Pastors can only fulfill their calling as shepherd leaders with the vitalizing power of prayer, and must pray for themselves first. A healthy, prayer-full pastor is an effective pastor. My newest book is to help pastors in this vital discipline of prayer.
Amen Indeed fuels growth by providing more than 100 prayers for pastors to pray for their own mental, physical, spiritual, and relational growth. Each is sourced from Scripture and rings with the “Amen” that Jesus promised to add (2 Corinthians 1:20).
“There is one assured way for our prayers to be answered: It is to pray the will of God.
“There is one assured way to pray the will of God: It is to pray Scripture.
“As ministers of the Gospel we would be wise then to primarily pray Scripture, for ‘the word of our God stands forever’ (Isaiah 40:8).” —Dick Brogden, Founder of the Live Dead Movement
“When it comes to prayer, we need some help. And in Amen Indeed, help is at hand. Whatever is keeping us from prayer, Craig Owens can help us push through to a more consistent and more consistently joyful and fruitful life of prayer.” —T.M. Moore, Principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. Check out the video content in this post by clicking here.
The psalmists of the Bible foresaw the coming of the King of kings, especially in the example they had in their King David. The Royal Psalms are the ones that look at the up-close example of David as a means of better seeing King Jesus.
I think our idea about our leaders can be summed up in this observation from Queen Victoria who said of William Gladstone, “When I am with him I feel I am with one of the most important leaders in the world.” On the other hand, of Benjamin Disraeli she said, he “makes me feel as if I am one of the most important people in the world.” We want strong, confident leaders that can lead us, but we also want humble leaders that care for us. We want leader who are for us.
This was the leadership of King David—
[God] chose David His servant and took him from the sheep pens,from tending the sheep He brought him to be the shepherd of His people Jacob, of Israel His inheritance.And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them. (Psalm 78:70-72)
Do you see the confident humility in this description? David remained a shepherd with a heart of integrity (humility) and skillful hands (confidence).
There is a power in these three words: God chose me. The “God chose” part gives me the confidence to lead because of God’s empowerment, but the fact that He “chose me” reminds me to be humbly grateful that He would use me!
David shows this humility and this confidence in Psalm 86, which is labeled as, “A prayer of David.”
Notice David’s humble reliance on God in prayer—answer me for I am poor and needy … Your servant who trusts in You … have mercy … I lift up my soul … hear my prayer … I will call to You … there is none like You (vv. 1-8).
I want you to also see how God-saturated this prayer is. All but three of the verses in this 17-verse psalm mention God by name:
“LORD” in all caps is YHWH or Jehovah—vv. 1, 6, 11, 17
“God” is Elohim = the Triune God—vv. 2, 10, 12, 14
“Lord” is Adonai = the publicly-used name for YHWH—vv. 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, 15
What exactly is David praying for? It’s not for wisdom. It’s not for success in battle. It’s not for healing. I believe David’s desire is for all the kingdoms of earth to know the King of kings.
Look at the middle verse: All the nations You have made will come and worship before You, Lord; they will bring glory to Your name.For You are great and do marvelous deeds; You alone are God (v. 9).
Because of David’s humble prayer in vv. 1-8, we now see a confidence in his lifestyle—I will walk in Your truth … I may fear Your name … I will praise You … I will glorify Your name … grant strength to Your servant … for You, O LORD, have helped me and comforted me (vv. 10-17).
David is confident of his sins being forgiven (v. 5), of others coming to know this merciful King (v. 15), so that all nations will glorify God together (v. 9).
Remember that these royal psalms are to point us through David to Jesus.
The Old Testament prophecies tell us about Jesus: There was nothing beautiful or majestic about His appearance, nothing to attract us to Him (Isaiah 53:2 NLT). Indeed, Jesus came to earth in confident humility—
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage,rather, He made Himself nothingby taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. (Philippians 2:6-7)
David’s prayer begins this way in the NLT: Bend down, O LORD, and hear my prayer.
Jesus bent down to serve those He loved—He got up from the meal, took off His outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around His waist.After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around Him (John 13:4-5).
He also stooped to the most undignified form of execution (Matthew 26:39; Philippians 2:8).
The well-known Christmas carol The First Noel says, “Then let us all with one accord sing praises to our heavenly Lord, Who hath made heaven and earth of naught, and with His blood mankind hath bought.”
Jesus said it this way: For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).
As a result Jesus is exalted (Philippians 2:9-11) and all nations can serve Him (Revelation 5:9, 7:9), just as David prayed and believed (Psalm 86:9).
We need to live with the same confident humility that God chose me—In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5). Like David, we make prayer to our King unceasingly for all people to see the glory of Jesus, and for our confidently humbled lives to help point the way for them—
Do everything without grumbling or arguingso that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky. (Philippians 2:14-15)
Let us use the pattern of this Royal Psalm to help us pray and live in a way that helps others see the King of kings for themselves!
If you would like to check out the other Royal Psalms we have already unpacked, please click here.
It’s not possible for you to have experienced everything that those around you have experienced. But you can still empathize with them through an empathetic volley of statements and questions. This is what exemplary leaders do.
“The Christian way is different: harder, and easier. Christ says ‘Give me All. I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down. I don’t want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked—the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself: My own will shall become yours.’” —C.S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity
There are so many resources today to help Christians defend their faith. Check out this post from John Stonestreet and the numerous books you might want to add to your library.
“If we are to influence the Church and the world around us, we must be full of God and His presence. Everything else must be secondary to this one question: How can we have the power of Christ resting on us all day long?” —Andrew Murray
Clinton Manley wants to know why Christians don’t play more. “The Hebrew word most often translated as ‘play’ (śāḥaq) comes from a verb meaning ‘to laugh.’ Intensify that verb, and you get ‘to sport, play, or celebrate.’ So we can say play is to action as laughter is to sound. At its best, laughter is a sound that both expresses and intensifies joy; similarly, play is an action that expresses and intensifies joy. Thus, play can involve almost any activity…as long as it is done from joy and for joy.”
“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.” —Goethe
J. Warner Wallace shares writings from ancient historians—in fact, those hostile to the claims of Christianity—that point to the historicity of Jesus.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. Check out the video content in this post by clicking here.
Greg and I promise we aren’t here to nitpick your grammar, but in some instances understanding the full meaning of words can help us to realize how they are affecting our patterns of thinking. In today’s episode we are discussing cooperation and collaboration—two words that are often used interchangeably. However, a deeper examination reveals that their differences can be the deciding factor between a surviving team and a thriving team.
[0:00] Introduction
[0:49] Not to nitpick on the definitions, but we need to make sure we understand the words “cooperate” and “collaborate.”
[2:03] Let’s start with cooperation—how do leaders get their teams to cooperate together?
[3:33] In our Business by the Book book for CEOs, we talk about a trailblazer in the Old West who sets a good example for us in how to get people to begin cooperating.
[7:13] Assumptions will kill cooperation before it even gets started.
[9:33] Stephen Covey has good insight for us in his book The 8th Habit that servant leaders can leverage for success.
[12:13] Collaboration is harder work, which will require more patience from the leader to allow the rest of the team to build their endurance for it.
[13:48] Teammates will have to wrestle with sacrifice and risk in order to allow the whole time to move forward.
[16:07] A strategy that Greg has employed successfully to help teammates move from cooperation to collaboration.
[18:02] The value of ideation in collaborative meetings is so much higher than sticking to the agenda of a cooperative meeting.
[19:27] We like the tension of the difficulty of collaboration.
[20:42] Moving from cooperation to collaboration will require legitimate humility on the part of the leader.
[23:08] An outstanding quote from John Maxwell’s book Teamwork 101.
[23:48] If you are wondering if your leadership might be stifling the move from cooperation to collaboration, please consider calling in Maximize Leadership as a business coach.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
Many people struggle with the thought of, “What am I supposed to be doing with my life?” Jim Wiegand says there is a more fundamental question to be asked—a question that will help clarify direction for all of us. In his book Why Is Greater Than What, Jim outlines how God uses our pain, passion, and proficiency to show us the life He planned for us. This “Why,” he says, is so much greater than our “What.”
Using character studies from the Bible, his own life, and other historical examples, Jim shows how there are three distinct things that reveal to us why God placed us on earth with the strengths and abilities that we have.
The first of the three Ps is pain. Noticing what breaks your heart is a key factor to discovering your “Why.” The second P is passion: paying attention to the things that energize you. And the third P is proficiency. This is seeing your unique skill set that allows you to easily do things that others struggle to do. The intersection of these three Ps is the bullseye of why God knit you together the way He did.
Once you have your “Why,” you will be better able to discover the “Way” which God has prepared for you to walk.
Not that this is an easy task. In fact, Jim shares quite candidly the challenges that we will all face in attempting to live out our “Why” and “Way.” Jim writes, “This is not a just cheer up book. This is not a get the life of your dreams in three easy steps book. This is a get off your butt and live before God without excuses book!”
And I would add: This is a vital book to help you live in a way that brings God glory and fills you with a sense of purpose and satisfaction.
If you are a leader, you may also want to check out another Jim Wiegand book called Recruiting To Releasing, which will help you lead people to discovering their three Ps.
The Bible closes with a vivid picture of Jesus as the undisputed King of kings, and we look forward to that time when all creation bows before Him. Even more so, we cannot wait to be with our King for ever and ever!
The psalmists of Israel also foresaw the coming of this King, especially in the example they had in their King David. Many of the poetic words they penned esteemed Jesus as the King for Whom they longed. David himself not only saw the future coming of the Eternal King, but he also looked back in time to see Jesus reigning as King before time began.
It is these royal psalms that we will be studying as we celebrate the first arrival on Earth of our King and as we anticipate the second coming of our Royal Majesty. The more clear our vision is of this King, the more we will worship Him, follow Him, and invite others to know Him as their own Lord and Master.
Please join us at Calvary Assembly of God as we rejoin this summer series exploring the beautiful, reverent, and awe-inspiring description of our King of kings in the Book of Psalms. If you would like to check out the Royal Psalms we have already studied, please click here.
The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. (Genesis 3:6 NLT)
Notice that the phrase “Eve was convinced” comes after satan’s argument and before she looked at the fruit. In other words, she looked at the fruit through a wrong paradigm because she had listened to the wrong voice.
This is why we need to take every thought captive and make it obedient to The Word.
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV)
If we don’t, we—like Eve—can become convinced that sin is okay before we even examine the evidence. Then we aren’t able to evaluate the evidence from a godly paradigm, but from a self-centered, sin-tainted paradigm. But if we capture our thoughts and silence those that don’t line up with God’s Word, we can evaluate the evidence through a Spirit-anointed paradigm.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. Check out the video content in this post by clicking here.
Hate is not the opposite of love—apathy is. Those who love something will hate anything that attacks what they love. On this Father’s Day, I’m calling for men to show their strength on behalf of what they love—to shake off apathy and move into action!
I will warn you up front that this is not something you can work up on your own because the Bible says that “human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires” (James 1:20). Instead, we will need some really strong guardrails to keep us from going off course.
Those in government are doing whatever they can to keep themselves in power, and the church isn’t much better. As a result, families are at each other’s throats and among neighbors it’s hard to tell who’s an enemy and who’s a friend. I’m describing Judah about 840 BC, but I’ll bet you thought I was describing today. Even though I’m going to tell you about a righteous father who came on the scene 2800 years ago, we will learn some lessons that we should apply today.
Look at the plight Judah is in:
King Jehoram died to no one’s regret (2 Chronicles 21:20)
The only heir to the throne left alive is 22-year-old Ahaziah, who was so evil and inept that he only reigned for one year (22:1-9)
Since there was no one in the house of Ahaziah powerful enough to retain the kingdom, his mother Athaliah ruthlessly grabbed control and hung onto it for six long years (22:10)
There is a psalm written by the Sons of Korah, which may have been written during this time (Psalm 42:1-4, 9-10).
This Psalm has a glimmer of hope in v. 5. Indeed, in Judah at the height of Athaliah’s reign of terror, there was a small light still glimmering. God had made a promise to King David: “If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before Me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel” (1 Kings 2:4).
But was there such a successor, or had the line of David been snuffed out? There was one heir that had been rescued from Athaliah’s slaughter (2 Chronicles 22:11-12). And this is the passion that burned hotter and hotter in one father’s heart.
Do you remember the cartoon character Popeye saying, “That’s all I can stands; I can’t stands no more”? That is what was said about Jehoiada: In the seventh year Jehoiada showed his strength (23:1).
The AMPC says: Jehoiada took strength and courage
The NCV says: Jehoiada decided to do something
Jehoiada finally reached a place where his internal fortitude overcame his fear of external things. The Hebrew word gives the sense of being bound to something which makes me stronger than I am on my own.
The same Hebrew word is used over 30 times in the Book of Nehemiah for all the parts of the walls and gates that were repaired—they were made stronger because they were attached to the brick and mortar around them. Nehemiah uses the same word when he said, “I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me” (Nehemiah 2:18). And the same word is also used when he wrote, “Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other” (4:16-17).
Jehoiada had to come to a place where he trusted God’s promise more that he feared Athaliah’s wrath. He gripped God’s promise and clung to it unswervingly, and God held Jehoiada as His weapon. This is what gave him strength and courage to act righteously—not in his own power.
The outcome was by no means assured. He had no idea how the leaders would respond to his plan. But despite the odds stacked against him, despite the uncertainty of the outcome, Jehoiada was going to cling to God and move forward.
The same Hebrew word for being gripped by something that makes us stronger was used by David when he wrote, “Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord” (Psalm 27:14 AMPC).
Jehoiada told the people to stay close to the king (2 Chronicles 23:7), to declare their allegiance to the one true king (v. 11), and to remain in covenant with the rightful king no matter what (v. 16).
Men, this is what we must still do today:
Take hold of God and let Him take hold of you—Philippians 3:12-13
Remember that Jesus took hold of God’s promises for us—Hebrews 6:17-20
This Christ-gripping empowerment means we can fight the good fight—1 Timothy 6:12
Jesus speaks to one of the churches in the end times—
I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of My God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from My God; and I will also write on them My new name. (Revelation 3:11-12)
I’m intrigued about the promise to be a pillar in God’s temple, because that is what Jehoiada became—
Now Jehoiada was old and full of years, and he died at the age of a hundred and thirty.He was buried with the kings in the City of David, because of the good he had done in Israel for God and His temple.(2 Chronicles 24:15-16)
Men, will you rise up?
We need you to take hold of God’s promises. To let His Spirit stir up in you a righteous strength against the evil that comes against your wives, children, friends, and culture.
Don’t swing the sword in your own strength; instead, let God grip you and use you to be a pillar in your family, in your community, and, ultimately, in His temple.
Let me repeat what David said: “Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord”!
When Queen Esther went into the king’s throne room, she was unsure if the king’s favor would be extended toward her. But because of what Jesus did for us on the Cross, we can be assured that God’s favor is extended toward us before we even approach His throne.
“Christian, there is a terrible danger to which you stand exposed in your inner chamber of prayer. You are in danger of substituting prayer and Bible study for living fellowship with God. … Your Bible study may so interest you that the very Word of God may become a substitute for God Himself. The greatest hindrance to fellowship is anything that keeps the soul occupied instead of leading it to God Himself. … Separation from others, in solitude with God—this is the sure, the only way to live in harmony with people in the power of God’s blessing.” —Andrew Murray
John Stonestreet writes, “In light of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, much ink is being spilled over the document’s significance…[and] one way to understand the Declaration is through the lens of science.”
“If we are slandered and evil spoken of, let us not be quick to reply, or to grow angry. Let us be slow—very slow—to wrath; it will be our wisdom, for no good comes of human wrath.” —Charles Spurgeon
“A Christian society is not going to arrive until most of us really want it: and we are not going to want it until we become fully Christian. I may repeat ‘Do as you would be done by’ till I am black in the face, but I cannot really carry it out till I love my neighbor as myself: and I cannot learn to love my neighbor as myself till I learn to love God: and I cannot learn to love God except by learning to obey Him.” —C.S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity
In looking at 1 Corinthians 7:2–5, Tilly Dillehay writes, “Paul does not deal here with sex as procreation—though we know from the whole testimony of Scripture that sex and procreation are blessedly intertwined. Instead, this passage highlights other purposes of sex.” Here are three biblical ways to view marital sexual activity.
J. Warner Wallace notes, “Yes, Matthew emphasizes things Luke doesn’t. John includes moments Mark skips. But that’s exactly what you’d expect if independent witnesses were describing the most significant events in human history. If the Gospel writers had colluded to fabricate a story, the accounts would have matched perfectly—and then I’d be suspicious. But they didn’t.”
T.M. Moore writes, “The power of God’s Kingdom is His Holy Spirit. The Spirit Who brooded over the entire creation. The Spirit Who roams and pervades the world. The Spirit Who inspired the prophets, raised Jesus from the dead, birthed the Church on the first Christian Pentecost, gave words to the apostles, and has given us a new heart and resides within our soul, that Spirit, that Light and Power, is at work within us, that we should be willing and able to do that which leads to the pleasure of God (Philippians 2:12-13).” Check out his post Plug Into the Power.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. Check out the video content in this post by clicking here.
Charles Spurgeon, the man called the Prince of Preachers, knew how important it was for his congregation to be praying for him. He said,
“It is for your own benefit to remember in your prayers those who preach the Word of God to you, for what can they do without divine assistance and how can you be profited by them unless they are first blessed of God?”
If you love your pastor, please check out my book Amen Indeed. This is a book for prayers for pastors to pray for themselves, and you can also learn how to pray for your shepherd along the way.
Amen Indeed has topical prayers, weekly prayers for each Sunday morning, and some classic quotes about the important link between prayer and effective pastoring.
Praying for your pastor has huge benefits for you too!
Spurgeon went on to say, “The man who comes up to God’s house, having prayed for God to bless the preacher, is not likely to go away unprofited.”
Order a copy of Amen Indeed today for your favorite pastor.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
Because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance (James 1:3).
Dr. Henry Halley noted, “Perseverance here transcends the idea of bearing affliction; it includes the idea of standing fast under pressure, with a staying power that turns adversities into opportunities.” The opportunity is to allow my life to be valuable currency for my King to use for His pleasure and purpose.
The Greek word for “testing” has several aspects to it, but all of them point to this truth: God desires purity, and He is the final Judge on the value of my purity. It has been said that the only faith that can be trusted is a faith that has been tested—and passed the test!
James in this verse, and Peter in 1 Peter 1:7, are the only New Testament writers to use the Greek word dokimion, which means testing for purity and genuineness.
These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. (1 Peter 1:7 NLT)
These verses insist that God has a loving and specific purpose in His refining process. The Septuagint uses dokimion when David declares the absolute purity—and the standard of all purity—that is found in God’s Word: The words of the Lord are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times (Psalm 12:6).
James says this purifying process “produces perseverance.” Paul takes this a step further in saying that perseverance produces character (Romans 5:4). This word for character is the word from which dokimion comes: dokime. This is defined as a proven character, or having received the the stamp of approval from God. Paul uses this word again…
Another reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand thetest and be obedient in everything. (2 Corinthians 2:9)
But you know [Timothy’s] proven character, that as a son with his father he served with me in the gospel. (Philippians 2:22)
All of this testing and refining and proving is to make me valuable for God’s use, and to be one who points others to Him.
Dokime comes from dokimos, which James uses this way: “Having stood the test” (James 1:12). Other translations of this phrase read:
When he has been approved (NKJV)
The man who doesn’t give in (TLB)
Proven to be genuine (NET)
Dokime means beings pleasing, acceptable, and valuable to God and men. It is money of undiminished value—currency of the highest purity. Just as monarchs would have their image stamped into the metal of the official coinage of their realm, the stamp of approval on my life comes from God but is seen by men and valued by men—
Because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval (Romans 14:18).
Greet Apelles, whose fidelity to Christ has stood the test (Romans 16:10).
For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends (2 Corinthians 10:18).
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).
This is why I must “consider it pure joy” (James 1:2) when God puts me through His purifying process. He sees value in me that is not yet currency that can be placed into circulation. He wants my life to be spendable for His glory, so He loving removes anything that would diminish His image being seen in the currency of my life.
As the Christmas hymn captures: “Adam’s likeness now efface; stamp Thine image in its place”!
Make me valuable and useful for You, my King. Purify me and put me into circulation for Your glory.
Pastors can only fulfill their calling as shepherd leaders with the vitalizing power of prayer, and must pray for themselves first. A healthy, prayer-full pastor is an effective pastor. My newest book is to help pastors in this vital discipline of prayer.
Craig T. Owens 