21 Days of Prayer - Day 19 - Thursday, August 25, 2022 Snatch Others!

21 Days of Prayer - Day 19 - Thursday,  August 25, 2022   Snatch Others!

Jude v. 22-23 (NIV) 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. 24 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—

Our assignment: To save others by snatching them from the fire.  God wants us to rescue people.  Snatch - to attempt to take hold of something suddenly or forcibly. To take or grab abruptly or hastily.

We can get more aggressive with our prayers because God is calling us to snatch people out of the fire.  This is how, then, we can pray:

1. We should pray thoughtfully.

Remember, God doesn’t answer our prayers based on who we are but on who He is.

2 Peter 3:9 (NIV)  9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

God is patient. God is saying there are still more people to be snatched from the fire.

2. We should pray fervently.

James 5:16B (NKJV)  Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

Holy Spirit, who do I need to pray for today?

3. We should pray boldly.

Jeremiah 32:17 (NLT) 17 “O Sovereign Lord! You made the heavens and earth by your strong hand and powerful arm. Nothing is too hard for you!

Nothing is too hard for God.  Let’s pray boldly for others. 

4.  We should pray expectantly.

Mark 10:27 (NKJV) 27 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.”

There is nothing impossible.  People can be entrapped in so many things. 

But today we know God can do  the impossible, so we pray God snatch them out of the things that hold others captive.

Remember God is the God of yesterday, today and tomorrow.  If He did it before, He’ll continue to rescue people. He’ll continue to snatch people out of the fire and into a new life with Him.    

Let us pray thoughtfully, fervently, boldly and expectantly.

21 Days of Prayer - Day 18 -Wednesday, August 24, 2022 Get Wisdom

21 Days of Prayer - Day 18 -Tuesday,  August 24, 2022  Get Wisdom

One word on my heart today. It’s the word Wisdom.

In all areas and stages of our life, we need wisdom.  We need God’s word to infiltrate every area of our life.

Many of us need God to do a healing work in our life - while we are waiting for the miracle, we need to ask God for wisdom while we wait.

Proverbs 2:3-6 (NIV) indeed, if you call out for insight  and cry aloud for understanding,

4  and if you look for it as for silver   and search for it as for hidden treasure,

5  Then you will understand the fear of the Lord   and find the knowledge of God.

6  For the Lord gives wisdom;    from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.

Proverbs 4:6-7 (NIV) Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you;

love her, and she will watch over you. 7 The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom.  Though it cost all you have,[b] get understanding

Solomon is the author of many of these proverbs. While Saul was ruling over Israel, they enjoyed prosperity and peace. Why?  Because Solomon had wisdom.

Solomon is pleading with us to get wisdom. To get all that you can.

With wisdom the Lord laid the foundations of the earth. (Prov. 3)

In the NT, Luke wrote that Jesus grew in wisdom (Luke 2)

How do we get wisdom?

It takes work to get wisdom.  We are digging for that valuable thing called “Wisdom.”

We need to dig or mine wisdom for all those areas of our life.

James 1:5 (NIV) 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to yo

We should ask God for wisdom. He gives it generously!

Three prayers for wisdom that we might pray:

1. Wisdom to see.  

Ephesians 5:15-16 (NIV) 5 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

Be careful in how you live. Be looking around. Look for wisdom. Look for opportunities.

2. Wisdom to Speak.

Use our mouth to build people up.

Proverbs 10:11  The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,

    but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

3. Wisdom as We Lead.

Wisdom for our meetings, going to class, in our conversations. I need to lead well.

Wisdom brings peace to our life and brightness to our witness.

This begins with a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit.

21 Days of Prayer - Day 17 - Tuesday, August 23, 2022

21 Days of Prayer - Day 17 - Tuesday,  August 23, 2022 

Acts 12:5-10 (NIV) 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.

6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.

8 Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. 9 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.

There was a problem or a situation and the church believed that prayer was the adequate response.

Peter realizes this was not a vision but an actual rescue.  The very first thing he does is go to the church where they are praying for him.

This was a miraculous rescue. Peter goes through 12 different barriers with door after door open for him.  When he gets to the church, that door doesn’t open. 

We often see door after door open, but it seems there is one door that does not open. 

What do we do when we stand outside a door that doesn’t open.

Acts 12:16 (NIV) But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.

Peter, despite this closed door that he thought would open, kept on knocking. Keep on knocking for your family, for your kids, for your school, for your church.

Some doors open freely; Some doors open forcefully (God wants us to participate by keeping on knocking).  How do we do this?

1. We knock with praise

I have a lot to believe for but a lot to be thankful for. Psalm 100. Enter with Thanksgiving.  Even if a door doesn’t open, we will praise Him.

2. We knock with promise.

I knock with faith and assurance. I know He is faithful.  Other things fade, but the Word of the Lord lasts forever.  I can do this by praying with scripture. 

3. We knock with persistence.

IN Luke 18 a widow receives an answer to her request because of her persistence. She kept on coming to him and that was a judge who was reluctant. But we have a God who is a blesser and a giver.

So we keep on knocking. Great faith requires persistence.

My response to believe in favor, I’m going to keep on knocking. I will keep on knocking for marriages, for families, believing that lost people can be found, believing that people can receive their healing, I’m believing that the church can still make a difference in the world, I’m believing that the young generation will not leave the church but will stand to be a generation that can make a difference.