Structured Prayer

In modern evangelicalism we seem to value a more individualized spirituality. There is great emphasis on personal Bible study and quiet times, but set and structured prayers have been lost. Praying at a set time in a structured way seems to fly in the face of our highly personal, self-focused culture.

My daughter spent much of her 5th grade year studying Church history—specifically monks—and she wanted to see it all first hand. So, our family headed to a Benedictine monastery in Tulsa, OK, for a three-day spiritual retreat. At this abbey, the monks follow a strict communal prayer life, praying in Latin seven times a day. They allow guests to come and participate in the prayer times as a spiritual retreat.

It was impressive to see the discipline and rigor of the monks. They get up at 4:45 every day and gather for prayer seven times a day. We were able to go to five of these prayer times and they gave us just a small taste of what that would be like. As I left the abbey, I thought about having more serious and fixed times of prayer for myself.

Prayer is hard work. It isn’t easy and it doesn’t come natural. Left to ourselves, it is easy to forsake prayer for other activities. While we know that prayer is important and valuable to our spiritual lives, it is just difficult to make it a consistent part of our schedule. God knew this human struggle; therefore, He set up structured prayer and worship to enable His people to better connect with Him.

The Psalmist says in Psalm 119:64, “Seven times a day I praise you...” In Daniel 6 we see Daniel’s regular practice was to pray three times a day. Jesus clearly modeled and needed regular times of prayer as he would rise early in the morning or spend the night praying to His Father (Luke 5:16, 6:12; Mark 1:35). This model of structured prayer times continued with some of the early Church Fathers, Tertullian and Cyprian, who promoted prayer three times a day. By 530 A.D., Benedict’s Rule was set up where monks prayed seven times a day, the same Rule the monks in Tulsa follow.

This is only a brief history of how structured prayer is biblically and historically sound. While there have been different modes and ways to structure prayer, consistent times are morning and evening prayer. The best way to start is to consider morning and evening prayer and then just pray through the Psalms. Below is a schedule to pray through the Psalms in a month. If you want more structured prayer and a way to connect to the ancient church, you could consider going through the Book of Common Prayer. 

There are many ways we can connect to the Lord, but structured times of prayer is one of the tried and true methods that the church has consistently done for centuries. 

Resources:

Benedict’s Rule https://www.christianhistoryinstitute.org/study/module/benedicts-rule/

Praying the Psalms https://fullcontactchristianity.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/psalms-bookmarks-2.pdf

Book of Common Prayer http://www.bcponline.org/

Prison Revival

A hot and windy evening of revival and prayer at a local prison doesn’t just happen. For days, weeks, months, and even years, God had been laying the groundwork led to this night. Two years ago, The Urban Ministry Institute (TUMI) began in the Hutchinson Correctional Facility with nine students. Around that same time, God was placing a call for prayer and revival on my heart. Not long after that, Matt Thomas, a man with a powerful testimony from his own time behind bars, became a World Impact ministry partner. Matt now runs a ministry called Firm Foundations for ex-offenders. All of this—along with two TUMI students, Abe and Randy, who were transferred to the East Unit—led to this night in the yard of their East Unit where we hosted the revival. With a team of 20 volunteers from World Impact and ministry partners of Firm Foundations, we went into the prison to partner with Abe, Randy and their church inside the walls.

We quickly set up the sound system, cookies, and soda. We didn’t know how many inmates would attend, so we optimistically prepared for all 500 men. When they were released to the yard, 100 inmates were eager to greet us and drink the cold Pepsi on such a hot afternoon. In the yard where we met were a group of Asatru and Wiccans gathering for their worship and men actively working out. But we were confident that the Lord’s presence was with us and the distractions would be silenced. We even saw some of the men who were working out walk up to the fence and listen.

After some worship led by Ben Wray and my wife Angie, we had two dynamic testimonies from Abe and Randy. Abe’s story in particular touched me. He initially was locked up around the age of 18. He spent his first 15 years of incarceration on the run from the Lord, but when he finally hit rock bottom, the Lord spoke to him: “Will you give me another chance?” When he heard the Lord’s voice, Abe finally surrendered and was radically changed.

This led to a clear Gospel presentation while incorporating his testimony from Matt Thomas. During the altar call, a group of 20 to 30 men came forward either to receive Christ or rededicate their lives to the Lord. As they circled up, praying arm in arm, Abe took the lead and shared more about following Jesus.

Following a second message from Coach Larry Allen, we came together for a time of prayer. This time, about 40 inmates locked arms and we led them in prayer of repentance and forgiveness. Men cried out to the Lord with tears and the desire to be set free. The presence of God was so clear and powerful!

As we said goodbye, I could see smiles of joy all around. One inmate told me that this time was the happiest he had ever been in his whole life. My lasting memory from this evening was a few of the inmates singing “I Can Only Imagine” during worship. The reality is that these guys live in a dark place and carry so many burdens. Yet, for that night, they were able to experience the presence of God in a tangible way. It was a definite foretaste of heaven.

A total of 125 people (including volunteers) attended the prison revival night. We drank around 450 cans of soda. Thirteen inmates prayed to receive Christ for the first time and another 20 rededicated their lives. Our next steps are to work on following up with these new believers.

Please pray that the seed of the Gospel would grow deep in their lives. Pray that this will be the start of more outreaches and revivals in our cities and prisons. Amen!

Why we need a prayer movement to see a church planting movement!!

"Or how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house." Matthew 12:29

World Impact has a powerful vision to see "The empowered urban poor advancing the kingdom of God in every city through the local church." One of the most effective ways we can see this vision fulfilled is to launch and facilitate church planting movements. This is the rapid expansion of the gospel that results in many churches being planted. Overseas, these movements often plant hundreds if not thousands of churches within a few short years.  

Herein lies the great conflict. While our cities are in great turmoil and desperation, we fully expect incredible leaders for the Kingdom of God to be raised up from these neighborhoods. In the last six months, our cities have received incredibly negative press. This week alone, we have watched riots and anger filling the streets and the news in Baltimore. While there are many issues and layers to the problem, if we look with spiritual eyes and peel back the surface, we will see that there are deep and powerful strongholds in place. Note how the text above says there is a "strongman" who must be bound.  Ephesians 6:12 is clear that "we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." Furthermore 2 Corinthians 10:3-4 says that "we are not waging war against the flesh. For the weapons of warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds."

 

If we want to see the Kingdom of God advance in the city with great power, then we are going to need to learn to fight with spiritual weapons. The enemy will not just let us walk in and simply proclaim the gospel and see healing and deliverances. We must first "bind the strong man" in order to "plunder his house." I believe that this is primarily done through prayer. God has ordained prayer to be one of the most powerful weapons we have in accessing the authority available in heaven and seeing it unleashed in our cities. Jesus, through his victory on the cross, has already won the victory. Through prayer we are merely declaring this victory over the powers of darkness.

Paul Billheimer writes on prayer in his book Destined for the Throne: "[Prayer] is God's way of giving the Church on-the-job training in overcoming the forces hostile to God. This world is a laboratory in which those destined for the throne are learning, by actual practice in the prayer closet, how to overcome Satan and his hierarchy. God designed the program of prayer as an apprenticeship for an eternity of reigning with Christ. Here we are learning how to use the weapons of prayer and faith in overcoming and enforcing Christ's victory so dearly bought." 

 

Why is it so hard then to tap into these truths and this power? Why is prayer so hard for us? Every church planter and missionary I know speaks of the importance of prayer. Yet it is very hard to sustain a constant prayer movement alongside church planting. There are probably many reasons for this, but one is that it just doesn't feel like we are accomplishing a lot while we pray. Actions like sharing the gospel, preaching, working on a Bible study lesson, or spending time with people are measurable. Something we can feel good about. But prayer is hard work. It's slow and requires waiting on God. There are times when it's so dynamic and we see powerful results, but other times it is just praying and praying and waiting for the right moment for God to break through. The temptation is to rely on our strategies, marketing ability, and our human effort to accomplish the work of God. This balance is so tricky because these seem to work. Furthermore, it's tempting to equate our numbers in church with spiritual success.

But numbers and programs don't equate with success. True success will be measured by the ministry of Jesus—where we see the power of God in preaching, the lost coming to Christ, healing, and deliverances as commonplace. When we see the ministry of Jesus being reproduced in our churches, then we will clearly see the power of God. Until that day, we must humble ourselves and seek the face of God for power and breakthrough. Let's not compromise what the Lord says in his Word and how we are to minister. Jesus equipped and sent out his disciples to do the works he did, and those works begin with prayer.  (Matthew10:1,7, 28:18-20, John 14:12-14)

Lastly, here are a few practical ways to implement more prayer in our church plants and churches.  

• Let God Arise! - Consider starting a Let God Arise! (LGA) regular time of prayer. Rev. Dr. Don Davis and TUMI created LGA in January of 2000. It was birthed out of Dr. Davis’s heart and passion for revival to touch our cities. Here is a link for the heart of LGA and how to use it in a prayer time. You can visit letgodarise.com to see many more ideas and resources on it.
• Prayer Walks - Consider doing regular prayer walks in your neighborhood. Prayer walks are an effective way to pray and look at your community with spiritual eyes. They are also a great way to get to know new people in your neighborhood especially as you are launching your church plant.
• 24/7 Prayer - Houses of prayer and 24/7 prayer networks are springing up all over the world. While it is hard to sustain continual 24/7 prayer, consider doing a weekend of 24/7 prayer or join other ministries in your city that are doing it. Click here for a search of resources available to think through this kind of prayer. 
• Brooklyn Tabernacle - Check out any of their resources. Jim Cymbala has led the way for prayer in his church for over 35 years. He has great books and resources on prayer. Brooklyn Tabernacle is located in the heart of Brooklyn and they have seen the power of God demonstrated in tangible ways in their services.

Let's humble ourselves as people of God and cry out for a powerful movement in our cities. Let's have concerts of prayer and praise and repeatedly ask God to bind the strong man and pour out his Spirit on us in fresh ways. Let's not stop until we see true revival in our midst and the explosive growth of the church and the advancement of the Kingdom of God.

A lost Fitbit, Prayer, and Child-life Faith

I have a great story about my kids that took place a couple of days ago and I want to share it with you.  Several of us on my mom’s side of the family all use Fitbits. In case you don’t know what a Fitbit is, it is a step counter that syncs to your phone and you can see how many steps you take in a day compared to your friends.  So a week ago, my Uncle Al approached me with getting a Fitbit as he wanted to participate in our family fun and starting counting his steps.

So this past Saturday, we were all working outside and I knew it would be a day to get a lot of steps in. Ethan was helping Al with several yard projects.  What I didn’t know was that Al had told Ethan that he had lost his Fitbit that morning.  At the end of the day I texted Al and asked him how many steps he had and he then informed me he had lost his Fitbit – after only 5 days. 

As the kids and I talked about it, we decided we would go outside and look around.  As we were talking it out I said to Ethan, “Why don’t you pray and ask God to help us find it?”  Ethan prayed a simple prayer and we were off looking.  

We started on one side of the yard and looked for 20 minutes, combing through leaves and mulch but we did not find it.  Next to our two homes there is an empty lot where the mulch came from.  I had asked Ethan if Al had gone back there to look but Ethan wasn’t sure if he had.  After our search Ethan said, “Daddy, I think we need to go and look back there.”  By then I had given up, although, throughout our search I kept praying and asking that we would find it. 

So we headed to the empty lot and, sure enough, it was there!  The kids were filled with such excitement and faith as they saw God answer a tangible prayer.   Ethan was so happy as he felt like we were to go to that lot.  He was so delighted to bring it to Al.  

I think when we approach God in prayer, we are sometimes afraid to ask God for small requests.  Perhaps praying for a lost Fitbit is too trivial for God to answer so we don’t give the Lord our daily requests.

From Matthew 7 we are instructed to “ask”, “seek,” and “knock.”  Jesus then goes on to say that our “Father will give good gifts to those who ask Him.” 

Again, I realize that a missing Fitbit compared to our massive world problems is a minor thing on the Lord’s mind.  But it shows that He is a good Father and cares about even the “little” things in our lives.  It is something I will always remember with my kids as I saw their faith boosted.  

When Tragedy Hits

Recently, our city and community suffered a great tragedy when Erika Owen passed away as she was trying to rescue her dog.

Right away I felt this in a couple of different ways. First, she was from City Life Church.  I love this church, the leadership of the church and many who attend there. So instantly my heart was grieving and thinking of everyone I knew at City Life.

But then another connection came to me.  As I heard her age (28), and started to learn about her life, I instantly thought about my brother Phil who lost his life at age 29 in Indonesia in 2008.

I didn’t know Erika personally but I quickly heard stories and characteristics about her and I could tell she was truly a remarkable person. She was the children’s director at City Life.  She had an amazing capacity to love not only kids but everyone around her.  She had a unique ability to make people feel special. She served willingly and looked for ways to bless others. She had a willingness to give of herself completely. She truly loved Jesus with all of her heart, soul, mind, and strength.

As I heard these descriptions of her, I thought so much about my brother.  I thought about the amazing impact that Phil had on so many around him. 

Following Phil’s passing, our family was more sensitive to stories of other tragedies. My parents and I read biographies and stories of others who had gone through tragedies. The one common denominator through the stories is that you are never ready for something like this.  When death hits you, it comes suddenly and in one moment your whole world is changed forever. And then the grief comes in waves.  You then realize that nothing is guaranteed in this life.

One other thing happened as we read stories.  We started to notice the ages of some of the more common or well-told stories.   Many of these people died in their late twenties.  I certainly don’t know what that fully signifies but there were a number of people who left incredible legacies.

Here is just a brief description of who they are.

Keith Green – died in a plane crash at the age of 28. He was an amazing musician and had passion for Jesus. His music today is still powerful. He had a truly prophetic voice to inspire many to live a life completely sold out to Jesus. His book No Compromise has been read by many and impacted many people. 

Jim Elliot – Jim is the most famous of the missionaries who died on the riverbank in Ecuador, trying to evangelize the Waodani Indians at the age of 28. His life and story, along with others from their group has been used to call many to go into the mission field. Movies and books have been written about these stories. 

 

David Brainerd – died at the age of 29 from tuberculosis. He was a contemporary of Jonathan Edwards. His biography greatly impacted missionaries like Jim Elliot and continues to impact modern-day missionaries. He was as deep man of prayer and had a deep heart to see revival touch Native Americans.  

William Borden – He died of cerebral meningitis at the age of 25 in Egypt. He grew up in wealth. When he accepted the Lord and started to follow hard after the Lord. He wrote no reserve in his Bible. At the age of 16 he traveled the world and he saw poverty and got a call to missions.  After going to Yale and Princeton for his grad school he was preparing to be a missionary when he passed.  In the back of his Bible two more phrases were added along with no reserve. No retreat and no regrets. 

Our family also heard of another missionary who passed away two years after Phil, at the age of 28 or 29.  We knew their family distantly. But he as well left behind a legacy.

And then on March 1^st, Erika Owen joined in a line of people who went to the Lord and left an amazing legacy behind.

As I have often thought of Phil’s story, and as well everyone listed here, I think “how did they get it so young.”  They certainly didn’t follow the normal path that many of us go on. Normally it takes years to figure out life. To grow in our walks and mature in our faith.  But every once in a while God raises up a burning one and seems to pour more into their lives.  Maybe it’s because the Lord knows there time will be short and He wants them to have a huge effect while they are alive.  Then knowing their story will impact many more in their death. We don’t know the ways of the Lord but these are merely my reflections as I try and make some sense of why Phil went so early.

At Phil’s funeral, another missionary from Indonesia who knew Phil, was from Kansas and had served many years there, gave us this phrase I love and have thought a lot about.  He said in the Indonesia Army they say that when one falls, 1000 will rise and take their place. He was praying that 1000 would rise up to take the place of Phil.

That’s my prayer for the legacy of Erika. That with the joy and life she lived, a thousand kids and adults will rise up to have joy and a true love for the Lord and people.