Some Real Prayer Request…

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Last night as we concluded our study on the Holy Spirit in prayer meeting, instead of simply sharing requests and then praying for them, I asked this question: What would you do if you found an Aladdin’s Lamp? You clean it off, and as you rub it, a genie appears and offers three wishes. What would you wish for? This got us thinking of James words when he says we have not because we ask not. Then James immediately remarks that we often ask for selfish motives. As the evening progressed, the small group gathered there moved from talking about genies and talked about what we would really ask God for since we can.

Here’s some items from the list:

  1. That marriages would be healthy and families healed
  2. That we could accept people who are different than us
  3. That people who have been hurt would find healing in Jesus
  4. That we could be better examples of Jesus
  5. That grace would abound in our midst

What a great list of prayer request for our congregation. Join us as we pray for these kinds of things.

~Pastor Steve

Escaping the Dark Night of he Soul…

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This week, someone I care for very much is going through a dark valley. As we talked, I realized I had nothing to offer, except Christ. But often when a person is in that state, thoughts of God are difficult to accept.

Later, Laurel emailed me this devotional from D. Martin Lloyd-Jones.

There is but one cure for the ills of man… When my conscience accuses me, there is but one thing I know of that can give me rest and peace.

It is to know that Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, who bore my sins “in his own body on the tree,” has forgiven me. It is to believe and to know that because He loved me and died for me, I am clear of accusation. Then, conscious as I am of my weakness and failure and my lack of power to live a life worthy of the name, I am again driven back to Him. It is only from Him and the power of the Holy Spirit that He imparts that I can be made more than a conqueror.

As I contemplate meeting my Maker and eternal judge, my only hope is that I shall be clothed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ and that He will take me by the hand and present me “faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 24).

It is always and only in Christ that I find satisfaction.

It is only in Him that my problems are solved. The world with all its methods cannot help me at the moment of my greatest need. But Christ never fails. He satisfies always and in every respect. The more I contemplate Him, the more I do agree with Charles Wesley when he said:

Thou, O Christ, art all I want:
More than all in thee I find!

He still remains the only hope for individual man, the only hope for the whole world.

Is the Gospel still relevant? It alone can deal with and solve the problems of man.

Only when we grasp and cling to the sufficiency of Christ can we escape and remain free of the dark night of the soul.

Today, take a few moments to pray for ones you know who are struggling in darkness.

Heard at Council…

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“My claim to fame is that I got in trouble with Ravi Zacharias. Yeah… we were at the Mormon Tabernacle and Ravi spoke to them on the uniqueness of Jesus. Think about that: Ravi proclaimed the uniqueness of Jesus to 6,000 Mormons.

“A lot of people didn’t like that. Yeah. That’s why I call him ‘Ole Wishy-washy Ravi'”

– Michael Card