Power in prayer: Believe God will, says Chuck Webster

Chuck Webster wrote yesterday about the power in prayer and our need to trust in God to answer:

Ever prayed a prayer you didn’t really think God would answer?

Why do we do that?

Maybe it’s because we’ve focused so much on what God doesn’t do that we forget about what he does.

“Well,” we think, “I know he created the world and parted the Red Sea and raised Jesus from the grave, but now . . .”

I’m not suggesting God is still resurrecting people, but I wonder if perhaps we ought to focus more on his might and power and less on all the reasons why he won’t do something.

Please be sure to read his whole devotional article.

The early church grew because they prayed

Larry Miles gives as one of the five reasons that the church grew in the first century: The Early Church was a Praying Church:

After Peter and John had been released by the Sanhedrin they went back to the rest of the apostles and fellow believers to give a report o what had transpired. Verse 24-31 record that the early Church was a praying church. In Acts 4:29 we read: “Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word,” They believed in the power of prayer and also of answered prayer. Many of the great figures of the Old and New Testament were people of prayer. God has told us to pray. If we pray, knowing that God hears, and expecting that God will answer in a way that will bring glory to His Name, we can have a victorious prayer life. Remember, it is our Creator that we are talking to. If we can recapture the prayer life of the early church we can better stimulate church growth.

—Larry Miles, “Five Reasons the Early Church Grew (Acts 4)”

A furnace of fire

Faithfulness under fire

If we face a furnace of fire,
Or stand before a shower of stones,
If live we’re thrown upon a pyre,
Denied a burial of flesh and bones,

Then make us strong, our tongues confess
Our Lord’s dear name, Emmanuel;
Let enemies hear us pray and bless,
May we to them the gospel tell.

Site improvements to enhance experience

We’re working on some changes to the site to improve your experience as you read and browse and, we hope, to improve your spiritual experience as well.

Disqus comments have been installed, so you can use WordPress, Facebook, or Twitter accounts when you want to chime in.

You’ve may have noticed different themes showing up. Several are in testing. We hope to get one that will be easy on the eyes, so we’ll probably go with a dark theme.

All this to draw attention to the content and our interaction together as we join to pray and say amen.

 

More in his form

imitation of Christ

For the urge to excel, we give thanks, Lord of light,
In our hearts stirs desire to become better men,
Let this drive move us toward our blest Savior’s full height,
Make us more in his form than we ever have been.