PeoplePray.com Blog

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

During this year’s National Days of Prayer and Remembrance, we honor the thousands of victims who died in the brutal and ruthless attacks in New York City, Pennsylvania, and at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. Our Nation remembers with gratitude the firefighters, police officers, first responders, and ordinary citizens who acted with courage and compassion to save the lives of others, and we pray for the families whose loved ones were taken from them.

Never forgetting that terrible day, we remain determined to bring our enemies to justice, defy the terrorists’ ideology of hate, and work to make our world safer. We honor the members of our Armed Forces who died while taking the fight to our adversaries, and we are grateful for those who continue to protect our Nation and our way of life. Their courage, sacrifice, and dedication help preserve our freedom. We pray for their safety, for all those who love them, and for the peace we all seek.

We remain a hopeful America, inspired by the kindness and compassion of our citizens and our commitment to freedom and opportunity. During these days of prayer and remembrance, we reflect on all we have lost and take comfort in each other and in the grace and mercy of our Creator. May God guide us, give us strength and wisdom, and may He continue to bless our great country.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Friday, September 7, through Sunday, September 9, 2007, as National Days of Prayer and Remembrance. I ask that the people of the United States and their places of worship mark these National Days of Prayer and Remembrance with memorial services, the ringing of bells, and evening candlelight remembrance vigils. I also invite the people of the world to share in these Days of Prayer and Remembrance.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fourth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-second.

GEORGE W. BUSH

Let’s face it, we are all different, and we do things differently. And being different is okay, even in how we pray.

There are some who are really good about praying with a list. They are gifted with an organized and ordered personality and as a result are able to be faithful and diligent in their praying. This is great and many intercessors are tremendous in their regularity and discipline in their prayer lives. If you are not like this, don’t worry. Appreciate their strengths, and learn what you can from them.

Others do better when praying for an event, or during a crisis. These are the people who can wake up in the middle of the night and pray for someone across the world. They are the ones who will pray almost continually when a person is sick and in the hospital or has some kind of personal crisis, or is in need of salvation. They are the ones who bathe a special event in prayer as it is in the planning stage. These folks may not as regular or consistent on a daily basis as those in the first group (above), but they play a vital part in God’s kingdom. These people have a dogged determination and will not let go of a burden until they pray it through.

There are also others who pray based on relationships, as we shared on a previous note. They are the ones that will pray for their Pastor or other leaders, and carry them in their hearts. These are the types of intercessors who are extremely loyal and grow close to those they pray for. At times these people are trusted with confidential matters because of their close relationship, fidelity, and loyalty.

In addition to these three types of praying there are many other kinds. Whether it is praying the prayers of the Bible, or it is praying short prayers all through the day, or it is experiencing personal intimacy with the Lord, or it is laying hands on the sick and praying for healing, or it is praying with people to become saved – all of these types of prayers are okay.

Most of us are not in any one group, and find there can be a lot of variety in our prayer lives. The exciting thing is that all of this is a part of the big picture, it all pleases God, and it all works.

I hope this has been an encouragement to you. God bless you as you grow in your prayer life, and in your relationship with Jesus.

Jay Becker
Making a Difference with Prayer
PeoplePray.com

With the warmer weather, earlier sun rises and later sun sets (at least for those of us in the northern hemisphere) there are more opportunities to take our praying to different places. This also gets us out of our routines and into something new.

Prayer walking is intercession and ‘others’ focused. As you are out walking in your neighborhood, or other places around your community, you look to the Lord for what to pray. Let the Holy Spirit be your guide as you quietly intercede for your neighbors, for the local businesses, for the local government and services, for those around the parks, and other places around your area.

Your prayers can help in so many ways, most of which you will never know about. You may pray blessings for your neighbors, or success for some local business. You may find yourself praying for peoples’ salvation, or you may be moved upon to pray for healing from sickness or injury. Many find that this type of praying helps them grow in how they pray. There are times that you may be general in your praying, and other times find a very specific item that you have an urgency to cover in prayer. It is not uncommon to get burdens for people and things as you go prayer walking. You may feel that this is crazy, but give it a chance and be open to what the Lord will lead you into. This can be like going on a short-term missions trip in your local area.

Prayer walking is great, it is refreshing, and it can be very powerful in touching lives. Why not give it a try this weekend?

God bless you all.

Jay Becker
Making a Difference with Prayer
PeoplePray.com

If you have ever thought, “I wish there was an easy formula for praying because I just don’t know where to start,” well, there is a fairly well known guide for the basics in a prayer life.  Using the acrostic, A.C.T.S, we get a simple picture of a well rounded prayer life.  Let’s take a look at it.

Adoration. 

The “A” stands for adoration.  This means that we can start our prayers by praising God for who He is.  Another way to think of this is beginning our prayers by expressing our love for and to God.  Psalm 36:5 describes God’s love and faithfulness.  “Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.”  Psalm 89:1 describes God’s mercy.  “I will sing of the mercies of the LORD forever;  With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations.”  This whole idea of adoration can flow out of your ongoing relationship with God.  Begin your prayer by saying, “God You are the only loving and merciful God.”  Sometimes read the Psalms back to God as a prayer.  People have prayed the Psalms to God for ages, and this is a great way to pray adoration to God.

Confession.

The “C” stands for confession.  This means that we admit our sins to God.  Confession is not just saying, “Lord, please forgive me of all my sins.”  It is specifically recognizing our individual sins, and seeing them the way God sees them.  1 John 1:9 says, “But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”  So, we pray, God please forgive me for ________ (you fill in the blank.)  Confession is an ongoing part of our relationship with Christ.  When we sin our fellowship and communion with God is hindered.  Romans 6:1-2 says, “Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace?  Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?”  God’s grace and our death to sin are an everlasting and eternal picture of our salvation.  This is our position in Christ.  Our “continuing to live” is a picture of our day to day condition in a dynamic relationship with God through Christ.  Regular confession keeps that relationship uncluttered and open.  This reminds us that prayer is not an end in itself, but is a gracious gift by which we may have an intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father.

Thanksgiving.

The “T” stands for thanksgiving.  This of course means to thank God for the many blessings that He has brought to your life.  Maybe things have not been going so well for you.  Many times our lives do not turn out the way we had planned, or the way we had hoped they would.  Maybe that’s why you are reading this article and are coming to God in prayer, because it just seems that things are so messed up and are hopeless.  Please know that your Heavenly Father loves you with a deep and everlasting love.  He has not given up hope for you.  Jeremiah 31:3 says, “The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying:   Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love;  Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.”  

God can take the toughest situations in our lives and bring something wonderful out of them.  Romans 8:31-32 says, “If God is for us, who can ever be against us?  Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?”  Isn’t that an awesome promise?  A few verse before that in verse 28 the Bible says, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”  This verse of Scripture has been so misused.  Please notice that God is working all things to work together for good for His purposes, and not our own.  Rest in God and trust in Him that He knows what is best for your life.  Thank Him that you can come to Him prayer, even in the darkest moments of life.  Keep a list of God’s blessings and the ways that He is answering your prayers.  Thank Him for His love to you, for His faithfulness, even though things might not be going so well.  Trust Him by faith and give Him thanks for the eventual outcome of tough situations.

Supplication.

Finally, the S stands for supplication.  This means to offer up our requests to God.  1 Timothy 2:1 says, “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men,” Remember the Bible says that we can bring all of our needs and requests to God in prayer.  There is no matter that is too big or too small for us to bring to God in prayer.  This is where keeping a prayer list is a good idea.  One way that you might do this is offer different requests on different days of the week.  So, say on Monday pray for your family.  On Tuesday pray for your friends.  And so forth…  As you see God answer prayer, record the answers in your PeoplePray journal, or mark your prayers on your “my prayer” list to “answered” in your PeoplePray.com account.  This will give you a record of what God has done for you and give you history of things to give Thanksgiving for.

We hope you find these ACTS a simple, yet effective, way to kickstart your prayer life. 

God Bless,

PeoplePray Team
PeoplePray.com

As we pray, we know that patience and trust are needed, because not everything we pray for is answered right away. Often we need to wait and keep on praying until we see an answer come. Some times this goes well and other times not so well, and we might find ourselves praying something like, Lord, give me patience and give it to me NOW.

This applies to the dreams and the promises God gives to us, often they take a long time to come to pass. Sometimes the wait is because God is working in our lives or in others lives and this process can not be rushed. But hang in there, it is worth the wait.

In Genesis there are a couple examples of those who waited. It was a 25 year process for Abraham to see a son born. Joseph had dreams at the age of 17, but had to wait till he was 30 to see them come to pass. I may be reading between the lines, but both Abraham and Joseph were people like us, so I am sure there were times that they were ready to give up. Yet, God was faithful and the dreams were realized.

You may have a dream of being a missionary, or of having your own business that can also be a ministry. Our dreams can also be for others, to see them saved, to see the Lord bring them into a particular situation or ministry, or to see something happen in our community or country. Many parents have faithfully prayed for children for years before a dream or promise come to pass.

God shows us things so that we can pray for them and see them happen – so don’t give up. There may be some of you who have laid some dreams and hopes aside or have almost forgotten about them because it has been so long since the Lord first put them in your heart. Be encouraged to stir up those dreams and to start believing again for the promise He has showed you. It may take a long time for some things to come to pass, yet when they do, it can make an eternal difference for many.

God bless you all.

Jay Becker
Making a Difference with Prayer
PeoplePray.com
PeoplePray.com