Calvary Assembly of God

Assemblies of God
General Council of the Assemblies of God
Ohio District Council of Assemblies of God
Women's Ministries unlimited

Media
103.3 FM WCRF
    95.5 FM Fish
Prime Time America

Financial Tools
Crown Financial Ministries
Free Financial Calculators

  The Power of a Praying Church

Much Beloved

At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision. Daniel 9:23.

"For you are greatly beloved."  Could there be any words from God more welcome than these?  Daniel was in exile in Babylon as a result of his nation's utter defeat by the Babylonians.  He desperately wanted to make sense of his circumstances.  So he did what he had done so many times before:  he prayed.  God immediately dispatched the angel Gabriel.  Gabriel revealed that God had sent him to Daniel at the beginning of his supplications.  God did not even wait for Daniel to finish his prayer.  Why?  Because God loved Daniel greatly.  What a marvelous testimony!  There had been times when Daniel's love for God had been put to the test.  Now, when Daniel was in need, God was quick to respond in love to him.

God wants to answer the prayers of those whose hearts are completely His (2 Chron. 16:9).  God can accurately orient you to the events of your day.  Media, public opinion, and political leaders cannot tell you the truth of your circumstances.  Only God can.  God loves you and will speak to you in His time.  His answer may come immediately as it did in Daniel's case, or it may be delayed, but it will come (Dan. 10:13).  If it seems as though everything is crumbling around you, and you wonder why you do not see God's activity, take comfort in knowing that you are loved in heaven.  If you are genuinely seeking God's answers, you can go to your Father confidently with your questions.  He will respond to you in love (Luke 11:5-13).

Henry Blackaby

Prayer Is Preparation

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.  Acts 2:1

Prayer does not give you spiritual power. Prayer aligns your life with God so that He chooses to demonstrate His power through you. The purpose of prayer is not to convince God to change your circumstances but to prepare you to be involved in God’s activity. The fervent prayer of the people at Pentecost did not induce the Holy Spirit to come upon them. Prayer brought them to a place where they were ready to participate in the might work God had already planned.

Jesus told His followers to remain in Jerusalem until the Spirit came upon them (Acts 1:4-5). The disciples obeyed His command, waiting for God’s next directive. As they prayed, God adjusted their lives to what He intended to do next. As they prayed, a unity developed among them. For the first time the disciples used Scripture as their guide in decision making (Acts 1:15-26). The day of Pentecost arrived, and the city of Jerusalem filled with pilgrims from around the world. When God released His Holy Spirit upon the disciples, He had already filled the city with messengers who would carry the gospel to every nation. Prayer had prepared the disciples for their obedient response.

Prayer is designed to adjust you to God’s will, not to adjust God to your will. If God has not responded to what you are praying, you may need to adjust your praying to align with God’s agenda. Rather than focusing on what you would like to see happen, realize that God may be more concerned with what He wants to see happen in you.

Henry Blackaby

Going Farther with God

He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed.   Mark 14:35.

Some Christians are satisfied with only a surface relationship with Christ.  Others desire to share the holiest moments with Him.  On the night Jesus spent in sacred prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, the people responded to Him in various ways.  There were those who were so indifferent to Jesus that they were unaware He was in the garden.  Then there was Judas, who knew where Jesus was but was too busy with his own schemes to join Him.  The rest of the disciples joined Jesus in the garden, but they were distracted by sleep.  Jesus told them the urgency of the hour, but they did not comprehend it.  There was the inner circle
of disciples, Peter, James, and John.  They initially prayed with Jesus, yet even they could not grasp the significance of the moment.  Ultimately, Jesus prayed alone.  He went farther than His disciples and prayed longer.  At the greatest moment of intercession in human history, there was no one willing to go with Jesus and watch with Him.

Throughout history God has looked for those willing to yield everything to Him and His desire to redeem a world.  At times God has marveled that no one was willing to go with Him (Isa 63:5; 59:16).  The prophets seemed to grasp more than the common people, for while society carried on as though nothing were wrong, the prophets agonized and wept over what they knew God was preparing to do.

God is calling you to go deeper in your prayer life with Him.  If you are willing to be the person Jesus can take with Him into the most sacred moments, you will experience things only the angels shared with Jesus in the garden that night.

Henry Blackaby