Can you believe that 2016 is more than halfway done already? It is crazy how quickly time flies. Since the start of this year, Jesus has done so many amazing things in our church and community, and God has answered so many of our prayers. As a church, we have been so blessed to see Him do so many wonderful things this year already, and I want us to remember that it all started with us praying…
We started this year doing a series on Prayer at our Sunday services and learning together about what God has to say about prayer. (Listen HERE) Our church family joined together in our 30for30 challenge to spend 30 minutes in prayer for 30 days. This was a tremendous time of growth and unity for us as a church body. It was also at this time that we began to fast and pray every first Wednesday of the month. And God worked in our hearts and prayers were answered!
But as time goes on, it becomes easy to forget and lose passion. We tend to forget that the blessing we are experiencing now are because of the spiritual discipline we applied earlier. And I don’t want that to happen. I want us to finish our year in a season of prayer! I want us to continue to pray and encourage all of us to keep going to God in prayer.
I am sharing a few ideas for you to consider as you seek Jesus through prayer. In order to keep our prayer life from growing stale, it can be helpful to keep things fresh by praying in new spaces and ways. This is, of course, not a comprehensive list, but I am hoping that you can implement a few of these to reignite your prayer life right now. Let’s remember to practice this important spiritual discipline of prayer as we finish out 2016 together!
Remembering that we are talking to a real person in prayer is important. So, I sometimes pray out loud to make sure I understand I am talking with a person. Speaking my words out loud also allows me to hear the thoughts of my heart which can be helpful.
Schedule times to pray in your calendar so it doesn’t get forgotten! This is one part of planning to pray. Another way to do this is to pray for things strategically. Make certain categories to cover in your prayer time. Create a prayer journal where you can write down specific prayer requests and ideas that you want to cover. This also can be encouraging when you see your prayers answered over time.
Often times, I get side tracked with ideas that pop in my mind as I pray, so having a pen and paper by my side can help me from being distracted. As the idea comes I can write it down quickly and continue to pray.
I am all for kneeling while praying, but I don’t think it is the only way to pray. I find it helpful to pray while walking so my mind and body are active and I don’t fall asleep while talking to God.
Scripture points me to Jesus, gives me great truth about God and softens my heart towards God. Reading and praying through Scripture can give us inspiration and direction, and it also allows us to align our prayers with God’s will.
Take extra time to pray. We all seem to be busy, so a great way to make some extra time to pray is skipping a meal. Use this time that you would be eating to fast and come before God in prayer.
God gives a supernatural gift to some of us to be able to pray to Him in a different language. We are able to ask God for this gift, and if He decides to impart this to us we can cry out to Him in a very special way. If you have this gift, don’t neglect it!
So many times we allow our sin to get in the way of praying to God. The Bible tells us that we are able to repent and ask God for forgiveness. Repenting and having this pure heart before the Lord helps us to commune with Him.
Being in certain environments that inspire you can really help you. Whether that be in nature, in a really cool space, or a special corner of your house where you won’t be distracted. For example, I love the ocean and it is very help for me to pray at the beach because it makes me more aware of God’s power and might.
Having worship music playing on in the background can create a great atmosphere and can even help you sing to God during your prayer times!
Last week we covered the need for personal evangelism. There are many people who are unwilling to come to Jesus themselves, and so we must bring Jesus to them in hope that they will accept His Gospel.
We ended with the question "Who do you know of that needs Jesus, but is unwilling to come to Him, but you can bring Jesus to them?"
And now, here are four practical steps you can take in order to be more effective in personal evangelism:
All of scripture was written for our reproof, correction, training in righteousness, and so that we may be equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:17). Jesus also told us that every part of the Bible was written in order to teach us about Him and draw us to Himself so that we might have life (John 5:39). These verses tell us that if we are to be effective not only in our own walk with Jesus, but also in bringing others to Him, then we should be studying His Word and be immersing ourselves in its truth. By actively reading and studying the Bible you will be better equipped to share Jesus with others, because you will be filled with Him yourself.
One of the greatest failures we can have is praying for others, while forgetting our own need. We should be going to God with our lack of faith, lack of boldness, and lack of sight to see opportunities all around us. By asking God to help us be sensitive to His Spirit and His guiding in our everyday lives, we will find ourselves in more opportunities to share His Gospel then ever before.
By praying for those who don’t know Jesus we are accomplishing three things:
We don’t get to decide who will receive Jesus’ grace, but we can choose who we will bring Jesus to. As vague as it is, this is surprisingly more freeing than you’d expect at first glance. Rather than having a set description of the words to say, or the situations in which you can evangelize to someone, you get to simply be like Jesus to those around you.
A great way to think about this is the old school “WWJD” or “What Would Jesus Do?”
Another way to look at this is to imagine that you are in Bible times and you’re walking around with Jesus. Who would He talk to? Who would He reach out to? How would He do it?
Here’s some ideas of things you can do to proactively reach out to people with the love of Jesus:
There are so many specific ways we can reach out to others in personal evangelism, but there’s one thing that stays the same: It’s personal. We cannot do personal evangelism as we are called to without getting into the nitty gritty of everyday life with others. This can, and will, be painful at times - but it’s always worth it.
So the questions we should be asking ourselves now are:
Maybe you haven’t been doing these things. But you can today.
“It’s never the wrong time to do the right thing."
So let’s go bring Jesus to everyone we see with today.
I’ve written recently about “evangelism through invitation” which you can read at THIS LINK. Its purpose was to remind us that one of the best things we can do is simply invite people to church. Sometimes that’s labeled as the easy way out, or a lazy cop out, but it is actually an effective tool in day-to-day evangelism.
Just as important as inviting people to a Sunday service, however, we need to make sure that we are actively being the hands and feet of Jesus through what is often called “personal evangelism.” Although inviting someone to a Sunday service can be very effective, some people just aren’t willing or ready to come to Jesus, and so we need to bring Jesus to them.
Personal evangelism can be daunting.
Everything rests on what YOU do and say - or so it feels.
But it’s not up to you to save people.
I think believing the lie that it’s all up to us is what keeps most people from sharing the Gospel. So many of us are petrified because we feel like it’s such a weighty subject (as it is) and that we can’t possibly present it well enough to see someone accept it.
And maybe we're right.
But we don’t have to be good enough to offer Jesus to people.
There are many tactics, phrases, and methods with which to approach people about the subject of Jesus and His Gospel, but what is most important is that you simply bring Jesus to that person.
A great example of this is found in Luke 8:40-42, 49-56. Jairus came to Jesus because his daughter was dying. In a moment of panic and desperation, he asked Jesus to come and heal his daughter. Before Jesus gets there, Jarius’s daughter dies. However, with a faith that continued to ask “what if”, Jarius has Jesus still come to his house and Jesus raises his daughter from the dead.
What we can learn from this is that it doesn’t matter how eloquent we are, how tactful we can be, or how much we practice. Ultimately, we need the power of Jesus to come to a person’s heart and life and raise them from spiritual death, and into life through His Gospel.
Just like Jarius’ daughter needed physical healing, people need Jesus to raise them from spiritual death and into life with Him, but so many are unwilling or unable to come to Him. So like Jarius, we must take Him to them.
Next week’s post will cover four practical steps you can take in order to be more effective in personal evangelism. For now, consider:
Who do you know of that needs Jesus, but is unwilling to come to Him, but you can bring Jesus to them?
Evil has become overwhelming….
I don’t like to watch the news anymore because it is everywhere….EVIL. It seems like every week now in the national news there is something to be discouraged about in this broken world. So I tend to want to ignore it all, run away from it all and just turn off the tv, but evil still affects me and my life. We all know that evil and sin doesn’t just express itself in the national news but also in our own communities and personal lives. It causes us pain even when we try to run and ignore it. It seems like we can’t escape evil, and it has become overwhelming.
And I don’t think that I am alone in struggling with all of this pain in the world. As I talk with people in my community, I get the sense that evil has become overwhelming to all of us, and many are losing hope. We all are dealing with sin, pain, suffering and evil every day whether we want to or not. But there is something we can do about it…turn to Jesus! We don’t have to hide or ignore the pain we are going through. We can turn to the God of comfort and receive His grace, peace, love and hope.
Jesus tells us in John 16:33, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” We can trust that Jesus will make every wrong right and has conquered sin and death on the cross! His grace is available to bring hope to all who receive Him as Lord and Savior. “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” -1 John 5:4. Many people are asking what am I to do with all of this evil around me? The answer is have faith in Jesus! To receive His grace and love. Not to ignore evil but overcome it with good.
A verse that has been encouraging me during this season of tragedies throughout the world has been Romans 12:21 which says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
I have been reminded that even during the darkest hours of this world, I can actually do something that will make a difference in my life and in the lives of others. I can put my hope in Jesus and have His Spirit help me bring hope to this world by doing good. The Bible reminds us that we can do something in these evil times…we can LOVE. We can love God and love others.
We are told as followers of Jesus not to run away from darkness but to do good and be His light. Jesus prayed for us to make a difference in the world and told us do good works. He told us as we to do good works before men that they will glorify our Father in Heaven (Matt 5:16). Jesus doesn’t want us to be overwhelmed with evil or just simply to ignore the evil in the world but to face it head on with love. Jesus taught us to love all people, all the time…and this love really does make a difference.
So what good can we practically do today when we are overwhelmed by all of the pain and tragedy around us? I think the answer is to LOVE. Love is the good work we are to do as followers of Jesus (1 Cor 13:1-3).
So, ask God how you can love others around you right where you are. Who can you be praying for? One of the greatest ways we can impact those we love and those we struggle to love is through prayer. We need to be on our knees interceding for people daily, allowing the love of Jesus to change our hearts and move in our world. Remember to be sharing the Gospel with those around you! More than ever, people are searching for HOPE, and as followers of Jesus, we can share His love by spreading the victory He gives us in a broken world and the love He has for the lost and hurting. And search for opportunities to love people practically by serving them. No matter who you are or where you live, there are people around you in need of someone to show them the love of Jesus by serving them. We have the opportunity to BE the hands and feet of Jesus to people in a very distressing time.
As evil increases throughout the world, our practice of simply loving God and people will shine brighter than ever. Don’t underestimate these simple ways to express love to people. May we be sensitive to listening to Jesus as He guides and directs us. May we love God and one another well and not become overwhelmed because we know the One who OVERCOMES.
I’ve noticed a pattern in my heart and in my prayers.
A reaching back.
A trying to recapture the past.
A spiritual discontent that glamorizes the past.
That time when I was reading God’s Word everyday.
Those months where I prayed faithfully every morning.
The season when I read God’s Word in little chunks all day.
That point in time when I was always singing and worshiping.
Those times when it was better…when I was better.
And over again I find myself reaching into the past to shame my present. Whatever I’m doing now to seek God and know Him, isn’t good enough, because I could be, should be, doing this too and that as well…after all, I did them then.
But in the midst of one of these self-deprecating internal monologs, I realized…
I don’t want to go back to those days. Because in those days I was immature in that one way and God hadn’t yet started working on me in that other way and I was so naive in those areas too...
And I shouldn’t want to go backwards spiritually! Because however glorious that time and season was, however rich my devotional or prayer life, God has grown me so much since then.
I don’t want to go back to that season, I want to go forward into a new season.
I want to go forward into the new seasons and times God has for me.
I want to grow more in my discipline to seek relationship with God.
I want to go forward with God.
I want more of God's Spirit in me.
I want to strain ahead into the things God has for me, deepening my love for Him as I go.
I don't want to go back to how things were, I want to to go forward into more. I want to go forward into deeper with God. I want to go forward into new and settled and deeper and higher and hard and good.
Because if moving into the future is not drawing me closer to God, is not drawing me deeper into relationship with Him, and is not pushing me forward in serving and loving His people, then something is seriously wrong.
I want the days and years of my life to add up to growth and forward motion. But that will never happen if I spend my time pining for the past.
I want to go forward in my walk with God. I want more of Him working and in through me. And that will never be found by reaching back.
So I'm learning to be thankful for what has passed in my life, to learn from it, the good and the bad, and yet to point my eyes and heart forward.
Be blessed.
To minister to someone literally means to “attend to the needs of [a person]”. It’s not an office held by the few, but rather a call for Christian’s everywhere to serve and love as Jesus has loved us.
Sometimes we get a glorified version of what being a “minister of the Gospel” really is. We can imagine it as having great status or power. Or we can imagine getting a great response from people: that they’ll change tomorrow, turn over a new leaf, follow God with all their heart and never turn back.
Instead, it's a process. There’s a timetable of events in God’s plan and allowance, that doesn’t match up with ours. We desire to see outward change TODAY, while God desires change in people from the INSIDE out - which usually takes time. God’s time table works as those we minister to continue to grow, oftentimes slowly, and with set-backs along the way. But eventually we look back and see a great distance of change.
We are called to “ministry” not to a “change factory”. We are called to love people like Jesus did and to offer them the life giving power of His Gospel and Spirit, but it’s up to them to accept it. That acceptance is usually built up over time.
We can get discouraged when we haven’t seen someone for 6 months and wonder where they are. We can sometimes get even more discouraged when we see them again, because we wonder if they’ll actually stay this time. We can get discouraged as we wonder if God will ever truly change their heart and bring them into a steady relationship with Himself. But this isn’t our position of authority or responsibility. We are called to love, not to save. Only Jesus is Savior, and it’s best for us to remember this.
People will come and go in our lives, for good and bad reasons, but know that your job, as a Christian, is simple: “attend to the needs of… whoever.”
We have a holy calling as Christians to love everyone we can with the love God has given us: regardless of how they respond, and regardless of where they end up.
So let us not forget, lest we give up: We are in this for the long haul.
Gospel Communities are the heart of Anchor Church as we share our lives together throughout the week. In this post, Bryan Henderson explores what it looks like to serve our city as a family of missionaries.
As we seek to live as a family of missionaries, it is essential to have clarity about who we are reaching out to. We need gospel vision to see the opportunities God has put before us.
To help us identify this, we have asked each of our Gospel Communities to ask two questions.
1. Who are the people that God has placed before us?
God has already put people in our lives—friends, family, coworkers, that are part of the everyday rhythms of our lives.
How can we be more intentional in these relationships to move people from friends to disciples?
One way is by serving them. As we practically bless our friends, we demonstrate the love of God and live such phenomenal lives that it demands an explanation.
2. What are the needs of our local community?
When God sent Israel into exile in Babylon, he instructed them to seek the welfare of that city, because in its welfare they too would find their own welfare (Jeremiah 29:7).
As we bless the local communities that God has placed us in, we are displaying the same generous, reckless love that God first showed to us. We are praying that people will see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven (1 Peter 2:12).
Serving in Summer Hill
Last year, the Summer Hill Gospel Community asked shoppers entering IGA to consider buying a few extra items to bless refugees through our partnership with Simple Love. These groceries were then taken to the local asylum seeker centre to provide for the basic necessities of refugees who are unable to work and provide for themselves.
This is just one example from many of a living church that is seeking the welfare of our city!
Pray for Sydney
As we serve our city, we must continue to pray! A gospel awakening can only happen in Sydney by God’s power. Jesus promises to build his church and offers us the privilege of co-labouring with our God to this end!
Lord revive. Lord restore. Lord awaken our hearts and the hearts of people in our city to see the beauty of the gospel!
