Thoughts for Life: #42 Prayer Time Must Be Sufficient

C. Peter Wagner continues to share with us his thoughts from his book, PRAYER SHIELD, on pastors' praying:

"Having a regular daily prayer time is the first and most essential component of a pastor's personal prayer life.

A second important consideration is the amount of time spent in each prayer session.

I personally find myself less legalistic about the time factor, although I can quite confidently state that as a general principle the more time spent daily in prayer the better.

I have found that almost all pastors I know who have a true heart for deepening their personal relationship to God agree with this.

What are the time ranges: The 22-minute-a-day average should probably be considered the minimum in our particular (non-Korean!) cultural context.

John Welch's eight hours or Luther's three hours or Wesley's two hours a day are probably far beyond any realistic proposal for today's American pastors.

As a starter, I would recommend that if you are praying less than 22 minutes a day, you make that your first goal. Then where do we go from there?

I have been strongly influenced by Larry Lea's book Could You not Tarry One Hour? (Creation House).

I think Lea has been a principal contextualizer of the Korean prayer movement into our American society.

He makes a compelling case for aiming toward one hour a day.

But what about the quality of our time with God? Isn't quality more important than quantity?

My suggestion is: It is more advisable to start with quantity than quality in daily prayer time.

First, program the time. quality will usually follow."

Today’s post -#42 Prayer Time Must Be Sufficient, in the series taken from C. Peter Wagner’s book, PRAYER SHIELD, How to intercede for pastors, Christian leaders and others on the spiritual frontlines. (pgs. 85, 86) By Regal Books

Let’s pray:

Father, when we consider our own need in finding time to pray effectually and fervently, we realize we fall short.

It is our desire to become more efficient in this very important part of our Christianity.

May we learn to depend upon Your leading us in accomplishing what You expect us to do. Help us to become aware of the needs of our leaders, as well as our own needs.

The time we take to give our pastors and leaders the prayer support and shielding they need, we understand is important to You, and to them.

Please help us to be faithful in our praying. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Today’s Bible verse: 2 Kings 14:3 "And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD."

Today’s quote: Joyce Meyer (said God told her) – “If you’re going to complain, don’t bother to pray.”

Some thoughts today: If you're in an airplane, all the benefits are yours. If you're in Christ, you have all the benefits in Him available to you.

- Learning to walk with others, we grow in our faith. You don't grow by yourself. We're to be tied in with other Christians.

- We need to let he Holy Spirit to help us learn to get along with others.

-MERCY= we don't get what we deserve.
GRACE= what we don't deserve.

Saturday’s post: Stay the Course Max Lucado

Sunday's post: Wounded. Broken. Abused. Tammie Johnson

Tuesday's post: #43 The Issue of Gift Projection C. Peter Wagner

Thursday's post: #44 Inflicting False Guilt C. Peter Wagner

A popular post: Birthing True Repentance: Prayer Note #72 Dutch Sheets tell us, “We must allow the Holy Spirit time to birth true repentance in [folks] through God-given revelation."

How about you, my friend. Have you repented of your sins, asked Jesus to forgive you? Has there been a time, a moment, that you asked Him into your life and heart? Do you know His peace? There's no better time than right now.

Stop and acknowledge His sacrifice of His Life was for you, too. Give Him your sins, ask Him to forgive you, cleanse you, and save your soul. He is Faithful, and He desires more than you know, to give you Life for ever. Make it a sure decision today. God bless you, as you become a new creature in Christ. Welcome to the family of God! Tell some one that Jesus has saved you!

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