#19 The Real Battle

C. Peter Wagner tells us "The basic
lesson Alberto Prokopchuk learned
was that the real battle for effective
evangelism is a spiritual battle.

He learned it in his way: others of us
are learning it in our own way.

The Church Growth Movement, which I represent, has been blessed by God and has been used to stimulate fundamental changes both in local church ministry and in world evangelization.

The movement began in 1955, and for the first 25 years or so under the inspiration of its founder, Donald McGavran, worked on developing the radical new technological aspects of church growth and evangelism, which have been so widely acclaimed.

Around 1980, a few of us started to explore what some of the spiritual dimensions of church growth might look like.

This is not to say that any of the technology is now regarded as bad or that the spiritual will substitute for the technological.

No. The technological has been extremely helpful to churches and missions and we continue to work vigorously to improve and update it.

What we have discovered, however, is that all the evangelistic technology in the world will have only a minimal effect unless the spiritual battle is won. It is like a brand new automobile with all the latest engineering.

It may be beautiful and perfectly constructed, but it will do nothing until gasoline is pumped into the tank. The same thing applies to spiritual power in evangelism and church growth.

To illustrate, look at the decade of the 1980s in America. This was a decade of the mushrooming of some of the largest churches the nation has ever seen.

Almost every metropolitan area now has one or more megachurches it did not have previously.

Church growth seminars and evangelistic resources have multiplied. Private Christian schools and the Christian use of the media increased dramatically. 

On the surface it looked like Christianity was making great progress in the nation. 

But statistics paint another picture. At the end of the decade church attendance was the same as at the beginning, and Protestant church membership had decreased.

I believe God wants us to do a better job of evangelizing our nation in the years to come. And we will do it, in my opinion, to the degree we understand that the real battle is spiritual.

Warfare Prayer

 #19 The Real Battle
By C. Peter Wagner

(pgs. 37-38) Regal Books

Prayer for your pastor: "Preaching. Anoint my pastor with the truth. As ___________preaches, may he/she proclaim Jesus Christ in the energy of the Holy spirit. Let people be cut to the heart and accept Christ. Confirm ____________'s message with signs and wonders. Heal the sick, and set the oppressed free (Mat. 16:17; Col. 1:28; Acts 2:37; Mk. 16:20)". (Scripture-Based Prayers to Pray for your Pastor by Terry Teykl)

Pray with me:

   Father, I believe too, that You want
us to do a better job of evangelizing our
own churches.

   I understand that the technological advancements are to be used to further the Kingdom, but please help us not to be guilty of
substituting the technological for the spiritual.

   May we remember that all the evangelistic technology in the world will have only a minimal effect unless the spiritual battle is won.

   Therefore, I ask for You to divinely lead our ministers and leaders to seek what it is You desire for us.

   In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. Today’s Bible verse: Is. 38:19 "The living, the living he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth."

Today’s quote: T. D. Jakes - "Christ wants to go from being around you, to being in you!"

Some thoughts today: If you need to receive for your needs, begin sowing into someone else's need.

- You'll never find your life until you take up your cross that God has given you.

- What are you willing to do? Will you show the love of God to others because of the love He has given you?

27th- Thursday’s post:  #20 Learning About the Battle
C. Peter Wagner

29th- Saturday's post: Our Friends
Jean Oathout

30th- Sunday evening's post:  One Who Understands
Dave Roper

12/2nd- Tuesday's post:  #21 The Threefold Cord
C. Peter Wagner

A popular post: #8 Intercession in the New Testament C. Peter Wagner shares with us, "In the New Testament, Jesus is the intercessor par excellence..."

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#8 Intercession in the New Testament

His prayer for his people in John 17 reveals the loving heart Jesus had for the people and His desire to stand in the gap between them and the Father.

To his day He continues to intercede for us. "He ever lives to make intercession for [His people] Heb. 7:25.The theme of this book [PRAYER SHIELD] is not intercession in general, although that is very important.

James says, "Confess your [sins] to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed" James. 5:16.An excellent book on the subject is Dick Eastman's Love on Its Knees (Chosen Books) and there are many others.

Here, however, we are focusing on a very specific aspect of intercession, namely intercession on behalf of pastors and other Christian leaders.

John Calvin was not exaggerating when he said that it is almost impossible to explain how necessary prayer really is.

Intercessory prayer can be so important that it can save lives.

In Acts 12, Herod decided to placate the Jews in Jerusalem by doing away with some Christian leaders. He specifically put James and Peter on his hit list.

C. Peter Wagner shares 
with us, "In the New 
Testament, Jesus is the
intercessor par excellence. 

He killed James, but he did 
not kill Peter. We are not told any more details about James's case. 

But we are specifically told that while Peter was in prison awaiting 
execution "constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church" Acts 12:5.

As a result, Peter's life was spared, and Herod ended up being eaten by worms (see Acts 12:23).

We can safely assume that Peter prayed some himself, but so far as we are informed, the divine power to deliver Peter was released through the intercessors just as the power for Joshua to win his battle was released through Moses."

Today’s post - #1 The Power of Personal Prayer Partners, 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. 31, 32) By Regal Books

The next post is to be 7/16, Paul's Desire for Prayer
Partners

Let’s pray: Father, may we become more conscious of Your Presence, and what it is we need to do for our own church leaders. Make it plain what their needs are for prayer support on a daily basis. Help us remember they are just as human as we are, and have temptations, trials, and problems like we do. Be their hope, protection, and inspiration. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.

Today’s Bible verse: Ps. 38:15 (NKJV) "For in You, O LORD, I hope; You will hear, O Lord my God."

Today’s quote: Tyler McKenzie - “You are somebody. You are here for a reason. And you should be doing something about it. So what is it? Answer the question.” Matthew 5:13-16 As seen on @WTMcKenzie. 7/4/13

Our thought today: God asks that we offer up the sacrifice of praise. This means that when we feel least like praising Him, we need to thank Him for His Faithfulness, our salvation, His protection, and continued guidance throughout the situations we encounter.

Tomorrow’s post:    A God You Can Count On  
Dr. Charles Stanley

A popular post: Today, I Will Make a Difference! Max Lucado  says "I will be grateful for the twenty-four hours that are before me. Time is a precious commodity.
Today I will make a difference. I will begin by controlling my thoughts..."

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#7 God's Best: Moses and Samuel

C. Peter Wagner tells us "If I am not mistaken, the two greatest intercessors in the old Testament were Moses and Samuel. 

I surmise this from Jeremiah 15:1 where God says, "Though Moses and Samuel stood before Me, yet My mind could not be favorable toward this people."

The main point was that intercessors are not manipulators of God and that some things God has set in concrete.

Samuel anointing David

But in order to reinforce the point, God mentions His two best: Moses and Samuel.


I have already mentioned moses' intercession for Joshua in the battle of Rephidim Exod. 17.



Another even more dramatic example came when Moses went up to Mount Sinai to receive the tables of the law and the people of Israel turned against God and reverted to paganism.

God was so angry that He said, "Let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them" Exod. 32:10.

Moses then prayed one of the most touching prayers of intercession recorded in Scripture.

As a result, "The Lord relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people" Exod. 32:14.

Moses' heart was typical of many intercessors I know. At one point he hurt so much for those for whom he was praying that he said to God 'Yet now, if You will forgive their sin - but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written" Exod. 32:32.

No wonder God regarded him as one of the best!

An outstanding example of Samuel's intercession came when the Philistines were descending on Israel and Israel was terrified.

They said to Samuel, "Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines 1 Sam. 7:8.

"Then Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him:" 1 Sam. 7:9.

The Lord sent thunder upon the Philistines, they became confused, and Israel overcame them.

As did Moses, Samuel showed his intercessor's heart when he later said. "Far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you" 1 Sam. 12:23.

We can be thankful that this is not simply part of ancient history, but that today God has given us many, many of His children with hearts like Moses and Samuel. They are precious gifts to the Body
of Christ."

Today’s post -#7 God's Best: Moses and Samuel, 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. 30, 31) By Regal Books



The next post is to be 7/11, #8 Intercession in the New Testament, from C. Peter Wagner’s book, PRAYER SHIELD.

[Google images added]

Let’s pray: Father, may we be willing to intercede long before there's a crisis! We desire to act according to Your promptings, and be ready to pray when someone has a very real need. We ask for guidance in our prayers, that we will become effective and fervent in our requests. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Today’s Bible verse: Prov. 1:5 "A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain (acquire) unto wise counsels."

Today’s quote: Laverne White – “Fear causes us to lose the strength to perform even the simplest of tasks. But when I soak myself in the promises of God, He reminds me He did not give me a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power. He stands firm in His promise to protect us and when we call out to the one God who is Almighty, His word fills us with life-giving energy. 

It gives us the assurance and courage we need for everyday living. In the light of Scripture, all things are put in their rightful place, and we are reminded of His constant presence. Take your fears to Him right now and run into His outstretched arms.”

Our thought today: The hope of your future keeps you going through the difficulties.

Tomorrow’s post:  Fantastic Offers Dave Branon

A popular post:  The Forever People   We're to choose an eternal perspective. 

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Fantastic Offers

Dave Branon tells us, "I am amazed at the unbelievable offers that flood my e-mail box every day.

Recently, I added up the offers of free money that came to me in a week, and my 'take' totaled $26 million.

But each of those offers was a fraud. Every one - a $1 million prize to a $7 million offer - was nothing but a lie sent by unscrupulous people to squeeze money from me.

We're all vulnerable to fantastic offers - to scams that in reality pay off with nothing but trouble. We are offered false hope that ends in dashed dreams.

There is one offer, however, that is genuine, though fantastic beyond belief.

It's the offer God makes to us - salvation through faith in Jesus' finished work on the cross; "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved" Acts 16:31.

It is an offer that cost Him greatly - and we get the benefits.


The book of Romans tells us, "He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification" 4:25 (NIV). 



By saying yes to salvation,

• We can have hope  Titus 1:2
• forgiveness   Eph. 1:7
• incomparable  Eph. 2:7
• and redemption   Eph. 4:30

This the real deal. Jesus' death and resurrection guarantees it."

                "Amazing love! How can it be
         That Thou, my God, shouldest die for me?
                  Amazing love! How can it be
     That Thou, my God, shouldest die for me?  -Wesley 

       Our Salvation was infinitely costly to God,
                  but it is absolutely free to us."
                           Our Daily Bread  4/30/13   

Let’s pray:  Wow, Father! You are gracious and kind to us! We believe in Jesus, and we'll be determined to follow His example in our lives, so as to please You. Help our unbelief to fully except this fantastic gift of Yours. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen

Today's prayer for your pastor:  "Ask God to protect your pastor from the evil plots of Satan. Pray that he will not be corrupted as he rubs shoulders with the world in the course of ministry." John 17:15; Is. 54:17; 2 Cor. 2:11; 1 Peter 3:12; Ps. 9:9-10; 91:9-11
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Today’s Scripture for a stirring record of what trust in God can do: Hebrews 11

Our quote for today:  Julie Ackerman Link – “God supplies all our needs from His riches Phil. 4:19. So instead of striving for what we don’t have, may we open our hearts to gratefully receive everything we've already been given by Him.”

Our thought today: Dismantle your idols and replace them with dedication to God.Tomorrow’s post: #8 Intercession in the New Testament C. Peter Wagner

A popular post: God’s Timing, God’s Terms, God’s Method: Prayer Note #62  

 

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