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Pray Now

July 7, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.

The Gibeonites had a great strategy. They had heard about the advancing Israelite army, they knew how God had given them victory at every step of the way, and they knew that the Israelites weren’t going to make a peace treaty with anyone living even remotely close to them. So the Bible says the Gibeonites resorted to a ruse (v. 4).

They put on worn-out shoes and clothes and packed moldy bread. That way they would have all of the appearances of a delegation that traveled a long, long distance. And it worked. The Israelites examined their clothing and food and said, “Yep, it sure looks like you made a long journey to get here. We’re convinced.”

The Bible records an important footnote—

The men of Israel sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord (v. 14).

How many times do I do this…

…I use my five senses, but not the wisdom of the Holy Spirit?
…I use my logical brain, but not the supernatural resources of God?
…I use my experiences, but not the insight of an All-Knowing God?

I have to make it a habit to pray about EVERY decision. It might only be a 5-second prayer, but I must inquire of the Lord.

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Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: failure, Joshua, prayer, success, wisdom. 1 Comment »

Says Who?

July 6, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

The book of Joshua is full of military campaigns, but there are two battles that are given significant “ink”—where we get an insight into the strategy, the battle itself, and the final outcome. They are the first two battles: Jericho and Ai.

They both ultimately ended in total victory for the Israelites, but the path to victory was starkly different.

Length

Jericho: a week-long campaign

Ai: a 3-day campaign

Strategy

Jericho: the Israelites surrounded the city

Ai: the Israelites made a direct frontal assault, followed by a feint and a rear ambush

Casualties

Jericho: 0

Ai: 36

I believe the difference can be traced to the planning stage:

Planning

Jericho: the Lord said to Joshua…
Ai: when the spies returned to Joshua, they said…

I know that someone will say, “Hold on, Craig! It was Achan’s sin that caused the initial defeat at Ai.” And I wouldn’t disagree with you. But perhaps if Joshua had heard from the Lord before attacking Ai, God would have told him about Achan’s sin.

NO OTHER CASUALTIES are mentioned in the entire book! Thirty-six people died because Joshua listened to other men instead of God.

So that leads me to ask… Who am I listening to? Who are you listening to?

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Achan, God's voice, Jericho, Joshua, obedience, prayer, sin. 3 Comments »

Devilish Scheming

June 28, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

If you’ve ever locked horns with the devil in spiritual warfare, you know that he’s a schemer. Paul wrote to the church at Corinth to remind them that we shouldn’t be unaware of his scheming. And Peter said that the devil is always on the prowl, like a scheming lion looking for a place to attack.

So it should come as no surprise that since my message was about unity in the Body of Christ that the devil’s scheming would be to bring about disunity. There was just a weird mood happening yesterday. In fact, in our pre-service prayer time, I felt prompted to pray out loud that God would knock down any distractions to what the Holy Spirit wanted to do.

I saw it coming … I prayed hard against it … and my prayers knocked down the enemy before he could fully implement his devilish scheme.

Well, not exactly.

Yes, I did feel prompted to pray against distractions, but I should have been praying against disunity too. As a result, I could feel the fight all morning. It would be more accurate to say that I could feel something all morning. It wasn’t until I got home and commented to Betsy about what I had been feeling that I got clued in. She said, “What did you expect? You were talking about unity today, so obviously the devil is going to attack that very thing.”

Duh! Why didn’t I see that? I’m so grateful for a godly wife who catches these things for me.

But I learned something yesterday. I learned that my prayers need to be more specifically-targeted prayers. Sort of like the “smart bombs” our military uses that are laser-guided right on target. Like Paul said, I’m not going to be unaware of the devilish scheming.

Spiritual warfare is always hard work, which is why in Paul’s teaching on spiritual warfare he told us to keep on praying for each other.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: 1 Peter, 2 Corinthians, Body of Christ, devil, Ephesians, Holy Spirit, prayer, satan, spiritual warfare, unity. 2 Comments »

Worrywart

June 22, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

“Worry indicates we’re not willing to let God handle certain things—at least not in His way, and certainly not in His time.” —Craig Groeschel, in The Christian Atheist

Worry is a control issue…

…that is, I want to be in control.

Worry is a sovereignty issue…

…that is, I think I know best how things should work out.

Worry is a trust issue…

…that is, I trust God only when things are happening on my timeframe.

Bottom line: Worry is sin when…

…I allow something else to be bigger than God.
…I allow something else to be more important than God.
…I allow something to limit God.
…I look more to myself for solutions than I look to God.

Any worry should be a call to prayer: Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)

Any extended worry should be a call to repentance: Jesus commands us four times, “Do not worry” (Matthew 6:25-34).

Worry can be disguised in a lot of different forms, but it’s still worry. And it’s still sin. I’m working on this.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: anxiety, Craig Groeschel, God's Sovereignty, God's timing, Gospel of Matthew, Jesus Christ, peace, Philippians, prayer, worry. 3 Comments »

Fasting

June 17, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

We’re fasting today.

I believe in this: Prayer + Fasting = Breakthroughs.

Even though this looks like a mathematical formula, it doesn’t work like a formula. Jesus challenged religious people who fasted just because. Jesus was really echoing the words God spoke in Isaiah about religious people simply going through pious acts, but their hearts were still far away from God. They thought God operated on a formula: “If we fast, then God has to….” It doesn’t work that way.

We met together for a time of worship and Bible study last night, and we’ll conclude our fast with corporate prayer this evening. We are focusing on our heart attitude. Not fasting just because or even the pastor asked us to. But fasting because we are hungry for God to move … for Him to break chains … for Him to set people free … for breakthroughs!

I can’t wait to see what God is going to do in us and then through us as we spend this time seeking His heart. Prayer + Fasting = Breakthroughs.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Calvary Assembly of God, fasting, Gospel of Matthew, hunger, Isaiah, Jesus Christ, prayer, religion. 1 Comment »

You See What You’re Looking For

May 14, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

It’s a pretty simple concept: you only see what you want to see. For example, if you are looking for your car keys, you won’t really see anything else that you are picking up or looking behind to find your keys. Your brain is locked in on keys, so that’s all you will see.

In a well-known Bible story, Moses sends twelve men into the Promised Land to check things out. He tells them to explore the land and bring back a report. The men went to several locations, and there is no mention of who or what they saw except…

…in the valley of Eschol, they found grapes of extraordinary size.
…in Hebron, they found people of extraordinary size.

They went in looking for big things, and that’s all they saw.

With the exception of Caleb and Joshua who said, “So what? Our God is bigger than those giants,” all the other men saw defeat. In the end, all the other men saw death in the desert; only Caleb and Joshua saw God’s victory in the Promised Land.

You see what you want to see—

What do you see?

What are you looking for?

Are you looking for giants? If so, you’ll find them. And they will seem even bigger in your eyes than they really are.

Are you looking for God’s victory? If so, you’ll find Him. And His deliverance will seem even more incredible than you could have imagined!

Prayer trains your eyes to see differently. Prayer trains your brain to look for victory. Prayer keeps you alert to what God is doing.

If all you see are giants, if all you hear is bad news, if all you feel is fear, perhaps you’re looking for giants and bad news and the fearful things.

Friend, God wants you to see Him on the move. Pray!

Prayer changes giants to dwarfs.
Prayer changes defeat to victory.
Prayer changes gloom to sunshine.
Prayer changes the way you see the world.
Prayer changes you.

“The prayer of the morning will determine the day.” —Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Caleb, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Eschol, Hebron, Joshua, Moses, Numbers, paradigm, prayer, quote. 4 Comments »

What If…

May 11, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

…for just one day you and I only said what God told us to say?

“Everything?” you ask, “Is that even possible?”

Yes! Jesus did it. Look:

I don’t speak on My own authority. The Father who sent Me has commanded Me what to say and how to say it.

Everything Jesus said was directed by His Father. Yes, everything.

Want to try it today? First, we have to spend more time in God’s presence to hear His words. Then here’s a simple gauge to use (as given to us by James). Are my words…

true?
pure?
peace-promoting?
considerate?
courteous?
gentle?
sincere?
merciful?

Are you ready to give it a try?

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Book of James, conversation, Gospel of John, Jesus Christ, language, prayer, vocabulary. 1 Comment »

The Imbalanced Mother

May 10, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

We had a great time celebrating Moms yesterday. Moms are these amazing creatures that seem to be everywhere and doing everything. This ability to multitask is a blessing, but it can lead to problems if Moms try to perfectly balance their lives through more multitasking.

Perfect balance is an impossibility. Just as soon as you think you have everything balanced, life throws you a curve: a sick child … a flat tire … change of plans … I’m sure you know the drill.

Instead of trying to be the perfectly balanced multitasker, I suggest that you become a purposely imbalanced, God-leaning mother.

Imbalance your day toward God.

Take the time necessary to lean into God, and the rest of your day will be well-ordered.

Dads and kids, the greatest thing you can do to honor your wife/mother, is to make sure she has undisturbed time alone with God. I promise you that after she spends this time, the rest of her day—and therefore your day—will go much more smoothly. Help her to imbalance her life.

Here’s a great poem from Faye Inchfawn written in 1920:

See, I am cumbered, Lord,

With serving, and with small vexatious things.

Upstairs, and down, my feet

Must hasten, sure and fleet.

So weary that I cannot heed Thy word;

So tired, I cannot now mount up with wings.

I wrestle – how I wrestle! – through the hours.

Nay, not with principalities, nor powers—

Dark spiritual foes of God’s and man’s—

But with antagonistic pots and pans:

With footmarks in the hall,

With smears upon the wall,

With doubtful ears, and small unwashen hands,

And with a babe’s innumerable demands.

I toil with feverish haste, while tear-drops glisten,

(O, child of Mine, be still. And listen—listen!)

At last, I laid aside
Important work, no other hands could do
So well (I thought), no skill contrive so true.
And with my heart’s door open—open wide—

With leisured feet, and idle hands, I sat.

I, foolish, fussy, blind as any bat,
Sat down to listen, and to learn. And lo,
My thousand tasks were done the better so.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: children, Dad, father, Faye Inchfawn, marriage, Mom, mother, Mother's Day, multitask, parenting, poem, poetry, prayer, solitude. Leave a Comment »

The Blessing

May 6, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.

Just some personal musings on a well-known blessing.

The Lord bless you…

May you find nothing missing, nothing lacking.
May you be full and complete.
Then you will be better able to bless others.

…and keep you;

Safe and secure.
As a priceless heirloom.
As the apple of His eye.

…the Lord make His face to shine upon you,

So you are basking in His presence.
Reflecting His glory.
Distinguished from all others.

…and be gracious to you;

As He renews His mercies to you every morning.
Lavishing you with His blessings.
Not treating you as your sins deserve.

…the Lord turn His face toward you,

Knowing that you have His full notice.
Enjoying His full approval.
Living in His abundant favor.

…and give you peace

All your anxieties banished.
Your confidence renewed.
Your direction assured.

When you say, “May God bless you” to someone, you are saying one of the most powerful, loving things that you could ever utter. There is nothing like God’s blessing: nothing compares to it, and nothing can detract from it.

May I encourage you to more regularly ask for God’s blessing to be on your life, and may you be lavish with your request for God’s blessings on others’ lives too.

GOD BLESS YOU!

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Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: anxiety, blessing, favor, God's blessing, Numbers, prayer. 5 Comments »

Synergy

May 3, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

The dictionary defines synergy as the combined action of two items, where their output is greater than the sum of their individual efforts. I like the Bible’s definition better:

Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you (Leviticus 26:8).

God’s synergy has an “if” attached to it. A few verses earlier God says, “If you follow Me and obey My principles, then this is what you can expect from Me.”

So God’s synergistic math looks like this:

5 = 10² = 10⁴

Five people motivated by their devotion to God and trusting Him for victory = 100 enemies defeated.

One hundred people doing the exact same thing = 10,000 enemies defeated.

The first synergy is a 20-fold increase, while the second synergy is a 100-fold increase! The more people that buy into this truth, the greater the synergy.

Imagine if you could get just four other people to join you in prayer and in seeking God for…