The request was too sincere and heartfelt to turn down. It came after the Bible story while I was teaching FBC’s preschoolers, and before I closed us in prayer, I let one of the four-year-old boys pray. “Dear Jesus, thank you for Christmas,” he started, then his voice trailed off into mumbles. Our story wasn’t about Christmas; it was about God feeding the Israelites in the desert. One of the three-year-old boys begged to go next, and he began, “Dear God, I hope you have a great day today…” More unintelligible mumbling.

While many would smile (me included) at the prayers of preschoolers, the sermon from Mike Fabarez on Sunday on Romans 8:26-27 made me question how different my own prayer life is from that of the two boys in Sunday school. When life hurts, what do my prayers reveal about my theology? Of course, I have more depth and perspective than three- and four-year-olds…right?

Maybe not. In fact, while my preschoolers often pray for others in their lives (mom, dad, grandma, the dog, etc.), my prayers can be quite self-centered and were even more so a few years ago. I suffered from what Mike called “toddler theology,” wanting out of all difficult situations and praying only that they would end and nothing else.

I learned the error of my ways through a common means, a situation that was not solved quickly or the way I wanted. Through studying God’s Word and learning more about His character, I began to see just how large my “prayer blind spots” were.

And then there was the deeper, heart question: did I really want God’s will, or just my way? Months and months of praying for the same situation helped me move from simply saying, “yet not my will but YOURS be done,” to actually meaning those words with my whole heart.

Thankfully, the Spirit of God intercedes according to God’s will, even when we are blind to it. This truth has changed the way I pray both for myself and for others. Of course, I will pray for pain to cease, but when it doesn’t, I pray for God’s strength to walk faithfully, bring Him glory through it and view it as a sanctifying blessing to make me or fellow believers more like His Son. And for unbelievers, I pray that the pain brings them to a saving knowledge of Him.

Perhaps when life hurts, we can take a cue from one of FBC’s preschoolers and say, “Thank you for Christmas. Thank you that You sent Your Son to earth to pay the penalty for my sins, and that Christ’s life, death and resurrection lets me see that my ‘momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison…’ (2 Corinthians 4:17). Amen.”

First Hour Classes (8:30 a.m.):

A Praying Life – Continues- The difficulty of coming to God just as we are is that we are messy. And prayer makes it worse. When we slow down to pray, we are immediately confronted with how unspiritual we are, with how difficult it is to concentrate on God. Taught by Terry Schleiger and Gay Bennett.

New Testament Survey - An interactive overview of the whole New Testament. Study with us as we look at the history leading up to the New Testament period, the themes structure and key verses in each New Testament book, finishing the story of God’s redemption. Note: this class will be taught in to four-week segments. Taught by Chris Eich.

Second Hour Classes (10:15 a.m.):

Apologetics: Biblical Answers to Tough Questions- Christians often face tough questions when evangelizing the lost. This four-week course seeks to equip believers with biblical answers to these tough questions: 1. Why should I believe Christianity is different from other world religions? 2. How can a loving God send anyone to hell? 3. Doesn’t science contradict the Bible? 4. How old is the universe and why does it matter? Taught by Pat Perez.

Way of the Master Beginners Class- Do you have fears and concerns when sharing your faith? Come, get equipped and attend an eight-week evangelism basic training course and learn the basic principles how you can share you faith simply, effectively and biblically. This is accomplished primarily by addressing the person’s conscience (the place of knowledge of right and wrong), rather than the intellect (the place of argument). These basic principles are ease to learn, and the benefits will be very evident as you get into this course. You will never again need to feel intimidated by intellectuals, atheist, or the religious self-righteous. All you need is the desire to obey God and fulfill the Great Commission all for His glory. You will soon discover there is no greater joy that to do God’s will—seeking to save what is lost! Taught by Dojo Aguilar and friends.

So…What are you waiting for? Sign up for one by contacting Wayne Schleiger today (wtbt9@earthlink.net ) or sign up on Sunday!

If I fail to spend two hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day. I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer.

I long for this heart towards God and life.

In his sermon on Sunday, Chris offered another glimpse into Jesus’ earthy ministry, through Mark 1:32-39. The account details Jesus healing many people, then instead of basking in the people’s adoration, He retreats for a time of solitude and prayer.

Prayer is a discipline that God has been working on in my life recently, helped both by the counsel of women I consider mentors and being driven to my knees by difficult situations. Jesus’ example in Mark wasn’t just about prayer, it was also about finding a “secluded place” (Mark 1:35). Solitude isn’t something I seek naturally, but God has graciously been showing me that to experience him fully, I must rid myself of the distractions and demands of the world around me. For me, this means closing my computer and being in a different room than my phone. Praise God that He is teaching me some of this before the added distraction (but blessing) of little ones!

A well-known verse on prayer is Philippians 4:6, which charges Christians not to be anxious and instead give everything over to God in prayer. For me, it has been even more powerful when considered in the light of the following verse, Philippians 4:7: “And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Spending time in prayer sets my heart and mind firmly in Christ, giving me God’s peace—a peace that is not dependent on circumstances, other people or position. It is a peace that allows me to understand what “Priority Driven Livin’” is really about.

On second thought, maybe I don’t want a holiday that is set apart to celebrate Christ’s sinless life. When I take the time to fellowship with God in solitude and prayer, every day can be a celebration of the gospel!

Next I go to my office.  At that moment, I have another choice to make: email or Bible.  Which will it be?  What should I read?  If I hit email first, there’s a strong chance that I will not make it back into the Word until much later, if at all.  I open the Word.  I start to read.

My phone beeps and I reach for it.  It’s force of habit.  I tell myself that I don’t need to look right now.  I read a bit more and my computer beeps, which is easier to ignore this time.  Another short time of prayer, then I wake my computer up and start working through emails from the night before.  Coffee and breakfast will come a bit later.

Every morning, you are setting a trajectory for your day.  Every day, you are setting a trajectory for your life.  What do you want your heart set on today?  Do you give priority to the glory and excellence of God?  When you pull the trigger on a gun, the bullet doesn’t instantly hit the target.  It follows a path that you set it on when you were aiming.  You can’t hit a target you’re not aiming for.  What’s the trajectory of your life?  What are you aiming your heart towards each day?

I became convinced that I needed some sort of lists if I was really going to persevere in bringing the same requests before God long term.  A small stack of 3×5 cards has many advantages over a big sheet of requests.  I find it less overwhelming to look at just one category at a time.  A stack of 3×5 cards with a clip also travels well in a pocket.

Some people asked on Sunday night for some sample categories.  Mine are:

• Spiritual Formation – These are areas in my own life where I want God to change my heart.  I pray over specific verses that describe what I’m after
• Areas of Surrender -On this card I put all the areas of my life that tend to cause me anxiety.  When I pray over this card I am surrendering these areas over to God’s care.  I will sometimes do this flat on my back, arms stretched out with palms up as a physical display of my surrender.  TMI? 
• Weekly Goals – These are specific things I want the Spirit-empowered discipline to accomplish every week, including: reading, praying through the cards, time with each kid, exercise, etc.
• My Wife and Kids – each has a separate card with specific requests for each
• My Parents, Brothers, In-Laws, Nieces and Nephews – listed with specific requests
• Extended Family – listed with specific request
• A Few Close Friends – each have their own card
• Kaleo People - if you ask me to pray for you, you’re on it
• People I’m Currently Discipling/Counseling – each has their own card
• Our Church Elders/Pastors – listed with specific needs next to their names
• Pastors/Writers – listed on one card – some I know personally, others are big names I don’t know personally – if they have had an impact on me they are on here
• Kaleo Leadership - listed on one card with specific needs next to their names
• Kaleo – specific things we would like to see God do  with us
• Work – for patients, clients, office staff and colleagues
• Kingdom – persecuted church, revival, the poor, human trafficking, church planting, stewardship of the environment, unreached peoples, end to abortion
• President Obama - for him personally, his family, for wisdom and protection
• Salvation – a list of people that don’t know Jesus but I’m praying God will save
• Missions – a list of specific missionaries and missions agencies that God has put on my heart
• Our Neighbors – listed on one card with specific needs next to their names

Here are Paul Miller’s general guidelines for using his prayer cards (pp. 225-226, A Praying Life):

1. The card functions as a snapshot of the person’s life, so use short phrases to describe what you want.
2. When praying, I usually don’t linger over a card for more than a few seconds.  I just pick one or two key areas and pray for them.
3. I put the Word to work by writing a Scripture verse on the card that expresses my desire for that particular person or situation.
4. The card doesn’t change much.  Maybe once a year I will add another line.  These are just the ongoing areas of a person’s life that I am praying for.
5. I usually don’t write down answers.   They are obvious to me since I see the card almost every  day.
6. I will sometimes date a prayer request with the month and year.

Erick

Using cards has really helped me a lot.  The goal is to become the kind of people that keep bringing the same requests before God like Jesus taught us to.   And I majorly stink at this naturally.

It has also been awesome to see how many things God has already done in response to prayer – something I would not have noticed without these cards.

Hope this helps you to pray more each day