it's time to pray

Proverbs, chapter 31, beginning at verse eight: "Open your mouth for the speechless, in the cause of all who are appointed to die. Open your mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy." If we truly want a spiritual awakening in our day, then we must expand the borders of our hearts and cease lifting our voices only for our own benefit. Just as children do, many of God's pe...

For those who are older, some of you may be hurt. The previous generations didn't have mentors as we now know them. I really wish I had someone who could have spoken to me about what I should or shouldn't do. Unfortunately, though, most of us had to learn from our mistakes. It's easy to live a life of "if only" in our hearts because our life didn't quite turn out as we expected it to. Whether it's...

Luke, chapter 12, verses 22 to 27: "Then He said to His disciples, 'Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds...

Mark, chapter 15, verse 37: "And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last." There was so much more in that final cry, more than anything that could come from man. This final cry came from the very heart of God. Something in this cry was otherworldly, so much so that a hardened centurion who heard it said, "Truly this Man was the Son of God." I believe this cry came from the heart o...

Matthew, chapter 13, verses three, eight and nine: "Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: "Behold a sower went out to sow…But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" This parable clearly tells us that those who desire to hear God speaking to them will both hear His words and begin to do thi...

The writer of the book of Hebrews, in chapter 13, verse five, makes an incredible statement in the latter part of that verse. Speaking about Jesus he says, "For He Himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.'" So often we can be tempted to feel forsaken even by God, overwhelmed by a sense of inadequacy or the sting of recent failure. We doubt the resilience of God to keep loving us....

Psalms 33, verses 11 and 12: "The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen as his own inheritance." I've been on the airwaves in New York City for almost 10 years now, encouraging the people who can hear my voice to turn to God and begin to pray. We know that we are living in difficult times...

The book of Acts, chapter 16, verses 27 and 28: "And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. But Paul called with a loud voice saying, 'Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.'" This guard was given something to keep and it appeared what was entrusted to him escaped or got out o...

Mark, chapter four, verses 37 and 38: "And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, 'Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?'" When I was a boy, I remember an old country song. It was called "Send Me the Pillow that You Dream On." I suppose, in some way, it spe...

Psalms, chapter 138, verse 3: "In the day when I cried out, You answered me, and made me bold with strength in my soul." What made King David a man after God's own heart is that he knew it was God's heart to give strength to anyone who was willing to call out to Him. This is still God's heart for you and for me today. He's not waiting for you to find some magical formula of faith, or clap your han...

Ecclesiastes, chapter four, verse 12: "Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken." In this passage of Scripture, the writer asks us to consider the strength which God has provided when we allow ourselves to be literally braided together with other believers in community. Though promising strength, the process begins with humility-th...

Psalms 91, verses seven to 13: "A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look, and see the reward of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; for He shall give His angels charge...

2 Corinthians, chapter 12, verses eight and nine: "Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." Your trials are not meant to destroy you, my brother and m...

Esther, chapter 4, verse 16: "Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!" It was a violent time; an entire people group was facing discrimination and violence. What could one girl do? She could pray and g...

Matthew, chapter 21, verse 22 says, "And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." It's time to bring your "whatever" to God. We all have one. Something that's so deep, something perhaps that God has whispered to your heart; a longing in our hearts that no one else is aware of. And up until this point, you dared not even ask. Just like judgment, revival begins in the house o...

2 Thessalonians, chapter three, verses 12 to 18: "Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread. But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good. And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet do not count him as an enemy,...

The book of Ezra, chapter 1 verse 7 says, "King Cyrus also brought out the articles of the house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and put in the temple of his gods." After being in captivity in Babylon for 70 years, one would have thought that God's people had lost everything. But in truth, all was not lost. It may seem, in our day, like much has been lost in the church b...

Ephesians chapter five, beginning at verse 14: "Therefore He says, 'Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.' See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is." I can't overstress the importance of you and I taking more seriously tha...

Ezekiel, chapter nine, verse four: "And the Lord said to him, 'Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.'" It was a time of judgment. God's wrath was about to be revealed against those who had misrepresented His name in His temple, and others in the nation who thou...

In First Samuel chapter one, we see a story of a barren woman named Hannah. She was taken over with anguish because she was unable to produce life. She cried out to God in prayer, a prayer that went beyond words, and God heard her plea. It's God's heart that you and I live fruitful lives for His glory. If you're in a place where you feel spiritually barren, unable to have an effect in your home, i...

The Book of Romans chapter 13, verses 11 and 12: "And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light." History is filled with moments that changed everything. Moments when armies, a...

Isaiah chapter 58, verses seven to nine: "And not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then, shall your light break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; You will cry and He will say, 'Here I am.'" It's been said that when we focus sole...

The gospel of Matthew, chapter 25, verses six to eight: "And at midnight, a cry was heard: 'Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!' Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.'" These words from Jesus speak potentially of our day. As the days around us grow increasingly dark and this...

Can you hear the cry or have you lost heart for the lost? Remember when you first got saved and your heart had compassion for the lost around you - in your family, your neighbors, and people in your community or nation? Remember when you longed for their salvation? But time passed and soon you got busy with work and other things, and the cry became distant and the lost in this world were no longer...

Psalm 91, "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.' Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield a...