The Cross-Centered Prayer Life

“Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full” (John 16:24)

“A most powerful incentive to prayer is found in a close and realizing view of the atoning blood. What encouragement does it present to this blessed and holy life of communion with God! The atoning blood! The mercy seat sprinkled over! The High Priest before the throne! The cloud of incense constantly ascending! The Father well pleased! What can more freely invite the soul that pants for close and holy communion with God? And when the atoning blood is realized upon the conscience, when pardon and acceptance are sealed upon the heart by the Eternal Spirit, oh, then what a persuasion to draw near the throne of grace has the believer in Christ! Then, there is no consciousness of guilt to keep the believer back; no dread of God; no trembling apprehensions of a repulse. God is viewed through the cross as reconciled, and as standing in the endeared relationship, and wearing the inviting smile of a Father. With such an altar, such a High Priest, such atoning blood, and such a reconciled God, what an element should prayer be to a believer in Christ! Let the soul, depressed, burdened, tried, tempted, as it may be, draw near the mercy seat: God delights to hear, delights to answer. Taking in the hand the atoning blood, pleading the infinite merit of Christ – reminding the Father of what His Son has accomplished, of His own gracious promise to receive and favorably answer the petition endorsed with the name and presented in behalf of that Son – the feeblest child of God, the most disconsolate, the most burdened, may approach and open all the heart to a prayer-hearing and prayer-answering God. Let the atoning blood be strenuously pleaded, let the precious and infinite merit of Christ be fully urged, and the blessing petitioned for will be obtained.”



“May not this be assigned as a reason why so few of our petitions are answered, why so little blessing is obtained: The faint pleading of the atoning blood? There is so feeble a recognition of the blessed way of access, so little wrestling with the precious blood, so little looking by faith to the cross, the dear name of Immanuel so seldom urged, and when urged so coldly mentioned – oh, is it any marvel that our prayers return to us unanswered, the petition ungranted, the draft on the full treasury of His love unhonored? The Father loves to be reminded of His beloved Son; the very breathing of the name to Him is music; the very waving of the censer of infinite merits to Him is fragrant. He delights to be pressed with this plea; it is a plea at all times prevalent; it is a plea He cannot reject; it glorifies Himself, honors His Son, while it enriches him who urges it. And, oh, in the absence of all other pleas, what a mercy to come with a plea like this! Who can fully estimate it? No plea has the poor believer springing from himself: he searches, but nothing can he find on which to rest a claim; all within is vile, all without is marred by sin; unfaithfulness, ingratitude, departure do but make up the history of the day. But in Christ he sees that which he can urge, and in urging which God will hear and answer.”



- Octavius Winslow (1808-1878), Daily Walking With God, June 12th.

photo credit: carissa gallo

Divine Sovereignty & Human Responsibility in Prayer & Temptation

Pray that God would not lead you into temptation (Matthew 6:13). When that prayer goes unanswered, rejoice (James 1:2-4) at what God is doing!

When you fall into temptation, resist the evil one (James 4:7). Then give thanks to God (Psalm 19:13) for answering your prayer according to Matthew 6:13.

Idle Sticks

"God, I pray, light these idle sticks of my life and may I burn up for thee. Consume my life, my God, for it is thine. I seek not a long life but a full one like yours, Lord Jesus." - Jim Elliot

Thank You!

How I need your prayers! I know that most of you don't know me on a personal level. We've never eaten together, laughed together or even met face to face. Nevertheless, as brother and sisters in the Lord, I ask for your prayers.

There are times in my life when I am drained. These past two years have been spiritually, physically and emotionally exhausting for me. I've never had to work outside of the church to support my family. So working a 60 hour a week job plus trying to find time to prepare and preach/teach twice a week is exhausting. Add to that my marital and parental responsibilities and I don't know how I have time to wipe my nose. I wish I were 20 years old again. Those of you that go to school full-time, work full-time jobs and serve the Lord in church...I applaud you. I did it once too, but find that the older I get the tougher it gets.

Lately, it seems like everything is trying to rob me of my time to prepare a meal to feed the sheep on Sundays. It bothers me. And when I do have time, my mind wanders and I can hardly focus when I sit down to study. I find myself studying for 15 mintues and then needing to get up and walk around to regain focus. Then when it comes time to preach, I feel like my thoughts are jumbled, my sermons lack clarity, my speech is slurred and my mind is cloudy and incoherent.

I am not sure if I am trying to do too much or if Satan is just pressing in and trying to attack me. Either way, I ask for your prayers. Pray that God would be magnified inspite of my weakness. Pray that I would serve Him in the strength that He gives. Pray that I would have adequate time to study for the edification of the body of Christ. Pray that my mind would be firing on all cylinders. And please, please, please pray that God would possibly provide for me a more stable job (hours & finances). I know that this season will pass...or maybe it won't. Either way I appreciate your prayers.

Please don't take this as a complaining or griping session. Neither is it a pity party where everyone is invited. That's not what this is. It's just that I realize how human and weak I am and how much I need the Lord to sustain me. And I do not want to be a hindrance to the gospel and the health of the church. Thank you so much for your prayers.

For those of you that have ministered with me in the past, I'm going to try to post my sermons for you each week. It will perhaps be beneficial for you in one of two ways: either it will be an example of how not to preach...or hopefully it will be of some spiritual good. And hopefully it will serve as a communication point between us as it will share with you what I am learning and how I am growing each week. Your godly and friendly critique would be appreciated as well. You know how to reach me on my cell. Plus it will save me a little time in having to put up additional posts on the blog.

But your insight on how I can improve will be very valuable. Maybe a powerpoint game or a funny picture or a video clip could make my sermons a little more spicy and palatable for today's tech generation ;-). Totally joking there! And for the life of me, why didn't any of you tell me that I sound drunk when I preach. Sheesh! Could be the exhaustion I was talking about.

God bless you. I miss you all. Those that I have not met face-to-face, I look forward to one day getting together. My house is available to have a fun day if you'd all like to get away from where you are.

Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23 - The Sower, Seeds and Soils

Praying To Love God for Who He Is and Not What He Gives

As I was praying this morning and expressing my love for God I realized that much of my love for God is because of the things He gives me and not because of Who He is. In a way I was distracted with the gift and not enthralled with the Giver. St. Augustine captured the heart of what I am trying to say when he prayed to the Father and said, "He loves thee too little who loves anything together with thee which he loves not for thy sake." I decided to write out my prayer so that I could share it with you and that it might be a means to examining yourself and the purity of your love for God.

Father, let me love you for who you are and not what you give.

May I see nothing on this earth as more desirable than you

and may I see nothing in Heaven as more worthy than you.

May I treasure you most as I delight in you above all things.

May I count a thousand days on this earth as trivial

compared to one day in your house.

May the presence of others be like a mud pie

compared to the bountiful feast of your presence.

May life on this fleeting earth look like a raindrop

compared to the infinite fountain of your love.

May the treasures of this earth look like tarnish and rust

compared to your unfading and incorruptible glory.

May your gifts not become distractions from you

but avenues that lead me deeper in love with you.

God, you are ever-exceedingly enough.

AMEN.

Asking and Not Receiving

Matthew 7:7-12 [7] “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. [8] For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. [9] Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? [10] Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? [11] If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

Experientially this verse does not always seem to "play" out the way it is stated. We have all asked the Lord to answer our prayers and have at times have had them denied or go unanswered. Why is this so? A couple of thoughts on why this may be so: (1). God is lying or (2). We have failed to fully understand or have altogether misunderstood what Christ is saying. Since Scripture says that God cannot lie, I opt for #2.

The Apostle Paul gives us a peak into why God sometimes does not answer our prayers even though those prayers may be very godly and from our perspective seem to be in line with God's will. It is always good to allow Scripture to shed light on other passages that may seem to present problems for our faith. In this case 2 Corinthians helps us to understand Matthew 7 a little better.

2 Corinthians 12:7-9 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. [8] Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. [9] But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

God desires for His power to be made known. He desires for His glory to be displayed in ways that maximize the glory of Christ. Although Paul prayed for the "messenger of Satan" to be removed, God deemed that such an answer to prayer would result in God's power not being on display. Our prayers, though they be focused on that, may be prayers that, if answered, would result in less glory for Christ. God, in His wisdom, will do all to exalt His Son to the greatest degree so that our joy may be in seeing His power and might fully displayed.

I, for one, am glad that God is smarter than my desires and wiser that my prayers. Although we are taught how to pray in the word, we must always realize that even our prayers are a fallible, yet a necessary and commanded part of the Christian life. But be sure to always have the glory of Christ in mind when you pray to your heavenly Father.

John 14:13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

A Privileged Audience.

An excerpt from Paul E. Little's "Know What You Believe"

Because of the ascension and exaltation of Christ, we have free and confident access into the very presence of God. We can "come boldly unto the throne of grace" (Heb 4:16). In Old Testament times, access to the presence of God was limited to one person - the high priest; to one place - the holy of holies in the Tabernacle (or the Temple); and to one time - the Day of Atonement. But because Christ is our High Priest and has passed into the heavens, each of us has access to the Creator at any time and at any place. How the angels must wonder that we make so little use of this privilege of audience with the King!

Prayer is not your energy drink, it is your blood.

We're all familiar with many scripture passages telling us to pray.
- "Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension." 1 Tim 2:8
- "Pray without ceasing." 1 Thess 5:17
- "Devote yourselves to prayer" Col 4:2
- "With all prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit" Eph 6:18

These last two verses, however, continue beyond the command to just pray. Col 4:2 adds "keeping alert in it", Eph 6:18 "be on the alert". The end of Luke 21 describes the end times and return of Christ that is approaching. (v36) says "But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things..." We are not "alert" without cause. We don't watch with readiness for nothing, and a command to do so by our God should not warrant any less of a response.

God's view of prayer is not one of a potential for abundance beyond our measure. He's already given us everything we need. 2 Peter 1:3 "His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness." Eph 1:3 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing"

Prayer is not a wishlist. It's not a bonus. It's not extra on the side. Instead, it's vital, necessary, and critical to life, the life that actually matters. Not being in prayer doesn't mean that we're living at standard capacity and that to be in prayer: we're overflowing. Not being in prayer, the commanded amount, is living at a grave deficiency.

Lack of prayer, by any amount, is seen to directly correlate to an increase in boastful, arrogant pride and sin.

Example:
At the passover, on the night of Jesus' betrayal, Peter is told by Jesus that Satan is coming to "sift" Peter and the disciples (Luke 22:31-34) Peter denies Jesus' claim, as if he knew better. As if he knew more about himself than Jesus did. (Matt 26:30-35) Peter embraces full arrogance and pride, coming just short of calling Jesus a liar: that though all others will fall, he won't.

Luke 22:40 Jesus says "Pray that you may not enter into temptation." They didn't. They slept. Matt 26:41 - "Keep watching and praying, that you may not enter into temptation" Peter prayed too little and acted too much. When the crowd came to take Jesus, Peter lashed out, attacking a slave of the High Priest, trying to show his courage, his last chance to prove Christ wrong about him falling away.

He didn't pray. He depended on his own strength, which failed him. Later, Peter denies Christ three times. Without prayer, focus is too easily placed on ourselves and our deficiency, which is often a masked false strength.

But there is hope in our deficiency. After Peter's great fall, after having denied him three times, Jesus in (John 15:15-17) gives Peter three times in which to say that he loves Him. Three denials that crushed his spirit, three professions of love and restoration. Remember the words of Jesus to Peter before hand regarding when he is restored, (Luke 22:32) "but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail: and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." How do we strengthen our family in Christ? Jesus answered in the beginning of the verse. He prayed for Peter; Christ's view of prayer was critical.

(Mark 1:29-39) Jesus, after spending an entire day ministering, preaching, healing, and casting out demons late into the night, still rose early, before sunrise, to go and pray. We can see his ministry was not focused on quotas. He could have not risen early to pray, but He did despite tiredness. He could have opted for a day off, having done so much work the day before, working late into the night, but he chose to move onto the next set of towns to minister.

After Jesus ministered late into the night, he still rose very early to pray. Before the greatest burden of His existence was to be placed on Him, He prepared Himself by praying, nothing else. His command to the disciples, before they would be violently sifted by Satan, their faith tested and tried, Jesus commanded them to one thing: pray.

Rom 8:26 "In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."

How comforting to know that the Spirit's intercession for us focused on the will of God, and not my own often self focused, weak prayers. "the Spirit also helps our weakness"

weapons for warfare: FREE

Luke 11:5-13

"And He [Jesus]said to them, suppose one of you shall have a friend and shall go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey and I have nothing to set before him.” And from inside he shall answer and say, “Do not bother me. The door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed. I cannot get up and get you anything, or give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs. And I say to you, ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened. Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish, he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? Or if he has asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?"

The Christian life is a war. Our heavenly Father is ready to give us what he has already promised us. He has a whole warehouse of promises in scripture that we need to grab a hold of. The artillary is available.

Look at what Martyn Lloyd Jones says of prayer:

"This holy boldness, this argumentation, this reasoning, this putting the case before God, this pleading His own promises, this is the whole secret of prayer."
"Quote the scripture to Him."

Thomas Goodwin (puritan hero) says:

"When you pray, you literally can go to God and say what’s on your heart and claim His promise. In fact, you can demand that He be faithful to His promise. Sue Him for it!."

lead.

Psalm 31:3b

"for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me;"

I might have posted this verse before; but I think that often times I seek guidance from God selfishly. I want this to be my prayer:

Lord, lead me and guide me for YOUR NAME'S SAKE!

Christian Hardcore music has actual words?

Lyrics from Symphony in Peril's song Portrait....



we serve god in the image that we have painted.
honor and reverence has been filtered through the sifter of our minds.
cultural influenced thinking
and misspoken word have distorted the truth.
so many times we have taken a past experience
and allowed it to carry us to the future,
while new revelation is placed on the backburner.
then we wonder why illumination is so dim in our lives.
the more extensive our comprehension of god’s greatness,
the greater god can move upon the canvas of our lives,
to paint a portrait of honor....

This song pretty much speaks out to me because it is a good description of what American Christianity is like today. We choose to ignore what God's word has to say to listen to the opinions of our peers. Proverbs 14:12 as well as 16:25 both say:

There is a way that seems right unto a man, but its end is the way to death.

yeah, both those verses say the same thing so obviously they are of much importantance. I mean, the whole bible is important, but you get what im saying. We can't let other people tell what's right and what's wrong. It's up for us to go into the Word and look it up for ourselves.

It's important that we continually be in God's word because if we're not, then well never know who or how he is. Please pray for me, that I have more discipline in this area.

CHANGE ME

Change my heart, O God
May I be renewed
Change my heart, O God
Make me more like you

please God.
Whatever tribulation and trial come my way, Please God. Change me to be like Christ. Show me how you want me to be Father. Regenerate my heart, so that I may be wholly yours.

Amen.

Do not be afraid to cry out to God for help!

DAVID DID!

Psalm 3

Save Me, O My God



A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.

1O LORD, how many are my foes!
Many are rising against me;
2many are saying of my soul,
(D) there is no salvation for him in God.
Selah

3But you, O LORD, are a shield about me,
my glory, and the lifter of my head.
4 cried aloud to the LORD,
and he answered me from his holy hill.
Selah

5I lay down and slept;
I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.
6I will not be afraid of many thousands of people
who have set themselves against me all around.

7 Arise, O LORD!
Save me, O my God!
For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
you break the teeth of the wicked.

8 Salvation belongs to the LORD;
your blessing be on your people!
Selah

thank you.

venice church has been my home for the past 23 years. i am indebted to the faithfulness of many who served God and showed me love and taught me God's word. i just want to thank them for their faithfulness, friendship, instruction, and love.

to:

jen villaryo - fellow missions-passionate sister.
kevin rodney chalk - greatest roomate in history
carrie castillo - hospitality and joyful giver.
the faithful friday prayer warriors - mr. sweet, nick, ruben, b.j., brian, paul, richie, ernesto, and kelly.


Wayne and Dolores Copes - faithful friends and co-laborers in Christ.

Bob and Wendy Tripp - for letting me walk over to their house everyday after school and constantly welcoming me in to hang out with Becky and Amy, and cooking food for me and sharing a contagious passion for serving God.

Pam and Randy Kirk - who have been spiritual mentors of love and compassion, inviting me to family functions, making me laugh, letting me play hairstylist and being examples of Godly parents.

Brad and Denise Jensen - for helping me as i grew up from a young boy to a teen to a young adult and relentlessly showed me the importance of the foundation of God's word, and treating me and caring for me like a son.

Craig and Amy Henson - for guiding me. for shepherding me. for correcting me. for training me. for nurturing me. for forgiving me. for loving me. for being my family.


i thank you. i love you. i will miss you.
you are my home.

as Paul told the Philippians, i want to share with you:

Philippians 1:3-5

"I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now"

the valley.

The Valley of Vision

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly, Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths but see Thee in the heights; hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Thy glory. Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive, that the valley is the place of vision. Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine; let me find Thy light in my darkness, Thy life in my death, Thy joy in my sorrow, Thy grace in my sin, Thy riches in my poverty, Thy glory in my valley.

Taken from The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions, edited by Arthur Bennett

Prayer Request

Exodus 20:12

"Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

Please pray for me in this area. This is something I really struggle with, and I must do better. Please pray that I will glorify God by honoring my parents. Please pray that I will learn to be respectful and honoring. I have been convicted lately about the way I act and respond to my parents. God has put them in our lives for a reason and we must honor them. We may not agree on everything, we may not see eye to eye on things, but I must still honor them and respect them. So pray that God would change my heart and mind in a way that I would honor my parents fully.

blinded.

Psalm 139:23-24

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties;
And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting."

"The heart of man is full of sin and corruption, and that corruption is of an exceedingly darkening, blinding nature. Sin always carries a degree of darkness with it. And the more it prevails, the more it darkens and deludes the mind."

-Jonathan Edwards

Usually the first thing I pray in the morning, as soon as I wake up, is a prayer of praise and magnification to God. I think my second prayer immediately following that prayer will now be for God to reveal sin in my life that I am blinded to.

Prayer

God, you are amazing, you are so righteous. God you are so mighty. I am so sinful. It is so awesome that you would love me. I pray that I would be glorifying to you in all I do. Please give me understanding from your word. Please God, allow me to be completely satisfied in you and you alone. God, without you I have, and am nothing. Thank you so much for loving me before I loved you. I pray that I would know nothing but Christ and him crucified.

In Jesus name, Amen

i pray....

i pray that God will give me the privilege to work for Him and that He will receive glory from the work that He does through me. i pray that His Name will be taken to the ends of the earth. i pray that You God will sustain me from now until the time i am blessed with your presence in heaven. have mercy on my soul Lord as i live my life.

pray boldly.

Hebrews 4:16

"Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

Psalm 27:7
"Hear my voice when I call, O Lord; be merciful to me and answer me."

"You say, “Well what is the point in talking to God like that? I mean, if you know God is sovereign and you know God is all wise and all powerful and all knowing and has purposed everything from the beginning to the end and all the way through the middle, what in the world is the point of praying?” And the answer is because God has not only ordained the end, He has ordained the means to the end. And I don’t know about you but I’d rather be a part of God’s means than anything else."

-John MacArthur