“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.” 1 Cor 16:13 (NIV) Get on your toes and be aware, be alert, and be armed. The Devil is real. Spiritual warfare is a reality of the life God has for you. This is not a time to embrace spiritual apathy or lethargy. Choose to live in the opposition readiness mode. God has given you everything you need to reign victoriously in this life. “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” Eph 6:18 (NIV) Get on your knees and pray. Praying is like flying; when you stop you drop! Nothing will keep you standing like kneeling before the Lord. Prayer is your life-line. Prayer is your communication connection to the Commander-in-Chief. Stay close and clean. Strive for unbroken fellowship with God. “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” 1 Tim 6:12 (NIV) Get on your feet and fight. Move from the posture of kneeling in prayer to that of standing to your feet to face the enemy. The armor of God will protect you. God has armed you for battle. Stand firm! Fight the good fight! You may lose some battles, but as a child of the King, you win the war! Satan has been defeated! Pursuing God, Stephen Trammell Executive Pastor
Category: Prayer
“So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.’” John 11:41-42 (NIV) Jesus prayed. When you contemplate the relational fortitude Jesus modeled in prayer, you gain insight into your personal need to stay connected to the Father. Jesus, as the Son of God and the Savior of the world, nurtured His love relationship with the Father through consistent conversation. “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” Mark 1:35 (NIV) “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Luke 5:16 (NIV) “And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” Luke 22:44 (NIV) Standing before the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus asked them to remove the stone and they did. Before Jesus commanded Lazarus to come forth, He prayed. In fact, Jesus looked up and prayed to His Father in Heaven. Jesus prayed a prayer of thanksgiving and a prayer of affirmation. Jesus wanted those standing near to believe that He was truly sent by God. As we read John 11:41-42 we get an inside view of the intimate relationship Jesus enjoyed with His Father. Never underestimate the power of prayer. Your love relationship with God determines the level of your participation in God’s agenda. As the world-renowned missionary, E. Stanley Jones, explained: “If I throw out a boathook from the boat and catch hold of the shore and pull, do I pull the shore to me, or do I pull myself to the shore? Prayer is not pulling God to my will, but the aligning of my will to the will of God.” Jesus prayed and lived in alignment with the will of God. Are you ready to pull yourself to the shore? Pursuing God, Stephen Trammell Executive Pastor
“From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God.” Jonah 2:1 (NIV) If you spent three days and three nights inside a great fish that God provided, you would probably place that in the category of a life changing experience. Your entire life would be marked by that one experience with God. You would never be the same. Your view of God and your reverence for God would be catapulted to a new level. “The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head.” Jonah 2:5 (NIV) “To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O LORD my God.” Jonah 2:6 (NIV) Can you imagine Jonah, with seaweed wrapped around his head, praying to God from inside this large fish that God provided? I wonder if Jonah was kneeling, standing, floating, or treading water while he was praying. It clearly illustrates that God is willing to go to extreme measures to rescue us from ourselves and from our sin. You don’t have to wait for God to bring you to a place of desperation to call out to Him in prayer. You have the perpetual invitation to nurture your love relationship with God in moment by moment prayer and surrender. Remove the seaweed that tends to cling to your mind and embrace the opportunity to commune with the Creator of the universe. Your life changing experience can continue as you faithfully seek God’s face in prayer. Whether you are in the tumultuous waters within the large fish called life or on the tranquil dry ground of daily life, pray to our Living God. God loves you and His heart beats for you. You are the apple of His eye! Pursuing God, Stephen Trammell Executive Pastor
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” II Chronicles 7:14 Your impact for God will never rise above your prayer life. God honors those who seek Him. God took the initiative to bring us into a right relationship with Himself. His heart is for you to know Him intimately. God has done everything needed to enable you to have an intimate love relationship with Him. Will you respond to God’s invitation? If you will humble yourself, pray, and seek God’s face and turn from the path of evil, God will respond with blessing from heaven. God promises to hear, forgive, and heal. Are you in need of God’s heavenly touch? As you seek God, He responds to your pursuit. Can you imagine where you would be had God not pursued you long before you ever thought about Him? Can you visualize where you would be had God not built the ultimate bridge to come to where you were? You are armed with an opportunity to take your relationship with the Creator of the universe to a whole new level. Will you seize the opportunity by taking God at His Word? Will you capture the awesome privilege of connecting with Almighty God through prayer? Pursuing God, Stephen Trammell Executive Pastor
Categories
Something Great (6)
Do something great by praying it through. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Phil 4:6-7 (NIV) What are you anxious about right now? Is there anything keeping you up a night? It sounds like you are in need of the peace of God. How do you get to the place of peace? Pray everything through. Notice the process that Paul establishes. Instead of being anxious, be thankful as you present your requests to God. Replace anxiety with gratitude for what God is going to do in and through your situation. Take every item and pray it through. Before Jesus chose His twelve disciples, He spent the entire night praying it through. Read carefully and discern the process Jesus embraced. “One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.” Luke 6:12-16 (NIV) Jesus took everything to God in prayer. If Jesus, being God’s Son, valued prayer at that level, what about us? Do something great by praying it through. Pursuing God, Stephen Trammell Pastor of Leadership and Pastoral Care
God honors unity. “They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.” Acts 1:14 (NIV) Anticipating Christmas generates major excitement and energy. You can feel it in the air as people saturate their flower beds, yards, and homes with decorative lights. The traffic heightens as shoppers strategically complete their Christmas lists. Travelers prepare to make their rounds among the family traditions. Anticipation of celebrating the birth of Christ brings out the best in us. Following the ascension of Christ, a hundred and twenty believers were gathered in the upper room anticipating the arrival of the Holy Spirit. They were anticipating the fulfillment of the Father’s promise. They all joined together. They continued with one accord in prayer. The Greek word is “homothumadon” which means with one mind, one accord, and one passion. In the language of the New Testament, it means to have the same mind and to rush along in unison. God honored their unity as demonstrated in their continual praying together. God allowed them to express their unity through a ten day prayer meeting of anticipation. Unified prayer was their preparation for the impartation of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. Do you pray in anticipation of God’s answer? Have you experienced unified prayer with other believers? What if you brought unified prayer into your Christmas experience? Pursuing God, Stephen Trammell, Pastor of Leadership and Pastoral Care