A Practical Plan for Prayer

Dr. Craig Brandick

Our Sunday School class is studying Paul’s priorities in prayer using DA Carson’s book, A Call to Spiritual Reformation. This last week we studied “Lessons from the School of Prayer,” one point of which was to develop a system for your prayer lists. When we consider the number of things for which we have to pray, the thought of covering them all with any sense of urgency—rather than just reading the list to God—may seem overwhelming. The plan below is adapted from that which was given to me all those years ago by Dr. Dale Linebaugh in Christian Life and Witness class at the Bible college that Liz and I attended. It is offered here as a guide that may help you organize your prayers as well as a few ideas for how to pray. The “STEP IN” part was given to me by a former missionary to the Ivory Coast who also taught at the college.

The plan is quite simple, there are things for which I pray daily—my immediate family, urgent prayer requests, and—always leaving room for the Spirit of God to work—things that God may press upon my heart in my time of communion with Him. Then, in addition to my daily prayers, I have a list for each day of the week. Now, of course, if we get an urgent request on Wednesday for a Missionary we should not wait until the next week to pray. You may still pray for anything that is anywhere on the list on a daily, or even hourly, basis. The plan is to assist us in our prayers—not to bind us. I do hope that you find this to be a help.

Practical Prayer Plan

Daily Prayer: Always include confession of sin, and the giving of thanks and praise.

1. That I would be filled with the Holy Spirit in submission to God’s will.

2. That I would be sensitive to sin.

3. That I would have opportunities for evangelism.

4. Immediate and pressing needs of any kind.

5. My immediate family:

· That they would worship and serve God in reverent fear, in purity, in spirit and in truth.

· That they would have an unshakeable faith in the Word of God.

· That they would grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ.

· That God would grant their prayer requests according to his will.

Monday: Praying for other Family Members

1. That they would worship and serve God in reverent fear, in purity, in spirit and in truth.

2. That they would have an unshakeable faith in the Word of God.

3. That God would grant their prayer requests according to His will.

4. That God would grant faith and repentance to those who are lost.

Tuesday: Praying for Missionaries and Evangelists. STEP IN for them.

1. For their Spiritual growth

2. For their Travel.

3. For their Emotional needs.

4. For their Physical needs.

5. For their Interpersonal relationships.

6. For their Nurturing.

Wednesday: Praying for our Government

Thursday: Praying for Friends

Friday: Praying for my Church

1. STEP IN for the pastoral staff.

2. For Christ to be welcome in every area; that he would be pleased with the church.

3. Areas of discipline.

4. The needs provided in the weekly prayer bulletin.

Saturday: A Day of Praise and Thanksgiving

Grace Unmeasured

The past few weeks I have been practicing this song to sing in my church up here. I first heard it at Northland and have grown to love it. God's amazing grace has set me free. It is unmerited favor that makes me want to be like Christ. Hopefully over Christmas break I will be able to share this song because the words and the music are so God-glorifying.

Grace unmeasured, vast and free
That knew me from eternity
That called me out before my birth
To bring You glory on this earth
Grace amazing, pure and deep
That saw me in my misery
That took my curse and owned my blame
So I could bear Your righteous name

Grace paid for my sins
And brought me to life
Grace clothes me with power
To do what is right
Grace will lead me to heaven
Where I’ll see Your face
And never cease
To thank You for Your grace

Grace abounding, strong and true
That makes me long to be like You
That turns me from my selfish pride
To love the cross on which You died
Grace unending all my days
You’ll give me strength to run this race
And when my years on earth are through
The praise will all belong to You

Happy Veteran's Day

by Dr. Craig Brandick

Today is the day that we honor those who have served in our military. And with Veteran’s Day in mind I would like to share with you the lesson that I gave to the Master’s Club children on Wednesday night. As we show how the Bible sometimes describes Christians as soldiers serving Christ.

Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among  many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

Second Timothy 2:1-4

Sometimes God’s Word describes Christians as soldiers in the service of Jesus Christ. Let’s look at how the Bible does this. First we see that:

A good soldier endures hardness.

“Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” (vs. 3)

We have a picture there of a group of soldiers in a foxhole. And look at all the mud. One thing I know about mud is that it is wet, and cold, and sticky, and heavy, and it is usually raining a cold wet heavy rain and your clothes get all wet and heavy. And it just tires you out. Sometimes soldiers can go days on end living like this.

• Sometimes God calls us to hard places. I have friends who are missionaries in some pretty bad parts of the world. There are places where there is mud like this, there are places that have snakes and wild animals that could hurt you. Some of the places are very cold all the time, some of the places are very hot all the time.

• Sometimes God calls us to hard people. In a lot of those places, people just do not want to hear about Jesus. In fact some of them will even put you in jail for mentioning his name. But even here in America you may know friends or family members who treat you differently or even badly because you are a Christian. God told us that this might happen.

• Sometimes God calls us to hard problems. As a Christian you may face temptations and trouble yourself. Or maybe God will put someone in your path that is having a hard time. One of the great joys that you may have is to help people with their problems by pointing them to Jesus and telling them what they need to do from the Bible.

So, what does a good soldier do? A good soldier endures hardness.

The Bible also tells us that:

A good soldier is focused on his duty.

“No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life…” (vs. 4a)

Here is a picture of a British Guard at Buckingham Palace. His job is to protect the Queen of England. Now these guys are very focused. In fact, they stand at attention very straight, and very still, so much so that you wonder if they are even alive, or if they are statues. When Mrs. Brandick was a little girl, she went over to England and saw these soldiers. And she—like a lot of people—made faces at them, tried to get them to laugh, or to smile, or to say something. Sometimes people will tease them to get them to look away. But they can never get them to do anything. They just stand there and do their duty. Because a good soldier is focused on his duty. Now what is that? Well, when I was in the service one of the main duties that we were taught was to receive, obey and pass on to others the orders that we received.

• A soldier’s duty is to obey and pass the orders he received to others. And that was what Paul was telling Timothy.

• Paul told Timothy that he should take the things that he had learned from Paul and pass them on to others as well. He told Timothy, don’t lose your focus or get distracted. Don’t get so busy in other things that you forget what you are supposed to do. Sometimes we get busy in other things as well. Maybe it is with the internet, or video games, or books, or playing with friends. Maybe it is with others trying to get your attention. Timothy was to make sure that he did not get so busy in other things that he forgot to share with others the things he had learned about Jesus.

So, A good soldier—does what?-- A good soldier endures hardness. And a good soldier is focused on his duty. Now why does he do that?

A good soldier wants to please his leader.

“…that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” (vs. 4b)

• A leader teaches others to be just like him. When you are a soldier, your commanding officer teaches you how to think like a soldier, and act like a soldier, to do what a soldier does, and to go where soldiers go. And that is the very same thing that the leader does. So he teaches soldiers to be just like him.

• As good soldiers for Christ, our goal in life should be to please God.

• We please God by being like his Son Jesus. God wants us to be just like Jesus in everything that we do. When we are at school, when we are at home, when we are with our friends, when we are alone. We are to think like Jesus, act like Jesus, do what Jesus would do, and go where Jesus would go. And when we do this we please God.

So what do good soldiers do? A good soldier endures hardness. A good soldier is focused on his duty, and a good soldier wants to please his Leader.

The Special Treasures in Life (Part 2 of 4)

The Treasures of Family - by Karen Finn

Webster’s Dictionary defines family as “a group of people connected by blood or marriage and sharing common ancestry,” or “a group or class of like things”. In Old Testament times, family represented a larger body than what we’ve come to define as a family unit. Persons related by blood, marriage, slave-ship and animals (yes, animals!) were considered family, if all resided in the same household.

Your parents, siblings, and extended family members…all are hand-picked by God. We don’t get a choice on the family we are born into, do we? But, make no mistake; your lineage was divinely ordained of the Lord. Ultimately, being born again into His family is the most cherished position of all!

Recently, I observed a number of scenarios which made me

think of the significance of family:

• an elderly man tenderly caring for his wife of sixty years, who is mentally impaired by Alzheimer’s disease.

• a young man, competing in an important athletic competition, encouraged by an audience of loved ones, grandparents and siblings.

• a young mother, preparing for the birth of her second child in a few weeks, eagerly anticipates the arrival of a new family member.

• a teenage girl saying her final farewell to a beloved grandfather, four months after the loss of her father.

Each of these situations shows the depth and demonstration of familial love, the uniqueness of its bond. Many of the challenges and changes that we face are more manageable with the assistance of another human being. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 stresses the benefits and blessings of not being alone: “Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.”

When the Holy Spirit is present in our interactions, there exists a supernatural support system. The common thread of Christianity works in our spirits, cementing us in unity and faith. Verse 12 of the same chapter states an additional claim of strength with this statement: “And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” Our very

best relationships should include the security and stronghold of

God’s Holy Spirit.

The values and traditions we uphold in adulthood are usually instilled in the formative years of childhood. Our well-being rests upon the very foundation of a family unit. It’s a place of nurture, instruction and discipline, where memories are made and motives are pure. Life’s lessons on dealing with conflict, cooperation and management can be attributed to the experiences and time shared with family members. It takes only one to carry on a legacy…

As the Thanksgiving season approaches, allow thankfulness to abound in your heart, giving praise to God for a most wondrous treasure—that of family!

Is Jesus Your Everything?

by Nick Fox

Is Jesus your everything? Or do you put your confidence in your past and all the things that you have done thinking that that will please God?

Paul was one man that had the ability to boast in his past. Paul had done so many great things in the eyes of men. Paul had obeyed all the ritual traditions as a Jew. He was a Hebrew of Hebrews and a Pharisee. He persecuted the church and kept the Law fully. In all these things though Paul counted all this as loss compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ.

He uses the idea of loss and gain in terms of banking. All those things that Paul thought had value in his life were actually worthless compared to Christ. Really if you want to think about it, it wasn’t just worthless, but it had negative value. Paul lost all things that were close to him in order for him to gain Christ. He wanted to be close to God and to know God.

Paul describes his past as “rubbish”. This is the only time this word occurs in the New Testament and it has the idea of worthlessness or filth. Paul wanted to distant himself from his past knowing that he can gain Christ. He can be close to Christ. He can be like Christ.

Righteousness cannot come from the Law. The Law condemns us of our sin. Many Christians start to think in their mind that God is righteous towards them because of what they have done. We have done nothing that can make us righteous in God’s eyes. Our righteousness can only come through faith in Christ.

Do you know Christ? I sure don’t. Paul wanted to know Christ. I need to know Christ. The power of his resurrection is that God uses the very same power that he used to raise Christ from the dead is now being used in our lives daily. All of the problems that you are going through that you have no power to control...Christ has power to control it.

We have the ability to suffer with Christ. This seems like a crazy idea for us in our western culture. Did you know that Paul had joy in his sufferings? He was in prison while writing this book and this book has a huge theme of joy. We can share in Christ’s sufferings.

Do you consider all of your glories to be loss and the knowledge of Christ as gain? Is Jesus your everything?