Last week’s dialogues and discussions with pastors and leaders at the Great Commission Prayer Conferences in Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada have reconfirmed to me the need to cast the vision of Pastors’ Prayer Groups:

· Most pastors desperately need peer relationships

· Many have no other accountability group

· Few pray for revival and awakening on a regular basis...

May I ask you to take a moment, even right now, to pray for a pastor who has yet to enjoy the fellowship of prayer with other pastors?

And if the Lord leads, invite a pastor to join a PPG on National Day of Prayer...

Blessings ~ Phil

PS - Can we reach 600 PPGs by the National Day of Prayer??

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2. LESSONS FROM NEHEMIAH:

BURDEN-DRIVEN PRAYER

>From: lifeunlimited@juno.com

The fundamental characteristic of anyone who will reach his city for Christ ---- Prevailing Prayer. Prayer that is driven by a burdened vision. A vision that is driven by heart break rather than enthusiasm. A vision that comes from the darkness of weeping rather than the excitement of the future. A vision that emerges from the past into now rather than moving from now to the future. That¹s a very different type of vision that most of us want to have. Such a burden driven vision that leads to prevailing prayer is illustrated in the life of Nehemiah. I see three elements in Nehemiah¹s burdened prayer.

First, he clearly recognized the real needs of the people (v 3). ³In great distress and reproach², the people were living in fear and ridicule. In that the ³walls were broken down², they were also unprotected and vulnerable to the enemy with no way to protect themselves. Their sense of purpose and meaning to life had essentially been stripped away from them by the intimidation of their masters and the dailiness of their condition.

Second, he certainly had a correct attitude toward their need (v 4) Reacting with weeping, it is clear Nehemiah was filled with compassion for what he saw ---- something many modern day church leaders have never had. Reacting in brokenness, he mourned and grieved over the situation for days. However, praise the Lord, reacting in faith, Nehemiah called out to his God for deliverance for his people. He prayed! Finally, Nehemiah did the kind of praying that was needed in such a tragic circumstance ---- prevailing intercession (v 5-8). I particularly like these verses because it really gives us insight into Nehemiah¹s heart.

1) First, Nehemiah prevailed in prayer because he knew God¹s majesty and power (5). He knew He was ³a great and awesome God². Rather than being intimidated and fearful over coming before such a God, he did the opposite ---- he knew that because God was such a God, he was approachable. Many of us run and hide.

2) Second, Nehemiah prevailed in prayer because of God¹s honor and faithfulness (5). Nehemiah knew God well enough to know that He would never allow His honor and character to be maligned by failing to respond to such a prayer offered by a man such as Nehemiah. He knew God was a God Who ³preserves the covenant². What was the covenant? Look at Deuteronomy 7:9 ---- ³the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His loving kindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments.²

3) Third, Nehemiah prevailed in prayer because he knew God was One who honors obedience (5c). He was fully confident that God provided ³loving kindness toward those who . . . Keep his commandments² (5c). Since he was being as obedient as he knew to be, he fully expected God to act clearly and decisively in response to his prayer.

4) Next, Nehemiah prevailed in prayer because of God¹s compassion and grace (6). In spite of the fact that, by his own testimony, Nehemiah¹s people had ³acted very corruptly against Thee and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances which Thou didst command Thy servant Moses² (7), he also knew that God would have compassion on a repentant heart and would give grace to the broken spirit.

5) Finally, Nehemiah prevailed in prayer because of His confidence in

God¹s purposes (8-10). In fact, he even rehearsed those facts to God in stating that not only did God promise retribution toward rebellion and sin, but also compassion, forgiveness, and renewed purpose for those who repent and obey. Then he capped it off by quoting God¹s covenant promise to ³gather them from there and will bring them to the place where I have chosen to cause My name to dwell² (9b).

And, just to finalize everything, Nehemiah almost brazenly tells God, ³They are Thy servants and Thy people whom Thou didst redeem by Thy great power and by Thy strong hand² (10). Frankly, he served the ball back into God¹s court ---- five personal pronouns directed clearly at God Himself.

Now, I call that courage. ³Thy servants², ³Thy people², ³Thou didst redeem², by ³Thy great power² and ³Thy strong hand².

I wonder ---- is it possible that some of our cities are still in bondage because, like Jonah, we feel they deserve it? Or maybe because, like Thomas, we don¹t really believe it because we¹ve seen no evidence of Divine victory? Or maybe because, frankly, we just don¹t care? Or maybe there¹s another reason.

The point is this, my friend ---- God wants to save our ³cities² no matter how large or small, no matter how corrupt or family friendly.

The question is ---- do we have the fundamental ingredient of Prevailing Prayer driven by Burdened Vision to see that it happens?

Our cities are at stake.

I pray that God will put in your heart and mine the drivenness I saw in those young pastors that made them walk off into the rainy darkness of a closing day, still determined to go to every house in their village with the message that Christ is born, was crucified, is risen, and has come to seek and save the lost.

In His Bond, Bob Tolliver / Romans 1:12

Life Unlimited Ministries

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3. INTERVIEW WITH JIM CYMBALA

PRAY-ERS NEED FRESH FAITH

>From: <http://www.lighthousereport.com>

“A Fresh Fire of Faith - Through Prayer”

Jim Cymbala is pastor of Brooklyn Tabernacle Church, a multi-cultural congregation in the heart of New York. Interviewed by Bill Bright...

BB: You’ve been an incredible example to the power of prayer and are today, Jim. Your church as grown from 20 to how many now?

JC: Well, we have somewhere six, seven thousand people coming every single week. Were moving into new quarters. We will be handling three meetings. We have four now every Sunday, but in three meetings we’ll be able to have 10 to 12 thousand people learn about Jesus. So, we’re looking forward to that.

BB: And all of that you attribute to the power of prayer?

JC: Absolutely. God, and the church praying together, mobilizing together to see God do what only God can do.

BB: Now, tell us what it means to have fresh faith. I know that’s a very important emphasis to you.

JC: Yes. That’s the name of the second book I wrote, “Fresh Faith.” There’s a difference, Dr. Bright, between mental affirmation of certain truths in the Bible and a heart faith, a heart dependent upon God and His promises that makes you dare, and depend, and reach out, and step out in the name of the Lord.

I think in too many of our churches now we have a mental kind of faith that says I believe there’s one God and He sent His son Jesus, but the devil has that kind of faith. I mean if ask the devil, “Do you believe that there’s one God?” Well, he was with him in heaven before Lucifer became Satan and rebelled against God. That’s not the living faith that we need. The fresh faith that we need is that the word of God is kindled in our heart by the Holy Spirit and it means that the entire personality, the entire person throws itself upon God and depends upon God for everything that we need to live godly lives for Jesus Christ.

BB: Your first book, “Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire.” I couldn’t put it down.

JC: Dr. Bright, there’s a difference between mere mental affirmation of scripture of truth in the Bible and a heart faith, an inner heart faith; a dependence on God, the abandoning of ourselves to God which is the fresh faith that I write about in the second book that I wrote after “Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire.” I wrote a book called “Fresh Faith” because as I traveled around the country I saw stagnant churches and even stagnant ministries because while there is a mental affirmation to correct doctrine, there’s not that living, child-like wholehearted faith where the truth still grips us that we’re willing to dare for God and depend totally on God and step out in faith to see God do great things. This is the faith that the Bible talks about when it says, “Without faith it’s impossible to please God.” You can claim all the promises in the world to God, make all the vows and affirmations you want, but without that heart faith like a child saying, “Father, I know you’re gonna help me to be and do what you want me to be and do,” you really can’t please God.

BB: You remember Dwight L. Moody was in New York City and God touched him there. The sermons he had been preaching had been effective, but after the Holy Spirit came upon him in answer to prayer, he became one of the world’s greatest evangelists and shook two continents for the glory of God. So, what you’re talking about, fresh faith, is so crucial to the future of the church.

JC: And it’s linked inseparably to the to the ministry of the Holy Spirit, because Moody at that time was holding meetings in Brooklyn and he went over to Wall Street when he was walking into Manhattan when he said he experienced something fresh and wonderful and very deep with God and from the Holy Spirit that made a difference like you just said the sermons remained the same, but now there was this cutting edge to it. That’s what we need from the churches, otherwise we’re just going to have the same old buildings with people coming in and staying one hour and going home till next Sunday, but that’s not the faith of the early church, and that’s what we need to return to.

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4. MAKE SUNDAY SCHOOL A HOUSE OF PRAYER

>From: newhope <info@newhopeforyou.org>

>By: John Franklin in The Leader, November, 2000

Why Pray?

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John record the discipleship process Jesus took the disciples through to radically change them. Those 3 ½ years of constant failure, as recorded in the Gospels, quickly gave way to dramatic, positive changes, in Acts. No record exists that the disciples every “blew it” again.

In light of their change, this question has application for your Sunday School ministry if you, too, would see radical transformation: What did Jesus do and what did the disciples learn that caused them to be so wonderfully changed?

Probably the best clue comes from the disciples’ own mouths. By the time the incident in Luke 11:1 was recorded, the disciples had watched Jesus long enough to figure out what was ultimately important and where He drew His spiritual power. Hence the request they made of Him was, “Lord, teach us to pray.”

Isn’t it interesting to consider the requests they bypassed? They could have asked Jesus to heal, cast out demons, teach, or preach; instead, they chose prayer.

And they chose wisely. The power demonstrated through Jesus’ prayer life has been God’s pattern throughout the Bible and throughout history. He has always transformed people—the world itself—through those who have a vibrant prayer life.

Through Moses, who had a strong prayer life, He delivered and led the children of Israel; through Jesus, who modeled prayer; He saved the world; and through Paul, who turned to prayer in many challenging situations, He included the Gentiles.

If you desire discipleship that transforms, you must help your Sunday School leaders and members develop a deeper prayer life.

What Is Your Role in Sunday School Prayer Ministry?

How do you help leaders and members to this end and goal? Before giving any suggestions, I want to raise one red flag. Many people believe that the right methods or programs guarantee success. In reality, the greatest contributing factor to success (on a human level) is understanding your role as a leader who works with God.

Your primary role is to create environments that are conducive to prayer. Correct is the statement that prayer is more often caught than taught. People best catch the importance of prayer when a leader helps create a setting that is conducive to praying. To create that environment you must motivate, build a sense of mission, and constantly renew the need people have to pray:

1. Motivate

People do not do anything unless they first are motivated. In the Bible God always sent leaders to prepare the hearts of the people and get them ready to respond to Him.

Help motivate classes and departments through all means available—for example, testimonies, teachings, and challenges. Especially uplift the expectation that God will answer when His people pray.

2. Build a sense of mission/destiny/purpose

All the great prayer warriors of the Bible had a sense of being on mission with God. They had a purpose bigger than themselves, a destiny to fulfill. Such an understanding guided their praying so that—their prayers were God-centered; their prayers sustained them in discouragement; and their prayers positioned them in such a way that God was more likely to answer. Such a perspective also helped them guard against the tendency to have an inward focus.

3. Renew

When prayer lacks freshness, people fall into a rut and prayer become duty-driven. God does not answer those kinds of passionless prayers. Make sure that classes and departments do not fall into a routine. Always look for fresh ways to help members focus on and actually practice prayer.

Help Leaders Make Practical Application

You can help leaders and members develop their prayer lives in at least three ways.

1. Suggest that specific times for prayer occur during the Bible study session.—For example, suggest that prayer be done at the end of the session. When teachers schedule prayer time in the Bible study group, they model prayer, allow members to “catch” it, and create the opportunity to practice praying.

Offer these considerations to teachers about prayer during class time:

Usually it is best to pray at the end of class because doing so ensures that the lesson is taught and that members hear the Word of God first. Allow approximately five to 10 minutes for prayer.

When taking prayer requests, guard against people’s tendency to talk too much or to share so many requests that no time is left to pray. Appointing a class prayer leader, to whom all requests can be sent as needs arise, helps guide requests. Then this leader or the teacher can generate a list for members’ use during the week.

Vary the format for prayer. One month teachers may ask members to pray in small groups; the next month, as a large group, the next month, for the person on their right or left. Remind leaders that there are different ways to pray—on their knees, standing, using conversational prayer or Scripture. Variety promotes renewal and guards against staleness.

2. Pray with a specific emphasis.—A specific focus through repetition helps members to more readily recognize God’s answers and to remember what they have asked. Also, this type of focused prayer helps create a sense of mission, and can be accomplished in at least two ways: Choose a different focus each month—for the staff, for missions, for the lost, or for a specific ministry. Choose an ongoing, comprehensive approach. For example, the FAITH Sunday School Evangelism Strategy, a LifeWay ministry, mobilizes and encourages praying for the lost in Sunday School classes and provides an excellent platform toward that end.

3. Pray in settings beyond Sunday morning Bible study.—Since Sunday School is not an extended prayer meeting, much of the discipling must occur outside the Sunday morning session. In relationship to prayer, such discipling beyond Sunday morning can occur in a number of ways.

Make sure the leadership team prays in its Sunday School Planning Team meetings and in the general periods of weekly leadership meetings.

The pastor models dependence on prayer by making prayer an integral part of worship services. By involving persons of all ages (including children) in prayer, he says (by example and implication) that all can approach God in prayer. Varying the times and ways in which prayer is used keeps the worship service vibrant and facilitates God’s moving in unexpected ways among His people.

Take advantage of other opportunities to pray. For example, does your church have an intercessory prayer room? Encourage each member to sign up for a time period at least once a month. Explain how the church receives prayer requests, and consider providing a notebook in which answered prayers are indicated. Sometimes such a notebook lists staff members, specific needs, and other opportunities for which to pray.

Encourage Sunday School classes and departments to organize for prayer

ministry. Suggest that each Bible study group’s leadership consider

whether a team or a class leader approach would work best. For assistance,

see the Sunday School for a New Century series and the Adult Class

Administration Kit.**

Ask Sunday School class ministry leaders/teams who are responsible for prayer to generate a different prayer focus every month for prayer for during the week. For example:

One week’s focus could be for each other’s families; another, for specific lost people; and another, for your church body.

Another idea is to create class prayer chains.

Suggest email prayer lists, which can be used during the week, be

generated.

Organize prayer for special events. For example, if your church has a revival coming up, ask members to sign up to pray in home prayer groups before the event.

How you encourage leaders and members to pray is limited only by your imagination, but the idea should be clear: Use all available means, both inside and outside Sunday School classes and departments, to help our members understand and practice prayer.

**Available through LifeWay Christian Stores or by calling LifeWay Church

Resources Customer Service toll free 1-800-458-2772

___________________________________________>>>

5. PRAYERWALKERS: ARE YOU COVERED?

>From: “tim eav” <tim1960@hotmail.com>

i believe it is prudent to send out prayer walkers ONLY after making sure

that there is prayer covering over them and their families. i myself

launched out thinking i was a one man army. i was in for a rude

awakening. thankfully, the Holy Spirit ‘woke me up’ and a potential

tragedy was averted. even to walk by oneself is, in my opinion just fine,

but make sure your not without ‘reinforcements’. Tim

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6. PHOENIX CONCERT OF PRAYER LAUNCHES MINISTRY TO 40,000 ARIZONA INMATES

>From: PrayOSL@aol.com

Operation Starting Line will begin reaching Arizona prisoners in state-wide rallies starting on February 15 and continuing through February 25. Bill Anderson, director of Operation Starting Line in Arizona, says, “We are excited about what Operation Starting Line will do for Arizona prisoners, communities, and families. The track record for faith-based prison programs is good, so we’re expecting a transformation of hearts and lives that will help reduce crime and recidivism rates in Arizona.”

The OSL program in Arizona will begin with approximately 165 upbeat, entertaining events, involving speakers, comedians, singers, and athletes who will reach out to 40,000 or more incarcerated men, women and youth in 53 correctional facilities across the state. Hundreds of local volunteers will follow up the initial events with ongoing educational training and post-prison assistance programs designed to aid inmates with transitioning back into mainstream society.

Thanks to extra effort by Prison Fellowship’s State Director Bill Anderson, Phoenix Prayer Network Coordinator Kathleen Graham, and WorshipNet, Int’l Executive Director Jeff Merry, a first-ever OSL Concert of Prayer was conducted Saturday morning, February 3 in Phoenix, AZ. Gary Bergel, Chair of the OSL Prayer Committee, assisted with planning and was also able to fly in and participate. The Lord graced the area pastors, leaders and devoted group of intercessors with an unusual and refreshing manifestation of His presence. Hal and Cheryl Sacs, Co-Founders of Phoenix-based BridgeBuilders Leadership Network Itn’l collaborated with Kathleen Graham to adapt Dr. David Bryant’s Concert of Prayer materials and produce an OSL Concert of Prayer Training manual. Offer thanksgiving for this successful launch, for the wonderful spirit of collaboration, and ask the Lord to bless all who worked so hard to complete the project.

Prayer Requests:

For the events in each of the Arizona prisons

For those who will do follow up visits and training

The Arizona Department of Corrections may change or cancel any

Operation Starting Line events. Already the DOC has canceled the planned events in one prison, requesting cell-to-cell walk-throughs instead...

Ongoing mentoring programs, including biblical teaching and career and

personal planning

Operation Starting Line, launched last Easter, has conducted more than 280 programs in 119 correctional facilities in five states. During the program’s first year, thousands of volunteers worked with an estimated 96,500 men, women and youth incarcerated in Delaware, Michigan, New York, Missouri and Virginia. You and your local church can get information, free training and be part of this exciting long-term ministry by calling tool-free 1-877-414-4675 (4OSL, by writing Operation Starting Line, PO Box 97253, Washington, DC 20090, or visit Web www.operationstartingline.net.

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7. MARKETPLACE LEADERS CALLED TO NATIONAL PRAYER SUMMIT >From: “Maureen Bravo” <maureenbravo@earthlink.net>

A national prayer summit for marketplace leaders will be held in Orlando, FL, March 23-24, 2001. This is a call for marketplace leaders from around the country to gather for two days of prayer and seeking God’s transforming work in personal lives and businesses.

Church leaders believe that the marketplace is one of the many places that God has historically begun revival that has in turn sparked revival throughout the church. According to Henry Blackaby, author of Experiencing God, “.in the Bible, most of the activity of God that changed society was done in the workplace and not in the church.” The National Marketplace Prayer Summit is being held in response to the marketplace people around the country who are experiencing a renewed sense of God’s call to action in their businesses and workplaces.

The two-day Marketplace Prayer Summit is co-sponsored by several ministries, including Campus Crusade for Christ, International Renewal Ministries, Marketplace Leaders, Mission America, Nehemiah Partners, Prayer Transformation Ministries, and Return on Investment (ROI). All partners are committed to the vision of seeing Christian leaders in the marketplace bring forth their gifts, talents, and resources for God’s Kingdom. Summit organizers say their hope is that during the two days of intensive prayer, participants will feel released, empowered, and affirmed as significant contributors God’s work throughout our nation.

In addition to anticipating a powerful move of God during the prayer summit, leaders also hope that the vision of marketplace prayer will be carried to other cities. As marketplace leaders from around the country gather in Orlando, they will be challenged to target their own cities with a local marketplace prayer summit.

For more information on the National Marketplace Prayer Summit, call

612-278-1717 (John Quam) or 612-278-1719 (Carol Madison), or go to the

website at http://www.lighthousesatwork.org

___________________________________________>>>

8. PALM BEACH, FL: PRAYING FOR FOUR THOUSAND PARENTS >From: “paul radford” <pgradford@hotmail.com>

Jeannie Hochstettler of Palm Beach Youth For Christ asked me to help her

raise up intercessors for a Josh McDowell seminar. I appreciate her

desire to have more prayer for the event ... Paul Radford

The Palm Beach county (Florida) Youth for Christ is asking for intercessors to assist them by earnestly praying for a Josh McDowell seminar for parents and a leadership briefing which is equally as important as the parent’s seminar. The leadership briefing is on February 20^th And two three-hour seminars for parents will be held on March 31^st. Four thousand parents are expected to attend the seminars, many of them unsaved. Pray also for diligence, patience, and wisdom for the organizing committee. Please ask the Lord to raise up trained small group leaders in many churches who will be able to assimilate the parents who desire further help.

For more information, call Jeannie at 561 686 0124

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9. WORDS TO SERVE BY...

>From: “newlife” <newlife@breathemail.net>

Work like you don’t need the money.

Love like you’ve never been hurt.

Dance like nobody’s watching.

Sing like nobody’s listening.

Live like it’s Heaven on Earth.

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10. CRY OUT FOR OUTCRY

>From: Jeremy Story <campusrenewal@xc.org>

Things are going very well. We now have 5 main originating sites confirmed on 5 continents. Tons of receiving sites have already signed up. This means thousands of students across the world will unite to pray live via satellite on April 7^th. It will be historic for the world. Please check out the web site for more info or to sign up a new participating site at http://www.outcrynow.org We need to circle the wagons, pray, and act in any way we can on the following key issues:

1. In the next 5-6 weeks $350,000 is needed to be raised. Please pray for this to come in. We need it to make this all possible. Please give or tell others to give if applicable to your situation. Anyone can contact us or donate on the website. Please pray for this provision.

2. Many of the key leaders for Outcry have been under spiritual attack.

Our main broadcast producer’s entire family has gotten sick(each with a different illness???) and his computer with much of the data he was working on crashed. Several of our Executive Committee members have also gotten sick or been under other random attack. Pray for protection.

3. Please pray for the main uplink sites as they organize details, the sites are:

La Paz, Bolivia -- Burundi, Africa

Fayetteville, Arkansas -- Manilla, Philippines

Chichester, England

Blessings, I know that informed prayer will make all the difference in

this effort, Jeremy Story, President, Campus Renewal Ministries

http://www.campusrenewal.org

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11. PRAY FLORIDA: STATEWIDE PRAYERWALK

>From: Charisma News Service <webmaster@strang.com>

An ambitious effort to prayer walk the “length and width” of each state

hits the road this weekend in Florida. Organizers say that the “Pray

Florida” effort—to be followed by similar projects across the country

· is “to pray and speak life to the state.”

“It’s not a time for carrying placards concerning abortion, nor is it a time to advertise churches or ministries,” said Diane Bucker, a coordinator for the Strategic Prayer Network. “It’s a time to speak the name of Jesus Christ and release the word of God. Genesis 13:17 says, ‘Walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.’ And we believe that.”

SPN is working with John Halvorsen, a former pastor who completed a prayer walk across America in 1999, to coordinate prayer walks in each state. “Pray Florida” kicked off last night with a rally at Antioch Worship Center in Oakland, Fla. A week long, 24-hour time of worship and intercession also started at the church. The month long prayer walk starts Saturday from Key West, the southernmost point of Florida. Bucker said about 50 prayer teams will walk and drive 15-mile increments through north-south and east-west sections of Florida. The teams are comprised of groups of intercessors from about 125 churches, representing many denominations.

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12. NATIONAL MARKETPLACE PRAYER SUMMIT

>From: “Maureen Bravo” <maureenbravo@earthlink.net>

We are excited to announce to you that the first National Marketplace Prayer Summit will be held here in Orlando on March 23^rd and 24^th. It’s format is comparable to the well known Pastors Prayer Summits, and it calls together and involves Marketplace Ministry leaders, business leaders, and pastors from across the nation.

For two days, you will be steeped in prayer. As we pray for those in attendance, we will also be standing on behalf of those in the marketplace across this nation...the ones who are the “kings”... who have been entrusted with the finances which keep the work of the kingdom going!

Come and join us for this first ever marketplace prayer conference...it is not about coming to hear well known people, although many will attend...it is about us seeking God corporately and hearing His direction... economically, for our personal futures, and that of our nation, states,cities.

NOTE: the only BIG name we promise will attend is GOD; HE has agreed to show up ... and be heard! (He has assured me that He will not cancel out!)

I have asked the organizers to save at least 30 of the 300 slots for our local Central Florida businessmen. I hope you will fill one of them. For details please go to http://www.lighthousesatwork.org or contact me personally at my office 407-332-7286.

Don’t miss it! This will be a memorable experience ... it just may prove to be life changing!If any of you reading this want to just get away and ake a mini-retreat of this, hotel reservations can be made by calling 800-20-OASIS. You can register for the prayer summit by calling 612-278-1717 or going onto the website listed above.

The Intercessory Prayer Network of Central Florida will be handling the on-site prayer covering for those who attend. We are asking that this will be just the first of many such national conferences drawing in and praying for one of our most precious assets, the selfless, supportive business men and women in the Body of Christ.

I want to pray for you right now...either way you decide. Thank you for being a marketplace leader and gift to us all.

May the Lord bless you indeed, with His grace and favor so that you can well represent Him as you move among your fellow men and women... May He extend your boundaries, borders, spheres of influence, and territory both here and throughout the world... May His powerful, grace-filled hand be upon you, to guide, inspire, comfort, and correct you at every moment...May He keep you safe from every harm and release His angels to accompany you along the way, to guard and protect you from all evil... And may He keep you free from pain, and prevent you from ever causing pain to anyone else. Amen.

(Maureen’s paraphrase of the prayer of Jabez...found in I Chron 4: 9-10)

If you plan to come and have any particular business related prayer

requests, please e-mail those to me so we can be praying for you ahead of

time. Thanks. Hope to see you there... Blessings and love, Maureen

___________________________________________>>>

13. NATIONAL CHILDREN’S PRAYER CONGRESS

>From: “ncpn Story” <ncpn2000@hotmail.com>

The National Children’s Prayer Congress will convene April 30 through May 2, 2001. The children who attend will represent Christian schools, Sunday schools, homeschools, and families from across the United States. If you wish to participate please contact me at ncpn2000@hotmail.com. For more information check our website: http://www.childrensprayernet.org.

The National Children’s Prayer Network has dedicated the Year 2001 Children’s Prayer Congress to answer our President’s call to raise up young people who are responsible citizens, willing to serve our nation with prayer and courageous action.

As we look at the servant ministry of Jesus Christ, the children will be inspired to follow in His footsteps. History makers are ordinary people who have put their trust in God and are willing to walk in obedience to His Word. History makers are those who as our President so aptly stated, “seek a common good beyond their comfort.” History makers are those who love God and their neighbor and are willing to reach out to those in need, share their unselfish prayers, and give whatever is in their hand. Following again the encouragement of our President, “Many in our country do not know the pain of poverty, but we can listen to those who do. And I can pledge our nation to a goal: When we see the wounded traveler on the road to Jericho, we will not pass to the other side.”

I want to encourage your family/church/school to attend the National Children’s Prayer Congress. In doing so, your children will be challenged to use their gifts, talents, and prayers to serve our nation and further the Kingdom of God. They will leave knowing that they can be everything God wants them to be, right now.

I look forward to hearing from you soon,

Mrs. Lin Story, National Children’s Prayer Congress

Post Office Box 9683; Washington, DC 20016

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14. AN OLD BUT FRESH LOOK AT THE LORD’S PRAYER >From: “Crosswalk.com” <newsletters@crosswalk.com>

>By Don Yang

Lord’s Prayer is petition for Christlikeness, lecturer says

FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)--While the Lord’s Prayer says much about Christians’ attitude toward God, early Christian theologians believed the prayer said much about Christians’ attitudes toward themselves and each other, this year’s Day-Higginbotham lecturer said at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Following the opening address of “the most perfect of all prayers,” three petitions focus on the “glory of the Father through the sanctification of his name, through the coming of his kingdom and the doing of his will,” said Peter Toon, executive president of the Prayer Book Society of the Episcopal Church.

The three petitions ask for “both present sanctification and for the speedy coming of the end” and for Christians to “become more Christlike,” Toon said.

Toon made his comments during his lecture series on the debates of 17^th-century Baptists and other dissenters regarding the Lord’s Prayer and the prayer’s implications for public worship and on private devotion today.

In his Feb. 8 lecture during chapel at the Fort Worth, Texas, seminary, Toon drew from commentary by Augustine and John Chrysostom as he discussed the opening lines of the Lord’s Prayer.

In the prayer’s opening address, “Our Father,” Toon said, the “our” is not about possession of the Father but about a new relation with the Father through Jesus Christ.

“Jesus the incarnate Son is the Son of God by nature and by right, and we mere mortals are sons of God only by adoption and grace,” Toon said.

Toon added that the pronoun emphasizes the new relationship between Christians as God’s family.

“Even when I pray alone I am praying to ‘Our Father,’ for I do not have a relation to God which is that of an individual to an individual,” but as one who is in a personal relation to fellow children of God, Toon said.

Toon referred to Chrysostom, who explained that Jesus teaches Christians to make their prayers common, because Jesus did not say, “My Father,” but “Our Father.”

Common prayer takes away hatred, quells pride, casts out envy and exterminates the inequality of human beings, Toon said.

Quoting Augustine’s instructions to Christians preparing to be baptized, Toon said, “You have begun to belong to a great family. Under this Father, the lord and the slave are brethren. Under this Father, the general and the common soldier are brethren. Under this Father, the rich and the poor are brethren.”

The second phrase, “which art in heaven,” Toon said, indicates God’s abode.

“God the Father is not an inhabitant of this world, and he does not live in space and time as if he were like us,” Toon said. “He is above the creation and outside space and time. His abode is ‘the heaven of heavens.’”

The early church fathers, Toon continued, pointed out that the phrase “which art in heaven” also refers to the souls of the faithful.

Heaven has become Christians’ true home, Toon said, for “heaven is the abode of the redeemed family of God as well as the holy angels.”

While Christians are headed for heaven, Toon said, in some respects they are already there.

“In Christ, [Christians] are actually in heaven. Their citizenship is in heaven. They are seated with Christ in the heavenlies, and God, the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, dwells within them as in his temple, “ Toon said.

He noted that Augustine wrote that God is in the hearts of the righteous, and the fathers believed “heaven” also refers to those who bear the image of the heavenly world.

“Hallowed be thy name” seems to be an expression of praise but in reality is a “petition which is a desire and expectation embracing God and man,” Toon said.

This first of three petitions, he said, is a “genuine, prayerful desire that draws believing, adopted children into God’s purpose and plan.”

Augustine taught that this petition is for Christians and not for God, Toon said. Christians do not wish well to God to whom no ill can ever happen, Augustine believed. Instead, Christians should wish that God’s name, which is always holy, would be hallowed in them.

Chrysostom in his exposition of Matthew, Toon said, emphasized that “hallowed” means “glorified” and God’s children are to glorify their Father and his name by the quality and purity of their Christian lives. Chrysostom repeated the words of Jesus:

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father, which is in heaven.”

Of the second petition “thy kingdom come,” Toon cited Chrysostom’s comments that it means to long for the things to come, and this longing springs out of a good conscience and soul set free from the things that are upon the earth.

“[The kingdom] has obviously not yet come in its fullness. We actually live in an evil age in mortal bodies affected by sin,” Toon said.

However, he continued, God’s future kingdom will be “the new creation in splendor, full of righteousness and free of all evil and sin and imperfection.”

Only goodness, beauty, glory and peace will be in God’s kingdom, Toon said, and this kingdom will surely come, even without Christian petitions.

Augustine likewise, Toon said, believed that Christians pray this petition for themselves and not for God, because his reign is not dependent on our prayers.

The third petition, “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” is for Christians as well, and not God, who is sovereign and possesses the power to accomplish his plans, Toon said.

The meaning of this petition, according to Augustine, Toon said, “is that may [his will] be done in me, that I may not resist Thy will, for the will of God will be done in thee though it may not be done by thee.”

“In other words, make sure that in your cooperating with the divine grace that the will of God is done by thee, rather than merely in thee,” Toon said.

Chrysostom observed, Toon said, that the petition is not “thy will be done in me or in us,” but that God’s will be done everywhere in the “earth” so that error may be destroyed, truth implanted, all wickedness cast out, virtue returned and no difference in this respect henceforth between heaven and earth.

The Day-Higginbotham Lectures were established in 1965 in honor of Paul Higginbotham, a Fort Worth businessman, and Mr. and Mrs. Riley Day, parents of Mrs. Edwin Reardon III, who established the fund. The lectures are presented annually by a scholar in a theologically related discipline or current interest.

The Baptist Press email service is a cooperative effort between Baptist Press and Crosswalk.com. Visit Baptist Press on the web at http://www.BaptistPress.org/ Copyright © 2000 Crosswalk.com, Inc. and its Content Providers. All rights reserved.

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