40 Days - Day 7 (March 25 - May 3)

“Praying in the Will of God”


And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.
I John 5:14-15


For several days I have been referring to the importance of knowing the mind and heart of God on a matter when you pray, or to say it another way, knowing the will of God when you pray. This is of critical importance when we pray. If we miss this we are missing out on one of the most precious promises concerning prayer in all the scriptures.
As we continue in this forty-day challenge of focused and intense prayer, I want to know that I am praying in the will of God. In fact, I want to be so assured that I am personally praying in the will of God, that our church is praying in the will of God, that you are praying in the will of God, that I am willing to be blunt and outspoken about the very things we are praying for. Can you do that with your prayer requests? I am not referring to the fact that you can tell others what you are praying for. Can you tell people in faith and with confidence that God is going to do what you asking Him to do because you are praying in accordance with God’s desires? This means stepping out on a limb and if you get it wrong the limb could break, you could fall, and appear as a fool to those who were listening.
This is a hard call. What if you are not sure that you are praying according to God’s will and are therefore hesitant to be outspoken? My counsel would be to remain silent until you hear clearly what the will of God is in your situation. On the other hand, to clearly know the will of God on a matter but to remain silent about its outcome because of fear or unbelief is a sin. So why do we need to be outspoken if we have been assured we have prayed in the will of God on a matter?
Remember one of the points we looked at over the past couple of days - the main purpose of praying is that God will get the glory. God gets great glory when someone publicly states in faith what they are trusting God for before it ever comes to pass. But before going public you had best make sure you have really heard the Lord speak.
Do you remember the story of Elijah, who faced down the false prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel? Elijah took a very public stand and challenged the false prophets to a showdown which would reveal the real God. What if Elijah had conjured up the whole idea in his head and was motivated by selfish ambition rather than the glorification of God? Can you imagine the shame and embarrassment he would have felt if God had not come through for Him? But God did come through and God did back up His servant with a demonstration of His power.
I would draw your attention to one small part of Elijah’s prayer found in I Kings 18:36, “Oh Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel, and that I am Your servant and that I have done these things at Your word.” Elijah had heard God call Him to take such a public stand because God was about bring abundant glory to Himself and call a whole nation to realign their hearts and loyalties. Elijah asked the Lord to show the whole nation who the one true God was. That took some boldness, especially as the water was poured on the sacrifice and spilled over into the ditches. Elijah knew he was praying and acting according to God’s will and therefore he had the confidence to be outspoken. He also had the assurance that God would come through.
Oh, that God would inspire that kind of confidence in us not only as we pray but as we take public stands as well. I don’t know what God has asked you to believe Him for and to publicly declare. For me is that our church will possess nineteen acres of land without going into debt. This one of the primary things I am asking the Lord to do over this forty-day challenge. I have confidence that I am praying and taking a stand according to the will of God. There is a scripture that I have prayed and drawn comfort from over the past several weeks, and I hope you will take that same scripture and apply it to your situation. “See, the Lord your God has place the land before you; go up, take possession , as the Lord the God of your fathers, has spoken to you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”(Deuteronomy 1:21.)
When we have prayed in the will of God there are two assurances that will follow. First, we will know that God has heard our petitions, and secondly, we will know that we can have the requests that we have asked Him for. This is great news! We need God not only to hear our prayers but we need Him to answer our prayers which He has assured us He will do if we are praying according to His will.


Steps to Trust and Obey:

Are your prayers aligned with God’s will? If not, what do you need to readjust so you can pray with the confidence that what you are praying for is what God desires to be done?
Is God calling you to take some public stand to demonstrate your faith like Elijah was called to do? If so, what is it?
Pray through I John 5:14-15 today, trusting God to honor this promise.

40 Days - Day 6 (March 25 - May 3)

“Asking in Jesus Name”


And whatever you ask in My name, that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.
John 14:13-14


These two verses sound almost too good to be true. It seems a lot like writing a blank check where you can fill in any amount you want before cashing it in. It is a grand promise, but as with the one yesterday, it does have a condition.
We are challenged twice in the context of these verses to ask in Jesus’ name. What does that mean - is it a magic formula to tack on to our prayers to ensure their success? No, it is much more than that. When we pray in Jesus’ name we are concluding our prayers with the reminder that we are to be praying for the same things Christ wants to see accomplished. It is praying in one accord with the will and purposes of Jesus in our situations.
Some of you are facing major decisions about your future. You could just make a decision and hope that God blesses it, but He is not obligated to bless a decision that He did not lead you to make. Wise counsel is to sit before Him and ask Him repeatedly what He would have you do and what direction He would have you take. Do not be surprised if the decision He calls you to make is one that calls you to trust Him for more - decisions like where to live, where to work, where to go to college, whom to marry and so forth. Ask in Jesus’ name what He wants and He will reveal it clearly in time.
Among us there are marriages that are hanging on by a thread, and the temptation is run and get out. When you pray in Jesus’ name, what does Jesus want to do in that situation? You can ask Him anything which could include a transformed spouse, or even for you to have a transformed attitude.
Many of you live in lack of something you need. I am not talking about wants, but actual needs. If you pray according to the desire and purposes of Jesus, there is no reason not to believe that He will not provide for your every single need. You will notice that I did not say that He would provide for your every want even if you ask for it in Jesus’ name. Some wants do not honor Him and are not in our best interests. Some wants are motivated by selfish greed more than the honor and glory of the Father. He cannot and will not be duped by our bargaining and negotiations in prayer.
When we really do pray according to Jesus’ desires, His purposes, and for the Father’s glory, the door of potential for those prayers stands wide open. We cannot even fathom the lavish ways God desires to bless us and do more than we imagined. God is honored and glorified when lost sinners come to repentance and salvation, so why not ask God for the privilege of leading multitudes to Him? God is glorified when we find ourselves at the end of our ropes and we finally surrender and trust Him with the outcome. He is honored when our hearts begin to hurt over the same things that hurt His heart, and when we ask God to heal the emotional and psychological wounds of children. He is honored when we trust Him and give sacrificially, trusting Him to come through for us to meet our needs. The sky is the limit when we really understand what praying in Jesus’ name means.
As we started through this forty-day trip of trusting and obeying God, we were challenged to identify some spiritual goals that we would be fasting and praying towards. In the light of praying in Jesus’ name, do those goals still hold up under His scrutiny? Are these things that He wants for you and wants do in and through you? You might find Him beginning to shift your focus toward those things you desire the Father to do. You might also find conviction that your prayer requests really have had very little to do with glorifying the Father. Why not take some time today to let Him readjust what you are to be asking Him for?
Once this all is properly aligned, let us pursue God and His answers with reckless abandon, beseeching Him for miracles, large miracles, abundant miracles that will bring abundant glory to our Heavenly Father.


Steps to Trust and Obey:

What is God showing you about praying in Jesus’ name? Do your prayer requests line up with His desires for you?
What is it that God desires for you and wants you to trust Him for?
Are you able to pray with confidence and assurance today? If not, why not?
Spend some time asking God to revive your faith and strength for the rest of this forty-day challenge.
What is God saying and revealing to you? What if any steps of obedience is He calling you to take?

40 Days - Day 5 (March 25 - May 3)

“Bringing Glory to the Father”


If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.
John 15:7-8


One of the exciting things about this journey we are on is that God is on this journey with us. No matter how devoted we are and determined to do more for Him or to believe Him for greater things, He wants us to do more and produce a greater amount of fruit. He wants to answer our prayers His name can be glorified. That truth should be the central focus in our living and our prayer. We should and live and pray in such a way that the Father is glorified.
All of this starts for us today by abiding in the presence of Christ. Just before I started writing this today I was having my time with the Lord. In the beginning, my mind was very distracted because I wanted to get busy working on this project again. As I read and mused over these verses I realized how foolish it would be for me to write anything about prayer if I was not willing to abide or linger in God’s presence for as long as He wanted. I simply paused and asked Him if there was anything He wanted to say to me. Again it was difficult in the beginning because my mind was so very distracted. I intentionally sat back in my chair and waited. I don’t know for how long, but I waited until I could listen to what He had to say to me. His message for me was clear and challenging.
It is difficult to abide or to remain in God’s presence when we are rushing through our times with Him so we can get off to work or school or hurry and get to bed. Abiding means we are slow to depart and we stay with God in a sense of expectation. Today you have set aside this time to meet with Him in your secret place. You have the choice of going through the ritual of meeting with Him or you can determine that you will abide in His presence for as long as He desires.
In like fashion we are also to abide or remain as God’s word abides in us. This is critically important. Right now your circumstances are communicating something to you. If you have not sat before the Lord and lingered in His presence and heard clearly from Him, then you will be easily defeated by the taunts and jeers of the enemy. Faith is a fragile thing and is only strengthened by abiding in God and His word abiding in us.
So let me ask you, what is the word from the Lord for you today? What word does He want to abide in your heart so you will not fall into despair? You must be willing to dwell in His presence to get that word and when you receive it, to cling to it with you all your might as you continue ask the Lord for miraculous intervention.
Abiding in Him and His word abiding in us is absolutely critical if we ever hope to stand in confidence on the last part of verse 7, “…ask whatever you wish and it shall be done for you.” There are two conditions we must meet; to abide in Christ and His word to abide in us. When those conditions are met, look at the far-reaching implications of this promise - we can ask for whatever is in our hearts, whatever we wish, and we can expect that God will give what we have asked for. No tricks. No gimmicks. The only condition is that as we abide in Him and His word abides in us, our wishes are going to be conformed to His wishes for us.
While sitting before the Lord this morning the Lord clarified what He wants me to ask Him for. There are four specific things that I am to ask God for. If He is the one to initiate what I am praying for then I have confidence that He will bless me with what I ask to do. It is imperative that you allow Him to shape the focus of your prayers. I know for sure that each of the four specific things I am to trust God for will bring glory to Him.
That should be the focus in these days. We should want to pray in ways that bring greater honor and greater glory to the Father. He desires us to bear abundant fruit so that people will see the fruit of our lives and immediately look to Him to honor His work in and through us.
One of the things I am compelled to pray about is my writing ministry. The Lord has challenged me on multiple occasions to pray that my books would be distributed all over the world. Just last night I was in a meeting after church where we stopped and asked the Lord to promote this book and sell it all over the world. I have asked the Lord to take my other books as well as this one and to put them in the hands of people in every state in this country and to spread them around the globe. God gets the glory when people hear the story of how the Lord inspired this book, enabled me to write it, published it, and then sent it around the world to be used as a tool on His behalf.
It is all about God and the glory of His name. As you continue to dwell in the presence of the Lord He will change the focus of your praying. Your motivations will be realigned according to His purposes and His fame throughout the earth. There is nothing more I want to do in my life than to promote the glory of God through my living and praying. What is the huge, impossible thing is God asking you to believe Him for? Listen as you abide and soak in the scriptures and then pray with bold confidence that God can bring it to pass.


Steps to Trust and Obey:

1. You are challenged to abide in Christ today. Linger with Him and listen to Him.
2. What is God saying to you today as His word abides in you?
3. Are there some steps of obedience He is inspiring you to take? If so, what are they and how will you respond?
4. What abundant fruit is the Lord calling to you to ask for? How will that abundant fruit bring glory to the Father?

40 Days - Day 4 (March 25 - May 3)

“Asking, Seeking, and Knocking”


Ask and it will be given to you, seek, and you will find, knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, it will be opened for him.
Matthew 7:7-8


What a precious promise is communicated in these verses. Some of you might already be shrinking back in unbelief. By experience you may have asked for something in prayer and not received it, you may have sought for something and not found it, or you may have faced doors that never opened no matter how hard you banged on the doors of Heaven. Your deduction from those experiences might be that God does not keep His promises, and therefore prayer does not work.
I will be the first to say that there are many things about prayer I still do not understand, but that does not mean that the promises of scripture are not true. There are many issues that need to be addressed. In fact, I will bring this point up repeatedly and eventually we will spend on a whole day meditating on it, but in order to have assurance that God will answer our prayers, we must pray in agreement with the will of God. There is also the issue of God’s timing, and here is where many people have a great deal of trouble because we hate waiting. Much of the time God requires us to wait on Him. God does not see time as you and I do. In fact, as we learn in II Peter 3:8, “But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.”
From our perspective it might seem that we have waited on God for years and maybe even decades, but from His perspective it might be only a few seconds. One thing I think we can trust is that God is always right on time. He is not early and He is certainly never late, but He always arrives on the scene at the precise moment He needs to and which will bring Him the most glory. Perhaps the reason some think these verses in Matthew 6 are not true is because we have either asked for things that were not in the will of God or we gave up asking, seeking, and knocking too soon.
Let’s take a closer look at these three different aspects of prayer. The word “asking” in our passage means to beg, crave, desire, the call for or the petition of one who is lesser in position than the one to whom the petition is being made. You most likely would not have started this forty-day expedition unless there was something you desired and craved for God to do. We are in no position to make demands of the Lord, but we can ask and we can ask and keep on asking. Today, why not ask God as honestly and with as much faith as you can summon for whatever it is that you desire Him to do. Some requests take more asking than others; I cannot give you a reason why. I believe that if we ask God for the right things, in the right time, and if we ask long enough we will get our answers. In many respects, this is the easiest part of praying. Little children understand the principle of asking and receiving - we ask and when God is ready and when He can be glorified the most, He furnishes and supplies what we have been asking for. I know there are times when our eyes tell us that it is not working. We my have asked in the past and still have not received. Believe me, I know. There are several things I have been asking for going on four years now. My eyes tell me that there is no use asking any more because I am never going to get my answer. Yet, the faith in my heart tells me to keep asking and trusting because the answer will indeed come at the right time. Now is not the time to throw in the towel and to give up.
So let us draw near to the Lord in our secret place and ask our hearts out. He is leading us on this journey. Let us ask Him for the impossible and see with the eyes of faith the day we actually do get to receive what we desired to see Jesus do for us.
The next level of praying is one of the sweetest. We are to ask and then we are to seek. What does Jeremiah 29:13 say? “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all of your heart.” Seeking involves growing in our devotion to Christ. We should be continually seeking and striving to know Him more and to love Him more. Part of the meaning of the word “seeking” involves using our thinking, reasoning, and meditating skills to help us discover more and more of God.
A.W. Tozer once prayed a prayer that has stuck in my heart and soul. He asked God to help him love Jesus more than anyone in his generation. Seeking involves hours of adoration and intense searching of the scriptures to learn more and more about this Lord we serve and are asking to come to our aid. Tozer was known to spend hours on his face before God not asking for a single thing but simply adoring, praising, and seeking more revelation.
Could it be that if we feel somewhat distant from the Lord it is because we have not made time to seek Him in the secret place? We often think that true joy will come if we finally get what we have been asking Him for. True joy according to Psalm 16:11 is that we find more and more of God Himself. “You will make known to me the path of life; In your presence is fullness of joy; In your right hand are pleasures forever more.”
True joy and true pleasures are found in close relationship with God and not in the gifts that He bestows. We must come to a whole new level of understanding in our seeking through prayer. There is no greater adventure on the face of this earth than spending our days on a quest to seek to know God more intimately. There is always more to discover, new truths to learn, and new revelations to contemplate.
I once sat on a plane asking God to help me love Him more and seek Him more than anyone in the town I lived in. He simply responded that I would have to be willing to do things that no one else in my town had ever done before. That means more scripture reading, meditation, study, and memorization. That means more hours in seclusion in the secret place, enjoying, craving, desiring nothing more than God Himself. Oh, may that become the true desire of all our hearts.
Perhaps the most difficult position of praying is “knocking.” Knocking involves intercession and asking God to make a way where there seems to be no way. A couple of verses in Isaiah can encourage our hearts as we knock and ask the Lord to open impossible doors. There are places, positions, levels of influence, expanded territory that might remain shut to us without His intervention. You might need doors to open for the publication of a book you have written, a broader place in ministry influence, or opening the doors of closed nations to the gospel. I don’t know what doors have been long shut to you but by repeatedly asking God to open them those doors can be opened. In fact, fervent prayer is the key that can unlock those closed doors to us. “Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past, Behold I will do something new. Now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:18-19.) Those seem like two impossible things; people do not often put roadways in the wilderness because the trees serve as obstacles or as opposition to a clear roadway, but God is able to do that. He opens doors and moves both obstacles and opposition out of the way to accomplish His purposes. In the same way, you do not find rivers in the desert very often but God can push back the sand dunes and carve out rivers in a desert just as easily as He can carve out an open door for you or others in the advance of the gospel and His kingdom. “I will go before you and make the rough places smooth; I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron bars,”(Isaiah 45:2.)
There are places God is calling you that look impossible to get to from where you are. Through knocking, God is the One who goes before you to open doors that have far too long been shut and appear to be as strong as bronze. There are places God desires to advance the gospel that look locked up behind iron bars but God has the ability to get us through those iron bars. God has the ability to put us anywhere on this earth and before any person or group of persons He desires.
I believe that God desires me to continue this writing ministry and to be published on a broader scale. The prayer God has put in my heart is that the books He gives me to write will be distributed all over the world. That is not a door I can open on my own, but God goes before me to make a road in the wilderness, rivers in the desert and to shatter those doors of bronze that seem closed to me. He desires to do the same thing for you.


Steps to Trust and Obey:

Take time to ask God for the goals you set out with at the start of this 40 Days of Trusting and Obeying.
Spend some adequate time seeking Him like you have never sought Him before. Ask the Lord to intensify the desire in your heart to seek Him. Enjoy Him through private worship and adoration.
Where does God want you? What doors are locked to you but God has destined you to be on the other side? Knock through prayer and keep knocking for as many days as it takes until He opens them for you.
What is the Lord saying to you today? What steps of obedience do you sense Him leading you to take?

40 Days - Day 3 (March 25 - May 3)

“Private Prayer – Public Reward”


But when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
Matthew 6:6



I love my early morning times with the Father in the secret place. He and I enjoy some of the sweetest times together. Recently I moved my office across the street from our church to nearby house we bought to help expand our facilities until we can raise the money to relocate. I have only been this new office for about two weeks and I already love it. What I love about it is the fact that I have already had some very significant encounters with the Lord in this place. It is my new secret place. I arose early this morning to come here before the day got started. It was a grand time of communion with my Father.
Far too many believers are content to pray petite prayers, many of which are prayed publicly. God is not only inviting us but also calling us to a life devoted to prayer in isolation from the rest of the world. He wants to hear those desires of our hearts and He wants to speak to us. There are conversations that take place through prayer in the secret place that the rest of the world may be unaware of, but God takes notice.
I love getting up early, closing the door behind me in this private sanctuary, and meeting with God through scripture reading, private pleadings, and fervent intercessions for those I love. Nobody knows what takes place in those times together except the Lord and me. It is the best part of my day, the highlight I look forward to and often I am very reluctant to leave when I am pulled away by other responsibilities. I love the inner room, my secret place, and prayer closet to fellowship with the Father in.
Do you have such a place? The physical location is not nearly as important as having a place you have designated to meet God, making it sacred. I have three such spots; the one I use most is my office. As I mentioned earlier, I love this new office because the Lord has already begun sanctify this little nook with His infinite presence. There is another place that is dear to my heart - I call it my prayer cabin. Oh, how I have met with God in that little rustic cabin. At all costs, find a place where you are going to meet with God in secret over these next forty days and beyond.
The word “secret” in this passage means concealed, private, hidden. We must conceal ourselves alone with God for extended periods of time to ask Him for His help. Time spent in the secret place seeking the Lord is not time that is wasted. It is an investment of our time and we shall be rewarded.
The word “reward” means to give back, restore. God gives us His blessings, presence, counsel, and miracles in response to time spent in the secret place. We might be seeking Him in secret but His rewards very often come publicly as we have the opportunity to testify about God’s greatness and His power. I assure you He longs to do more for us, in us, and through us than any of us desire to ask Him for.
Do not wait any longer. Today is the building block on what we have looked at for the first two days. We must pray in faith. God rewards those who live by faith and seek Him. Now, we must set aside time, long sustained times, in the secret place to enjoy Him, to seek Him, to and ask Him for the things that burden our hearts. Conceal yourself in privacy for the purpose of a heart-to-heart talk with Jesus. It is just you and Him. You do not have use flowery language or pray with eloquence, all you need is to come to Him in sincerity, confess any known sin, and ask Him in faith for those things you are burdened over. The rest is up to Him.


Steps to Trust and Obey:

Before anything else, you need to establish a secret place and a designated time you will meet the Lord in that place.
Believe that your time spent in the secret place is time well invested.
Spend some time asking the Lord what He is saying to you. As He speaks, write down what you sense Him speaking to you.
Lay your requests before the Lord in detail.
Ask for increased faith and expectations that your prayers are not only being heard but that they will be answered as well.

40 Days - Day 2 (March 25 - May 3)

“Rewarded for Faith”


And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
Hebrews 11:6


Yesterday we spent a great deal of time looking at faith. Today we are going to look at one of the reasons faith is so important and what God does for those who live and operate by faith. I remind you today as you continue to trust and obey, to not trust what you see but trust in Whom you believe and what you believe Him for.
Without faith it is impossible to please God. Apart from trust in Him a person cannot be saved and forgiven of their sins. Without belief in God’s character a person will be tempted over and over again in life to shrink back in unbelief. If we cannot trust God with the day-to-day affairs of our lives, how can we trust Him with something so big as our eternal salvation? Everything hinges on faith that God is able and trustworthy to do what He says.
It is utterly impossible and we are too weak to please God apart from our confident assurance in His ability. What is your motivation for living? Who do you seek to gratify? If we are honest, a great deal of the time we live to gratify ourselves, but our ultimate goal should be to live in such a way that we please or gratify God. This is done by committing ourselves to living day in and day out by faith. Hence the phrase “trust and obey.” Faith is trusting, but if we really trust God we will take steps of obedience even though they may not make any logical sense to us and our eyes may deceive us as to the wisdom of such steps of obedience.
Do we really desire to please the Lord? If so, we must surrender our lives, plans, and agendas and be willing to do what He leads us to do and to believe Him for what He is calling us to believe Him for, even if it looks impossible and appears outlandish to others around us. It is in obeying God by faith that we demonstrate our trust and confidence.
For eighteen months God called me to live without a salary. He also instructed me not to ask people for money or get a job other serving as the pastor of a very small church and traveling to preach as He gave me opportunity. That was a difficult time, a severe time of testing and trials, but God honored those steps of obedience and met our family’s every need. Few really believed that the Lord had instructed me to live this way, but I have walked with Him long enough that I know His voice. During that time, He came through for our family over and over again in tangible ways. I am talking about bags of groceries, money for utility payments, Christmas presents, house payments, transportation and car repairs. God called me to a lifestyle that did not make sense to the world, but He worked miracles in that season that silenced the doubters and has inspired hundreds and hundreds of people to trust God in their own circumstances.
When we come before the God of this universe we believe that He Is. He is the great I Am. There is not a need we have on this planet that He is not more than sufficient to meet. What do you need today? Healing? He has infinite power to heal every disease He wills to. If you need wisdom, He is the source of unlimited wisdom. If you need financial provision, His storehouse never runs dry of resources and He shares liberally among those in need. If you need strength to cope with adversity, He is the source of endless strength to help you day-by-day and even moment-by-moment. There is nothing that you will ever need in this life that He cannot and will not supply. He is Savior, Counselor, Wisdom, Peace, Healer, Provider, Refuge, Helper, Comforter, Deliverer, Leader, Mighty, Sustainer, Light of the World, Bread of Life, Great Physician, Shepherd, the First and the Last, and so much more. If we spent more time meditating on the character of God we would have more faith to trust Him and a greater willingness to follow His leadership. Because we do not really know Him, we therefore do not really trust Him, which does not honor or please Him.
This is what needs to be the focal point of our time with the Lord today. We need to ponder the greatness of God’s character until we come to the part of His character we need Him to be for us in our situations. Once we have settled on that we must diligently seek Him for intervention in our situations based on His character and the glory that will be brought to Him when He comes through.
What does God do for people who base their faith on His character and seek to please Him by living lives of trusting confidence in His abilities? God rewards such people. The word “reward” means to remunerate, pay back wages, to give. Each time you and I come to make our petitions in faith it is like making a deposit into the bank of Heaven. The reward is when God blesses us and we get to make the withdrawal of the thing we have trusted Him for.
Everybody wants the reward but we cannot skip the process of pleasing Him by living by faith and seeking Him. Each of those steps is vitally important. As we seek Him, do we want Him more than the gifts that He can give us? Ultimately He is the reward. Walking in relationship with Him is the ultimate reward. God also rewards those who take leaps of faith initiated by Him in other ways. I cannot even begin to recount all the times the Lord has rewarded my family when we have trusted Him.
During that eighteen months in which God led me to live without a salary, we learned to trust God from day to day. One summer we had mustered up enough money to put the boys in Red Cross swimming lessons. One morning after they finished we chose to take them to a park to play. When we arrived I noticed the mother of a lady who had formerly attended our church. We caught up and visited about the death of her husband and how the Lord was leading her. She talked about all the Lord was doing in her life. As I got up to leave she reached out to shake my hand and put something in it. I looked down to see it was some cash wadded up. I tried to refuse but she insisted the Lord had led her to do it. We parted ways and I discovered upon sitting in our car that she had given us $100. Only God could have orchestrated that gift.
A couple of years before, Brenda and I had been praying about buying another car and as I was seeking the Lord for direction one morning, my secretary’s voice came over the intercom, interrupting my prayer by telling me I had an unexpected visitor. This same lady walked into my office and she and I talked for a while. When she got up to leave she opened her purse and wrote a check for $2,500 which she felt the Lord had once again called her to give to us. Again, it was an answer to prayer.
As I sat in my car in the park that day, staring at the wad of cash in my hand, I was humbled and amazed to realize that I was sitting in the car that the same lady’s gift had helped us to purchase a couple of years earlier. Do you believe that God will reward you for the steps of faith He is leading you take? What is He calling you to do in this moment? Trust His character and you will be rewarded, but you have to be willing to obey Him and walk in complete trust.


Steps to Trust and Obey:

Find some facet of God’s character that correlates with your need and spend time searching the scriptures for verses that relate.
Ask the Lord what He is calling you to do and what He is calling you to trust Him for.
Commit to take steps of obedience regardless of how frightening that may appear as you sense Him directing you.
Ask the Lord to reward you for your steps of faith and your desire to please Him.
Reprioritize your life so that today you focus on living to please Him.

40 Days - Day 1 (March 25-May 3)

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1


Recently, I was deeply stirred while listening to Canada missionary Dwight Huffman’s message and its two simple points: What do you see, and what do you believe? Dwight demonstrated how our physical eyes can deceive us as he told us the story of a church in Melfort, Saskatchewan. With only six adult members left after years of effort to establish a church, the small group contacted Dwight about shutting down and giving up. But when they prayed and asked God to intervene instead, He did!
In answer to their prayer, Melfort native Todd Goudy felt called to return to his hometown to pastor the Melfort church. Today the church has outgrown its facilities, sold them for $150,000, and purchased a Nazarene church facility much larger and newer than their previous building for $90,000, leaving them $60,000 left over. God has grown His church from six faithful souls to well over a hundred, and all of this in about two years’ time.
Right now your eyes are telling you something. They are telling you to give up, that there is no hope, there is no use, and that the odds are stacked against you. What do you see? Do you see impossibilities? Do you see challenges and obstacles? Do you see your own limitations or the frailty of your own trust in God to intervene? What do you see?
I challenge you now to ask yourself , “What do I believe?” What do you believe about God and His ability to intervene? As we start this incredible journey of faith we first need to know what faith is and what faith does.
The word “faith” in Hebrews 11:1 could also be translated assurance, persuasion, belief, or conviction. When we pray we are called to pray with faith or to pray with conviction and assurance that the thing we are praying for will come to pass; not because of our praying but because of God’s intervention. Faith is the oxygen that breathes life into our praying. Without faith our prayers are like wounded ducks shot from the sky and falling lifeless to the ground. Faith is simply believing that God can intervene.
As you start this forty-day pilgrimage, you have been challenged to identify some things you are asking God to provide. As you devote yourself to prayer today – pray with faith or with assurance and confidence that the thing you are praying for will come to pass. Pray with conviction and wrap this verse around your mind all day long. Do not entertain doubts that God will not come through. Doubt chokes and strangles faith which makes our prayers ineffective. Pray with persuasion that God is going to bring your petitions to reality.
Hebrews 11:1 reads that faith is the assurance…. that does not make sense. According to the way we just defined the word “faith” it would read “assurance is the assurance.” We just established the fact that the word “faith” means assurance and confidence. The word “assurance” in this passage has two insightful meanings: it means substance or actual existence. Stay with me here. When we pray with faith, which is our assurance, we should pray as if the thing we are praying for is actually in existence or real substance. That means we are to pray and see with our spiritual eyes what our physical eyes may not be able to behold at the moment. It goes back to the question, what do you see and what do you believe? When we are really praying with genuine faith, we have a concrete confidence that what we are asking the Father for will come to pass if we are praying according to His will (I John 5:14-15.) We will get into God’s will and prayer later on.
You might not behold the substance of your prayers yet with your physical eyes but what do you see with your eyes of faith? Can you see your request coming to pass? Many years ago God birthed in me the idea for a book to be titled Behold the Faithfulness of God. I prayed, wrote, rewrote, and edited while praying even more for God to put that book in print. I prayed in faith and could actually see myself holding the book in my hand and the book sitting on bookshelves. Now mind you I did not see the details of the cover of the book but I did see that book with my spiritual eyes. In my spirit that book was substance and actually in existence for years in the spiritual realm. I waited for years before God intervened, provided a way for the book to be published and this past December of 2008 I held that answer to prayer in my hand for the first time. The spiritual became physical and many people have testified that God has used that book in their lives. Now I am praying in faith, or assurance, that in actual reality that book will be distributed all over the world with over a million copies sold and every dime made from the book to be donated to the FBC Paradise building fund to help us relocate.
What is it you see in your spirit but have not tasted in the physical realm? Ask the Lord in faith, believing that it will come to pass in actual existence. This is the essence of really trusting and obeying. We are not through, though. What are we praying for? What are we believing God for? What are we assured of and what is the substance and evidence of our faith?
These are vital questions in the quest to trust and obey. I would draw your attention to the word “things” in our Hebrews passage. What things? These are the tangible and specific things we are praying for. A new job. Healing of arthritis, kidney disease, brain tumors, and for healthy deliveries of infant children. Things like provision for bills, transportation, the success of businesses, provision for lost retirement money in the stock market, and even some of the desires of our hearts. What specific things are you praying for?
A few years ago, when I was praying about where the Lord would have me serve as a pastor, I began asking the Lord to send me to a place where there would be a ministry marriage between myself and the church and the church and my family. I also asked the Lord for a church where I could spend the rest of my ministry serving. The Lord gave me those specific things in FBC Paradise. In similar fashion the Lord desires to give you specific “things” you are praying for. I know people who are specifically praying the Lord would get them out of debt, praying for pastors and youth ministers in their churches where it seems that no one is willing to come and serve, praying for specific direction about where to go to college and where to live. This is not “name it and claim it” theology, this is being so fully assured that you are praying for something in the spiritual realm and are confident that you will receive it that you can ask for it specifically. How much money do you need? Ask specifically. What kind of job do you want? Ask for it in detail. What characteristics do you want to see in your children or grandchildren? Ask the Lord to develop those traits.
One other word I would like to focus on in our passage is the word “hope.” Hope is what prayer offered in faith provides, it gives hope, and “hope” defined means expected. I fully expect that God will bless our church with additional property and I fully expect that God is going to grow this little church that most people have never heard of. I fully expect that many of you this day are coming to a new understanding about faith and prayer, making you eager to pray with renewed enthusiasm. When we say amen and rise from our praying, we should get up and go about the rest of the day expecting and being assured that God will intervene. He might not do it right this moment, in this very hour, but if we have asked God with right motives and according to His will, we can expect answers to those things we have seen and petitioned the Lord for by faith. We can expect to witness, to hold, and to testify about God’s answers to prayer. May we all pray with fresh faith and the firm conviction that God does and will answer prayer because He is always faithful.


Steps to Trust and Obey:

What things do you need to ask God for in faith? Be specific and ask according to what we discovered about faith in Hebrews 11:1.
What do you see right now? What do you believe God will do?
Take some time to ask the Lord to enable you to believe Him for greater things over the next few weeks.
Read Heb 11:1 slowly, thinking about what you see with your eyes and what you believe in your heart.
Take some time to pray with as much faith as you can muster and be determined to rise and go about your day with hope and expectation.

Tue, March 24 - 40 Days Begins Tomorrow

Where do you start on one of the most exciting journeys you and I could ever imagine? Like the old proverb says, we simply start with the first step. For many of you that first step was committing to forty days of trusting and obeying God and using this devotional material. This was written with one purpose in mind. Over the next forty days we are being challenged to believe, to fast, and to ask God for His miraculous intervention in our lives. That might come in the form of dreams being fulfilled, financial provision being given, souls being saved, peace being granted, health restored, babies given as wombs open up and conceive or as neglected and unwanted children are adopted, book publication deals cemented, the advancement of God’s kingdom in mission endeavors, along with many other things that bring glory to God.
I am inviting you on this adventurous journey of trusting and obeying God over the next forty days. It is my prayer that each of us will encounter God in powerful ways and our faith will be strengthened with endurance and the rippling muscles that move God to intervene on the behalf of ourselves and those we love. This is not being written to be another program or another exercise in futility. I fully expect to meet with God personally; I expect you to meet with God in profound ways and to see God move and intervene, doing the impossible, the unbelievable, and showing all of us how powerful He really is as well.
Be forewarned, taking this journey is meant to stretch each of us to gain new ground in our walks with the Lord. Our faith will be tested and stretched as we believe God for things that have seemed out of reach for far too long. My heart thrills with each sentence as I think and write about all that God desires to do in, around, and through each of us. This journey will not always be easy, but neither is climbing a lofty mountain. We must experience more of God in our hearts and we must climb higher in Him to view our circumstances from the lofty peaks of faith and prayer. There are things that God longs for us to possess, but we have far too often shrunk back in unbelief. It is time to climb higher toward the summit of God in prayer and secure those things that have burdened our hearts for so long.
Over the course of the next forty days, my prayer is that as we meet with God in the pages of scripture and in the pages of the history of our life experiences, we will behold God working powerfully and miraculously all around us. This forty-day journey is not intended to be one of comfort and ease, but rather one of thrilling adventures of walking with our Creator and Sustainer and trusting Him for those seemingly elusive answers to prayer. Our motives will be brought under the scrutiny of God’s Word and our confidence in His ability to move mountains will be challenged, while our faith will gain new muscle through trials and tests.
I have been walking by faith for many years now and the one thing I can tell you from first-hand experience is that God is faithful - all the time! In every life and in every situation, He is faithful and trustworthy. You and I can depend on Him. He does come through in His time and according to His purposes. He does save the lost, He does provide for our needs, He does bless us with the desires of our hearts, He does lift our burdens, He does make dreams come true, He does move us into our destinies, He does move mountains, and all so that we testify of His greatness and give glory to Him.
Originally this material is being written for the extraordinary people of First Baptist Paradise, TX, as we move into a faith adventure of trusting God for land and buildings debt-free, relocating our church to accommodate current and future growth. What an adventure this has already been of praying and listening to God. Yet, it is my belief that God wants to use this material in larger and more profound ways beyond the scope of our church.
How many of you are facing impossible situations? I talked to a man last night who has a sick wife who recently lost her job, and as a result, also lost their health insurance due to her illness. He is trying to be strong for her, but I could see the pain in his eyes and hear the strain in his voice as he wondered aloud what they were going to do. I know another lady battling a terminal disease. Many have rallied around her but few speak of her healing. I watch as people struggle more and more to make ends meet financially. I have seen the tears in grown men’s eyes as they talk about dreams they felt God planted in their hearts but which now seem so far out of reach. I come into contact with pastors leading dead churches, where the life seems gone and the remnants of those congregations look like a valley of dry bones. I have looked into the broken hearts and tear-filled eyes of those looking for love and companionship but who are unable to find it. Many are facing circumstances where we need God to step in and save the day. We need nothing short of miracles.
Forty days of trusting and obeying God entails a great deal. We are not conditioned to trust God. We build security into our lives and have the wild inclination that trusting God is the most insecure thing imaginable. Few have difficulty trusting God for the forgiveness of sins and for salvation, but we balk at the idea of being called to take steps outside our comfort zone in obedience to the Lord’s promptings. Perhaps this is because we have some fear that God will call us to Africa or the Middle East to be missionaries. What a wrong concept of God! He is not in the business of leading us to be miserable. He will chastise and convict of sin, but He desires to bless us and to bring everlasting joy to us through a vibrant relationship with Him (Psalm 16:11.) He is in the business of calling us to join Him in fulfilling His purposes (Jeremiah 29:11-13.) If we are really seeking Him and want to join Him in those purposes and those purposes call us to Africa or the Middle East, there would be nowhere else on the planet we would rather be. So, relax! God is not seeking to drag you to the last place on earth you want to live and work. He does desire to interrupt your life, your priorities, and your willingness to follow Him anywhere, though. Trusting and obeying means that over the next few weeks we are willing to take the steps God leads us to take, obey what He leads us to do and confidently trust Him for the outcome. Few Christians are really willing to live this way. It can be unsettling to know that as you live surrendered to Him for these days, the word “no” is not an option in response to His promptings.
Are you willing to take the first steps of this amazing adventure by just giving God your “yes?” It doesn’t matter what that will mean or where it will lead. It just means that you trust the Lord enough to lead you along the best route for your life, and more importantly, to fulfill His purposes. You give God your “yes” in faith believing that He has your best interests at heart. This is the first step in taking this forty-day pilgrimage of trusting and obeying the Lord. There are other steps that will follow.
The basic premise of this material is that you find yourself in an impossible situation and you are desperate for God to get involved. As for FBC Paradise, we are trusting God for provision so we can purchase land and build new facilities without going one penny into debt. Many people say this is foolishness, but as we pound the doors of Heaven over the next forty days, let our God prove the experts wrong. Others of you have your own issues and prayer concerns that require God invading space and time to change your circumstances and in many instances, to change you.
Are you desperate enough to fast on some level for the next forty days? I am defining fasting as the abstinence of anything for the purpose of seeking God through prayer in order to meet a spiritual goal. What is it that you want the Lord to do? Once you have determined the goal, your next step is to determine the level of your fast. I know of people who have fasted from food, completely drinking only liquids, or from a certain meal each day such as lunch. Some people have fasted from media such as television and music. Others have fasted from text messaging, video games, desserts, or eating certain types of food. A person could even fast from sleep by rising earlier and/or staying up later for prayer. Before a person enters into any extreme fast such as abstinence from food for an extended period of time, consultation from a physician should be sought to determine the health risks and benefits.
One fast that I would suggest would be a Daniel fast. In Daniel 1:12, Daniel went on a vegetable and water diet. (I think it would be okay to add fruits to this fast also.) There is the obvious abstinence of meat on this fast. This might be a possible suggestion for those starting this journey as a sacrifice - but a manageable one - for those not experienced with the discipline of fasting. You need to seek the Lord as to the level of the fast He is calling you to go on. The most important part of this fast should be that whatever you abstain from, you then use the time that would previously have been occupied by that thing to pray and seek God with greater intensity.
Another of the first steps I am laying before you is to define exactly what you are asking God to do over the next forty days. Be specific and write down your goals, as we read in Habakkuk 2:2-3, Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, and that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, and it will not tarry.
What if the goals you write down do not happen after devoting yourself to prayer for them over these forty days? What if your desired answer tarries and you have to wait for it longer? I can tell you with full assurance that even if you do not get your answer at the end of this journey, you will be much closer to making your withdrawal from God’s bountiful resources after making forty days of faith deposits into your prayer account. Some answers come sooner than others. I have prayed about certain things and have seen the Lord answer almost immediately. Other things I have prayed for and waited on God to answer for years. There are things He is calling us to believe Him for. For FBC Paradise it a particular piece of property nestled up to Hwy 114 and next to ten other acres the Lord has already given our church. You have your own goals and desires you are asking the Lord to meet. Write down what you are asking God to do for you over these next forty days.
Now that we have given God our “yes”, determined our spiritual goals and the level of the fast we will take over the next forty days, there is only one thing left. We now need to pray. These next forty days are going to be a challenge to your prayer life like many may have never experienced. These private prayers and petitions may be tear-filled, intense encounters with a loving Heavenly Father. Let us determine right at the start that we will give ourselves to prayer like we never have over the next forty days.
I urge you to do this in two ways. You need to commit to your own private times of prayer. When will you do this? Where will you do this? These are important issues to consider. Let us make the appointment of our own personal prayer times a greater priority. I am also urging you over these next forty days to join some corporate prayer groups which meet at your convenience and pray together, sharing each other’s burdens and coming before the throne of grace to obtain help and mercy in your time of need. (Hebrews 4:16.)
Father, thank you for this amazing journey You are leading us on. My soul thrills as I think about each encounter with You over the next forty days. I plead with You in these days to meet with us in an intensity like few of us have every known. I ask You to empower us to sustain prayer with more passion and determination than we have ever done. I ask You show what You are calling us to believe You for. I ask You to burn a desire to enter our prayer closets and to meet with You and to gather in small groups for corporate prayer over these next forty days. We need You to intervene, to step in and save the day, to move our mountains and to restore our hope. Lord, I ask You to do the impossible for all of us. I ask You to move in such profound ways that Your glory is promoted throughout the whole earth. Please help us start strong, stay strong along the way, and finish strong. I ask You to breathe life into our seeking of You and private times with You. You are mighty, holy, powerful, glorious, majestic, sovereign, faithful, and our true hope. Please anoint and inspire these days and times with You in ways that will alter our lives. You are life-transforming, and over these next forty days we are not putting our trust in materials or programs. We are putting our trust in You and in You alone. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Riding Against the Wind

I was riding my bike this past week battling the south winds for about nine miles. It made climbing up each hill more difficult. The wind blew me around and made pedaling harder. Trying to cut a path through the wind was truly a challenge. What should have taken less than thirty minutes took about forty-five. Riding against the wind made everything harder. Even getting a drink of water from my squirt bottle was harder as the wind caught the water and blew it away from my mouth and all down my shirt and legs. On such days you simply have to get your mind right and grit it out. Painful mile after painful mile must be pedaled until you can turn and ride with the wind at your back. One fellow rider once commented riding against the wind only makes you stronger.
Many of you who are reading this are riding against the wind in your personal life. You face opposition, resistance, and unrelenting pressure. Each time you think you are about to get ahead or get a breather another strong gust pushes you backward and you feel you are not making any head way.
I just returned from the hospital visiting two people. One is battling a terminal disease with a war like mentality. The other nearly died but was rescued and given a new leash on life. One is fighting for life and the other is grateful for a second chance. Both have had to face the wind. Both have known the exertion of faith in trudging through the blustery trials blowing like gale force winds against them.
It seems like some people ride against the wind their whole lives. They never seem to catch a break and face adversity after adversity and always seem to fighting the wind to get ahead. I am talking about good people, salt of the earth type people, people who have high and noble character. Even good people find themselves riding against the wind. I have never known a time in my life when I saw more people facing more adversity than I do right now. What counsel if any can we find in God’s word.
There is much counsel to be found in the Bible for drained and depleted people who have ridden against the wind weary mile after weary mile. Some have given care to the diseased, infirmed, or aged year after year. It has been a long hard rode. Others have battled poverty for most of their lives forced to live hand to mouth in the land of plenty but they have faced the harsh winds of living in lack. Some have ridden into the winds of dysfunctional families, tragic loss of loved ones, public failure, and what is more amazing is that many have done so without ever becoming bitter or giving up.
I am thinking of a lady I talked with recently at a hospital who was keeping vigil over her very sick husband. She had faced more hardship and pain than I have ever even thought about. Still she smiled, radiated joy, and she still had hope. How could this be? How could a lady whose whole life has been filled with pain, sorrow, and trials still have such a positive out look?
To answer that question and to see what the Bible says I will turn to one person who knew what it was like to ride against the wind. Paul suffered like few people have ever suffered on this earth. He was beaten, stoned, whipped, run out of town on multiple occasions, arrested, imprisoned, and at times abandoned by friends. He was sitting in a stinking rat infested prison cell with a hole in the floor for a toilet when he wrote the following words. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. [Phil 3:14] I don’t know if you caught that but here is his simple message for all people in whatever circumstances they are riding through life against the wind. PRESS ON! When the wind is blowing against us, we keep getting up, we keep pressing forward, we keep pedaling regardless of how steep the grade of the hill, we keep praying, and we keep hoping. The phrase “pressing on” means to run after, to seek after eagerly, and to earnestly endeavor to acquire. Run after what? Seek eagerly after what? Earnestly endeavor to acquire what? The answer is not so much what but whom. In running or riding against the wind we must keep our eyes on the prize or the finish line. Jesus Christ is the goal. We press on toward Him and He under girds us with strength and with hope when everything appears hopeless. We earnestly endeavor to acquire His peace, His strength, His joy, and His perseverance. He is the one who has set the example about what it means to endure adversity and to do so with joy. Fixing our eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy sat before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart. [Heb 12:2-3]
One day over a year ago I was riding into a stiff south wind for about ten miles on a little bike jaunt but I kept telling myself that if I kept pressing on and enduring that I would eventually get to turn and ride with the wind at my back pushing me back home. When I made my turn, I kid you not; the winds suddenly shifted from the south and began blowing briskly from the north. I rode a near twenty mile ride into the wind the whole way. Some lives seem that way as well. Think upon this. If anyone ever got a raw deal on this earth it was Jesus. He never sinned and yet was punished for the sins of man kind by being slaughtered on a cross. The winds blew against Him too and yet He did two things. He endured it! He endured it with joy! Jesus was rejected by the Jews but He endured it with joy. The same crowds who shouted, “Hosanna,” one day shouted, “Crucify Him,” only days later.
In light of what Jesus went through on the cross because He loved us, the winds we are facing are not that big a deal. Press on into Christ and let Him build endurance and joy in you despite the adversity you are facing. The winds will shift eventually, if not in this life then surely in eternity.
I just received a phone call that the man I visited in the hospital earlier today died just a little bit ago. The hard ride he has been riding against the wind just changed. Because he trusted Christ to save and forgive him years ago the wind just turned to his back as he stepped into eternity with endurance and joy. He will never have to ride against the wind ever again though his widow of many decades still has some miles to go. May we keep pressing on.

Hunger Pangs

Ps 34:8 – “O taste and see that the Lord is good; how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!”


As I write this it is well past lunch time. I was working on a message for Sunday and lost track of time. The gnawing in my stomach tells me it is time to eat. Before I go off to lunch though, I have this burning question that keeps biting into my soul. What am I really hungry for in life? The nature of this question is spiritual and not physical. It is a question posed to all people? What are you truly hungry for? What are you trying to fill your life with to take away the hunger pangs of your soul in your search for significance and satisfaction?
It is comical and tragic at the same time to view the things people fill their lives with in an attempt to find happiness, contentment, and fulfillment. Sports, building wealth (which as we have all seen recently can be easily snatched from us), houses, cars, clothes, cosmetic surgery, awards, recognition, love, the applaud and approval of people are all things people seek grasping for anything and everything to fill a void in their lives.
After these futile pursuits, are people any happier? Marriages still end even by those who seem to have everything this world can offer, sports records get broken and every athlete sooner or later plays his or her last play. Wealth can be earned over a lifetime and lost in a matter of months due to bad investments or fraud. You can eat at the best restaurants, wear the latest fashions, and fill your life with the extras of this world, but in the end find your soul is still hungry for something or someone. This search leads people to look for love in all the wrong places. The end result is more hunger pangs, sorrow, and disillusionment. Life then becomes a futile quest to survive and to fake happiness on the outside as we masquerade the pain and discontentment on the inside.
Life is fragile and can be seized from us without any warning. Let me illustrate. In 2003 actress Natasha Richardson told the Daily Telegraph newspaper, “I wake up every morning feeling lucky, which is driven by fear, no doubt, since I know it could all go away.” By “all” was she referring to a lifestyle of the rich and famous? There were accolades, glamour, wealth, resorts, and a luxurious lifestyle. She was in Quebec at a resort skiing like thousands of people do all over the world. She fell, hit her head, told people she was fine, but within an hour she no longer felt fine. She was taken to a hospital in Quebec and flown to another hospital in New York where she died on Wednesday. She was only forty-five. In the last moments of her life was she hungry for another gourmet meal, another shopping spree, or to hear the applause of people while standing on stage one more time? What was she hungry for?
Many live their whole lives and never come to the simple understanding that God has set eternity in the hearts of people. [Eccl 3:11] Many will search anywhere and everywhere but the one place where they can find what they have been hungering for all along and that is a relationship with God.
The Psalmist exhorts us to try God and see that He alone satisfies the soul above all things. What does it mean to taste God? It means to try God or to perceive God or to savor God. When we do so earnestly we find fullness, nourishment, and contentedness like we have ever known from any other source. We were created with a hunger for God and only God can satisfy that hunger. Seeking to feed a spiritual hunger with physical and temporal things will never produce the desired results. As we taste God and see God through spiritual eyes and the truth of the Bible, we will find that God is valuable beyond all estimation. He is pleasant and excellent and any person, who trusts in Him, surrenders their life and will to Him, and who cries out to Him for the forgiveness of sin and salvation, that one will be blessed. That does not mean that those blessings may always take the shape of material abundance and prosperity but it does mean that the gnawing hunger in our souls will be sated. We will find fulfillment in Him and our needs will be provided.
It is my hope and prayer that the gnawing hunger in our souls will draw us to Jesus Christ that we may taste for ourselves and see for ourselves that He is good, worth living for, and worth more than all the riches of this world. I hope that tragedies like the death of Natasha Richardson will again remind us that life is fragile and all the trappings of success and glamour cannot help us in the day when we face eternity. I hope that on that day, our hearts will be hungrier for God than ever and without regrets we can say goodbye to this world and hello to Him whom we have tasted over and over again in devotions and divine encounters and whom we have seen in our experiences that He is good. It will be on the day of our death that we will come to find out if what we were hungry for really mattered and really satisfied.
I hold up Jesus Christ above all material possessions, all earthly relationships, and every conceivable accolade as infinitely more valuable and eternally more satisfying. If you have never done so, will you not taste Jesus and see Him for yourself? What are you hungry for?

If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out, then I shall give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the field will bear their fruit. [Lev 26:3-4]


I have just returned from one of my favorite activities. I sat out on the front porch outside our offices watched it rain. It was soothing and reviving to my spirit. As I watched the steady downpour many things came to my attention. At first, I was grateful. This is the third day in a row we have gotten rain. We needed it so badly. The grass was dry and dead. This was a desolate place over the past several months. God in His bountiful mercy heard the cry of His children everywhere and not only gave us rain but He gave us a slow, soaking, saturating rain. It has not come in a torrential flood where most of the rain water ran off before sinking deep in the soil. This rain has come in long sustained and steady measures giving the parched ground a much needed drink from Heaven.
As I sat watching the soil dampening drizzle, I saw a cardinal land on the ground to eat some lunch on a fresh patch of green grass beginning to sprout again. Everywhere I looked I noticed the signs of life and the evidence of spring even though the temperature outside is a bit frigid today. Just a few days of rain and new life has come again.
I heard the pitter patter of rain pellets pelting the cover over the porch and then noticed a distinctly different sound as rain drops spattered on the ground below. Each rain a drop is a source of life to land which had been in a drought for far too long. God came through again. Just when things were getting to be most critical, God came to our rescue in the day of our trouble. He graciously and mercifully sent rain to replenish the earth again as He has always done throughout history, even though most will never thank for it and take it for granted.
The rain is symbolic to me of so many things. The rain symbolizes God coming and reviving His church in these spiritual drought conditions. In barely thirty six hours this past week a pastor was shot while preaching his sermon on a Sunday morning in Illinois, a mad gunman killed well over a dozen people at a school in Germany, and another disillusioned gunman killed family members and then went on a several mile shooting spree in Alabama while another suicide bomber killed over thirty people at a peace conference in Iraq.. We need the rain of God’s Spirit to comfort the anguished in this tormented world. We need the rain of God’s provision for those who are losing jobs right and left in a world where nothing seems safe and secure anymore. God’s rain reminds me that when things look the bleakest, He is still there to provide whatever is needed. He has not abandoned this world though many have abandoned Him. He comforts, rebukes, restores, and revives. The signs of life are all around us.
As I gathered my chair to come back inside to work on this article I caught something out of the corner of my eye. I nearly missed it but the sight of it stopped me in my tracks. Through the rain I looked across the street and beheld a white cross located on the roof of the First Christian Church. I just stood there staring at the cross for a few moments. When this world was dark, empty, and spiritually dead, God rained down infinite and abounding mercy through the gift of Jesus and His redemptive work on the cross. For over two thousands years God has been raining mercy on the hearts of repentant sinners without end. In spite of our waywardness, our rebellion, our love of sin, our deserving His wrath, in Jesus God has rained compassion and mercy for all who are spiritually thirsty. What joy that brought to my heart especially in light of Easter being only a month away. Jesus came. He died. He lives today!
Today I encourage you to let the rain of God’s spirit revive the dead places of your heart and life. I ask that you to be open to the rain of the Spirit of God who saturates souls with grace (unmerited favor and undeserved blessings). Many of you grew up in church and loved Jesus in those primary years. Since then you have drifted away and your souls are dry, desolate, and discouraged. Why not ask God for a spring like shower of His touch on your life again. Why not wake up this Sunday and attend the church of your choice asking God for rejuvenation and life in your spirit again.
When we choose to disobey and reject His commands nothing good comes of it. When we submit to His decrees and readjust our priorities He sends rain both physically and spiritually. We need the physical rain to fill the stock tanks, nourish the crops, sprout grass for livestock and grow hay for next winter. We need the physical rain. We also need the spiritual rain just as much. We have lived in this spiritual drought long enough. Let’s thank God for the rain and trust Him for showers of blessings in our souls as well.

Man Camp

There is something special about a group of men getting together to have fun, seek the heart of God, and to sharpen one another. Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. [Prov 27:17] That is what happened on an isolated 1,500 acre ranch in Oklahoma last weekend. Men came together to sharpen one another.
There was plenty of laughter, practical jokes, friendly competition and men who were seeking the heart of God the Father. Nearly seventy pounds of brisket was consumed along with multiple pounds of pinto beans and fifteen pounds of smoked sausage. My waistline feels it. Large mouth bass were easy pickings for those skilled anglers (except for me- I did not catch one fish the whole weekend) A few caught some weighing in over eight pounds. My hat goes off to the winning team of Ben Sanders and Troy Chatham. One man spent the night on the roof while several others slept on cots outdoors, one slept in his truck, and others made little nests wherever they could find inside the house.
Men sang songs of praise and worshipped. Men competed in a game requiring mental precision, physical stamina, and overcoming obstacles. Men drifted off one by one into the great outdoors to meet with the Creator of the universe with Bibles in their hands in private and profound ways. This is just a sample of what Man Camp is all about.
We laugh when we advertise this each year because we call it a weekend of “meat, men, and ministry.” I am talking about real men huddling up to commune with God and cultivate deeper relationships with other men. Marines, Navy men, Vietnam veterans, business men, college students, college basketball and football athletes, fire fighters, E.M.T.’s, law enforcement officers, mechanics, electricians, and ranchers. I am talking about real men seeking a real God.
Man Camp has become more than a weekend retreat. Real men discuss the hard issues of life. One man stood and proclaimed that it was a year ago he asked the Lord to deliver him from tobacco and he has stood strong a year later not having a single dip. It was at Man Camp that many men formed a pact with one another to help each other in the struggle against lust, doubts, drifting away from God, and to reach other men.
When men are younger we have the fellowship of sports, FFA, and fraternities to keep us bonded. You can see it in young boys at an early age as they begin to group up to play some pick up sport of some type. There is a bonding that takes place on the athletic fields as well as the battle fields as men learn to depend on one another in competition or in war. Few ever say it but the message is clear, men need other men in their life. Whether it be at a weekend retreat or sitting around the coffee table at the local café, men need other men. We need more than just an acquaintance with the men we go to church we with. We need a bonding like David had with Jonathan when the scriptures says their souls were knit together.
Every man needs other men to come along side him to sharpen him for the journey of life. Little boys need fathers or father figures to encourage them and cheer them on their journey toward authentic man hood. Young men need the wisdom of older men who have been around the block a time or two. Middle aged men need the seasoned senior men to come along side them and help them to navigate life’s disappointments and mid life crisis while senior men need to be around young men who are dreaming God’s dreams so senior men will finish strong and not coast toward the finish line. Men need other men to sharpen them.
I am grateful for a band of brothers God has put in my life. From way back in my past I am grateful for a legend true to life cowboy named David (though I affectionately called him “Dad”) from a little town most have never heard of. He taught me emotional toughness and reminded me of the old Vince Lombardi saying that, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” He modeled hard work, a generous and giving heart, and a never say quit or can’t attitude in spite of droughts, financial set backs, drops in the cattle market, horse injuries, broken down trucks, tractors, and house repairs. His attitude never fell into despair. He still is a legend in my book.
I am grateful for a group of men who took me under their wings in the early years of my ministry. They did most of the work and I did the praying and the preaching and through it all we saw God do extraordinary things. Dozens were baptized, I learned about prayer, evangelism, church growth, and perseverance through the tough times. We were all too young to know how special we had it until each of us moved away from Weatherford, TX in pursuit of other things. Those guys had and still have my back. They are my friends, my brothers. We have laughed together until our sides hurt. We have eaten our share of fatted calves over the years and we have shed a few tears together along the way as well. Those brothers are as near my heart today as they were back in the old days at Spring Creek. I could never have done it by myself and even today I look forward to the time that I get to spend with those brothers. You guys made Spring Creek a success. I was just a young preacher who was blessed beyond what I even imagine. I miss you guys and have often asked the Lord to bring us all back together again to do ministry.
I am most grateful for a slew of brothers and young men God put in my life back in East Texas. There was and still are Nolan, Charles, Kevin, Keith, Ron, Les, Mark, Chris, Mike, Joel, and John just to mention a few. Each of those men left their mark on me in some way or other. Each of them sharpened me in my walk with the Lord and my character. Many hours I have spent sitting at their feet listening and learning. Though I am not near them geographically now, I cherish the memories of them all. Their investment in me is way too valuable to compute. I am a rich man when it comes to relationships.
There are now a new group of men I love and am learning about here in Paradise, TX. Great men. Hungry for God men. Men who have dauntless faith and are ready to follow God anywhere doing anything around this globe. These men inspire me. There are also a new crop of young men who are growing up and maturing in the Lord right before my eyes. It is a joy to get to invest in them spiritually. These men are my brothers and I cherish their friendships and it is my honor and privilege to serve as their pastor. God has indeed allowed His lines to fall for me in pleasant places.
Just as Jesus had twelve but out of that twelve He had three with whom He was extremely close, I also have what I call my inner circle. This is a sacred band of brothers I have walked many miles with, over come many trials and struggles with them holding my hands up in support like Aaron and Hur did for Moses in prayer for me. I have a small circle of those who have earned the most treasured and trusted places in my life and heart and endeared themselves in ways I could put down on paper. J.D., E.A., J.R., R.Y. D.R., D.F. You guys know who you are and how blessed I am that you are my friends through both thick and thin. I owe you guys a debt I can never repay but please know that you have sharpened me as a man, as a pastor, as an author, and a husband, as well as a father. You guys have helped me to become the man that I am today through the Lord’s work through you. I love you guys and thank the Lord for you. I pray for our opportunity and desire to keep sharpening one another until the day that we die. May each of you know the blessing of the Lord as much as I have known it by coming into relationship with each of you. You are now and will always be the men in my camp. May we fight the good fight shoulder to shoulder until our last breath. Thank you for being men who have stayed in my camp for all these years. You can count on me to stay in your in your times of need as well.

Man Camp 2009

A Slow Walk Down a Long Dirt Road

I just returned late last night from our annual Man Camp men’s retreat up in Duncan, OK. We had well over two dozen guys who laughed, fished, cultivated teamwork, and sought the heart of God. It was a special time.
My absolute favorite part of the weekend happened as I left the other men taking a slow walk down a long dirt road late Friday afternoon. My intention was to pray, mediate, be alone, and listen to God while I walked. It was an hour and a half of blissful solitude, gentle rolling hills and shuffling along the red dirt lanes of our retreat. I walked down across creek bottoms, felt the blustering winds across my cheeks, and looked out over miles of wild and untamed acreage in awe of the beauty and creativity of God as far as the eye could see. [Gen 1:1] I beheld the sun setting over the tree littered knolls in the distance in awe and wonder while basking in the greatness of God. [Ps 8:1-9]
While walking down that road I was able to unload all of my cares. [Ps 55:22] I was able to slow the rhythms of my heart, mind, and soul. [Ps 46:10] It felt great not to be in a hurry, to have no appointments to keep, no cell phones, nor try to rush through a last minute few items in order to get ahead. It was just God and me walking slowly together enjoying each other. Yep! You read it right. I was enjoying God and He was enjoying me. At times I did not say a word and neither did He. I just stood atop hills looking at the large seventy acre lake behind our lodging, taking in the miles and miles of prairies, looking over one hill after another fading of sight into the distance taking in God’s masterpiece in creation like someone gazing at a painting seeking to take in every detail.
I walked until my feet began to ache and my legs wearied of the journey but my soul soared. I did not want to return. As I walked I carried a pen and pad to jot down ideas to write about or thoughts the Lord was speaking to me. If the sun had not begun to set I would have stayed longer. There is something about walking outdoors that brings my soul back to life. I need to make more time to do this.
We don’t walk much anymore. We drive around for minutes in parking lots trying to find a space close to the door so we don’t have to walk. We drive even when we are only going a few blocks. We are always in a rush and our souls are tied in knots because we never slow down. When was the last time you took a leisurely stroll? Decades ago people used to walk (many because they had to) some because they enjoyed getting out and seeing neighbors out in their yards or on their front porches. Those days have long passed us by. If we do walk it is to get exercise and we are huffing and puffing to get it done so we can move on to the next activity in our already overcrowded day.
Time changed last night and after returning from the retreat I was exhausted. I was down and to sleep in less than five minutes after walking in my front door. When I awoke this morning to get ready for church I knew I was running a little late but I chose to walk to church anyway. It is a routine I am enjoying more and more each Sunday morning. It normally is less than a ten minute walk. I am sure it looks strange to many seeing a man dressed in a suit walking down the shoulder of hwy 114 and cutting through the side streets early in the morning. I walked, prayed, and listened and had an unexpected blessing. I had just been praying for different pastors in Paradise when down the street I saw Pastor Mike Langdon. I stopped and visited with him outside the Methodist Church briefly before making my way to First Baptist. To be honest I was a couple of minutes late for the start of the service but my heart was at peace, my focus was on God and today I encountered God during worship powerfully.
In these difficult days I encourage you to take a slow walk down a long dirt (or paved) road. It will do you a world of good if you take that walk with God. Talk to Him and listen to Him. It might cause your heart to burn within in you as you walk with the Lord. [Luke 24:13-35]