PrayerINC
Connecting People To God ... Through Corporate Prayer
INCorporating Prayer
Personal Update March 2005
Carol and I thank God for your prayers . . .
In this update youll find:
-An update on Jennie from Carol in Myrtle Beach
-My revised ministry schedule
-A brand new e-Newsletter for Pastors Your support allows me to devote time to this new initiative TY!
Phil
Dear Family and Friends, I am past due in giving an update on Jennie, the baby and JJ. Jennie has not returned to the hospital since I have been here in Myrtle Beach helping - but that doesn't mean 'things' are back to normal... far from it! A good day means Jennie is able to eat very small amounts of food (no meats, fruits or veggies, yet!) and not vomit or dry heave. Good days are not too often. A typical day is eating very little, gagging a lot and vomiting a little. A number of bad days has been almost eating nothing, gagging a lot and vomiting just as much! The very good news is that each week we have heard the baby's heart beat - a strong one. Jennie's Dr. has given her the hope that around week 16 (4 1/2 more weeks) the nausea and vomiting should subside - unless she is in that small percentage of women who do not experience relief until the baby is born. Our prayer has been that all of this stops even before the 16th week! JJ has been quite busy with coaching track and preparing for his trip to Zambia but seems to find time to make outstanding meals once in a while (he even made deer steaks last night!)
Last Saturday was Jennie's birthday - I am thanking God that it was a good day for her! The 3 of us did a little walking around at a couple outdoor malls - enjoyed ice cream (a first for Jennie in many weeks!) - and even had a glimpse of the ocean. Unfortunately Sunday was the complete opposite!
Thank you to those of you who have kept in touch either by email, notes or calls. It is encouraging for JJ and Jennie to know they are in your prayers. Many have sent great ideas for eliminating the nausea and vomiting - Jennie has tried most of them to no avail. (We have purchased quite a few products - and now could open up a health store!) The Dr said this is just how it is for a small percentage of women - it is morning sickness to the extreme!,,, and nothing seems to be able to turn it around. Since being in the hospital she is on around the clock anti-nausea medication - as you can tell by this email it doesn't work completely and does have the side effect of intense stomach pain. BUT it has kept her out of the hospital!
My plan is to leave on March 8th and return on March 17th (Phil, Jorie, Tim and Sophia will be joining us shortly after). Before I leave we are trying to set up help for Jennie - someone to prepare food for her when she comes home from school and be with her around the dinner hour when her nausea and the vomiting are the worst. JJ will keep the household stuff in order and prepare Jennie's breakfast, lunch and at school snacks. (That sounds like she eats a lot - it really is a bite of this and a bite of that!)
Thanks for your prayers - God is faithful - Let us know how you are doing - we have plenty of time to pray for you! Love, Carol
Phils Revised Schedule Your Prayers Are Powerful!
Sundays
Uptown Baptist Church, Chicago, IL - Preach
Wednesdays
Uptown Baptist Church Staff Meeting & Facilitate Prayer Meeting
- - - -
March 3, Elgin, IL
House of Prayer
March 4, Chicago, IL
Chicago Gatekeepers (Co-facilitate meeting of eight Anchor Church Pastors)
March 9, Ullim, IL
Prayer Seminar @ First Baptist Church,
March 15, Naperville, IL
CMBA Communications Team - Facilitate
March 18-19, North Carolina
Great Commission Prayer Conference Workshop Leader
March 29
City Reaching National Conference Call Co-Host
April 7, Broadview, IL
IBSA Evangelism Conference
April 11-13, St. Louis, MO
National City Impact Roundtable
April 15-16, Decatur, IL
SALT Conference Workshop Leader
April 18-21, Indiana
Prayer Summit
April 29, Palatine, IL
Pastors & Wives Prayer Banquet - Speaker
May 6, Country Club Hills, IL
Pastors & Wives Prayer Banquet - Speaker
May 13, Chicago, IL
Pastors & Wives Prayer Banquet - Speaker
May 23-24, Charlotte, NC
Pastors Prayer Retreat
June 22-25, Eden Prairie, MN
Church Prayer Leaders Network Annual Empowered Convention
In this issue . . .
* Talking with God . . . Not to God
* Becoming a Praying Pastor
* If We Want God . . . We Need Prayer
* Connect with God Resource
* Finding Time to Pray
The Praying Pastor
Encouragement for Your Prayer Life
March 2005
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Welcome to the premiere issue of The Praying Pastor. Our purpose is simply to encourage you in your prayer life. Our mission statement: "The Praying Pastor seeks to encourage, exhort, and equip pastors to make their personal prayer lives a priority as they strive to become champions of prayer in their congregations."
To do that, in every issue you will find articles and regular departments that seek to do two things: 1. encourage you to develop your personal prayer life; and 2. equip you to be a champion for prayer in your congregation.
Most of the articles are written by pastors who are strugling to grow in prayer just like you. We hope The Praying Pastor will become a trusted friend each month.
Enjoy,
Jonathan Graf, Publisher / Editor-in-Chief
How to Subscribe
Many of you have received this premiere issue, free. Feel free to email this edition to pastor friends. If you would like to continue receiving The Praying Pastor, click here to subscribe. If you are a member of the Church Prayer Leaders Network, to receive a discount, go to the resource center in the members-only section of www.prayerlead er.com.
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Talking with God . . . Not to God
Was I surprised when I read the email!
It was from the editor's desk of US News and World Report indicating a e-letter I had sent them was being published. A few weeks earlier, that magazine had run a cover story on "The Power of Prayer" and I e-mailed them a response:
The article, "How We Talk To God," identified our biggest problem with prayer. We talk to God rather than with God. If prayer is a relationship, then why is so much of our praying telling, asking, and complaining rather than seeking, listening, and responding?
When I first read the article, I was thinking of the Christians I meet in congregations small and large in cities and towns from east to west (including pastors!). It was easy to see the speck in someone else's eye.
When I read my letter, after getting over my pride in having it published in a national news magazine, I began thinking of myself; how I talk to God rather than with God. How I tell, ask, complain so often. How much I have to learn about seeking, listening and responding.
May we continue to preach and teach the Word on prayer but, if you are at all like me, may we be quick to listen and slow to speak next time we drop to our knees.
Phil Miglioratti
Managing Editor
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Becoming a Praying Pastor
The first step: being honest with yourself
By Steve Loopstra
I supose my prayer life was not much different from many pastors. Certainly I prayed for my church. But then I searched for programs that promised to grow it--remembering, of course, to ask God to bless those programs! So you can imagine the depth of conviction I felt when God moved in my heart to write letters to the churches I had pastored, asking their forgiveness for being a "pastor who prayed," but not a "praying pastor." Perhaps the story of my journey will speak to others who are struggling with what it means to be a praying pastor.
Immersed in War and the Word
Before I came to Christ, I was well on my way to destruction through drugs, alcohol, and lifestyle choices. I was rescued through faith in Jesus Christ at the age of 19, while in the Air Force and on my way to Vietnam. A Christian servicemen's center gave me access to a host of wonderful resources by classic Christian writers, and I was soaked in scriptural truth through books by A.W. Tozer, Oswald Chambers, J. Oswald Sanders, A. B. Simpson, and others. As a baby Christian in a war-torn nation, I grew in faith through profound writings on the foundational principles of prayer and revival. It wasn't until some time later that I discovered that not every believer was grounded in those same truths and passions.
At a Bible conference in Bangkok, Thailand, I knew the Lord was calling me to serve Him. I followed the counsel of others and went on to Bible college and seminary. Those years of training taught me to love the Word of God even more. But then I began to experience a subtle change in my thinking and understanding. I slowly began to rely more on the skills I was learning, and less on my initial child-like reliance on hearing directly from the Father.
"Church in a Can" Approach
After graduation, I discovered that pastoring a church was a major challenge! I loved preaching and teaching the Word of God, but I soon learned that people expected more. They expected plans and programs and results. Not only did I feel those expectations from the people in my church, but also from leadership in the denomination. Ever so slowly, I began to look for help from programs and methods of church growth, evangelism, and discipleship.
Full story . . .
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If We Want God . . . We Need Prayer
PrayingPastor.com Talks With Pastor Ted Haggard
Ted Haggard is the president of the National Association of Evangelicals and the senior pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Spirngs, Colorado--a 10,000-plus member church, and home to the World Prayer Center. New Life is one of the prayingist churches in the Untied States. Find out why prayer is so important to him.
PP: Ted, you have been a strong supporter of the Church Prayer Leaders Network even back when it was the National Association of Local Church Prayer Leaders. Why have you been so willing to promote and resource this enterprise?
Because praying from a local church base is vitally important to the success of every local church. God has chosen the local church as the place where His children are discipled. So in order for the church to be authentically life-giving and nurturing, it has to have God's special life flowing in it. This requires prayer.
PP: Many books on church growth fail to mention the word "prayer" let alone consider it vital to the growth process. What role has prayer, corporate and individual, played in the ministry of New Life Church?
Church growth books are often not all inclusive. They also don't mention the need for running water and electricity, but they are an assumed commodity. Churches are not clubs. They must be built by Christ. If we want God-oriented clubs, we don't need a prayer ministry. If we want God to build His body through and among us, we need prayer. At New Life Church, prayer is central to everything because we are evangelicals--our basic premise is a personal relationship with God. This life manifests itself by drawing people into a vibrant prayer life.
Full interview . . .
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Connect with God Resource
A Powerful But Obscure Devotional
Disciplines for the Inner Life
Bob Benson, Sr. and Michael Benson
$25
Reviewed By Rev. Jeff Noel
I have told many people during my prayer seminars that if I were only allowed two books, I would choose my Bible and Disciplines for the Inner Life. Considering my love for books that is a very difficult statement! However, it is sincere. There are many aspects that separate this devotional from other very good and inspirational works, but two features rise to the top.
Read on . . .
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Finding Time to Pray
A simple idea to cover your ministry in prayer
One of the hardest things for busy pastors to do is to find time to pray. Here's a suggestion: why not take the first 15 to 30 minutes that you are in your church building to walk through the building and pray? This will do two things: 1). it will get you praying; and 2). it will help fuel your vision for your congregation and keep you focused on the ministry. Here are some ideas:
Read more . . .
Follow up Links
* Join CPLN
* Order Disciplines Inner Life
* incenseRising E-Magazine
* Conference of the Year
About Praying Pastor
PrayingPastor.com is a ministry of the Church Prayer Leaders Network. It is both a magazine The Praying Pastor, and a website,
www.prayingpastor.com. Both are designed to fuel a pastor's prayer life, to encourage a pastor to be a champion for prayer in his or her church and to aide others in praying for pastors.
To subscribe to The Praying Pastor, click here, or call 1-800-217-5200. (If you are a member of the Church Prayer Leaders Network, to receive a 30% discount, click on "members resources" at the members-only section of www.prayerleader.com.
Publisher/Editor-in-Chief
Jonathan Graf
Managing Editor
Rev. Phil Miglioratti
Contributing Editors
Rev David Butts, Rev. Jeff Noel, Rev. Steven Loopstra
email: jon@prayerleader.com
phone: 1-800-217-5200
web: http://www.prayingpastor.com
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