing prayer. You are not exempted from prayer. You are dependent upon it.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Prize

NOTE TO SELF: The Christ Life involves The Start, The Race, The Finish, & The Prize.
The Start is not a sprint, but a walk that begins when Jesus says, "Follow Me!"

The Race involves synchronized steps with Jesus & each one gives strength for the next step.
The Finish isn't reached by dashing ahead of Him, dragging one's feet behind Him, but by walking with Him. Let Him set the pace. The Prize includes joy in consistent companionship with Jesus for the duration of a life-long journey. The joy is not in the journey but in The Companion. What Jesus begins on earth, He finishes in Heaven.

"For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you, will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus."
Philippians 1:6

Feeling a little breathless?

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!