it's time to pray

Listen to the words of Jesus in Matthew 25: 1-3, "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them." In these verses, Jesus is speaking of the hour just before His return. Some people, it's assumed, were in charge,...

I am reminding you today that you and I have to begin to fight for this generation. I think there's been enough cowering under the voice of our enemies. That time is now over. There comes a point where enough is enough. We need to get back to the right side of this battle again. We need to get up and go where God is leading us. It's not about preserving our lives any longer. Now it's about saving...

Isaiah 40:29-31 reminds us that God "gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might he increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint." Do you feel like you're going to...

Thessalonians, chapter four, beginning at verse 16, "For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another...

Today I want to speak to the men of this nation. It's the prayer of my heart that God would give us a spiritual awakening again in our generation. I'm praying that God would raise up men of God again. Men who are not afraid, men who would run for public office, men who would speak, men who would get up in pulpits, men who will open their Bibles and speak to people and speak to their families, men...

Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and he shall direct your paths." It's important that the Word of God not be just on the pages we read, but by God's grace, we allow it to become part of our character, so much so that we will instinctively respond through what we have learned and what we've embraced. Do...

Listen to the words of the apostle Paul in Philippians 4:11, "Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am to be content. I know how to be abased and I know how to abound everywhere. And in all things I've learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Most certainly the classroom...

The gospel of Mark chapter 11 verse 15 says, "So they came to Jerusalem. Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves." The people created a system of commerce out of the failure of human effort. The money changers were profiting off the people's failure in tryin...

Revelation, chapter two, verse 13: "I know your works and where you dwell, where Satan's throne is, and you hold fast to My name and did not deny My faith, even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells." Some people seem to get an assignment to live on spiritual Easy Street. Others find themselves in the difficult district of town, often wit...

I want to remind you today that you'll find that the anointing of God on your life is in opposition to the spirit of this world. The worst decision that you can make is one similar to what King David and the 600 men who followed him once made. They became so tired of being constantly opposed, they just backed away and started to make peace with the enemy. David was called to be king. He was to hon...

The Gospel of Matthew, chapter 3, verses 1 and 2: "In those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying 'repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'" Now, John the Baptist was calling out to a sin-sick generation that was tired of the same sin-and-confess cycle. He wanted to deal with the condition of their hearts. His message could be summarized by one word, "re...

Psalm 23:4, "Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For You are with me. Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me." Some people's lives, like Psalm 23, are such a sweet song. You know, at times we ask, why does verse four have to come along and ruin my song? Well, actually it doesn't. Verse four is a bridge in your life song between early innocence and de...

Psalm 22, verse 24, "For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, nor has he hidden his face from him. But when he cried to him, he heard." You know, some people wonder where God is. They think, "I'm praying, I'm reading the Word and I'm doing everything I'm supposed to do. But where is God?" Sometimes we can't understand the power of the cross at work in us while there's...

Psalm 22:1, King David says these words, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me? And from the words of My groaning, Oh My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; and in the night season, and am not silent." Have you ever felt forsaken? Have you felt so alone that nobody could hear the cries of your heart? You know you are not alone. David felt what yo...

When God visits us in a powerful way, it's because He's trying to draw us out and to encourage us to believe for something that only He can do. Often, He does it in a time when we have recognized our own weakness. A time when we recognize that if anything is going to happen in this generation, it's not going to be by my might, not by my power, but only by the Spirit of God. God is able to move in...

In Colossians 4:18, Paul says, "The salutation by my own hand, Paul. Remember my chains, grace be with you. Amen." The apostle Paul not looking for sympathy said, "I'm signing this letter with my own hand and I'm asking you to do something, remember." Remember that there's a personal cost to follow Jesus. Remember that the Christian life is not about convenience. Remember that you and I are not ca...

Psalm 20, beginning at verse 7, "Some trust in chariots and some in horses but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. They are bowed down and fallen but we have risen and stand upright. Save Lord. May the King answer us when we call." Time and again, we have the witness of history that kingdoms which rise and rule through human effort alone never last. They rise only to fall, as all the ot...

Colossians 1:9, "For this reason, we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding." This is the cry of my heart as a pastor, that God would fill you with the knowledge of His will. I pray that He would drive out all confusion and that you would go into your prayer closet and...

Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, if there be anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things." We are bombarded with negativity every day from the media. All the way down to conversation on the street, v...

Today, I just want to remind you that honest prayers have always preceded every spiritual awakening throughout history. Now, there are different types of honest prayers. I think for a moment of Esther, who felt unlovely and unwanted. But in her heart, she said, "Well, I'll fast and pray. And I'm going to go into the King, and if I perish, I perish." It wasn't necessarily a faith-filled prayer, but...

Revelation chapter 3, verse 14, "And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, 'These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth." This is a picture of some peo...

Psalms 40, beginning at verse 16, "Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; let such as love Your salvation say continually, 'The Lord be magnified!' But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinks upon me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God." You know sometimes we can feel all alone. The thought comes to our hearts, "does anyone really care about me?" And if we ar...

Joshua chapter 4 verses 3 and 6, "Command them, saying, 'Take for yourselves twelve stones from here, out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priests' feet stood firm. You shall carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging place where you lodge tonight." Verse 6 says, "that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, 'What do these stones...

1 Samuel chapter 30 and verse 6, "Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God." It can happen to the most victorious and optimistic of believers in Christ; just like a serpent coming into a garden, depression can strike before we kn...

God has something for you that is very unique to your life. When you set out to do what God is calling you to do, the Bible says, He will withhold no good thing from you. Everything you need will be granted to you, courage, wisdom, protection, provision, and direction. He could be calling you to start a Bible study, or to be a witness in your school, or maybe He is calling you to run for public of...