Tag Archives: prayer

Jul 31 2013

Medical Miracle in Congress

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Jaime Herrera Beutler is a US congresswoman, and she is a Christian and a pro-life hero.

The 34-year-old congresswoman gave birth two weeks ago to a baby with Potter’s syndrome, a baby who should be dead, but miraculously is alive.

During her pregnancy it was discovered that the baby’s kidneys were not developing and the baby was not producing urine.  Such a condition is not compatible with life because without urine production, there is no amniotic fluid, and without amniotic fluid the lungs will not develop.

If one consults an obstetrics textbook, one will see that Potter’s syndrome is basically an absolute indication for aborting the baby.   There is no way around it since the baby cannot survive without the renal and pulmonary systems.

That is what the medical textbook says.

But Herrera Beutler follows a different textbook.

One that says that the “fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” (James 5:16)

Following experimental intrauterine saline infusions, Herrera Beutler gave birth to a baby with normal lungs!  In a recent picture, the baby is seen without ventilatory or oxygen support.  She will receive peritoneal dialysis until she can receive a kidney transplant and have a shot at normal development.

The congresswoman and her family believed in the sanctity of life and they were rewarded for putting their faith in God.

She said: “We are grateful to the thousands who joined us in praying for a miracle. But most of all, we are grateful to God for answering those prayers.”

The progressives will attack her for her godly decision against abortion.

But God has rewarded her courage with a beautiful daughter.

photo credit: FB

May 4 2013

Greg Laurie Standing up for Truth!

Greg Laurie the pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, CA spoke and prayed at the National Day of Prayer event in Washington, DC and followed through on his promise: “I won’t back down!”

He received tremendous criticism last week from LGBT and progressive outlets for being chosen to pray and speak at the event because he believes the Bible when it says that the LGBT lifestyle is a sin, and he will not endorse same-sex marriage.

His prayer:

“Lord, we need Your help in America.  In recent days, we have done our best to remove Your Word and Your counsel from our courtrooms, classrooms and culture. It seems, as President Lincoln once said, that we have ‘forgotten God.’ But Lord, You have not forgotten us! You can bless and help and revive our country again.”

“Lord, in Your mercy, we ask that You would exalt our country again. We have had a number of great awakenings in America. We have experienced times of refreshing, and revivals that changed not only the spiritual but also the moral landscape.”

“That is our prayer for America today, Lord. Send a mighty spiritual awakening that will turn the hearts of men and women, boys and girls back to you. You have told us if we will humble ourselves and pray, and seek Your face and turn from our wicked ways, that You will forgive our sins and heal our land.”

“Forgive us today, Lord, and heal this troubled land that we love so much…” 

There are hundreds of thousands and I am hoping millions of true Christians in this country who hold true to biblical teaching and who have the Holy Spirit in them.

May I be so bold to ask this question:  If God would have spared Sodom if it had 10 righteous people in it, would He perhaps spare America for the sake of its believers and its roots?  I believe He has thus far…

But I also believe the ultimate answer lies in the prayer above.  If all the Christians would unite in prayer perhaps we will see one last great revival in this country before the END.

Greg Laurie photo credit

Apr 25 2013

A Blood Washed Iraq: Update From Narcis

Narcis and his family have moved to a very hostile environment to extend the Kingdom of God in that place.  Keeping specific names of cities censored for their safety, here is an update from them:

Temperature Rising

As we move into the Spring the weather steadily increases in Iraq.  We’ve already hit quite a few 90+ degree days this month and it will only increase from here on in.  The temperature is also rising in a couple of other ways.

There have been widespread protests in Iraq over the last 4 months or so between differing sects and political parties.  This has unfortunately caused violence in the forms of shootings, roadside and suicide bombings.  At least hundreds have been killed!  This tension has recently taken a turn for the worse when …, a city just an hour south of us became one of the focal points of the uprising.  Prompted by certain acts of violence, government officials fired on protesters a couple of days ago, killing dozens and wounding hundreds.

What seemed to be happening only in the distant southern part of Iraq now seems to be getting closer to the north.  This is raising fears in many, that with similar sectarian uprisings in Syria and previously other places, these events might invite radical parties to join and devolve into a revolution.  However, as these temperatures rise, one thing is certain.  Our God is an All Consuming Fire and Jesus the Life Giving Spirit still holds the office of Baptizer in the Holy Ghost and Fire!

We believe this region is in the cross-hairs of God’s end-time purposes of filling all things with His Son, and we couldn’t be more excited about it!

What’s Been Happening 

F… and I just arrived back home a few days ago from a trip to Baghdad.  It was wonderful being with brother A W, he and his church are a real source of divine life, presence and relief to Baghdad and Iraq.  We were also able to minister in one of the local churches and meet with several of the Pastors from Baghdad to discuss what we might do together towards building the Church and advancing the Kingdom there.  After hearing about the planned House of Prayer and Mesopotamian School of Ministry, they asked us if we would be willing to do something similar with them in Baghdad.

We are praying about how we can partner with them in facilitating a network of prayer for Revival along with training that we can do via modular courses and in various other ways.  On the home-front, we are still working to get registered in the North and finding a location that would suit our needs.  At this point we still need a financial push to be able to do so.  Please let us know, if you or someone you know would be potentially interested in sponsoring this project for Jesus’ Glory!

Getting Involved

One of the things we feel in our spirits as a team, is that God is going to draw more and more attention to the Middle East in these coming days and years.  The same principalities that opposed Daniel in this region are still around, working their best to deceive the nations and sweep literally millions into a Christ-less eternity.  One of the ways we would love your involvement is in the place of prayer.  We host different “prayer sets” for the region and would more than welcome anyone (preferably a few at a time), that would want to stream in with us and join in agreement for God’s manifest Glory in Iraq and beyond.

If you think of us, please pray for God’s tangible abiding presence, grace, wisdom and favor, signs and wonders, and souls souls! If you are interested in learning more about that please email me back and we can contact you back and see how we can connect.  Thank you all precious saints of God for loving Jesus and doing His will.  We are so grateful for all of your friendships, prayers and support and pray that God would deeply mark you all with His precious Life, Death, Burial and Resurrection Glory!

Jan 11 2013

Louie Giglio Withdraws from the Inauguration and… the Gay Debate

In another half-meant attempt to extend an “olive branch” to evangelicals, Obama asked Passion City Church pastor Louie Giglio to give the prayer at his 2nd inauguration as a reward for Giglio’s social work to end modern slavery.

After initially accepting with enthusiasm, the pastor released this somewhat apologetic and confusing statement:

“Due to a message of mine that has surfaced from 15-20 years ago, it is likely that my participation, and the prayer I would offer, will be dwarfed by those seeking to make their agenda the focal point of the inauguration.  Clearly, speaking on this issue has not been in the range of my priorities in the past fifteen years. Instead, my aim has been to call people to ultimate significance as we make much of Jesus Christ.”

He was referring to a sermon from what he wants to make it seem like a long, long time ago, when he used to preach against the sin of homosexuality.

He now wants to withdraw from the spotlight.  A reasonable conclusion is that he does not wish to defend or debate the biblical truth he once proclaimed in the public square.

On one of the hottest issues threatening to split churches and spread false teaching, Giglio, one of the most recognizable faces of the American Christianity, wishes to remain silent.

Historic Christianity demonstrates that men of God have not been silent on issues of sin.  Jesus Himself did not withdraw from the debate on sexual immorality in Matthew 19.  Paul did not shy away from labeling homosexual relations as unnatural and idolatrous in Romans 1.  Peter was bold in addressing immorality and false teaching in 2 Peter 2.

Even Rick Warren did not withdraw himself from the debate, he actually craves it making the rounds an all the popular talk shows exposing a lukewarm position on the nature of homosexual relations.

Why is Louie Giglio backing down?  Why won’t he deliver a firm inaugural Christian prayer to God in the name of Jesus (not in the name of Islamic prophet Isa like Rick Warren did in his inaugural prayer) and let the storm rage around him?

I love the Casting Crowns song lyrics which highlight the storm around us:

And I’ll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am

This was the opportunity of a life time for Giglio to stand up for God and for biblical truth in front of an audience of hundreds of millions, and he blew it!  It would have been an eternal testimony… I am so disappointed…

image credit

Nov 13 2012

Which Person of the Trinity Should We Pray to?

Christian believers are required to have a continuous life of prayer, and we pray to God and address Him as Lord in our prayer.  If we are to understand the way God is revealed in Scripture, we must realize that God is revealed in three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, each being fully God and all three one God.

A logical question then follows, does it matter which person of the Godhead we pray to?  Or should we mainly pray to God as Lord?

Pastor and theologian John Piper answer as follows:  “the pattern that you find almost uniformly – I say almost uniformly – throughout the New Testament is to pray to the Father in the name of the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit.”  Reformed believers pray almost exclusively to the Father because the other persons of the Trinity facilitate our access to the Father.  The Holy Spirit glorifies the Son, and the Son, thru His sacrifice brings us to the Father.  Jesus also prays to the Father and this serves as the ultimate example for us.

But I also believe it is biblical to pray to Jesus and to the Holy Spirit.  Consider the following verses about praying to Jesus:

John 14:13-14 “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do… If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”

1 Cor 1:2 “in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”

1 Tim 1:12 “I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord…”

With respect to the Holy Spirit, we must understand that the Holy Spirit facilitates our worship and prayer.  He points to the Son as the only way to the Father.  But since the Holy Spirit is fully God, we may address the Holy Spirit directly in prayer, for example: “come, Holy Spirit.”

Prayer is essentially communication, and when we have fellowship with someone, we communicate with that person.  Paul tells us in 2 Cor 13:14 that we partake in “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.”  Therefore it is not wrong to communicate in prayer with the Holy Spirit.

Piper, concludes: “So my bottom line answer – and I’ve been asked this a lot – is to follow in general the pattern of the Bible, namely, pray to the Father in the name of Jesus by the power of the Spirit, that is, in reliance upon the help of the Spirit.”

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/does-it-matter-which-person-of-the-trinity-we-pray-to-84697/#XryEmI7Sd0EpxOXq.99