Prayer

On December 20, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Job 22: 28

“You will also decree a thing, and it will be established for you; And light will shine on your ways.”

I want to change the way you and I think about prayer. As we charge into year 2020, I believe this is a great time to do so. I hope you have big plans for 2020. We are beginning a new decade and one that has been dreamed about for years. Science Fiction books and movies looked forward to this coming year and now it is upon us. Let’s have a great year and a great decade. If you are 85 years old this year, 95 or 15 set a new goal, a big goal and strap on your rocket boosters. 2019 was for sitting. Now is the time for setting an ambitious goal and going for it with gusto.

To make 2020 different from its predecessors we are going to have to look at things differently and do things differently. We might as well begin with one of our most sacred strongholds: prayer. If we keep praying like we prayed last year, we will get what we got last year. If you got what you wanted, that is great. If you didn’t then we should look at growing our understanding of working with God so that 2020 becomes a year of fabulous results and tremendous memories. I want for you the best of everything so let’s begin today preparing for a super year and decade.

For many of us, prayer amounts to asking God for what we want. We ask Him to do something for us. That is not an incorrect perspective, just an incomplete one. There is a lot more to manifesting our partnership with Yahweh than just asking Him to fulfill our wish list. The Christian experience has sometimes reduced prayer to little more than begging God to do something in our lives. We are active partners with God, so we need to learn our role in His way of doing things and then be fully prepared to step into that role in 2020. Today’s verse is the clue we need to send us on our way.

God did not create us so powerless that all we can do is beg Him to be active in our lives. He has spent eons pouring out His power and teachings so that we can be His partners. That means that He has empowered us to say something and have those decrees established. So, what does that begin to look like? You can pray for God to heal you. Good but let’s not pray a begging prayer, “Oh God, please heal me. Please, please God, touch my body with your healing.” That sounds good but, actually, it is unbiblical. God said he already has healed us (1 Peter 2: 24). So, we need to move to the next step – declaring. That is where today’s verse speaks to us. Decree a thing and God will establish it. We already know God’s will, it is for us to be healed, now declare God’s will, “I am healed. By his stripes, I am healed. Healing, manifest in my body.”

Whatever you need or want works by this same principle. The power to create whatever solution you need is resident in you right now (Romans 8: 11). We’ve got to start saying something. Once we do, the angels and the Holy Spirit can bring it to pass. We already know that all of God’s answers to our prayers are, “Yes” (2 Corinthians 1: 20) so what is stopping us from having all He agrees to? it is our not taking the next step, decreeing. We say, “Father, heal me.” He responds, “Okay, speak it and it shall be done according to your word.” That is the part we are missing.

Let’s get ready for a big year in 2020 by preparing ourselves now. Begin speaking the desire of your heart. The power is already in you. The answer to your question is already there. Ask the Holy Spirit to bring it up out of your spirit to your mind. Go inside yourself and understand that the power which created the universe is resident within you right now. It’s only a matter of letting that out now. God has already given you the answer to your prayer, it is the Holy Spirit. Start working with the spirit to get what is inside you right now, to the outside.

Back to Top

The Golden Rule

On August 29, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Matthew 7: 12

Therefore, however you want people to treat you, so treat them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

I have a couple of observations about this verse today. First, I don’t hear this proverb bantered about these days like I used to. Is it still in vogue? I think Jesus would say it is still applicable.

Another observation, Jesus said that this one principle satisfies the entire law as well as all the instruction from the prophets. In other words, today’s verse, when we live it, fulfills everything that was written in the Old Testament, all the Mosaic law and all the books of the Prophets. That’s big. Follow this one maxim and you have fulfilled the law. That is amazing. It also shows the Father’s heart. If it fulfills the law then the core of His message.

The most interesting part of this verse, though, is that it begins with the word, therefore. “Therefore,” announces the conclusion of what has gone before. In this case, before this verse Jesus was talking about prayer. From verse seven through eleven, Jesus is giving encouragement to pray saying, everyone who asks receives, etc. So, what does today’s verse have to do with prayer and receiving answers to prayer? In verses one – six Jesus was preaching about judgment telling us that we should not judge others. So, this chapter looks like this: don’t judge; ask, seek and knock, treat others as you would like to be treated. There is his message. If you want to be happy follow Jesus’ outline. Treat others well, don’t judge and expect the goodness of God to manifest in your life.

Ask God for what you want. Expect Him to give it to you but don’t fail to recognize that the asking, seeking and knocking is sandwiched between non-judgment and kindness towards others. Give and it shall be given to you (Luke 6: 38). Be kind and you shall reap the kindness of God.

Back to Top

Prayer Power

On May 2, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Luke 1:10

And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer.

Today is the National Day of Prayer in the United States. For those of us who live here, we should first offer up a prayer of thanksgiving that we can have a National Day of Prayer. Let’s also pray for all those around the world who cannot openly pray to Yahweh. For all of you who read this devotional and live outside the United States, will you consider this your personal invitation to join with us for a day of prayer? There is no time or space in the Spirit because we are united in the Spirit.

Maybe you will pray with me that we will become a people known for prayer. I think we don’t pray as often as we might because we have lost confidence that our prayers are effective. “The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much,” or so Brother James would have us believe (James 5: 16). Maybe we doubt our righteousness, or maybe we just don’t think we have enough spiritual “oomph” to make a difference. Sometimes it just doesn’t feel like our prayers are going to impact a situation. We talk about the power of prayer and we’ve even seen how prayers have turned a situation around, but the confidence leaks out of us when it comes to our prayers. Well, there is help for that. It is called unity. As we unite in prayer, we become stronger. “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken,” (Ecclesiastes 4: 12 NIV). Together we can do amazing things! Jesus said, “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven,” (Matthew 18: 19).

The spiritual realm has power. However, we are not well versed in operations within spiritual sphere. When you speak words, they actually have energy. Researchers have already shown that thoughts create an energy signature. They aren’t just wisps that float off into Neverland. Likewise, there is spiritual substance in our words and thus, in our prayers. Even if you feel like you don’t move a lot of spiritual weight, in our combined strength we really can move mountains. And, don’t forget that it is really our heavenly Father doing the heavy lifting, but we have our part as well. He takes our prayers and the spiritual energy they create and molds them into the answers we seek. The long and short of it is that when we combine our energy, we are a powerful team. So, even if you feel like your prayer is weak, in its combination with other prayers the power is enormous. It only took a few men in Wales, devout in their prayers, to bring about a revival.

So today, I invite you, no implore you, to join millions of other people in prayer. Pray all day. Every time you have a minute break, offer up one more prayer. Pray for the people at your place of employment, at your church, at your children’s school. Pray for the leaders of those institutions as well as for the leaders of your country. Pray for the people in the media who deliver news, movies, and music. Ask the Lord of the harvest to touch hearts, bless and heal. Pray for the clerk behind the cash register and the teller at the bank. There is no limit to the number of prayers or the number of people who need prayer. Pray for me.

May God, our Lord and Love, bless your every prayer and may he bless and touch every person and institution for which you pray today. May the blessing return to you a hundredfold for every prayer you offer. And, may His blessed grace unfold itself upon all people that all may see that Jesus is Lord and the savior of our souls. Let the love of our beloved God and Father be seen and demonstrated. I pray that God bless you and keep you in the folds of His embrace.

Back to Top

Cornelius’ Memorial

On April 16, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Acts 10: 4      (CJB)

Cornelius stared at the angel, terrified. “What is it, sir?” he asked. “Your prayers,” replied the angel, “and your acts of charity have gone up into God’s presence, so that he has you on his mind.”

Ivey Ministries has been working on our prayer ministry and developing a prayer team. Naturally I have been spending time in prayer verses. There are a number which have grabbed my attention but how can this one not cause us to pause? Today’s verse was taken from the Complete Jewish Bible. The NASB reads, “Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God.” The very idea that our prayers ascend to God’s presence and stand as a memorial is mind boggling. Here is what I want you to hear, God honors your prayers.

Let’s make this story even more real. Cornelius was not a Jew. In fact, he was a Roman soldier, an officer at that. He was far from the model of a follower of Christ. The Jewish Messiah, afterall, came to the Jews and the Jews were not in a rush to accept Gentile believers. Cornelius, though, was a devout believer. He gave to the poor and “prayed to God continually,” (v. 2). The Passion Translation says he was, “a devout man of extraordinary character who worshiped God and prayed regularly, together with all his family. He also had a heart for the poor and gave generously to help them.” Though he was not a Jew, not of the chosen people, his faith, actually, his devotion which was demonstrated through his generosity and his prayers ascended to the very throne room of God and stood before God as a memorial. Cornelius got God’s attention. He so impressed God that God sent an angel from heaven to bless the man. If you read the rest of Cornelius’ story you will see that God sent Peter to Cornelius’ town, to his very home so that he and his whole household might be saved. Now Peter was one of the leaders of the church. There were plenty of other folks that could have traveled to Caesarea, but God sent for Peter because he had Cornelius on His mind. Cornelius’ devotion stood in the throne room of God as a memorial before the Almighty. The book of Revelation says that the prayers of the saints are incense before God (Revelation 5: 8). Cornelius’ prayers must have continuously wafted before God such that it got God’s attention. It blessed God so much that it moved Him to action. First, He sent an angel then He sent Peter. God, literally, moved heaven and earth for this man.

That is exciting to me. Sometimes when we pray it feels like we are spitting into the wind but, not so. Your Father is collecting those prayers and then He uses them as the scent for His throne room. You can get God’s attention with prayer. You can move Him to action but not only for the people you pray for. God is going to return the blessing to you. That’s good news. Maybe He will send an angel to you.

Let this be a call to prayer. Let’s shake things up. Now that we know the spiritual realm is taking notice of and moved by our prayer, let’s kick it up a notch. How exciting could things become in just 30 days if we all increased our prayers. And here’s the thing, it need not be hard or even time consuming. I am all for getting alone in your private space and communing with God, but you cannot “pray without ceasing” if you wait for that perfect setting. Here is what I ask of you instead, pray when you are pumping gas. You’ve got nothing better to do. Pray in the shower, driving to work, at the grocery store, waiting for the bus, waiting in line at the bank, etc. The point is there are many times during the day that we can bless God and others with a simple prayer lifted up to heaven. Don’t make it wordy or complicated. You can say twelve prayers while the eloquent people say one. Just be real and talk to the Lord about the people you see around you and don’t think you have to list everyone individually. Pray for “everyone who works at this bank, all the people pumping gas right now, everyone who attends the YMCA, everyone at work” and so on.

Lastly, consider joining our prayer team. It’s a Christian thing to do. If you are too busy to be on a prayer team, you’re just too busy. Quit something. Be a part of a team that is doing God’s work. I believe God will bless you for your faithfulness. Don’t you? Just click “reply” and let me know you’re in.

Back to Top

First aid kit

On March 20, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Proverb 4: 20 – 22

My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your sight; keep them in the midst of your heart. For they are life to those who find them and health to all their body.

Colossians 4: 2

Devote yourselves to prayer.

Every adventurer knows to carry a First Aid Kit on excursions. We are encouraged to have an emergency first aid kit in our cars and our homes. I have one for my kayak and another in my hiking gear and yet another in my bike bag. One thing you learn about making your own kit is that you can’t pack everything you would like to have. It is a kit of essentials. You only pack those items which will get you through the tough situations.

We all need a spiritual first aid kit too packed with the essential elements. What are those? There are many good spiritual tools and we do not need to deny ourselves any of them. For example, music can be a very powerful tool. Meditation is another important spiritual skill. And praise – oh my goodness, what a powerful tool and even weapon. There are others as well, and they are all to be utilized but when the pressure is on and you only have time and room for the bare bones necessities, it boils down to two things. No matter what, load prayer and your Bible in your pack.

Now the thing about your Bible is that you need to extract its vital nutrients from it. Mindlessly reading the Bible can be a dull and near meaningless activity. In order for the Bible to help us, we must engage with it. Studying the Bible can be as empty if our only approach is to acquire intellectual information rather than applicable knowledge. The value of the Bible is its life blood. It can be like getting a transfusion but only when we try to pull wisdom from it. So, simple Bible reading or even Bible study can leave us dangerously void of the First Aid medicine we desperately need. Extracting life from the Bible, that is the key.

Prayer comes in many forms as well. Really, meditation can become prayerful. Obviously, intercession isn’t the kind of prayer we need to pack in our emergency kit. Telling the Father about all our problems really isn’t very helpful either though in an emergency that is often our response. Our Father knows our situation. He is omniscient after all. No, the kind of prayer you want in your backpack is the one on one conversation with you and your Lord. This prayerful, meditative conversation is as much about listening to what the Lord has to say as it is about what you want to say.

Allow me to be clear, I am not saying that each of us should not constantly involve ourselves in all forms of prayer and Bible engagement, nor should we deprive ourselves of any of the spiritual tools. I am merely saying that the essentials are like oxygen and water. Without these two we become depleted very quickly. Second, in the time of crisis, you cannot always have all of the niceties. At those times you must reach for your First Aid Kit and treat the immediate trauma. At those times do not neglect these two very important elements of your Christian life. There are days when praise can pull you out of a blue funk. There are days when journaling is just the ticket but alone time with God, quiet, pensive alone time is crucial when challenged. If you will treat yourself with the Bible and with prayer, then the Lord will direct your path. He may tell you to go put on some music. He may tell you to take a walk in the woods where you can be very meditative. He may tell you to go to a yoga class. Whatever you need, He is there and will guide you. Go to your prayer closet with your Bible. Slow down your physiology and psychology and let the Lord speak to you. Be still and let Him show you that He is God. Be calm and let Him be your God.

Back to Top

Prayer Mulligan

On August 20, 2018   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

2 Chronicles 30: 20

So the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people.

King Hezekiah called for the celebration of Passover. He sent messengers to all the tribes to gather in Jerusalem for the ceremony. There were a few problems. It was the wrong time of the year, there were not enough priests who were ceremonially clean, the people were not purified, well, you get the idea.

The tribes of Israel and Judah had fallen away from the Lord and not continued the ceremonies and feasts of tradition. Hezekiah decided to reintroduce these traditions regardless of the time of year. There was very little right about the preparation or process but Hezekiah said a prayer. He asked the Lord to bless the people in spite of themselves, literally to pardon all those who seek God. God’s response was to heal the hearts of a troubled nation. In fact, the people were restored to their former status and celebrated with great joy. At the end of the seven day feast there was so much joy among the people that they extended the feast for another seven days. Hezekiah contributed 1000 bulls and 7000 sheep for the feast. The princes gave 1000 bulls and 10,000 sheep. The people celebrated God and their great history. They reminded themselves of who they were and they turned back to their Lord and God. God was waiting with open arms and granted them fellowship and blessing.

One of the lessons we can take away from this passage is that everything does not have to be perfect in order to worship God. You don’t have to have the perfect music and the perfect time with the right people, etc. What is required is a heart turned towards God. If we seek Him, even in our brokenness and failures, He is gracious and kind to hear us and bless us.
Yahweh was waiting for Israel and Judah to turn back to Him. He watched them every day, longing for their hearts to turn to Him. Day after day He waited just as He does for us. Today I’m too busy. Yesterday I didn’t feel well. The day before that I had company. You get the idea. Before you know it, days and days have gone by without our taking the time to celebrate the Lord or to worship Him. If we didn’t eat we might not say any prayers.

Thank God (literally) that He is kind, forgiving and willing to wait for us. He poured out His blessing on them as soon as they called Him. They could have enjoyed that healing and the Lord’s grace any prior day. It wasn’t that God wasn’t willing. They were lost in the tall weeds. Bless Hezekiah. He had a vision for returning God’s people to their former position in God. He called for the feast, and bless God, the people responded.

Take this story and apply it to your own life. No matter what ways you feel you have stumbled, God is waiting to restore you to your former glory. Today can be your Passover feast. It can be the day you celebrate the curse passing over you. Have a great day!

Back to Top

Ask

On August 17, 2018   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Luke 4: 38 – 40

And He arose and left the synagogue, and entered Simon’s home. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever; and they made request of Him on her behalf. And standing over her, He rebuked the fever, and it left her; and she immediately arose and waited on them. And while the sun was setting, all who had any sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and laying His hands on every one of them, He was healing them.

We all know about Jesus who went about doing good (Acts 10: 38). What strikes me here is that Jesus wasn’t going around looking for someone to do good to. In these few verses there are two examples of people receiving healing. In neither case, though, did Jesus seek them out.

Jesus had been in the synagogue. When he and his disciples left there, they went to Peter’s house. “They,” whoever they may be, asked Jesus to minister to Peter’s sick mother-in-law. What would Jesus have done if no one had asked him to minister to her?

In the second scenario, Jesus may have been enjoying his after dinner cup of coffee when people began showing up at Peter’s front door. Again, Jesus didn’t go out looking for someone to pray for. People asked for prayer, for ministry. I am not suggesting that we should not initiate prayer or to be purposeful about praying for people. The point of this message is to observe Jesus and learn from him. Why didn’t he offer to pray for Peter’s mother-in-law? After dinner, why didn’t he go sit in the town square and call out to people? There may be something going on here.

In Matthew, chapter nine, we read about the woman who “had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak,” (Matthew 9: 20). She was instantly healed. Jesus didn’t seek her out either, but she had been “saying to herself, ‘If I only touch His garment, I will get well,’” (Matthew 9: 21). The woman initiated contact with Jesus. She pressed through the crowd to touch his garment believing that she would be healed with that touch. Jesus, realizing that power had gone out from him turned around and “seeing her said, ‘Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well.’ At once the woman was made well,” (Matthew 9: 22).

What is going on here? I think there is an important lesson for us to learn. Jesus said it in John 16: 24, “Ask and you will receive.” From his brother we learn, “You do not have because you do not ask,” (James 4: 2). I have been amazed at the reluctance people have shown to asking for prayer. If Jesus came to town, would we shake of our lethargy and actually seek prayer? People will tell me the incredible challenges they have gone through and I will think, “We have a prayer line on our website, why don’t people ask for prayer?” What is going on in our cultures that was not present during Jesus’ time? Is our attitude the result of the protestant reformation? Since we each have a direct pipeline to God, have we determined that we do not need to ask other people for prayer? Even knowing that I am a pastor, few people come to me and ask me to pray for them. Almost none ask me to lay hands on them for healing? Is this simply because we have not taught people to ask?

Well, I am teaching today! Ask! Are you sick? Do you have need of any healing for your body, mind, emotions? Ask. In the examples above, the people brought their faith for healing in their request. The woman with the hemorrhage demonstrated her faith, actually used her faith, to reach out to Jesus. Others went to Jesus seeking healing because they had faith that they would receive. He didn’t seek them out. They sought him. That was the measure of faith. Perhaps we ask not because we have no faith for healing. Perhaps we don’t ask because we are arrogant, or maybe bashful. On the one hand one might feel he can pray as well as anyone else. On the other hand, one may be too shy to ask. Here I am saying today, “Ask.” You have not because you ask not.

Be persistent. Be tenacious. Be determined to receive everything Jesus promised. It is not always easy to receive your answer. I know that but, sitting in the recliner complaining is probably not the answer either. Get in front of every preacher you know and ask them to lay hands on you and pray. Get your friends to anoint you with oil and pray. Go to our prayer line at Ivey Ministries (https://iveyministries.org/prayer-request/). Do something. God wants you whole too. Reach out to others and ask them for prayer. If you have already prayed about something and have not received the answer then get out of your comfort zone and ask someone to pray for you. Slay apathy and be a doer of the Word. Tug on Jesus’ robe and demand the promises fulfilled in your life. His answer is yes, but first, you have to ask.

Back to Top