it's time to pray

Psalm 18 beginning at verse 39, "For you have armed me with strength for the battle; You have subdued under me those who rose up against me. You've also given me the necks of mine enemies, so that I destroyed those who hated me. They cried out, but there was none to save; even to the Lord, but He did not answer them. Then I beat them as fine as dust before the wind; I cast them out like dirt in th...

These words are found in the Book of Ecclesiastes, chapter four, "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up. Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken." It's so important that...

I want to remind you today that there's a big fight ahead of us and we don't have the luxury to dismiss the whole body of Christ. Unity is more important than being in agreement on every little detail of peripheral doctrine. God has given us an opportunity to be a reflection of the body of Christ. Let's refuse to be divided over inconsequential doctrines. May we go past the traps of division think...

The enemy opposes the children of God by keeping God's people convinced that they are less than they are. In Exodus, chapter one and verse nine, the king acknowledged that the children of Israel were indeed greater in number and mightier than those in Egypt. Yet his plan was to make them believe the opposite, less they rise up in their God-given power and authority and become free. This was a type...

The gospel of Matthew chapter 6:31-33, "Therefore, do not worry saying 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your Heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." I vividly remember the day many years ago when...

We've come to a time again in history where there's an open rejection towards those who believe in and live for Jesus Christ, but I believe that it's a good thing. This rejection sends us back to where we have belonged all along, and that is a place of prayer. We're going there, not in our strength, but in dependence upon Jesus. When we're praying in our own strength, we have a tendency to add our...

The Gospel of Luke, chapter 21, verse 26 says, "men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken." Everything around us today bears witness to these days which Jesus spoke of; with the abnormal becoming normal, to the unthinkable occupying everyday thought. Every morning seems to call out to us to em...

You and I are called to do more than just tolerate one another. We're called, actually, to esteem one another. He set you where you are, to be what you are, and to do what you do; to glorify Him in the unique way that only you can. This is not by happenstance but divinely placed by God. You're not in competition with others. Everyone has a value in the kingdom of God. There are no big people, no l...

Psalm 29:8-9, "The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness, the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth and strips the forests bare; And in his temple everyone says, 'Glory!'" When the Lord finds a spirit that is willing, a heart that won't resist Him, and has no need to reason everything out, there's no limit to what God can do through that vessel. Al...

Numbers Chapter 13, verses 30 and 31, "Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, 'Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.' But the men who had gone up with him said, 'we are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.'" The question that comes to you today is simply this. When the way forward seems difficult, even impossib...

Psalm 29:3-4, "The voice of the Lord is above the waters. The God of glory thunders. The Lord is over many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; The voice of the Lord is full of majesty." Even though the sounds of the world may seem confusing, ferocious, and even deafening, God is saying to you, "My voice is above the noise." All those destructive voices and sounds that have tried to attach t...

The Gospel of Luke, chapter 10, beginning at verse 18, "And He (that's Jesus) said to them, 'I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.'" We have power in prayer. It's time that we realize this once again. We have power to trample, under our feet, t...

The gospel of Luke Chapter 11, verses 9 and 10, "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, it will be opened." In the words surrounding these verses, Jesus tells us to believe that He will provide all that we need to have provision for people who are...

Exodus, chapter 12, verses three and four, "Speak to all the congregation of Israel saying: 'On the 10th of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man's need you shall...

Second Corinthians, chapter 12, verses 9and 10. 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. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am st...

Luke chapter two verses 13 and 14, "And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God and saying: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, goodwill towards men!" Several years ago, in the Christmas season, I led my father in a prayer to receive Jesus Christ as his Lord and savior. Next to being given salvation through Christ Himself, it was the greatest gift G...

Luke, chapter two, beginning at verse eight, "Now there were in the same country, shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be t...

The Gospel of Luke, chapter two, verse seven, says these words, "And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger…" Now, Christmas to me is, and always has been, an incredible time, as you and I revisit in our minds the birth of Jesus Christ. There has to be a sense of awe that such majesty had chosen to be clothed in weakness and in humility....

Now so many things are in the air at Christmas time today. Salvation Army bells, the sound of feet scurrying to stores and even a bit of hope for the future; but there was also something on that first Christmas day that you and I need to reclaim again. "Suddenly," the Scripture says, "there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 'Glory to God in the highest, a...

Exodus chapter 1, verses 8 through 10, "Now, there arose a new King over Egypt who did not know Joseph, and he said to his people, 'Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so, go up out of the land.'" Darkness had...

The Gospel of Luke, chapter six. In verse 38, Jesus said, "Give and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will he put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you." My father was stationed with the Air Force in England during World War II. He loved to tell the story of how one Christmas Eve, he was approac...

For some people, sitting in church is a huge accomplishment because they've been hurt. People can be a huge source of pain that they would rather avoid. But now that you're a new creation, you go to church, but you can't seem to go beyond the surface interactions because you're afraid of being hurt again. Today, I want you to know that God wants to take you deeper. The fullness of the freedom that...

Exodus chapter one, verse 11, says, "Therefore, they set task masters over them to afflict them with their burdens, and they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses." A strategy of the enemy is to keep the Children of God focused on building things that are neither eternal nor in line with their actual purpose in the world. You and I are called to build the Kingdom of God. The enemy, h...

Genesis, chapter two, beginning at verse 21, "And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said, 'This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, because she was take...

If you're reading the headlines or watching the news, you're probably feeling pretty discouraged. This world may say that there's no hope for the future. However, you and I know that there is nothing impossible for God. In Him there's always hope. As believers, we choose to live on the side of faith. We need to hear what the Holy Spirit is speaking, and we must believe that there's healing and pow...