Fetal Prayers Answered

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." (Jeremiah 1:5)

Before I was born my mother dedicated me to God. It seems I was a bit late in coming. In her anxiety and faith, she made a covenant with God. “If this child is born healthy and soon, Lord, I dedicate him to Your service.” Soon thereafter I was born in good health. When I was 5 years old I had a strong desire to become a missionary to Africa. When I was 45 years old I accepted a call to serve as a pastor to a church with a number of African families. Some of the African families are from Nigeria, Cameroon, Uganda and Ghana, among others. So was my mother’s prayer answered and I fulfilled God’s call on my life.

God has a purpose for your life. You may fulfill God’s call in any number of ways. You could be the best insurance salesman you can be. You could be the best soldier you can be. You could be the best race car driver you can be. 

God knows you better than anyone else could and loves you more than anyone else would. Take God’s love into your heart today. Manifest God’s will in your life today. 

Questions
1) How can you better live into God’s call on your life?

2) In what ways will you affirm to yourself that God knew you before you were born?

3) How will you be more aware of God’s eternal love for you today?

Prayer

Loving God, your power is amazing and your love is astounding. Thank you for calling me into your service before I was born. You knew me before I was born. You look at me even now and you like what You see. Thank you for seeing my potential and accepting my reality. Help me to get from where I am now to where you want me to be. Thank you for the ways I will experience spiritual growth today. Amen.

For what should we pray?

We may pray for anything that is consistent with the love of God as expressed in Jesus Christ.

It helps if we let go of our wants and wishes and surrender to the Sovereignty of God. 

Sovereignty of God is the Christian teaching that God is the supreme authority and all things are under God's control. 

Sovereignty is an Attribute of God based upon the premise that God as the creator of heaven and earth has absolute right and full authority to do or allow whatever God desires.

The Westminster Confession of Faith states, "God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatever comes to pass."

God may have other plans than what we wish. However, it's a good practice to ask God for what we wish. When we pray we may want to add a phrase such as "if it be within Your will" to remind yourself and God that you respect the Sovereignty of God.

Powerful Prayer Combinations: Sticky Note Prayers Plus the Jesus Prayer

Powerful prayers are possible when you combine different types of prayer.

For example, you could combine Sticky Note Prayers with the Jesus Prayer.

Sticky Note Prayers come to life when you write your prayer on sticky notes, such as Post-It notes, and tape the up around your house where you will see them often throughout the day. 

You could place a Sticky Note Prayer:
*On your computer monitor
*Above your sink
*On your bathroom mirror
*And so forth

They remind you to pray each time you see them.

What will be on the Sticky Note Prayer? Whichever prayer you want to use. For example, you could write the Jesus Prayer on your sticky notes. The Jesus Prayer is simply this: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.

Write that prayer on several Sticky Notes and tape them around your house where you'll see them. You will then find yourself easily praying the Jesus Prayer several times a day.

What is the purpose of prayer?

Houston: We have a Problem!

We live in a world of incredible overstimulation. 

• For one example, it would take you 60,000 years of non-stop watching to watch each and every video on YouTube.
• And that doesn't include a single video uploaded to YouTube during 2019, during which 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every single minute. 
• Almost 5 billion videos are watched on Youtube every single day. You get my point. 

It is widely known that we live in a world of overwhelming distractions. Too many things compete against quiet time for prayer in our lives. 

Solution: Intentional time with God by means of Christian Prayer both Individually and with Others.

That’s right. We may intentionally create opportunities for growing our Relationship with God by praying alone and with others.

As we do, we come to realize God is present with us. 

That’s right. Especially when it doesn't feel like God is there at all.

That is when we are making the most progress.

Houston: We have a problem! Overstimulation overtakes us daily.

The solution is intentional time with God on a daily basis.

By using certain prayer systems, you will be able to practically pray without ceasing.

How to Skin Your Fear and Grant the Peace of of Christ Permission to Com...

Here's my sermon at St. John's Presbyterian Church 

in Houston, Texas on May 26, 2019.



I talked about the peace of Christ, centering prayer, 

Caesar Augustus, the Pax Romano, Bowen systems theory

suggestion to maintain a "less anxious presence"

and Vital Congregations.

Facebook: Well how do you LIKE that?

Our Facebook Page number of LIKES nearly doubled in size last week.

It's amazing what happens when you ask because when you ask you shall receive.

After asking 2,200 of my Facebook Friends to Like the St. John's Presbyterian Church Facebook Page, more than 125 of them took action. They Liked the Page.

Now, when someone who lives around the church searches for us on Facebook, they will have better social proof that here is a church that is alive and active. Therefore, they are more likely to want to find out more about us.

Put into theological language, how are we making disciples?

How are we sharing the good news of Jesus Christ?
Are there other ways we could share it in addition to the ways we share it now?

While we are not held responsible for their response to our invitation, we most certainly are held responsible by God for sharing the good news. That is a responsibility we dare not shirk or cast aside.

Ask somebody. Tell somebody.

Talk about Jesus more and more to people you love and may your circle of love safely expand.

Increase the frequency of your Jesus talk because actions speak louder than words and we are more likely to get the action right if we are speaking it into being.