The Prayer Closet - Tips in Prayer:

* Before you Ask God for anything, take time to first Worship and Adore Him in prayer. Stroke His Face with your Praise. Bless His name by Bragging on Who He is. Tell Him how great and awesome He is. Remember, He inhabits the praises of His people.

* Press your Relationship to Him: i.e., Father/Son or Father/Daughter relationship.

* Adjust your Attitude to His Priority: i.e., His will being done and His kingdom coming to your domain.

* Then break out in a Doxology - confess His sovereign rule and majesty.

* Now you are prepared to Petition God for your needs! Read Matthew 6:5-15

*Take a Praise Break! Schedule breaks for Praise & Prayer during your day. Allot ten, twenty or thirty minutes just for Praise, Prayer and Bible Reading. You'll be surprised how that will add to your growth, and free you of hang-ups in public worship. Said David in Psalms 34:1, "I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth."

GO ON-LINE AND USE THE CHAT ROOM

With just a click of the mouse of your mind, you can always go on-line with God our heavenly Father. No internet access is necessary; we already have access to this grace of being on-line with God because of our link with Christ Jesus our Lord. Have "a little talk with Jesus and tell Him all about" your troubles!

Your Chat Room is your Contact and Conversation with the Saints with whom you are connected. Chat with your prayer-partner, pastor, counselor, study group, church school class and Barnabas.

Feel like Chatting about your concerns and challenges of living a consecrated life? Log-In and Log-On!!!

God's Design for Worship

Have you ever eaten at an expensive restaurant for a special occasion? There you are, all dressed up, with three different forks, fine china and crystal. You are very careful to not embarrass yourself by spilling anything, or doing anything inappropriate.

Now compare that to eating a meal at home. There you are in comfortable clothes, you definitely only have one fork! If you are like me, you are eating your meal on the coffee table while watching TV. There is no fine china or crystal. If you drop something on the floor, you wait to see if the dog will eat it.

Obviously, you are relaxed and comfortable.

You see, God didn’t design worship to be an expensive meal at a fancy restaurant. He designed worship to be a family meal, a time to come together in a comfortable setting, with your brothers and sisters.

  

SURVIVING THE RIVER OF DEATH
Max Lucado, in his book, “Six Hours One Friday,” tells the story of a missionary in Brazil who discovered a tribe of Indians in a remote part of the jungle. They lived near a large river. The tribe was in need of medical attention. A contagious disease was ravaging the population. People were dying daily.

A hospital was not too terribly far away — across the river, but the Indians would not cross it because they believed the river was inhabited by evil spirits. And to enter its water would mean certain death.

The missionary explained how he had crossed the river & was unharmed. But they were not impressed. He then took them to the bank & placed his hand in the water. They still wouldn’t go in. He walked into the water up to his waist & splashed water on his face. It didn’t matter. They were still afraid to enter the river.

Finally, he dove into the river, swam beneath the surface until he emerged on the other side. He raised a triumphant fist into the air. He had entered the water & escaped. It was then that the Indians broke into a cheer & followed him across.

Isn’t that what Jesus did? He entered the river of death & came out on the other side so that we might no longer fear death, but find eternal life in Him.
SOURCE: Max Lucado, "Six Hours One Friday.”

TOTALLY COMMITTED TO GOD
Some time ago, oil was discovered in southern Kentucky. Believe me it wasn’t a major oil strike by any stretch, but it was a big deal for Kentucky and soon that entire area of the countryside was ripped apart, as more and more people began drilling. One day, a man who
was driving through the area saw a local farmer on the road, walking into town. He offered the farmer a ride and during the course of their conversation, the man driving the car learned that oil had been discovered on this man’s farm. The farmer said, "Yes sir! Three good wells! They say they’ll bring in at least 300 barrels a day."

So, at that time, at $27 a barrel for crude, this average “Joe farmer” just discovered an annual income of about $2.5 million dollars after expenses. At this, the other man replied, "My goodness. What are you going to do with all that money?" The farmer looked out over the scarred land and oil rigs and said, "I’m gonna buy me a farm that don’t have any oil on it."

That’s a striking story, mainly because it shows a person who sees something more valuable than the money his oil wells are producing. Such a person is a rare individual these days. More and more in our society money is the name-of-the-game of life. Most of us know what we would do in that farmer’s situation: we’d keep on digging for more wells; try to get more money; we’d do everything in our power to move deeper into that “strike-it-rich” that “strike while the irons hot” situation. And, it is precisely in this area of our existence that most of us, who are trying to imitate Christ, encounter our biggest stumbling block. The ability to totally respond to God’s love and to be totally committed to the ministry of loving service depends, in this money driven age, largely on a willingness to choose God over mammon. If our priorities are sound then our “natural family” should be the most important thing “On Earth” to us. But even they should be no higher than “Second Fiddle” versus our relationship with God. Then there is the “Church Family” and a lot of other things that come before our desire for the “almighty dollar.” That doesn’t belong anywhere close to the top!

If the materialistic or money aspect of our lives is not included in our response to God, God is being blocked out of every aspect of our lives, whether we realize it or not. In imitation of Christ we must trust God enough that even our quest for money and material possessions will be made to harmonize with His Divine Will…In other words, we will want less and give more. We cannot serve God and mammon simultaneously. We have Jesus’ word on that!

You're listening to "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" by Samuel Tolbert.

Sermon Search Database:
Bible Study Series
The Secret of Successful Living
Faith Works in Temptation
The Impartiality of Faith

Manuscript Messages
Broken Before Midnight
Keys to an Effective Ministry
Letting God Be God Part 1
An Odd Occurrence
The Pains of a Relevant Pastor
The Overflowing Cup
The Peril of Playing with God
When Water Thirsts
Role Reversal
Confronting the Inevitable