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Praise Thursday

Prayer: Faith vs. Doubt

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YOUR HEART: FAITH VS. DOUBT
James 1: 6-7 reminds us:

“But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.”

When we pray, the Lord prompts us to ask in faith!  Our doubts can create roadblocks.

Like Peter, we may sometimes quietly deny God’s faithfulness, goodness or ability.  This lack of faith can clog up our prayer life.  We can’t get close to God if we don’t trust Him or believe that He is good.

So if you’re struggling with prayer or don’t feel much like praying at all, you might be dealing with one of these misconceptions about God’s heart and identity.

Misconception #1: God doesn’t know or understand my needs. 

He DOES know you.  He knows you better than you know yourself.  Matthew 10:29-30… “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.[a] 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”  He knows before we ask him!
So why does he want us to pray?  What’s the point? It’s about intimately knowing, loving and worshipping God.  It’s about conforming our lives to his will and his ways. Prayer is about accessing and advancing his power, kingdom and glory.  ALL of these require interaction.

Misconception #2: God isn’t able to help.

The apostle Paul answered this objection with one of the most resounding exclamations in the Bible. He declares that God is able to not only do whatever we can imagine Him doing, but He is able to do ABOVE and BEYOND all that we could ever ask or think (Eph 3:20).
The original Greek of this scripture carries the idea of superabundance, exceedingly high amounts, an ability that goes beyond all forms of human measurement. That’s exactly what God has. That’s who He is. Total ability and power. Omnipotence. When you look at the stars, or look in a mirror, you see God’s ability to do things well. If you truly believe this, then it should be no trouble for you to believe that ‘if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us” (1 John 5:14). We can also believe that with faith, no larger than a mustard seed, we can say to the mountains, whatever the mountain is, ‘move from here to there’ and it will move (Matt. 17:20).

God truly can do anything, and even Jesus said “With men, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible (Matt. 19:26).

Misconception #3: God doesn’t care.

The question that we all like to ask, even after a person accepts God’s omniscience and omnipotence is: “If He knows everything, and can do everything, then why won’t He help me? To know and not care? Isn’t that the worst quality of all?”
Here’s the important part. Repeat this over and over until it makes sense…
A lack of immediate action should NEVER be interpreted as a lack of concern. God cares for the birds of the air, and if He cares for them, how much more, then, does He care for you? Every breath we take is a gift from God. A gift that is God shouting from above that He does care about us.

Misconception #4: God isn’t likely to do anything anyway.

Mark 11:24 says the opposite: “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

God is willing to listen, respond, counsel, comfort, encourage, direct and rescue.

Mark 1:40-41 tells the story of the leper: “A man with leprosy[a] came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”

41 Jesus was indignant.[b] He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!”

We are the ones who are weak and unwilling.  Unwilling to believe, wait, accept or to have all of our questions answered.  Jesus was willing to go to the cross for you!  Even now, he is praying and working.  He isn’t a genie who just grants our wishes and we should be happy for that!  God gives us the capacity to trust that His reasons are in keeping with His wisdom and His will.

Here is a prayer that can help us with having faith vs. having doubt:

“Lord, I believe in your perfect knowledge and understanding of me.  I believe in your total, unlimited ability to accomplish your holy will.  I believe you care and are willing to help me. That I can be certain that you will take the best, most loving, most appropriate actions towards me and my needs.

So keep me coming to you, Lord, where all my hopes are safe and secure; and keep me asking you, in faith, knowing you are aware, able, caring, willing and likely.  In Jesus name, Amen!”

Thanks for listening!
– Emily (in for Lilly and Joe)

 

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Prayer: Unity vs. Division

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Today we are live at the 2017 Dan Emmett Music and Arts Festival, but also continue our summer-long series on prayer, inspired by The Battle Plan for Prayer by Alex and Stephen Kendrick.

This week we explore the importance of unity and praying for unity.

Genesis 11 is the story of the Tower of Babel.  What do we learn in verses 1-9?

Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward,[a] they found a plain in Shinar[b] and settled there. 3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel[c]—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

We learn that even ungodly people can be powerful in unity…but imagine the power we tap into when we worship the God of the Universe. THIS is why the enemy specializes in sowing seeds of mistrust and disunity.  He knows what the alternative is – a powerful opponent.

United prayer is powerful.  We need to work to remove bitterness, pride, and selfishness.

John 17 reminds us that Jesus prayed for his people to be unified into one body; God loves and blesses unity.  Unity draws attention to Jesus, who died for us and now lives to intercede for us.

When people see unity, they see what?  Purpose, love and power. It’s attractive and beautiful. The early church in Acts was devoted to prayer and each other.  The unity was so powerful that God’s hand was upon them and they grew.

Acts 2:43 – “everyone was filled with AWE at the many wonders and signs…”

What do we communicate when we are divided?

We communicate pride, selfishness and ignorance.  Ephesians 4:1-3

As prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

God’s blessings fall when we dwell together in unity.  He moves when we remove our hearts of sin.

Mark 11:24-26 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” [26]

I John 4:20-21 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

Unity must dwell in a home for it to flourish – the same goes for the church!

Romans 12:18 reminds us to live peacefully with everyone – but when it’s beyond our influence, we pray. We pray for unity with other believers and that we will not allow Satan to divide us over secondary issues.

We fight back against the enemy by CHOOSING to seek the Lord in humility and unity – remember revival happens with a humble and repentant heart.

What would it look like if churches actually worked together within a city to win the lost?  Sharing resources and not caring who gets the credit?

If you want a powerful, unified movement of God among a willing people then you must pray for it and fight for it! Ask the Lord to link you with others who share that mindset.

It’s been done before. Jeremiah 33:3 promises: ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’

The Chapter 15 Prayer: “Lord, I’ve seen the kind of damage that can result from being in conflict with others, when we’re keeping our distance, especially among fellow believers. I’ve felt the hypocrisy of it all.  I’ve kept seeing the same names and faces when convicted about people I struggle to get along with.  But it’s hindering me, Lord. In my prayer and in my freedom.  Help me take whatever steps necessary to bring healing to any broken relationships. And to desire unity with everyone who claims the name of Christ.  So that together, we can work for your kingdom and the glory of your name.  Amen.”

Thanks for listening!
-Joe and Lilly

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Repentance Vs. Pride

How do you approach God in prayer? Humbly? Or pridefully?
In humility, we more clearly see our need for God’s guidance, grace, and forgiveness. And in humility we honestly admit our sin and willingly cry out to Him while turning away in repentance from anything that displeases Him. Pride, however resists this attitude – too vulnerable, beneath us, a sign of weakness. Pride assumes self sufficiency, and boasts of self righteousness.
We get in to trouble any time we overlook the fact that our lives are a gift from God, and we are undeserving of the mercy, grace and blessings He’s given us.

See Galatians 6:3 and Proverbs 6:16-17

Prideful people see themselves as wise. They’re looking to gain honor believing they likely deserve it. But a prideful attitude hurts and disqualifies us, while a humble attitude is what God blesses and builds up.

See Proverbs 29:23

To sum up, God hates pride and loves humility. It’s that simple. This truth should be branded on our hearts as we seek to walk closely with Him. The only way to properly approach a holy, sovereign, omnipotent God is in total humility and in total confession of sin. We must stay at war with our own pride, resolving to quickly deal with anything that displeases Him so we can stay unhindered in our relationship with Him, and mighty in prayer. Humility is a fundamental attitude of the heart for maintaining intimacy with God and a vibrant prayer life. By repenting of our sins and humbling ourselves daily before Christ, we please the Lord and pray much more frequently and much more powerfully.

 

Thanks for listening!
-Lilly

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Praise Thursday on the Road!

On the Road with Big Blue once again today for the afternoon Drive!
Today was the sale of champions at the Knox County Fair and we purchased four hogs to give away on Saturday! If you would like to register to win, you can come visit us at the fair, or you can register online at WNZR.fm!
One registration per person, per day, and we will be drawing this on Saturday, the 29th, at 6:00pm. If we draw your name, you have 9 minutes and 9 seconds to either come to the WNZR tent at the fair, or call us at 740-392-9090.

Our For King and Country trivia question today was as follows…
Zach Williams debut song broke records, holding the number 1 spot for radio at 15 weeks, surpassing the previous record by 3 weeks. The song also received a Grammy Nomination, Billboard Music Award Nomination and a nomination at th K-Love fan Awards. What was his debut song?
the answer? Chain Breaker.
Congratulations to Jennifer from Mt. Vernon! She wins the tickets!

For Praise Thursday today, we talked about the Cross of Christ.
The beginning of the chapter comes out swinging. Incredibly convicting. They say that people don’t have evidence of a real prayer life because they don’t have a relationship with God to begin with. Check out this convicting passage from Matthew…

“21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”
If you think you’re going to heaven just because you walk an aisle or prayed a prayer, you should be concerned. You need to stop and take a step back and reevaluate your life and make sure that you truly have God in it.

So, the cross of Christ is telling us to have a relationship with The One who saved us. We’re not the ones who save ourselves, but it is God alone. We need to have a relationship with Him before we can expect an exceptional prayer life.

Thanks for listening!
Hope to see you at the fair!
-Lilly 

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Scheduled & spontaneous prayer

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Today we continue our summer series on prayer, inspired by the book The Battle Plan for Prayer, from Alex and Stephen Kendrick.

Our thoughts today focus on both scheduled and spontaneous prayer.

SCHEDULED? There are times in life when we may be motivated to pray – but prayer should also be part of a daily schedule.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 reminds to “pray without ceasing.” That means never being far from the attitude of talking and listening to God.  Our goal is to make prayer a natural part of our thinking.  We pray in the quiet moments and in the chaos.

Prayer is an ongoing opportunity. It’s a critical part of the life of a believer.  A priority and a passion.

David made prayer a habit even as he was king (Psalm 55:17).  Daniel prayed to God three times a day, even when he knew it could cost him his life.  Jesus modeled the habit of prayer in Mark 1 and Luke 5.

We can do this.  We can schedule this.  Individual prayer, family prayer, small group prayer over coffee, etc.  When we want something bad enough, we will make time in our schedule to do it.  Jesus offers us eternal treasures from his Word. So let’s stop making excuses for not scheduling prayer!

Plan to spend time to be with the Lord and watch what He does with it in your life!

SPONTANEOUS? Sometimes unplanned events give us the chance to respond to life with prayer…at a moment’s notice.  This is how we engage with whatever comes at us.  We learn to use spontaneous prayers.

Psalm 32:6 says, “Let everyone who is Godly pray to You in a time when You may be found.”

What are those times? An unexpected blessing. A crisis for you or someone you know or care about. When you need wisdom and clarity in a financial situation.  When you need courage to share your faith.  Prayer can be an immediate reflex rather than a last resort.

What can prompt us to pray? Here some things we experience on a regular basis:

  • Newness – when we begin something new (project, relationship, year)
  • Needs – physical, emotional or spiritual needs; He is Jehovah Jirah, the God who provides. Matthew 6: 8-11 reminds us that He knows what we need even before we ask Him
  • Blessings – as God provides, protects, guides and forgives, thank Him!
  • Burdens – take these to the Lord and stop trying to solve them all on your own; this means not just your burdens, but those of your friends and family (Galatians 6:2)
  • Crisis – these are the life-changing events where we turn to Him; Psalm 50:15 says, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble…I shall rescue you.”
  • Worries – we can turn worry into prayer. Philippians 4:6-7 and I Peter 5:7
  • Sin – anything related to sin should lead us to pray. Jesus instructed his disciples to pray when tempted.  We have to humble ourselves and confess our sin.  I John 1:19 reminds us that we can trust that He will forgive and cleanse us!

Our circumstances should launch our prayers.  We can pray for anything and everything!

With all of this in mind, our Word of the Day is spontaneous (spon-TAIN-ee-us), an adjective meaning something that arises from a momentary impulse.

Thanks for listening!
-Joe

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God’s Answers to Prayer

Good afternoon! I hope you’re having a great day! Today on the show I talked about the 5 different answers that God has to your prayers.
We first must establish that ‘no’ is an answer to prayer, and there are two answers to prayer that God gives us that actually involve the answer of ‘no’.

1. “Yes. Immediately”.
Sometimes what we pray is exactly in line with God’s will, as well as his timing, and His answer will arrive on the spot. We also need to realize that God is answering our prayers before we even pray the prayer. He says that ‘before they call, I answer.” God is simply not bound by time. He may start answering prayers ten years before you pray it/ He is, now, preparing things for you through the prayers you have yet to pray.

2. “Yes, in due time.”
We need to understand that a delay is not a denial. This answer is basically a “yes, but you’re not ready for it yet.” God is working behind the scenes in your life, waiting for a more perfect moment to unveil His amazing ‘yes’. If it is a “yes, but not now’ answer, what He is giving us is the faith and patience to wait for the right time to arrive.

3. “Yes, so you’ll learn from it.”
Sometimes God gives us what we want because He knows that it will teach us a lesson. We’re much better off trusting God to give us what we need, when we need it, and when we’re ready for it. There are moments when, if God gave us what we asked for, we would one day regret it, and we would thank Him for saying ‘no’. We need to pray freely using the Luke method (or the Hillary Scott method) by saying ‘not my will be done, but yours’, which is sometimes the hardest thing to pray in tough situations.

Now we enter into the realm of the tough answers. No.
This #4 is a toughy to hear…

4. “No, because your heart isn’t right”
Sometimes a no isn’t a ‘wait’, sometimes it’s us asking and not receiving because we are asking with the wrong motives, so that we may spend it on our pleasures. This is insanely hard to hear, but it is very good to have our hearts aligned with God, and having our requests, again, focused not on our will, but His. God isn’t saying no forever, but He realizes that we are not in a position to appreciate the gift or to handle it well. Besides, if it’s not God’s will, do we really want it anyway?

5. “No. I’ve got a better plan.”
Obviously, God knows what is best for his children, and we know that He has a plan for us, it tells us that in Jeremiah 29:11. Sometimes we ask too small, confined by our own limits and knowledge, not thinking outside of what we’ve seen and experienced.
We pray for a handful when God wants to give us a houseful.
WE ARE ALLOWED TO PRAY BIG PRAYERS! Never be afraid to pray boldly and for big things. When we ask for big things, we need to realize that God may just choose to amaze us even further. That’s why praying ‘Lord, will you do immeasurably more than I could ever ask or imagine in this situation?” because we know that He is a powerful God that can do just that, which it tells us in Ephesians 3. One of my favorite verses.

Here’s the prayer for today…

“Father, my default has been to think You probably weren’t listening, and even if you were, You’d probably say no. I bow before you today – more convinced than ever that I am in wise, loving, caring, powerful hands. Convinced that I can trust you. Convinced that every ‘no’ is some way to an even better ‘yes’. You said You withhold no good thing from those who love You. Thank You for letting me ask, and thank you for letting me know that Your desire is truly for my ultimate good. May I trust You even more and pray with even greater faith knowing You want to be glorified through my answered prayers.
In Jesus’ name, amen.”

Thanks as always for listening! Pray boldly.
– Lilly

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Praises for shoe boxes, ACTS & festivals!

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A big show today on the Afternoon Drive!  We shared our monthly spotlight on Operation Christmas Child and also continued our focus on prayer. Then at 5pm, we joined the Big Blue Crew at the Danville-Howard Turkey Festival.

OCC is giving away hashtag shirts this month that say #WeMakeDisciples. It reminds us that the ministry of Operation Christmas Child does so much more than just deliver shoe boxes. They offer a 12-step discipleship course called The Greatest Journey. Find out more by clicking here.

Our prayer focus this week was on the types of prayer, namely the ACTS model of prayer. This stands for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication. The book The Battle Plan for Prayer by Alex and Stephen Kendrick shares that you can approach God in any and all of these areas as needed.  They can provide a natural progression as you pray.

Adoration: prayer that praises and worships God (hallowed be thy name)

Confession: prayer that gets honest about sin and staying right with God (forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us)

Thanksgiving: God-directed, humbly expressed gratitude (thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever)

Supplication: asking for something from God; a petition or appeal (give us our daily bread; lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil)

We hope to see you at the Danville-Howard Turkey Festival – find out more here!

Thanks for listening!
-Joe and Lilly

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The Definition of Prayer

Reading out of the book, “The Battle Plan for Prayer”, we talked today about the definition of prayer, and what prayer really is.
Check out some of the highlights below!

Prayer, at its heart, is communicating with God. Reverently, openly and sincerely.
We are interacting with the magnificent God of the universe.
We can’t forget that we’re in his presence when we pray

If we just understood what being in the presence of the Almighty is like, our minds wouldn’t wander.  We’d enter into awestruck worship.  Stunned and possibly speechless.

We need to realize that prayer is serious business – and we get that privilege because of Jesus. Jesus opened a new way for us to draw near to God through his death and the tearing of the veil.  It was the atoning blood of Christ that opened that channel (Hebrews 10:20).  His blood shields us from the consuming fire. Only through Christ are we safe with God.

The practical definition of prayer…Prayer is communion with God in order to…

1 – Intimately know, love and worship Him

Relationship and Worship are key to prayer.  We’re trying to know more about who He is and what He does. This helps us grow deeper in our love and respect for Him.  This is the “hallowed be Your name” part of the Lord’s Prayer.

 

2 – Understand and conform our lives to His will

Prayer doesn’t just change things, it changes us!  He works to align our hearts and minds to His.  This is the “your Kingdom come, your will be done.”

 

 

3 – Access and advance His kingdom, power and glory

When we pray, “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” we are seeking to access God’s kingdom resources, for His mighty power to work on our behalf and for Him to reveal His glory in our situation. The last words of the Lord’s Prayer are not just for church and ceremony – they are to remind us that God is owner of all, ruler of all, and worthy of all (Romans 11:36). Prayer allows us to join God in what He is doing among the nations for His glory.

Prayer is not about prayer – it is about a PERSON.  God Himself. We get off track when we focus more on provision or protection rather than knowing and pleasing God.

“Help me abandon my own agendas and self assurance, wanting to be nowhere else but aligned with Your will.”

Thanks for listening!
-Lilly

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The Purpose of Prayer

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Today we continued our series on prayer, inspired by the book The Battle Plan for Prayer, from Stephen and Alex Kendrick.  Find out more about the book here.

Our focus this afternoon was the PURPOSE of prayer.  Here are some of the notes we shared:

Ultimately, all prayer is for the glory of God (John 14:13). Truly, the best answer He can give to any prayer is whatever answer brings Him the most glory.

What does glory mean?  The Hebrew word for glory, kabad (ka-VAHD) carries the idea of weight and importance, majesty and honor.

The ‘glory of the Lord’ is when God reveals a majestic or important glimpse of who he is. As the Kendrick brothers write, “He is unwrapping a measure of His identity.”  This happens several times in scripture:

  • One who has all authority in heaven and on earth doesn’t need us (Romans 9:20-24), so the mere fact that we’re here is a testimony to His glory.  His awesome glory as CREATOR – the galaxies and stars reveal his attributes as being the work of an awesome creator.  That’s their job!  (Psalm 19:1)
  • In Genesis 22, Abraham is tested when God asks him to sacrifice his son, Isaac.  To us as we read the story, we might be thinking, what is God doing?  But as Abraham is ready to sacrifice his son, he hears a rustling in the nearby brush – a ram, taking Isaac’s place.  God here is revealing His glory as our PROVIDER.
  • John 11 tells us the story of Lazarus, and Jesus saying that the man’s illness would be “for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.”  And when Jesus revives Lazarus from the dead, he reveals His glory as the resurrection and the life.  This was a defining moment for Jesus.

Every prayer is a chance for us to witness His glory first-hand.  When He answers, He is letting us see what he is like.  Creator, Savior, Lord, Provider, Protector, Friend and Counselor.

…and what should be our response when He does reveal His glory? We worship him and glorify His name forever (Psalm 86:12).

Our second response is to tell others what He has done. Paul said (2 Corinthians 4:15) that the revelation of God’s grace should cause us to give abundant thanks to God, so that others may see and celebrate how God is glorified through His work through His people.

Of all the things prayer is and does, its greatest accomplishment and its greatest joy, is that it allows us, his beloved children, to be part of bringing him glory!

Our Word of the Day is a tribute to the Knox County Chapter of the American Red Cross and their 100th birthday tomorrow!

Centenarian, a noun meaning a person who has reached the age of 100, or pertaining to or having lived 100 years.

Marcy and Lilly called in from Kenyon’s Pierce Hall and the celebration…here are some photos:

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Thanks for listening!
– Joe

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