PrayerLife

We need spiritual awakening because we suffer from a diminished capacity to grasp our own spiritual need. "For this people's heart has grown dull" (Acts 28:27). It is so easy become caught up in the culture around us and fail to see God for who He really is. Join me as we invite Him to open the eyes of our heart and awaken our church fellowships today.

We suffer from a diminished view of the awesome glory of God. We tend to think of Jesus as an itinerant teacher on the hillsides of Galilee instead of the resurrected and ascended King of Kings. In Revelation 1, The Apostle John experienced remarkable revelation of the risen Christ. He writes, "The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his fe...

God has made us for a purpose. "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2:10). One of the primary areas in life where we fulfill our God given purpose is in the workplace. Let's pray about that right now!

God calls us to respond rightly to those who are in authority over us. "Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you" (Hebrews 13:17). We are to trust our ultimate authority, Jesus, and respond to those over us in a way that is a...

As representatives of Jesus in our workplace, we are to "put on" the character of Christ and express His care and compassion to those who are hurting all around us. "Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forg...

Conflict and strained relationships can make our workplace a difficult place to be. Paul writes, "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you" (Eph. 4:32). God has placed each one of us in our specific work location in order to be a representative of Christ. Just as God has forgiven us all our sin, we are called to express kindness and forgiveness to...

James 3 describes two "spiritual climates" by the behavior that is exhibited. "But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is...

Each of us have been placed in our specific place of employment by the Living God. We are serving the King of Kings each day we go to work. The Apostle Paul writes, "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ" (Col. 3:23-24). Remember ... your "boss" is the Lord Chri...

God has strategically placed His followers in schools, factories, offices, manufacturing floors, hospitals, military bases, markets, and neighborhoods throughout your community and around the world. He has placed us there to be an incarnational expression of His presence and a channel of His blessing. Invite God's blessing on your workplace today!

If you have ever been camping you know what it is like to start a campfire with some dry grass and a few twigs. You shield the flickering flame from the wind and gently add more fuel as the fire grows. Paul writes, "For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-c...

Every believer in Jesus Christ has been given a spiritual gift. The Apostle Paul writes to his protege, Timothy, "Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you" (1 Tim. 4:14). We are to use our spiritual gifts to strengthen and build up the Body of Christ. Are you using your spiritual gift?

Every believer in Jesus Christ has received a spiritual gift from the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul also indicates that spiritual gifts can be imparted through prayer and the laying on of hands. Paul writes, "For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine" (Rom. 1:11). Pau...

There are two primary purposes for Spiritual Gifts. The Apostle Peter writes, "As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace ... in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 4:10-11). Our gifts are to be used to serve one another. The result of our service is to be that God is glorified.

The Apostle Paul had a high value for strengthening the health and vitality of the Body of Christ through spiritual gifts. One of the primary ways of strengthening the Church is through the declaration of God's word. Paul wrote, "Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understan...

In 1 Corinthians 12, the Apostle Paul mentions a number of spiritual gifts - "To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spi...

Each believer in Jesus Christ is given spiritually empowered capacities to build up and strengthen the Body of Christ. These capacities are called Spiritual Gifts. Each spiritual gift is actually an manifestation of the Holy Spirit of God through the believer to accomplish God's purposes for the Church. The Apostle Paul writes, "To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good....

In order to honor God with the purity of our lives, we need to honor him with our eyes! The bible is ruthlessly practical. In the Old Testament we read from Job, “I have made a covenant with my; how then could I gaze at a virgin? What would be my portion from God above and my heritage from the Almighty on high? Is not calamity for the unrighteous, and disaster for the workers of iniquity? Does not...

The great news of the gospel of Jesus is that sin can be forgiven, righteousness is available as a gift from God by faith, and we can be whiter than snow!

There is to be a healthy "family" dynamic that characterizes our relationships within the Body of Christ and they are all to be marked by purity. "Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity" (1 Timothy 5:1-2).

We are not to live like the fallen culture around us but as those who know the living God. "For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body[c] in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God" (1 Thess. 4:3-5).

Sexual impurity is damaging. The Old Testament book of Proverbs says, "He who commits adultery lacks sense; he who does it destroys himself" (Proverbs 6:32). The Apostle Paul writes, "Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body" (1 Cor. 6:18). Join me as we pray for wisdom and strength to deny temptati...

God's Word provides remarkable counsel for walking in personal purity. "How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!" (Psalm 119:9-10). If we are filling our lives with God's truth, we will be guided and empowered to walk in the ways of purity.

At the heart of the Gospel is a remarkable truth, namely, that the righteousness that God requires, but that we cannot produce, He has made available through faith in His son, Jesus. The basis of our purity is Jesus Christ. The righteousness that qualifies us to stand blameless before a holy God is not our own - it is the righteousness of Jesus credited to our lives as a result of our trusting in...

In the Apostle Paul's prayers we see a passion for the unity of the Body of Christ. In Romans 15 Paul prays, "May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 15:5-6). The unity of the Church is intended to make a profound stat...

Paul frequently prayed for the inner strengthening of the faith and vitality of believers. Today, we will use Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3:14-19 to serve as our own expression of seeking God's strength and blessing. "For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family[c] in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthe...