So, we want to get this Sleeping Giant awake.
But what are we doing, that seems to be keeping 'it' alseep? Why haven't we been able to wake this giant up? Here's some thoughts on that question.
Could it be, that as much as we all profess to want to wake prayer up in our churches, and our cities, I have to ask first..how is our personal prayer life? You can't 'wake up' in others, what is still asleep in you!
Also, many times we go about our daily Christian walk, with unresolved differences, offenses, or down right rebellion, in our own hearts, and yet, we think that those things are not hindering the release of prayer in us, and around us. Not true!
Lastly, do we want to wake up people to pray 'our' way? Or are we seriously wanting God to wake us up to the prayer He is calling His people to. Will be be willing to change our way, or our favorite style of prayer, to learn a new one? Will we embrace something that is out of our comfort zone? Or will we judge others because they pray one way, and we pray another?
James 4: 2-3 Tells us to be aware of having wrong desires. It speaks to us about lusting, fighting and coveting. It goes on to say that we aren't getting what we pray for because we are praying from wrong motives, and wrong objectives. We pray to satisfy our own pleasure, our own flesh. It is saying, that our prayers are selfish. Ouch!!
If we want to wake up this Sleeping Giant, we need to allow the Holy Spirit to refocus the way we come to God. He will give us 1. the right desire - intimacy with the Father and 2. the right motive - to glorify God and 3. the right objective - to do God's will!
Remember we want to pray with a pure heart. We want to pray with power. We want to pray with persistence.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Prayer...and the Jezebel Spirit
When I think about the "Sleeping Giant", what comes to mind is, what has put the giant to sleep? Weariness? Depression? Apathy? or was it drugged? The other day as I prayed about the sleeping giant, I got a picture from a childhood story - Snow White - and I saw a nice red juicy apple being given to the Giant. Have we been drugged? Lured into a sleep that is unnatural?
It might be something to think about because there is nothing that the Jezebel spirit fears more than prayer! Real prayer is simply praying what is on the mind of god. Strategic prayer coming into alignment with God's thoughts and praying specifically into those thoughts.
What we need to be aware of is praying our own agenda. There is NO power in that! True intercessory prayer is praying God's will - God's agenda. I call that 'pure prayer' and it will destroy the strategies of Jezebel and can help break her influence off men.
True intercessory prayer will stir people to repentance, and break Jezebel's influence. It will turn people's hearts away from sin, and bring true repentance and godliness. True fervent intercessory prayer causes hearts to change from pride and loftiness ( another Jezebel trait), to repentance and humility. Nothing brings a great death blow to a Jezebel spirit!!
We need to clean up our prayer groups, and the motives of our prayer groups, so we are not praying our own agenda's, but fervently seeking God's heart for each situation and praying HIS will - HIs heart!
" Father, forgive us for being tolerant of the Jezebel spirit. Open our eyes to the all its influence and tactics. We bind the stronghold it has on the minds of those in our lives, churches and communities, and we release the Spirit of God to expose all it's works. We pull down every stronghold and fortress this spirit has built up in the area in which we live. We choose to humble ourselves and walk before You with purity of heart and mind and a submissive spirit. In Jesus' name. Amen." * prayer by Steve Sampson from his book ' Confronting Jezebel'
It might be something to think about because there is nothing that the Jezebel spirit fears more than prayer! Real prayer is simply praying what is on the mind of god. Strategic prayer coming into alignment with God's thoughts and praying specifically into those thoughts.
What we need to be aware of is praying our own agenda. There is NO power in that! True intercessory prayer is praying God's will - God's agenda. I call that 'pure prayer' and it will destroy the strategies of Jezebel and can help break her influence off men.
True intercessory prayer will stir people to repentance, and break Jezebel's influence. It will turn people's hearts away from sin, and bring true repentance and godliness. True fervent intercessory prayer causes hearts to change from pride and loftiness ( another Jezebel trait), to repentance and humility. Nothing brings a great death blow to a Jezebel spirit!!
We need to clean up our prayer groups, and the motives of our prayer groups, so we are not praying our own agenda's, but fervently seeking God's heart for each situation and praying HIS will - HIs heart!
" Father, forgive us for being tolerant of the Jezebel spirit. Open our eyes to the all its influence and tactics. We bind the stronghold it has on the minds of those in our lives, churches and communities, and we release the Spirit of God to expose all it's works. We pull down every stronghold and fortress this spirit has built up in the area in which we live. We choose to humble ourselves and walk before You with purity of heart and mind and a submissive spirit. In Jesus' name. Amen." * prayer by Steve Sampson from his book ' Confronting Jezebel'
Friday, February 12, 2010
Why do we pray ??
Here's an interesting question eh?? Why do you pray?
We know that we are called to pray . We know that the Word tells us to fashion all our worries into prayers. We know that we are called to pray without ceasing. We know that we are to pray about everything.
So, why don't we pray? Why does an individual, or a church, or a city, not pray? Let's look at some of the reasons that cause people not to pray.
Let's look at the individual:
From the beginning we can see the tactics employed by the enemy ( thru a religious spirit I might add), are in the Garden of Eden. Satan comes to Adam and Eve and questions them about what God said to them, " Did God really say........" They became deceived into thinking that God could not have meant, what He said to them. By changing their understanding of what God said, the enemy convinced/persuaded them to question and eventually doubt God's word! They literally rejected what God said - believed it to be not true . They denied that they would die if they ate form the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Now remember, up until that point they didn't know 'death'....so the enemy probably used their innocence against them on that subject, but nevertheless, they chose to reject what they heard God say..and believe a more appealing deception.
Now..in this, the enemy succeeded not only in defiling their belief in God's word, but he also ruined their relationship with Him. Why? Well, they were no longer able to talk face to face with God.
Altho some people may not think the spirit used against them was specifically a religious spirit, let me explain why I believe it was. The same spirit that Satan used, closely parallels what the religious spirit uses today - it causes us to relate to and HEAR God differently than we should!
So, we know that from the beginning Satan has been working to rob God's people of not only hearing God's voice, but trusting in God's word to us! We pray and we learn to pray, so that we can once again learn to hear His voice...and obey. We pray because we are redeeming that relationship that was stolen from us through deception. We pray because we long to walk and talk with God our Father. We pray because we know that He still longs to speak to us, His children. He has plans and purposes, strategies and revelation that He is longing to show us, teach us, reveal to us. We pray because He longs to have that relationship of intimate conversation and 'relating' restored. Remember, that Jesus came SO THAT we could have relationship with the Father. Thru one man the intimate relationship with the Father was lost, and through one man, that same relationship is now restored - the way to the Father!
If we don't pray...we don't hear His voice...we don't know His heart. We will walk independent of Him - doing life according to what we think He wants, instead of the confident security of knowing that we have heard Him . If we don't pray, we are acting like Orphans - doing this life as fatherless children, who have to survive on their own. The truth is, the Word says He will not leave us a orphans, but will make us sons and daughters.
And true sons and daughters are in contact with their Father. They know His voice, His heart, His desires, His love for them. We pray because it means we have dialogue with Him who desires to share Himself with us.
So...knowing that....why would we not pray??
We know that we are called to pray . We know that the Word tells us to fashion all our worries into prayers. We know that we are called to pray without ceasing. We know that we are to pray about everything.
So, why don't we pray? Why does an individual, or a church, or a city, not pray? Let's look at some of the reasons that cause people not to pray.
Let's look at the individual:
From the beginning we can see the tactics employed by the enemy ( thru a religious spirit I might add), are in the Garden of Eden. Satan comes to Adam and Eve and questions them about what God said to them, " Did God really say........" They became deceived into thinking that God could not have meant, what He said to them. By changing their understanding of what God said, the enemy convinced/persuaded them to question and eventually doubt God's word! They literally rejected what God said - believed it to be not true . They denied that they would die if they ate form the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Now remember, up until that point they didn't know 'death'....so the enemy probably used their innocence against them on that subject, but nevertheless, they chose to reject what they heard God say..and believe a more appealing deception.
Now..in this, the enemy succeeded not only in defiling their belief in God's word, but he also ruined their relationship with Him. Why? Well, they were no longer able to talk face to face with God.
Altho some people may not think the spirit used against them was specifically a religious spirit, let me explain why I believe it was. The same spirit that Satan used, closely parallels what the religious spirit uses today - it causes us to relate to and HEAR God differently than we should!
So, we know that from the beginning Satan has been working to rob God's people of not only hearing God's voice, but trusting in God's word to us! We pray and we learn to pray, so that we can once again learn to hear His voice...and obey. We pray because we are redeeming that relationship that was stolen from us through deception. We pray because we long to walk and talk with God our Father. We pray because we know that He still longs to speak to us, His children. He has plans and purposes, strategies and revelation that He is longing to show us, teach us, reveal to us. We pray because He longs to have that relationship of intimate conversation and 'relating' restored. Remember, that Jesus came SO THAT we could have relationship with the Father. Thru one man the intimate relationship with the Father was lost, and through one man, that same relationship is now restored - the way to the Father!
If we don't pray...we don't hear His voice...we don't know His heart. We will walk independent of Him - doing life according to what we think He wants, instead of the confident security of knowing that we have heard Him . If we don't pray, we are acting like Orphans - doing this life as fatherless children, who have to survive on their own. The truth is, the Word says He will not leave us a orphans, but will make us sons and daughters.
And true sons and daughters are in contact with their Father. They know His voice, His heart, His desires, His love for them. We pray because it means we have dialogue with Him who desires to share Himself with us.
So...knowing that....why would we not pray??
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