Impact Prayer Ministry Podcasts

Encouragement and Prayer: Excel In Speech! (05/03/22)
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Encouragement and Prayer: Excel In Speech! (05/03/22)

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This is the audio from the May 3, 2022 live social media broadcast of encouragement and prayer by Impact Prayer Ministry’s director, Tom Lemler.

“But just as you excel in everything — in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us — see that you also excel in this grace of giving.” 
2 Corinthians 8:7 (NIV)

Our “Lifestyle of Prayer” emphasis this week will focus on some areas that God says we should excel in.  What are some things that you are good at doing?  Are there things that others say you excel in?  How much work, or effort, is usually required to excel in a given area?  This week’s prayer focus will use a list of things that Paul states the Corinthian Christians excel in, or need to excel in.  Paul’s letter was not only written to the Corinthians, but as scripture it is useful to us for training in all righteousness.

“Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech.”
1 Peter 3:10 (NIV)

As you pray this week, ask God to give you His grace and the courage necessary to excel in the things that matter to Him.  Pray that God’s love would create in you a desire to excel in speech.  Pray that God would put a guard over your mouth so that your speech is pleasing to Him.  Pray that your speech would bring about good days for you and for the people around you.

You can find the live video feeds of these encouragement and prayer times on Impact Prayer Ministry’s Facebook page.

In prayer,
Tom

Encouragement and Prayer: Excel In Faith! (05/02/22)
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Encouragement and Prayer: Excel In Faith! (05/02/22)

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This is the audio from the May 2, 2022 live social media broadcast of encouragement and prayer by Impact Prayer Ministry’s director, Tom Lemler.

“But just as you excel in everything — in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us — see that you also excel in this grace of giving.” 
2 Corinthians 8:7 (NIV)

Our “Lifestyle of Prayer” emphasis this week will focus on some areas that God says we should excel in.  What are some things that you are good at doing?  Are there things that others say you excel in?  How much work, or effort, is usually required to excel in a given area?  This week’s prayer focus will use a list of things that Paul states the Corinthian Christians excel in, or need to excel in.  Paul’s letter was not only written to the Corinthians, but as scripture it is useful to us for training in all righteousness.  As you pray this week, ask God to give you His grace and the courage necessary to excel in the things that matter to Him.  Pray that you would be diligent applying each day’s topic to your life with the work necessary for you to become good at it.  Pray that your pursuit of excelling in these areas would come from the very source and foundation of all things excellent — Jesus Christ.

“The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’”
Luke 17:5 (NIV)

Pray for the humility required to admit you need God’s help in learning how to excel in faith.  As you pray for God to increase your faith, look for the situations He will give that requires your trust of Him to grow.  Pray that your trust of God would cause others to know you as one who excels in faith.

You can find the live video feeds of these encouragement and prayer times on Impact Prayer Ministry’s Facebook page.

In prayer,
Tom

Something To EAT (Sermon Audio)
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Something To EAT (Sermon Audio)

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This is the audio from the May 1, 2022 sermon, “Something To EAT”, shared by Tom Lemler at the North Wayne Mennonite Church.

Text:  Mark 8:14-38

After feeding the 5000 in Mark 6 and then feeding a slightly small crowd of 4000 at the beginning of Mark 8 with just a handful of provisions, the disciples framed a statement of Jesus about being on guard against the yeast of the Pharisees as calling them out for only having one loaf of bread with them.  Before I come down too hard on the disciples for being focused on the physical and missing the spiritual, I need to look at myself to see how often I am more concerned about the physical meals I pursue than I am about the spiritual food that Jesus offers.  When we realize that Jesus has food that sustains both body and soul, we begin to understand the importance of turning to Jesus for something to . . .

  • Examine.  Mark 8:14-21
    • We find something to eat from Jesus when we begin to examine His work in scripture and His work in our life.  When we become distracted by our own thoughts and the chaos of life, it is important to remember how He has provided in the past and how He continues to provide today.  When we complain about only having one loaf, it is good to remember all that Jesus can do when we offer everything we have to Him . . . regardless of how big or small it might seem.
  • Accept.  Mark 8:22-30
    • We find something to eat from Jesus when we begin to accept not only what He has done, but also accept who He is.  Sometimes the work of Jesus in our life seems rather messy and unpleasant, kind of like Jesus spitting in the eyes of the blind man of our text, but in the  messiness we must choose to accept God knows what He is doing and it is always for our good.  It is accepting that God knows what He is doing that we begin to see Jesus for who He is so that regardless of who others say He is, we accept and acknowledge that He is indeed the Son of God.
  • Teach.  Mark 8:31-38
    • We find something to eat from Jesus when we begin to teach the things we are learning.  Even when we think we know how things ought to be, there will be times we find ourselves in need of correction so that we may teach more accurately.  We have something to teach not because we are so smart, but because we have listened to God’s calling to surrender everything to Him as we daily take up our cross and follow Jesus.  We teach best when our words and actions match and we allow God’s Spirit to work through us.  As we consider what we teach others, I believe a fair question to ask our self would be, “Who would the people around me say that I say Jesus is?”.

Today, as you consider your spiritual need, will you turn to Jesus for something to EAT?

Encouragement and Prayer: Producing Longing! (04/28/22)
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Encouragement and Prayer: Producing Longing! (04/28/22)

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This is the audio from the April 28, 2022 live social media broadcast of encouragement and prayer by Impact Prayer Ministry’s director, Tom Lemler.

“See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done.”
2 Corinthians 7:11 (NIV)

Our “Lifestyle of Prayer” emphasis this week will focus on some of the things produced in our life by godly sorrow.  I suspect that most of us are much more aware of the sorrow we experience than the sorrow we cause.  As I read scripture, it appears that both the sorrow we experience and the sorrow we cause can be either godly sorrow or worldly sorrow.  One of the clearest ways to determine the true source of the sorrow is to examine just what the sorrow produces.

“When we were torn away from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you.”
1 Thessalonians 2:17 (NIV)

As you pray this week, ask God to help you see how a godly sorrow produces in you a variety of necessary things.  Pray that your godly sorrow would cause an intense longing to be reconciled with others.  Pray for a growing desire to connect with people that you may not have seen in person for some time.  Pray that your longing for others would help them to know the longing God has for each of us.

You can find the live video feeds of these encouragement and prayer times on Impact Prayer Ministry’s Facebook page.

In prayer,
Tom

Encouragement and Prayer: Producing Indignation! (04/27/22)
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Encouragement and Prayer: Producing Indignation! (04/27/22)

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This is the audio from the April 27, 2022 live social media broadcast of encouragement and prayer by Impact Prayer Ministry’s director, Tom Lemler.

“See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done.”
2 Corinthians 7:11 (NIV)

Our “Lifestyle of Prayer” emphasis this week will focus on some of the things produced in our life by godly sorrow.  I suspect that most of us are much more aware of the sorrow we experience than the sorrow we cause.  As I read scripture, it appears that both the sorrow we experience and the sorrow we cause can be either godly sorrow or worldly sorrow.  One of the clearest ways to determine the true source of the sorrow is to examine just what the sorrow produces.

“People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them.  When Jesus saw this, he was indignant.”
Mark 10:13 (NIV)

As you pray this week, ask God to help you see how a godly sorrow produces in you a variety of necessary things.  Pray that your godly sorrow would lead you to an indignation that challenges your incorrect attitudes.  Pray for the courage to stand up for those who are being overlooked, neglected, or even rejected.

You can find the live video feeds of these encouragement and prayer times on Impact Prayer Ministry’s Facebook page.

In prayer,
Tom

Encouragement and Prayer: Producing Eagerness! (04/26/22)
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Encouragement and Prayer: Producing Eagerness! (04/26/22)

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This is the audio from the April 26, 2022 live social media broadcast of encouragement and prayer by Impact Prayer Ministry’s director, Tom Lemler.

“See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done.”
2 Corinthians 7:11 (NIV)

Our “Lifestyle of Prayer” emphasis this week will focus on some of the things produced in our life by godly sorrow.  I suspect that most of us are much more aware of the sorrow we experience than the sorrow we cause.  As I read scripture, it appears that both the sorrow we experience and the sorrow we cause can be either godly sorrow or worldly sorrow.  One of the clearest ways to determine the true source of the sorrow is to examine just what the sorrow produces.

“Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”
Acts 17:11 (NIV)

As you pray this week, ask God to help you see how a godly sorrow produces in you a variety of necessary things.  Pray that your godly sorrow would create an eagerness in your life to know real truth.  Pray that you would be eager to understand the accuracy of God’s Word.

You can find the live video feeds of these encouragement and prayer times on Impact Prayer Ministry’s Facebook page.

In prayer,
Tom

Encouragement and Prayer: Producing Earnestness! (04/25/22)
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Encouragement and Prayer: Producing Earnestness! (04/25/22)

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This is the audio from the April 25, 2022 live social media broadcast of encouragement and prayer by Impact Prayer Ministry’s director, Tom Lemler.

“See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done.”
2 Corinthians 7:11 (NIV)

Our “Lifestyle of Prayer” emphasis this week will focus on some of the things produced in our life by godly sorrow.  I suspect that most of us are much more aware of the sorrow we experience than the sorrow we cause.  As I read scripture, it appears that both the sorrow we experience and the sorrow we cause can be either godly sorrow or worldly sorrow.  One of the clearest ways to determine the true source of the sorrow is to examine just what the sorrow produces.  As you pray this week, ask God to help you see how a godly sorrow produces in you a variety of necessary things.  Pray that you would be a truthful messenger of God so that any sorrow you produce in others would be of the godly kind.  Pray for a growing desire to endure whatever it takes to bring about a maturity in your thoughts and actions.  Pray that God would use the sorrow you experience in order to help shape you more and more into the image of Christ.  Pray that God would use you to make Jesus known to those who are filled with sorrow.

“And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.”
Luke 22:44 (NIV)

Pray that your godly sorrow would produce an earnestness in your communication with God.  Pray for the humility to be earnest with those who have added to your sorrow and with those whose sorrow has been increased by you.

You can find the live video feeds of these encouragement and prayer times on Impact Prayer Ministry’s Facebook page.

In prayer,
Tom

Godly Sorrow Which Produces A Great JOY! (Sermon Audio)
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Godly Sorrow Which Produces A Great JOY! (Sermon Audio)

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This is the audio from the April 24, 2022 sermon, “Godly Sorrow”, shared by Tom Lemler at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

Text:  2 Corinthians 7:2-16, Psalm 30:4-5

Sorrow tends to come to each of us from a variety of sources and for different purposes.  While most of us would rather avoid sorrow, God says there is a kind of sorrow that, when allowed to do its work, produces a great . . .

  • Journey.  2 Corinthians 7:2-7, John 16:33
    • I suspect that there are aspects of any journey we have undertaken that either haven’t gone exactly as planned, or we simply didn’t like what we went through.  One of the keys to pressing on through the midst of sorrow is to realize our journey is taking us to a destination that is full of joy.  The godly sorrow that we experience, and even the godly sorrow that we cause, can all be part of a great journey that helps us appreciate the goodness of God even in the midst of difficult times.
  • Obedience.  2 Corinthians 7:8-11, Jeremiah 42:6
    • One of the primary differences between godly sorrow and the sorrow of the world is how we react.  God’s desire for us in our experiences of sorrow is that we would respond with obedience.  Paul acknowledges that he was one of the sources of sorrow for the Corinthians, but because that sorrow led to repentance Paul did not regret the things he had written.  While there are times our sharing of God’s Word may bring sorrow into our life or into the lives of others, when our heart and motives are pure that sorrow ought to lead to a greater obedience.
  • You!  2 Corinthians 7:12-16, James 1:2-4
    • I suspect that if I were to ask if you wanted to be mature and complete, your answer would either be that you thought you already were or that you would like to be.  James tells us that we should consider it pure joy when we face trials (sorrows) of various kinds because the end result is that we would be made mature and complete.  When our sorrow is lived out as godly sorrow, it changes you as it changes your journey, your obedience, and YOU!

How will you allow godly sorrow to produce great JOY?