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The Locks of Prayer

God has given us rules to help our prayer life and battle plan be successful.

Stephen and Alex have categorized these biblical principles into the locks and keys of prayer.  The locks are things that can bring down or muddy our prayer life.  The keys give prayer a boost beyond any earthly limits.

There are ten locks:
1. Praying without knowing God through Jesus (John 14:6)
Like people who don’t share much common ground in a relationship have a hard time keeping conversations going, those who haven’t believed in God for the forgiveness of their sins cannot expect God to feel obligated to respond.

2. Praying from an unrepentant heart (Psalms 103:14)
God looks at our hearts and He knows when we are broken by our sin. Being broken by our sin isn’t the problem. The real trouble comes when our hearts aren’t broken by sin at all, and when we’re cold and indifferent toward His word and our transgressions.

3. Praying for show (Matthew 6:5)
“When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites.” Public prayers that have not been seasoned by private prayers are hardly worth the hot air it takes to speak them. Don’t forget that when you’re leading others in prayer, you’re still praying to the audience of One.

4. Praying repetitive, empty words. (Matthew 6:7-8)
Prayer can be off the cuff, it can be written out and read word for word, it can be so deep and heartfelt that out only comes out as single syllables. The thing that makes prayer a string of wasted words is when we talk and talk but we’re not listening to anything we’re saying.

5. Prayers not prayed (James 4:2)
The most ineffective prayers are the ones we never even take the time to pray. How many times do we just ‘motor’ past God, not even braking for direction or advice? We’re too busy or in too much of a hurry to seek His counsel. We mean to pray; we thought about praying; we just never got to work it in to our schedule.

6. Praying with a lustful heart (James 4:3)
If lust, greed, bitterness or pride are our motives to request something, then God will not be pleased to respond. Like a wise parent with a pushy child, God knows what to give us for our good, and what not to give us for our good as well. If we love Him most, He takes delight in giving us good things.

7. Praying while mistreating your spouse (1 Peter 3:7)
When we’re not treating our spouses with respect, God makes a special mention of that as an inhibitor to prayer. How can we expect to be at unity with God while sowing disunity throughout our homes? Being ugly to our spouses is a backbreaker in prayer.

8. Praying while ignoring the poor (Prov 21:13)
When you show compassion to those in need, God shows favor on your request. But the opposite is true as well. If you snub the poor and destitute like they’re less than human, an eyesore, or invisible, expect to feel a blockage in your prayer.

9- Praying with bitterness in your heart toward someone (Mark 11:25-26)
It’s sinful to receive God’s forgiveness then consider ourselves exempt from ‘forgiving if we have anything against someone.’ Bitterness is a toxin that’s not only harmful to us spirtually, mentally, and physically, but it also poisons the effectiveness of prayer and the full experience of our relationship with God.

10- Praying with a faithless heart (Hebrews 11:6)
Whenever we don’t trust someone’s ability to do something a breach clouds that relationship. We should ask in faith without doubting because anyone who doubts is driven and tossed by the wind. Lukewarm belief is the weakest form of prayer, and doubt locks us out of our prayer closet.

Here’s the prayer from the end of the chapter…
“Lord , reveal to me anything that is hindering my prayer life, and help me get rid of it quickly. IF there is any arrogance in me, pretense, manipulation, bitterness, ruthlessness, or a lack of faith in You, Forgive and cleanse me Lord. Lord I forgive those who have wronged me as you have forgiven me, I thank You for your kindness and patience, I am tired of being the one who is blocking myself from being as close to You as possible, and receiving what You desire to give me. Unhinge me, I pray, from any locks of prayer. Open me up so You can work, without hindrance, through me.
In Jesus’ name, amen.

Thanks for listening!
-Lilly

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Peaches, Who Knew!

Good afternoon!
We love talking about fruit and superfoods here on WNZR, and today we got to talk all about the peach! Check out everything we talked about today here!

Not only is a ripe peach delicious on its own as a portable, healthy snack, it also shines in a variety of dishes both sweet and savory: in cobblers, smoothies, ice cream, preserves, salads, salsas and sauces, and even cool summer cocktails. Grilling peaches brings out even more natural sweetness, making them a fantastic enhancement to grilled pork or chicken.

Canned peaches are just as nutritious as fresh, and the high temperatures in the canning process break down peaches’ cell walls and actually increase concentration of key nutrients like vitamin A, vitamin C, folate and antioxidants. These nutrient levels remain high for up to two years. Whether you prefer peaches frozen, canned or dried, look for varieties with little to no added sugar.

To add some extra nutritional punch to your everyday diet, peach puree can be a great recipe substitution. Swapping 1/2 cup of pureed peaches for 1 cup of butter or 1 cup of oil in some baked goods saves fat and calories while adding vitamins and antioxidants.

Help your peaches ripen faster

Place unripe peaches in a paper bag, fold the bag closed and lay it on its side in a room-temperature location for a few days, checking periodically. The ethylene gas released by the peaches will prompt them to ripen more quickly. Once they’re ready, store them in the refrigerator until ready to eat or prepare.

Peach recipes
Here’s 55 peach recipes for your summer!

Our who knew question today was ‘what are the other two names for the seed of a peach?” The answers were the pit and the stone!

Our word of the day today was…

onerous

adjective || AH-nuh-rus

Definition: involving, imposing, or constituting a burden : troublesome, having legal obligations that outweigh the advantages

Thanks for listening!
-Lilly

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A 35,000x ROI? It’s true.

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Just for the record, that means ‘return on investment.’  Can you imagine buying what you thought was a costume jewelry ring at a hospital bazaar for $13, then finding out it was worth $456,000?  That’s what happened to a London woman.  Read the story by clicking here.

We also shared a generous Memorial Day story from CBS News.  Read it here.

Today’s Song Poetry lyrics?
It doesn’t matter who I used to be
It only matters that I’ve been set free
You rescued me, you’re changing me
Jesus, take everything

The answer? Mandisa and ‘Waiting for Tomorrow.’ Congratulations to Karen of Mount Vernon, who wins the $5 gift certificate to Troyer’s of Apple Valley!

Our Name That Tune song today was Jeremy Camp’s ‘Take You Back.’ Nicky from Fredericktown was our winner.

Today’s Word of the Day is perambulator (per-AM-byuh-lay-ter), a noun that simply means, a baby carriage.

Thanks for listening!
-Joe

 

 

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Mystery Monday – All-Star edition!

monday
I’m back after a few days of R&R last week…but I do ask for prayers for Lilly’s family as she lost her uncle last week and is at his funeral services today.

Today our Mystery Monday focused on tomorrow night’s Major League Baseball All-Star Game with a two-part trivia question.

Today’s question: Who are the youngest position player and the youngest pitcher to ever start an All-Star Game?

Answers? Al Kaline, 1955 (20 years and 6 months) and Dwight Gooden, 1986 (21 years, seven months).  Congratulations to Ruthie from Mount Vernon who identified them and wins the $5 gift certificate to Troyer’s of Apple Valley. Here are Kaline’s and Gooden’s baseball cards from those years:

Al Kaline card 1955Dwight Gooden card 1986

Today’s Word of Day is cannikin (CAN-ih-kin); a noun that means a small drinking cup or can. It can also mean a small wooden bucket.

Thanks for listening!
-Joe

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Postures of Prayer

 

Can our posture intensify our praying?
Can we study the word to see how our postures can help us?
There are 7 different postures we can look at…

1. Bowing: this is a physical expression of honor and allegiance; the act of bowing is associated with worship.  Just the bowing of our heads alone communicates that we are addressing the One to whom we’ve pledged our loyalty.

Bowing also sometimes is called dropping to our knees: Solomon’s prayer in 2 Chronicles 6:13 is given as he knelt down in front of the entire congregation of Israel.  Daniel kept kneeling three times a day despite the risk.  Philippians 2:10 reminds us that one day, every knee will bow before Christ.

2. Lying prostrate
This could be like Ezra in Nehemiah 8:6 with your face to the ground (prostrate meaning still or not moving while lying down).

Jesus does this in Matthew 26 in the garden before his arrest.  Also in Revelation 1:17, John fell at his feet like a dead man when he saw Christ resurrected!

Just like prayer drives us lower to the ground in surrender, it can lift us up from our earthly existence.

3. Lifted hands
I Timothy 2:8 “I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without wrath and dissension.”

You can fall to your knees but also lift your hands.

4. Lifted eyes: this helps us set our sights on heaven

Jesus does this in John 11:41 and Luke 9:16.

5. Silence: Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that He is God.” When we are awed and amazed, we are often in silence.  Psalm 62:1 about our souls waiting in silence for Him, since He is our salvation.

God can hear our silent prayers.  Share story of Hannah from 1 Samuel 1:13.

6. Lifted voices: this is the opposite of silence, from Psalm 141 and Psalm 77.

7. Crying out: Psalm 55:17; this carries the idea of something intense and loud or even shrieking in pain.  This is something intense and loud, heavy and heartfelt.

John tells us in Revelation twenty times that the words being spoken in heaven are identified as a loud voice.

There’s a difference between the prayers we do when we’re on our back fighting sleep and the ones we do where we take a specific posture.  Posture is not mandatory or specifically prescribed, but can be deliberate.

Lord, take all of me – my hands, my eyes, my feet, my voice. Use all of these gifts you’ve given me so they return to you as clear expressions of my worship, love, devotion and submission.  I so easily lose sight of you going through the motions of religion.  Lord, turn even my posture of prayer into a means of steadying my wandering mind and opening my ears to YOUR voice.

Thanks for listening!
-Lilly

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Who Knew… Germs!

Good afternoon! I hope you’re having a great day!
Today on the Drive we talked about the dangers of germs, where you find them, and some of the best ways to prevent them.

What are germs and how do they get us sick?
Some certain germs won’t get you sick, but they can. Germs which usually stay in certain parts of the body where they do not cause disease, will make a person sick if they find their way to another part of the body. For example, Escherichia coli (which is also sometimes known as E. coli) lives in the gut and helps digest food. However, if it gets outside the gut, E. coli can cause sickness such as bladder infection.

Germs can get into the body through the mouth, nose, breaks in the skin and eyes.  Once disease-causing germs are inside the body they can stop it from working properly. They may breed very quickly and in a very short time a small number of germs can become millions.

Germs can cause disease by upsetting the way the body works. They do this when they:

  • produce toxins (poisons)
  • increase their number greatly by breeding and they can stop parts of the body from working properly, or
  • attack and damage a particular part of the body

Kids and germs are like the peas and carrots of family life — they go together perfectly. But something as simple as frequent, effective hand washing can help prevent many germs and diseases in adults and children alike.

Ensuring your children are eating healthy and getting enough sleep may also help their immune systems fight off potentially harmful conditions. Vitamin C from foods (bell pepper), fruits (any citrus) or supplements can help boost immune system function. Eating five varied servings of fruits and vegetables per day provides more than 200 mg of vitamin C. Examples…

3/4’s of a cup of Orange juice contains 93mg of Vitamin C
1 medium Kiwi contains 63mg of Vitamin C
and a 1/2 cup of sliced strawberries contain 49mg of Vitamin C

Other good sources of vitamin C are oranges, red peppers, kale, Brussels Sprouts, broccoli, grapefruit, guava, and green peppers.

How much Vitamin C should I be getting for my age?
0-6 months         40mg
7-12 months      50mg
1-3 years              15mg
4-8 years              25mg
9-13 years           45mg
13+ years        65-90mg per day.

Here are some tips for you to avoid contact with germs…

  1. Not too close
    Avoid having close contact with people who are sick and when you are sick, keep your distance from others.
  2. Stay home when sick
    If possible, stay home from work/school. Use the 24-hour rule: Stay home if you’ve had fever within the last 24 hours.
  3.  Keep it covered
    Use a tissue to cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue away and wash your hands. If a tissue is not available, cover your nose and mouth with your sleeve or arm, not your hands.
  4. Hands off
    Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth when you are ill to help prevent spreading germs.
  5. Wipe it down
    Clean and disinfect surface areas at home, work and school.

    Just for fun… The three dirtiest things in your house?
    Your dish sponge… 775,460,560 bacteria per square inch
    Your sink handle…  228,854 bacteria per square inch
    Your keyboard mouse… 79,000 bacteria per square inch

    Our Word of the day today was…

interdigitate // Verb // [in-ter-dij-i-teyt]
to interlock, as or like the fingers of both hands.

[Interdigitate is a derivative of the Latin noun digitus, most commonly meaning is “finger” and secondarily “toe” and finally, as a measure of length, “the breadth of a finger, inch.” The Latin noun derives from the Proto-Indo-European root (and its variants) which mean “to point, point out, show.” One of the Germanic derivatives, which in Old English develops into tahe and then tā, whence Modern English “toe,” except that human beings cannot interdigitate with their toes. Interdigitate entered English in the 19th century. ]

Thanks for listening!
-Lilly

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Scheduled & spontaneous prayer

Battle-Plan-Hero-699x200

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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Who Knew? Summer Health edition…

wednesday

Today our show focused on a variety of summer health tips from UMR’s Healthy Living June issue…

1- Be bike safe EVEN if it makes you look silly! Click here for a printable bike safety checklist.

2- Exercise can be WITH your kids – keep them active! Find out more in this article/tips from middle school running coach Judy Svendsen here.

3- Vitamin Enjoyment?  What are the benefits? A 2009 study in Psychosomatic Medicine shared that leisure activities and hobbies that you enjoy can give you satisfaction, but your body may also thank you for it.

The more we turn to our active leisure activities, the better chance we have of lowering blood pressure and our body mass index. This makes the case for trying to find the fun factor in physical health.  So find something you enjoy and do it often!  One great idea is just a 15 minute evening walk 3-4 times a week.

4- Nix the nail biting! It can help your health.  Texas A&M researchers found these five reasons why:

  • fingernails have germs – then they get into your mouth…
  • nail biting could lead to painful nail infections called cellulitis
  • nail biting can impact your smile and mouth hygiene – teeth can shift and you could get bad breath from germs on your gums
  • biting your nails increases the chance of hangnails or ingrown nails
  • if you paint your nails, toxins in polish or gel polish can put you at risk of poisoning

Today’s Word of the Day is what you read earlier – cellulitis (cell-you-LIE-tus), which is a noun meaning simply, inflammation of cellular or body tissue.

Thanks for listening!
-Joe

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Games, great neighbors & a crazy word!

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Today’s Song Poetry lyrics:

Well maybe you’re sitting in math class,
Maybe on a mission in the Congo,
Maybe you’re working at the office,
Singing along with the radio.

The song? “Do Everything” by Steven Curtis Chapman! Congratulations to our winner, Kari from Mount Vernon, who picks up a $5 gift certificate to Troyer’s of Apple Valley.

Our Name That Tune clip was from “Prodigal” by Sidewalk Prophets.  Tracy from Fredericktown was our winner!

Our uplifting stories today have a fatherly theme and were recently shared on the NBC TODAY show…they come from Belleville, Illinois and a 5-year-old named Brian Kelly…click here for the story!

and a special guitar surprise in Michigan…click here for the story!

Today’s Word of Day is beatinest (BEET-n-ist), a sort of slang adjective common in the southern parts of the U.S. It means remarkable or unusual. Example: “This a beatinest town!”

Thanks for listening!
-Joe

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