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2017: Page 1

Today begins page 1 of a new year of yet to be written pages of life.  For me, it was an incredible day of blessing as I was privileged to teach a Bible school lesson on prayer and then preach during the morning service at my home church.  Following the worship gathering, I had lunch with my family then spent some time relaxing before we headed out to enjoy the beautiful afternoon by spending some time walking along the river.  The peace and beauty seen in the sky, and reflected in the river, were great reminders of God’s creativity and presence with us as we begin a new year.

As I reflect on the day, here is a summary of the sermon I shared this morning.  

  • Praying with POWER includes . . .
    • Praying with Purpose
      • Powerful prayers are prayers which align with God’s purposes.
    • Praying with Observation
      • Powerful prayers will come from observing both the needs that are around us and the work that God desires to do through us.
    • Praying with Worship
      • Powerful prayers come from a heart of worship.
    • Praying with Expectation
      • Powerful prayers are prayed with the expectation that God will answer.
    • Praying with Repentance
      • Powerful prayers come from a life of repentance.
  • Praying with POWER is all about God’s power working in and through us.
  • Praying with POWER requires that we “keep on praying and never give up.”

Other thoughts from the day:

  • Even when it stretches me outside of my comfort zones, using God’s gifting in my life to glorify Him energizes me.
  • God has unique, and sometimes ironic, ways of encouraging his children.  After preaching this morning, I read the following quote in a post shared by a friend: “A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education.”  The quote was attributed to Theodore Roosevelt, but the ironic part is that the original post that my friend shared was written by a preacher who once told me I had no business being in ministry without a college degree. 🙂
  • The beauty and details of God’s creativity never cease to amaze me.
  • An afternoon walk with the family is always a good thing.

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