Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Started Praying for People in the Marketplace - Monday Night Prayer 072109

Monday night prayer is my favorite time of the week. I guess that's good since I'm the prayer pastor. This Monday did not disappoint. We continue to have a good turnout of people wanting to spend time in devotional prayer from 6:30 - 6:55. There seems to be a calm sweet presence of God as people meditate and pray.

Our theme for tonight is that "nothing is impossible with God". In Luke 1:37 the angel speaks that to Mary after she is told she will have a baby and she is perplexed at this because she is still a virgin.

Worship, again, was a great time of adoring Jesus. We spent time remembering what we have been saved from and then what we have been saved to. We spent time rejoicing at 12 new commitments to Christ and 5 recommitments. We gave God a rousing handclap of praise because we are going to be baptizing over 100 people this coming weekend. How amazing are all the stories that are coming in of how Jesus has encountered peoples lives and they have come to know Him for the first time or they have come back to Him and refocused on following Him.

We prayed for two new ministries. On Monday Nights we will begin to teach all the kids prayer in their classes. We prayed over our childrens ministry as they prepare to do that. Then we prayed for our compassion ministries. Two of our ladies have taken up the point on ministering to people in need, whether a funeral, an ailment, singles moms, and an wide assortment of people who need something tangible. We want to be Gods hands to these.

We prayed for many requests. Our ministry time tonight was to those who are in sales in the marketplace. We also prayed for our youth group trip this week. We prayed for all of those who had been involved in a divorce, whether as a child or an adult. It was a striking site to see the whole room of 146 people engaged in praying for one another towards the end of our time. Something in my heart thought, this is how the body of Christ out to be, giving to one another in prayer.

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Thanks given for:
12 first time commitments
5 rededications

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Things that worked tonight:
Began a time praying for people in the marketplace. Tonight we focused on people in sales. We had people around them lay a hand on their shoulder and pray for encouragement and favor for them. We prayed that they would be a light in their workplace.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Worship at 110% - Monday Night Prayer 071509

How encouraging to see people come and soak and pray during our devotional prayer time at 6:30 - 6:55. As usual corporate prayer kicked it with a room full of worshipers singing at 110% during our worship set. Connecting our hearts with God in worship has been key to our prayer times. As we sang "How Great is our God" last night I kept thinking that anything opposed to God must be vacating the building as we lifted our voices. And then at the end of our worship set people clapped, giving God a hand. I appreciated that this wasn't the "I'll be kind and give a little clap" type of praise. It was a "God is God and deserves a powerful affirmation" kind of clap.

Colby (one of our interns) sharing about going out on the streets the previous week and how they had a man pray to receive Christ. the man was so moved by this, he had his nephew call later and get wisdom and prayer from our team. We prayed for boldness for our people at prayer a couple of weeks ago and have been praying for people to come to know Christ in our city. This is an answer to those prayers.

We prayed for righteousness to be raised in our city and for wickedness to be uncovered and those involved to be encountered by Jesus and led to know Him.

We prayed for individual needs from prayer requests we received in the services.

We finished with ministry prayer for people at the gathering. We prayed for those who have been having nightmares, those involved in the public schools, and for anyone with a specific need.

It was a little warm last night, but when I asked if it was worth suffering a little heat to be able to change history through prayer we had a strong response that it was well worth it.

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Thanks given for:
5 new committments to Christ this past week and 6 recommittments.
quotes:

Connection Card Comments:

. I'm glad I found a church based on scripture!

. Thanks for making me feel welcome every time I am here.

. I love being here, it releases my stress and worries about everything.

. It was actually a very welcoming place. The first time guest area was a great way to learn more about the church and programs offered.

. Thank you for all that you have done for our family and all of your prayers. Without them, we would not have made it.

. I found employment and I begin tomorrow. Thanks for the prayers! God bless all prayer warriors.

. The Lord blesses those who wait on him and trust in him. The Lord has blessed me with a new job - - God is good all the time & all the time God is good!! Thank You for your prayers for our family.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

More People Showing Up At Monday Night Prayer 070609

We had a full house in the back room Monday night. Our final worship song in the worship set was Mighty to Save. How cool was it to hear and see 129 people all standing and singing at the top of their lungs "Jesus is mighty to save". That type of adoration to God sends chills down my spine. It seems like God reaches into the atmosphere as we engage in worship to Him.

Our devotional thought: When Jesus ran the money changers out of the temple and declared "my house will be called a house of prayer". The next thing he did was pray for the lame and the blind and they were healed. Jesus began by teaching and finished by Doin the stuff he taught about.

We prayed for our Elife interns, the new series Chris will begin next week called "Church on Fire", those who don't know Christ in our city. We opened the mikes for people to pray whatever God put on their hearts. Some prayers were for fathers and men to be strong leaders, for the breaking of addictions in people, confession of sins and our need for God to teach us how to pray, for God to show us how to reach out to the broken in our city.

We prayed over those who have been feeling disconnected with God and not experiencing his love and for those with financial needs and job needs.

We closed by asking anyone who wants more of Jesus to stand to be prayed for and not a soul was left sitting.

We continue to see 15 to 20 people show up for our devotional prayer time at 6:30 - 6:55.
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Thanks given for:
we had 4 first time commitments to Christ this week and 12 who recommitted their lives.

Amanda Ladds recovery from the lung transplant is going well.

Also we prayed for Talon Oechsner who had severe burns. The doctors are sending talon home today. He was supposed to be in the hospital two more weeks. doctors are baffled at his recovery. Were not baffled. We know God answers prayer.

Services: Inspiring, I loved it and will tell my friends! this service hit me like a freight train.